Chapter 91 |
Minor Huan Sea.
Verdant Jade Island, Mystic Jade Cave.
"This cave residence does not have a dedicated artifact-refining chamber after all. It was originally occupied by a water-method alchemist master."
Fang Qing sat cross-legged, pondering silently.
In general, artifact refining mostly relied on fire-based methods—either drawing on underground fire veins, using a cultivator's own innate true fire, demon beast flames, or array-formed fire.
"The sect does have dedicated earth-fire chambers that draw on underground fire veins for artifact refiners to use."
"However, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the most convenient option is still one's own innate true fire."
He patted his storage bag and laid out the materials one by one.
Profound Origin Geng Metal, Silver Gang Essence, Hundred-Refined Black Iron... along with second-rank Ice Soul Cold Water for quenching, and of course the most crucial ingredient: three liang of Celestial Axis Star Sand!
Fang Qing converted his mana and exhaled a breath of innate true fire onto the Hundred-Refined Black Iron.
Under the scorching true fire, the room's temperature rose sharply. The black iron turned red-yellow and semi-transparent, showing faint signs of melting.
Several days later, he paused briefly to recover his mana. Looking at the pool of molten iron before him, he added the Silver Gang Essence...
One material after another was fed into the metallic liquid by Fang Qing. Finally came the Celestial Axis Star Sand, sparkling with faint starlight!
"Now is the moment... Fuse!"
His divine sense extended outward to assist in refining the flying sword. Suddenly he formed hand seals, drawing the metallic liquid into a long, rod-like shape.
A flying sword about three inches long gradually took form.
Sizzle!
After quenching in second-rank Ice Soul Cold Water, it faintly exuded a sharp aura.
Seeing this, Fang Qing's expression remained calm as still water. He continued exhaling innate true fire, relentlessly refining the sword.
Gradually the flying sword grew transparent. Its body was continuously purified, almost on the verge of vanishing entirely...
"Ancient Shu flying swords undergo dual refinement of form and essence. First forge the sword embryo, then refine it from having form and substance to formless and immaterial, and from formless and immaterial back to having form and substance. This constitutes one-revolution!"
Fang Qing recalled the sword-refining incantation from the Heavenly Escape Sword Art, and a faint gleam appeared in his eyes.
"The so-called nine-revolution flying sword repeats this process nine times until the sword contains not a trace of impurity—pure beyond pure."
"Of course, with my current mana and cultivation, completing even one revolution of sacrificial refinement would be quite good."
Several months later, gazing at the flying sword that had returned from formless and immaterial to having form and substance after completing one revolution, Fang Qing showed a trace of satisfaction.
The sword was no longer than three inches, without a hilt. Its body was semi-transparent, faintly shimmering with specks of starlight.
He formed a hand seal, and the sword suddenly elongated to about three feet.
"This is the limit of one revolution. A true nine-revolution flying sword can change size at will, from as small as a mustard seed to as vast as Mount Sumeru—with but a single thought."
Fang Qing converted to [Lou Metal] mana and inhaled with his mouth open.
The one-revolution flying sword instantly transformed into a streak of golden qi that he drew into his body. It became a wisp of lung-gold qi circulating in his lungs, nourished by the [Lou Metal] mana.
"The materials used for refining the sword were of good quality, so it emerged from the furnace already as a one-revolution flying sword. From here, it requires continuous sacrificial refinement by the cultivator. Only then can it possibly advance alongside the cultivator's realm progression. This is a slow, grinding process—quite similar to a natal magical treasure, only advanced by one major realm."
"Moreover, this kind of advancement is far too slow. Indeed, dueling fellow sword cultivators of the same level outside would be much faster."
Fang Qing shook his head, driving the unsuitable thought from his mind. He stood up and tested the flying sword's sharpness.
Whoosh!
He extended his fingers into a sword gesture. A beam of sword light abruptly manifested within the sealed chamber.
This flying sword's radiance shimmered like a sky full of stars, hazy and mist-like, nimble and flowing in graceful arcs. In an instant it slashed down against the chamber wall.
The array prohibition that had withstood a Foundation Establishment cultivator's attacks for a long time collapsed at once, revealing a deep sword scar.
"Good! This natal-bound flying sword is almost perfectly fused with the cultivator's mana. Every subtle movement responds exactly as intended. Even in flight, it achieves true unity of man and sword—the flying sword serves as the point, cleaving through the air ahead."
Fang Qing could not help but feel a twinge of pity when he thought of those cultivators who still rode or sat atop sword-shaped magical artifacts to fly.
"Hmm... indeed, the Sharp Edge Chapter complements a natal flying sword perfectly. They enhance each other beautifully."
Sensing how his own Dao Foundation augmented the flying sword, Fang Qing felt deeply satisfied.
"The sword has been refined. Only the final step remains: giving it a name."
"This sword incorporates Celestial Axis Star Sand, allowing it to draw upon the power of celestial stars. It is a star-attribute flying sword."
"It will accompany me through storms of blood and slaughter, breaking armies and slaying enemies. Let us name it 'Wolfbreaker' then."
He made his decision.
Wolfbreaker—the union of the Seven Kills, Army Breaker, and Greedy Wolf![1]
By choosing Wolfbreaker, he hoped the sword would possess the piercing edge of Army Breaker, the murderous aura of Seven Kills, and the overwhelming momentum of Greedy Wolf!
"With Wolfbreaker at my side, it is almost equivalent to nurturing the embryonic form of a magical treasure in advance. This will bring enormous benefits in future battles. Even after I reach Core Formation here, I will have a handy magical treasure ready to use."
With his golden finger supporting him, Fang Qing brimmed with confidence as he looked forward to the path of Core Formation.
"However, third-rank resources in the Minor Huan Sea are rather scarce. The Chaos-Sea Flood Serpent and Linghu Jin both attempted Core Formation one after another. I fear they have already exhausted the Blue Sea Sect's accumulated reserves. It will take centuries to recover."
"Perhaps after I reach late Foundation Establishment, I should consider heading to the Eastern Sea cultivation world to attempt Core Formation?"
He pondered for a moment and suddenly recalled the secret realm on Tianxin Island, which seemed to open only every few decades.
By then he would likely have just reached late Foundation Establishment. If the secret realm contained Core Formation spiritual items, it would be worth looking forward to.
Having successfully refined the Wolfbreaker flying sword, Fang Qing's mood soared. He went out to relax for half a month before returning to his own cave residence.
Beside the second-rank cold spring.
Fang Qing converted his mana to the [Ji Water] method. With the blessing of the Long-Awaited Sweet Rain Dao Foundation, his sensitivity to this second-rank cold spring grew even clearer.
After all, [Ji Water] was also known as [Fountain Water]! It perfectly corresponded to the cold springs and hot springs used in water-method alchemy.
This affinity was precisely why Fang Qing's water-method pill-refining skills had advanced by leaps and bounds.
"If before, when I had only refined Foundation Establishment Pills, I could be considered a quasi second-rank superior alchemist, then now that I have forged the [Ji Water] Dao Foundation, I should qualify as a true second-rank superior alchemist. I even have hope of pushing toward quasi third-rank alchemist!"
After casually refining several kinds of second-rank pills and finding that both quantity and quality far surpassed his previous efforts, Fang Qing reached his conclusion.
In truth, his pill-refining technique still fell short of Elder Tianding's. Yet his exceptional affinity with spring water had forcibly closed the gap.
"If I can hone a third-rank water-method pill-refining technique, even in the vast Eastern Sea cultivation world I could make a comfortable living."
Fang Qing had once heard that the Eastern Sea cultivation world was incomparably larger than the Minor Huan Sea. Core Formation ancestors appeared in droves there, and Nascent Soul monsters occasionally revealed themselves as well.
By comparison, the Minor Huan Sea cultivation world was merely a remote corner of the countryside. Few Core Formation cultivators even bothered to look its way.
In the Eastern Sea cultivation world, second-rank immortal cultivation arts could only barely sustain a livelihood. Only third-rank skills earned widespread respect and were welcomed as guest elders by major powers.
"Here in the Minor Huan Sea, though, second-rank superior pill-refining technique is already more than sufficient. Elder Tianding's pill-refining skill is roughly on par with mine, yet he controls the sect's only third-rank spiritual spring and is hailed as a alchemy grandmaster. He is probably the number-one alchemist in the Minor Huan Sea right now."
Fang Qing shook his head with a wry smile. "But since I am now a second-rank superior alchemist, it is time to start gathering materials for certain things."
The pill formula he planned to collect was called Barrier-Breaking Pill—an upgraded version of the Minor Barrier-Breaking Pill without question. It assisted mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators in breaking through to late-stage bottlenecks and ranked as second-rank superior!
Within the sect, such pills likely had no stockpile. They were only refined in special batches when Core Formation cultivators attempted their breakthroughs.
Fang Qing knew his limits well. With his mid-grade water spiritual root, he could never hope to receive the treatment reserved for Core Formation seeds. When he swallowed pills to cultivate—even with the Dao-Genesis Pearl helping to purify them—he was very likely to encounter a bottleneck at the peak of mid Foundation Establishment!
This was clearly the drag of his spiritual root. Mid-grade aptitude at the Foundation Establishment stage meant progress would be extremely difficult. Major realm breakthroughs almost always came with bottlenecks.
Therefore, he needed to prepare in advance to avoid being caught unprepared later.
"The Barrier-Breaking Pill series has one final member: the Great Barrier-Breaking Pill, which is practically third-rank in grade. It assists peak late Foundation Establishment cultivators in breaking through to Pseudo-Core!"
The so-called Pseudo-Core was simply Foundation Establishment perfection. Yet condensing that final drop of liquid mana was clearly no easy feat. A bottleneck still existed.
Otherwise, elders like Tianding and Wanbao would not have remained stuck at late Foundation Establishment.
"At peak late Foundation Establishment, one possesses ninety-nine drops of liquid mana. Pseudo-Core requires one hundred drops. It seems like only one drop's difference, but in reality it is a qualitative transformation of mana—a major checkpoint. Without breaking through the bottleneck, that final drop of liquid mana simply cannot be condensed."
At times like these, the superiority of heaven-grade spiritual roots became obvious. For those cultivators, such bottlenecks simply did not exist!
As long as their mana accumulation reached the required level, breakthroughs happened naturally.
"Hmm? Why did I suddenly think of Wanbao and Tianding at the same time?"
Fang Qing had bitterly cultivated divination techniques for many years. At this moment he felt a certain intuition. "Not good!"
His expression immediately turned vigilant. He promptly divined a hexagram in his heart.
Several plum blossom phantoms danced in the air. Around him appeared tortoise shells and yarrow stalks used for divination.
This was the result of years of absorbing the essence of various divination books and fusing them into one unified art.
"Hmm... The superior man dwells in security yet thinks of danger? Indeed, danger is approaching. But as long as I guard my doors and gates carefully, I will remain safe and unharmed."
Moments later Fang Qing studied the hexagram image and silently calculated. "From this it appears it is not some Nascent Soul monster launching an assault, nor a heaven-destroying calamity. It is a disaster within the third-rank level. The Blue Sea Sect will suffer certain losses, but with the Core Formation ancestors and the grand array, the sect's interior should remain secure."
His expression grew solemn. Without further hesitation, he used the Dao-Genesis Pearl to send a message to Qin Ruxue, advising her to find an excuse to return to the sect as soon as possible.
[1]:- Sha-Po-Lang (殺破狼) is a famous trio in Chinese astrology, consisting of three powerful stars:
七殺 (Qisha) – “Seven Killings Star”
破軍 (Pojun) – “Army Breaker Star”
貪狼 (Tanlang) – “Greedy Wolf Star”
T/N: I opted for "Wolfbreaker" as a unified name, since it encompasses all three stars without sounding as awkward as the literal "Kill Break Wolf."