After Fang Wang's battle with Xu Lang, more information about Fang Wang began to spread.
Before entering the sect, he had only been at the seventh level of the Qi Nurturing Realm. Three years after entering, he defeated a Personal Disciple at the ninth level of the Spirit Pill Realm!
Once this news spread from the Third Vein disciples, it swept through the entire city like a whirlwind. All who heard it were shaken. A peerless prodigy from legend had actually appeared right beside them, making everything feel unreal. Many questioned it, believing Fang Wang was merely as low-key as Ye Xiang and had led others to mistake him for a new disciple.
Time would prove the truth!
Inside an inn in the main city, Zhao Zhen sat by the window. Rather than looking toward the Golden Mirror in the sky, he poured himself wine, though his right hand trembled as he did so.
The disciples in the inn were all discussing Fang Wang's strength and failed to notice anything unusual about him. Had they been sitting across from him, they would have seen his head drenched in sweat and his face filled with terror.
After Fang Wang left the arena, the battles that followed were exciting, but the spectators could not help feeling that they lacked something.
The First Vein had actually concealed another Earth Origin Treasure Spirit genius. Without counting Fang Wang and Zhou Xue, that genius, together with Ye Xiang, Gu Li, and Lu Yuanjun, gave the Taiyuan Sect four Earth Origin Treasure Spirit geniuses. No wonder it had become the strongest sect in Great Qi's immortal cultivation world in the other timeline.
Not until the latter half of the final day did another lower-ranked vein challenge the Third Vein. Yang Yuanzi sent Gu Li to fight. Her opponents were three Spirit Sculpting Realm disciples and one disciple at the first level of the Spirit Pill Realm.
That settled it!
There was definitely something fishy going on!
After Gu Li claimed four consecutive victories, she returned to Fang Wang's side with an expressionless face. Fang Wang did not know whether it was an illusion, but he felt she was deliberately avoiding his gaze. When the other disciples praised her, she merely nodded faintly.
Thinking back to Gu Li's earlier opponents, even those above the Spirit Pill Realm had likely deliberately held back.
That made sense. She was an Earth Origin Treasure Spirit genius—how could the Taiyuan Sect not focus on nurturing her?
There were gray areas beneath every set of rules.
Time flew by.
The seven-day period of the Nine Meridians Martial Competition finally came to an end. In the end, the Third Vein held onto fifth place, achieving its best result in fifty years.
After Guang Qiuxian announced the rankings of each vein, Vice Sect Master Chen Anshi rose to his feet and said, "The nine disciples representing the Taiyuan Sect in seeking opportunities within the Grotto-Heaven are Lu Yuanjun, Fang Wang, Xu Lang, Ye Xiang, Zhou Xue, Gu Li, Yan Feiyue, Tang Jue, and Xiao Ling!"
"One month from today, at noon, wait before Shiyuan Hall!"
Thus ended this Nine Meridians Martial Competition!
Disciples from every pavilion flew out one after another, heading toward the pavilion occupied by the Third Vein. All of them had come for Fang Wang.
Faced with the friendly overtures of the Personal Disciples from every vein, Fang Wang had no choice but to exchange pleasantries. Later on, even elders from the various veins came over.
It took a full hour before Fang Wang finally extricated himself. He quickly returned to the entrance of his cave dwelling and discovered Gu Li waiting there.
Fang Wang landed and was about to greet her when Gu Li spoke first. "You must be disappointed, but I had no way to refuse. Even if I had not wanted to, the sect would have pushed me forward. Besides, I wanted this opportunity myself. My father told me about it before."
Fang Wang blinked and said, "Disappointed about what? All I feel is envy. Come on, are you showing off?"
Fairness?
What a joke. Other than life and death, what in this world was ever absolutely fair?
Perhaps with the emergence of immortal cultivation, even life and death had become unfair.
His tone eased the gloom in Gu Li's heart. She rolled her eyes at Fang Wang, then took two blue-covered books from her Storage Bag and handed them to him. "After my father heard that you defeated me at the seventh level of the Qi Nurturing Realm during the entrance examination, he wanted to befriend you. These are the Heaven and Earth Treasure Record and my Gu Family's secret art, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy."
"The Heaven and Earth Treasure Record records the heavenly materials and earthly treasures between heaven and earth. It will help you gather treasures in the Great Sage's Grotto-Heaven. Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy is a sword qi method that direct descendants of the Gu Family must cultivate, but very few manage to achieve anything with it. If cultivated to great completion, it possesses the wondrous qualities of a divine ability from legend."
Having said that, she turned and left. Watching her retreating back, Fang Wang wanted to speak but stopped himself.
Gu Li walked quickly, swiftly returning to her own cave dwelling as though afraid he would refuse.
Fang Wang shook his head and laughed, then entered his cave dwelling.
Sitting on his bed, Fang Wang began flipping through the Heaven and Earth Treasure Record. Every page contained illustrations followed by written descriptions. The countless grasses, flowers, trees, and fruits fascinated him, and there were also many strange ores.
Though it was not a cultivation manual, the Heaven and Earth Treasure Record still gave Fang Wang a pleasant surprise.
Only after reading for a full half hour did he put the Heaven and Earth Treasure Record into his Storage Bag and pick up Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy.
He had not held great expectations for Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy, having seen Gu Li's Five Saints Sword Technique.
But as he read on, his expression became serious.
Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy was no simple thing!
This sword qi was nurtured within the dantian. The longer it was cultivated, the stronger it became. Generally speaking, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy was very weak in its early stages and could barely form combat power even within the first ten years. That was why Gu Li had never used it.
Fang Wang was different. If he cultivated Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy to the realm of Grand Perfection from the beginning, his cultivation speed would far surpass that of the Gu Family. After all, members of the Gu Family still had to progress step by step, and merely condensing sword qi took a long time.
When Fang Wang was about to turn to the final page, his hand trembled slightly.
Who knew how long he would have to remain in the Heavenly Palace? But when he thought of his upcoming trip to the Great Sage's Grotto-Heaven, he felt having another combat method was a good thing.
Fang Wang took a deep breath, then opened the final page and began reading.
The moment he finished the last word, his mind exploded and everything before his eyes blurred.
When Fang Wang opened his eyes again, he found himself inside the Heavenly Palace. Without wasting time, he immediately began cultivating Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy.
Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy had no realms divided by levels, but its cultivation process was extremely difficult. It was not ordinary sword qi; it was more like exploring one's soul.
And so, year after year passed.
In the end, Fang Wang spent one hundred and twenty years cultivating Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy to Grand Perfection. At that moment, he finally believed Gu Li's words.
Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy truly possessed the wondrous qualities of a divine ability!
Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy at Grand Perfection did not reside in the dantian, but within the soul. This also greatly strengthened Fang Wang's Spiritual Sense, allowing him to observe his own soul internally.
In essence, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy at Grand Perfection was like a portion split from the soul. It shot out from his eyes and obeyed his command. After killing an enemy, it returned to his body, untouched by any filth, while possessing terrifying killing power.
Most importantly, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy had no upper limit. The longer he nurtured it, the stronger it became.
Fang Wang's consciousness withdrew from the Heavenly Palace. He opened his eyes and saw his cave dwelling.
Suppressing his urge to go outside and look upon heaven and earth, he began cultivating Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy. Spiritual qi entered his body, and in less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, his soul had refined Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy. From then on, whenever he absorbed qi, a portion of the spiritual qi would automatically nourish Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy. Such was Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy at Grand Perfection; he did not need to cultivate it separately.
Of course, if he felt that Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy would affect his cultivation speed, he could sever its connection with the outside world himself.
Fang Wang's eyes widened, his pupils shining brightly. A strand of sword qi emerged from his eyes and streaked through the cave dwelling at astonishing speed, swift as lightning. With a thought, he recalled it, and the sword qi rapidly entered his eyes. His gaze returned to normal.
Wonderful!
The instant Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy left his body, Fang Wang felt as though he had gained a second body. He could control Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy perfectly, and even everything around him seemed to have fallen into stillness.
When facing enemies in the future, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy would be his killing move!
Hundreds of years from now, Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy would become his ultimate move. With a glare, sword qi would burst forth, destroying heaven and earth!
Just imagining it made Fang Wang feel exhilarated.
He immediately rose to his feet, left his cave dwelling, and came to the edge of the cliff. Looking at the snow filling the sky, he wanted to shout and vent the frustration of a century of bitter cultivation, but he held it in!
No!
He had to go out for a walk and talk with someone!
Fang Wang immediately set out to visit his clansmen. Other than Zhou Xue, all of them were in their respective cave dwellings.
Only three days later did he return. As he reached the mountain gate, he hesitated for a moment before going to Gu Li's cave dwelling and calling out, "Is Miss Gu here?"
Before long, the mountain gate opened and Gu Li walked out. She asked in confusion, "What is it?"
Fang Wang rarely took the initiative to seek her out, so she thought something had happened.
"I have been studying Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy these past three days. May I ask how many people in the Gu Family have cultivated Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy? To what extent can the strongest practitioner use it?" Fang Wang asked seriously.
After holding it in for one hundred and twenty years, he had to compare himself with someone.
Gu Li said helplessly, "Fang Wang, you truly are a genius, but Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy cannot be rushed. At present, fewer than ten people in the Gu Family can use Spirit Nurturing Sword Energy in battle. The strongest is my grandfather. He can spit sword qi from his mouth, piercing through anything, even shattering high-grade magical artifacts."
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