Spiritual Energy Disappears

Fang Chen walked up to the giant stone and examined it closely. He noticed many words carved on the stone, but most of them were obscured by moss. To clearly see all the inscriptions, he would have to clean off all the moss.

"The stone Uncle Li mentioned, the one with the sword techniques carved on it, should be this one, right?"

Fang Chen put down the pack on his back and used the Floating Immortal Sword to cut down the weeds at the base of the giant stone.

"Buzz buzz..."

As he cut down the weeds, the Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently. An extremely potent stream of energy surged into his palm. Wherever it went, Fang Chen felt a stinging sensation in his meridians, as if tiny sharp knives were scraping through them.

"Such powerful spiritual energy!"

Fang Chen hadn't expected to absorb such potent spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword just by cutting down some weeds. The feeling of this spiritual energy was different from any he had absorbed from the sword before.

He had cut down countless weeds like these on his journey, but the spiritual energy he absorbed from the Floating Immortal Sword back then had been extremely gentle. Compared to the potent energy he was absorbing now, the difference was vast.

He carefully observed the weeds he had just cut down, touching them with his hand.

"Chih!"

His finger was immediately cut by the sharp serrations on the edge of the weed. Bright red blood instantly welled up from the wound.

"So sharp!"

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He noticed that the serrations on the edge of the weed were very sharp, and the leaves of these weeds were also harder than the ones he had cut down previously.

He looked around and saw that the weeds growing around the giant stone were taller and greener than ordinary weeds, with wider leaves.

"Could it be because of this stone?"

Fang Chen frowned, gripped the Floating Immortal Sword, and swung it at the stone.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew as the Floating Immortal Sword left a shallow mark on the surface of the giant stone.

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently again, and an even more potent stream of spiritual energy surged into his body. Under the onslaught of this powerful energy, his meridians throbbed with intense pain, like being scraped by knives or pricked by needles – it was agonizing.

"Ah..."

Fang Chen couldn't help but tremble. He gritted his teeth, tightly gripping the hilt of the Floating Immortal Sword. The wound on his left index finger, just made by the weed, now glowed with a faint green light. The bleeding stopped immediately, and Fang Chen no longer felt any pain.

As this potent, fierce energy entered his mind, Fang Chen felt his spirit instantly invigorate.

Under internal observation, he saw wisps of gray gas circulating along his meridians, surging towards his dantian. In the process, they were continuously absorbed by the walls of his meridians, his bones, muscles, internal organs, and other tissues.

When the gray gas entered his dantian, it was immediately drawn into the vortex of True Qi.

The True Qi vortex trembled slightly, then its rotation speed suddenly increased. Fang Chen instinctively circulated the Glazed Qi Refining Art, and the surrounding spiritual energy immediately converged towards him, which he then drew into his body.

After three breaths, the pain in his meridians disappeared. The potent spiritual energy that had surged into his body from the Floating Immortal Sword was completely absorbed. Fang Chen felt his True Qi had become much fuller.

"Such potent spiritual energy!"

Fang Chen stared at the giant stone before him, taking a deep breath.

He hadn't expected that by striking the stone with the Floating Immortal Sword, he could absorb such powerful energy.

"Continue!"

He immediately swung the Floating Immortal Sword, continuously striking the stone before him.

"Clang clang clang..."

The Floating Immortal Sword repeatedly struck the giant stone, emitting clanging sounds and leaving white sword marks on its surface.

Streams of potent spiritual energy continuously poured into Fang Chen's body, constantly tempering his physique, and the True Qi in his dantian continued to increase.

After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn.

The sun had completely set behind the mountains, and the sky grew dark. Fang Chen also felt the spiritual energy surging into his body from the Floating Immortal Sword begin to decrease.

As the sky completely darkened, Fang Chen felt no more energy flowing into his body from the Floating Immortal Sword.

"What's going on?"

Fang Chen frowned slightly. He had never encountered this situation before.

When he was at Thousand Bamboo Ridge, he always descended the mountain before sunset, so he had never used the Floating Immortal Sword to strike anything after sunset.

He hadn't expected that after sunset, he would be unable to absorb spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword.

He turned around and used the Floating Immortal Sword to strike the weeds around the giant stone.

The Floating Immortal Sword remained still. He couldn't absorb any spiritual energy from it.

"It seems I really can't absorb spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword after sunset!"

Fang Chen thought to himself.

Just then, a large snake, as thick as an arm, emerged from the grass. It opened its mouth and instantly bit Fang Chen's right calf. This snake had a one-finger-wide blood-red line down its spine, and its black scales were rimmed with a circle of silver light.

"Ah..."

Fang Chen let out a scream and immediately swung his sword, striking the large snake.

"Chih!"

The large snake was immediately severed, its body twitching on the ground like a gecko's severed tail.

"Buzz buzz..."

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently, and then a scorching airflow surged into Fang Chen's body. Fang Chen felt a warmth spread through him.

When this airflow reached the spot on his calf bitten by the venomous snake, the intense pain instantly vanished.

"Huh?"

Fang Chen was stunned. He had thought he wouldn't be able to absorb spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword after sunset. To his surprise, after killing a snake, he could absorb spiritual energy again.

"Could it be that after sunset, I can only absorb spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword by cutting down living things?"

Fang Chen thought to himself.

At this moment, the scorching airflow that had just surged into his body from the Floating Immortal Sword was depleted. Fang Chen felt a sharp stinging pain return to the spot on his calf where the snake had bitten him.

He looked down and saw that the snake's head was still firmly clamped onto his leg. So, he swung his sword again, slicing down along his own leg.

"Ssssh!"

The large snake's head was cleanly severed and fell to the ground, rolling around. However, half of its head remained embedded in Fang Chen's calf.

"Buzz buzz!"

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently, and that scorching energy surged into his body again. Fang Chen felt a warmth spread through him. The warm current reached the bite mark on his leg, and the piercing pain immediately disappeared.

Fang Chen didn't know what kind of snake it was. He immediately squatted down and pulled the snake's mouth off his calf.

The snake's fangs were a full two inches long, and black blood dripped from them.

Seeing this, Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He inwardly cried out that it was bad, knowing this snake was venomous. Otherwise, his blood wouldn't have turned black.

He immediately rolled up his trouser leg and found that the bite area had already swollen, and the wound had turned black.