Sword Body

Yang Huai decided to temporarily devote all his energy to the Heavenly Circuit Heart Method.

The Greater Heavenly Circuit of the Heavenly Circuit Heart Method involved the soul. Most of the hidden apertures of wisdom were distributed around the Niwan Palace, so he had to proceed with the utmost caution.

This required a great deal of time, using the slow work of water grinding to probe bit by bit. It was the most orthodox method of cultivation in the main world.

Thus, Yuan Xiuxiu believed that Yang Huai would need years, perhaps even decades, to accomplish this. He might even spend a lifetime unable to open the more than one hundred hidden apertures, let alone the most difficult soul meridians.

But this was precisely where innate essence qi showed its value. Even if Yang Huai damaged his meridians and hidden apertures during his fierce breakthroughs, innate essence qi could rapidly break them down and rebuild them, leaving behind no hidden injuries.

Nor would it damage his physique or wisdom!

Furthermore, nourished by innate essence qi, these meridians and hidden apertures would become tougher and smoother. They would not be easily burst apart or injured by qi and blood.

With each circulation of the Greater Heavenly Circuit, Yang Huai could sense his great medicine slowly seeping into his upper body and even the crown of his head. One minute hidden aperture after another was opened beneath the nourishment of the great medicine, like stars being lit up and blooming with radiance. His soul and wisdom felt increasingly clear and transparent.

Three days later.

Three round-trip days later, Yang Huai finally felt the last crucial hidden aperture around the Niwan Palace light up.

At that moment, a mysterious radiance emerged from deep within his brow and instantly melted into the depths of his sea of consciousness. His five senses were magnified in an instant.

Yang Huai felt his sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing, and touch blur and take on tangible form as they extended toward the surface of his body.

He suddenly smelled the overwhelmingly mixed stench of sweat within the dormitory.

The sweat stench was no longer a single smell, but four.

There were also all sorts of wild grass and medicinal scents, along with the distinctive odor of pills and old books.

"That seems to be the useless medicinal dregs Bai Jian brought back from the pill room..."

Rustle, rustle!!

Tiny sounds arose beside his ears. He heard the sound of insect eggs hatching beneath several wooden beds.

He even saw layers upon layers of brilliantly colored spiritual particles filling the air, moving freely at astonishing speed.

"That seems to be the power of heaven and earth the True Ones spoke of!"

His heart shook violently.

"Is this the power of spiritual perception that can only be grasped after cultivating a fundamental method?"

At that moment, the sword shadow deep within his brow seemed almost tangible. Golden radiance bloomed from it, while each of the two Innate Sword Bones surged with a stream of nearly solid golden innate essence qi that flowed into every part of his body.

Yang Huai then discovered that the subcategory beneath the bronze treasure mirror in his sea of consciousness was jumping violently.

Anchored object:

[Name: Qingli]

[Age: Eleven]

[Primary Fate: Innate Sword Bone (Gold)] (Born with two Innate Sword Bones, one in the right arm and one deep within the Niwan Palace. Those who possess Innate Sword Bones are naturally physically powerful, and practicing secret arts related to sword-shaped weapons yields twice the result with half the effort!)

Status: Right arm and Niwan Sword Bones fully awakened.

[Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body: 1/100] (The Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body centers upon an innate sword heart. Its bearer is born with a resilient soul and possesses a special sword-spirit resonance, with over eighty percent compatibility with any sword-shaped weapon. The cultivation efficiency of secret arts related to sword-shaped weapons is multiplied.)

Innate Divine Ability 1: ?? (Not yet awakened)

Innate Divine Ability 2: ?? (Not yet awakened)

[Twenty-Two Primordial Runes (8/22)]

"Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body... Is this an innate specialized physique formed by the full awakening of the primary fate, a further direction for the Innate Sword Bone?"

Yang Huai felt the changes within his body, and surprise flickered in his eyes.

The preciousness of such a golden fate was truly beyond imagination.

The more it was like this, the less he could afford to miss such an opportunity.

He was no longer far from fulfilling Qingli's obsession. He had to put in another burst of effort.

"It would be best if I can use this body to walk the path even farther. Once the mission is completely finished, my body in the main world can achieve success in one stroke, saving me much of the cost of exploration!"

A crafty gleam flashed in Yang Huai's eyes!

Inside the kitchen.

When Yang Huai set foot here again, he saw Cloudmist Daoist chopping firewood.

Yet when he saw Cloudmist Daoist this time, Yang Huai's demeanor immediately changed.

It was clearly the same person, chopping wood in the same way, yet this time Yang Huai felt that every stroke of Cloudmist Daoist's axe carried an indescribable rhythm of the Dao. He observed closely and saw that the grain of the split firewood was utterly natural, with not the slightest roughness on its cut surface.

As a carpenter, Yang Huai knew very well what this meant.

It meant that Cloudmist Daoist's control over every ounce of force had reached an incomparably exquisite level.

"What miraculous skill. I wonder whether I can learn such a special skill after obtaining a fundamental method..."

Yang Huai looked forward to it.

Meanwhile, a Daoist child dressed in coarse cloud-white cloth strode over as well. When he saw Yang Huai, his eyes immediately lit up.

"Qingli, you finally came! We've missed you to death!"

"Yeah! While you were gone, each of us had to take turns for more than three hours every day. Look at us—we've gotten thinner and darker..."

Another Daoist child carrying firewood also began clamoring.

Feng Ying was among them. He stared at Qingli with an odd look in his eyes. A faint blue light surfaced deep within them, and there was a trace of astonishment in his gaze. No one knew what he had seen, but his mouth still produced nothing pleasant.

"Well, well, our little Miss Qingli finally decided to leave the dormitory!"

Yang Huai could not be bothered with Feng Ying. He simply took the golden-thread gloves from the dark, skinny Daoist child.

"Brother Chang Geng, leave the rest to me!"

The Daoist child was nearly in tears and nodded again and again. Heaven knew how he had survived those three days. He was nowhere near as thick-skinned and tough-bodied as Feng Ying. After one round, he was nearly crippled, and now his hands and feet were so sore and swollen that he could barely lift them.

Another Daoist child dressed in cloud-white hemp robes took the golden-thread gloves from Feng Ying.

"Brother Feng Ying, go get some rest!"

He was clearly trying to curry favor with Feng Ying.

Feng Ying gave him an indifferent glance, but his gaze remained fixed on Yang Huai from beginning to end.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, it was once again the day when the Daoist master from the Xi Huang Dao Kingdom taught the Dao at Qingping Daoist Temple.

Whenever such a day arrived, the area before the Patriarch Hall became exceptionally lively.

After all, opportunities to receive Daoist teachings without paying any price were truly few within the temple.

Before the Patriarch Hall, hundreds of Daoist children bustled about, all dressed in garments of various colors. Some youths even appeared in animal hides, their bodies tattooed in all sorts of colors. Every one of them was high-spirited and radiant.

Before another doorway, only several dozen Daoist children lined up to enter.

Feng Ying, Yuan Sheng, and Hou Sheng, whom Yang Huai had not seen for a long time, were all at the front. Yang Huai was among them as well.

These were all Daoist children who had obtained Dao citizen status and were preparing to enter the inner hall to listen to the True Ones teach the Dao.

Yang Huai had waited a long time for this day. He was neatly dressed, and though he still wore coarse hemp clothes, his hair was simply bound beneath a grass crown, making him noticeably different from the other Daoist children with their hair hanging loose.

His eyes were also peering into the inner hall, but apart from the imposing and solemn golden statues of the patriarchs in the outer hall, he could see nothing.

Compared to ten days ago, he had clearly changed considerably. Not only had his physique grown taller and sturdier, but his essence, qi, and spirit were also exceptionally vigorous.

This was the sign that the Greater Heavenly Circuit of the Heavenly Circuit Heart Method was gradually maturing.

At this moment, the twenty-two primordial runes manifested on the Azure Mirror in his sea of consciousness had increased from eight to sixteen.

Besides the original five Five Elements primordial runes—"essence," "qi," and "spirit"—he had also learned "wind," "thunder," "ice," "sun," "moon," "clarity," "yin," and "yang"!

Yang Huai discovered that after awakening the Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body, his comprehension of these primordial runes had clearly risen to another level. It could not be mentioned in the same breath as before. Previously, he had relied entirely on a set of learning methods he had summarized himself, along with somewhat stronger soul power, to rapidly learn the five primordial runes.

But after transforming into the Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body, he had shed his mortal frame and exchanged his bones. His innate comprehension had thoroughly risen, as though he had been born close to the Dao. Understanding these changes now seemed as simple as eating and drinking.

Yet he did not become arrogant because of it.

Through mingling around the Daoist temple during this period, he had learned that there were even more genius Daoist children in the temple than he had imagined. Perhaps because of the special environment of heaven and earth, those with talent were as numerous as carp crossing a river.

But by his estimation, with his Innate Spirit-Awakened Sword Body having taken initial form, he would still hold some advantages!

His innate talent should now be enough to rival the long-awakened Qing Xian and Daokongzi!

The Daoist children lined up and filed through the corridor behind the outer hall, gradually arriving before a great hall deep within the temple, one corner of which lay shaded by trees.

At this moment, a voice was already coming from within the hall.

It seemed that the Daoist master dispatched by the Xi Huang Kingdom had not waited for everyone to arrive before beginning his teachings. Though Yang Huai grumbled inwardly, he could only hurry into the hall to listen. He discovered that he had arrived too late; there were not even any seats left. He could only stand behind the first twenty prayer cushions and listen to the Daoist on the platform teach.

"...There are many newly advanced Daoist children today, so I shall make an exception and teach the secrets of cultivation once more!"

"Where does cultivation begin? It is no more than preserving an image to visualize runes, refining rune seeds to gather the qi of heaven and earth, honing qi seeds, igniting the light of nature and life, climbing the steps to enter the Dao!"