Soul Shattering
Yu Ci nearly had his head lopped off by Di She's sword when those words reached his ears.
A sword embryo, my ass!
He had never expected even this female cultivator from Half-Mountain Island to say the same thing. A Mirage Light sword embryo? Even when four Core Formation cultivators had joined forces to hunt him down, Yu Ci's expression had barely changed. Yet now, his face was dark enough to squeeze water from.
Could that thing in his dantian truly be a sword embryo?
One had to know that although a sword embryo and a golden core were both markers of the Core Formation realm, the difference between them was vast. This concerned his Dao foundation, his future direction, even his way forward. At least, given Yu Ci's current knowledge, if he had somehow formed a sword embryo for no reason at all, the drawbacks would outweigh the benefits—Old Mr. Zhu's golden words and jade counsel had not been spoken casually.
But on second thought, Yu Ci felt that something was off. Back in Sky Rift Valley, Ye Tu had explained it to him in detail: to form a sword embryo, one needed the art of "nurturing the sword and cultivating baleful intent." Subduing sword weapons, cultivating the essence of geng metal, and drawing out baleful qi all involved immense subtleties. How could he have formed one in such a muddleheaded fashion?
He knew his own affairs best. His condition at present might have been extraordinarily good, and there was indeed a knot of circulating qi at the central point of his dantian, showing some signs of "setting the cauldron and anchoring the pivot." Yet he was still some distance from water and fire aiding each other, dragon and tiger mating, spirit and qi embracing as one.