Chapter 53: A Hundred Flying Swords

Provoked by Moying, Wan Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it! A pact it is. Who's afraid of whom? Anyway, I'm not the one getting the short end of the stick!"

Forcing out a drop of his heart's blood along with a shred of his spiritual soul, he struck it toward the master-servant contract that Moying had conjured.

In an instant, a bizarre sensation welled up in his heart, and Wan Yi felt an inexplicable connection form between himself and Moying.

The other's life and death were now entirely in his hands; with just a single thought, he could take Moying's life at any moment.

And should Moying harbor any treacherous intentions toward him, she would be instantly obliterated by the binding constraints of the master-servant contract.

Once the contract was successfully formed, Wan Yi keenly perceived that all of Moying's prior hostility toward him had been entirely feigned. The reason she acted that way was precisely to forge this contract with him.

Because the contract was now established, a mutual understanding arose between them. The moment a doubt stirred in Wan Yi's mind, Moying instantly sensed it.

A smile curved the corners of her lips as she transmitted her voice to Wan Yi, "I know you have many doubts in your mind. I will give you an explanation shortly."

With that, she said no more, her figure transforming into a wisp of black mist that drifted toward Wan Yi's chest. Finally, it settled upon his clothes, turning into an ink-black qilin, looking as vivid and lifelike as if it were an original embroidery on the garment.

Yan Wuji, standing off to the side, was dumbfounded. It took him quite a while to collect his wits before he stammered, "Brother, you two just formed a pact just like that?"

Wan Yi was also somewhat bewildered at the moment. A Tribulation-stage transformed beast! Her cultivation was high enough to be a peak master in the vast Vastness Sect, yet she had formed a pact with him just like that. Who would believe such a story if word got out?

Regaining his composure, Wan Yi ruminated on what Moying had said earlier. Clearly, her forming a pact with him had been premeditated, though it was currently inconvenient to elaborate.

Eager to find out what was truly going on, Wan Yi could no longer sit still.

After exchanging a few more casual remarks with Yan Wuji, he prepared to take his leave. Upon stepping out of the Soul-Detaining Department, he originally intended to return directly to the mortal realm.

However, raising his head, he caught sight of the Oblivion River Tower. He wondered if Qi Mingyue had managed to procure the nether-iron flying swords he had previously commissioned her to gather.

Inside the Oblivion River Tower, Qi Mingyue slapped a storage pouch down in front of Wan Yi, saying, "Captain Wan, one hundred nether-iron flying swords. Not a single one is missing. Please inspect them."

Wan Yi took the storage pouch, released his divine sense, and inspected the quality of the flying swords.

Clearly, Qi Mingyue had taken the matter to heart. The flying swords inside the storage pouch were of significantly higher quality than the samples he had seen before.

Forged entirely from pitch-black nether-iron, while they lacked the elemental attributes of spiritual artifact flying swords, their innate sturdiness was not the least bit inferior to spiritual artifacts.

Even more precious was their special property of being able to pierce through a cultivator's protective astral energy, something ordinary spiritual artifact flying swords could never match.

Seeing the look of satisfaction in Wan Yi's eyes, Qi Mingyue chuckled musically and asked, "Are these flying swords to your liking?"

Wan Yi nodded and casually tossed out a storage pouch, saying, "Well done. This is the deposit for the next batch. Please prepare another thousand for me, Shopkeeper Qi."

With a radiant smile, Qi Mingyue took the storage pouch and swept her divine sense into it, only to find it completely filled with Soul-Nourishing Pills.

Pacing the storage pouch away, Qi Mingyue coyly smiled, "Has Captain Wan struck it rich?"

Wan Yi shook his head with a smile and replied, "I picked them up!"

Qi Mingyue rolled her alluring eyes and retorted playfully, "Liars! If you don't want to talk about it, fine, but did you have to brush me off like that?"

Hearing this, Wan Yi gave a bitter smile. To be honest, these Soul-Nourishing Pills were practically no different from things he had picked up.

Given his current status at the Pill Peak, a single word from him would bring countless disciples rushing to deliver Soul-Nourishing Pills right into his hands.

Remembering his current awkward predicament in the Soul-Detaining Department, he would undoubtedly need Qi Mingyue's help frequently in the future, so Wan Yi fished out yet another storage pouch.

The Soul-Nourishing Pills contained in this pouch were ones he had refined himself, every single one of them wreathed with a purplish medicinal aura.

Handing the storage pouch over to Qi Mingyue, Wan Yi smiled and said, "Shopkeeper Qi, there will be many times in the future when I have to trouble you. This is just a small token of my appreciation; I hope you won't disdain it."

At this, a brilliant flash appeared in Qi Mingyue's alluring eyes. After checking the contents of the storage pouch, she let out gasp after gasp of astonishment: "Good heavens! These are actually top-grade Soul-Nourishing Pills! Such items are practically impossible to find anywhere in the entire Netherworld!"

Wan Yi smiled faintly, "As long as you like them."

After recovering from her shock, Qi Mingyue's gaze shifted amorously. She stepped forward, hooked her arm around Wan Yi's, and coaxed softly, "You rascal, tell me, why are you suddenly treating me so well? Are you plotting something else?!"

Feeling the pressure emanating from that pair of massive treasures against her chest, Wan Yi instantly felt his heartbeat accelerate, his throat growing as dry and parched as if it were on fire.

Swallowing to moisten his throat, he awkwardly said, "Shopkeeper Qi has misunderstood. It's just a small token of gratitude, with no other intentions."

Hearing this, Qi Mingyue burst into a string of silvery giggles. Releasing Wan Yi's arm, she chided, "Hmph! Such a bore, you stinky man, utterly devoid of romance!"

Stirred up thoroughly by her teasing, Wan Yi cursed inwardly, "Vixen! Sooner or later, I'll tame you!"

At that exact moment, Zhou Tong's pretty face suddenly floated into Wan Yi's mind. The thought of the little girl instantly cooled him down. Raising a hand to tap his own head, he silently scolded himself, "My restraint is still lacking; I almost forgot about the big picture."

At this time, Qi Mingyue looked at Wan Yi with a charming, seductive expression and smiled, "I won't tease you anymore. Look at how red your face is—don't tell me you're still an innocent virgin!"

With that, she covered her mouth with a delicate hand and giggled until her shoulders shook delightfully!

Wan Yi cried out inwardly that he couldn't take much more of this. Taking a step back, he straightened his expression and said, "Shopkeeper Qi, let's get back to business."

Qi Mingyue shot him a sidelong glance and retorted, "Just a moment ago you said you had no other intentions, and now you want to talk business with me. A man's mouth is truly a deceptive ghost!"

Wan Yi's face flushed slightly, and he quickly explained, "Those are two different things, you misunderstood. What I meant earlier by having no other intentions wasn't referring to that... it was referring to you—"

Realizing how wrong that sounded right as he said it—making it seem more suspicious the more he tried to explain—he hurriedly swallowed the rest of his words.

Seeing him thrown completely off balance by her teasing, Qi Mingyue burst into renewed giggles.

Raising a delicate fist, she lightly struck Wan Yi's shoulder and chided, "Alright, sister won't tease you anymore. What is it you want to discuss? Go right ahead."

Wan Yi took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and asked, "Are there any Othershore Flowers for sale in the Oblivion River Tower?"

Hearing his question, Qi Mingyue wore a peculiar expression for a moment before bursting into another round of bell-like laughter.

While clutching her aching stomach from laughing, she said to Wan Yi, "Are you pulling my leg? Those Othershore Flowers are growing everywhere outside the city, yet you want to buy them inside the Oblivion River Tower!"

Far from being annoyed by her mockery, Wan Yi felt a wave of relief wash over him. He had been terrified that the Othershore Flowers were rare and supreme treasures in the Netherworld, never expecting them to be common wildflowers found everywhere.

Asking Qi Mingyue for an illustration of an Othershore Flower, Wan Yi couldn't wait to head out of the city.

Sure enough, upon arriving outside the city, vast seas of Othershore Flowers immediately greeted his eyes.

Seeing this, his mood lifted immensely. After gathering a full storage pouch of Othershore Flowers, he checked to make sure there was no one around and triggered a thought in his mind.

The next second, countless black streaks shot forth from his storage ring as a hundred black flying swords formed a sword array that hummed resonantly!

Treading upon the *Cloud Sea Flight* technique, Wan Yi soared into the sky. Landing above the sword array, he raised both arms and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Vast Sea of Swords, rise!"