fairy family

Chapter 214 The Power of Taiyin, Devouring Ghosts and Refining Qi

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, another half a year has passed.

For the past six months, Yu Que has been staying in the cave to cultivate the Taiyin Sword Technique, and even his immortal cultivation has slowed down as a result.

This day.

He sat cross-legged on the Netherworld Spring, his hair and eyebrows covered in frost, and his skin had a cold, white hue.

Finally, his robes fluttered without wind, and a white light suddenly flashed in the dim cave. Although it was only for a moment, it was extremely bright, illuminating the entire cave with every detail.

A ray of light, thinner than a hair, slowly emerged from between Yu Que's eyebrows. It was neither water nor air, but a wisp of Taiyin sword energy that he had refined through the Taiyin Sword Manual.

Yu Que breathed a huge sigh of relief after refining this energy.

He reached out, removed the wisp of sword energy from between his brows, held it before his eyes, and examined it carefully, his face showing little emotion.

"Even with my cultivation level as a seventh-grade immortal, it took me more than half a year to refine just this wisp of sword energy."

If one were to start completely from scratch, it would probably take ten years to even begin to grasp the basics.

Yu Que muttered to himself.

The reason for his slow progress was not only because the Taiyin Sword Manual was too profound, but also because his aptitude was ordinary and not particularly outstanding, and because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was scarce and he did not have enough spiritual energy to use.

Yu Que was already fortunate to have been able to forge this wisp of Taiyin Sword Qi.

If he leaves Mopan Peak and is outside of Huangshan, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is extinct, he would not be able to succeed even if he spent a hundred years.

As he muttered to himself, Yu Que's eyes once again revealed hesitation and doubt.

During the years he cultivated the Taiyin Sword Technique, he thought about giving up more than once and putting the technique aside, but he was also unwilling to give up, so he continued to persevere.

If he still hasn't mastered the technique after another six months, no matter how profound it is, he will have to reluctantly give it up.

Now that he has finally succeeded in getting started, Yu Que couldn't quite tell whether he was happy or sad; he was just quite conflicted.

“Refining just a wisp of sword energy has already consumed all the spiritual energy of my Millstone Peak over the past half year, and has also delayed many of my affairs.”

"If I were to cultivate this method as well, without sufficient spiritual energy to nourish me, how could I possibly break through to the sixth rank, let alone achieve immortality?"

He pondered in his heart, his brows furrowed.

After these days of study, he realized that the Taiyin Sword Manual was indeed the fundamental method of a lineage, just as the Nine Dragons Immortal had said. This method places great emphasis on the foundation, and although there are many sword moves and techniques in the manual, all of them are only used in conjunction with the "Taiyin Sword Qi".

As long as a cultivator's sword energy is profound, they can still roam the world freely even without using the many moves recorded in the sword manual. Conversely, if one's sword energy is shallow, then even if they use many moves from the sword manual in a fancy way, it will only be superficial skill.

This nearly dashed Yu Que's hopes of finding another way to protect his path to immortality using various techniques and moves from sword manuals.

He also vaguely suspected that, apart from this sword technique, there should be other sword techniques within the Taiyin Sword Sect.

After pondering for a while, he let out a long breath and thought to himself:
"Never mind, since I've already spent half a year successfully refining that damned Taiyin Sword Qi, let's see if this sword qi is as powerful as described in the manual!"
If it's different, then why should I bother practicing this sword technique? I'll just focus on my Tai Sui lineage."

With a thought, Yu Que focused his gaze on the wisp of Taiyin sword energy in his hand and sent it crashing into the ghost soldiers guarding the left and right sides of the cave.

His intention was to test how effective the sword energy was against ghosts, and how sharp it was.

As a result, when the sword energy, thinner than a hair, landed on the ghost soldier, the ghost soldier had no reaction whatsoever.

Yu Que was puzzled for a moment, so he used his mind to summon the sword energy back.

The sword energy returned lightly, unchanged, as if he had missed his target and struck empty air.

When Yu Que raised his head again, he realized that something was wrong with the ghost soldier from before.

The ghostly aura emanating from the ghost soldier seemed to have lost all restraint, slowly dissipating. The process was slow, but it was indeed happening, and the ghost soldier itself offered no resistance whatsoever.

Yu Que looked on in surprise. He quickly summoned the ghost soldier, only to find that the ghost soldier had been completely destroyed and its soul had been scattered. There was not a trace of injury to be found.

Startled, he could only turn his gaze back to the wisp of sword energy in his hand.

Yu Que had a guess in his mind. He once again threw his sword energy at a ghost soldier, but it was as if he had missed again. There was no hesitation in the attack, and he was free to attack and move freely.

But the ghost soldier that was swept away by the sword energy was also instantly annihilated, slowly turning into ghost energy.

"These are all high-grade seventh-rank ghost weapons that I've casually crafted in recent years! How is this possible!?"

Yu Que murmured.

So he looked into the cave and saw a sixth-rank ghost soldier made from a small black gourd. This ghost soldier was only lacking in malevolent energy compared to a regular sixth-rank ghost soldier, making it the highest-ranking ghost soldier in Yu Que's possession.

He manipulated the sword energy and slowly lunged forward.

Yu Que stared wide-eyed as the sword energy rushed towards the ghost soldier, seemingly moving through nothing without any hindrance. The ghost soldier was merely an illusion.

However, the moment the sword energy entered the body, the ghost soldier's aura froze on the spot, and then began to dissipate.

Yu Que looked surprised and suspicious. He calmed his gaze, gritted his teeth, and manipulated his sword energy to circle the cave.

Sizzle, sizzle, now.

The Taiyin Sword Qi pierced through nearly thirty seventh-rank ghost soldiers in one breath, some large and some small, and some even from the sixth rank. Yu Que finally sensed a slight resistance from it.

But it was only a little bit.

In less than a breath, the sword energy flew back to Yu Que's fingertips, pulsating slightly in front of him.

As for the dozens of ghost soldiers in the cave, they all vanished at the same time, turning into billowing ghostly energy that scattered into a mass.

The entire cave was thus made even darker and emptier, with only Yu Que's figure remaining, lonely and desolate.

However, Yu Que, holding that wisp of Taiyin sword energy, had a radiant face and was overjoyed.

"Good good!"

He stared intently at the sword energy, muttering to himself:
"It was worth it for me to spend so long in seclusion to refine you."

As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand again, pointing up, left, and right, and finally pointing down.

The Taiyin sword energy pierced through the layers of formations on both sides of the cave, moving in and out as if nothing was there, circling around the millstone peak without any obstruction.

Under Yu Que's control, it pierced down towards the bottom of the Netherworld Spring, only encountering a slight obstruction after a thousand feet, but even that was only a tiny one. The Taiyin Sword Qi pierced through the entire Millstone Peak in one breath and plunged into the mass grave.

Yu Que sat cross-legged, remotely sensing his own almost undamaged sword energy, his joy growing even stronger.

He could also sense that after the Taiyin Sword Qi fell into the mass grave, it sensed heavy Yin energy, and the sword qi emitted a sense of "hunger".

Although the mass grave currently harbors many ghost soldiers, in Yu Que's eyes, how could mere ghost soldiers compare to the preciousness of his Taiyin Sword Qi?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he immediately let the Taiyin Sword Qi feast on the mass grave.

Then, a scene that surprised Yu Que unfolded.

A moment later, he suddenly stood up from the altar and lifted it with his hand.

With a clang, a wisp of sword energy, much thicker than before, flew back.

To Yu Que's naked eye, this wisp of sword energy had grown at least three times stronger.

Although it's become much more bloated and unhealthy compared to before, it's still a significant increase in size!

At this point, Yu Que finally couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Hahaha!

"I never expected this! I never expected that the Taiyin Sword Qi could grow stronger by refining Yin energy. In that case, wouldn't Yin energy also be a kind of spiritual energy to it?"

Yu Que recalled that it had indeed been mentioned in many Taoist books.

All the energies in the world, whether they are ghostly energy, malevolent energy, or even the energy of incense and other things, are actually considered "spiritual energy" as long as they can be used by immortals to perform magic.

However, this kind of "spiritual energy" cannot be consumed and cultivated by immortals. At most, it can be used for casting spells; otherwise, it will lead to self-destruction.

For example, if immortals haphazardly refine and consume the yin energy that nourishes ghosts and zombies, they will either become corpse-guarding ghosts or zombies; they will never be transformed into living people.

"No wonder the sword manual mentions that once the Taiyin Sword Qi is refined, even baleful energy can be refined by the Taiyin Sword Qi."

Yu Que thought excitedly, "So, after refining this energy, I can feed on all the cold and yin energies in the world and refine my energy by consuming them?"

Immediately, he turned his gaze to the dense ghostly aura permeating the cave.

Compared to the yin energy that has accumulated for thousands of years in the mass grave, the ghost energy released by the dead ghost soldiers is undoubtedly much cruder, inferior, and extremely toxic, making it difficult to arouse the appetite of the Taiyin Sword Qi.

However, they also belong to the category of cold and yin energy.

Immediately, Yu Que unleashed his sword energy, allowing it to refine the other person.

About a quarter of an hour later, he finally summoned the sword energy back.

At this moment, he stared intently at the sword energy in his hand, but the joy on his face diminished considerably, and he sighed repeatedly.

Inside the cave, although the ghostly energy had been completely depleted, the sword energy in Yu Que's hand did not grow any stronger; in fact, it shrank a bit.

This is because after absorbing the ghost energy, the Taiyin Sword Qi did not use it to refine new sword energy. Instead, it used the ghost energy as a consumable to refine the existing sword energy, thus making the originally bloated sword energy more condensed.

Next.

Yu Que experimented repeatedly in the cave, and even personally sent his spirit out of his body, carrying sword energy, and went to the mass grave.

He eventually discovered that while the Taiyin Sword Qi could grow stronger by absorbing Yin and cold energy, it had certain requirements regarding the quality of the Yin and cold energy.

Only the accumulated Yin energy from mass graves and other similar sites over thousands of years can make it grow stronger, while the dissipated ghost energy from ghost soldiers and spirits can only restore or enhance the Taiyin Sword Qi, but cannot create new sword qi.

Even if Yu Que used the little black gourd, the latter still couldn't whet the appetite of the Taiyin Sword Qi.

After all, the liquid condensed in the small black gourd only completely disperses the ghost energy, making it easier for other ghosts to devour it. It cannot improve the quality of the ghost energy, nor can it remove the evil contained within it.

Inside the cave, Yu Que pondered, then his eyes suddenly flashed, and he thought to himself:

"However... using ghosts to nourish sword energy is not entirely impossible."

Another idea had already popped into his mind.

After pacing around the cave several times, Yu Que became even more eager to explore.

After much deliberation, he immediately issued an order, instructing Pan Yi and the others on the mountain to inquire about the goods he needed in the mountains and the immortal city.

Six or seven days later, Pan Yi and his group finally replied, saying that they had found the goods Yu Que needed in the Immortal City, and the price was fair.

However, the other party insisted that Yu Que personally go to the handover, otherwise they would not sell it.

Upon hearing this news, Yu Que narrowed his eyes. He was not in a hurry to set off. Instead, he asked Pan Yi to take his communication talisman and visit the owner again to inform him that he was currently in seclusion and it was inconvenient for him to come out of seclusion.

If the other party is willing to sell, Yu Que is willing to remember this favor.

Yu Que was satisfied with the outcome. After receiving his communication talisman, the other party discussed the matter for less than half an hour before deciding to sell the goods in exchange for a favor from Yu Que, their true disciple.

However, the other party did not allow the remaining strongmen to take over directly, but instead personally dispatched the best men from their clan to accompany them in delivering the goods.

Only after arriving at Millstone Peak and climbing to the top of the mountain, confirming that it was indeed the cave of Yu Que, the true disciple, did the other party readily hand over the goods and take his leave.

The goods that Yu Que was so concerned about and that the other family went to such great lengths to acquire were none other than a ghost.

However, this ghost is no ordinary thing, nor is it a so-called sixth-rank ghost. It has already entered the middle third rank and is a genuine sixth-rank ghost!
These kinds of ghosts can be bound and turned into household gods, and once they are refined into magical artifacts, they can be used to create sixth-grade magical treasures, the price of which is unimaginable.

Even with the true master's salary that Yu Que had accumulated over several years, it was still not enough for him to buy a sixth-rank ghost.

The reason he was able to buy it was because the ghost was extremely evil and was highly suspected to be a family deity passed down from the other party's ancestors that had become evil and transformed into a ghost.

These ghosts that have reverted to evil ways can no longer be bound as household gods, nor can they be refined into magical artifacts. They are harmful and offer no benefit, causing their price to plummet to about one-fifth of its original value.

This allowed Yu Que to acquire enough money and supplies, and with the help of a favor, he successfully purchased them.

As for what he publicly claimed, it was that he wanted to use this ghost to test his own ghost soldier formation and see if he could turn it into ghost soldiers and seal them in talismans.

This practice of using evil spirits as consumables is one of the rare disposal methods on the market.

However, in reality, Yu Que got his hands on this ghost as soon as he got his hands on it.

Without wasting a moment, he directly fed the sixth-rank evil spirit into the small black gourd...

(End of this chapter)