Chapter 297 — Heaven-Bestowed Divine Edge

"The key to the treasure vault on Mount Shenglin is kept by the mistress of the Si family—that is, by our Holy Cult's Holy Maiden."

Shan Youxin continued: "All the Holy Cult's property is managed by the Si family; every coin must pass through the Si family's hands. If the Cult Leader wishes to draw on the vault this time, he must first fetch the key from the Holy Maiden. Once the heavenly treasures are taken from the vault, forging eight thousand sword blanks will be no difficult matter. And with the Directorate Foundry to produce the blanks, the work will go quickly!"

The Si family was a clan of eminent standing within the Youmo Cult, and the Holy Maiden was almost always chosen from among the Si. The Holy Maiden of this generation was Si Yunxiang—which is to say, the key to the vault lay with Si Yunxiang.

Shen Mu sought out Si Yunxiang. She was astonished: "Eight thousand swords to forge a sword pellet! So many swords—can the Cult Leader even lift it?"

Shen Mu's face darkened. He too was somewhat worried that he would not be able to shoulder a sword pellet forged from so many flying swords.

Si Yunxiang read the look on his face and said with a smile, "You are the Cult Leader and Holy Master; it is only natural that the treasures in the vault be used to forge a primordial weapon for the Cult Leader. But these treasures were gathered coin by coin, day by day, by the disciples of the cult. This time, with the natural disaster and the relief efforts, all our Holy Cult's money has gone out to aid the victims. There is no money left in the vault. If something else should go wrong, and the cult has no funds to meet an emergency, that too would be a hard thing."

Shen Mu laughed. "I know your difficulties. I still have a million Dafeng coins here—why not contribute them to the Holy Cult, so that you can draw on them in an emergency?"

Si Yunxiang was overjoyed. She said with a smile, "A million Dafeng coins is a great deal, but with a million disciples in the cult, it comes to barely one Dafeng coin apiece. Since the Cult Leader is forging swords, then the Chubao Sword need not be used any longer..."

Shen Mu's face darkened, and he unfastened the Chubao Sword and handed it to her.

Si Yunxiang kindly reminded him, "There seem to be some other treasures in the Cult Leader's Taotie Pouch—the Thousand-Banner Pagoda, for instance—that could also be used to fill the vault..."

Shen Mu took off the Taotie Pouch and drew from it the Thousand-Banner Pagoda and the Scorched-Tail Zither, then suddenly grew wary. "No—I am only forging a single Six Harmonies realm primordial weapon. Why should I give up treasures of a Cult Leader's grade? Their value is not on the same order at all! Holy Maiden, are you making a fool of me?"

Si Yunxiang sneered. "Cult Leader, the treasures in the Holy Cult's vault are more than enough to forge a dozen or more Cult-Leader-grade treasures! If the Cult Leader is going to use those treasures to forge a single sword pellet, surely you cannot leave the Holy Cult's vault empty all at once?"

Shen Mu thought it over, and it was indeed so. He had no choice but to hand over the Cult-Leader-grade treasures in his Taotie Pouch. These treasures he had all obtained by plundering the vault of the Golden Palace of Loulan, so he did not feel the loss too keenly.

"Cult Leader, you still have those Star Pearls from the Qushan Shrine in the East Sea in your pouch, do you not?"

Si Yunxiang's eyes sparkled. "Three thousand of them!"

Shen Mu said with a black face, "Holy Maiden, this is all I have!"

Si Yunxiang laughed. "You are the Holy Cult Leader. I am not asking for these treasures for myself—I am only putting them in safekeeping in the Holy Cult's vault. Are they not all still yours? Our Si family manages the wealth, but that too is a bitter task, is it not? We may only look, never use. However many treasures there are, do they not all bear the surname Shen?"

Shen Mu felt there was great sense in her words, though something in his heart still felt off. Nevertheless, he took out the three thousand pearls.

Si Yunxiang stole two glances into his Taotie Pouch. "And those two big eyeballs..."

"I am not giving them!" Shen Mu's face was ashen; he felt a murderous impulse.

Si Yunxiang ventured, "The Cult Leader's dragon-qilin..."

Shen Mu let out a breath and smiled. "If you can afford to feed it, take it by the halter and go."

Si Yunxiang hastily laughed. "I was only joking, Cult Leader. That glutton had best stay with the Cult Leader. Even the Patriarch would not have him—he complained the beast ate too much. I will go now and have my Si family elders fetch the treasures from Mount Shenglin, to forge swords for the Cult Leader."

Shen Mu stood there holding the flat, empty Taotie Pouch, his face green, feeling as though he had been stripped bare by this little wench and left standing without a stitch.

"This woman has fallen headfirst into a money pit. I cannot outmatch her. I must bring Ling'er over soon to take charge of the finances, or the Holy Maiden will strip me naked and suck the marrow from my bones!" thought the great Cult Leader Shen.

Si Yunxiang ran off to one side and took out a mirror. The mirror floated in the air and turned twice, and within the mirror another mirror appeared. Behind that mirror sat an old woman, who asked, "Holy Maiden Xiang, what business have you with me?"

Si Yunxiang recounted the matter of Shen Mu's sword forging, and said, "The Holy Cult Leader is forging a primordial weapon; this is no small matter. I beg Grandmother to take the finest materials from the vault and send them to the Directorate Foundry in Fangzhou."

The old woman frowned. "The Si family does not do business at a loss. The Cult Leader is still young, after all, and his cultivation is still low. What need has he for the finest treasures..."

"There is profit in it!"

Si Yunxiang displayed the treasures she had wheedled and swindled out of Shen Mu, and the Si family grandmother's eyes lit up at once. She said again and again, "So many cult-guarding-grade treasures! The Holy Maiden truly knows how to keep a house. Good, good—you are worthy of my teaching. You did not take after your aunt! That aunt of yours let money flow out like water and never knew how to reckon accounts—a spendthrift woman who ruins the family!"

She meant Granny Zhu. Granny Zhu had never cared about wealth; she always bought the expensive, never the right one.

The Si family grandmother said, "The finest sword-forging materials are usually extremely heavy—a piece the size of a finger weighs several dozen catties. And the vault does not hold so much of such material. We cannot forge eight thousand swords from it. Forging treasures of cult-guarding grade, we could make twenty-seven swords, each weighing roughly ten thousand catties."

"And the next grade down?" Si Yunxiang asked.

The Si family grandmother said, "The next grade down is not enough either. At most we could forge a hundred flying swords."

Si Yunxiang's brows knit tightly. "And the grade below that?"

"The grade below that is cold-iron essence, dark-gold essence, dark-copper essence. More than enough to forge eight thousand swords."

Si Yunxiang said, "Then please, Grandmother, bring both the finest and the next grade down, and make up the rest with dark-gold essence. The finest will be enough to give the Primordial Spirit Sword its edge."

The Si family grandmother said suspiciously, "Dark-gold essence is three times heavier than cold-iron essence. Why use dark-gold essence instead of cold-iron essence?"

Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly. The Si family grandmother in the mirror shot her a glare. "Little hussy, up to your tricks again. Mind the Cult Leader cannot lift it and swats your backside black and blue! I will send the things to Yongzhou; you have that bandit surnamed Fan sail his boat over."

Si Yunxiang assented, and turned the bronze mirror backward two turns; the mirror within the mirror vanished.