Man and Sword as One

The surrounding dust and gravel were stirred up by an invisible force, slowly floating in the air. Seeing such power, Ling Fei couldn't help but gasp. The sword techniques of Shu Mountain truly had their unique aspects. Ling Fei had thought the two were evenly matched, or at least very close in power, but he never expected Xu Jiankong to possess such a secret sword art.

Facing the impending strike, any evasion or defense would be useless. Ling Fei immediately assessed the situation. He no longer cared about the supposed "sword art competition" and pulled out a three-inch, apricot-yellow banner from his robe.

"Earth Center! E-Ji Banner! Haste as the law commands!" The apricot-yellow banner swelled in the wind, its earthy yellow light flashing. The small, three-inch banner expanded to thirty feet, countless tiny runes appearing and disappearing on its surface as boundless earth element energy from the land surged towards it.

The crystalline blue light from the Flowing Ripple Sword and the earthy yellow elemental energy merged perfectly, releasing a massive, powerful force. The aura clashed with Xu Jiankong's.

The Earth Center E-Ji Banner was originally a treasure of the Heavenly Origin Sect, on par with immortal artifacts like the God-Striking Whip and the Taiji Diagram. It could mobilize the earth element energy of the entire land, its power unparalleled.

Although the one in Ling Fei's hand was a replica, it was still crafted by a senior expert from Kunlun. Naturally, its power was vastly different from the genuine article. However, it was sufficient for Ling Fei to mobilize the earth element energy within a ten-mile radius and merge it into his flying sword's True Essence. The chilling Geng Metal Qi combined with the dense earth element energy, creating a blend of sharpness and solidity that complemented each other perfectly. If it were the genuine artifact, there would be no need for a fight; even ten or a hundred Xu Jiankongs would be easily defeated with a single wave of the banner, without any suspense.

Swish! Two straight beams of light seemed to pierce the heavens. A competition of sword arts had escalated into a battle for survival.

Both individuals unleashed their life's learning, aiming to kill their opponent with a single sword strike. In such a situation, with arrows nocked and ready, it would be laughable to hold back.

The path of cultivation lies in specialization and refinement. Ling Fei, known as the God Sword, had naturally dedicated himself to the path of the sword. Kunlun, however, primarily focused on Daoist magic and immortal techniques, with sword cultivation being only a minor aspect. Ling Fei had chosen sword cultivation for rapid advancement in the past, but upon witnessing the profound Daoist arts of Kunlun, he couldn't resist learning them, resulting in a more eclectic skillset. In terms of pure swordsmanship, he was inferior to Xu Jiankong's twenty years of single-minded cultivation.

Facing Xu Jiankong's world-shattering sword strike, Ling Fei had no other option but to rely on external forces.

Xu Jiankong's muscles bulged as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged upon him. His posture remained unchanged as he slowly rose from the ground without any external aid, ascending towards the golden greatsword tens of feet in the sky. The invisible black hole formed by the golden greatsword drew Xu Jiankong in, and he merged with it, becoming one.

The path of unity between man and sword! The paths of cultivation, whether Buddhist, demonic, Daoist, or demonic, generally share a common point: the self is primary, and magical artifacts and flying swords are secondary. The first stage is always to temper the physical body, making it incredibly strong. Even ancient sword cultivators used flying swords to communicate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; the flying sword was merely a tool for cultivation.

Shu Mountain's founding ancestor, Changmei Ancestor, a genius of unparalleled talent, had ingeniously merged the ancient path of sword cultivation with the Daoist technique of Primordial Spirit grafting, creating the path of unity between man and sword.

The self is the sword, and the sword is the self. Flying swords are inherently made from rare treasures and refined steel, far stronger than the human body. Therefore, once the path of unity between man and sword is mastered, it bypasses the cultivator's first step: strengthening the self with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Xu Jiankong's current display indicated he had already reached the threshold of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation.

With the apricot-yellow banner connecting him to the earth's elemental energy, Ling Fei was unfazed by the pressure from the giant golden sword in the sky. The Flowing Ripple Sword's momentum continuously shifted, transforming from graceful to powerful, then from chilling to dense. He constantly dodged and counter-attacked the provocations of Xu Jiankong, who had merged with the golden sword. Any slight opening would result in a thunderous blow from the opponent. The danger involved was beyond words.

Just as the battle reached a stalemate, a faint streak of clear light shot down from the sky. Though subtle, the intent contained within it was unprecedentedly profound. Like a twisting silver snake following some natural law of heaven and earth, it struck the weakest point of the clashing auras in an instant, forcefully separating the two.

Boom! The auras collided, kicking up dust from the ground. For a moment, the figures were indistinguishable. When the dust settled, Ling Fei had put away his flying sword and magical artifact, and Xu Jiankong had returned to his original appearance, though his face was slightly haggard, clearly a result of the energy depletion from using the unity of man and sword technique. Both men stared intently at a profound-looking young man standing between them.

Zhou Qing, having condensed his Second Primordial Spirit, was extremely sensitive to the elemental energy of heaven and earth, detecting the flow of spiritual energy within a hundred-mile radius. Late at night, he was engrossed in analyzing a strange cultivation technique he had obtained from **. Zhou Qing's True Essence was now powerful, his Daoist magic profound, and he possessed an ancient demonic artifact for protection. His strength was such that even the Five Grandmasters might hesitate to confront him. The fearsome reputation of the Blood-Devouring Divine Saber preceded it; encountering it without a similarly powerful artifact meant certain death, even forfeiting the chance to reincarnate.

However, Zhou Qing was extremely dissatisfied. After all, his current cultivation was only at the level of his Second Primordial Spirit. His main body had only reached the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase, perhaps not even comparable to his two disciples who had advanced in their Dao. The main body was the true path; the Second Primordial Spirit was merely a spear in his hand, a fact Zhou Qing understood clearly.

Improving his main body's cultivation was no easy feat. Besides diligent practice and accumulating time, there were generally only two ways to rapidly increase cultivation: elixirs and potent medicinal pills, or profound cultivation techniques. Unfortunately, Zhou Qing lacked both. While the Soaring Sword Qi Art cultivated quickly, Zhou Qing discovered it was incomplete, only containing the Qi Induction Stage methods and offering no mention of the Primordial Spirit condensation techniques for the Transformation Stage. Naturally, Zhou Qing wouldn't continue cultivating it.

After much deliberation, Zhou Qing dismissed the idea of elixirs and pills. Although the Refining Compendium contained methods for alchemy, the ingredients were unobtainable, many having gone extinct. He could only focus on improving his techniques.

The only option for profound cultivation techniques was that set of unknown methods obtained from **.

Those unknown methods were obscure and difficult to comprehend. Zhou Qing was also a novice in cultivation, and after months of effort, he had only grasped a tenth of them, thus he dared not rashly cultivate them.

Just as he was attempting to cultivate the unknown methods, he was disturbed by abnormal fluctuations in the elemental energy of heaven and earth. He quietly approached to investigate, only to find two individuals in the Qi Induction Late Stage fighting to the death. The flying swords and magical artifacts they used were also astonishingly powerful. Zhou Qing had intended to reap the benefits of their struggle and strike them down. After all, Zhou Qing was very experienced in such matters!