Sword-Qi Unity, Sword-Driving by Spirit

In the Fu family's quiet chamber, Shen Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

A trace of confusion flashed through his eyes, and Shen Yuan could not help muttering to himself.

"Why have I felt so restless these past two days, as though something major is about to happen? Could it be that someone really is plotting against me?"

"Unfortunately, I have no techniques or divine abilities for divination. Otherwise, I could use divination to see exactly what is going on."

After casually grumbling a few words, Shen Yuan paid no further attention to these minor details.

It had been exactly two days since he comprehended the Earthly Baleful Sword Art. During those two days, Shen Yuan had remained in the quiet chamber, studying the Earthly Baleful Sword Art and the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, Hui Ming, in his hand.

Yesterday, the sword servant had failed to tempt Shen Yuan with profit, so he had taken the initiative to hide within the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, believing Shen Yuan lacked the ability to destroy the sword and kill him.

Seizing this opportunity, Shen Yuan accepted the divine ability seed he had gained from completing the hidden achievement.

The Earthly Baleful Sword Art divine ability was the source of all sword arts. Naturally, it had the power to command a damaged immortal sword.

Shen Yuan immediately used the power of the divine ability to rouse the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, shattering the sword servant's soul.

What Shen Yuan found somewhat regrettable was that, even as the source of all sword arts, the Earthly Baleful Sword Art was not omnipotent.

Faced with the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, whose foundation was almost utterly ruined and whose oil was nearly spent and lamp nearly extinguished, the Earthly Baleful Sword Art still found it difficult to restore the immortal sword to its peak state of ten thousand years ago.

Only a small patch of rust that had fallen from the blade proved that Shen Yuan's divine ability had not been entirely wasted. At the very least, it had brought some degree of recovery to the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword.

To completely revive the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, he would need to nourish it with the Earthly Baleful Sword Art over a long period. It would inevitably be an exceedingly lengthy process.

"Still, for now, I can at least wield this sword a little."

Shen Yuan's fingertips brushed over the rust-speckled immortal sword as he sensed the spiritual connection he had spent an entire day establishing with Hui Ming.

After Shen Yuan used the power of the divine ability to partially awaken the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword, this unremarkable bronze fire poker now possessed the genuine might of a magic treasure.

One had to know that magic treasures were hardly something found on every street corner. Even in the flourishing age of the cultivation world, only great cultivators at the Qi Refining Spirit Transformation realm or above could use them.

Not to mention that the world had just emerged from an age of three thousand years of spiritual energy depletion. Most magic treasures and spirit treasures in the present age had long since been destroyed, and among a hundred, not even one had been preserved.

Under such circumstances, the value of a magic treasure far exceeded that of ordinary cultivation methods and spiritual objects.

The Candle Dragon Immortal Sword was especially precious as a flying sword; its value was beyond measure.

Moreover, the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword possessed one exceedingly important trait: it was indestructible.

Shen Yuan had experienced this firsthand. Even the spatial rifts created by the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability could not inflict the slightest damage upon the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword.

As for its other various traits, Shen Yuan would need to further revive the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and remove that mottled rust before discovering them.

But for now, the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword's ability to display the might of a magic treasure was already enough.

After all, Shen Yuan still had the enhancement of the Earthly Baleful Sword Art.

An immortal sword combined with the Earthly Fiend divine ability, the source of the sword path, was not as simple as one plus one equaling two.

As the source of sword arts, the Earthly Baleful Sword Art was not something complicated. If one pursued its essence, there were only eight words—Sword-Qi Unity, Sword-Driving by Spirit!

The Qi here could refer to the foundation of a cultivator's Qi Refining method, or to the Qi of heaven and earth.

Through Sword-Qi Unity, the divine ability gave rise to different properties.

If a cultivator achieved Sword-Qi Unity through the Qi of their own cultivation realm, it would give rise to a sword bearing the characteristics of that cultivator's cultivation method, allowing them to wield a flying sword perfectly through their Qi Refining method.

But if one achieved Sword-Qi Unity through the Qi of heaven and earth, that would be an entirely different realm. Depending on the Qi of heaven and earth, all manner of inconceivable sword-path divine powers could be evolved.

Combined with Great Sun True-Flame Qi, it could recreate the might of ten suns descending upon the world. Once the sword was unleashed, it could leave a thousand miles of land scorched red, burning mountains and boiling seas.

Combined with Nine-Nether Azure Qi, it could command the netherworld. With one sword, it could pierce open the Yellow Springs, and a million ghosts and gods would all bow in submission.

Combined with Sage Purple Qi, one sword could travel west as purple Qi surged for thirty thousand miles, making even the gods and Buddhas of all heavens bow their heads.

Although the Earthly Baleful Sword Art ranked thirty-eighth among the Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities, it was the Earthly Fiend divine ability least constrained by the limits of its own rank.

If one could master supreme Qi of heaven and earth, it could fully rival Heavenly Gang divine abilities.

But all that was still far too distant for Shen Yuan. His Qi Refining method had only just begun, and he was completely incapable of reaching the level of Sword-Qi Unity.

The only thing worth mentioning was that the Violet Cloud Qi Refining Method provided Shen Yuan with a method for refining Dawn-Glow Purple Qi.

Dawn-Glow Purple Qi was one of the Qi of heaven and earth. Though it was merely the lowest-ranked Qi of heaven and earth, it still possessed the traits of breaking demons and extinguishing evil. Incorporating it into the Earthly Baleful Sword Art could also bring tremendous enhancement.

As for the latter four words of the Earthly Baleful Sword Art, "Sword-Driving by Spirit," they referred to the Primordial Spirit Sword-Driving Art, which used the Primordial Spirit to command a flying sword.

The Primordial Spirit Sword-Driving Art had once flourished in ancient times. The main reason was that when the Primordial Spirit wielded a flying sword, it could move as readily as one's own arm and freely display the mysteries of the sword path. Where white light rose, it could take a man's head from a thousand miles away, and its combat power far surpassed that of cultivators at the same realm.

However, the risks of the Primordial Spirit Sword-Driving Art were simply too great. Once the flying sword was destroyed, the Primordial Spirit would suffer damage at best, while at worst, one's soul would scatter and vanish.

Furthermore, at the time, many unorthodox sects in the cultivation world had developed magical artifacts specifically aimed at the Primordial Spirit. Under normal circumstances, the Primordial Spirit resided within the physical body, leaving such artifacts nowhere to act. But once one commanded a flying sword, the Primordial Spirit would lose the body's protection and inevitably suffer grave injury.

This was also why the Primordial Spirit Sword-Driving Art ultimately vanished from mainstream cultivation methods.

Yet the Earthly Baleful Sword Art protected the Primordial Spirit through Sword-Qi Unity. It had no fear at all of magical artifacts targeting the Primordial Spirit, completely remedying the flaws of the Primordial Spirit Sword-Driving Art.

The only regret was that Shen Yuan's realm was still too low for him to have formed a Primordial Spirit. For the time being, he could only entrust his spiritual sense to the sword, unable to truly use the Primordial Spirit to wield a sword and take an enemy's head from a thousand miles away.

At this thought, Shen Yuan's spiritual sense flowed. The Candle Dragon Immortal Sword in his hand slowly rose into the air under his command, and a clear sword cry rang out from within its rusty scabbard.

Centered on Shen Yuan, invisible Sword Qi spread alongside the sword cry, carving huge ravines across the floor of the quiet chamber.

The next moment, a streak of white light flashed through the quiet chamber. The Candle Dragon Immortal Sword transformed into a flowing ray and slashed toward the thick wall, easily piercing through the reinforced concrete structure and leaving behind a smooth, pristine cut upon the solid wall.

With a beckoning gesture from Shen Yuan, the immortal sword that had cleaved through the wall flew back into his hand.

"Though its pure offensive power cannot compare to the spatial rifts of the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability, its methods are flexible and varied, far surpassing the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability.

"Then again, the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability was never an offensive divine ability in the first place. It is entirely a matter of how I use it."

Shen Yuan assessed his own strike.

The spatial rifts of the Pot-Heaven Divine Ability were indeed extraordinary, but they required some object as a vessel. Moreover, the object carrying the spatial rift had to approach the enemy, and when thrown, it moved slowly.

If used by surprise, it could naturally produce a powerful effect. But once the opponent was on guard, even an ordinary Essence Refining realm cultivator could easily evade it.

The Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and the Earthly Baleful Sword Art filled the gap in Shen Yuan's offensive methods.

If Shen Yuan were to face that group of demons from several days ago now, all it would take was a flow of spiritual sense for him to command the immortal sword and slaughter them all, leaving them not even a chance to flee.

With the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword and the Earthly Baleful Sword Art in hand, Shen Yuan was fully confident that he could defeat even a cultivator who had entered the Qi Transformation realm and developed mana.

More importantly, as Shen Yuan's realm rose, allowing him to form a Primordial Spirit and gather sufficient Qi of heaven and earth to perform Sword-Qi Unity, his strength would undergo a soaring leap.

"Since you have not yet fully recovered the might of an immortal sword, calling you the Candle Dragon Immortal Sword would be far too conspicuous. For now, I shall call you Hui Ming!"

Holding the Hui Ming Sword, Shen Yuan rose and left the quiet chamber where he had secluded himself for two days.