The little courtyard.
Under the direct sunlight, Jiang Ding sat cross-legged with two swords across his knees. The longer was a plain steel sword in its sheath, 1.3 meters long. The shorter was forty centimeters long and 3.5 centimeters wide.
The short sword glittered in the sunlight. The light falling on the blade and within three inches of its edge was visibly brighter.
Jiang Ding closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. Without realizing it, he had grown fond of basking in the sun.
Especially when faint waves of comfort came from the Talisman Sword now and then, lending the golden sunlight filling the sky a touch of warmth.
First-tier Golden Fire Bamboo Paper and the first-tier Great Sun Spirit-Gathering Array both had a natural affinity for the sun. In fact, they could only grow to their fullest under sunlight.
Three days had passed, and his blood essence had begun to merge with the intricate array patterns.
"Go!"
Jiang Ding pointed lightly at a scrub tree more than ten meters away.
Whoosh!
The Talisman Sword flashed through the air and sliced the tree's tip in two. The cut was smooth. Then the sword returned and lay quietly across his knees.
Its speed had reached that of an arrow. Ordinary people could no longer follow it with the naked eye, and it posed a considerable threat even to a martial artist at minor mastery of the Inner Qi realm.
Such martial artists could easily knock arrows aside, but the Talisman Sword was nowhere near as rigid in its path as an arrow.
"Maximum attack range: fifty meters. Effective attack range: thirty meters..."
After testing it many times, Jiang Ding pondered. "With more nurturing and tempering, it can keep growing. But a hundred paces—about a hundred meters—should be its limit."
He took