Fusang Sword Heart Diagram

Based on his own judgment, Ning Fusang bought several more rough stones, cut them open on the spot, and sold them to Fengyunfang, instantly gaining tens of thousands of spirit stones in his pocket.

Gambling is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor.

Although he had tens of thousands of spirit stones, he was still far from reaching the threshold of the eighth floor, so Ning Fusang gave up.

Back at Feixue Tower, after hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, Ning Fusang took out the ancient coin and carefully polished away the rust.

The ancient coin was about two inches wide, round with a square hole, and an ancient character engraved on each of the top, bottom, left, and right sides. Ning Fusang often immersed himself in the library and frequently attended lectures by the elders of the Southern Star Sword Sect, so he had some knowledge of demon script and ancient script. Therefore, he easily recognized the character on the ancient coin—Zhengna Esoteric Sect.

The Zhengna Esoteric Sect was destroyed after the Battle of Xiaoluotian and disappeared into the annals of history. Ning Fusang knew little about the history of ten thousand years ago; she only knew that the Nanxing Sword Sect had only existed for ten thousand years.

Among the immortal sects of Lingzhou, the oldest are Huanxitian and Kongyun Temple.

Most of the other immortal sects were established after the Zhengna Esoteric Sect was destroyed. Moreover, the Zhengna Esoteric Sect was not located within the territory of Lingzhou, so people's understanding of it was only superficial.

Turning the coin over, one sees tiny characters, like fly legs, engraved in clockwise circles. Ning Fusang carefully studied them several times and discovered that this seemed to be a secret technique.

Since she didn't know its name, and the secret technique consisted of thirty-six characters, she temporarily named it "Thirty-Six Secret Words".

These past two days, besides studying the "Thirty-Six Secret Words," Ning Fusang has been gambling on stones at Fengyunfang. Sometimes he makes a wrong judgment and loses a few spirit stones, but overall he's making a profit.

Reaching the eighth floor is just around the corner.

On the third day, Ning Fusang did not go to Fengyunfang. Canling asked worriedly, "What if someone else buys that stone?"

"If someone else buys it, then it's just not meant to be, and there's nothing we can do about it. Besides, can you be sure that there's treasure hidden inside that stone?"

Keep in mind that on the eighth floor, even a single gambling stone costs at least 30,000 spirit stones. A cultivator needs at least 50,000 spirit stones in assets to even be qualified to go up.

The silkworm spirit fell silent.

In the evening, Ning Fusang received a message from Xuan Ying Pavilion that Master Qiu had agreed to help her refine a magic weapon. The specific details would be discussed in detail at Xuan Ying Pavilion in two days after Master Qiu Ziming came down the mountain.

In the evening, Ning Fusang went to the martial arts arena set up in the city to practice her swordsmanship. She was only at the half-step Sword Qi Realm at the moment and still needed to consolidate her skills.

Zhongzhou City has four martial arts arenas located in the east, west, south, and north, each with a lookout tower. These are great places for stargazing and sightseeing. From the lookout tower, one can also take in the entire layout of Zhongzhou City.

Ning Fusang went to the Vermilion Bird Martial Arts Arena in the south. Each round platform was engraved with a magic array. After stepping into it, the three-zhang-wide arena became boundless. The barrier that only a Spirit Realm expert could break automatically rose up, and then a hazy mist appeared, blocking the outsider's gaze from probing.

Silkworm Spirit sighed, "The new era has seen many spells that didn't exist in the fourth era. Formations like this one have never been studied before."

The wheels of history keep turning and will never stop.

Techniques are also constantly being innovated.

Zhongling Tianxia has a history of over 240,000 years. In just 3,000 years, it has been able to produce something completely new like the Life and Death Talisman, let alone improve a formation.

Ning Fusang flicked her longsword, and countless sword energies spread throughout the magic array. It could be seen that not only had the number of her sword energies increased, but they were also more solid, like sharp blades that would draw blood with the slightest touch.

Once a sword cultivator enters the Sword Qi Realm, their offense and defense become integrated, resulting in a significant increase in combat power. Ning Fusang is currently in the early stage of the eighth level of the Sword Qi Realm, and she can hold her own against cultivators who are a minor realm higher than her.

Once one has grasped the essence of swordsmanship, one can be called a sword immortal.

However, Ning Fusang still has a long way to go before reaching that level. Her time learning swordsmanship is too short, her life experience too limited, and she hasn't yet grasped her own path of the sword. This requires accumulating experience through numerous sword duels and trials.

Some have spent three hundred years studying swordsmanship, only to suddenly achieve enlightenment. Some, in the face of life and death, comprehend their own unique way of the sword. Others, sitting by the water, watching the ripples spread as raindrops fall into the pond, suddenly find their sword heart clear.

Ning Fusang's sword aura grew stronger and stronger, her sword energy forming an impenetrable barrier. With another slash, the wind howled, and in the empty little world, waves of energy rolled and pressed down one after another.

The silkworm spirit never expected that its new master was actually so powerful.

No wonder he was able to contract a dragon.

Although this dragon only has two thousand years of cultivation.

To the silkworm spirit's surprise, this dragon showed no intention of devouring its master. In the Fourth Era, there were also dragons, and they were quite prosperous, holding a pivotal position among the demon race.

Therefore, dragons are extremely proud and would rather die than bend, and would never submit to the human race.

To enhance their combat power, human cultivators created a method of forming a pact with demonic beasts, where the human cultivator is the master and the demonic beast is the servant, at their beck and call.

But monsters also have intelligence, how could they be willing to be forever manipulated by human cultivators because of a contract?
Even under the laws of the contract, they can rebel. As long as their own strength exceeds that of the one they have sworn an oath with, they can reverse the laws and turn master and servant into enemies.

The demonic beasts that cultivators contract with are like a sword hanging over their heads. They must always be careful of the rope that ties the sword, and they must also cultivate diligently to improve their cultivation level.

Some cultivators, when unable to control the demonic beasts or spirit beasts they have contracted, will preemptively kill them. This is a last resort, and no one would do it unless absolutely necessary.

The death of a contracted beast can also damage a cultivator's foundation.

The silkworm spirit appeared timid and cowardly, and it would be impossible to say it was completely without thoughts of devouring its master. However, Ning Fusang forcibly branded it with a slave mark, rendering these thoughts mere fantasies.

If it were to harbor any intention to devour its master, before it could even act, Ning Fusang could obliterate it with a single thought.

Today, its relationship with Ningfusang is truly one of mutual prosperity and mutual loss.

The silkworm spirit prayed that she wouldn't die a violent death, otherwise she would have to be buried with her.

In this world, the one who most desires Ning Fusang to become strong, besides herself, is the silkworm spirit, whose life and fortune depend on her.

Therefore, he was quite pleased to witness Ning Fusang's sword strikes.

The moon is bright and the stars are few; silver light covers the ground.

Ning Fusang put away the Su'a sword and left the training ground.

Not long after, a cultivator with an unfamiliar face arrived at the martial arts arena. He found an empty arena, touched the ground with his toes, and leaped into it. He discovered that the remaining sword energy inside was still sharp and fierce.

"The closer we get to the Five Continents Tournament, the more experts there are in Zhongzhou City. I wonder who left behind such sword energy."

The man pondered that the other party should be at least a sixth-level expert, perhaps even higher.

"I'm getting more and more excited for this year's Five Continents Conference."

(End of this chapter)