Chapter 22: Flying Swords and Exotic Flames
The Land of Ancient Shu.
Fang Qing wore a blue robe, looking just like a noble family’s young disciple out on a spring outing.
“Body-refining techniques, divine sense… difficult…”
He looked up at the great sun in the heavens, feeling that dazzling radiance, and suddenly let out a sigh.
Over the past few days, he had inquired about many matters concerning those True Disciple inheritors of the Hundred Arts. He discovered that those who managed to cultivate divine sense did so in various ways: some because their cultivation methods were special, some because of fortuitous encounters where they swallowed rare spiritual flowers or fruits, some because they survived life-and-death crises and naturally broke through…
There was even the possibility that some of them had fabricated stories to deceive others—there was simply no fixed rule.
As for body-refining techniques?
“In the Heavenly Book Pavilion, there are indeed quite a few body-tempering arts… the most famous is the ‘Black Water Dharma Body,’ said to embody ‘Black waters surge, cleansing all under heaven!’ Once cultivated to great completion, one could even rely on the fleshly body to withstand second-tier demonic beasts head-on! But the exchange cost is far too high… and cultivation also requires many precious auxiliary materials.”
Fang Qing recalled the words of Zeng Shu from the Heavenly Book Pavilion that day, and his expression still darkened. ‘So poor people don’t deserve to refine the body?’
‘Forget it. Although I’m not poor, it really isn’t wise to flaunt wealth…’ ‘I don’t need to get stuck in a dead end. Dao techniques here in Ancient Shu are mysterious and profound, while the Azure Sea Sect is rich in resources… I should reasonably utilize the advantages of both worlds.’
This trip, his main purpose was to earn a sum of contribution points and pour them all into pill refinement like spending money without restraint.
Besides that, he also wanted to collect some auxiliary cultivation methods, such as body-refining formulas…
…
Floating Boat Market.
Mountain peaks towered high, clouds drifting like floating boats.
“It’s already… been four years.”
Setting foot here once again, Fang Qing could not help but sigh with emotion.
Back then, he had still been a small cultivator in the early stage of Qi Refining. Now? He had finally reached the early stage of Qi Ingestion! It seemed… not all that different.
Because spiritual items were scarce on the Ancient Shu side, many markets were not open all year round. There were even merchant caravans like the Azure Fall Market that traveled along water veins.
Therefore, if Fang Qing wanted to conduct large transactions, he had to chase after these markets.
‘That old blind man… his fortune-reading and fate-judging really did have some skill. He also traveled all over and was well-informed. I could go ask him about auxiliary cultivation methods…’
Back then, when he had used the alias Fang Shui and had his cultivation aptitude appraised here, the old blind man had even given him a Qi-Gathering method.
Now that he had become a Qi Ingestion cultivator and returned to see the old blind man again, it felt like a kind of reincarnating cycle.
“However, taking four years to cultivate to the third layer of Qi Ingestion is normal. If he knew that I advanced three layers immediately after entering Qi Ingestion, that wouldn’t be normal… So either I tell him that I directly bought a strand of ‘Earthspring Tempered True Qi’ back then, or I use the Dao-Birth Pearl to hide two layers of cultivation…”
After thinking it over, Fang Qing still chose to conceal his cultivation.
With the Dao-Birth Pearl in hand, the way he concealed his true power was practically flawless. Even a Core Formation Ancestor standing face-to-face would not be able to see through it.
And if he claimed that his Earthspring Tempered True Qi had been purchased, that would be showing off wealth far too much.
Since he intended to ask the old blind man for information, it was better to deal with an acquaintance, so he did not disguise his appearance.
He entered the market. Just as he was about to look for the old blind man, he suddenly heard a surprised voice: “Brother Fang Shui?”
“Hm?”
Fang Qing looked over in confusion and saw a valiant young man, sharp aura radiating from his body, giving off a stabbing sensation. He was immediately shocked. “Li Rulong… you… entered the Dao through Qi Ingestion?”
This valiant youth was none other than the eldest of the Seven Swords of Shu Mountain—Li Rulong!
“That’s right… back then I was lucky enough to obtain some Spiritual Resources, entered a market, and discovered that I had cultivation aptitude… after another round of struggling and hardship, I swallowed True Qi and entered the Dao…”
As Li Rulong spoke of the past, there was a trace of emotion on his face.
Behind him stood Guo Tianhong as well, who gathered her robes and gave a respectful bow.
Seeing Fang Qing’s gaze, Li Rulong explained, “Both my seventh sister and I have cultivation aptitude. Alas, it’s just a pity about second brother and sixth brother…”
Among the Seven Swords of Shu Mountain, Liu Wansu and Zhu Zhenheng were also well-known young talents of Shu. But matters of cultivation aptitude were entirely up to fate!
If you didn’t have aptitude, then you simply didn’t have it!
At least for now, Fang Qing could not find any way to make an ordinary person suddenly gain aptitude.
“Cultivation aptitude is hard to come by…”
Fang Qing sighed along with him, yet his heart was filled with uncertainty.
In his eyes, this female hero Guo Tianhong also had spiritual radiance around her—she had clearly entered the Dao through Qi Ingestion as well!
‘Have I just not been around these past few days? Has True Qi in the Land of Ancient Shu suddenly gone on clearance sale? Why is entering the Dao so easy now?’
After chatting a bit more, he learned that Li Rulong had also had his fate read by the old blind man, and that the Qi he cultivated was Neck Metal!
“Neck Metal corresponds to blades and swords. No wonder when I see you, fellow Daoist, I feel sharp aura rushing toward me…”
Fang Qing smiled, his tone sincere, activating his Silver Tongue talent.
“Haha… I was just lucky. After my fate was judged, I originally planned to gather Qi for a few years. Who would have thought I’d find an Immortal’s cave dwelling and obtain a strand of ‘Sword-Within White’ Qi inside? This Qi perfectly matches Neck Metal, and there was also a flying sword and a sword manual. I’ve always liked practicing the sword. After fumbling around for a few years, I grasped the basics. Now I’m at the third layer of Qi Ingestion. After accumulating some Spiritual Resources, I even bought a strand of True Qi for my seventh sister…”
Li Rulong had already been acquainted with Fang Qing, and at this moment he spoke more than he realized, only stopping when Guo Tianhong tugged at his sleeve. He then came back to his senses, gave an apologetic smile, and fell silent.
‘Third layer of Qi Ingestion, and a sword cultivator?’
After hearing this, Fang Qing was almost speechless.
Although the other party had taken four years to reach this level instead of achieving it in one go like himself, the realm was the same.
‘And… a sword cultivator!’
In the Land of Ancient Shu, Metal and Fire were the most prominent Dao lineages. Between heaven and earth, spiritual items of Metal Virtue and Fire Virtue were more abundant.
And in the eyes of cultivators, the most formidable practitioners of Metal Virtue were undoubtedly sword cultivators!
With a flying sword in hand, they could break through ten thousand techniques, standing as the foremost embodiment of elegance in this world!
Various famous swords had even been compiled into the World’s Top Ten Flying Swords Register, widely circulated and described in all sorts of biographies Fang Qing had read.
As for Fire Virtue, exotic flame cultivators reigned supreme.
These exotic flames were heaven-and-earth spirit flames. Fire-virtue cultivators refined them into their bodies, and when unleashed in combat, they were equally fierce, countering Water, Wood, Earth…
There was likewise a Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Flame Ranking in the cultivation world. It was said that even the lowest-ranked spirit flame was a first-rate spiritual treasure, something ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators could not even glimpse.
‘This Li Rulong has truly stumbled into outrageous luck… Wait, could he be one of those destiny-chosen protagonists from storybooks? Or perhaps just a temporary child of fortune?’
If Fang Qing’s Plum Blossom Divination had not been utterly unmastered, he would have already felt the urge to divine Li Rulong’s fate.
‘That flying sword of his is definitely not a famous sword, but as long as it’s a flying sword, it’s extremely valuable—far more precious than several strands of True Qi…’
Fang Qing had to admit that he felt an urge to rob the other party.
But very quickly, he suppressed that impulse. ‘I can’t do that… I still have some bottom line. Moreover… I have the Dao-Birth Pearl. As long as I proceed steadily, my future prospects are immense. If I get used to taking risks, striking it rich once or twice, can I really win ten or a hundred times in a row? All it takes is one fatal danger, and I’d be dead… As long as I don’t gamble, I’ll never lose!’
Li Rulong had inadvertently revealed his own foundations, and his expression became somewhat uneasy. With his sworn sister beside him giving hints, he exchanged a few more words with Fang Qing and then hurriedly took his leave.
‘No matter what, this man is bound up in trouble… best not get too close to him.’
Fang Qing politely said farewell and turned into a herbal shop.
“Fellow Daoist, welcome to our shop. May I ask what kind of spiritual herbs you wish to purchase?”
A cultivator dressed like a shop assistant immediately came forward.
Fang Qing sensed that although this person had some true power, its quality was mixed and impure. He was likely someone who had entered the Dao by consuming lower-grade True Qi.
“Do you have ‘Mystic Azure Ginseng’?” Fang Qing asked.
The so-called Mystic Azure Ginseng was simply the local name here for Azure Qi Ginseng, which was the main ingredient for refining Ginseng-Green Spirit Water.
If the cost of obtaining it here was lower, he could drive down the overall price of the pill formula’s ingredients, then refine in large quantities to gain pill-refining experience and cultivation.
“This… depends on what the fellow Daoist has to exchange. Generally speaking, fifty jin of spirit grain can be exchanged for one ten-year-old Mystic Azure Ginseng!”
The assistant replied promptly.
‘Using spirit rice as a general equivalent? That’s acceptable.’
After calculating, Fang Qing knew that prices here were actually higher than at the Azure Sea Sect. However, he happened to have items on hand that he didn’t want and could sell here.
He tossed out a bottle of pills—it was the Blood Pills he had seized from bandit cultivators earlier. “What about this pill?”
“This is… a pill that increases true power?”
The assistant pulled out the stopper, sniffed it, and his eyes immediately lit up. He quickly glanced around and lowered his voice. “If you exchange it in the shop, it can be traded for five Mystic Azure Ginseng. If you trade with me privately, you can get six…”
“So this counts as… an under-the-table transaction?” Fang Qing chuckled.
Sure enough, people always had private interests—no place was exempt.
And pills that enhanced true power would likely be even more effective for cultivators with impure true power like this one.
“I don’t care. As long as you can get me more Mystic Azure Ginseng, I’ll trade.”
Fang Qing spoke with a pointed meaning.
A short while later, he walked out of the herbal shop, satisfied, patting the storage pouch at his waist.
‘Between these two worlds, there are quite a few spiritual herbs that go by different names but are actually the same…’
‘In that case, perhaps I can collect some pill formulas from here and try refining them over there?’
‘Or… could pill formulas whose raw materials are extinct on Jade Island find their lost main ingredients here?’
The more he thought about it, the more Fang Qing felt that his prospects were vast.
Compared to the profits of cross-world trade, even Li Rulong’s stroke of luck in obtaining a flying sword was really nothing special!
…
At the old blind man’s stall.
Fang Qing sat down. The old blind man across from him froze for a moment, then broke into a grin that revealed a mouthful of missing yellow teeth. “Who would’ve thought… this old blind man has read faces and judged fates for many years. I’ve judged quite a few cultivation fates, yet only a handful truly managed to swallow Qi and enter the Dao. Today, I get to see two in a row…”
“Sir… you’re not actually blind,” Fang Qing said with a sigh, placing a skinned and descaled spiritual fish on the stall’s table.
“We cultivators recognize people by their ‘Qi.’ Fellow Daoist, your Ji Water true power is far easier for this old blind man to discern than any notions of beauty or ugliness…”
The old blind man’s empty eye sockets stared straight at Fang Qing as he spoke with pointed intent.