Fang Chen walked up to the Giant Stone and examined it closely. Many characters had been carved into its surface, but moss covered most of them. If he wanted to read every word, he would have to clear the moss away.
"Could this be the stone Uncle Li said had a sword technique carved on it?"
Fang Chen set down the bundle on his back and used the Floating Immortal Sword to cut through the thatch grass at the Giant Stone's base.
"Bzz..."
As he cut the grass, the Floating Immortal Sword shuddered violently. An overpowering current surged into his palm, and wherever it passed, pain stabbed through his meridians as though sharp little knives were scraping along them.
"Such powerful Spiritual Power!"
Fang Chen had not expected to absorb such overpowering Spiritual Power from the Floating Immortal Sword just by cutting some grass. It felt nothing like the Spiritual Power he had absorbed from the sword before.
He had cut down countless patches of thatch grass along the way, but the Spiritual Power he had absorbed then had been exceedingly gentle. It was nothing like the overpowering force entering him now.
He studied the cut grass in front of him, then reached out to touch it.
"Hiss!"
The sharp serrations along the leaf's edge sliced his finger at once. Bright red blood welled from the cut.
"So sharp!"
Fang Chen's gaze sharpened. The serrations were exceptionally keen, and these leaves were tougher than the thatch grass he had cut before.
He glanced around and saw that the thatch grass growing around the Giant Stone was taller, greener, and broader-leaved than ordinary grass.
"Could it be because of this stone?"
Fang Chen frowned, gripped the Floating Immortal Sword, and slashed at the stone.
Clang!
Sparks flew. The Floating Immortal Sword left a shallow sword mark on the Giant Stone's surface.
"Bzz, bzz, bzz..."
The Floating Immortal Sword shook violently. An even more overpowering surge of Spiritual Power poured into his body, scourging his meridians with intense pain. It felt like knives scraping and needles stabbing all at once.
"Ah..."
Fang Chen could not stop trembling. He gritted his teeth and clutched the sword's hilt with both hands. The cut on his left index finger glimmered with faint green light. The bleeding stopped at once, and he no longer felt any pain there.
When that fierce current entered his mind, Fang Chen felt his spirits jolt.
Looking inward, he saw wisps of gray gas traveling along his meridians toward his dantian. Along the way, his meridian walls, bones, muscles, organs, and other tissues continually absorbed it.
As soon as the gray gas entered his dantian, it was drawn into the True Qi Vortex.
The True Qi Vortex trembled slightly, then abruptly spun faster. Fang Chen instinctively circulated the Glazed Qi Refining Art. Spiritual Qi gathered around him and flowed into his body with his next breath.
After three breaths, the pain in his meridians vanished. All the overpowering Spiritual Power that had surged from the Floating Immortal Sword had been absorbed, and Fang Chen felt his True Qi had grown considerably fuller.
"Such overpowering Spiritual Power!"
Fang Chen stared at the Giant Stone and took a deep breath.
He had never imagined that striking the stone with the Floating Immortal Sword would let him absorb such overpowering energy.
"Again!"
He swung the Floating Immortal Sword and hacked at the stone again and again.
Clang, clang, clang...
The Floating Immortal Sword struck the Giant Stone repeatedly, ringing out and leaving white sword marks across its surface.
Wave after wave of overpowering Spiritual Power poured into Fang Chen, tempering his body as the True Qi in his dantian continued to grow.
The time it took an incense stick to burn passed.
The sun sank completely behind the mountains, and darkness fell. Fang Chen felt the Spiritual Power flowing into him from the Floating Immortal Sword begin to diminish.
When night had fully fallen, no more energy entered his body from the sword.
"What's going on?"
Fang Chen frowned. He had never encountered this before.
Back at Thousand Bamboo Ridge, he had always descended the mountain before sunset, so he had never used the Floating Immortal Sword to cut anything after dark.
He had not expected to lose the ability to absorb Spiritual Power from it once the sun went down.
He turned and cut through the thatch grass around the Giant Stone with the Floating Immortal Sword.
The sword did not stir. He could not absorb even a trace of Spiritual Power from it.
So I really can't absorb Spiritual Power from the Floating Immortal Sword after sunset!
Fang Chen was still thinking this when a snake as thick as an arm slid out of the grass. It opened its mouth and bit his right calf. A finger-wide blood-red stripe ran down the middle of its back, while silvery light shimmered along the edges of its black scales.
"Ah!"
Fang Chen cried out and immediately slashed the snake with his sword.
Hiss!
The snake was severed at once. Its body thrashed on the ground like a lizard's severed tail.
"Bzz..."
The Floating Immortal Sword shook violently. Then a scorching current poured into Fang Chen's body, filling him with warmth.
When the current reached the bite on his calf, the fierce pain vanished instantly.
"Huh?"
Fang Chen froze. He had thought he could no longer absorb Spiritual Power from the Floating Immortal Sword after sunset. Yet after killing a snake, he could absorb it again.
Could it be that after sunset, I can only absorb Spiritual Power from the Floating Immortal Sword by cutting living things?
Fang Chen turned the thought over in his mind.
The scorching current from the Floating Immortal Sword soon ran out. Stabbing pain returned to the bite on his calf.
He looked down and saw that the snake's head was still clamped tightly onto his leg. He swung his sword again, slicing downward along his calf.
Hiss!
The snake's head was sliced apart, and its body fell to the ground, rolling and writhing. But half its head remained embedded in Fang Chen's calf.
"Bzz, bzz!"
The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently, and that scorching energy flowed into him again. Warmth spread through his body. When it reached the bite, the pain that had pierced him to the bone disappeared at once.
Fang Chen did not know what kind of snake it was. He crouched and pulled its mouth free of his calf.
Its fangs were a full two inches long. Pitch-black blood dripped from them.
Fang Chen's gaze tightened. This is bad. The snake was venomous; otherwise, his blood would not have turned black.
He immediately rolled up his trouser leg. The bitten spot was already swollen, and the wound had turned black.
Before you continue