Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 236 Purple Qi Merging with the True Nature Technique
"Has it lived for thousands of years...?"

As Song Yan pondered the identity and strength of this senior, a sense of awe arose in his heart.

Without a doubt, he must have some connection with the now deserted Sword Sect.

But he never intended to tell Song Yan.

Perhaps it's because my cultivation level is simply too low.

"Let go of everything, go all out, and build the foundation for the Way."

Thinking about this, my desire to break through became even more urgent.

Although Xiao Ming, being an ordinary person, did not notice it, Song Yan could see that the senior in the straw raincoat had set up an extremely sophisticated illusion array on the cliff by the river.

His cultivation was unfathomable; he could casually set up an array here, and the spiritual energy contained within would be enough to operate for several days.

Song Yan decided to take a short break and tidy up the place.

There's really not much to sort out; it's just Qin Yicao's Qiankun bag and the pearl pill bestowed upon him by his predecessor.

He took everything out of his Qiankun bag at once and started picking and choosing.

"What is this thing? A soul banner? How come it's another artifact of demonic cultivators..."

Song Yan didn't believe that the Qin family, Xuan Yuan Sect, and the Demonic Sect had no connection whatsoever.

Although it's unusable, you can still sell it for some spirit stones.

"This flying sword is of good quality, why haven't I seen him take it out to use it?"

Now, when Song Yan sorts through his spoils, he intentionally keeps a few high-quality flying swords.

Sometimes, using the Spirit Gathering Sword Formation to fill in the missing positions with physical flying swords is more effective than using sword shadows.

Putting everything else aside, the duration alone could be greatly extended.

If it were composed entirely of flying swords, the Spirit Gathering Sword Formation could only last for a maximum of ten days, or even half a month.

"what?"

Something in Qin Yicao's Qiankun bag caught Song Yan's attention.

It is a spherical, transparent box, in which a drop of deep, ink-like liquid can be vaguely seen, its surface shimmering with a faint blue halo.

Holding the sphere in my hand, the drop of liquid inside slowly spread out, its surface smooth, reflecting shimmering dark patterns.

Song Yan pondered for a moment, then carefully opened the sphere.

Bang!
A suffocating, oppressive mist suddenly dissipated.

At the same time, the pressure on my hands suddenly increased.

Song Yan quickly mobilized all his spiritual power to barely stabilize it.

"Water is spiritual?" Song Yan was both surprised and delighted, but also somewhat puzzled.

Originally, he did not intend to forcibly gather the five elemental spirits, but planned to focus on cultivation and directly establish his foundation.

But unexpectedly, it was obtained from Qin Yicao's Qiankun Bag.

Looking back now, it's possible that it was traded at the barter fair organized by Qin Yicao in Jiangxian Pass that day.

However, Song Yan was somewhat ignorant.

This water was incredibly strange and had never been seen before.

When it was still in the box, he didn't even consider it to be a sacred object.

Several familiar names and information about water spirits flashed through my mind, but they seemed completely unrelated to the drop of water in front of me.

Well, it's all good in the end.

Song Yan did not hesitate and immediately refined it.

The refining of spiritual objects was already a familiar process for him, and it didn't take much effort.

After refining it, he slowly sank his divine sense into the Yin-Yang Pearl.

As expected, the Yin-Yang Realm changed, and a wide river appeared beside the illusory image of the seed.

At the same time, perhaps because all five elements were present, he sensed that the seed of swordsmanship had undergone some indescribable changes.

Song Yan is currently focused on building his foundation and hasn't delved too deeply into the characteristics of the Long River or the changes in the Dao Seed.

He felt that his swordsmanship now possessed all five elements, not to mention the wind and thunder of the heavens.

The only thought in my heart was naturally fulfilled.

For a moment, my mind was at ease and my thoughts were clear.

He set his gaze on a small booklet with a light purple cover.

This booklet has an antique design and is written in the ancient script of the Chu state.

About eight or nine hundred years ago, the Former Chu moved its capital to present-day Yingjing and implemented many reforms, one of which was the ancient and modern forms of writing.

Although the affairs of the mortal world have little impact on the cultivation world, changes in writing still have a subtle influence.

Over the past thousand years, the techniques and secret arts recorded on jade slips are mostly written in the present form, while ancient paper books, metallurgical inscriptions, and array talismans are mostly written in the ancient form.

Nowadays, cultivators in the cultivation world are basically proficient in both.

Its name is written in an old-fashioned font on the cover.

The Secret of Purple Qi Harmonizing with Emptiness.

This was the secret technique that Qin Yicao used at the end, which seemed to have the effect of greatly increasing the intensity of spiritual power in a short period of time.

The origin of this formula is mentioned in the opening, though only briefly, but it is much better than those incomplete and fragmented texts.

This secret formula originated from an ancient Taoist sect called Chunyang Palace.

The ancient text doesn't mention where the Dao Sect is located, but it does say that one of the leaders of the two lineages in Chunyang Palace left the Dao Sect for various reasons in the past.

Many of his disciples had left the sect and wanted to find him and persuade him to return to the Daoist sect.

This ancient book was passed down because one of the disciples took in disciples outside the sect.

Song Yan studied it carefully and found that its core concept was that all things carry yin and embrace yang, and that the interaction of these energies creates harmony, with yin and yang rotating in turn.

By drawing upon the innate purple energy of the rising sun, the potential of cultivators can be stimulated.

Its operation is based on the fact that cultivators need to use a special method of circulating qi to condense a wisp of innate purple qi at sunrise each day and store it in their dantian.

When activating the secret technique, one must draw upon the purple energy, connect the Xuanji secret aperture, block the tongue, and travel through the twelve levels of the building.

Ultimately, this caused the spiritual energy to erupt like the rising sun.

During this period, the dantian and dantian were like a great furnace, constantly amplifying the power of spiritual energy.

"Purple clouds float over the pass, like the rising sun in the east..."

The more Song Yan looked at it, the more astonished he became. He found the method quite mysterious and became somewhat engrossed in it.

But after regaining my senses and recalling it carefully, I felt somewhat puzzled.

During his duel with Qin Yicao, Guanxu Sword Eye discovered that when Qin Yicao used this technique, the surging spiritual power brought by the purple aura clashed somewhat with the spiritual power originally circulating in his body.

He originally thought that such a secret technique would have many limitations and side effects after being used.

However, these defects are not mentioned in this ancient book.

As for limitations, it should not be used frequently within a single day, otherwise it may cause qi to rush to the heart meridian.

The aftereffects are that when one's cultivation level is low, one will enter a state of spiritual weakness within three days after the spell is cast, and one should try to avoid using spiritual power or magic, otherwise it is easy to damage the foundation of one's Great Dao.

"Purple aura?"

Song Yan murmured.

So this thing really does have something special about it...

The book mentions that even without using secret techniques, breathing in a wisp of innate purple energy every day, over the years, can subtly transform a cultivator's physical constitution.

While most cultivators cannot retain the true mysteries of purple aura, the fact that innate qualities like aptitude and constitution can be altered is itself a marvel. However, most importantly, this process can significantly reduce the period of weakness following the use of this secret technique.

In this light, this secret technique seems quite suitable for me.

The Dongyuan Sect's tradition of gathering Qi at dawn is not just empty talk.

As a successor of the Sword Sect, I have no shortage of skills in fighting and killing others.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew." These sword formations alone are enough for me to cultivate and study for countless years.

If I had to say what I was missing, it would be a suitable spiritual cultivation technique and a life-saving method.

The Qi Condensation Scroll I'm using is great in every way, except that the cultivation speed is just too slow.

However, due to its strong compatibility with spiritual energy, it is indeed suitable for me.

There has never been a more suitable and advanced technique, so it has been used until now.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a life-saving technique that could enhance one's combat power in a short period of time.

After pondering for a moment, Song Yan finally put it into his Qiankun bag.

I will certainly learn, but not now.

My next goal is to focus all my energy on breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm. Cultivating such a profound secret technique will undoubtedly take away a lot of my energy, which would be a loss.

He didn't want to see his progress in cultivation hindered by the pursuit of secret techniques.

Avoid arrogance and impatience. Once you have established a solid foundation in the Dao, you will have plenty of time to carefully study these Daoist techniques and secret arts.

The bronze mirror that Qin Yicao finally offered up was a top-grade magical artifact.

Recalling the scene of fighting with him, although the appearance of this ancient bronze mirror was ordinary, its power and effects seemed to have a somewhat sinister feel to it.

What Song Yan found quite regrettable was that after the user's spiritual power collapsed, it was unable to withstand the powerful offensive of the sword formation's killing move, Moonfall, and was now broken beyond repair and could no longer be used.

Even if someone were to repair it, its power would be difficult to restore to its former state; at most, it would only be at the level of a mid-grade magic weapon, and its value for sale would be minimal.

Organize all the remaining useful and useless magical artifacts and items.

Finally, he took out the spirit pearl bestowed upon him by his predecessor.

This spirit pearl was not much larger than an ordinary pill. Holding it in my hand and looking closely at it in the sunlight, I could see a faint pinkish-blue spiritual light within it, floating slowly like mountain mist.

"What kind of treasure is this...?"

Recalling what the senior in the raincoat had said before he left, could this item help him establish his foundation?

Such a senior with unfathomable cultivation would have no reason to deceive a mere Qi Refining junior like himself.

But how do we use it?
"Sniff sniff..."

Snake Baby poked its head out from the sleeve of Song Yan's Taoist robe, its little nose twitching as it sniffed its way to Song Yan's hand.

"Sniff sniff..."

Xiao Hezai carefully smelled the bead, and then a strange and shocked expression appeared on her face.

"what happened?"

"This bead carries the scent of a great demon..."

Song Yan was taken aback, then chuckled and said, "How could that be?"

At first glance, he thought that Xiao He was trying to trick him into giving her the shiny, round beads as toys.

Seemingly sensing the doubt, Xiaohe became somewhat agitated: "It's true!"

Looking at Snake Baby's serious and earnest expression, Song Yan pondered.

"Um……"

On second thought, it's not entirely impossible.

"Perhaps it was used by a senior to kill a demon, so there is still some demonic energy left behind," he guessed.

Recalling the stories told by storytellers in Jiangxian Pass, if the legendary figure is the same person as this predecessor, then this item may be the legendary immortal pill that can transform into sword light.

"No, no, no." Snake Baby shook its little head.

"This is the scent of the monster itself."

Song Yan paused, somewhat puzzled: "Its own scent?"

He wondered if this thing was made from the treasures on the body of a great demon that the senior had killed.

Guan Xujiantong activated his sword pupils, and his eyes were tinged with a golden hue.

However, even under the state of Observation, no demonic aura could be detected emanating from this object.

So that means what Xiaohe smelled was the literal meaning of "odor".

Without much thought, Song Yan dispelled the chaotic thoughts in his mind.

This senior is mysterious and unpredictable, so I shouldn't be too ambitious. I should focus on improving my own level and strength. That's the right thing to do.

A wisp of sword energy and divine consciousness separated and merged into the bead, and Song Yan began to refine it.

However, as soon as the sword energy entered, he noticed something was wrong.

This refining speed is far too slow.

Ordinary magical artifacts, even high-grade ones, only require about a quarter of an hour to refine.

However, the refining speed of this item is extremely slow at the moment.

Could it be... a magical artifact?

Song Yan was pleasantly surprised. He calmed his mind and slowly activated his sword energy to continuously refine the object.

This process took longer than he had imagined.

It took a full six hours to finally refine it.

However, the moment he refined it, a desolate sword cry rose from the ground.

Suddenly, the Immortal Pill in his palm transformed into a dazzling sword light.

Unlike flying swords and sword essences that are sharp and exposed, this sword is round and smooth, with its sharpness concealed, and its sword energy is awe-inspiring yet subtle.

What's most amazing is that it can flow freely between Song Yan's wrists and fingers, just like spiritual energy.

It was like an incomparably sharp ray of light.

With a casual flick of his finger, Song Yan sent a sword flying out, its sharpness fully revealed, its brilliance instantly exposed.

A sword light swept across the great river. Although it did not make any substantial attack, the surrounding sword energy stirred up huge waves on the river surface.

"Such overwhelming power."

Song Yan felt a chill run down her spine, but then felt a sense of bewilderment.

Before refining this bead, he actually had some guesses about this immortal pill, among which he thought the most likely guess was that it was a sword pill.

Sword pellet.

It is both a method of sword-making and a path for sword cultivators.

It is not only mentioned in the Sword Sect's Spirit Transformation Chapter, but also recorded in the Evil Cultivation Chronicle.

His own Spirit-Slaying Sword was actually a condensation of a seed more suitable for cultivating the sword path, to replace his original spiritual root.

As a monk, there was nothing that was “lost”.

In other words, the cultivator's body, which possessed the Spirit-Slaying Sword, remained intact.

Ancient cultivators valued the integrity of the human body, believing that the human body was naturally formed and that the balance of the Great Dao was inherent within it.

However, in this great world, the cultivation world has multiplied for countless years, producing countless geniuses and prodigies, and many have sought alternative paths to achieve the ultimate.

This path is what some sword cultivators refer to as the "inner sword technique".

(End of this chapter)