In the next two days, Qin Tiexin was not in a hurry to practice.
The injury was not healed, but forcing his spiritual power to circulate would delay his recovery. Following the instructions of his medical brother, he took medicine every day and slowly adjusted his breath. The pain in his ribs became less and less day by day, and the stagnant feeling in his internal organs also gradually dissipated.
Most of the time, he stayed in cave abode's quiet room, reading the "Initial Interpretation of Organ Nature" sent by Nangong Yao.
This book is not thick, but the content is solid. It starts by talking about the "properties" of materials: the hardness of gold, the toughness of wood, the softness of water, the intensity of fire, and the thickness of earth. Materials with different properties are suitable for forging Law Artifact with different characteristics. Then we talk about "combination": how to choose the appropriate combination of materials based on the monk's spiritual power attributes, Cultivation Method characteristics, and usage habits.
Qin Tiexin couldn't read quickly and read word for word.
Some of the content was not unfamiliar to him.
For example, the book mentioned something similar to the "resonance forging method", which talks about using one's own spiritual power to guide the internal structure of the material during forging, so that the spiritual power can flow more smoothly. Old Wu taught him this method. However, Old Wu taught him scatteredly, a little here, a little there, which is more practical. The book explains the system clearly, from principles to steps.
In the margins of the pages, there are occasionally small comments in beautiful red ink.
"There is an error here. Fire copper and Cold Iron are not completely incompatible with each other. If they are slowly simmered with earth fire for three days, they can help each other.--Luo Ling"
"This example is acceptable, but the spiritual guidance is too deliberate. Law Artifact has a spirit, so you should follow the trend instead of forcing it.--Luo Ling"
Qin Tiexin Looking at these annotations, one can seem to see the woman in red sitting under the lamp, flipping through the book and making annotations with a pen. The handwriting is sharp and the insights are unique.
He closed the book and closed his eyes to reflect.
The resonance forging method taught by Master Wu, Luo Ling's True Person's comments, and my own feelings when forging Edgeless... these things gradually became connected in my mind.
"That's it." He whispered to himself.
It wasn't that I had misunderstood it before, but that there was a lack of connection between the systems in the middle. Now that I have the book and the annotations, many vague places suddenly became clear.
It's just that the injury is not good enough and I can't practice it. I feel itchy and want to try the newly learned things.
In the afternoon, Nangong Yao came on time.
When she entered, Qin Tiexin was standing by the fire well in the refining room, holding half of Edgeless in her hand, eager to try it at the mouth of the well.
"Junior Brother Qin." Nangong Yao said with a smile, "Is the injury healed?"
Qin Tiexin made a movement and silently retracted his hand. "... it's not all right."
"Don't move until it's fully healed." Nangong Yao came over and looked at the broken blade in his hand, "Master said, there's no rush to retrain Edgeless in a day or two. If you force it now, it will cause internal injuries and delay things."
Qin Tiexin did not object and took back the broken blade Storage Bag.
The two returned to the living room. Nangong Yao sat down in a familiar manner, and Qin Tiexin poured her a glass of water.
"How do you like reading the book?" Nangong Yao asked.
"I'm watching." Qin Tiexin said, "I don't understand some parts."
"Where?"
Qin Tiexin opened "The Preliminary Interpretation of Organ Nature" and pointed out a few points. Nangong Yao came over to look at it, and then began to explain. She spoke in a leisurely manner, using simple words, and could always break down complex principles clearly.
After talking about one point, Qin Tiexin suddenly asked, "Senior sister, can you give me a brief introduction to our peak?"
Nangong Yao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Why do you ask this so suddenly?"
Qin Tiexin scratched his head. "I don't understand anything yet."
"I originally wanted to wait until you recover from your injury before I tell you. I'll let you have a good rest these days, but it's okay to tell you now." Nangong Yao thought for a while, "Let's start with Master. The first hall of our Liuyun Sect is the Weapon Refining Hall. There are two elders in charge of the Qi Hall, both of whom are in the late Jindan stage. One is our master, Luo Ling True Person, who is in charge of Luo Ling Peak. The other is Elder Zhao, who is in charge of Red Lian Peak - the Zhao of Zhao Yan."
She paused and spoke in a subtle tone, "Master and Elder Zhao... well, their ideas don't agree with each other. Those little tricks you encountered in the competition, as well as Zhao Yan's bloody demon Law Artifact, were probably the work of Elder Zhao."
Qin Tiexin nodded, as he had expected it.
"In addition to the two chief elders, there is also a chief elder, Elder Qi Chen, who is in the middle stage of the Golden Core. He is always stationed in the forging room of the main hall of the weapon refining hall and is responsible for teaching the disciples the forging techniques. You should have met him during the competition."
"There are also a few ordinary elders who don't have their own independent peaks, but there is cave abode on the main peak. You can talk about these when you meet them later."
Qin Tiexin noted it down and asked, "How many disciples are there under Master now?"
"Counting you, there are four." Nangong Yao said, "Sister Xu Yi, who broke through the early stage of the Golden elixir at the age of thirty, went to the upper sect for further training five years ago. The second senior brother Chen Xi, Foundation Establishment Late Stage, went out on a sect mission a while ago and will not come back until next month. The third senior sister is me, Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. I was originally the junior junior sister, but now, I have an additional junior junior brother, you."
When she mentioned "Chen Xi", Qin Tiexin's fingers trembled slightly.
Chen Xi.
He remembered this name.
Before leaving Qingya Town, Master Chen gave him a wooden sign and said that if he encountered trouble in Liuyun Sect, he could find a disciple named "Chen Xi", who was his nephew, and would help.
Unexpectedly, this Chen Xi is actually his second senior brother.
Nangong Yao noticed his subtle reaction. "What, do you know the second senior brother?"
"I heard someone mentioned it." Qin Tiexin vaguely mentioned it, then asked, "Senior Sister just said that Senior Sister went to the Superior Sect. What is the Superior Sect...?"
He recalled that when he was testing the spiritual roots in Yingxianping, the clever young man named Lu Ming, Tianlinggen, was taken away on the spot and said to be sent to the superior sect.
Nangong Yao took a sip of water and explained, "Our Liuyun Sect is actually a subordinate sect of a larger sect that stayed in Qingxuan Territory. Haven't you noticed? The leader of Jianyun who has the highest cultivation level in the sect is only at the peak of Jindan. Because True Lord above Nascent Soul have all gone to the subordinate sect."
"There are several large sects in Qingxuan Domain, and they are all supported by superior sects. So even if Nascent Soul is not in charge, no one dares to provoke them easily."
Qin Tiexin asked, "What are the conditions for joining the Shangzong Sect?"
"The conditions are harsh." Nangong Yao raised three fingers, "First, a talent of Spirit Root or above; second, breaking through the Golden Core stage before the age of fifty; third, winning the first place in the Qingxuan Domain Artifact Refiner Competition. If you meet any of the conditions, you will have a chance."
"Senior Sister fulfilled two things at the same time five years ago: she broke through the golden elixir and won the first place in the weapon refining competition, so she was taken over by her superior sect."
Qin Tiexin Write it down silently.
Spirit Root, fifty-year-old golden elixir, first place in the weapon refining competition.
Every one of them is difficult.
"By the way." He remembered something, "Senior sister, now that I am a member of the inner sect, what responsibilities do I need to take on? For example, I was in the Waste Equipment Pavilion before..."
"Duty?" Nangong Yao smiled, "Isn't it better to let you rest? Don't worry, when the injury is healed, you will be busy."
She stood up and looked at the sky outside the window. "Master has been finishing up a piece of Spirit Artifact for the past two days. It should be completed tonight. Tomorrow, I will take you to the Zhuxin Hall to meet you. Then, she will arrange a task for you."
Qin Tiexin nodded. "Okay."
Nangong Yao walked to the door and turned back to warn, "Don't turn on the stove secretly at night. It's important to recover from your injuries."
"... Hmm."
After Nangong Yao left, cave abode became quiet again.
Qin Tiexin sat on the futon, took out the two severed blades, and placed them on his knees. His fingers touched the cold metal, but his mind was thinking about the conversation just now.
Xu Yi, Chen Xi.
It belongs to the sect.
Elder Zhao is at odds with his master.
This information swirled in my mind and finally settled down.
The sky outside the window has completely darkened. There is still a faint red light coming from the top of Luoling Peak and in the direction of Zhuxintang, which is the fire burning on the earth. The master should still be refining weapons.
Qin Tiexin put away the broken blade without rest.
He sat cross-legged, holding a piece of low-grade Spirit Stone in each hand, closing his eyes, and running "Hunyuan Jue". Now there are more than 400 pieces of Spirit Stone in Qin Tiexin's Storage Bag, so there is no need to save as much as before.
The spiritual power was slowly extracted from Spirit Stone and flowed into Dantian along the meridians. Dantian, the four chaotic whirlpools of spiritual power slowly rotated and grew stronger little by little.
Although he was seriously injured in these battles, he also gained a deeper understanding of the use of spiritual power. The barrier of cultivation that was close to breaking through was now faintly loosened.
The fifth level of Qi Refining is not far away.
He calmed down and concentrated on running Cultivation Method. Spiritual Qi in Spirit Stone was continuously extracted and turned into pure spiritual power, nourishing the meridians and Dantian.
The night is getting darker.
There was only the sound of uniform breathing inside cave abode, and the gradually dimming shimmer on the surface of Spirit Stone.