"Other than my family's sword techniques, all my sword techniques were obtained from the Blood Robe Tower's martial repository, so I can't pass them on to you. How about this? Once we return to headquarters in a few days, I'll find you a suitable sword technique."
Seeing that Wang Hao was still insistent, Leader Zhao was displeased, but he didn't refuse.
After all, the fact that this fellow had come to him relieved much of the pressure on him. Otherwise, if the fellow had simply walked away, the matter of the Great Rejuvenation Pill would surely have been pinned on him. When the higher-ups investigated, it would have been a considerable problem, even though his father was an elder of the Blood Robe Tower.
In that respect, he owed the fellow a favor, and teaching him a sword technique was nothing much.
But he really didn't have a suitable sword technique to teach him. He certainly couldn't pass his family's techniques to an outsider, or his father would hack him to death.
As for the sword techniques obtained from the Blood Robe Tower's martial repository, those were all recorded. If he passed them to an outsider, he would surely be held accountable, which would be troublesome too.
So he could only wait until things here were settled, then return to headquarters in the capital and find a sword technique suitable for the fellow.
"Leader!"
Seeing Leader Zhao about to leave as soon as he finished speaking, Wang Hao hurriedly spoke up again.
"What is it now?"
Leader Zhao frowned slightly, displeased.
After all, Wang Hao was only one of his subordinates, no matter how one looked at it. Making too many requests was going too far.
"Well... for some reason, after taking the Great Rejuvenation Pill, I've been getting hungry rather quickly!"
Wang Hao rubbed his stomach awkwardly. To put it plainly, he was asking for meal money.
Of course, that was only on the surface. What he actually needed was some money to disguise the Ziwei Soft Sword.
After all, not everyone was as easygoing as Leader Zhao. Even if they couldn't use such a peerless divine weapon, they would surely try to seize it.
So it was necessary to conceal this peerless divine sword, and that required a little money.
"Didn't you just eat nine portions... fine! I'll have A Lan prepare some food for you."
Leader Zhao was furious. After all, this fellow had just eaten thirty percent of his family fortune, and only a quarter of an hour later, he was complaining of hunger again.
He was clearly treating him like a sucker to be fleeced!
But halfway through his words, he saw that Wang Hao's once-bulging belly had somehow shrunk considerably.
At this rate, it would be flat again in an hour at most.
At the sight, the corner of Leader Zhao's mouth twitched violently. He could only helplessly accept his bad luck.
Without waiting for Wang Hao to speak again, he flashed over to the door, opened it, and hurried away. He also prepared to quickly tell A Lan not to serve that super glutton any more expensive food and wine, and to give him a pile of steamed buns instead.
Surely leaving one tael of silver would be enough!
"Hey! I was hoping for some... money!"
Wang Hao stared at the closed door, utterly depressed.
Why was it so hard to get a little money?
"Ah!"
With a sigh, Wang Hao surveyed the layout of the room and finally realized that it was quite large. There were two small adjoining rooms on either side, one a bedroom and the other a bathroom.
"There's even water for a bath!"
Seeing that there was water in the large bathtub, and that it wasn't very cold, Wang Hao was delighted. He stripped off his clothes in a few quick motions and jumped in.
It was midsummer outside, and he had been sweating nonstop for the past two days. He had long since started to smell, and now he could finally have a proper wash.
"The Ziwei Soft Sword really is soft enough."
Lying comfortably in the bathtub, Wang Hao drew the Ziwei Soft Sword from its sheath. Only now did he have time to examine this rather legendary divine weapon closely.
He didn't know what material the divine weapon had been forged from. Its blade was a strange purple, and under the candlelight, a purple halo appeared around it, as though it were glowing.
Most remarkable of all, the soft sword really was incredibly thin. Thin as a cicada's wing was exactly the phrase for it. By his estimate, even the spine was at most a millimeter thick. It simply surpassed the limits of a sword.
"I wonder which master swordsmith forged it!"
Unable to resist a word of admiration, Wang Hao brought the blade of the Ziwei Soft Sword closer for an even more careful look.
In his past life in the Primordial Wilderness, he had been a blacksmith's apprentice of the Nine Li Tribe. Although his standing had been very low, that was relative to the vast world of the Primordial Wilderness. In terms of forging skill, he already belonged among the very best in this world.
With that foundation, he naturally had considerable ability to appraise divine weapons and sharp blades.
"Wait, is... is this Profound Steel?"
He might have been better off not looking. Once he did, Wang Hao immediately discovered the secret of the Ziwei Soft Sword.
The material of this divine weapon was extraordinary. It had not been forged from ordinary steel, but from a very special material: Profound Steel.
As the saying went, a hundred refinements produced fine iron, a thousand produced fine steel, and ten thousand produced true steel. At a hundred thousand refinements, it transformed into a material called Profound Steel, one of the ultimate forms ordinary iron could attain.
Even after cultivating painstakingly for over a decade in his past life in the Primordial Wilderness, he had only been able to forge thousand-refined fine steel. Ten-thousand-refined true steel required cultivation at the Mortal Realm Second Layer to forge, while Profound Steel was a powerful material that could only be forged at the Mortal Realm Third Layer.
Of course, Profound Steel was said to be precious, but that was only in low-martial worlds like the Smiling, Proud Wanderer world. In the vast world of the Primordial Wilderness, it could almost be said to be found everywhere.
Wang Hao had encountered quite a bit of Profound Steel in his past life in the Primordial Wilderness. Even the hammer he used for forging had been made from it, so he was naturally very familiar with the material.
And this Ziwei Soft Sword should have been forged from Profound Steel!
Only Profound Steel could possess such sharpness and resilience. Wang Hao had simply never expected to see a divine weapon forged from it in a low-martial world like the Smiling, Proud Wanderer world.
"No wonder the Ziwei Soft Sword was able to develop a trace of acquired spirituality!"
Wang Hao understood somewhat why the Ziwei Soft Sword had developed a trace of acquired spirituality. Setting aside external factors, the strength of Profound Steel had provided the most important foundation.
"Unfortunately, the smith's ability was still limited. Too little Profound Steel was made, or it wouldn't have been forged into a soft sword as thin as a cicada's wing!"
Having understood its secret, Wang Hao couldn't help sighing.
Profound Steel's greatest characteristic was its toughness, but this soft sword's blade was too slender and thin. Although that brought its flexibility to the utmost, it reduced its hardness.
Otherwise, if it had been forged into a standard longsword, its power would surely have increased dramatically.
Perhaps the smith's ability had been limited, and too little Profound Steel had been obtained, leaving no choice but to forge it into this kind of soft sword.
After examining the Ziwei Soft Sword, Wang Hao pricked the tip of his tongue with its point and smeared the first drop of blood that flowed out onto the blade.
Blood from the tip of the tongue was also called pure yang blood. Every living being could only condense one drop of pure yang blood at the tip of the tongue each month. Although it was of no use to ordinary people, it had extraordinary uses in other respects.
For example, it had an exceptional effect on nurturing spirituality.
Spirituality was yin in nature. To make it grow quickly, it was best to harmonize it with a force of pure yang nature to achieve a balance of yin and yang, and a living being's tongue-tip blood was a good choice.
Of course, that applied to ordinary people whose cultivation was low and who had not condensed Essence Blood. If one could condense Essence Blood, it would be even more effective at nurturing spirituality.
But the body Wang Hao possessed had not even awakened its bloodline power, much less condensed Essence Blood, so for now he could only make do with tongue-tip blood.
Nurturing it this way over a long period would not only strengthen the trace of acquired spirituality within the Ziwei Soft Sword, but also establish a wondrous mental connection with it. In the end, he might even achieve unity of man and sword and merge the divine sword into his body.
After applying the tongue-tip blood, Wang Hao solemnly returned the Ziwei Soft Sword to its sheath, then pulled up his attribute panel to examine it.
Host: Wang Hao Cultivation: Mortal Realm First Layer Spirit: unawakened Soul: unawakened Corporeal soul: unawakened Mind: unawakened Qi: unawakened Essence: Mortal Realm First Layer (1/100) Luck points: 100
This was his current attribute panel. He was far weaker than he had been in his past life in the Primordial Wilderness. There, he had already cultivated his bloodline power halfway through the Mortal Realm First Layer, but the person he had possessed in the Smiling, Proud Wanderer world had only reached (1/100), a full fivefold difference from his past life in the Primordial Wilderness.
"Xiao Mengmeng, you said before that my true spirit transmigrated without bringing my body or souls along, so I didn't bring my cultivation from my past life in the Primordial Wilderness with me. Does that mean I can't take the strength I cultivate in the Smiling, Proud Wanderer world back to the Primordial Wilderness either?"
Looking at the attribute panel, a thought occurred to Wang Hao, and he asked the question with some concern.
"You guessed right, Uncle. To avoid being detected by Hongjun Heavenly Dao and the sages, you can't take anything you obtain in a dungeon world back with you, but your cultivation realm isn't restricted.
"After you return to the main world of the Primordial Wilderness, you can use your powerful cultivation realm to rapidly raise the strength of your original body there. The use of the Tear of True Love won't be restricted either."
Xiao Mengmeng, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up with a detailed explanation. After all, this was another crucial point.
"In other words, it would be best for me to center my future cultivation on my true spirit, right?"
Wang Hao quickly understood. In other words, the only improvements he could take back with him were those to his true spirit. If he could awaken the power of his true spirit and raise it to the Mortal Realm Fourth Layer, he would likewise possess Fourth Layer combat strength.
After all, he didn't need to cultivate all six attributes on the panel to advance. His cultivation could rise as long as one of them reached the required level.
For example, most people of the Nine Li Tribe only cultivated the essence attribute, which represented bloodline power. They hardly touched the other five attributes, at least not in the early stages.
The Nine Li people could still raise their cultivation that way, so the fact that he couldn't take back the results of cultivating the five aspects of essence, Qi, mind, soul, and corporeal soul didn't mean there was no hope at all.
At least he had transmigrated with his true spirit as his foundation, so he could naturally take back the results of cultivating it.
"How you develop is entirely up to you, Uncle. I won't interfere."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Mengmeng didn't give him a direct answer, leaving Wang Hao to decide for himself.
"Is that so?"
Wang Hao was thoughtful. Then he said resolutely, "Xiao Mengmeng, do you have a way to awaken true spirit power?"
He had to begin cultivating true spirit power now. After all, once he returned to the main world of the Primordial Wilderness, he would only have half a day to raise his cultivation, which was clearly not enough.
Yet he had to quickly raise his cultivation to the Fourth Layer to join the Death Warrior Camp and thereby escape the fate of being castrated.
There was no point thinking about the five aspects of essence, Qi, mind, soul, and corporeal soul. Right now, true spirit power was his only chance.
"Actually, the opportunity to awaken true spirit power has been inside you all along, Uncle. To be precise, it's inside the fellow you possessed."
Xiao Mengmeng answered quickly, but the answer left Wang Hao completely baffled.
"The fellow I possessed has such a great opportunity? Wait, you don't mean this sword scar, do you?"
As if something had occurred to him, Wang Hao looked down at the water in the bathtub. In its slightly blurred reflection, he could see a sword scar between his brows.
According to the memories he had obtained from the body's previous owner, it had been left for some unknown reason when that man took part in the Blood Robe Tower's extermination of the Dongfang Lineage three years ago. The man's memories of it were quite hazy, leaving even Wang Hao baffled.
Still, he could vaguely sense a special power within the sword scar, somewhat similar to Sword Intent.
"Could this really be Sword Intent?"
Gently stroking the sword scar between his brows, Wang Hao made a bold guess, and was quite confident that it was indeed Sword Intent.
Sword Intent was a most rudimentary form of true spirit power. Although few people in the Nine Li Tribe cultivated true spirit power, most warriors of the Yellow Emperor Tribe did, and quite a few of them had cultivated Sword Intent.
In his past life in the Primordial Wilderness, Wang Hao had taken part in the defense of Jiang City against the Yellow Emperor Tribe and had watched some of its warriors who had cultivated Sword Intent from afar, so he was not unfamiliar with it.
Thus, he was reasonably certain that what lay between his brows was indeed Sword Intent. Although it couldn't compare to that of the Yellow Emperor Tribe's sword experts, it wasn't weak either.
The strangest thing was that he instinctively felt a sense of closeness to this Sword Intent, as though it were a power that had always belonged to him. Clearly, it was highly compatible with him.