Mysterious Tadpoles

"What's going on?"

Fang Chen had no idea why so many mystical runes had suddenly appeared on the stone, nor why it was emitting such powerful Sword Intent.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he swung the Floating Immortal Sword again, striking the giant stone.

"Clang!"

The Floating Immortal Sword left a long gash on the giant stone.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently. A more overbearing stream of energy surged from the hilt into Fang Chen's palm, then rushed throughout his body. Under the effect of this powerful energy, veins bulged beneath his skin. As this energy flowed into his Dantian, his body jolted, and his abdomen instantly swelled. He felt like his Dantian was about to explode. When this powerful energy entered his mind, his head roared as if it had been struck hard by a stone, causing immense pain, as if it were about to split open.

"Ah..."

Fang Chen couldn't help but cry out in pain. He hadn't expected the spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword to suddenly increase so much. Fortunately, his physical condition had improved significantly over the past month; otherwise, this wave of spiritual energy alone could have burst his body.

He immediately circulated the Glazed Qi Refining Art to its maximum, and the True Qi vortex in his Dantian began to spin rapidly, drawing in spiritual energy from his surroundings.

A full ten breaths later, the spiritual energy within Fang Chen's body was completely refined, and his Dantian was considerably filled with True Qi.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."

The mystical runes on the surface of the giant stone continued to flicker, and the surrounding spiritual energy converged towards the stone, where it was absorbed.

Although Fang Chen didn't know why this giant stone had become like this, he knew it was a rare opportunity. The gains from that single sword strike were greater than what he had gained from a hundred strikes yesterday. Such an opportunity could not be missed.

He swung his sword again, striking the giant stone. The overbearing energy surged into his body once more. This time, Fang Chen didn't feel as much pain as the first time, but it was still unpleasant. Gritting his teeth, he desperately circulated his cultivation method, rapidly refining the energy. Only after the energy was completely refined and absorbed did he dare to swing his sword again, otherwise, his body would surely have exploded.

Under the effect of this overbearing energy, Fang Chen's Dantian was repeatedly stretched to the brink of explosion. With each impact, Fang Chen's Dantian gradually expanded.

This transformation shocked Fang Chen immensely.

Under normal circumstances, the Dantian would only undergo metamorphosis and expand when one's cultivation broke through to a major realm, such as advancing from the Qi Refining Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm, from Foundation Establishment to Golden Core, or from Golden Core to Nascent Soul.

However, Fang Chen had not yet broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, yet his Dantian was continuously growing larger.

Fang Chen knew this was likely due to the overbearing energy from the Floating Immortal Sword flowing into his body, as each surge would expand his Dantian to the point of near rupture.

With each impact of spiritual energy, his Dantian continued to grow.

As the Dantian expanded, the True Qi within it also increased.

Three hours later.

The Spirit Gathering Arrays atop the main peaks of Azure Cloud Peak's inner and outer sects ceased functioning. The large stone on Dog Head Ridge dimmed, and the intense Sword Intent vanished instantly.

Fang Chen swung his sword at the stone and found that the spiritual energy flowing from the Floating Immortal Sword had significantly weakened, returning to the level it was yesterday.

"What a shame!"

Fang Chen sighed. During those three hours, his True Qi had increased considerably, and the diameter of his Dantian had expanded by nearly a third. He vaguely felt as if he were about to touch the threshold of the second level of Qi Refining.

If he could have maintained that state, he would have broken through to the second level of Qi Refining soon, but the runes on the stone had disappeared.

Although the spiritual energy from the Floating Immortal Sword had weakened, Fang Chen didn't stop. After all, striking the stone allowed him to absorb spiritual energy from the outside world faster.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew.

"Crack..."

A crack appeared where the Floating Immortal Sword struck, then spread rapidly. A faint green light seeped out from the fissure.

"Buzz!"

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently, and an unprecedentedly overbearing stream of energy surged into Fang Chen's body, then rushed along his meridians straight towards his forehead.

"Boom!"

Fang Chen's head roared. He felt as if it had been struck hard by a stone, his ears ringing, stars dancing before his eyes. He felt like his head was about to split open.

A full ten breaths later, the throbbing pain in his head subsided.

Just as Fang Chen was about to swing his sword again, he noticed small, green tadpole-like figures emerging from the crack he had just made with the Floating Immortal Sword. They then began to swim rapidly on the surface of the large stone.

These green tadpoles seemed to be condensed from mystical runes, emitting sharp Sword Intent. At their core was a tiny sword. They chased each other on the stone, seemingly playing.

Fang Chen was stunned by the sight. He never expected such magical tadpoles to emerge from the stone fissure he had created with his sword.

He stood quietly before the large stone, no longer swinging his sword, for fear of disturbing this group of adorable little spirits.

After playing on the stone for a while, the little tadpoles seemed to tire and dispersed, crawling to the center of the inscribed text on the stone and stopping.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

The light from the tadpoles flickered, emitting waves of sharp Sword Intent. Even the text carved on the stone began to emit a faint green glow.

Fang Chen carefully reread the text on the stone, pausing slightly when he saw the tadpoles.

Before this, he had no idea how to cultivate the cultivation method inscribed on the stone. Now, with the help of these tadpoles, everything became clear.

"So that's how it is!"

Fang Chen's eyes suddenly lit up. He finally understood how to cultivate the Flowing Cloud Sword Art.

At this moment, the light from the tadpoles gradually dimmed, and their bodies also disappeared.

After the tadpoles disappeared, Fang Chen swung his sword again, hacking at the crack.

"Clang!"

The Floating Immortal Sword vibrated violently, and an even more domineering force surged into Fang Chen's body, rushing straight towards his head.

Fang Chen's body trembled slightly. He felt invigorated, his thoughts instantly becoming active, and the Flowing Cloud Sword Art continuously flashed through his mind.

He kept swinging his sword at the stone, and under the effect of the domineering airflow, he became more and more energetic.

Half an hour later, Fang Chen's body trembled slightly. He felt the surrounding space dim, and the large stone in front of him instantly turned transparent. The characters carved on the stone emitted a dazzling light, which converged to form a green longsword.

Immediately after, the surrounding spiritual energy rapidly gathered, forming a phantom figure. This person was dressed in a white robe, with white hair and beard, a ruddy complexion, and a green mark between his eyebrows that flickered, emitting a special Dao rhythm. He slowly reached out his hand, and the green longsword instantly flew into his grasp.