Li Luo’s shout made all the others turn towards him. They stared at him uncomprehendingly, and some sneered when they saw his palm outstretched towards the sword in the wall. “Li Luo, have you lost your mind?” Zhu Xuan spluttered. “Does he think he can just shout at it, and the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade will come running?
“You think you’re the main character in a cheap novel?”
Only Jiang Qing’e looked surprised in a positive manner. “Could it be there’s some resonance between you and the Golden-Jade Onyx-Elephant Blade?”
Everyone else thought Li Luo was fooling around. What hope did an Evolving Resonance Tier cultivator have? Only Jiang Qing’e believed that Li Luo was not any weaker than the other two. If even she had managed to make the blade hesitate, then it was entirely likely that Li Luo stood a chance too.
“Jiang Qing’e, you might be blinded by love, but you could smell the outcome of this a mile away,” Duze Honglian said scathingly, rolling her eyes. Jiang Qing’e was the calmest, most rational person she knew in battle. But when it came to Li Luo, she was like a cat in heat.
Jiang Qing’e ignored Duze Honglian, only looking at Li Luo.
Li Luo did not reply either. After shouting “Blade, come,” it had taken all of his effort to resist the burning pain on his wrist. He looked down, surprised to see his skin still intact and not burned away to the bone.
At the same time, the metallic shriek of the sword retuned itself to a sound of joy and urgency.
It was not a change that Jiang Qing’e, Gong Shenjun, or anyone else could detect. Only Vice Princ.i.p.al Su Xin’s eyes widened in wonder.
s.h.i.+ng!
The metallic ring of the sword was audible now, ringing out clearly across the hall.
Everyone watched in amazement.
Swoos.h.!.+
The unbudging blade had started to move out of the wall on its own. With each new inch of exposed blade, the golden light shone brighter and brighter, blazing through the entire hall.
It was like an ancient elephant emerging from the dusty plains, shaking off the mud and dust to reveal gold and ivory underneath.
The blade gleamed in its own light.
The students watched, rapt.
The sword hilt in the wall was gone.
Everyone turned to Li Luo. In his hand was a new sword.
An ancient, straight blade.
It was now s.h.i.+ning with a dewy, new light of gold and jade, covered in a pattern of runes that resembled the wrinkled skin of an elephant. Golden light circulated along the blade, although it did not appear particularly sharp. On the contrary, it was st.u.r.dily built with some heft to it.
Although the blade felt light enough in his hands, it seemed to slash with immense power when Li Luo swung it back and forth.
In the shocked silence of the hall, Li Luo lowered his head to the blade, hunger burning in his eyes.
His heartbeat was through the roof. A wild sense of bliss and grat.i.tude fogged his brain with heady ecstasy.
Who would have thought that the clowny shout would actually get the Onyx-Elephant Blade to come to him?! The sword that had not budged for Gong Shenjun or the First Princess!
It was a casual test that got him unimaginable rewards.
Li Luo touched it carefully and felt the power wash through him. This was not resonant power, it was raw, physical power…
The Onyx-Elephant Blade imbued its user with enormous physical strength.
Truly magical.
Li Luo smiled with satisfaction. The Princ.i.p.al’s partner weapon was truly something else. Although it was also a gold-eye treasured artifact, it was in a completely different cla.s.s from the Ink Scale Sword.
His palm moved across the blade. The heavy, solid feel was like petting an old elephant. The blade did not resist, and Li Luo felt secretly relieved.
He knew that the Onyx-Elephant Blade had responded not to him per se, but to the bracelet seal on his hand that the Princ.i.p.al had placed.
Although the Onyx-Elephant Blade had sentience, it did not have much real brain to speak of. It did not seem to have understood that Li Luo was not the real deal.
Otherwise, he would be cowering behind the Vice Princ.i.p.al’s skirt right about now.
Li Luo looked up to see complex expressions and frustration all over the other students’ faces.
Especially Gong Shenjun. His handsome features were rigid with self-control.
He could not understand it. Why had the weapon that he had entreated so sincerely with… gone to Li Luo so obediently?
“Weren’t you supposed to be the Princ.i.p.al’s partner weapon? Where is your pride from before?!
“You… made me look like a fool.” Even the well-bred Gong Shenjun felt like cursing. He settled for a sharp exhale of frustration.
The First Princess’s lovely face was also covered in surprise, although she was not as affected as Gong Shenjun. The Onyx-Elephant Blade had not been suited to her at all, but she was also puzzled as to why the sword would have chosen Li Luo.
“Is this kid really that brilliant? Even more brilliant than Jiang Qing’e?
“How has he succeeded where a ninth-grade light resonance cultivator has failed?”
Her mind was reeling from the strangeness of it all.
“Li Luo, what the h.e.l.l did you do?” Duze Honglian burst out.
“What can I say? Fate. And with fate, who can say? Maybe the Onyx-Elephant Blade recognized the potential to be a King in me, so it came.”
“Dream on!!” Duze Honglian almost bit her tongue in rage. “Potential to be King? Potential to be the King of Thickest Skin, maybe.”
“How the h.e.l.l should I know what happened?” Li Luo said, flailing his hands helplessly.
“I was just fooling around, and it just came. Maybe it has, like, a, er, rejection limit. We hit the limit, and then it came to the next person who called. Should have been you. You pa.s.sed up on the chance.
“Maybe if it had been you to wave at it, it would’ve come to you too.”
Duze Honglian stared at him. What nonsense was this guy talking about now? This reason was even more preposterous than Li Luo’s potential to be king bullsh*t.
The sword would have come if she had gone first?
But what if… her chest was wracked with painful regret and hope.
“Cheeky boy, that’s enough.” Vice Princ.i.p.al Su Xin laughed. “The Princ.i.p.al’s partner weapon chose you, for sure. I find it surprising as well, but in any case, congratulations. You are now the second owner of the Onyx-Elephant Blade.”
She was looking closely at him, still surprised by this outcome.
She had thought that Jiang Qing’e was the most likely candidate.
This Li Luo was truly full of surprises at every turn.
Li Luo’s face lit up with happiness at Vice Princ.i.p.al Su Xin’s words. “I can really take it away?”
The Onyx-Elephant Blade was even more ideal than the Ink Scale Sword for him. Vice Princ.i.p.al Su Xin smiled breezily at him. “Like I said before, if you can come here, you can take the Onyx-Elephant Blade away by any means that you can think of.
“Before long, the real Holy Grail Meet will be upon us. Li Luo, I hope you can carve the Astral Sage College a path to glory with the sword in your hand,” she said with great formality.
After all… he was the Princ.i.p.al’s chosen one.