/
Chapter 53: Listening To the Sword and Communicating With It
The three Superior Grade Martial Disciples could not utilize their weapons in this narrow alley. Only two people were able to stand side by side here. Xiao Chen only needed to face two of them at a time, and this was not a very difficult thing to do.
Furthermore, since the alley was as wide as the two men standing next to each other, it was more convenient for Xiao Chen to move around. After he dealt with these three men, Xiao Chen did not exhaust even half of his Essence.
Firing out a few streams of flames, he turned all the bodies on the ground into ashes. Xiao Chen removed his black cloak and slowly left this desolated alley.
Continuing to walk forward, there was actually a smithy at the end of the alley. This smithy looked very old. The paint on the signboard had already mostly dropped off, and it looked like a piece of rotting wooden board.
Xiao Chen thought of his purpose in coming out today. He decided to go in to take a look since he was already  there. He would not lose anything just by checking it out.
The size of this shop was very small. There was not even a complete shelf in the narrow store. Most of the ironware was just casually piled in various corners, making the shop appear even more cluttered.
Xiao Chen looked around, and in the pile of ironware he even discovered some farming tools. He could not help but feel that it was funny. To think that they made farming tools. This showed how poor their business was. And to think that I actually considered coming here to forge a Spirit Weapon.
The biggest problem was that, despite Xiao Chen being in the shop for quite awhile already, there was no one around. This caused him to feel leery. Xiao Chen did not have any intentions of staying longer, and was about to leave.
“Hang on, don’t go yet. Go take a look at those weapons in that corner,” Ao Jiao’s voice suddenly appeared in his mind.
Xiao Chen said while in a bad mood, “It’s just a pile of junk. There is nothing to see.”
“If I tell you to take a look, just go and take a look.”
Xiao Chen felt helpless as he walked towards that corner and casually pulled out a sword. It was two fingers wide and about a meter long. It was made of fine iron, but it did not look gorgeous and appeared extremely ordinary.
Xiao Chen was not really good with weapons. After taking a long look, he was not able to see anything special. He got up and held the sword in his hand, and casually brandished it.
Xiao Chen used the sword and thrust out in many directions. There were no sounds coming from it, and Xiao Chen was not able to detect any bizarre powers.
He then placed the sword back in the corner. Then, Xiao Chen suddenly thought of something. He picked up the sword again and brandished it once more. Just like earlier, there was no sound, nor could he feel any unusual power.
A look of amazement flashed in his eyes. He placed the sword in his hands down and picked out a thinner sword. He brandished it with some strength and like before, he did not hear any strange sounds coming from it, or any sound for that matter.
“Why is there  no sound coming from this sword? If the earlier sword was explained by the sword being too heavy, this sword was thin as a cicada’s wings. Why was there still no sound?” Xiao Chen said bewilderedly.
Ao Jiao suddenly came out and said, “Swords are not used in such a manner.”
Xiao Chen noticed that her complexation was a lot better already. He was now able to put down his earlier worry as he asked, “What’s going on with this sword?”
Ao Jiao did not say anything. She took the sword from Xiao Chen’s hands and casually got into a stance. Her whole body quietly stood there. Xiao Chen could feel her aura continually rising, as though she was going to pierce through the heavens in the next moment.
“Pu Zi!”
Ao Jiao suddenly made a move and sliced the sword through the air. The sword that was as thin as a cicada’s wing gave off a pleasant hum. The sound was melodious; it was fine and delicate, like rain falling on the ground, dripping incessantly.
“Weng!” The sword sounds kept resounding out.
In the next instant, all the weapons within the shop started humming as well. It was like someone meeting their ideal partner; the sound was extremely joyful.
Xiao Chen could not believe what he saw. He took back the sword from Ao Jiao and all the swords in the shop immediately stopped humming. No matter how much force Xiao Chen used, there was no sound at all... As if it was dead.
Yes, as though it was dead. This sounded awkward, as the sword was not a living object in the first place. How could it be said that it was dead? However, this was exactly how Xiao Chen felt at this moment.
“Why is it that when this sword is in my hands, it seems like it is dead? And when it is in yours, it immediately feels alive?” Xiao Chen voiced out the doubts in his heart to Ao Jiao.
When he asked about swords, Ao Jiao’s face was filled with a proud expression. Unfortunately, with her cute face when she turned proud, she looked even more like a little girl.
“Although you don’t understand anything about swords, your analogy was quite apt. Listening to the sword, and communicating with it. People who understand that will naturally understand it, and those who don’t won’t.”
When Ao Jiao said this, he was mystified. He did not understand anything. Xiao Chen said, “Can you make it simpler?”
Ao Jiao thought for awhile and said, “To put it simply, when these weapons were forged by the highly skilled hands of this blacksmith, they all gained a rudimentary spirituality after they were completed.”
“To someone who has a certain perception to weapons, they could bring out thrice its usual might. Conversely, someone who does not know anything about weapons, is not able to bring out even half its might.”
Xiao Chen was astonished. Looks like the person behind this shop is an expert. He said, “There are so many spiritual swords placed here. Is the senior of this shop not afraid of people stealing them?
Ao Jiao shook her head, “Although the swords gained spirituality, they were just made from ordinary metals. How strong could they be? If they were purely comparing strength, any one of these swords here would not be able to compare with even the most basic Spirit Weapons.”
“Haha! To think that I would meet someone who understood swords in this tiny desolate shop. The swords here have not cried out for ten years now.” Suddenly, a bold laughter came from the back of the shop.
A robust, tall, and sturdy man with a square face slowly came in from the back door. When people looked at him, they felt he was incredibly heroic. However, there seemed to be something wrong with his left foot, since he was walking with a limp.
That man first looked at Xiao Chen, before shifting his gaze to Ao Jiao. There was a shocked look in his eyes as he said, “A Sword Spirit with a strong spiritual nature. No wonder you can understand swords at such a level.
Then, he shifted his gaze back to Xiao Chen as he said, “I shall be presumptuous and ask, I wonder what divine weapon do you possess? Can you take it out for me to take a look?”
He was indeed an expert. With one look, he was able to see Ao Jiao’s origins. Xiao Chen cupped his hands and bowed to him as he said, “Senior has great sight. However, this lowly self’s weapon is already damaged, and I am not able to take it out.”
A puzzled look appeared in that man’s eyes as he said, “The divine weapon is already damaged? How could that be? If that happened… then that Sword Spirit…”
“You have broken one leg, are you still able to forge Spirit Weapons?” Ao Jiao suddenly interrupted, cutting the man off.
Xiao Chen looked at Ao Jiao flabbergasted. She had interrupted him; she must be trying to hide something. However, now was not the time to talk about this.
Xiao Chen said apologetically to the man, “I’m sorry senior, My Sword Spirit is not good with words. I apologize for that.”
The blacksmith smiled, “It’s fine, My name is Mo Fan. Don’t keep calling me senior. If you don’t mind, you can call me Elder Brother Mo.”
Xiao Chen nodded his head, “I am Xiao Chen. Is Elder Brother Mo still able to forge Spirit Weapons?”
Surprise appeared in Mo Fan’s eyes, “Xiao Chen? The Second Young Master of Mohe City’s Xiao Clan?”
Xiao Chen nodded his head, however, there were great waves in his heart. Did this person recognize me? I don’t seem to have any recollection of him.
Could it be that before I transmigrated, the original Xiao Chen did something to offend someone? If that was so, then things are going to be problematic.
It was difficult to find a good blacksmith in Mohe City. If his hopes were dashed because of this, it would be very unfortunate.
Mo Fan said, “Brother Xiao Chen, didn’t you save a little girl on the streets one month ago? That was my daughter. I did not expect that I would be able to meet you today.”
So that was what happened. Xiao Chen relaxed. He did not expect that such an insignificant matter actually led to this.
Xiao Chen smiled, “I left in a hurry that day. Was the little girl fine after that? Was she in shock?”
Mo Fan laughed out loud, “That young lass is quite wild. The moment I don’t pay attention, she slips out. When I came back, I already heard about what happened from someone else.”
“I am indebted to you. The young lass did not suffer any shock. Everything is fine. I thank you for that.”
Starting with this topic, they carried on the conversation for quite awhile. Then Xiao Chen suddenly asked about the doubts in his heart, “Elder Brother Mo, why was it when I came, there was no one watching the shop?”
Mo Fan smiled awkwardly for a while, “Humans have three needs. I have no other people working in this shop, so there was no one watching the shop.”
[TL notes: Humans have three needs is a Chinese saying for three things that humans have to do: Eat, Pee, Poop.]
Xiao Chen sweated internally, Why did he not think of this reason? He quickly changed the topic, “Elder Brother Mo, are you still able to forge Spirit Weapons?”
When Mo Fan heard this, the expression slowly turned cautious, “Brother Xiao Chen, I would like to speak to your Sword Spirit alone. Could you give us some space?”
“Exactly what I intended. You don’t have to care about the opinion of this trash,” Ao Jiao said.
Xiao Chen felt somewhat unresigned. He had just exterminated four cultivators that had higher cultivation realms than him. Why was Ao Jiao still belittling him?
Although there was a little trickery involved, they were all killed by his own hands. There was not even a little bit of overstatement in this.
Ao Jiao said, “I can tell that you don’t feel convinced. If you can make any of the weapons here cry out, I won’t say anything.”
Xiao Chen said helplessly, “Elder Brother Mo, I will step out first.”
Outside the door, Xiao Chen smiled in his heart. Although I am physically gone, my Spiritual Sense can enter. The things that you are talking about will not escape my ears.
Sister Ao Jiao, trying to hide things for me? Your methods are too naive.
After Ao Jiao saw Xiao Chen went out, she waved her hands and a faint yellow barrier covered the whole shop. Xiao Chen’s Spiritual Sense was blocked.
Since you left so obediently, you must have some plan in mind. Do you really think I do not know what you have in mind? How naive!
…
After Ao Jiao deployed the boundary, she said, “Let us cut to the chase. Which generation’s successor of the Clear Sky Sect are you? Has your Clear Sky Hammer awakened yet? How badly does your injured leg impact you?”
Mo Fan opened his mouth wide, he then said incredulously, “Who in the world are you? How do you know so much about my background? Why do I feel a familiar aura around you?”