I made the entire cultivation world cry

Chapter 198 Making Empty Promises (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Jiang Yi quickly lit an incense stick, just like the one outside, and stuck it on the fence of Xiao Wujiu's courtyard. Then she used her divine sense to explore the boundaries of the entire cave world.

This little world isn't very big; it's an upright gourd-shaped structure.

The lower part of the gourd is this valley, roughly estimated to be 500 acres of spiritual fields, which is about the size of 50 football fields, though it might be a bit small for a cultivation family.

But for a cultivator, there's no way they can finish planting them all.

"Next time I return to the sect, I need to bring the Blood Ginseng Doll and the Garden Guardian Stone Golem with me, as well as my Five-Colored Spirit Soil. I don't know if they can manage to cultivate 500 acres of spirit fields; I might need to find some help. When I get back to Songjiang City, I'll look for some wood-type demon spirits that are good at farming and raise a few more. Anyway, we have land, so we can let them be self-sufficient."

To the south is a cave with underground fire, called the Sword Tempering Platform, which is a place specifically for forging weapons and swords. Some sword-forging stone platforms and artifacts still remain in the cave.

To the north is the Sword Washing Pool, and to the east is a grove of trees, both of which contain species suitable for making zithers.

To the west lies a mountain, with some exposed golden ore on its slopes, and the palace is embedded within the mountain.

Jiang Yi stroked his chin. "The four directions correspond to the five elements: metal, wood, water, and fire, while the center belongs to earth. It seems that this is a product of ancient times. Cultivators at that time particularly liked this kind of landform where the five elements circulate continuously. This is also the most stable structure. Even if no one maintains it, the entire cave world will not collapse."

The middle of the gourd is the sea of ​​sword energy that Jiang Yi saw, while the upper part of the gourd is the Sword Tomb Mountain that floats in the air.

Jiang Yi was still unsure whether the sea of ​​sword energy in the gourd's waist would harm her, so she temporarily suspended her exploration of Sword Tomb Mountain and went to the western palace first.

Stepping into the main hall, the furnishings are extremely simple, yet they exude the refined taste of ancient cultivators. The hall is spotless, with bright windows and clean tables, as if the owner of this place had only left for a short while.

Faint cloud patterns floated on the white jade floor tiles, and the bamboo curtains hanging on the four walls were half-rolled up, revealing the murals that were faintly visible behind them.

The evening glow shines through the sword-shaped hanging bells between the glazed tiles, casting dappled light on the ground.

At the deepest part of the main hall, the landscape screen at the head of the room is made of black jade, with a silk surface depicting a scene of mist-shrouded mountains, and clouds seeming to flow slowly across the silk.

On the dark-colored long table in front of the screen, a white jade zither lay quietly. The body of the zither was as white as frost and snow, and a faint blue light emanated from the middle of the body. A sword-shaped phantom appeared and disappeared within the jade body of the zither, and the sound of its ringing echoed the sword energy and sea of ​​clouds outside the hall.

There were also several low tables on both sides, with bamboo slips, tea sets and other items placed on them.

Just as Jiang Yi took a half step, seven golden threads suddenly burst forth from the strings of the zither, blocking her way and preventing her from getting close to the white jade zither inside.

Three jade slips emerged slowly from behind the screen, hovering in front of her with a stream of light, creating ripples on the water.

The inscription on the bamboo slip reads "Qin Xin" (琴心), which lingers with the rhythm of the pine breeze.

The ink slip is inscribed with the word 'Dongtian' (洞天), and its surface is covered with ethereal images of mountains and rivers.

The white bamboo slip was inscribed with the word "Hidden Sword," and fine fragments of sword energy continuously emanated from it.

Clearly, this is a test and inheritance set up by the Xiao family's predecessors; it's just unknown whether it requires Xiao family bloodline.

Jiang Yi raised his hand and grabbed the jade slip in the middle of the cave, probing it with his divine sense, and poured all the information from the entire sword-nurturing gourd into his mind.

After a moment of digestion, Jiang Yi chuckled and shook her head.

"This is really a huge promise to me! But I have to say, your Xiao family is really generous, not even requiring bloodline verification."

In other words, whoever obtains this gourd can receive the complete qin and sword inheritance of the Xiao family as long as they pass the previously set test.

In addition, there are two spiritual artifacts left by the ancestors of the Xiao family: the Qinghui Qin and the Qianlin Sword.

Beyond the clear sound of the emblem, hidden scales conceal their sharpness.

Jiang Yi first pondered the "big cake" in the Jade Slip of the Cave Heaven—no, it was a comparative introduction to the complete and weakened versions of the Sword-Nourishing Gourd.

The basic functions of the valley beneath the sword-nurturing gourd are unrestricted; it allows cultivators to hide within the cave, store items, cultivate land in the spirit fields, and accumulate initial capital.

The Sword Washing Pool can wash away the malevolent energy on a sword caused by excessive killing, as well as impurities produced during the smelting of new materials, making the sword purer.

The Sword Tempering Platform can be used to refine and forge swords, continuously improving their quality with high-grade materials.

However, these are not the core functions of the sword-nurturing gourd.

The most powerful abilities of this item are contained in the 'Sword Qi Cloud Sea' in the middle of the gourd and the 'Sword Tomb Mountain' in the upper part of the gourd. The Sword Qi Cloud Sea has three main functions: nurturing sword qi, refining sword intent, and tempering the sword heart.

As the name suggests, cultivating sword energy means sending the sword energy that you usually condense into a sea of ​​sword energy to cultivate. When needed, you can directly call it out, or release a large amount of sword energy at once to kill enemies, depending on the strength of your own spiritual sense and the strength of your sword.

This is the only ability she can currently use, but it perfectly solves the problem of her slow ability to condense Heavenly Gang Sword Qi when fighting enemies.

She can store the refined Heavenly Gang Sword Qi in the sword qi cloud sea of ​​the sword nurturing gourd on ordinary days, and then directly use the sword to summon it when needed.

Refining sword intent and sharpening sword mind are the functions of the complete version of the sword-nurturing gourd.

Refining sword intent can help cultivators extract their own sword intent by storing a large amount of their own sword energy, or it can collect the sword energy and sword intent of other sword cultivators and store them in the sea of ​​sword energy for her to comprehend.

She can also refine these foreign sword energies to enhance the power of her own sword energy.

There's a really nasty thing about this: it can actually absorb the sword energy and sword intent of other sword cultivators. Isn't that the nemesis of sword cultivators?
The "Sharpening the Sword Heart" technique involves creating a sword-training platform in the sea of ​​clouds, gathering various sword energies and intents from the clouds, and sparring with it to hone one's sword heart, ultimately reaching the state of "Sword Heart Clarity".

So here's the question: how do you unlock the full version of the Sword Nurturing Gourd?

The answer lies in Sword Tomb Mountain.

Jiang Yi got a little excited when she talked about this. She said she was going to find the Heavenly Star Meteorite, but who would have thought that Sword Tomb Mountain was a complete Heavenly Star.

Go back up the mountain and try out the astronomical instrument to see if it can replenish the energy.

Sword Tomb Mountain contains the power of primordial magnetic energy and has a 'Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Source Formation'.

With a single thought, ten thousand swords return to their hiding places.

It's similar to the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" technique, capable of remotely collecting all the swords around it.

After taking them into Sword Tomb Mountain, he refined the myriad swords to nurture his own natal sword within the formation.

Nourish your own sword spirit, so that your natal sword can generate a sword spirit.

The Sword Qi Cloud Sea needs to refine the sword qi and sword intent of others, and it also needs to rely on the formation in Sword Tomb Mountain to achieve this.

Sword Tomb Mountain is currently inactive, and the great formation lacks a core. This core must be a sword that reaches the level of a spiritual weapon.

Only when this sword is inserted into Sword Tomb Mountain can the entire Sword Nurturing Gourd become complete.

Jiang Yi knew of three swords of the spirit weapon level, two of which were in the Xuan Ying Sword Sect, and one of them was her mother's natal sword.

The third one is naturally the 'Hidden Scale Sword' that we just saw.

If she doesn't retrieve the Hidden Scale Sword, she'll have to wait until her Heavenly Gang Magic Sword is finished being forged, and then slowly nurture it to the level of a spiritual weapon, which will be quite time-consuming and laborious.

The Yaoling Sword seems to be able to transform into a spirit sword a little faster than the Tiangang Magic Sword, but... never mind...

The Xiao family ancestors used these benefits to lure her into learning the "Qin Xin Jue" and "Cang Feng Jian".

Even if she only wants the sword, she must learn both to break the Seven Strings Seal; neither is dispensable.

The sword at the mouth of the sword-nurturing gourd must be the Hidden Scale Sword. It was not lost. It was drawn from the formation and placed in the palace by an ancestor of the Xiao family who foresaw the decline of the Xiao family.

If it weren't for the ineradicable bloodline curse passed down through generations, the Xiao family would have undoubtedly become powerful figures with just this sword-nurturing gourd. Why did they end up like this?

This ancestor didn't set up bloodline verification, probably hoping that even if the Xiao family perished, this unique skill of the zither and sword could still be passed down. Xiao Wujiu's father must have meant the same thing when he asked Xiao Wujiu to give away the gourd.

When faced with dire straits, the human race always places great importance on inheritance, which may be why the human race has been able to prosper for so long and not be defeated by the demon race.

Even though she couldn't use most of the functions of the sword-nurturing gourd, she couldn't bear to part with the fact that it could store sword energy in advance.

She ate the pancake!
Jiang Yi raised her hands and grabbed the two jade slips, 'Qin Xin' and 'Cang Jian', respectively.

(End of this chapter)