Fuxie's Sword Blade had rotted away, leaving only the most central [Great Dao Spirit Soul].
This was not especially important, since the Spirit Soul was the core of a Dao-Tone Spirit Treasure. With it, all they needed to do was find suitable materials, and they could easily reforge the Spirit Treasure.
The reason Fuxie Sword Spirit was so astonished was that its original body had long since reached the state of [Immortal and Indestructible, Eternal and Unworn]. Although it had yet to attain [Imperishable], and could therefore still be broken, at this stage, even if its Spirit Soul vanished or fell dormant, the Spirit Treasure itself could not be destroyed.
Yet everything had been turned upside down. Fuxie Sword Spirit's Spirit Soul was completely intact; only the blade had rotted away.
Even more incredible was that there were no memories at all within this Spirit Soul.
"Someone rotted away my blade and stole my memories!"
This was the conclusion the Sword Spirit reached through gritted teeth. "It must have been the Heavenly Demons' doing. They defy all reason and wield the inverse of the Dao, which is the only way they could have done something as unfathomable as stealing my memories without harming my Spirit Soul. I have to get my memories back!"
"But the problem is, I don't even know what memories I've forgotten!"
The Sword Spirit's anger was easy to understand. It had been incomplete to begin with, and had thought it could rely on finding its fragments to become a little more whole. Instead, it discovered that someone had acted first and cut off that possibility.
"How can I help you?" An Jing asked, his tone matter-of-fact.
The other party had helped him so much. Helping the Sword Spirit was only right.
But the Sword Spirit quickly calmed down. "No. Thank you, An Jing, but not now. Go save your companions first."
"My situation is too big. It must be connected to the Heavenly Demons and those ancient calamities. If you act carelessly, you may alert others involved... Our strength is still weak. There's no harm in proceeding cautiously and waiting until you've grown stronger."
The Sword Spirit was quite rational, and recovering the 'Fuxie Spirit Soul' was not without its benefits.
First, the additional Spirit Soul allowed Fuxie to better suppress An Jing's Divine Sea and conceal his aura, while also helping him practice the 'Qingjing Sword Temple' more effectively.
Second, Fuxie Sword's ability to travel to other worlds had been strengthened.
When it had only the hilt, Fuxie Sword's space-time travel could last at most a few hours. After that, it had to return to Huaixu. Now, it could last for several days.
The increase in travel time was not great, but the spatial improvement was substantial.
Previously, the destination of each space-time journey had been fixed: wherever it left from was where it would arrive the next time.
If An Jing had been in danger in another world when he returned to Huaixu, then the next time he traveled there, he would still arrive in that same dangerous area.
Now, however, An Jing could choose to arrive anywhere within a one-li radius of his departure point.
The number of journeys had also increased. Before, Fuxie Sword could travel to another world once every few days. Now, it could do so once with each sunrise and sunset.
The phrase 'sunrise and sunset' was used because Fuxie Sword drew upon the 'True Meaning of Samsara' in the turning of the sun and moon to travel. In some small worlds, the sun and moon revolved faster, so it charged more quickly as well.
Finally...
"I can just about serve as a weapon to subdue demons and suppress evil now—though I can only harm souls, and my range isn't very large."
In a tone that finally sounded relieved, the Sword Spirit spoke to An Jing, whose expression was complicated. "For so many years, I had nothing but a hilt. I nearly lost the right to be called a sword. At least now I've recovered a little dignity."
"That... doesn't really change anything fundamental, does it?"
An Jing offered the cautious assessment, and the Sword Spirit sighed. "You're human. You don't understand... Being able to hurt someone, no matter how awkwardly, means I'm at least a weapon and not a mere ornament."
"Now try condensing a Sha Sword."
At the Sword Spirit's prompting, An Jing circulated his vital energy, and a blood-red Sha Sword formed in his hand.
The body of Fuxie Sword within his Divine Sea glimmered faintly.
At once, a faint silver light appeared along the edge of the blade.
"This faint light... is that the enhancement?"
An Jing felt it too. The Sha Sword, which was like an extension of his arm, had gained a trace of the blade's sharpness along its edge. The Sword Spirit explained, "Though I'm half-destroyed, my Spirit Soul can enhance your weapons and weapon-related Supernatural Abilities, making them sharper. It can also deepen the damage they inflict on evil beings such as ghosts and demons."
"That's only the most obvious effect. My existence is connected to your Divine Sea, so perhaps I can subtly improve your talent for the sword. But your talent is already remarkable. Even in my era, I'd never seen anyone who could master martial techniques to such a degree at the age of twelve."
At this, the Sword Spirit grew curious. "Speaking of which, you used that flying sword technique so skillfully when you killed the Demonic Cult Manor Master earlier. I thought that was your first time using it?"
"To achieve such results on your first try—you truly are someone capable of awakening me. Your talent for the sword is exceptional!"
...That was a firearm, not sword talent.
Forget it. A Flying Sword was a Flying Sword.
An Jing did not have the energy to argue, but on second thought, he found himself puzzled too.
For some reason, he was extremely proficient with these gunpowder firearms, making him wonder what he had done in his previous life.
I clearly remember being just a disciple at a martial arts school... Why do I know how to use a gun?
In the hundred arts of war... were guns not forbidden?
No, it's a Flying Sword! A Flying Sword is part of the martial arts, so there's no problem!
"It's time to get moving."
Shaking his head and gathering his thoughts, An Jing turned and surveyed the area.
After confirming with the Sword Spirit that there was nothing else of value here, he immediately strode out of the hall. Its jade-stone hue had faded, and it was gradually becoming an ordinary cave once more.
Using Mysterious Steps, An Jing did not head straight back the way he had come to Xuanming Manor. A squad of Red Armor Guards was stationed there, though the demonic aura had kept them from entering to search.
Avoiding the Red Armor Guards, he climbed the sloping cliff face. With the strength of a warrior whose Internal Breath flowed like a river, he easily circled around and reached the stream behind Xuanming Manor, at the source of the cold pool waterfall.
Following this river—the 'escape route' he had once considered—An Jing returned to the rear of Xuanming Manor at top speed.
Almost no one was guarding this area.
The Red Armor Guards were still fighting the Demonic Cult guards in a slow street-by-street battle. Their progress was painfully slow because they were unwilling to suffer casualties in a meat grinder against the Demonic Cult. The Demonic Cult, whose main goal was to buy time, was in no hurry either.
The two sides were fighting at the manor's main entrance and at the Xishan Manor, leaving the eastern manor and the area behind the estate largely undefended.
"Lucky for me, the fighting isn't in the east."
After getting a rough sense of the situation from high ground, An Jing slowly approached Dongshan Manor.
With his mastery of his techniques and his familiarity with the estate, ordinary instructors and guards had no chance of spotting him, let alone the Red Armor Guards.
As he quietly drew closer to Dongshan Manor, An Jing also sorted through what he had taken from Manor Master Yao.
Three iron-bamboo medicine tubes. According to the Sword Spirit, they contained Soul-Calming Powder for putting people to sleep, Pulse-Severing Powder for incapacitating them—which was what he had been drugged with earlier—and Life-Ending Powder for killing people.
A Jade Dagger, not meant for combat but for Ritual Sacrifice.
A small bottle holding three pills. From the smell, they seemed to be some sort of heart-rescue pills.
And two pieces of crystalline jade, translucent around the edges, with pale green gradients in the center and a bright green pinpoint at the very core.
They looked quite valuable, but with An Jing's limited knowledge, he had no idea what they were. He also could not understand why Manor Master Yao carried such fine pieces of jade around.
Even so, An Jing knew their value was undoubtedly high. There was no harm in keeping them.
"That Jade Dagger bears the 'Thought of Offering to the Gods.' It's been steeped in it for a long time, so it counts as a Dharma Artifact. It may come in handy."
The Sword Spirit continued, "As for those pills, they're Qi-Boosting Pills. They can rouse your vital energy and invigorate your Internal Breath. Martial artists can use them to recover their Internal Breath, and even someone without martial skills can gain tremendous strength from them."
"Good stuff. They might come in handy in a fight later."
"As for those two pieces of 'Spirit Jade'... their quality is average, but they can still aid cultivation and can also be used to activate certain implements that only practitioners can use."
"Can martial artists use them too?" An Jing knew that practitioners meant 'Qi Refining cultivators,' so he asked. After the Sword Spirit confirmed that they could, he carefully put away the two pieces of Spirit Jade.
Cultivation resources shouldn't go to waste!
Before he knew it, An Jing had reached Dongshan Manor. He was about to climb over the wall when he abruptly stopped, his brow furrowing.
Someone's there.
Using Mysterious Steps, An Jing leapt lightly onto the wall, then silently crouched atop it, concealing his aura as he watched the manor grounds.
Then he gritted his teeth.
He saw three Demonic Cult followers holding up a dark-gold vessel, pointing it at the medicine vats that had already been opened and siphoning up the medicinal sludge inside!
The scarlet blood energy and white life force blended into pink medicinal power. Refined and elevated within the vessel, it transformed into glittering, crystal-clear... Blood Pill Great Medicine!
Before you continue