Heavenly Spiritual Root, Primordial Sword Body

Inside the cultivation chamber, the pills Qing Feng had provided were laid out one by one on the table. There were only three kinds, yet they covered enhancing spiritual power, tempering the body, and elevating the soul. Every one of them was a top-grade pill with potent medicinal effects.

He had truly chosen the right Master. Wealth, companions, methods, and a place to cultivate—he had them all.

He looked at the Spirit Essence Pill in his hand. This pill's medicinal power was formidable and was better suited for cultivators in the middle and late stages of Foundation Establishment. For Fang Xiao, however, it was just right.

After activating the Spirit Gathering Array in the cultivation chamber, he sat upon the Meditation Cushion, swallowed a Spirit Essence Pill, and began guiding the spiritual power within him through his meridians according to the circulation route of the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon.

With every cycle, the spiritual power jointly tempered by the Soaring Sword Art and the Great White Sword Pellet diminished by a fraction, while the spiritual power of the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon increased. If his former spiritual power had been like iron, then his current spiritual power was like refined steel forged a thousand times over.

The new spiritual power had inherited the traits of the spiritual power from the two former sword arts. From then on, there was no need to deliberately temper it again with a Secret Art. It would become part of the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon, as natural as instinct.

His cultivation in the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon rose bit by bit: Qi Refining Early Stage, Qi Refining Middle Stage, Qi Refining Late Stage, Foundation Establishment Early Stage. As his original spiritual power was completely exhausted, the seventy-second drop of spiritual liquid steadily condensed from the new spiritual power.

His cultivation appeared to have risen easily, but he had consumed several hundred Spirit Essence Pills in the process. Looking at the nearly half of the pills that remained, he wondered deeply whether they could help raise his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. Besides cultivating spiritual power, which of his other techniques should he prioritize?

Fang Xiao began considering the techniques corresponding to essence, qi, and spirit: the Upper Elixir Condensing Spirit Refining Method, the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon, and the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture. They each presided over the upper, middle, and lower Dantians.

The upper Dantian was also called the Niwan Palace, the sea of consciousness. When he used the Soul Nurturing Gourd to operate the Upper Elixir Condensing Spirit Refining Method, it did not need to pass through his meridians.

As for the middle and lower Dantians, the meridians traversed by the two techniques partially overlapped. Under normal circumstances, two techniques could not be operated simultaneously in such a situation.

However, the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture focused on transforming the attributes of spiritual qi. When it encountered the spiritual qi of the Taibai Soaring Sword Canon, it might convert the portion of spiritual qi it came into contact with. This might hinder the growth of his cultivation, but conversely, it could enhance his physical body. There seemed to be a possibility that the two could proceed side by side without conflict.

He had always wanted to operate all three techniques at once while cultivating. That way, he could obtain three times the gains in the same amount of time.

But this was no small matter. If spiritual power took the wrong route through the meridians while the techniques were operating, the lighter consequences would be chaotic spiritual power and damaged meridians; the heavier consequences would be qi deviation, endangering his life.

Yet if he succeeded, it would have an enormous impact on his future. Thus, he decided to begin by operating them two at a time.

Since the Upper Elixir Condensing Spirit Refining Method did not involve the meridians, he first operated it together with each of the other two techniques. Once he could control them with absolute precision, he would begin operating two techniques within his meridians at once. His use of Spiritual Sense and spiritual power would then surpass even the meticulous level and reach the level of complete control.

Fang Xiao began using this paired cultivation method and swallowed large quantities of the three kinds of pills related to essence, qi, and spirit. Every aspect of his cultivation advanced in lockstep.

Under such sustained, high-intensity cultivation, his mind often became taut with strain. At those times, he would temporarily stop cultivating and instead practice the Sword Dao and contemplate Sword Principle to ease his condition.

This continued for nearly a year. One day, while operating the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture and the Upper Elixir Condensing Spirit Refining Method, he suddenly sensed that his body cultivation was about to break through.

He immediately stopped operating the technique in his sea of consciousness and focused solely on cultivating the Five Qi Cultivating Immortal Scripture. At the same time, he swallowed several Body Forging Pills and threw himself into breaking through the bottleneck of the First Layer Late Stage.

With the solid foundation of his physical body, breaking through the bottleneck went as smoothly as water flowing into a channel. His Body Refining realm successfully reached the First Layer Late Stage.

At that moment, he clearly sensed an abnormality within his body. His Earth Spirit Root had originally been a part of him, but now it felt utterly out of place, as though he could not wait to pluck it out directly.

But his Gold Spirit Root also began to exert its power. Like roots sinking into the Earth Spirit Root, it absorbed with all its strength. He felt the Earth Spirit Root gradually shrink and dissipate until, at a certain moment, the Gold Spirit Root within him became an independent, sole, utterly pure Heavenly Gold Spiritual Root.

At the moment he attained a Heavenly Spiritual Root, Fang Xiao suddenly felt as if his consciousness had left his body. This was followed by a sensation of space shifting at extreme speed, as though he were passing through a kaleidoscope, spinning onward until reaching the end. In the end, it felt as though he had returned to the womb, wrapped in endless warmth.

In his haze, countless things seemed to drift past him. A thought also arose within his consciousness for no reason: he could choose one of those things. Half-dreaming and half-awake, Fang Xiao reached forward and grabbed at random. He only felt himself plummeting rapidly before abruptly regaining consciousness. The entire process had taken no more than an instant.

He also understood everything clearly. Someone like him, who stood at the consummate level even among Heavenly Spiritual Roots, had drawn the attention of the Consciousness of the Taichang Realm—the Heavenly Dao of this realm, as it was commonly known—the instant he achieved it. He had received the Heavenly Dao's favor. Like the chosen child of heaven spoken of in his previous life, he would also carry some of the Taichang Realm's fortune.

That final experience, like drawing a prize, had been a benefit granted to him by the Taichang Realm. What he had drawn was a constitution, which fused with his existing constitution. The Consciousness of the Taichang Realm clearly told him that this constitution was called the Primordial Sword Body.

He had seen the Primordial Sword Body described in ancient records. Even if it was not the greatest constitution of all ages, every one of its possessors had the potential to become a Sword Immortal. Born for the sword, they possessed unparalleled affinity with every sword in the world. So long as they wished it, all ownerless swords within a certain range would submit to their control. They also possessed uniquely blessed advantages in comprehending sword techniques and cultivating the Sword Dao. The appearance of a Primordial Sword Body meant that its bearer was destined to become the master of the Sword Dao in that era.

Fang Xiao had not expected that completing the refinement of his Heavenly Spiritual Root would trigger such a heaven-defying opportunity. He did not know whether everyone was like this.

An ordinary Heavenly Spiritual Root was not truly without other spirit roots. It was merely that the proportion of the other spirit roots was too low. For instance, one attribute spirit root might account for ninety-nine percent, while one or even several others accounted for only one percent. Such a case was also a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but not a Great Perfection Heavenly Spiritual Root.

Fang Xiao, however, had been born with Gold-Earth Dual Spirit Roots and no other spirit roots. Thus, after the transformation, he possessed a Great Perfection Heavenly Spiritual Root with a one hundred percent proportion. Only a Great Perfection Heavenly Spiritual Root could trigger Merging with the Heavenly Dao. It looked like a prize draw, but in truth, it all corresponded to one's unique talents.

As the Primordial Sword Body deepened, some of his former understandings of the Sword Dao were corrected, while others became deeper and more thorough. Even when he did nothing, he could feel his Sword Dao Realm improving. It was as if someone were constantly pouring Sword Dao knowledge into his head. Perhaps this was what people in his previous life meant by a chosen child of heaven—someone whom Heaven chased after to spoon-feed. He had never expected to get a chance to experience it himself.