Chapter 1078: Nine-leaf Sword Lingzhi, Purple Spirit Transcendence, and the Passing of an Immortal
Two boxes, one on the left and one on the right.
The one on the left was a gift from Grand Elder Shi. The box was ancient and heavy, its surface carved with intricate patterns:
“I wonder what exactly is hidden inside?”
Fu Changsheng felt a bit agitated and expectant.
He formed a Technique with his right hand.
A Technique was sent into the box, the Restriction was broken, and with a creak, the box opened. At the same time, a fierce aura surged out, as if countless invisible sword blades were roaming through the air, making one’s skin turn cold:
“This is?”
Fu Changsheng let out a soft sound of surprise.
He focused his gaze.
Inside the box, there lay a piece of black iron.
This black iron was irregular in shape, its surface uneven, as if it had been ground down by countless years. The edges of the black iron were slightly sharp, faintly exuding a murderous, solemn aura.
The most eye-catching thing was this.
A formless Sword Intent lingered around the black iron. That Sword Intent seemed to transcend the limits of time and space, carrying a supreme majesty and oppressive force that made it impossible to look at directly, let alone probe the true nature of this black iron:
“Sword Intent?”
Could it be…
Fu Changsheng’s eyes lit up.
He cautiously extended his Divine Sense into it.
However.
Before he could even get close.
He felt a stabbing pain.
With the strength of his Divine Sense, he still could not get within half an inch of the black iron.
The Sword Intent, fine as threads, coiled around the black iron, as if guarding something, yet also as if waiting for something:
“No wonder Grand Elder Shi could only sit on this treasure for so many years.”
Fu Changsheng thought about tempering the black iron with the Nine Yang Red Lotus Flame to see what would happen, but in the next instant, he thought of an even better method:
“How could I forget this treasure.”
As he spoke.
With a thought.
The Sword Dao Seed that had been nurtured in his Dantian roared out.
Ever since this Sword Dao Seed had absorbed the other seed from Shangguan Feng’s body, its form had changed, turning into a fire-poking stick.
The fire-poking stick was pitch-black all over, its surface rough, as if it were a tool casually taken from some ancient stove, completely devoid of any sharpness.
Yet.
On closer inspection.
One would find that this inconspicuous fire-poking stick faintly emitted an unfathomable aura, as though it contained some supreme power within.
Fu Changsheng sent a Technique into it.
With a hum.
The previously unresponsive fire-poking stick trembled slightly, then the black runes on its surface seemed to flicker, and in the next moment, it actually moved on its own toward the black iron:
“There really is something here!”
Seeing this, Fu Changsheng’s eyes brightened.
Sensing the supreme Sword Intent twining around the black iron, the fire-poking stick suddenly shuddered, and an invisible suction burst out from its shaft.
Hum!
The originally threadlike Sword Intent coiled around the black iron was now drawn by the suction of the fire-poking stick, turning into streams of invisible airflow that rushed into the stick on their own.
Boom!
The Sword Intent entered its body.
A faint layer of Golden Light appeared on the surface of the fire-poking stick, as if it had been activated by some power. That Golden Light gradually spread, wrapping the entire stick within. The rough textures on the shaft began to sharpen, and one could vaguely see ancient runes circulating within the Golden Light.
As the Sword Intent was devoured, the mysterious aura on the black iron’s surface gradually dissipated.
The fire-poking stick, however, trembled slightly, its form changing once again, actually turning into a piece of Moyu-colored stone stalagmite, its surface densely covered with sword-mark-like patterns:
“This is…”
The Sword Dao Seed had clearly, by some stroke of clumsy ingenuity, cultivated something out!
Fu Changsheng had no time to examine this Moyu-colored stone stalagmite.
Because after the black iron had its Sword Intent absorbed, it had turned into a piece of gold foil thin as a cicada’s wing. The surface of the gold foil was smooth as a mirror, faintly glowing with a soft Golden Light. Countless ancient characters were engraved on the gold foil.
Fu Changsheng gave it a rough glance.
Joy surged in his eyes:
“This… is actually a method to cultivate a Sword Dao Seed!”
There were not many ancient characters, but once deciphered, the procedures were quite numerous.
According to the records on the gold foil.
After the Sword Dao Seed sprouted into a Moyu-colored stone stalagmite, it would go through the sprouting stage, the growth stage, and the maturation stage.
During the sprouting stage, it needed to be watered with a Sword Cultivator’s Essence Blood, and it also had to be buried regularly with Broken Sword fragments. After the Lingzhi absorbed the sword artifact’s spirituality, sword-pattern-like veins would grow along the edges of its leaves:
“That’s not too difficult.”
Seeing this, Fu Changsheng actually grew a bit more interested.
But as he read further, his brows furrowed slightly.
Because the Moyu-colored stone stalagmite would, depending on the attribute of the Flying Sword buried, grow different Sword Patterns. For example, if a Thunder Attribute Flying Sword were used, thunder patterns would appear along the leaf veins.
Besides that.
If one implanted a sword artifact containing ferocious, baleful qi—such as a Demon Cultivator’s Blood Sword—the Lingzhi might mutate into an “Evil Sword Demon Lingzhi”, whose released Spiritual Mist would corrode a Cultivator’s mind.
Aside from this.
There was another way to rapidly speed up the growth of the Moyu-colored stone stalagmite: by practicing Sword Techniques beside the Lingzhi. The Sword Qi released would be absorbed and purified by the Lingzhi, then fed back as an even more refined “Sword Spirit Mist” for the cultivator to inhale and exhale.
In other words.
This was both the path to enhancing the Moyu-colored stone stalagmite and the necessary process of cultivating the Sword Dao, because only in this way could Sword Intent resonance be formed.
Fu Changsheng knit his brows:
“To accelerate the cultivation of the Moyu-colored stone stalagmite, the only way is places where large numbers of Sword Cultivators have fallen, such as an Ancient Battlefield or a Tribulation Crossing site, where there is such vast Sword Intent and Blood Qi as a catalyst.”
In the short term.
He simply could not find such a place.
Only by using system point allocation could there be the slightest chance.
After the Moyu-colored stone stalagmite grew leaves, each leaf would, at fixed intervals, produce a strand of “Innate Sword Qi”, which could increase the speed of comprehending Sword Techniques by nearly thirty percent!
And when the Nine-leaf Sword Lingzhi entered its growth stage, it could condense a “Sword Soul Projection”, allowing one to temporarily summon the phantom of an Ancient Famous Sword to aid in battle. As for which famous sword, that would depend on how much Lifespan was spent.