Leaving the Green Immortal Sect

There were more than a dozen jade slips in this compartment. The moves recorded in them were not purely spells, but attacks performed with weapons.

Of course, learning these attacks required the corresponding weapons.

The weapons in question were not ordinary weapons, but pseudo-magic artifacts.

They were not true magic artifacts, but they were tough enough to withstand the force of spiritual energy.

Attacks unleashed through such pseudo-magic artifacts were far stronger than those made with weapons or spells alone.

Of course, once a cultivator reached Foundation Establishment, these pseudo-magic artifacts became chicken ribs-of little use, yet a pity to discard.

Foundation Establishment cultivators could shatter such pseudo-magic artifacts with their bare hands.

Among those in the Qi Refining Realm, however, pseudo-magic artifacts were highly sought after.

After examining every jade slip in the compartment, Xu Changshou chose the Five Elements Sword technique.

To master this technique and unleash its greatest power, it was best to possess all five attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Because it incorporated all five attributes, it was the strongest of the dozen or so techniques.

With his ten-element mixed spiritual root, Xu Changshou had more than enough attributes to practice the Five Elements Sword.

Although the more mixed a spiritual root was, the slower one's cultivation progressed, mixed spiritual roots also offered considerable advantages.

Whether in pill refining, talisman drawing, or learning spells, Xu Changshou possessed tremendous advantages.

Take the techniques in the Complete Compendium of Spells, for instance. He alone could learn every spell in it, something no one else could do.

In the eyes of ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, the Five Elements Sword's offensive power was absolutely terrifying.

But to Xu Changshou, it was barely satisfactory.

Even if he reached the Qi Refining twelfth layer, the strongest strike he could unleash with the Five Elements Sword would only match the offensive power of a single Sharp Gold Talisman.

It was not that Xu Changshou's standards were high, but that he had seen too many offensive spiritual talismans. Their terrifying power was something ordinary Qi Refining cultivators dared not imagine.

So what if it's a little weak? I need some means of attack besides spiritual talismans.

Comforting himself, Xu Changshou picked up the jade slip for the Five Elements Sword. "Senior Brother, how many spirit stones does this cost?"

"Thirty."

He sucked in a breath.

"That's so expensive!"

Xu Changshou ground his teeth. An ordinary person really couldn't afford this.

The old man said indifferently, "The more powerful an attack, the more valuable it is. This is a cultivator's strongest trump card. Of course it's expensive. If anyone on the street could afford it, would you still want to learn it?"

"Uh..."

Unable to argue, Xu Changshou paid thirty spirit stones and hurried away.

Then he went to the weapons counter.

An old woman with graying hair tended the counter.

"Senior Sister, I'd like a sword-a pseudo-magic artifact, preferably with all five elements attributes."

Xu Changshou stated his requirements directly.

"We have one!"

The old woman nodded, turned, and took an unremarkable dark longsword from the counter. "This sword is called the Five-Cloud Sword. It possesses all five attributes."

"How many spirit stones?"

"One hundred and eight."

He sucked in a breath.

Xu Changshou drew in a sharp breath, never having imagined that a pseudo-magic artifact would be so expensive.

Still, it made sense when he thought about it. A pseudo-magic artifact still had "magic" in its name. How could anything associated with magic be cheap?

"I'll take it!"

Gritting his teeth, Xu Changshou took out one hundred and eight spirit stones.

After leaving Steward Peak, Xu Changshou took stock of his wealth. He had only three hundred and twenty-two spirit stones left.

His wealth had shrunk drastically.

He returned to his lodgings.

Xu Changshou took out the Five-Cloud Sword, channeled spiritual energy into his palm, and then fed some of it into the sword.

The Five-Cloud Sword suddenly blazed with light. Five-colored radiance flowed along its blade, dazzlingly beautiful.

"So that's why it's called the Five-Cloud Sword."

Then Xu Changshou took out his Fine Steel Sword and lightly struck the two swords together.

Bang!

The tough Fine Steel Sword burst apart.

Xu Changshou nodded in satisfaction. As expected of a pseudo-magic artifact, it was tough enough.

Putting away the Five-Cloud Sword, Xu Changshou began studying the basic spells in the Complete Compendium of Spells. Though they were basic spells with unimpressive offensive power, many were quite useful.

Fireball Spell.

Water Manipulation Spell.

Wind-Riding Art.

Lightning Strike Spell.

Earth Spirit Spell.

Ice Sculpture Spell...

Immersed in an ocean of spells, Xu Changshou mastered them all in less than a day.

Night fell.

Xu Changshou began studying the Five Elements Sword.

The Five Elements Sword had five basic forms of attack: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Once these basic forms were mastered, they could be combined.

For example, the move formed by combining water and fire was called the Water-Fire Sword.

As long as one possessed a spiritual root with all five elements attributes, one could unleash any combination.

The more attributes combined, the stronger the attack. The strongest was the Five Elements Sword, which combined metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Having understood the principles behind the Five Elements Sword's attacks, Xu Changshou began practicing.

Single-attribute attacks were easy to learn, but combining them made things difficult. When combining two or three attributes, he had to find a point of balance before they could merge. Otherwise, he could not form an attack at all.

One night passed.

Xu Changshou learned all five basic attacks and began to get a feel for the Water-Fire Sword.

The following day was a rest day.

Xu Changshou and Ye Shanhua arranged to visit the market on Cinnabar Clouds Peak. They each bought a Puppet Horse, along with some other supplies.

Two days later.

Early in the morning.

A pair of fiery-red Red-Scaled Horses departed from the foot of Front Gate Peak.

A man and a woman rode the two horses-Xu Changshou and Ye Shanhua.

Over those two days, Xu Changshou had more or less mastered every combination move except the strongest one, the Five Elements Sword.

"Hehehe, Junior Brother Xu, this is wonderful! We're finally out!"

"Yes, Senior Sister Ye. I've only just realized how beautiful the scenery outside the sect is."

"Of course! We've been in the sect for ten years. I was about to go mad from being cooped up."

"The world outside is wonderful. Even the air smells sweet."

"Hahaha, is it really that much of a difference, Senior Sister Ye?"

Chatting and laughing, the two left the Green Immortal Mountain Range.

Although Ye Shanhua had a White Jade Boat, it was too conspicuous, so they chose to travel on Puppet Horses.

"Senior Sister Ye, I actually have a mission on this trip. Uncle-Master Li Dao Path asked me to go to Fire Mulberry Country to pick up..."

After leaving the sect, Xu Changshou gave her a general account of Li Dao Path's request that he fetch someone.

"What? Someone in Fire Mulberry Country's imperial family actually has a variant spiritual root?" Ye Shanhua exclaimed in surprise.

"Do you know what kind of spiritual root it is?"

"I don't."

"How strange!"

Ye Shanhua frowned. "Why would they send a mere ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator like you to fetch someone so important?"

Xu Changshou said, "Senior Sister Ye, you think it doesn't make sense either?"

Ye Shanhua reasoned, "I wouldn't say it doesn't make sense. If the other sects don't know about this, sending you to fetch them while secretly sending someone to protect them would be reasonable."

Xu Changshou furrowed his brows. "Senior Sister Ye, do you mean Uncle-Master Li will send someone to secretly protect the person with the variant spiritual root?"

Ye Shanhua nodded. "It's possible. A variant spiritual root is too important for him to take no precautions. Uncle-Master Li Dao Path might even protect them in secret himself."

"What? You mean Uncle-Master Li might be following us?" Xu Changshou lost his composure and could not help glancing up at the sky.