Chapter 777: The Inkstone (Bonus Chapter for Subscriptions)
Chapter 777: The Inkstone (Bonus Chapter for Subscriptions)
Seeing that Jiang Wangzhi had already been scared half to death, Fang Xi no longer pressed the man.
He actually wasn't preparing to make enemies of the entire world; rather, his plan was to first deal with one or two major factions, creating chaos on Trapped Sky Island, and simultaneously carving out living space for the migrating Kyushu cultivators.
As for how to expand later, that was the Kyushu Realm's own work. Fang Xi wouldn't help them slaughter all the alien Void Amalgamation cultivators on Trapped Sky Island.
If they couldn't even manage this much, then there would be no need to speak of traveling to the Earthly Immortal World to avenge Dao Lord Fang Xian.
Moreover.
Cultivators possessed an endless stream of miraculous arts and secret techniques; if specifically targeted, even an Immortal would inevitably suffer a great loss!
Fang Xi now possessed profound knowledge. From an obscure ancient text, he learned that in the distant past, a 'True Immortal had descended' to the Earthly Immortal World. However, due to excessive plundering, the human, monster, and demon races united in a counterattack, leading to the Immortal's demise!
This was the only brief cooperation among the three races in their history.
Fang Xi didn't even dare to call himself an Immortal now, so naturally, he wouldn't be so arrogant.
Next, at most, he would focus on slaughtering the Black Heaven Pavilion faction.
Although such actions, to outsiders, already seemed extremely arrogant, making it inevitable that the master of the black market would come knocking sooner or later.
As for the Blackflame Ancestor's merchant guild? He himself was their highest combat power, and now he was no longer a concern.
"Since that is the case, I thank Fellow Daoist for informing me. We shall meet again if fate allows."
Fang Xi clasped his fist in greeting, transforming into a streak of dark-green light that vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Seeing this, Jiang Wangzhi stroked the brocade carp before him, then suddenly let out a long breath.
"Although this old man's brocade carp spirit pet has an ordinary bloodline, it is rumored to possess strange protective abilities that can add a bit of good fortune to its master. . . It has helped this old man turn danger into safety many times before."
"To have fortunately survived today, this old man will. . . not eat fish anymore from now on."
He inwardly vowed, still lingering in fear: "To slaughter cultivators of the same rank with a wave of his hand was as simple as eating and drinking, even killing the Blackflame Ancestor, who was a small realm higher. . . This old man originally thought that the Sword Son was the cream of the crop among the human cultivators who entered this island this time. Now it seems, I was merely sitting in a well and looking at the sky. . ."
...
Within the Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm.
Fang Xi carefully put away the 'Heart of Earth' and the 'seventh-rank flower soul', then opened the storage bags of the various Void Amalgamation cultivators, tallying his gains.
That Peony Fairy and the seventh-rank Earth race member had provided him with a considerable amount of Immortal Jade, in addition to many rare materials.
In contrast, the Blackflame Ancestor, apart from his life-bound magic treasure, the 'Black Crow Gourd', had rather disappointing gains in his storage bag, somewhat unworthy of his mid-stage Void Amalgamation cultivator status.
"It seems not all cultivators are accustomed to carrying their entire fortune on them. . ."
Fang Xi muttered, then opened the Sword Son's storage bag.
Then, his eyes lit up as he saw a small mountain piled high with Immortal Jade: "Not bad, not bad. . . With this Immortal Jade, the Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm's growth will be even faster!"
"Besides that, there are also so many top-tier metal-attribute materials. . . Could it be that the Sword Son intended to refine a few more flying swords?"
He sorted and put away the various materials one by one. With a flash of dark-green light in his hand, an emerald-green short sword appeared.
This short sword was barely a foot long, resembling an emerald-green jade ruler. It had no hilt, and strange wooden textures adorned its blade.
And when Fang Xi took out the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation), this emerald-green short sword hummed audibly, as if it had met its kind.
"Indeed, they are items of the same origin. . . It's just that a section of the blade is still missing in the middle, along with a few fragments. . ."
Fang Xi's Divine Consciousness scanned it inch by inch. After careful comparison, he drew a conclusion.
"Repairing an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure. . . I don't know how. . ."
The All-Heavens Precious Mirror would automatically merge upon encountering fragments, and Fang Xi couldn't even separate them.
As for the Erwu Soul-Slaying Gourd he had refined earlier, it hadn't truly modified the Immortal Abode Rare Treasure fragment. It had merely altered its appearance and incorporated it into a gourd. Strictly speaking, as long as one's Divine Consciousness and magic power met the requirements, even someone with clumsy artifact refining methods like him could easily accomplish it.
However, repairing an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure was a different level of difficulty entirely.
Only an Artifact Refining Grandmaster among Void Amalgamation cultivators, or even a Mahayana Loose Immortal level figure, would dare to lightly attempt it.
Not to mention, there was no overlap between this fragmented sword and the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation) in Fang Xi's hand.
"These two incomplete Immortal Abode Rare Treasures combined should account for sixty to seventy percent of that original immortal sword. . ."
"Once they are successfully melted and forged into one, the power would be astonishing, enough to be used all the way to the Mahayana realm. . ."
Fang Xi pondered for a moment, then suddenly thought of something. He rummaged through the Sword Son's storage bag and took out dozens of jade slips.
His Divine Consciousness scanned them one by one, and his eyes suddenly lit up when he saw a secret art.
"Sword Nurturing Method. . ."
Fang Xi's Divine Consciousness entered the jade slip, revealing a sword cultivator's secret art. The entire text focused on how to refine a sword into one's body, using blood to sacrifice the sword, in order to quickly achieve the state of human and sword becoming one.
Especially when a cultivator's realm was insufficient, using this art to forcibly accommodate and control high-grade flying swords had a miraculous effect!
"The Sword Son was a bit too eager for quick success and instant benefits. . ."
He thought of the Sword Son's previous actions and couldn't help but sigh. At the end of this secret art, there was surprisingly an incantation.
"Sword Fusion Method. . . Using numerous top-tier metal-attribute materials as a medium, combined with specially refined spirit liquid, while nurturing the sword, slowly absorbing the power of a sword artifact of the same origin to nourish one's main body?"
"It seems the Sword Son might not have been able to melt and forge the Qing He Sword either. . ."
"He initially just thought I possessed immortal sword fragments and wanted to reclaim them, then use this Sword Fusion Method to absorb the power within the immortal sword fragments to enhance his own flying sword?"
"This 'Sword Fusion Method' might not be effective on Immortal Abode Rare Treasures. . ."
"And I don't possess the Sword Son's supreme sword dao physique."
"Wait. . ."
Fang Xi seemed to recall something and suddenly formed a hand seal with one hand.
Demonic tree vines descended, hanging a corpse before Fang Xi.
This scene looked terrifying and horrific, but Fang Xi had grown accustomed to it.
He flicked his fingernail, and a streak of Taiyi Azure Wood Divine Light flew out, slicing open the Sword Son's flesh, revealing golden sword bones.
"The Sword Son's remains are here with me. I wonder if, by combining them with this secret art, I can refine him into a humanoid 'sword sheath'. . . At that time, I could then command it to perform the secret art, absorbing the power of the Immortal Abode fragmented sword to enhance the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation). There's a sliver of hope for that."
"However, I should still first go to the Kyushu Realm to see if there's a method for fusing broken swords before doing anything else. . ."
The Sword Son's secret art was quite an extravagant approach, sacrificing the potential of another flying sword to perfect one's own.
Furthermore, it seemed to require his special spirit body combined with the secret art to have a certain possibility of absorbing the power of the Immortal Abode fragmented sword.
If it were Fang Xi, he might not be able to achieve this.
For Fang Xi, magic treasures were valued for their quality, not quantity. If it could elevate the power of the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation) to a higher level, even if it meant sacrificing the Immortal Abode fragmented sword, it would be quite worthwhile.
However, for most cultivators, they would certainly prefer to use them as two incomplete Immortal Abode Rare Treasures, or simply sell one to exchange for other treasures, not being so extravagant.
Fang Xi put away the two fragmented swords and then took out half an inkstone.
This inkstone presented a gray-black color, with some simple patterns on its surface, looking utterly unremarkable.
Yet, previously, the Sword Son had relied on this very item to withstand a full-power strike from the Qing He Sword (Fifth Generation)!
"It's not an Immortal Abode Rare Treasure. . ."
"But it should be some kind of immortal treasure, right?"
Fang Xi sent out a stream of Void Amalgamation magic power, beginning to refine this inkstone, only to discover that it contained not the slightest magic power imprint of the Sword Son.
His magic power easily refined this inkstone, yet it also seemed unable to leave his own mark.
"An exotic treasure? !"
He muttered, thinking of a type of treasure in the cultivation world.
This type of treasure required no refining at all; a cultivator could use it as long as they injected magic power, and its power was fixed from the start.
"Go!"
As Fang Xi activated his magic power, a layer of pitch-black light screen emerged from the inkstone.
This layer of light screen was profoundly dark and gloomy, emanating a sense of indestructibility.
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He could barely discern a few fleeting immortal secret runes on the black screen. . .
"Not only is it an exotic treasure, but it's also like a talisman-treasure, something that can be consumed multiple times, but its power will eventually run out. . ."
Fang Xi quickly discovered that as the black screen persisted, a crack suddenly appeared on the inkstone, and its color became more grayish. He couldn't help but retract his magic power, putting the half inkstone into his storage ring.
He somewhat suspected that this inkstone was originally complete, but after several uses, it had lost most of its power.
What remained had been further wasted by the Sword Son, and now it was probably only barely enough for two or three more uses. . .
"Still, it's an unexpected pleasant surprise."
After slaying the Sword Son, he might as well continue using the Wang Family Ancestor's alias.
In a few hundred years, when the Wang Family Ancestor advanced to Void Amalgamation, he could also openly and confidently enter the Earthly Immortal World.
'With Shi Xianzi and Bai Yusheng testifying. . . the ascended cultivator Fang Xi currently in the Earthly Immortal World has no relation whatsoever to the Wang Family Ancestor. '
'Or. . . perhaps cultivate a few more identities as backup? '
Fang Xi flew out of the Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm and arrived at his temporarily excavated cave dwelling.
He swept his Divine Consciousness around, found everything exactly as he had left it, and nodded slightly, then tossed out a spirit beast pouch.
On top of the spirit beast pouch, there was also a talisman, which was rapidly turning into ashes.
"Ying ying. . ."
With a flash of light, a small two-tailed fox appeared, whimpering plaintively, looking very wronged.
After all, ever since the Qibao Secret Realm, Fang Xi had sealed her inside the spirit beast pouch, even deliberately sealing her perception of the outside world, making it feel just like being in prison.
"Oh? Not bad. . ."
Fang Xi looked at the wronged little fox, gazing at its tail. He saw that beside its two scarlet long tails, another small segment of a tail had grown out, and he couldn't help but smile.
"I was originally a three-tailed demon fox, with a pure bloodline. . ."
Su San couldn't help but retort, then her fox eyes widened at once: "Master. . . you. . . you've reached Void Amalgamation?"
"Having obtained the opportunity of the 'Innate Pristine Qi Purple Gourd', this old man's cultivation has also reached the Return to Void Perfected stage. Why wouldn't I be able to advance to Void Amalgamation?"
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