Chapter 23 - 23, Union of the Sword and Elemental Qi, Defending with the Divine Sword i
In the Fu family’s meditation room, Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
A hint of doubt flickered in his eyes, and Shen Yuan couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
“Why do I increasingly feel unsettled over the past two days as if something big is going to happen? Could someone be scheming against me?”
“It’s a pity I don’t have any divine powers like the Deductive Method to see what’s really going on.”
After mumbling a few words, Shen Yuan dismissed these minor details from his mind.
It had already been two full days since he understood the Earth Fiend Sword Art. During these two days, Shen Yuan stayed in the meditation room, studying the Earth Fiend Sword Art and the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword Darkness- Light in his hands.
Having failed to entice Shen Yuan yesterday, the “Sword Slave” hid inside the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword believing that Shen Yuan could not destroy the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and kill him.
Shen Yuan seized this opportunity and acquired the Divine Capacity Seed granted upon completion of his hidden achievement.
The Earth Fiend Sword Art, being the origin of all Sword Techniques, naturally had the ability to control a damaged Immortal Sword.
Shen Yuan immediately used his Divine Skills to awaken the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, shattering the Sword Slave’s soul.
What Shen Yuan felt regretful about was that the Earth Fiend Sword Art, despite being the origin of all Sword Techniques, was not all-powerful.
When faced with the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, which is nearly completely damaged and exhausted, the Earth Fiend Sword Art still struggled to restore the sword to its peak state from millennia ago.
Only a bit of rust peeling off the sword proved that Shen Yuan’s Divine Skills were not entirely futile; they at least brought about some degree of restoration to the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword.
If he wanted to fully revive the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, Shen Yuan would need to nourish it for a long period of time using the Earth Fiend Sword Art. And this would undeniably be a lengthy process.
“However, from the looks of it now, I should be slightly capable of wielding this sword.”
Shen Yuan’s fingertips lightly traced the mottled rust stains on the Immortal Sword, feeling the connection that he had established with Darkness-Light through his Divine Sense after spending one full day.
After Shen Yuan used his Divine Skills to bring about an initial revival of the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, the seemingly unremarkable Bronze Fire Stick had truly acquired the power of a magical treasure.
Walkin on the street, magical treasures were not. Even in the prosperous days of the Cultivation World, only the Great Cultivators who had reached the Refining Qi to Spirit Transmutation Stage could use magical treasures.
Not to mention now when they were just recovering from a 3000-year era of Spirit Energy depletion. Numerous magic artifacts and spirit treasures had been destroyed, with barely one in a hundred surviving.
Under such circumstances, a single magical treasure was far more valuable than common cultivation methods and spirit objects.
Moreover, the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword was a treasured flying sword which was invaluable.
And the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword has one very important characteristic: it’s indestructible.
Shen Yuan had a deep understanding of this. Even the space rift created by Pot’s Heaven could not damage the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword in the slightest.
As for its other characteristics, Shen Yuan had to further revive the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and remove its rust stains.
But for now, the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, with its power of a magical treasure, is enough.
After all, Shen Yuan still had the Earth Fiend Sword Art to enhance it.
The combination of the Immortal Sword and the Earth Fiend Sword Art, the origin of Sword Dao, is much more than just 1+1=2.
The Earth Fiend Sword Art, as the source of all sword techniques, is not anything complex. If its essence is pursued, it consists of but eight words — “the unity of the sword and Elemental Qi, command the sword with the spirit!”
The Elemental Qi here can refer to the source of the cultivator’s Refining Elemental Qi method, or the Qi of heaven and earth.
Through the union of the sword and Elemental Qi in divine skills, different properties are derived.
When the cultivator merges his Elemental Qi of his own realm with the sword, the sword reflecting the characteristics of the cultivator’s method is originated. With the method of Refining Elemental Qi, the flying sword can be controlled perfectly.
If one achieves the union of the sword and Elemental Qi with the Qi of heaven and earth, it is in an entirely different realm. Depending on the different Qi of heaven and earth, it can evolve into a myriad of unimaginable powers within the Sword Dao.
If one merges with the Qi from the Great Sun’s True Flames, it can reproduce the power of ten suns descending onto the world, with a single sword, it can scorch the earth for a thousand miles and burn down mountains and boil the seas.
When it merges with the Nine You Green Ming Qi, one can control the underworld, and with one sword, open a passage to the underworld, with millions of ghosts submitting and worshipping.
If one merges with Saintly Purple Qi, with one sword moving westwardly, the purple Qi can surge for thirty-thousand miles, even gods and Buddha may bow their heads.
Though the Earth Fiend Sword Art ranks thirty-eighth among the Earthly Destroyer Divine Powers, it is the least stuck with its level of limitations.
If one could master the top-tier Qi of heaven and earth, they could undoubtedly rival the Heavenly General Divine Power.
However, these are still far away from Shen Yuan, his method of Refining Elemental Qi has just started cultivation, he is not capable of achieving the union of the sword and Elemental Qi.
One point worth praising is that the “Purple Clouds Elemental Qi Refinement Method” has provided a way for Shen Yuan to refine Morning Glow Purple Qi.
The Morning Glow Purple Qi, while being one of the Qi of heaven and earth, is inferior, but it still possesses the ability to demolish demons and exorcise evil. When integrated into Earth Fiend Sword Art, it can provide tremendous support.
As for the last four words in the Earth Fiend Sword Art, “Commanding Sword with Spirit”, it refers to the Primordial Spirit Sword Control Method by manipulating flying swords with a Primordial Spirit.
The Primordial Spirit Sword Control Method once flourished in ancient times, mainly due to the ease of control it provided with flying swords, allowing for a profound display of the mysteries of the Sword Dao. It can take a person’s life instantly from thousands of miles away and was much more powerful than any of the same rank.
However, the Primordial Spirit Sword Control Method carries a high risk. If the flying sword is destroyed, one can lightly incur damage to the Primordial Spirit or, on the worse side, shatter one’s soul.
Moreover, in the cultivation world at that time, many side-line sects had researched magic artifacts that targeted the Primordial Spirit. Under regular circumstances, magic artifacts could not harm a Primordial Spirit residing within the host body, but once they manipulate the flying sword without the protection of a body, the Primordial Spirit must suffer great harm.
This is why the Primordial Spirit Sword Control Method eventually vanished from mainstream methods.
But the Earth Fiend Sword Art has the union of the sword and Elemental Qi to guard the Primordial Spirit. It is completely fearless of magic artifacts that target the Primordial Spirit, perfectly making up for the defect of Primordial Spirit Sword Control Method.
The only unfortunate thing was that Shen Yuan’s realm is still low and has not birthed a Primordial Spirit yet. He can only temporarily deposit his Divine Sense in the sword, unable to reach the layer of controlling the sword with a Primordial Spirit from thousand miles and take a person’s life.
Pondering upon this, Shen Yuan’s Divine Sense moves, with the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword in his hand; it slowly hovers in the air under Shen Yuan’s Divine Sense, and the rusty sword scabbard makes a clear sound of the sword singing.
With Shen Yuan as the center, a series of invisible Sword Qi spread out with the sword singing, leaving gigantic trenches on the floor of the meditation room.
The next moment, a white flash streaked across the meditation room, the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword turned into a beam of light and slashed towards the thick wall, easily piercing through the reinforced concrete structure, leaving a clean cut on that solid wall.
Shen Yuan gestured, and the Immortal Sword that had broken through the wall flew back into his hand.
“Although a pure attack is not comparable to the Space Rift of Pot’s Heaven Divine Power, it excels in flexible and varied methods that far exceed Pot’s Heaven Divine Power.
However, speaking of which, the Pot’s Heaven Divine Power was never an offensive type of Divine Power to begin with, it’s entirely because of my method of usage.”
Shen Yuan evaluated his sword.
The Space Rift of Pot’s Heaven Divine Power is indeed extraordinary, but after all, it needs something as a carrier, and the object to carry the Space Rift must approach the enemy, and the speed is slow when thrown out.
If it’s simply for the sake of surprise, it can naturally have a strong effect, but once the other party is prepared in any way, even an average Essence Refining Stage cultivator can easily dodge it.
The Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and Earth Fiend Sword Art have filled the void in Shen Yuan’s attack methods.
At this moment, if Shen Yuan had to face that group of demons from a few days ago, he could control the Immortal Sword with a mere thought to slay them all, even leaving no chance for them to escape.
With the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and the Earth Fiend Sword Art in hand, even if facing a cultivator who has entered the Qi Transformation Realm and birthed Mana, Shen Yuan is entirely confident of victory.
More importantly, as Shen Yuan’s realm continues to improve and he births a Primordial Spirit, and collects enough of the Qi of heaven and earth to display the unity of the sword and Elemental Qi, his strength will have a leap in improvement.
“Since you have not fully recovered your Immortal Sword power, calling you the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword is too conspicuous. Let me first call you the Darkness-Light Sword!”
Holding the Darkness-Light Sword, Shen Yuan got up and left the meditation room where he had secluded himself for two days.