Hammer in her left hand, sword in her right, the eldest sister is connected to both worlds.

The Soul-Guiding Sword received a name bestowed by the Heavenly Dao, and the sword spirit, who resembled a little girl, slowly opened her eyes, her pupils as black as the finest ink jade.

A faint, bewildered glimmer of light leaked out.

Master Hengyang and everyone present looked at Xue Lan, indicating that they wanted Xue Lan to go and guide the sword spirit.

The little girl floated in mid-air, barefoot. Xue Lan took a step forward, extended her hand to her, and spoke gently:

"Invite the soul!"

The young girl listened intently for a moment, then shot into Xue Lan's arms like an arrow, giggling as she spoke, her voice as clear as a silver bell: "Your Majesty!"

This was the first time Xue Lan had heard this title, but she didn't pay much attention to it. The Soul Guide was a newly born sword spirit, and sooner or later it would form a contract with a human cultivator to fight on the battlefield.

Calling me Sword Master is inappropriate here; it's better to just call me Lord.

She was now more concerned about the Soul Guide's eyes; the little guy seemed to be blind.

Xue Lan waved a hand in front of the little girl's eyes and discovered that she was indeed blind. Those beautiful, dark jade-like eyes were actually blind.

An uproar erupted around them as everyone discussed how the sword spirit nurtured by the Azure Heaven Crystal could have gone blind.

In an instant, everyone turned their attention to Xue Lan.

Hopefully, she, the one who forged the sword, will provide an explanation.

Xue Lan looked at the Soul Guide in her arms.

She does have an explanation, but the person in front of her probably won't believe it.

Just as Xue Lan was struggling with her decision, Xie Cuicheng, the City God, dressed in a dignified official robe, took a step forward and slowly said, "She is a sword spirit nurtured by loyal souls, named Guiding Soul by Heaven. It is not necessarily a bad thing that she cannot see at this time."

Master Hengyang then understood somewhat and continued the City God's words: "The newly born sword spirit is pure in nature, without distinction between black and white, and unaware of the difference between good and evil. Rather than letting her be blinded by the chaos of this world, it is better to let her blind herself, calm her mind, and cultivate the Tao."

Xue Lan nodded frantically, inwardly praising the City God and thinking that she would go to the City God Temple to pray later.

Those around them nodded in agreement, seemingly showing strong support for the two, including Zhu Lingzhi and Chu Yutian, who were both demons.

The system spoke within my consciousness: "Is this what authority is?"

Xue Lan replied, "They're right. This kind of thing is not uncommon in the Yuanming Realm. After being tempered by the mortal world, people's hearts change a hundred times."

"That's exactly what I was about to say!"

The system, swinging on a swing within her sea of ​​consciousness, said with some confusion: "But she was born with eyes, meant to see, whether of pure goodness or the ugliness of the human heart. If she hadn't seen and experienced it firsthand, how could it be considered cultivation?"

Xue Lan remained silent.

With the explanations from Lord Xie Cuicheng, the City God, and Master Hengyang, the surrounding crowd no longer had any doubts about the Soul-Guiding Eyes. With their doubts dispelled, all that remained was to investigate Xue Lan.

How did Xue Lan, a junior who is not even a hundred years old, manage to refine the Azure Water Celestial Crystal, which no one has been able to refine for thousands of years?

Xue Lan: First of all, you need to be good at matching various materials.

Secondly, you must have a spirit that is not afraid of death.

Ultimately, it all came down to research and luck. If it weren't for those materials, and if he had been killed in the explosion back then, Xue Lan wouldn't have had a chance later on.

With the Azure Heaven Crystal now in hand, even if Xue Lan successfully imbues himself with spirit and becomes a Grandmaster of Weapon Refining, he won't be able to leave the War Puppet Mansion for the time being. The War Puppet Mansion cleaned up the assessment platform again and had Xue Lan preach on it.

They attached great importance to it, so much so that they even brushed away the black mark that had been left by the failed experiment by the master in Hengyang.

After completing the assessment, Xue Lan lectured at the War Puppet Mansion for three days, mainly teaching how to improve the purity of the Heavenly Origin Crystal through a sealed furnace, and then using Lin Chenmu, which has a soul-healing effect, to awaken the soul inside the Heavenly Origin Crystal.

The members of the War Puppet Palace: That's it?

Xue Lan: What else? We should say your assessment materials were excellent. Otherwise, there would be no need for the Azure Water Heavenly Crystal.

If the materials provided by the War Puppet Mansion were not these two, Xue Lan would have experimented in her weapon-refining room for at least two more months before daring to announce them.

Three days later, Xue Lan was finally able to return to Xuanhuang Cave Heaven. Master Hengyang personally delivered to her the jade token of a Grandmaster of Weapon Refining.

"I've already spoken with City God Zhou about the matter of the remnant soul. That day, not only did a new name appear on the judge's account in Xie Cuicheng, but it was the same in other places as well."

"Even after a thousand or ten thousand years, I will never forget. My name and fate are recorded in the judge's ledger, and I will find my final resting place in the netherworld."

Yin Shishi planned to return to Xuanhuang Cave Heaven that afternoon, and Yan Chengxue and Wu Yijun saw her off.

On the way out of the city, Xue Lan was pointed at and gossiped about by everyone, whether they knew her or not.

Yan Chengxue, who was beside her, looked at her and said, "You've become famous. You're the youngest Grandmaster of Weapon Refining in the Lower Realm of Yuanming, and the number one person to refine the Azure Water Heavenly Crystal."

Xue Lan always felt embarrassed when she heard this about his young age and tried to change the subject. So she asked, "How famous is he?"

"At least among the weapon cultivators of the War Puppet Palace, you are invincible!" Yan Chengxue shrugged.

Xue Lan knew in the next second just how famous she was. A large group of disciples from the War Puppet Mansion stood in a grand procession at the city gate, all of them seemingly skilled in weapon crafting. Leading them was none other than Lin Su.

Seeing Xue Lan approach, the young man said somewhat apologetically, "Lin Su was blind to your true nature when he offended you, Senior Sister. Today, my fellow disciples and I have come to see you off. We wish you a safe journey."

His disciples behind him said in unison, "May Senior Sister have a smooth journey."

Looking at the disciples in front of her, Xue Lan noticed that most of the weapon cultivators were simple-minded and honest, like a lump of refined iron.

All emotions, joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, are written on their faces, just like the admiration on the faces of these disciples now.

Xue Lan realized she was truly being manipulated, and the young girl smiled gently.

She genuinely liked the phrase "smooth sailing." It was like saying before leaving home, "May your life be filled with smooth sailing, and may we meet again someday."

Xue Lan raised her hand in return: "May all my fellow disciples achieve success in their cultivation, and may we meet again someday."

Watching the Xuanhuang Sect's flying boat soar into the distant horizon, Yan Chengxue turned to Wu Yijun beside her and said, "Although Xue Lan is a bit lacking, she's still a decent old friend, someone I meet occasionally."

Wu Yijun nodded to the side, and the young man and woman walked side by side toward the War Puppet Mansion. They were unaware that a semi-transparent figure was following behind them.

Xue Lan's demonic soul followed behind the two, overhearing everything Yan Chengxue said.

The system commented: "Why do you have to make it feel so blatantly like you're stealing something?"

A question mark popped up above Xue Lan's head: "Stealing feelings?"

[He looks like a thief, like a thief, you know? A perfectly good grandmaster of weapon crafting...]

"No, no!" Xue Lan shook a finger and said seriously to the system, "Grandmaster of weapon crafting, Xue Lan, left the War Puppet Mansion long ago."

The system was furious; she was still putting on an act!

The next moment, the system heard Xue Lan's last words: "The old friend is gone, but the thief has returned!"

It means that the person who left was an old friend, a good friend of Yan Chengxue. Their friendship was of the highest order and had nothing to do with me, a thief.

The system thinks you're quite discerning; you distinguish between appearance and substance.

Xue Lan didn't talk to the system again. With a light tap of her toes, she leaped onto the roof of a roadside house and flew towards the conspicuous black tower.

Meanwhile, in the courtyard prepared by the War Puppet Mansion for the demon race, a faint, almost invisible cyan light flew towards the Black Tower.