Body Integration with Sword, Sword Energy Turns into Rainbow

Now that he was a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator, Qi Condensation Stage techniques could no longer help increase his cultivation. Fortunately, Fang Xiao had long since thoroughly comprehended the Foundation Establishment Realm portion of the Soaring Sword Art. Running the Foundation Establishment Realm technique encountered no obstacles, and the spiritual power that had been restlessly churning moments ago gradually stabilized.

Only now did he have time to examine the changes after his breakthrough. First was his physical body, which had undergone a qualitative transformation in every respect. The strength of his meridians, which concerned him most, had also improved greatly. For the time being, it would not affect his daily cultivation or combat, but he still needed to find a good body-refining technique as soon as possible.

Then there was his soul, whose power had more than doubled. His Spiritual Sense, which had originally only reached fifteen meters beyond his body, had surged to forty meters. An ordinary Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator generally only had a range of ten to fifty meters, so he had already surpassed most cultivators of the same realm. Spiritual Sense had a wide range of applications, and he still needed to continue improving the Soul Nurturing Gourd to strengthen its soul-tempering effects. It was said that when Golden Core cultivators with powerful souls encountered danger, their spiritual senses could detect it in advance.

Finally, there was his current spiritual power. Very little of the mist-like spiritual power in his body remained, and it was still continuously liquefying. Within a few hours, it would all become liquid. Meanwhile, more than sixty drops of liquid spiritual power floated at the center of his Dantian. A cultivator who had just entered the Foundation Establishment Realm generally only had around twenty drops, while those with deep foundations might reach over thirty. The amount of spiritual power he possessed upon first entering Foundation Establishment was already twice that of others.

According to the records in the technique and what he had learned, ordinary techniques could at most cultivate two hundred and forty drops of liquid spiritual power during the Foundation Establishment Realm. The early, middle, and late stages corresponded to sixty, eighty, and one hundred drops respectively. Of course, that was merely the standard; depending on the quality of the technique, it could vary by anywhere from several to several dozen drops.

The top-tier technique he cultivated, however, had an upper limit of three hundred and sixty drops of liquid spiritual power, with ninety, one hundred and twenty, and one hundred and fifty drops for the early, middle, and late stages respectively. Yet not everyone cultivating a top-tier technique could reach that limit. It still depended on the individual.

In other words, Fang Xiao was now less than one-third away from the spiritual power limit of Foundation Establishment Early Stage, and he had already surpassed Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators who practiced ordinary techniques.

There was still some Monkey Wine left, but he also planned to deduce the Spirit Wine Recipe, so he could not use it all up. As for other pills and Spirit Wine that could raise Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation, he had none for the time being. His cultivation would have to be set aside for now.

What required attention now was his Sword Dao Realm. He had spent half a year in Yunmeng Marsh exterminating demons. Though he had not experienced life-and-death battles, slaughtering over a thousand demon beasts had still given him an aura of killing intent. A sword was a weapon of slaughter; from understanding the sword to wielding it, one had to pass through slaughter. This had brought his command of Sword Energy Thunderous Sound to the point of consummate mastery, only one step away from the pinnacle.

The Soaring Sword Art contained a method that could help him cross beyond the pinnacle and enter the next realm of Sword Dao—Sword Qi Like Rainbow. What was faster than sound? Light.

To say that Sword Qi Like Rainbow rivaled the speed of light was naturally impossible, but its speed did indeed far surpass that of thunderous sound.

This method was Body Integration with Sword. It had originally been a Sword Escape Technique, but after later generations of seniors improved and innovated upon it, it allowed one to integrate with the sword while using a Secret Art to drive the sword weapon, thereby experiencing the Sword Dao Realm of Sword Qi Like Rainbow in advance. However, using this Secret Art required both a considerable Sword Dao Realm and a sword weapon capable of withstanding Sword Qi Like Rainbow.

With his Sword Dao Realm of Sword Energy Thunderous Sound and the Great White Sword Pellet, he already met every condition for this method. He immediately decided that once he mastered Body Integration with Sword and reached the realm of Sword Energy Turns into Rainbow, he could leave seclusion with the strength to protect himself.

Since he had made his decision, he suppressed his desire to leave seclusion for now. Taking out the jade slip of the Soaring Sword Art from his Storage Bag, he sent his Spiritual Sense into it, found the method of Body Integration with Sword, and began comprehending it.

The method of Body Integration with Sword had never been intended for Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators. To endure Body Integration with Sword while simultaneously using Sword Energy Turns into Rainbow, the sword weapon had to be at least above the level of a Top-grade magic tool. In simple terms, it had to be at least a Magic Treasure Embryo. Moreover, Sword Cultivators who could bring Sword Energy Thunderous Sound to consummate mastery were generally False Core or even Golden Core cultivators.

Thus, this method was relatively difficult to comprehend. Even with his Innate Sword Body and its talent for understanding Sword Dao, Fang Xiao found it somewhat strenuous. He spent nearly ten days before and after before finally comprehending it thoroughly.

After grasping Body Integration with Sword, Fang Xiao repeatedly used the Great White Sword Pellet to practice. Fortunately, his residence was spacious enough to give him ample room to perform it. Feeling his cultivation progress advance at breakneck speed, he deeply suspected that his Innate Sword Body was more suited to practice than comprehension.

On the day he had been in seclusion for exactly half a year, a streak of sword light flew out from the house, and the formation shut down along with it. The thick beam of sword light shot into the heavens, piercing the nine skies and drawing the attention of many disciples in the encampment.

In an instant, the sword light descended into the courtyard again, swirling freely and weaving nimbly about like a fish swimming through water.

A moment later, the sword light landed on the ground, revealing Fang Xiao with a satisfied expression. That sword light had been produced when he used the Great White Sword Pellet to perform Body Integration with Sword, entering the state of Sword Qi Like Rainbow through the Secret Art.

Once one stood at a higher realm and looked down upon a lower one, it was as easy as bending down to pick something up. Fang Xiao used Sword Qi Like Rainbow to cultivate Sword Energy Thunderous Sound, and Sword Energy Thunderous Sound immediately crossed into the realm of the pinnacle. After these days of constant personal insight, he could now stand firmly in the Fourth Realm of Sword Dao—Sword Qi Like Rainbow—even without relying on the Secret Art or the Sword Pellet.

At that moment, a streak of escaping light flew over from afar. The arrival was none other than Yan Tingyun.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother, on successfully establishing your foundation."

"You flatter me, Senior Brother Yan. If I could not even pass the Foundation Establishment hurdle, would I not be letting down the sect's cultivation?"

"Just now, I saw that sword light of yours. Its momentum was immense, so its power must be far from ordinary. It seems that not only has your cultivation broken through, your Sword Dao has also advanced considerably. In that case, the upcoming mission should pose no difficulty for you."

"A mission?"

"That's right. You were originally supposed to return to the sect first, but the mission is urgent, and there is no suitable candidate. Since you happened to emerge from seclusion, it has fallen to you."

"When the sect has need, disciples should serve. That is only right. But what exactly is the mission?"

It turned out that the Earth Vein of the Five Elements Sect had a formation master named Yu Mengsheng, who was particularly skilled in Teleportation Arrays. This time, the Gold Vein's Teleportation Array had malfunctioned, resulting in their complete annihilation. As an affiliated immortal city of the Five Elements Sect, Linyuan City naturally had the responsibility and obligation to inspect its Teleportation Array. After all, it concerned both reinforcements and retreat routes; it could be called the utmost priority.

However, after Yu Mengsheng finished inspecting the Teleportation Array, he did not leave through it. Instead, he said that he had received a distress message from a fellow sect member through his sect token, saying that they were trapped somewhere in the direction of Yunmeng Marsh.

Yu Mengsheng himself was only at Foundation Establishment Early Stage. Linyuan City had dispatched two Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators to accompany him and investigate, but there had been no news from them until now.

Linyuan City was currently short on manpower, so they had turned to the Tianlan Sect, hoping it could help investigate the situation.

The location Yan Tingyun pointed to on the map lay precisely along the boundary line five hundred thousand li from Linyuan City.

"Junior Brother Fang, your mission is to investigate first. If they are trapped, find a way to rescue them. But if you encounter an enemy you cannot fight, retreat immediately. We are only helping them, after all. You are more important than they are."

"Rest assured, Senior Brother. I will put my own safety first."

Had he only just broken through Foundation Establishment, Fang Xiao might not have been very willing to go. But now that he had mastered Body Integration with Sword, perhaps he still could not defeat a False Core cultivator, yet he could at least retreat unscathed. If it were a Golden Core cultivator, he would not even spare them a glance before turning and running.