There are still thirty days until Xiao Bi.
At the end of Yin time on this day, Qin Tiexin was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and the Spiritual Qi circulation around his body had reached its most critical moment. Within Dantian, the first cyclone was slowly rotating, and below it, the outline of the second cyclone was gradually becoming clearer.
Over the past two months, the almost paranoid practice has finally reached its harvest moment.
I got up at Yinshi every day and practiced "Zhongyue Sword Technique" for an hour. In the first month, I almost broke bones every day, and dislocated my arms became a common occurrence. Later, I mastered the technique of exerting force, and gradually I was able to complete the three postures. Although I can practice smoothly now, my arms are still numb and heavy after each practice, and I need to soak in a medicinal bath for half an hour to recover.
Go to the Wasted Weapon Pavilion at Chenshi and use the Mortal Fire Furnace to dispose of the remains of the mortal weapon for two hours.
He returned to the stone room before noon and activated the Spiritual Qi furnace to process the Law Artifact and semi-Law Artifact wrecks for two hours. During this period, he deliberately selected those wrecks with special structures and rare spiritual patterns to dismantle, and slowly advanced the progress of [First Preview of Spiritual Patterns] - just five days ago, a cold voice in the Void Realm sounded, telling him that he had achieved it (10/10).
At this point, [Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts]'s task completion progress is as follows
[Phase Objective 1: A first glimpse of spiritual patterns] Progress: 10/10.
[Phase Objective 2: A Hundred Guides to Spiritual Materials] Progress: 34/30
[Phase goal three: Law Artifact first completed] Refining a low-level Law Artifact by hand, progress: unfinished.
This is all it takes to permanently unlock the passive ability [Spiritual Material Sensing (Elementary)] - the ability to weakly sense spiritual materials.
Went to the dining hall for dinner later.
In the past two months, his appetite has increased again. There are two meals a day, from five bowls of spiritual rice to eight bowls, plus three pieces of spiritual animal meat. According to the rules of the dining hall, each meal is limited to three pieces of spiritual animal meat, but the steward surnamed Chen saw that he ate too much., often giving him one or two extra yuan when no one was around. Qin Tiexin felt that he was taking advantage, so he offered to hand over three more spiritual crystals for each meal. Now the daily food expenses have reached sixteen, accounting for almost one-third of the daily income.
Shen Shi listened to a Dharma lecture and received five spiritual crystals.
I went back to my room at Youshi, practiced "Qi Entraining Technique" for two hours, and hit the second floor of Qi Refining.
After a while, if he had the energy, he would study the newly mastered "Qianjun" spiritual pattern - it was discovered when he was dismantling the remains of a brick Law Artifact. It is a kind of basic spiritual pattern and can increase the weight of the Law Artifact. Few people use this kind of spiritual pattern, and it is mainly used in defense or position type Law Artifact, which is suitable for Edgeless. He copied it in the Void Realm for a month and a half, and now he can draw it skillfully.
At midnight, sleep.
This cycle continues, day after day.
His physical training level has been maintained at the fourth level of Body Tempering, and he has no time to practice the "Basic Body Tempering Technique". However, he often strains when practicing swordsmanship, and the process of soaking in medicinal baths to recover has unknowingly increased the strength of his arms. Half a month ago, he quietly went to the Body Refining Hall to take a test. The strength of one arm has exceeded 1,500 kilograms, and the combined force of both arms has exceeded 3,500 kilograms - this has exceeded the theoretical limit of three thousand kilograms at the fourth level of Body Tempering.
Manager Chen from the dining hall once said in a casual chat, "Boss Qin, with your appetite... have you practiced something special Cultivation Method?"
Qin Tiexin shook his head. "I'm just hungry."
"That's right, look at your body." Manager Chen patted him on the shoulder, "It's a blessing to be able to eat, and you can fight only if you can eat. The competition is coming soon, so fight well and give our handyman disciples a chance to speak out."
Qin Tiexin nodded seriously. "Try your best."
***
At this moment, the outline of the second cyclone in Dantian becomes increasingly clear.
Qin Tiexin gathered his mind and slowly introduced the last few strands of Spiritual Qi.
It seemed like everything came naturally.
The vague outline shook slightly, completely solidified, and began to rotate slowly. Although it was smaller than the first cyclone and the rotation speed was slower, it was indeed the second cyclone.
The second level of Qi Refining is completed.
Qin Tiexin opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
Feeling that the Spiritual Qi inside Dantian was more than twice as rich as before, he clenched his fist. He could finally try to forge half a Law Artifact - this was his confidence to participate in the small competition weapon refining assessment.
He stood up and looked at Edgeless standing in the corner.
For two months, almost all the spiritual crystals saved every day were fed to it. The red copper, black iron sand, and Cold Iron essence were all melted into the sword body. The weight of Edgeless increased at an alarming rate. Just three days ago, when the weight exceeded one thousand kilograms, the sword body felt a strange "satisfaction" for the first time, and it no longer exuded hunger like before.
But its appearance is still dark and dull, and its shape has not changed at all. Qin Tiexin has tried to sharpen it several times, but the edge is always as dull as a ruler, and no matter how hard it is sharpened, it is useless.
"Forget it, it's good to use as a ruler." Qin Tiexin said to himself.
He lifted Edgeless with one hand.
One thousand kilograms finally has some weight. With his current strength of one thousand five hundred kilograms in one arm, although it is still too light to swing, it is much easier than before.
In the next month, he has to do three things.
First, practice forging half Law Artifact.
Second, engrave the "Qianjun" spiritual pattern on Edgeless.
Third, if you still have some money left, buy a melee boxing or palm technique.
***
There are still twenty days until Xiaobi.
Qin Tiexin stood in front of the Spiritual Qi furnace, with beads of sweat on his forehead.
The fire has been adjusted to the most suitable temperature, and a red-hot fine iron ingot is lying on the anvil. He holds the pliers in his left hand and the hammer in his right hand, and each hammer hits the most accurate position.
Ding, ding, ding...
The rhythm of the hammering is steady.
This is the seventh sword he tried to forge. The first six failed - either the blade cracked during quenching, or the materials were unevenly fused, or the spiritual energy was out of control when the spiritual patterns were carved, and the amount of spiritual energy at the second level of Qi Refining was still a bit weak.
He has been smelting this one for three hours.
The blade gradually took shape, becoming narrow and thick. Qin Tiexin put down the hammer, took a deep breath, and stretched out his right index finger.
There was a shimmer on the fingertips.
He held his breath and began to carve "sharp" spiritual patterns on the blade.
One stroke, one stroke.
Spiritual Qi flowed out from the fingertips and penetrated into the hot metal. He was very familiar with this spiritual pattern. He had copied it in the Void Realm no less than ten thousand times, and there was no hesitation in writing at this moment.
After half a stick of incense, the spiritual pattern is completed.
Qin Tiexin Dip the blade into the spiritual spring water next to it.
"Zi--"
White steam evaporates.
After it cooled, he took out the knife and inspected it carefully.
The blade is complete and the spirit pattern is clear. He injected a trace of Spiritual Qi, and a faint cold glow appeared on the blade.
It's done.
Qin Tiexin held the knife and looked at it for a while before putting away his emotions and wrapping it up.
The next day, he went to see Manager Sun with a knife.
Manager Sun took the knife and inspected it carefully, with surprise on his face. "Did you forge it yourself?"
"Yes."
"Not bad." Manager Sun weighed the knife, "Half Law Artifact, the quality is average. According to the rules, the half Law Artifact forged by the handyman disciples by themselves, the sect recycles it for sixty spiritual crystals."
He counted sixty spiritual crystals from the cabinet. "Boy, with this skill, you will never starve to death in the future."
Qin Tiexin took the spirit crystal. "Thank you, steward."
When he walked out of the Shanggong Hall, he touched the bag of spiritual crystals in his arms.
Finally got a decent income.
***
There are still fifteen days until Xiaobi.
Qin Tiexin Put Edgeless flat on the anvil.
The blade is dark, cold and heavy.
He adjusted his breath for a moment, adjusted his condition to the best, and then stretched out his right index finger.
This time, what I want to engrave is the "Qianjun" spiritual pattern.
This spiritual pattern is much more complex than "Feng Rui", with more nodes and more tortuous circuits. Qin Tiexin has simulated it hundreds of times in the Void Realm, but this is the first time to actually do it.
He took a deep breath and touched the sword lightly with his fingertips.
Spiritual Qi flows.
The first stroke fell, and the blade shook slightly, as if in response.
Qin Tiexin concentrated on it, and his fingertips moved slowly along the established trajectory. He could feel that Spiritual Qi was rapidly consuming, and the two qi in Dantian were rotating faster, trying their best to supply.
Half an hour later, the last stroke was completed.
The spiritual pattern submerged into the blade and disappeared.
Qin Tiexin took back his hand and turned a little pale. Carving this spiritual pattern consumed almost all of his Spiritual Qi.
He held Edgeless and injected a hint of Spiritual Qi.
The blade trembled lightly and its weight suddenly increased.
It's not an illusion - it's really heavy. Qin Tiexin weighed it, and now it weighs at least 1,500 kilograms.
I finally took advantage of this weight.
He tried waving twice, and the howling sound was much duller and thicker than before, as if he was really waving a hill.
"Okay." Qin Tiexin's eyes showed satisfaction.
***
There are still ten days until Xiaobi.
Qin Tiexin came to the library again.
The guard was still the young man, and he was a little surprised to see him. "Come to change martial arts again?"
"Yes."
"What do you want this time?"
"Fist or palm techniques, suitable for close combat."
The young man nodded. "Look for it yourself on the east side of the first floor."
Qin Tiexin thanked him and went in, heading straight to the fist area.
This time, his goal was clear - to find a melee martial arts technique that could cooperate with "Zhongyue Sword Technique" and suit his five-Spirit Root constitution.
After reading seven or eight books, he picked up a Jade Slip.
"Hunyuan Zhuangquan".
Introduction: Based on pile skills, boxing is used. First stand on the Hunyuan pile, let the five kinds of Spiritual Qi in the body reach a balance in a static state, and then punch from this balanced state. The power of the five elements is contained in the fist strength, which may seem slow, but is actually powerful.
Qin Tiexin's eyes lit up.
Isn't this tailor-made for him?
Five Spirit Root, five kinds of Spiritual Qi in the body are inherently balanced. It should not be difficult for him to stand on the Hunyuan pile, and punching from a balanced state is in line with his fighting style of "overpowering people with force".
And this boxing technique has another benefit - when you encounter an enemy in the future, you can test it with a punch first, and then draw your sword if you feel you can't beat him.
That's it.
Rubbing Jade Slip, paying one hundred spirit crystals - this is most of what he earned for forging that knife.
When he walked out of the library, Qin Tiexin had less than thirty spiritual crystals left in his arms.
But he felt at ease.
***
There are still five days until Xiaobi.
Qin Tiexin go and sign up.
The competition registration office is located in the outer square, with several wooden tables lined up, and several outer disciples are responsible for registration. The handyman disciples who came to register lined up in a long queue, and there was noisy discussion.
"Which one do you apply for?"
"Of course it's a fighting technique. I, Swordsmanship, have been learning it for three months and I just want to give it a try."
"I refining weapons, my master said I have talent."
"What about monster hunting? I heard that monster hunting has the most generous rewards."
"Monster hunting is dangerous. Don't risk your life if you don't have any real skills."
When it was Qin Tiexin's turn, the disciple in charge of registration looked up and asked, "Name, which one should I report?"
"Qin Tiexin, report fighting method and weapon refining."
The disciple took note and handed over two wooden signs. "Put away the fighting cards and weapon refining cards. On the day of the competition, you can enter with the cards. Do you know the rules?"
"Know."
The disciple waved his hand. "Next."
Qin Tiexin put away the wooden sign and turned to leave when he heard someone whispering behind him:
"Who is that person? He reported two items?"
"Qin Tiexin from Waste Equipment Pavilion, I heard he is very strong."
"What's the use of being strong? What Xiao Bi sees is his true ability..."
Qin Tiexin didn't look back and walked straight back.
He actually wanted to sign up for the Demon Hunt - he heard that the rewards were the most generous. But during this time, he had never come into contact with the spiritual beast Demon Beast in this world, and long-range attacks had always been his shortcoming, so he gave up after thinking about it.
Bit off more than you can chew.
***
The last three days.
Qin Tiexin stopped going to the Waste Equipment Pavilion and asked for leave from Manager Sun.
Get up at Yinshi every day and stand on the Hunyuan Zhuang for an hour.
The Zhuang Kung Fu is simpler than he imagined - the five Spirit Roots are naturally balanced. He only needs to adjust his breathing and let the five Spiritual Qis circulate naturally in his body, and he can quickly enter the "Hunyuan State". When standing in the stance, he can feel that the muscles, bones and breath all over his body are subtly adjusting, achieving an unprecedented coordination.
Practice boxing behind the pile.
"Hunyuan Zhuangquan" only has nine postures. Each posture is simple and unpretentious, but the force requirements are extremely high. It needs to burst out from the balanced state of Hunyuan in an instant and penetrate the whole body's strength into the fist. Qin Tiexin has been practicing for two days and can already perform the first six postures smoothly.
Practice swordsmanship at noon.
The three moves of "Zhongyue Sword Technique" can now be completed in one go. Negative Yue gathers momentum, Zhenyue chops, and Bengyue sweeps. The fifteen hundred kilogram Edgeless flew in his hands, each sword was carrying a dull wind howl, and the floor of the stone room was already covered with cracks.
Adjust your breath at the end of the day and practice the "Qi-Inducing Technique" to consolidate the second level of Qi-refining cultivation.
Eating at Youshi - now there are nine bowls of rice for each meal. Manager Chen saw that Xiao Bi was approaching and gave him two more pieces of meat.
Go to bed early at Xu time.
After three days of this, the condition was adjusted to its optimal state.
***
The night before Xiaobi.
Qin Tiexin sat cross-legged on the bed and calmly adjusted his breathing.
It was very quiet in the stone room, except for the occasional chirping of insects outside the window.
He thought of the night at the Great Xuan border gate, which was also so quiet, but the air was always filled with the smell of blood and scorched earth. Those comrades, those life and death, are now far away.
Three months after he came to Liuyun Sect, he went from being a mortal who couldn't even sense Spiritual Qi to now being on the second level of Qi refining, the fourth level of body tempering, mastering two martial arts, and being able to forge half a Law Artifact.
He walked this path very steadily.
In tomorrow's small competition, he doesn't want to be famous, he just wants to be in the top ten and get the sect's resources to prepare for the big competition a year later.
The deeper goal is to enter the outer gate, gain access to more profound knowledge of weapon refining, inquire about the Tiannan Territory, and find Lin Household.
And... find out the origin of Edgeless and the ring, and solve the mystery surrounding it.
Qin Tiexin opened his eyes and looked at Edgeless in the corner.
The dark sword body glowed with a cold dark light under the moonlight, as if it was sleeping and waiting.
Waiting to drink blood, waiting to take the lead, waiting for the real master.
He stood up, walked to Edgeless, and lifted it up with one hand.
One thousand five hundred kilograms, very heavy.
"Tomorrow, it's up to you."
Qin Tiexin whispered.
Outside the window, the moon was in the sky.
Tomorrow is Xiao Bi's day.