There are three sword-forging quests in the Greenfield Sect, each assigned by a different NPC: James Foster, Thomas Reed, and William Hughes. The quests you receive from each of them are different, and naturally, the flying swords you obtain upon completion also vary.

The quest from James Foster is: kill ten demon ghosts above level twenty, obtain one piece of Five Metals Essence, and one thousand-year-old plantain. In the end, under James Foster's guidance, you will forge a Plantain Leaf Sword.

Plantain Leaf Sword, third-tier immortal weapon, made from Five Metals Essence, impervious to evil and filth, requires level twenty to equip, flight speed 55–60, attack speed 25–30, damage 20–35.

The quest from Thomas Reed is: slay the red monster snake at the foot of Golden Whip Cliff. In the end, he will gift you a Jinxi Sword.

Jinxi Sword, flight speed 35–70, attack speed 15–20, damage 30–45, HP +10, with a 2% chance to double speed.

The quest from William Hughes is: deliver a letter to Princess Changchun Nancy Grant at Wanhua Mountain. In the book "The Nineteen Heroes of Qingcheng," Princess Changchun Nancy Grant is William Hughes's fiancée, and the two are quite affectionate and ambiguous. After delivering the letter, Princess Changchun Nancy Grant will gift you a Zihu Sword, which is my favorite. Although among the three flying swords, the Zihu Sword has the lowest damage, it is the fastest.

Since I’ve already made my choice, what am I still hesitating about? Uh... who told you I was thinking about which sword-forging quest to pick? Actually, I’m considering... whether to take my girlfriend to McDonald’s or to a Northeastern restaurant tonight.

As far as I know, Lillian Clark also seems to be planning to play Shushan, but this girl has always been very frugal with money. She’s already nagged me several times about my expensive purchase of the optical computer, so until our work stabilizes and we’re more financially comfortable, I can’t even dream of soaring through the game world with her.

By the way, that level 48 Azure Flood Dragon dropped the first seventh-tier divine weapon since Shushan’s server opened—the Dragon-Slaying Blade. The lucky player who got it hasn’t revealed their ID. You know, among the five weapon attributes—immortal, Buddhist, divine, demonic, and evil—only divine weapons can be used by players of any sect and unleash their full power.

If evil cultivators use immortal or Buddhist weapons and treasures, not only will their power be reduced, but they may even suffer backlash. Similarly, if righteous sect members use evil or demonic weapons, they’ll either go mad or fall into evil, unless their cultivation is deep enough to suppress the conflicting attributes. But honestly, if your level is way above the weapon’s, who would still cling to a low-tier one!

A seventh-tier divine weapon! I bet that bastard won’t be able to use it for a while. As for me, even if I wait two, three... or even four, five, six, seven, eight, nine rounds, I still won’t have a seventh-tier divine weapon to use! I’m so envious I could die.

“Forget it! Instead of yearning for fish by the abyss, better to go home and weave a net; two birds in the bush aren’t worth one in the hand...” I went to William Hughes and started the dialogue, humbly saying, “Senior Brother Hughes! I have gained considerable insight into our sect’s sword techniques and have reached the point where I can fly with my sword!”

Sure enough, William Hughes exclaimed in delight, “Junior brother, your extraordinary talent and rapid progress are rare among the disciples of Qingcheng...” A long string of dialogue followed, but I couldn’t be bothered to listen to this system-generated stuff. I yawned and finally waited for William Hughes to say the last line: “Recently, I’ve been wanting to send a letter to Princess Changchun Nancy Grant at Wanhua Mountain, but I am tasked with guarding the sect’s immortal mountain and cannot leave without permission. I wonder if junior brother could help me with this favor?”

“Nonsense! If I wasn’t here to help you, would I have the time to waste with you?” I quickly selected “Yes.” William Hughes handed me a letter and then said, “Thank you, junior brother! I see you don’t have a flying sword and can’t travel long distances, so I’ll lend you this Juying Sword for now.”

Getting the Juying Immortal Sword made me so happy! This is a sixth-tier immortal weapon! But this flying sword will eventually be taken back. If I tried to keep it for myself, it would be considered betraying Qingcheng. Even though William Hughes is only level 110, hunting me down would be as easy as spitting. Some brothers are quite bold, but I’ve always been a rule-follower and never done anything out of line.

I swapped out the useless Spiritwood Sword and equipped the Juying Sword. This flying sword has no level requirement, flight speed 120–200, attack speed 50–120, damage 90–100, with an additional 20% radiant damage. It’s a pair with his other immortal sword, Zhuxue, which has a cold attribute and inflicts ice damage. When the two swords are used together, their power increases by 30%.

“Haha! I can finally truly soar through the skies on my sword!”

Activating the Qingcheng Sword Technique, a streak of blue light lifted my drunken green ox, riding the wind straight up to the nine heavens.

Wanhua Mountain lies to the north of Qingcheng Mountain, thousands of miles above the clouds, and is one of the five great peaks of Shushan. On the way, as I flew on my sword, the fierce winds at high altitude chilled me to the bone. Normally, I’d praise Shushan’s virtual technology, but now I’ve cursed it hundreds of times. Why make the high-altitude winds so brutally cold and sharp as knives?