Xun Shu stood at the center of a round-shaped platform. Atop the platform rested what seemed like a golden foundry table. Curls of black flames rose from the table. Something golden shimmered faintly within the flames.

　　They walked up to take a closer look. An image of a sword floated within the light, undulating like ripples of water. Xun Shu, who was standing beside it, looked stunned. In utter disbelief, he muttered, “How can this be, how can this be?” Stepping back in disappointment, he smiled and said mockingly to himself, “No wonder… no wonder our ancestors said no one could possess this sword. Now I understand why.”

　　Lonemoon glanced at the sword image in the flames. Suddenly a thought struck him. Frowning, he asked Xun Shu, “Is this… the Six-Joint Mystics Sword?”

　　Xun Shu stiffened. Clenching his hands, he nodded slowly.

　　“Then how can it be…” The sword in the flames was clearly only a mirage!

　　“It’s Mirage Divine Sorcery.” Before Lonemoon could finish his sentence, Xun Shu explained in disappointment, “This sword is sealed in a Chaos void. So although you can see it, you can’t remove it. This is the sword that legends say has the power to create the earth.” Because it was sealed in a Chaos void, unless the person had the ability to break down the barrier, he would not be able to retrieve it.

　　“You want it?” asked Shen Ying suddenly.

　　Xun Shu laughed wryly and replied, “Everyone who enters this immortal realm wants this sword.”

　　“Oh.”

　　“But it’s a pity the sword isn’t in this realm. No one… Huh? Wait! What are you doing?”

　　When Xun Shu turned around, he saw Shen Ying extending her hand into the flames.

　　“This is immortal fire, you cannot…” Before Xun Shu could finish his sentence, Shen Ying had already inserted her hand into the ball of black flames. Gripping the sword tightly, she pulled it directly out of the flames. All at once, the golden light flashed brightly and a dense sword Qi filled the entire area.

　　She took… took it out?

　　Σ(°△°|||)

　　How could this be possible!?

　　Shen Ying glanced at the sword in her hand. There was nothing special about it apart from being a bit yellow. She tossed the sword casually to Xun Shu and said, “For you!”

　　“Huh?”

　　She’s giving… giving it to him?! Was he dreaming? He looked in disbelief at the sword in his hand, then looked up at the person in front of him. However, she had already turned to look at her companions behind her.

　　“Father Niu, I think this fire is not bad.”

　　“Master, this fire is the original source fire of the immortal realm. Ordinary deviant fire cannot compare to it.”

　　“Oh, then should we take it back with us?”

　　Lonemoon rolled his eyes at them and said, “Do you need to ask? Of course, we must take it back. But the thing is, this fire burns everything, we have nothing to store it with!”

　　“Master, I think this table isn’t affected by the fire. Maybe it can contain this fire?”

　　“Why don’t we… take the whole table with us?”

　　“That might work. Yi Qing, do you have any more storage bags?”

　　“I have one and a half bags left. Not sure if it’s enough?”

　　“Can’t be helped. Let’s try putting it inside.”

　　So with a look of determination on their faces, the three of them walked towards the deviant fire table, each holding onto a corner of the storage bag.

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　Hey, hey, hey! There’s a perfectly good divine weapon here, why aren’t you looking at it? Why are all of you gazing longingly at the flames? Is the fire more important than this divine weapon? Suddenly he understood what it felt like to be in the land of the blind!

　　Xun Shu’s mouth twitched. He glanced at Shen Ying, then lowered his head to look at the sword in his hand. Finally he blurted out, “Shen Ying!”

　　“What?” Shen Ying, who had been directing the removal of the foundry table, turned around.

　　“Are you… really giving the sword to me?”

　　“Umn.” Shen Ying nodded her head in reply. Was there a problem? She did not provide repair warranties.

　　Still unconvinced, Xun Shu reminded her again, “This is a divine weapon!” She had given it away so casually; even her other two companions did not seem to mind.

　　“I know. Don’t you want it?”

　　“…” Xun Shu did not know what to say. He felt conflicted. She had known from the very beginning that his purpose in following them was to make use of her to find this sword. She had obviously suspected him all along. He had even prepared to battle it out to the death should the sword be found. But she… actually gave it to him! She had shown no hesitation, no reluctance, she had tossed it to him as if it were a bun. “Why?”

　　“Huh?” said Shen Ying looking even more perplexed. “You wanted it so I’m giving it to you, why do you… need a reason?”

　　“…”

　　He was about to pursue further, but Lonemoon started hollering, “Shen Ying, if you don’t help us to pull the bag open, how are we going to put it in?”

　　“Oh.” Shen Ying turned around and started to pull open the mouth of the storage bag.

　　Xun Shu looked at the three busy immortals and chuckled softly.

　　A while later…

　　“The table is not the one that controls the fire, it’s the earth on top of it.” Why did he have this uncontrollable urge to help them?

　　Xun Shu stepped forward and pushed aside the three persons surrounding the table. Then grabbing a bunch of yellow earth on the platform, he sprinkled it into the fire. The black fire instantly shrank into a ball, and the earth immediately enveloped the fire. Within seconds, a yellow earth ball was formed.

　　“All done!” Xun Shu passed the yellow flame capsule to them.

　　“Wow!”*3

　　The three Invincible Sect members exclaimed in surprise, like ignorant country bumpkins. They had not known that such black technology existed.

　　Lonemoon took the capsule from Xun Shu. True enough, the deviant fire, encapsulated by the earth, was cool to the touch. He immediately put it inside the storage bag. Glancing at the table that still had some residual earth left on it, he narrowed his eyes and waved at the two people behind him. “Carry on with the move!” Might as well take the whole thing away. Can’t let it go to waste!

　　“…” Are you as poor as that?

　　Xun Shu’s mouth twitched a little as he watched them stuff the table into the storage bag. He rubbed his throbbing head and sucked in a deep breath. Then holding the sword in both hands, he walked up to Shen Ying and said solemnly, “This sword… Thank you!”

　　“You’re welcome!” replied Shen Ying.

　　“Do you want to know why I want this weapon?” said Xun Shu, clenching his fists. He felt a sudden impulse to say something.

　　The trio turned to look at him.

　　Xun Shu took a deep breath. He had followed them all the way here under the pretext of pursuing their theft of his Winter Spirit leaf. However, he discovered that these people were not a bad lot. They had known his motive, yet they had not confronted him. Moreover, they had given him the sword so readily. That being the case, he really should not continue withholding the truth from them; that would be really mean of him.

　　“Actually…”

　　“We don’t want to know!” shouted the trio in unison, before he could continue further.

　　Huh? Huh?

　　Shen Ying: “It’s too much of a bother. From the looks of it, you’re going to tell a long story. It’s dinner time soon, and delaying dinner is bad for my digestion.”

　　Lonemoon: “We’re not that close. Why should we be interested in your tragic past? We’d be better off using the time to continue our search for raw materials.”

　　Yi Qing: “It’s time to start preparing dinner. What would Master like to eat tonight?”

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　What the hell? Can’t you respond like normal people!

　　(╯‵□′)╯(┻━┻