With a single swipe of his hand over the storage pouch, a dark greenish-black longsword appeared in Li Ye's grasp.
"A mid-grade magical weapon, the Blackwood Sword…"
His former self had been doted on to the extreme by his father.
Not only did his father go to great lengths to meet all his demands, but once he entered the Purple Profound Sect, the man even handed over this mid-grade magical weapon an heirloom passed down through their family.
As for himself, the father had switched to using a low-grade magical tool: a Blackiron Hoe.
Otherwise, with the former Li Ye's temperament and pitiful cultivation, what standing did he have when he first joined the Purple Profound Sect? Without something to rely on, how would Senior Brother Cai have even bothered to look at him?
And without that sword, how could he have survived several dangerous encounters?
Now, this Blackwood Sword was one of the few remaining items his father had left behind.
Li Ye studied the sword carefully, memories of his predecessor flashing through his mind, and couldn't help but sigh.
"It's a shame… This sword has been mostly ruined. Its current power is probably worse than a standard low-grade magical weapon."
Originally, aside from the Blackwood Sword, his predecessor also had a low-grade magical shield for defense.
But during a raid by demonic cultivators, the shield had been destroyed on the spot, and the Blackwood Sword severely damaged.
Now, the Blackwood Sword was bent and warped, its edge riddled with nicks and cracks. Many of the internal inscription nodes had also been broken.
Its power had been drastically reduced.
When Li Ye used the Object Controlling Technique to manipulate it, he could feel how sluggish the flow of spiritual energy was within the sword. As a result, the flying sword felt disobedient and unreliable.
Watching the sword wobble erratically in midair, Li Ye's eyelid twitched involuntarily.
He took a deep breath and showed a resigned expression.
"Reforging and re-attuning it should help a little, but I'll still need time to get used to it… Otherwise, if it acts up during a duel, it could be fatal!"
This kind of thing boiled down to one issue he was broke. Otherwise, there's no way he'd still be relying on such a broken flying sword.
It was being irresponsible with his own life!
At the very least, he should get it repaired, right?
Too bad he didn't even have the money for that…
What a damn tragedy!
After some trial and error, Li Ye gave up on the idea of using it directly for combat and instead retracted the Blackwood Sword and began refining it.
Though his current cultivation had slipped from its previous level, the spiritual power refined by the Emerald Bud Essence was purer and easier to work with, making the refinement process quite smooth.
He was even able to spare some focus to think about his future path of cultivation.
"My spiritual power is no longer unstable. With the support of the Emerald Bud Essence, it won't be long before I recover to the fourth stage of Qi Refining…"
"It's been so long since I crossed over, and I've finally stopped the decline. Now I can start climbing upward again!"
....
After the little episode with the three visitors, Li Ye continued living his quiet life.
Other than staying in his quarters and tending to his spiritual fields, he occasionally visited the Sect's Logistics Hall to check for missions that might suit him.
He didn't even take a single step outside the sect gate.
If he needed anything, he would ask someone else to bring it back for him from the nearby marketplace, never going there himself.
It wasn't that he didn't want to go out.
But his Blackwood Sword was severely weakened, his injuries were still healing, and he had barely any spirit stones left.
On top of that, when he recalled the circumstances of that ambush by demonic cultivators, something felt off.
The timing of their appearance was far too convenient there had been no warning signs. And when they attacked, their tactics were incredibly precise and targeted…
Almost as if they had advanced intel and were prepared specifically for that encounter.
This led Li Ye to develop some suspicions deep down.
So until he fully recovered and earned his "first pot of gold," he wasn't planning to step outside lightly.
A little boredom was nothing he couldn't endure.
But during this calm period, he started noticing that some people he passed by began looking at him… differently.
Rumors had begun spreading among the lower-ranked disciples talk of a once bold-tongued cultivator who, after being ambushed by demonic cultivators, was so severely injured and shaken that his cultivation fell drastically, and he had since become too frightened to even step beyond the sect's spiritual fields.
"Is that him?"
Two junior disciples lowered their voices as they watched Li Ye's figure walk past.
"That should be him… He used to be fearless, relying on desperate battles to earn enough resources to break through to mid-stage Qi Refining."
"And to think I used to look up to him… What a joke."
One of them spoke bitterly, sounding as if he felt personally let down.
"His current cultivation isn't even at mid-stage Qi Refining anymore might be weaker than us. I bet he suffered injuries to his foundation. Probably won't amount to much in this life."
Li Ye heard the whispers behind him, but his expression remained calm and unaffected.
He had grown used to this kind of talk lately.
Due to the actions of his predecessor, Li Ye had earned a bit of a name for himself among the low-ranked disciples even if his cultivation had never been particularly high.
Many could recognize him on sight.
Still, perhaps because his predecessor had been known for his formidable dueling skills, Li Ye's reputation hadn't completely faded. For now, people only dared to gossip behind his back.
As long as no one confronted him directly, these idle rumors didn't bother him in the slightest.
At least, that was how he felt. Others, however, didn't take it so lightly.
"Junior Brother, it's just idle gossip. Don't let those busybodies get to you…"
Zhang Liangfu muttered angrily, trying to console the ever-calm Li Ye.
But before Li Ye could even respond, Zhang himself couldn't hold back any longer. His voice rose, filled with righteous fury.
"It must've been those three from before spreading rumors on purpose slandering you out of spite!"
"Despicable behavior! That woman may have a pretty face, but she's rotten inside… Good thing you cut ties with her!"
As soon as he said that, the other disciples nearby all spiritual field workers like them nodded in agreement, visibly indignant.
They looked so worked up, that you'd think the one being insulted was them.
"Brothers, no need to get angry. So what if people talk behind my back? A bit of reputation means nothing to me."
Li Ye shook his head, then turned and pointed to his spiritual field.
"What matters to us is studying our planting techniques. If we improve even a little, this season's harvest of spirit rice will be real and tangible."
"Speaking of which, I've been working on a few new ideas lately…"
With a smooth shift in tone, he began discussing planting techniques, and the group's attention instantly turned.
The irritation from earlier vanished like it had never existed.
"To take praise and scorn so lightly… Junior Brother Li truly is someone devoted to the Dao, walking his path with ease,"
Among the crowd, a middle-aged cultivator with streaks of gray in his hair gave a sincere compliment, though there was a hint of melancholy in his voice.
"Unlike us… spending our days toiling away on trivial matters, our path to the Dao already slipping away…"
Zhang Liangfu, clearly enjoying the discussion, glanced over at the man and chuckled.
"Now, now, Senior Brother Hu you've got a beautiful wife at home, and your child's about to be born. Maybe the little one will have excellent spiritual roots!"
"With a life like that, what's there to complain about?"
At the mention of his wife and soon-to-be-born son, Senior Brother Hu Zhiquan's face lit up with a smile, and a spark of energy returned to his eyes.
"You're right. Life isn't bad at all. And even if my talent is lacking, my son may be different…"
"I should work even harder. Once he's born, I'll need to prepare plenty of spiritual resources to nurture him!"
With that, he stepped forward to join the ongoing discussion about planting techniques.
Leaving Zhang Liangfu standing there, momentarily stunned.