Yuantian Pidao

Chapter 156 The Birth of a Spiritual Artifact
Inside the Spirit Cave, on a white jade lotus, Qi circulated through all the meridians as Jiang Chen silently cultivated. Behind him, a mist dragon floated and swirled, also breathing in and out spiritual energy.

At a certain moment, a glimmer of light appeared, and a new acupoint was opened by Jiang Chen.

"Fifty-five acupoints, without error."

Opening his eyes and sensing the changes within himself, Jiang Chen smiled.

During this time, he had been cultivating himself in seclusion. With the revival of Peach Blossom, the efficiency of the Spirit Cave in accumulating spiritual energy doubled, making his cultivation environment increasingly excellent. Even the Weapon Pool benefited, and its essence began to rise continuously.

"I am not far from achieving the seventy-two acupoints of Qi cultivation."

With a puff of white breath, like an arrow of energy that lingered for three feet, Jiang Chen calmed the agitation of his own true energy.

"Both Qi Condensation Technique and Qi Sword Technique require time to mature and true qi to support them. Only when a cultivator's true qi is sufficiently abundant can they reveal their true wonders."

"In the early stages of Qi cultivation, these two spells had little effect on me, far less than the Qi Silk Technique. But now, the wonders of these two spells have begun to truly manifest."

As the thought crossed his mind, Jiang Chen lightly traced a line with his fingertips, and the Formless True Qi emerged, instantly spreading a chilling aura. If there were any outsiders present at this moment, they would most likely think that Jiang Chen was cultivating sword qi.

"Outsiders all say that I am skilled in flying sword techniques, but only I know that I am not a sword cultivator. True sword cultivators cultivate extremely fierce sword energy, which enhances all kinds of sword techniques. This is the reason why sword cultivators are so powerful."

"Of course, the ferocity of sword energy is not only directed outwards but also inwards. It is precisely because of this that many sword cultivators have short lifespans and find it even more difficult to forge their Dao foundation."

"Now, with the combined power of Qi Condensation Technique and Qi Sword Technique, my Formless True Qi can actually simulate some of the power of sword qi. Although it is still not pure enough, ordinary people probably can't tell the difference."

The true energy flowed from his fingertips, transforming into white light that swirled around his fingers, and Jiang Chen carefully sensed its changes.

During this time, in addition to accumulating true energy, he also did not neglect his magical cultivation. Although his Qi Condensation Technique was still lacking and remained at the minor completion level, his Qi Sword Technique had already reached the great completion level.

The essence of magical cultivation is the circulation and transformation of true qi. After his soul cultivation reached the first level of perfection, Jiang Chen felt that his understanding of magic became easier and easier. He could easily perform many changes that were difficult for ordinary people to understand and control.

“The cultivation of Qi Condensation Technique is a slow and gradual process, and it will take some time to master it.”

With a sudden thought, Jiang Chen flicked his finger.

In the next instant, the true energy left his hand, like a sword light piercing the sky, revealing its ultimate sharpness, and finally returning to nothingness.

It was at this moment that the unusual activity inside the storage bag caught Jiang Chen's attention.

"Has it finally recovered?"

Realizing something, Jiang Chen quickly opened the storage bag.

The next instant, the figure of the Dragon Fishing Rod appeared inside the Spirit Cave. At this moment, the rod, which resembled a yellow bamboo, was covered with dragon shadows, exuding dragon might and displaying extraordinary power.

The moment it appeared, the spiritual energy within the entire spirit cave went berserk, continuously surging into its body, causing it to undergo further transformation.

Seeing this, Jiang Chen frowned slightly, but did not intervene. He simply put away the Mist Dragon Skin.

After he used the Dragon Fishing Rod to catch the pure-blooded dragon Mist Flood Dragon, the rod seemed to have been stimulated and fell into a deep sleep. Now that it has revived, it is likely that it has reached a critical moment of transformation. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the dragon's might dissipated, all the dragon shadows were bound, and a faint spiritual light emerged from inside the Dragon Fishing Rod.

At this moment, Jiang Chen, who had been carefully sensing the changes in the fishing rod, suddenly felt a pressure from his mind, as if a heavy object was pressing on his heart. However, as his soul power surged, this discomfort quickly disappeared.

"The 108 magical restrictions have been unified, and spiritual restrictions have been derived. The fishing rod is no longer a magical artifact, but a spiritual artifact."

Dispelling his discomfort, Jiang Chen looked at the fishing rod again and realized something.

As Qi Refining cultivators advance further, they forge their Dao Foundation. Dao Foundation cultivators undergo a fundamental transformation, giving rise to spiritual power and spiritual consciousness. Ordinary magical artifacts become useless to them; what truly helps them are spiritual artifacts that have developed spiritual restrictions.

The creation of a spiritual artifact is far more difficult than that of a magic artifact. Even for a Dao Foundation cultivator, a spiritual artifact is of extremely high value.

It was at this moment that the supernatural power subsided, and after completing its transformation, the fishing rod returned to its previous ordinary appearance, without any supernatural power remaining.

Seeing this, Jiang Chen reached out and grabbed the fishing rod.

"I never expected to obtain a spiritual weapon after achieving the minor Qi Refining stage, and it even has eleven spiritual restrictions. It's only one step away from becoming a mid-grade spiritual weapon. It seems that catching a pure-blooded dragon will indeed greatly help the dragon fishing rod."

"This is because the Mist Dragon has not yet established its Dao foundation. Otherwise, its feedback to the Dragon Fishing Rod would be even greater, and it could completely turn the Dragon Fishing Rod into a mid-grade spiritual weapon. However, in that case, I would probably have to avoid the Mist Dragon."

Jiang Chen probed his true energy into the fishing rod, carefully sensing its changes, and sighed inwardly.

The transformation of the dragon fishing rod is not actually that simple. Under normal circumstances, it requires him to spend a lot of time catching dragon species one by one and slowly accumulating them before the dragon fishing rod can complete its transformation. In the current environment, not to mention the dangers involved, just finding those dragon species is a troublesome matter.

However, he unexpectedly encountered a pure-blooded dragon. Most importantly, this pure-blooded dragon had no intelligence and was like a wild beast. This allowed him to ascend to the heavens in one step, saving him a lot of accumulation. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for a cultivator to catch a dragon with a magic weapon-level dragon fishing rod, let alone a pure-blooded one. All the coincidences created the current dragon fishing rod.

Unlike magical artifacts, spiritual artifacts have thirty-six restrictions, with each set of twelve restrictions forming a threshold. A fishing rod with eleven restrictions is already among the best of low-grade spiritual artifacts.

"It's all about timing and fate. Whether it's in the past or the present, luck is very important to people. Many people have worked very hard, but in the end, they just lack a little bit of luck."

Sensing the mystery of fate, Jiang Chen shook his head.

It was at this moment that his true energy touched the deepest mystery of the Dragon Fishing Rod, and a piece of information naturally entered his mind.

"Is fishing for the moon followed by fishing for the dragon?"

With the Dharma's meaning entering his heart, Jiang Chen gained an understanding of the abilities of the transformed Dragon Fishing Rod.

At the level of magical artifacts, the Dragon Fishing Rod has the ability to fish for the moon, using the power of simulated moonlight to catch various spiritual fish and dragon species. At the level of spiritual artifacts, the Dragon Fishing Rod changes again, giving rise to the power to fish for dragons. The so-called fishing for dragons actually stimulates the power of the dragon's bloodline, making them restless and causing them to lose their minds.

Once the greed in one's bloodline overrides reason, the dragon takes the bait. Compared to fishing for the moon, fishing for a dragon is undoubtedly more targeted. Under normal circumstances, fishing for the moon is just catching ordinary dragon species, at most a serpent, while fishing for a dragon can catch a real dragon.

"Strictly speaking, the current dragon fishing rod truly possesses the aura of a dragon fishing rod. Ordinary dragons and snakes, unless they are extremely intelligent, have no power to resist the current dragon fishing rod. The only constraint is actually that my cultivation level is too weak."

Playing with the dragon-fishing rod in his hand, Jiang Chen carefully experienced the profound mystery of the spiritual weapon.

(End of this chapter)