Starting from the folklore forum, making up town objects

Chapter 417 The Seven Swords of Calamus, Using Souls as Mud

The Soul Sealing Altar was made in the same batch as the Door Pouch, Sachet, and Calamus Sword.

Besides the one Chen Xin made himself during his testing, there was also one that Li Gongyang made to save the ghost, but that one had already been broken by Li Gongyang.

To be honest, Chen Xin didn't value these four treasures in the first place, but now it seems to prove a point.

There are no useless talismans, only talismans that are not used in the right place!

The Yama-level door knocker has become a protective object for Sanfeng Mountain, and will become a major protective object for the area in the future.

The Iris Sword, being only of the Yin Si level, became the exclusive talisman of the only Day Wanderer.

The previous Yama-level sachet was quite effective in dealing with the insect envoys of the Divine Envoy Organization. It could even be said that the insect envoys' abilities were completely countered by the sachet's power!

Now, only the Soul Sealing Altar remains as a Yin-Yang level protective object.

If it weren't for this compilation of the "Gates of Hell," it might still be gathering dust in a corner.

Chen Xin glanced at his Yin Virtue Points in "Complete Collection of Tranquilizing Objects," which had decreased to 800,000 due to the repair of a Yin-Yang Rift. After thinking for a moment, he decided to use 200,000 to upgrade both the Yin-Yang Level Soul Sealing Altar and the Yin-Yang Level Calamus Sword to the Yin-Yang Level!

The compilation of the Ghost Gate talisman will require a period of testing, giving him enough time to accumulate a million merits again.

So there's no need to worry about that.

He immediately issued an order to advance the Iris Sword, which had previously stopped advancing to the Yin Si level.

After consuming 100,000 units of Yin virtue, a fourth entry slowly appeared on the page containing the Calamus Sword.

Seven Swords

Chen Xin was stunned the moment he saw this entry.

After obtaining the specific information about the Seven Swords, he went to the Three Peaks Mountain base with a hint of excitement!

Standing on the edge of the cliff at the front peak, Chen Xin looked down at the almost invisible, shadowy figures below.

With a raised hand, a calamus sword with a red rope wrapped around its stem appeared in his hand.

The Calamus Sword is a talisman made by gluing together seven calamus leaves, and the power of this Yama-level Calamus Sword lies in these seven leaves!
The basic ability of the Calamus Sword is sword energy, followed by three other characteristics: [Suppressing Evil], [Enlightening the Mind], and [Opening the Acupoints].

【Suppressing Evil】Needless to say, it is designed to deal with ghosts and evil spirits. Items with this characteristic will have a strong killing power when dealing with ghosts and evil spirits.

However, the subsequent [Enlightenment] and [Opening the Aperture] are purely auxiliary effects.

【Enlightenment】 can enhance the swordsman's reaction speed, while 【Unblocking the Apertures】 allows the user to direct the sword energy according to their own will.

The latter two characteristics do not significantly enhance the ability to eliminate ghosts and monsters; they merely increase the hit rate.

In terms of the power of a single sword aura, it may not be as powerful as other similar protective objects such as the Reed, the Netherworld Fox Figurine, and the Candle Night Stone Town.

The sword energy of the Iris Sword is weaker than the current level. In other words, the sword energy of the Yin Si level cannot kill the Blood Calamity instantly after it attacks and hits. Similarly, the sword energy of the Yin Shuai level Iris Sword cannot kill the Fierce Fiend instantly.

Therefore, before reaching the Yin Si level, the main strategy of the Acorus Sword is to win by sheer quantity, coupled with the advantage of the attack range of the sword energy. In this way, it can rank among the upper level of attack-type talismans, but it is not the top level.

Of course, with Ai Hu's cooperation, the power of the calamus sword's energy can increase dramatically.

But that wouldn't be the ability of the Iris Sword itself.

Once the Acorus sword reaches the Yama level, it finally stops focusing on its support abilities.

The Seven Swords represent a significant change in the power of the Iris Sword!

The Seven Swords can transform the calamus sword into seven, and all seven calamus swords possess the characteristic of sword light!
That is, to float or fly!
However, this does not mean that the Seven Swords simply changed the way the Iris Sword shoots out seven sword energies instead of one at a time.

Because these are the seven sword leaves that split from the calamus sword, the power of these seven sword leaves does not diminish like sword energy.

In other words, each of these seven swords has the ability to severely injure Hei Yuan, or even kill him instantly!
With the help of [Mind Clarity] and [Acupoint Opening], the user will be able to control the seven sword leaves with ease. Unless encountering the Black Abyss, who specializes in dodging, it will be difficult to dodge the controlled seven sword leaves!

But that's not all!
The Seven Swords can transform from one into many, not just from one into seven!

One calamus sword can transform into seven calamus sword leaves, and the seven calamus sword leaves can further divide into seven sword lights!

In other words, one calamus sword can split into seven calamus sword leaves and forty-nine sword lights!

These forty-nine sword beams can be shot out and controlled.

Of course, it is difficult for an ordinary person to control forty-nine sword lights at the same time, but for the Calamus Sword in the [Seven Swords] state, it is only necessary to control the seven Calamus sword leaves, and the other sword lights will follow.

After learning about the abilities of the Yama-level Acorus Sword, Chen Xin was very excited!

However, what excited him was not that the power of the calamus sword had increased.

What excited him was that he could now control the calamus sword leaves, which had become physical entities!

Looking at the calamus sword in his hand, Chen Xin immediately activated the Seven Swords.

In an instant, the red rope on the sword hilt broke off and flew towards Chen Xin's right wrist, wrapping around it.

The calamus sword then split into seven calamus sword leaves of equal size!

Looking at the seven sword leaves, Chen Xin did not allow them to attack the ghosts and monsters below the mountain.

With a thought, the seven sword leaves arranged in a 'one-two-four' formation, and then a cone-shaped structure composed of sword leaves appeared in front of Chen Xin, nearly two meters long and more than twenty centimeters wide at its widest point.

Chen Xin leaped into the air, his left foot landing in the wider section of the cone-shaped area, where the four sword blades were positioned.

His right foot landed on the two sword-like blades in the middle.

After his feet landed firmly, Chen Xin felt his body drop two or three centimeters.

But it only dropped by two or three centimeters, and it steadily supported Chen Xin's nearly 200-pound body, which had been strengthened by the exercise!

Despite the mask, Chen Xin couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth!

If Chen Xin had briefly indulged in his swordsmanship when he first obtained the Calamus Sword, then...

However, because his physical exercises were already at a very high level, the sword energy did not excite him too much, and he quickly lost interest.

Even if sword light can fly, it is still sword light.

But when the Iris Sword was upgraded to the Yama level, Chen Xin's first reaction was not how effective it would be against the Black Abyss, but rather, 'It finally has a physical form!'
It has a physical form, can fly, and can be controlled!
what is this?
Isn't that just sword control?!
Sure enough, after trying it, the calamus sword leaves really could hold him up!

After swallowing and calming himself down, Chen Xin had a sudden thought and manipulated the sword leaf beneath his feet to fly forward.

But as soon as he moved, he almost did a split!

The reason is that the seven sword-shaped leaves separated during the movement!
If Chen Xin hadn't stopped in time, his ethereal sword-riding posture would have become extremely disheveled.

After reflecting on his actions, Chen Xin realized that he had failed to concentrate on actively controlling the seven sword leaves, which caused them to have their own thoughts.

After stabilizing himself, Chen Xin, with the assistance of the [Opening the Aperture], finally established a connection with each sword leaf.

However, this kind of control is not something that can be achieved overnight. Even with the help of the [Acupoint Opening], Chen Xin still has difficulty controlling it.

If it were just sword leaves, that would be fine; they could just fly around in the sky without any problem.

But Chen Xin has now increased the difficulty for himself; he not only has to fly, but also has to fly in perfect unison!

But there was nothing that could be done, since Chen Xin was using the Acorus Sword to do something that was not within the Acorus Sword's capabilities, so it was normal that it was difficult.

Afterwards, Chen Xin spent a full half-day playing at Sanfeng Mountain. He started at a snail's pace, then jogged, and finally sped up.

Although his final speed controlling the sword leaf was only equivalent to the speed of an ordinary human sprinting 100 meters, he was able to fly directly from the front peak to the middle peak, ignoring terrain factors.

That's the convenience of flying.

In addition, when Chen Xin condensed forty-nine sword lights, it was like buying a skin for a mount in a game.

There will be a trailing light effect when you fly!
However, no one but himself appreciated Chen Xin's ethereal figure flying with his hands behind his back on Sanfeng Mountain.

Only Lei Xiang sat on the golden roof, watching the flight that seemed rather clumsy to him, remaining silent.

After satisfying his craving for flying on his sword, Chen Xin finally tested the power of the Calamus Sword [Seven Swords].

His testing method was simple: stepping on the seven swords and trailing forty-nine sword lights, he swooped down from the top of the Three Peaks Mountain and crashed into the Black Abyss among the shadows.

As he approached, Chen Xin sent part of his body into the Netherworld, stopping the momentum of his fall.

Why is it that only part of the body enters the underworld?

That's because if he leaves the underworld with the red string on his wrist, the calamus sword leaves will also disappear.

Just after Chen Xin entered the Netherworld, countless dust particles were already rising up below the mountain.

Once the dust settled, the Black Abyss had completely disappeared, and holes of varying sizes appeared on the mountainside.

Among them, the holes caused by sword energy are generally about the thickness of a thigh, while the holes caused by the seven sword blades are only related to its size.

If Chen Xin hadn't been able to sense the seven sword leaves, it might have been impossible to find their location on the destroyed ground.

Returning from the Netherworld, the seven sword leaves shot out from the ground and merged into one in front of Chen Xin, and the red rope on Chen Xin's hand was once again tied to the hilt of the sword.

Holding the calamus sword, Chen Xin felt at ease.

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared on the mountaintop.

Although walking in the Netherworld was much faster than flying on a sword, it brought him no joy whatsoever.

After we've had our fun, it's time to get down to business.

Sheathed the Calamus Sword and summoned the Soul-Sealing Altar.

Looking at the jar, Chen Xin murmured, "What surprise will you give me this time?"

As he spoke, his good karma was rapidly depleted.

The level of the Soul Sealing Altar has also broken through from Yin Messenger, Yin Marshal, Yin Si to Yama level.

【Suppressing Evil - Soul Sealing Altar】

Uses: Soul suppression, soul sealing, mirage soul, mirage realm

The Soul Sealing Altar at the Yin Si level has an additional entry called "Mirage Soul," while the Yama level has "Mirage Realm."

Both of them contain the character 【蜃】 (shen) in their names alone!

Chen Xin suddenly had an idea. Since he was going to compile the Ghost Gate Pass based on the guardian spirits, it meant that he needed to have an accurate understanding of each guardian spirit.

It's not just about recognizing the abilities; we also need to connect the description of the talisman with its abilities and analyze which descriptions lead to which abilities of the talisman!
Therefore, Chen Xin decided not to try to acquire the abilities related to the Soul Sealing Altar first, but to try to guess them himself!

If he can guess the purpose from the literal meaning, it means he has a clear understanding of this talisman.

This greatly helped him in his choice of words when he later wrote about the Gates of Hell!
With that thought in mind, Chen Xin returned to his room and turned on his computer.

Then, look at the newly added abilities and analyze them!
蜃！
The original meaning of this character refers to a legendary, mysterious creature that can exhale and conjure up buildings.

Some say it's a giant clam, others say it's a dragon, and still others say it's a pheasant that transformed after entering the sea.

Legend has it that mirages are formed by its breath.

Although modern science has provided a scientific explanation for mirages, the word "mirage" has been extended to mean "illusion" or "falsehood."

Both [Mirage Soul] and [Mirage Realm] are related to mirages, so these two abilities should both be related to 'illusion'!
[Mirage Soul] should be a kind of illusory soul that is different from a normal soul?
The "soul" mentioned here refers to the ghost sealed within the altar, so "mirage soul" can be interpreted as a fake ghost? A ghost that has been conjured up?

As for the "mirage," it's easier to explain.

The word "境" (jing) already reveals a lot. 【蜃境】 (shenjing) likely refers to a false environment, possibly related to illusions like mirages.

So, does "mirage" mean the ability to create an illusion?
To be more specific, according to the description in the Soul Sealing Altar: "Legend has it that beyond the vast ocean lies a divine island, suspended between heaven and earth, connecting the mysterious underworld and severing ties with the mortal realm. It is millions of miles from the Central Plains, and below it lies the Abyss of Return to Nothingness, which mortals cannot cross!"

This illusion must be related to this description, which is why it creates an illusion based on this description.

But if that's all there is to it, ordinary malevolent spirits can do this by creating a maze, and the paper scraps of the Sorrow Staff also have a similar ability.

This is somewhat inconsistent with the Soul Sealing Altar, which is at the Yama level.

Therefore, the "Mirage" should have other characteristics besides being an illusion, but Chen Xin couldn't discern anything from the text.

After finishing the analysis, Chen Xin reached out and touched the page on the Soul Sealing Altar.

Immediately, a lot of information flooded Chen Xin's mind.

After Chen Xin finished processing the information, a look of surprise suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"This is truly unexpected."

Driven by curiosity, Chen Xin arrived at the foot of the Three Peaks.

He cut his middle finger, smeared the mouth of the Soul-Sealing Altar with his blood, and aimed it at a ferocious beast charging towards him.

In some respects, the advantages of talismans are obvious, such as the fact that the required materials can be found almost anywhere. However, in other respects, they also have disadvantages.

For example, the setting of smearing the mouth of the Soul Sealing Altar with the blood of the middle finger means that even if the Heavenly King himself came, you would still have to cut your middle finger to use the Soul Sealing Altar.

No middle finger?
Sorry, it doesn't work!
A hissing sound came from the mouth of the jar, and a faint, eerie light shone from the mouth, directly enveloping the menacing black shadow.

The ferocious creature stiffened, floated into the air, and then crashed into the mouth of the jar.

During this process, its body kept shrinking until it was no bigger than a fist when it was near the mouth of the jar.

Snapped!
After covering the jar with the lid, Chen Xin returned to the mountaintop.

Looking at the Soul Sealing Altar, Chen Xin had it use the [Mirage Soul]!
A moment later, Chen Xin opened the Soul Sealing Altar and took out a small lump of black mud.

After examining it for a while, Chen Xin placed it on the lid of the Soul Sealing Altar.

Suddenly, the black mud began to twist and change, and other colors even emerged from it.

In just a few breaths, the black mud transformed into a tiny clay figure the size of a thumb.

Black face, bushy beard, red robe, black gauze hat, and a demon-slaying sword!

This is exactly the image Chen Xin had imagined!
Use the soul as clay to mold a person!
This is called the Mirage Soul!

……

(End of this chapter)