Chapter 15 : Chapter 15
Chapter 15: A Precious Gift
Lin Bai’s maternal grandmother was named Tan Shu. Within the Yunmeng Wang Family, her status had not been that of the principal wife, but something closer to that of a secondary wife.
Maternal Grandmother Tan Shu had three children in total.
Her eldest son was Wang Shu, now around fifty years old. He was a martial fanatic and had never married.
Her eldest daughter was Wang Xiu, Lin Bai’s mother, who was forty-two.
Her youngest daughter was Wang Qian, the woman in yellow before him, a twenty-seven-year-old intermediate alchemist of the Benevolent Heart Hall, and still unmarried.
Because the three siblings had been born of the same mother, their relationship had always been very close. That was why, before Lin Bai came, Wang Xiu had instructed him that if he ran into trouble, he could seek help from his maternal uncle and younger maternal aunt.
Later, however, Wang Xiu had followed the family’s arrangements and moved to Anning County to manage the Wang Family’s business there. After that, they had seen much less of one another. The last time she had returned to Yunmeng City had been three years ago, when Lin Su first came here and Wang Xiu, worried, had accompanied her.
Lin Bai obediently sat down beside Wang Qian. The conversation that followed was nothing more than asking after his mother’s recent circumstances and how he had been living since coming to Yunmeng City.
Lin Bai guessed that Lin Su had already said most of it once, so he only chose the calmer, smoother parts to speak of, while glossing over some of his own more specific circumstances.
As they talked, Wang Qian decided that later she would take Lin Bai back to the residence to pay respects to his grandmother.
Lin Bai also felt that this was only proper. Since he had already come here as a junior, how could he possibly not go and greet his close elder relative?
He had originally wanted to prepare some gifts first, but Wang Qian waved a hand and stopped him at once.
“You little rascal, where did you pick up so many empty formalities?”
Wang Qian shot him a mildly reproachful glance.
“You’re going to see your own grandmother. If a fifteen-year-old child turns up carrying gifts, Mother will only feel worse when she sees it.”
Hearing Wang Qian say that, Lin Bai immediately gave up the idea.
She had a point. This was his own grandmother. Being too polite might only end up hurting her feelings instead.
After chatting for a while, Lin Bai felt the distance between himself and this younger maternal aunt shrink considerably. He realized that Wang Qian’s personality was a bit like Zhou Ling, the senior sister of Lin Su’s. The difference was that Zhou Ling was lively and jumpy, while Wang Qian was free-spirited and easygoing.
As they continued talking, Wang Qian also discovered that she got along quite well with this little nephew of hers. Lin Bai was respectful, but not stiff.
“Oh, right. You just arrived, and I, as your aunt, haven’t given you any sort of gift yet. Your sister said you know how to use a saber?”
Before Lin Bai could respond, Wang Qian briskly went to her storage room and brought out a black saber.
“Here, take it. Two years ago, someone asked me to refine pills for him, but he couldn’t fully cover the fee, so he put this saber up on credit. Later, I heard he ran into robber cultivators, and there was no more news of him.”
“Now this saber belongs to me. See whether you like it. If you don’t, then just take it to the Heavenly Craft Hall and have it melted down. It would make rather good material.”
Wang Qian handed the black saber to him.
Lin Bai did not put on any coy hesitation. He accepted it, gripped the hilt, drew it from the scabbard, and examined it carefully.
Within the sheath was a Goose-quill Saber of the type commonly used by northern bladesmen. Its entire body was ink-black, while the hilt was inlaid with gold and silver filigree. The decoration was simple, yet exquisitely refined. The blade itself was heavier than an ordinary Goose-quill Saber, and a long blood groove ran through its center. Cold light flowed along the edge, enough to make one’s skin turn chill at a glance.
One look was enough to know that it was a weapon made for killing. And that was precisely the kind of fine saber no northern bladesman could resist.
Lin Bai was no exception. The reason he had chosen the saber as his weapon in the first place was because he liked its overbearing force.
Seeing that Lin Bai’s eyes had practically gone straight from staring, Wang Qian smiled mysteriously.
“This saber isn’t just handsome. During forging, Profound Iron and Weightstone were added to it. The Profound Iron increases the saber’s toughness. As for the Weightstone, try channeling force into the blade.”
Lin Bai knew what Profound Iron was, but this was his first time hearing of Weightstone. He did as told and slowly guided the force within his body into the blade.
Lin Bai immediately felt the saber in his hand growing heavier and heavier as his force entered it.
In the end, it reached a weight that suited him extremely well, a little over eight hundred jin. That kind of weight was terrifying.
An ordinary bladesman who had not yet entered the Transcendent-Mortal generally only had four to five hundred jin of strength, and the sabers they used weighed barely over ten jin.
Lin Bai’s eight-hundred-jin saber could probably crush an ordinary Transcendent-Realm martial artist to death even if he just smashed it down. And he could feel that the blade’s weight could increase further still.
Seeing the undisguised astonishment on Lin Bai’s face, Wang Qian finally said smugly,
“Well? The force you channel into it can keep the blade at that weight for about one hour. After that, it will gradually return to normal. If you want it to revert sooner, just withdraw your force.”
Lin Bai swung the black saber a few more times. Then, with a thought, he pulled back his force, and the weight in his hand immediately lightened, becoming no different from an ordinary blade.
That made him think involuntarily of the legendary Ruyi Jingu Bang. The golden cudgel changed size at will, while this saber changed weight as one wished.
The more he looked at it, the more Lin Bai truly liked it. But they had only just met, and to accept something so valuable from his aunt made him hesitate somewhat.
At that moment, Lin Su, seated beside him, knew at once what he was thinking.
“Why aren’t you putting it away and thanking Aunt? Don’t you know that when an elder gives you something, you must not refuse?”
Hearing Lin Su’s words, Wang Qian also put on a stern face and said in a deliberately serious tone,
“Anything I give away is never taken back. Besides, I’m an alchemist. What use do I have for such a murderous weapon? And in any case, only half a Weightstone was used in this saber. Its upper limit is merely five thousand jin. It isn’t all that precious.”
Hearing that, Lin Bai no longer hesitated. Instead, he solemnly put the saber away, firmly engraving this kindness in his heart.
He understood that although Wang Qian made it sound casual, a weapon whose weight could be adjusted freely and whose upper limit reached five thousand jin was already fit to serve as a family heirloom.
That remark about it containing only half a Weightstone was nothing more than an attempt to set his mind at ease. If word of such an item got out, it would certainly draw countless greedy eyes.
If others learned that you carried such a treasure, then just wait and see whether those robber cultivators would come for you or not.
Only after seeing Lin Bai accept and store it away without further fuss did Wang Qian grin and begin teasing him.
“Little nephew, your Dao-fortune really is quite good. If you’d come a little later, I would’ve taken this saber to the Great Xia Treasure Tower and exchanged it away. Your sister says your talent is even higher than hers, so when you make something of yourself in the future, remember to take good care of your aunt.”
The moment he heard that, Lin Bai immediately put on a flattering smile, grabbed a small round fan from nearby, and eagerly moved closer to fan Wang Qian, speaking in an absurdly sycophantic tone.
“Absolutely, absolutely. Setting aside the mountain-heavy grace of this precious gift from you, Aunt, the moment I saw you, I already felt we were extremely compatible. Sure enough, you are truly beautiful and kind-hearted.”
From the side, Lin Su watched him and, pretending to be jealous, said in a wounded tone,
“You ungrateful little brat. I’ve helped you so much too, yet you’ve never fanned so much as a single breeze for your sister.”
“How could that be? How could that be?”
Lin Bai hurriedly apologized, changed position, and began holding a fan in each hand, fanning both Lin Su and Wang Qian at once.
With a fan in each hand, he looked magnificently ridiculous.
Seeing Lin Bai in such a comical state, Lin Su and Wang Qian both let out a soft laugh.
That tiny bit of unfamiliarity between Lin Bai and Wang Qian, born from not having seen each other for years, disappeared in that single laugh.
Poor Lin Bai was then rewarded with eye-rolls from both alchemists. Neither of them paid any more attention to him. Instead, they sat down and began discussing ideas related to alchemy.
Although Lin Su had only recently advanced to become a junior alchemist, as the personal disciple of a master alchemist, her knowledge and theoretical grounding were not weak in the slightest. As for Wang Qian, there was even less need to say anything. She had advanced to intermediate alchemist three years ago and was highly experienced.
Fortunately, Lin Bai was not too pitiful. After about a quarter of an hour, Wang Qian finally told him to go sit to the side and rest.
In truth, with Lin Bai’s current physical condition, he could have fanned them for a full day and night without getting tired, but Lin Bai chose the lazy dog approach.
That was to sit quietly to one side, eat pastries, and watch his sister and aunt discuss lofty theories he could not understand in the slightest.
Things like “wood-phase ruler and minister,” “timing and heat,” and “the essence of water refinement”...
Lin Bai could understand every individual word.
But once they were strung together, they sounded like heavenly scripture.
The feeling was exactly the same as those afternoons in his previous life when he sat in math class staring at formulas on the blackboard while the light slowly died from his eyes.