Nine Truth Profound Darkness Qi Sword

As Li Fan passed the outer sea wall of Penglai Mountain, he realized it was likely the Penglai Sect's protective array. The water wall was incredibly high, perhaps not a hundred zhang (approximately 33 meters) tall, but definitely over a hundred meters. Its thickness was probably several li (approximately 5 kilometers). Heaven knows how it was assembled; it could probably only be explained by immortal magic. Without a doubt, this sea wall, supported by an array, was impassable, not only for mortals but also for most demonic creatures. Physically, it could block out most external troubles.

Moreover, when Li Fan secretly tried to control the black water using the water manipulation technique, even with his current level of water escape skill, he couldn't cause the slightest ripple. Presumably, he would need to use a secret technique or treasure from Penglai to enter or exit this layer of the formation.

Moreover, ordinary Golden Core disciples probably don't even have that kind of thing. This mission specifically requires a Zhenhai Real Person to lead the way, which clearly indicates that only Inner Sect disciples of the Nine Truth Sect at the True Person realm can freely enter and exit the mountain gate formation.

And if these things are still not enough to illustrate just how dangerous the main mountain of the Xuanmen sect is...

The system has shut down.

Well, it seems the existence of an enlightened being guarding Penglai Mountain is not a lie; the system immediately backed down and fled.

Li Fan swallowed hard. This was a bit of a problem. He could try to transform into Gonggong and move around freely; after all, great strength can work miracles, and he could just force his way through. But how could he rescue the Huan family members as well? He wondered if wrapping them in the Moon Soul Sword Light would allow them to climb over the top together...

"This is the Nine Heavens Nether River Grand Formation, constructed using the Weak Water collected from the River Styx. Even a goose feather cannot float on it, and reeds will sink to the bottom. No boat or treasure ship can easily cross it. Don't be fooled by the fact that this water wall is only a few dozen feet high at the moment. It can rise as high as your escape light can reach. If you are not led by someone, do not attempt to enter the formation on your own. Otherwise, even a Nascent Soul Stage Martial God will be at risk of being caught in the formation."

Noticing that Li Fan kept looking back, Zhou Chengxue spoke to him directly, to prevent the simpleton from causing trouble again.

Li Fan was speechless. "Why are you locking me up so tightly? I didn't come here to go to jail, did I?"

Zhou Chengxue probably thought this had triggered some unpleasant memories for the other person, so he didn't blame him for talking nonsense. He explained, "The families of all the Inner Sect disciples of our sect live on the island, so of course we have to protect them to prevent outsiders from entering and causing trouble without permission. If you don't want to stay long, you can get some mission later, and I'll take you out."

"No way, "Li Fan said hastily, "I haven't found the person I'm looking for yet." "No rush, no rush," he added. "As long as it's not jail, I'm just a rogue cultivator. I need to get a couple of Xuanmen Cultivation Method to practice first."

Zhou Chengxue thought about it and agreed, "That's fine then. After settling the women of the Xiao Family, I'll take you to exchange for an elder's offering plaque, so you can choose a better Cultivation Method. You're just a rogue cultivator with no wealth, so the Shenzhen Palace will cover the cost of your first cultivation method."

Upon hearing that he could get a free Cultivation Method, Li Fan immediately relaxed and smiled, "Oh! That's great! Thank you for your consideration, Brother Zhou! I wonder which Penglai Cultivation Method is the most powerful? Are there any that are suitable for my Tiger Claw Technique?"

Upon hearing the Tiger Claw Technique, Zhou Chengxue's eyebrows twitched. "Those who can attain enlightenment through martial arts are already quite rare. External martial arts techniques are easy to record, so Penglai has no shortage of cultivation methods for the Martial God Realm. Although they are precious, few people usually read them, so it's a good deal for you. Don't worry, I will definitely take you to choose a suitable one."

The Xiao Clan of Lanling had a large population, and there were always a few people cultivating in Penglai. At this time, the Xiao Family's large ship docked, and people on the island came to welcome them and arrange for their family members to live in their own residence.

While Zhou Chengxue was handing over his mission, Li Fan secretly launched a drone to track Xiao Yushi. He mingled among the Xiao Family members and scanned the Penglai Immortal Island, recording the surrounding terrain in hopes of finding Amao and the Huan family members. He also followed Zhou Chengxue around town while cautiously using his Divine Sense to search the surrounding area.

Penglai, the main mountain of the Xuanmen sect, is naturally filled with the Immortal Palace and countless restrictions. Zhou Chengxue kept instructing him not to enter here or venture there, fearing that Li Fan might cause trouble.

However, after a quick look, Li Fan discovered that while there were quite a few people on the island, they were mostly family members and Outer Sect Disciple. There were indeed no ordinary people, but most of them were at the Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining stages, with relatively few at the Golden Core stage. After all, no matter how well the disciples' families were treated, the threshold of the Xuanmen sect remained, and it wasn't something one could simply enter at will.

However, most of the servants on the island are actually humanoid creatures born from spirit beasts or artifact spirits. Every now and then, several dragons would descend from the sky and transform into children with antlers on their heads and scaly tails protruding from their robes, walking in and out of the palaces and temples, which looked quite astonishing.

These people, though called 'servants,' are merely the 'servants' of the Daoist and Divine Lords. They are all dressed in fine silks and satins, adorned with gold and jade, and possess handsome faces, each resembling a beautiful celestial being, with an average appearance score of no less than 70. Moreover, they have extraordinary bearing, treating Zhou Chengxue, an Inner Sect True Person, as an equal, merely nodding in acknowledgment without performing any kowtow. It seems that Penglai treats demons quite well.

Seeing Li Fan staring intently at the thighs of a passing dragon girl, Zhou Chengxue reminded him, "Brother Li, the disciples of our sect's Spirit Race are all well-mannered and will not easily harm others, but they will not allow themselves to be bullied either. They usually have elders at the Divine Lord level in their families, and the sect's teachers will not show favoritism to either side just because they are not of our race."

"Hehe, look at what you're saying. I just glanced at her legs a couple of times, it's not worth reporting that. Oh, is that a sword fight over there?"

Li Fan had noticed them over there a while ago; two Golden Core cultivators were fighting. Zhou Chengxue had died too quickly, so he couldn't discern anything special about Penglai's methods. He'd still like to go and take a look if he had the chance to gather intelligence.

Zhou Chengxue had no choice but to follow Li Fan to the edge of the dueling arena. He glanced at the scene and noticed, "These two are fighting over a pill."

Li Fan turned and glared at him, "Fighting for eggs! Loser castrates himself? Wow, you guys are playing way too ruthlessly! I'm impressed!"

Zhou Chengxue took a deep breath, reminding himself not to lower himself to the level of this blockhead if he couldn't beat him. "Pills! Pills! Cultivation pills or life-saving elixirs! See that jade gourd? That's the Donghua Eternal Spring Divine Pill, a supreme treasure Penglai Immortal Sect! Never seen it before, have you!"

"Wow... the Donghua Eternal Spring Divine Pill! That sounds amazing..."

While offering perfunctory praise, Li Fan squinted and searched the airspace above the dueling arena. Sure enough, there was a gourd with a jade stopper, similar to the one he had obtained. It was also finely painted on jade, with a deer antler and dragon inlaid in silver, and eyes dotted with vermilion ink. It was probably the special packaging for the Longevity Elixir, possibly a special Magic Treasure to preserve the elixir's power. However, this gourd was smaller than his—no, much smaller, only the size of a keychain, miniature, and looked like it could hold at most seven or eight pills.

Zhou Chengxue was displeased, so he added, "You clearly don't know anything. This Donghua Eternal Spring Divine Pill is the finest spiritual pill for nurturing the Dao body! Just one pill at the Golden Core stage can bring the dead back to life and heal flesh and bones! Even for the Nascent Soul Realm Dao body, it's enough to repair most injuries! Especially this one, which is contained in a pill gourd, it's at least a high-grade pill refined to the seventh level! One pill is worth at least 1,500 Spirit Coins!"

"A seventh-rank requires 1,500 Spirit Coins!!" Li Fan exclaimed in shock. "What about a ninth-rank?"

Seeing his astonishment, Zhou Chengxue felt sweeter than if he had eaten honey. "At least you know about the Spirit Coins,' now you know how powerful it is! These top-grade divine pills are priceless. Gathering all the ingredients takes countless days. With each refinement, the potency and failure rate increase exponentially. A seventh-grade top-grade pill is already rare, and a ninth-grade one can only be refined by a Grandmaster. At the level of a Divine Lord or Dao Lord, who would bother refining these inferior pills? If they really refined the pills themselves, they would refine far more than nine times. It's just a humble number to avoid making other disciples jealous. What fool would try to sell something as precious as this for money?"

Li Fan, "..."

Zhou Chengxue was satisfied to see Li Fan speechless. "It's no wonder you're a rogue cultivator who always thinks about spending money. My Penglai sect, a proper sect, has alchemists who take turns assisting disciples in refining medicine to support their cultivation, encourage their enthusiasm, and reward their merits. As long as they have prepared the ingredients, the alchemist will oversee the refining process. Of course, how many times they need to refine the pills depends on their luck. If it explodes, it's their own fault."

These two are truly fortunate; they must have collaborated to refine a top-grade divine pill, which is why they're now vying for this opportunity.

Indeed, these two Outer Sect Golden Core cultivators were really engrossed in their fight. At first, they each unleashed lotus-like protective true energy and used their magical treasures to battle each other. When their magical power was exhausted, they threw and rammed their magical treasures at each other. When their magical treasures were all broken, they used talismans and Daoist incantations to fling at each other. When they had exhausted each other's (and their own's) protective true energy, they directly grabbed their weapons and charged forward to fight.

It was clear that the benefits of these few Donghua Divine Pills were immense; neither of them was willing to yield, and the fight escalated into a full-blown brawl. They disregarded their fraternal bond, each strike aimed at the other's vital Mingmen. They were practically tearing each other apart and spitting on each other...

Li Fan watched for a while and objectively commented that both of them were incredibly weak in martial arts, making the fight rather boring. Of course, by his standards, it wasn't very interesting. At least compared to the Golden Core cultivators Li Fan had seen before, they weren't particularly outstanding, but they weren't particularly weak either.

These two Golden Core Stage cultivators probably haven't even scratched the surface of the art. They can't possibly demonstrate the true essence of the Xuanmen teachings, so there's no way they can compare to a top student like Qin Nanxin. Even compared to the powerful Golden Core cultivators of Ink Bamboo Mountain, and even with Zhang Jiugao Yuhengzi as references, they're still a notch below. It's obvious that the Penglai cultivators haven't mastered close combat skills like fists, feet, swords, and knives. Some of their sword techniques clearly show the influence of ordinary sword techniques passed down from the Beichen Sword Sect. It's unlikely that unless it's a duel between fellow disciples who know each other well, they would actually fight to the point of personally drawing their swords to kill each other.

To be fair, aside from their slightly lacking close-combat skills (clearly due to a lack of practice), their magical artifacts and spells weren't too bad. Before rolling up their sleeves and engaging in a direct fight, their magical duel maintained the air of ethereal masters, with hand seals and incantations, and the special effects of light and shadow were quite impressive. Moreover, there was something Li Fan noticed, which he took the opportunity to ask Zhou Chengxue.

"What's with the blue light on their swords? Is it some kind of secret technique from Penglai?"

Penglai, Hengshan, Songshan, the Divine Sect—all these names have light on their blades, and they can be used even at the Golden Core Golden Core Stage. That must be a fairly versatile Daoist technique, right? It's impossible that a sword expert like the Beichen Sword Sect wouldn't know it, is it? Why wasn't the Profound Heaven Sword Intent mentioned to him? Could it be a newly developed sword technique? But he clearly recognizes the Moon Soul Technique, yet there wasn't any further explanation...

Zhou Chengxue then told him, "Oh, this is a secret manual passed down from the Beichen Sword Sect. You know the Beichen Sword Sect, right? Although it was wiped out five hundred years ago, people still occasionally use the name of a disciple of the Sword Sect to rob and kidnap people."

Li Fan frowned, somewhat puzzled, and cautiously asked, "I've heard of sword immortals who can decapitate people with flying swords, right? Does this Sword Light attached to the weapon increase its attack power? I once encountered a master who claimed to be a successor of the Beichen Sword Sect, but he used something called Two Dragons Sword Qi, which is quite different from this style."

Seeing his interest, Zhou Chengxue made a sword gesture, summoned the sword from his back, and with a flick of his wrist, the blade flashed with a bright blue-white light that dazzled the eyes.

"The person you encountered was using the Sword Qi lineage, the Two Dragons... that's probably the Qiankun Double Dragon Sword Technique. This move, however, is the signature move of the Qi Sword lineage, the 'Nine True Profound Nether Qi Sword' developed by my Penglai based on the 'Nine Luminaries Profound Darkness Sword Scripture Nine Truth Profound Darkness Qi Sword' that we seized."

"Nine Luminaries? Nine Truths? Sword Scripture? Qi Sword?"

Li Fan was puzzled. Xuan Tian and Yue Po had never mentioned any distinction between sword energy and sword energy, had they? Moreover, upon closer inspection, the Sword Light looked dazzling, but it seemed somewhat impure...

"Back then, the Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture was invincible. After the Beichen Sect was destroyed, it spread widely. All Three Great Sects referenced it and developed their own lineage of Qi Sword. We'll encounter it sooner or later, so it's good to be prepared."

Zhou Chengxue knew that this clueless rogue cultivator couldn't even distinguish between a dan (a type of medicinal pill) and an egg, so he probably didn't know anything. Therefore, he patiently explained...

"The story of the Beichen Sword Sect is quite poignant. I happened to have bought a book about it before, so I can tell you about it. Their sect's secret techniques are too profound, and there are very few disciples who can comprehend them. They also like to kill each other to prove their Dao. Moreover, the Sword Sect has a very clear distinction between the main sect and the outer sect. All the secret techniques and rare treasures of the main sect are exclusively possessed by the direct line of the sect leader. If the Outer Sect branches want to take them, they have to fight on Nine Yin Mountain and destroy the sect 'Daoist Tradition to prove their Dao."

However, the last leader of the Sword Sect, Sword Ancestor Xuantian, was already invincible. The outer branches of the sect could not possibly reclaim the Daoist Tradition of Nine Yin Mountain by force. Moreover, he suddenly disappeared, leaving no direct disciples to succeed him. The direct line of the Sword Sect was suddenly cut off from its own inheritance. Thus, the remaining Outer Sect Disciple began to comprehend the sect's secret techniques on their own, verifying their understanding with each other. As a result, without the guidance of their predecessors, they gradually developed two branches—sword qi and qi sword—through their practice and comprehension of the sword scriptures.

The Sword Sect was known for its stubbornness; naturally, they both believed the other had gone astray. So, they resolved the matter according to their sect's rules. Alas... the conflict escalated, with blood flowing like a river on Yuntai Peak year after year. From then on, the Sword Sect weakened further, never to return to its former glory. It's said that their self-destructive actions were so ruthless that other sects in the Xuanmen (Daoist martial arts world) were terrified, and the conflicts between their Outer Sect somewhat subsided...

Li Fan was sweating profusely.

Zhou Chengxue shook his head. "We've gone off on a tangent. Let's get back to the Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture. The so-called Nine Luminaries refer to the nine stars: the Sun, the Divine Hardness Ketu, Shen Gang, Purple Radiance, Dark Underworld, Crimson Fiend, Return to Dust. These nine stars also correspond to the nine energies of Taiji. The purpose of the sword scripture is to condense the corresponding true energy into a sword shape, and then, in conjunction with the sword heart and sword intent, comprehend the method of swordsmanship and deduce the way of Taiji."

However, the requirements for condensing and tempering Dao Breath to cultivate the Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture are extremely high. Logically speaking, it should be a divine skill that one should begin to cultivate at the Divine Transformation Lord realm to comprehend the Dao.

However, among the Cultivation Method passed down to the Outer Sect Disciple of the Beichen Sword Sect, there is one called "<Ordinary True Essence Sword Transformation Guide>." This method was personally refined and revised by the Sword Ancestor Xuantian. It is said that redundant and unnecessary parts were removed, and after being simplified and improved, it became a secret method that can refine all the true qi cultivated by other methods into pure sword qi!

According to the Sword Ancestor Xuantian himself, this Sword Transformation Guide is hailed as one of the top three unparalleled divine skills in the world, a skill found in ten thousand, before reaching the Golden Core Stage. Outer disciples who master this method are qualified to directly enter the Inner Sect the Beichen Sword Sect and can also cultivate other unparalleled divine skills of the Sword Sect. They can even directly cultivate the <Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture>, which is for the Transformation Stage!

It seems that the Sword Ancestor also realized that constantly engaging in self-destruction was no longer viable. Indeed, he had three Inner Sect disciples who mastered the Sword Transformation Technique, all of whom were unparalleled geniuses renowned throughout the world. They began cultivating the Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture Nascent Soul Realm! If they hadn't all perished in their respective calamities, they would undoubtedly have reached the Dao Lord level of enlightenment. Therefore, this Sword Transformation Technique became even more coveted by the world, widely circulated, and studied by many.

Of course, Zhou had tried it when he was young. It must be said that the secret techniques of the Beichen Sword Sect were truly profound. Zhou considered himself to have decent comprehension, but he still found it difficult to even begin to understand them.

Because to observe the sword's formation and project its shape into Inner Landscape for forging is something that even those with average comprehension cannot do. Secondly, dissipating one's inner energy and dispersing one's cultivation is extremely risky. One's own cultivation is not easily acquired, unless one is a novice cultivator or has an exceptionally good Dao Seed. How could an established cultivator dare to easily dissipate years of accumulated cultivation in a single night?

The most fatal point is that the sword energy cultivated by this method is too refined and sharp, and it travels back and forth in the Inner Landscape organs, meridians and blood vessels. If there is even the slightest deviation when circulating the energy, it will at least damage the meridians, and at worst, it will disembowel the heart and rip out the internal organs. Even the Golden Core realm cannot refine them properly!

If something goes wrong, one could die instantly. If one has the aptitude for cultivation, why not join any sect and take this perilous path? And if one's Dao body has already reached the Nascent Soul Realm, eliminating the risk of death, why waste one's efforts on this initial stage of the method?

Such a gifted individual, possessing extraordinary comprehension, perseverance, and courage, is truly rare in this world. Therefore, although many have attempted to cultivate within the Xuanmen (Daoist school), those who have succeeded... well...

The disagreement between the Outer Sect's sword qi and inner sword sects arose precisely from this guide to sword transformation. Specifically, it concerned whether, during cultivation, one should first purify qi before forging the sword, or transform the sword first before refining qi...