Chapter 151: The Fifth One

As the sound of Ye Junze's joyous voice faded away, Meng Yuan, who had been lost in thought for a moment, instantly snapped back to reality and replied, "Congratulations."

Hearing this, Ye Junze smiled and nodded.

Meanwhile, Lingling, who had been deeply immersed in its own cultivation, naturally heard Ye Junze's voice as well. Soon, it opened its eyes.

Having finished its cultivation and opened its eyes, Lingling immediately saw Ye Junze, whose face was beaming with joy.

As the sword spirit of the Exquisite Void Sword and having accompanied the late Senior Canghao for a long time, Lingling had a much deeper and different perception.

From the moment it opened its eyes and began to observe Ye Junze, it sensed a familiar yet somewhat different aura—or rather, sword intent—emanating from him.

Judging by the aura radiating from Ye Junze, it was indeed the Canghao Swordsmanship that he was practicing; however, the sword intent carried within Ye Junze's aura was distinct from what Lingling had felt in its previous master.

It felt as though the two of them stemmed from the very same source, yet had embarked upon two completely different paths.

As for which of the two was stronger and which was weaker, Lingling naturally found it difficult to judge. Yet, it felt genuinely happy that the sword path legacy of its former master had now found a new successor. Not to mention, this successor happened to be its favorite new master.

Therefore, Lingling was overjoyed. It was glad to have passed on Canghao's sword legacy to Ye Junze, and even more delighted to have encountered such a new master, grateful to him for waking it up and for all the efforts he had made to bring it back to consciousness.

Seeing Lingling staring straight at him without saying a word, Ye Junze could not help but ask curiously, "Lingling, what's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

With that, Ye Junze even reached out to wipe his face, half suspecting there was something stuck there.

Hearing Ye Junze's question, Lingling snapped out of its reverie once more, hurriedly floating over to his side as it replied, "No, no! It's just that as I just woke up and saw you, Master, it suddenly reminded me of my previous master."

At this, Ye Junze asked with renewed curiosity, "Oh? Is something the matter? Why do you say that?"

Lingling rubbed its head, deep in thought as it answered, "Because the sword intents of both of you are far too similar, yet there are some differences. As for where those differences lie, I can't quite put my finger on it, but they are definitely there."

Hearing this, Ye Junze could not help but gently rub Lingling's little head, laughing as he said, "Then you must be feeling wrong. That Senior Canghao was a god-like sword immortal; how could the weak sword intent I possess compare to his? I'm afraid I don't even reach a fraction of a percent of his level."

Lingling shook its head vigorously like a rattle-drum, refuting, "That's not true! My perception is definitely not wrong. After all, I spent all those years living day and night with him; there's no way I could be wrong!"

With a smile, Ye Junze nodded and replied, "Alright, alright, whatever you say is right, then let's assume it is."

Immediately afterward, Lingling continued, "Speaking of which, Master, do you already know about my previous master? He is indeed named Canghao, right?"

Ye Junze nodded and replied, "I have learned a bit about him. This Senior Canghao is truly an extraordinary figure. I suppose only someone like him could create such a powerful martial art as the Canghao Swordsmanship, not to mention the sheer height of his attainment in the sword path, which is undoubtedly a rare sight since ancient times."

Hearing Ye Junze speak thus, Lingling clapped its hands happily and responded, "That's right! But Master, you shouldn't feel too discouraged either. I believe that as long as you keep cultivating, one day you will surely reach those heights as well. Who knows, Master, you might even fulfill Canghao's wish, pushing further along the sword path and reaching the ultimate peak that he never attained."

Hearing Lingling's words—which grew increasingly difficult to distinguish as sincere or merely flattery—Ye Junze chuckled and said, "Haha, then I will gladly accept your auspicious words."

Lingling scratched its head somewhat bashfully and said, "Then just in case you fail to achieve it, Master, you mustn't blame me!"

Ye Junze waved his hand dismissively and replied, "How could that be? If I fail, it simply means my own abilities are lacking. Of course I wouldn't curse the heavens or blame others. You can rest completely assured of that."

After chatting idly with Meng Yuan and Lingling for a while longer, Ye Junze suddenly felt a wave of hunger rising from his stomach.

He then said, "Alright, I've consumed quite a bit of energy over such a long time. I'll go outside first to replenish my physical strength, and then come right back to continue my cultivation. The two of you stay here and get along just like before."

Meng Yuan replied as usual, "Understood."

Lingling gently nodded its small head and answered, "Got it! Then hurry up and go, Master. Practicing sword techniques really does consume a lot of energy."

Nodding, Ye Junze said no more. He turned around, waved his hand, and departed from the Illusory Void Realm.

***

Emerging from the Illusory Void Realm, Ye Junze opened his eyes and glanced out the window.

At this moment, the sun was climbing high into the sky, clearly indicating that it was noon.

Sitting up from the bed, Ye Junze rubbed his somewhat rumbling stomach.

Stepping down from the bed, he muttered to himself, "Never mind, I'd better fill my stomach first."

With that, Ye Junze once again skillfully opened the ordering system and began selecting his lunch.

As he was picking his meal, Ye Junze seemed to recall something and suddenly said, "Ah right, I promised to bring some delicious treats back for Lingling. Let me check if they have any. I remember seeing them before; if memory serves me right, they should be available."

Thinking this, Ye Junze browsed through the projected menu page by page, item by item.

Before long, true to his expectation, Ye Junze found a page entirely dedicated to desserts.

On the menu, mousses, puddings, chocolates, milkshakes, cakes... and all sorts of other desserts that he had previously mentioned to Lingling were listed there.

Seeing this, Ye Junze smiled with satisfaction. After pondering for a moment, he muttered to himself, "I shouldn't order everything for Lingling all at once. I'll bring some today; otherwise, it won't be able to finish so much. If it likes them, I can always bring other kinds next time."

Having made up his mind, Ye Junze quickly finalized his own lunch along with the desserts he had promised to bring for Lingling.

He then stood up and waited patiently nearby.

While waiting, a sudden thought struck Ye Junze, and his mind stirred.

Shortly after, a wisp of blue sword intent leaped forth from his fingertips.

Upon seeing this, a look of delight swept across Ye Junze's face. As for what was currently on his mind, only he himself knew.

The moment he summoned this wisp of sword intent, his entire body seemed to be suddenly enveloped by sword intent, making him look just like a sharp, unmasked sword.

As Ye Junze slowly examined the blue sword intent dancing on his fingertips, little did he know that because of this faint wisp of sword intent, he had already caught the attention of many people.

Deep within a remote mountain range, the very instant Ye Junze's sword intent appeared, a man's voice muttered in a low tone, "This feeling? Oh? It seems a new practitioner of the Canghao Swordsmanship has appeared?"

However, the man shook his head shortly afterward and said, "Yet this sword intent... why does it still feel so weak? Could it be that he has only recently begun practicing the Canghao Swordsmanship?"

Shaking his head once more, the man muttered to himself, "Never mind, thinking about this now is useless. I'll wait for the future; there will always be a day when we cross paths. When that time comes, I shall test him. I only hope that by then, you will have practiced the Canghao Swordsmanship to a decent level, otherwise, defeating you would be far too dull."

By the end of his sentence, the man's voice gradually faded away until nothing more could be heard.

Elsewhere, inside a luxurious mansion.

A man who appeared exceedingly young sensed the emergence of that trace of sword intent. As if moved by an intuition, he raised his head and looked out toward the external world, though it was unclear what specific direction he was gazing at.

"Interesting. In this direction... could it be?"

"Splendid, splendid. I never expected that even at this late hour, a new successor would still emerge. In that case, strictly speaking, this should make the fifth one, shouldn't it? However, this one's strength doesn't look like much to write home about. Still, I must remain cautious; should he encounter any further fortuitous opportunities, it might turn into a whole new spectacle."

"Such a scene is genuinely something to look forward to."

With that, the man suddenly burst into laughter, looking thoroughly delighted as if he had thought of something amusing.

"It seems those few people should have sensed it by now as well. I wonder what their reactions will be?"

As the man pondered this, a folding fan suddenly materialized in his hand, though it was unknown where he had retrieved it from.

***

The man waved his fan while murmuring with great interest, "Fascinating, fascinating, truly fascinating."

Scenes similar to these were playing out in two other locations as well.

In a place surrounded entirely by water on all fours sides, a woman who was sitting cross-legged with her eyes tightly closed suddenly opened her eyes.

Judged solely by her looks, the woman easily possessed a top-tier score of ten out of ten.

Upon opening her eyes, the woman let out a soft sound of puzzlement.

"The feeling just now? Is it the Canghao sword intent? But why does this Canghao sword intent still appear so weak? Could it be a new practitioner who only started learning the Canghao Swordsmanship today?"

As soon as the woman spoke, a string of questions followed, but no one was there to answer her. Consequently, she could only furrow her brows in contemplation.

After a short while, the woman shook her head and said, "Forget it, never mind. Thinking too much is useless anyway; there will always be a day when we meet. I'd better focus on my own cultivation first."

With that, the woman closed her eyes once more and resumed her cultivation.

Naturally, Ye Junze—the very person who had stirred up all this commotion—remained utterly oblivious to the words spoken and the events unfolding among these mysterious figures scattered across various corners of the world.

At this moment, he was peacefully enjoying his freshly ordered lunch, chewing his food slowly and savoring the delicious meal while simultaneously restoring his physical stamina.

"Achoo!"

Suddenly, while in the middle of his meal, Ye Junze could not help but sneeze.

"Strange, why would I sneeze out of nowhere? Could it be that Mom and Dad are missing me again?"

Thinking this, Ye Junze shook his head, pushed the thought aside, and continued enjoying his lunch.

After a while, having finally polished off his meal, Ye Junze let out a satisfying burp and exhaled a long breath.

At last, his physical energy had fully recovered.

After resting contentedly for a brief moment, Ye Junze stood up and cleared away the remnants of his meal.

Then, after visiting the washroom to tidy himself up simply, Ye Junze returned to his bed, intending to resume his cultivation.

Naturally, before entering the Illusory Void Realm, Ye Junze did not forget to bring along the desserts and snacks he had bought for Lingling.

Closing his eyes, his vision shifted.

Ye Junze arrived once more in the painfully familiar Illusory Void Realm.

The moment he stepped in, Ye Junze held up the items in his hands, looked at Lingling, and said with a beaming smile, "Lingling, look, what is this?"

Hearing this, Lingling—who had been busy with goodness knows what—immediately raised its head and caught sight of the various desserts held in Ye Junze's hands.

Lingling's eyes lit up instantly as it let out a delighted gasp of surprise.

"Master!" Lingling cried out happily.