Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 355 Sword Talisman
With clear goals in their prime, they continue to move forward.

They stopped in a relatively spacious stone hall, in the center of which was a simple stone platform.

Sheng Nian walked to the stone platform and pulled out a dusty gray animal skin bag from a hidden compartment.

He is now holding a bag in each of his hands, one in his left and one in his right.

"I reckon most of Xin Shan's stuff is in these two Qiankun bags."

Sheng Nian hesitated for a moment, then opened it without any hesitation and began to search through it with his divine sense.

Song Yan also walked to the side, flicked his fingertips with sword energy, and helped clear the debris on the stone platform, making room for it.

He's not enthusiastic about dividing the spoils; there's something wrong with his thinking.

In his prime, he took the items out of the Qiankun Bag one by one.

He took out a strangely shaped defensive magic weapon, played with it in his hand, and answered Song Yan's previous question: "Indeed, under normal circumstances, only cultivators at the Golden Core stage can truly control magic weapons."

"However, there are always exceptions in this world."

Sheng Nian chuckled and said, "I have cultivated a special body-refining technique called the Treasure Refining Technique."

"The Refining Treasure Technique?" Song Yan repeated the unfamiliar name; he had never heard of it before.

“That’s right.” Sheng Nian nodded and explained, “Actually, this cultivation method was originally prepared for Golden Core cultivators. Ordinary Golden Core cultivators only have one natal magic weapon that can be fused into their body, and its grade will rise as the cultivator’s realm increases.”

"Other magical treasures, even if they can be absorbed into the body, do not have these effects."

"The wonder of the Treasure Refining Technique lies in the fact that it allows cultivators to fused an additional non-natal magic treasure into their body and flesh within their dantian and sea of ​​qi."

"By using the essence and spiritual energy of this magical artifact to nourish and refine the body, one can strengthen the physical body and bones. It's like making the magical artifact a part of the body, or in other words, making the physical body the vessel of the magical artifact."

Upon hearing this, Song Yan's eyes flashed with surprise.

This approach to body refinement was completely different from any orthodox body refinement method he knew. It was a completely different path, using the body as a furnace to melt down magical treasures and forge a true body.

Sheng Nian continued, "Of course, this heaven-defying method has its own strict limitations and costs."

"First of all, once a magic weapon is selected for fusion, it is extremely difficult to change, and it almost accompanies one for life."

"Secondly, before a cultivator reaches the Golden Core realm, the power of this magic weapon, which has been fused into the body, will be largely limited by the cultivator's own realm, and it can only exert a very small portion of its power, far below its own grade."

"So, if I could really use the power of this magic weapon, would I need to call you here? I could just slice Xin Shan off with one stroke myself."

Song Yan nodded: "I see, no wonder I felt this ancient treasure was so weak."

"So it turns out you're the weak one."

"...If you can't speak, you can shut up."

Sheng Nian rolled his eyes at him: "In short, only when a cultivator successfully forms his Golden Core, and the power of the Golden Core permeates his entire body, completely stabilizing the fusion between his physical body and the magic weapon, can his power be restored."

"Now..."

He said with some helplessness, "It's only slightly better than a regular mid-grade spiritual weapon."

"It's not some huge secret, it's just that this method is a bit unorthodox and comes at a high price. It's actually a bit of a waste at the Foundation Establishment stage. I'm afraid you'll laugh at me if I tell you."

After Sheng Nian finished speaking, he took out everything from the first Qiankun bag.

Xinshan Sanren's collection is extensive and diverse. This Qiankun bag mainly contains secret records and diagrams, various jade slips piled up like mountains, and some other miscellaneous items.

Song Yan glanced around and found that most of the practices were unorthodox and immoral.

Song Yan ultimately chose three or four jade slips from a large pile, based on what interested him.

The writing style and word choice of one of the jade slips felt very familiar to him, leading him to guess that the author of this jade slip might be the same person as the senior who compiled the Complete Chronicle of Immortal Customs.

He wasn't interested in anything else, so he let Sheng Nian take it all.

The second Qiankun bag contained all sorts of magical artifacts and spiritual objects.

Various strangely shaped magical artifacts and spirit objects, some with dim spiritual light and even entangled with faint resentment, jingled and rolled all over the ground.

Originally, Song Yan had always been uninterested.

Sheng Nian then took out a fist-sized spiritual material from his Qiankun bag.

It was impossible to tell whether it was jade or mineral; a deep blue-purple hue came into view.

The cave was dimly lit, with specks of blue-purple light flickering like breaths.

Purple Spirit Miasma Stone?

Song Yan casually picked up the stone and examined it closely in his hand.

The color and the strange, magical quality are exactly the same as the small piece that Shao Sichao found for himself in the Red Maple Plain back then.

However, Xin Shan Sanren's Qiankun bag contained as many as seven or eight fist-sized pieces of purple spirit miasma stones.

Sheng Nian's attention was drawn to Song Yan's sudden reaction: "This thing... is it very valuable?"

"It's not about the money."

Song Yan took a deep breath: "It's called Purple Spirit Miasma Stone, a kind of refining material. I just happened to be looking for it."

I've been searching for this for many years.

"Back in Red Maple Plains, I racked my brains but only managed to get a tiny bit of information from the Nine Veins Alliance's battle merits secrets. It was a drop in the ocean... I never expected Xin Shan to have so much."

However, he had neither the inclination nor the time to investigate where Xinshan Sanren had obtained all of this.

He asked Sheng Nian, "Do you want it? If not, I'll take it all."

Sheng Nian asked himself, "Old Xie, do I need this?"

Xie Laomo's eerie voice echoed from the depths of his heart: "Purple Spirit Miasma Stone, it's useless."

"If you mainly cultivate the magic technique and want to change that magic weapon, it might be of some use, but not much use."

"Row."

Sheng Qingnian coughed and said to Song Yan, "It's useless, you can take it away."

Song Yan didn't stand on ceremony and gathered all the Purple Spirit Miasma Stones into his Qiankun Bag.

Having made such a discovery, he finally had the leisure to examine the other objects on the ground.

However, to his surprise, there was something that actually caught his attention.

This is a uniquely shaped talisman, entirely golden with winding blue patterns on it.

Among a pile of spiritual treasures, this talisman was particularly eye-catching because it actually had a faint flow of sword energy.

A sword cultivator's possession?

Where did Xinshan Sanren get it from?

After informing Sheng Nian, he put the item into his Qiankun bag, intending to study it after returning to the sect.

The two continued to divide the spoils.

Finally, he reluctantly picked out three more items from the rest: a small jade shield with a shimmering, watery sheen; a hairpin entirely crimson, engraved with the pattern of a vermilion bird flapping its wings; and an ice silk armor as thin as a cicada's wing and cool to the touch.

These are all rare, high-quality defensive magical artifacts. Although they may not be top-tier, their spiritual power is pure and their condition is excellent.

Even if you don't need it yourself, you can give it to your apprentice, Xiao Ju.

The last thing to be counted was the spirit stones.

Despite being a pseudo-core cultivator, he wasn't particularly wealthy, having only managed to produce a total of over 5,300 low-grade spirit stones and about 20 mid-grade spirit stones.

"Tsk, this old ghost isn't exactly rolling in money. He probably spent it all on shady dealings."

Sheng Nian pursed his lips and deftly divided the food into two roughly equal portions: "Half for each of us."

Song Yan casually waved his hand and collected it.

Just then, Chen Jiping and the corpse puppet A Yuan also walked in from outside the cave and bowed to Sheng Nian and Song Yanyi.

Song Yan suddenly remembered something: "Now that Xin Shan is dead, what are your plans for the future?"

"Shall we go to Sheyang Sect to find Ayun?"

Sheng Nian shook his head: "I have my own path to walk, and A Yun has her own way of life."

"Old Song, the cultivation world in Chu is too small. Perhaps one day I will venture into the Central Region. What about you?"

Song Yan was taken aback, then fell into deep thought: "I would like to, but I have a sect after all, so it won't be that convenient for me."

"is it?"

Sheng Nian said casually, "I guess Xiao He went to the Central Region."

"Hehe, what do you think?" "..."

Song Yan fell silent.

Sheng Nian understood perfectly well that Song Yan had only two relatives since childhood: his grandfather had passed away, and now Xiao He was the only one he cared about in the world.

You say he doesn't want to? That's absolutely impossible.

Let's get him thinking about it first.

It must be said that the cunning strategy employed by a man in his prime proved effective.

After the two parted ways, Song Yan was somewhat restless on the way back to Dongyuan Sect.

"Central Territory..."

My previous trip to Daozi's hometown allowed me to experience some of the sights and culture of the Central Region.

Song Yan had longed for it in her heart, and Sheng Nian's words made sense.

That's definitely something worth considering.

However, the Central Region is a place teeming with hidden talents and a mixed bag of people, so even if you want to go, you must be well prepared.

Don't rush.

Neither the arrival nor the departure lasted long, so the round trip took about ten days.

At the Sword-Wiping Peak of the Dongyuan Sect, Song Yan returned to his cave dwelling.

Instead of rushing into cultivation, he first washed and bathed, then took a Soul Nourishing Pill that he had left over from refining, and then lay down on the bed to take a long nap.

Although the battle with Xin Shan did not consume much sword energy or spiritual power, and many of his techniques were not even used.

However, in terms of the sword intent of "Mirror Flower Water Moon", it was almost operating at full capacity.

Song Yan hadn't experienced this kind of spiritual emptiness for a very, very long time.

Mental exhaustion can sometimes be more painful than physical fatigue.

However, after briefly recalling and reviewing the events in his mind, he realized that this should be the most effective way to kill Xinshan Sanren.

Ultimately, the other party was also a cultivator at the Pseudo-Core Formation stage.

It can kill the enemy most quickly and avoid many unnecessary disasters.

After reviewing the situation for a while, Song Yan's thoughts began to drift, and he soon fell asleep.

I slept soundly until noon the next day before finally waking up.

After waking up, I felt much better.

With a single thought, I entered the world of endless treasures.

Beside the fire pit atop the mountain, the strange figure still sat there, but at some point, he stopped muttering to himself.

At this moment, he simply watched quietly as the flying sword Qiu Ren appeared in the pool of fire.

Song Yan summoned a purple spirit miasma stone and slowly sank it into the fire pool.

As before, the purple miasma stone began to slowly melt away, and sword energy surged from the lotus flower, flowing into the fire pool.

A moment later, a wisp of blue light rose from the pool of fire and merged into the broken sword.

This speed is too slow. Song Yan wondered if he should throw all the Purple Spirit Miasma Stones in and wait to see if Endless Treasury could "repair" Qiu Ren.

Just as he summoned the miasma stone again, the figure suddenly stood up and blocked his way.

"..."

Song Yan looked at this person, feeling somewhat confused: "What are you doing?"

However, the figure did not answer him, but simply stood by the fire pit.

After a moment's thought, this figure was very likely the ancestor of the Yan clan, a master of weapon crafting.

Could it be that they feel their approach is too rough and they can't stand it?
Song Yan was indeed completely ignorant about weapon crafting.

He always listens to advice when it comes to areas he doesn't understand.

In that case, let's hold off for now.

So he summoned all the Purple Spirit Miasma Stones, placed them beside the fire pool, and then left.

With his mind at ease, Song Yan did not rush to begin cultivating.

Reaching the late Foundation Establishment stage is a natural progression, there's no need to rush it, especially since my mind is still somewhat weak right now...

He rummaged through it and took out the items he had picked out from Xinshan Sanren's legacy from his Qiankun bag.

He first took out the jade talisman that faintly emitted sword energy.

I wonder where Xin Shan got this item from. Could it be that there are sword cultivators in the Demon Ruins?

It was mentioned in the volume of Ancient Sword Tales I read before.

There is a consensus in the cultivation world that sword cultivators are mostly stubborn and obstinate.

Once one takes a wrong turn and goes astray, and demonic thoughts disturb one's resolve, it is easy to fall into evil ways and be unable to recover.

Perhaps there are many sword cultivators who have gone astray.

A name surfaced in Song Yan's mind.

The Evil Sword Sect.

This is a lineage of demonic cultivators that exists among humans, and very little information about them circulates.

Could it be that Xin Shan Sanren is connected with the Evil Sword Sect?

As Song Yan was thinking this, he carefully tried to activate a wisp of sword energy, hoping to activate the jade talisman.

hum-

An extremely terrifying sharpness rapidly rose from the jade talisman. Song Yan was shocked and quickly withdrew his sword energy.

"This is……"

A sword talisman at the Golden Core Realm!

He was truly dumbfounded.

"Where did Xin Shan get this thing from..."

Currently, the only Golden Core Realm sword cultivator he knows of is the sect leader.

Could it be that there are Golden Core cultivators from the Evil Sword Sect within the territory of Chu?

Or perhaps... this sword talisman was made by our own sect leader?
Song Yan frowned.

Shortly after the chaos in the Demon Ruins ended, the sect held a ceremony to bestow rewards.

The sect leader once bestowed a sword talisman upon Senior Sister Qin Ying.

If the Qin family has ties with the cultivators of the Demonic Ruins, and Senior Sister Qin Ying is also involved...

Song Yanzai thought about it carefully for a while and concluded that it was not something he could figure out. He would just take the sword talisman to the sect leader and ask him later.

Humans have mouths, so they should speak and ask questions.

He set the jade talisman aside for the time being, took out the jade slips, and probed them with his divine sense.

One of the jade slips described some very sinister-sounding elixirs.

This jade slip seems to have been written by Xinshan Sanren himself. Some of the elixirs inside are unnamed, only their medicinal effects or prescriptions are mentioned.

Some pills have names but no recipes, so they are incomplete.

After looking around carefully, I noticed that Blood Skull Pill was mentioned, which was similar to what Gou Sheng had told me before.

Inside were also Spirit Transformation Blood Pills and Spirit Sacrifice Blood Pills, all of which were demonic pills.

Some of these elixirs also included corresponding methods for eliminating their side effects.

Song Yan kept the jade slip, thinking that if he encountered an unfamiliar elixir in the future, he could use it as a reference to identify it.

Immediately afterwards, he took out the second jade slip.

The name of this jade slip is "Viewing Mountains and Seas".

(End of this chapter)