Bai Yi sighed helplessly. Ever since he'd first seen it, he had spent nearly all his time improving his cultivation and comprehending sword arts.
After a month, he had only just managed to refine the Heart-Questioning Sword enough to fly it with some basic control.
"The Azure Edge Sword is clearly showing signs of decline."
"In my battle with Hua Ming this afternoon, if the Heart-Questioning Sword had been able to cut through the second Azure Flame Talisman in an instant, its sword light wouldn't have been suppressed by the third talisman."
With that thought, Bai Yi used Sword-Refining Technique to its fullest with his Divine Sense.
Now that he no longer had the Dao-Deriving Mirror devouring it, his Divine Sense had not only returned to normal; perhaps because it had grown through years of constant devouring, its resilience and total amount faintly exceeded his own cultivation level, enough to rival cultivators in Late Qi Refining.
Before, refining this Heart-Questioning Sword might have taken a month, but now it would take at most a week.
Time passed, and a week went by in the blink of an eye.
In the Cultivation Room, Bai Yi slowly opened his eyes, and a sharp, metallic glint shot up into the sky.
As the sword rang out in a long, resonant note, spiritual light enveloped the Heart-Questioning Sword, then all of it sank into the blade.
[Current Nurturing Progress: 100%]
"It's finally done."
Feeling the Heart-Questioning Sword respond like an extension of his arm, Bai Yi smiled faintly. Holding the Sword Seal, he stood as a gale rushed against him. The Spirit-Gathering Formation devices on both sides of the Heart-Questioning Sword's blade automatically drew in and released Spiritual Power, and a perfectly round silver sword light immediately enveloped him.
The blade left its sheath and, like a silver bolt of lightning, shot through the entire Cultivation Room in the blink of an eye.
"The sword light's speed has increased by nearly forty percent, and the Sword Qi is much sharper, too."
Bai Yi glanced at the Terminal on his wrist. The connected information showed that the initial speed of the sword strike he had just made had exceeded 400 m/s.
And that was only with the Little Breeze Sword Art driving it. If he switched to the White Rainbow Sword Art, the sword light could probably easily exceed 700 m/s.
An ordinary rifle bullet had an initial speed of around 800 m/s.
Let alone the power a Flying Sword could reach at that speed, with Sword Qi and sword light flowing through it.
"It's time to make the final preparations and set out."
After sheathing the Heart-Questioning Sword, Bai Yi slung both Flying Swords across his back and opened the Cultivation Room's door.
"Are you ready?"
In the living room, Bai Guoshan was searching for information on the Blue Mountain Secret Realm on his Terminal. When he saw Bai Yi come out, he quietly shut it and asked with an unruffled expression.
"Mm. After registering at the Secret Realm Office, I'll head straight out."
Hearing Bai Yi's voice, Li Qing, in the bedroom, held back her worries, took out four jade-colored bottles marked with numbers, and pressed them into Bai Yi's hands.
"Xiaoyi, there are two bottles of Qi-Blood Pills and two bottles of Qi-Replenishing Pills in here. Keep them safe."
"If anything happens, remember not to push yourself."
Li Qing stroked Bai Yi's cheek and smiled. Then she transferred another 150,000 Spirit Value to him through her Terminal.
[Personal Account Received: 150000]
"All right, the boy won't be gone that long. He'll be back soon."
After saying goodbye to his parents, Bai Yi left the residential complex on his Hoverboard and took the Magnetic-Rail Subway straight toward the rows of towering buildings in the northern part of Lanshan City.
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North New District, Lanshan City
Strange buildings stood everywhere. On enormous high-resolution projection billboards, several beautiful and graceful holographic idols smiled and waved repeatedly at the pedestrians around them.
In the air, floating advertising boards glimmered with neon lights, catching the attention of tourists as they drifted back and forth.
In the open central space, holographically mapped rail lines crisscrossed densely. One car after another, whether a chauffeured vehicle or a private car, swiftly and orderly passed between the city blocks with the help of intelligent driving.
Through the glass and metal framework of the urban district, one could still occasionally see quiet, old-fashioned courtyards and classical buildings nestled in the central blocks of North New District.
Chain medicine shops, Artifact Refining halls, flagship Terminal and brain-machine stores, and fully intelligent home-goods shops could all be found here.
As Lanshan City's economic and cultivation district, North New District was like the city's heart.
Nearly eighty percent of the city's technological and cultivation resources were produced here, then shipped through its interconnected logistics network to the other seven districts.
This had given rise to exorbitant housing prices in North New District, close to 50,000 Spirit Value per square meter.
Aside from the Immortal Alliance's administrative bodies and industries, only first-rate local Lanshan groups at the very least could establish themselves here.
"Of the wealth, companions, cultivation methods, and land, real estate in this life is even more thriving and extravagant than it was in my previous life."
Bai Yi glanced at the real-time Spiritual Energy readings displayed on the subway. The reading of 102 barely reached the level of a first-tier Spirit Land.
And this was only the street-level environment. The district where his residential complex was located had a street-level environment of barely over 80.
[Changming Street District has arrived. Please exit before boarding, and board in an orderly manner.]
After leaving the subway, Bai Yi crossed two streets, and a building shaped much like an ancient cauldron came into view.
People of all kinds streamed through the plaza. Local Lanshan City Secret Realm hunting teams were everywhere, as were professional Secret Realm teams that spent the year traveling between Secret Realms in various cities.
There was a burly man with prayer beads coiled around his left hand, spiritual light flowing over them, a heavy machine gun slung over his right shoulder, and artificial eyes in his sockets. There was also a tall, thin man in a long Daoist robe, with airflow tail fins fitted to his back and a long sniper rifle slung over his shoulder...
As Bai Yi walked among them, his gaze repeatedly swept over the surroundings, and he was often surprised.
Unlike Dao Students in Advanced Dao Studies, who were trained with the advancement of their cultivation as their core focus,
these Rogue Cultivators spent years traveling to and from Secret Realms, hunting demonic beasts and gathering Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
Most of them had long since given up on pursuing further enlightenment and longevity through the Dao, whether due to a lack of talent or other reasons.
To enhance their combat strength, more than eighty percent of Rogue Cultivators had added all kinds of technological equipment, even low-quality alloy skeletal implants like those worn by the bodyguard in the black market earlier.
They might appear to be only at Qi Refining, Third Layer, but with the technological devices, the strength they unleashed might rival Late Qi Refining.
"No wonder Advanced Dao Studies advises Dao Students not to enter the city Secret Realms in their first three years."
"With Rogue Cultivators this strong, ordinary Dao Students probably couldn't even beat Rogue Cultivators at the first or second layer of Qi Refining."
Bai Yi glanced down at the man beside him, who had four T-22 basic-model Armed Mechanical Dogs from the Fire Spirit Group and two Fire Spirit Group M9 heavy machine guns slung across his back. He couldn't help clicking his tongue.
Good grief...
Judging by his Spiritual Energy fluctuations, the man should only have been at Qi Refining, Second Layer.
But setting aside those dual heavy machine guns firing custom ammunition at a hundred rounds per second, the four Armed Mechanical Dogs alone were enough to give an ordinary Dao Student a hard time.
Still, with his sword-flying speed, electronic locks of this level-the products of physical technology-couldn't pose a threat.
Bai Yi slowly made his way through the crowd and entered the Blue Mountain Secret Realm Office. He didn't know that while he had been observing others, countless gazes had also fallen on him.
After all, compared to the strangely dressed Rogue Cultivators here, he stood out even more in his white clothes, carrying only swords.
Inside the office, Bai Yi waited in line until he reached the window, then lightly swiped the Terminal on his wrist over the machine.
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