Origin Profound Spirit

Zhou Wuji watched Li Ruyi return to the main hall before withdrawing his gaze.

Li Ruyi was very clever, and she had an old serving woman who was a ninth-rank martial artist at her side, enough to keep everyone under control.

Besides, this was a venture with little cost and great returns. Even knowing the chances were slim, she would be willing to try.

It was not that Zhou Wuji trusted Li Ruyi all that much. Rather, he knew Zhang Xinhu was away from home during this period.

Even if Li Ruyi really went to tip them off, no one in the Zhang Household or Fang Household could do anything to him.

Zhou Wuji's original plan had been simple: kill Zhang Wuding and Fang Wuzhen, then leave.

Now that he could control the situation, there was no need to flee in panic. Traveling by boat through the swift river currents at night was still far too dangerous.

To advance to eighth-rank Qi ingestion, he absolutely had to visit the Cloud Dragon Lower Court.

Only there could he complete the conferral of precepts and receipt of the seal, formally advancing to the eighth rank.

What had happened to his master also had to be reported to the lower court.

He would also have to find someone at the lower court to resolve the trouble with the Zhang and Fang households...

The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment was his sect's strongest divine artifact, and only the sect possessed the corresponding secret method for wielding it.

His master had also told him that the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment was a tool. To attain the Dao and ascend, the key lay in the methods, in the Dao.

The Northern Pole Sect's transmission of its legacy was extremely rigorous. If he wanted to achieve anything, he had to rely on the sect!

Zhou Wuji returned to his master's bedroom and opened the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment again.

The pages spread open. As his thoughts shifted, Zhang Wuding's name transformed into a ball of purple spiritual light.

"Fate weight of two taels and three mace converted into origin profound spirit..."

Through the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, Zhou Wuji naturally learned the function of origin profound spirit: it could be used directly to improve cultivation methods.

The origin profound Qi converted from the Sha Ghost had essentially increased the Qi within his body, rather than directly improving the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture.

Origin profound Qi improved his true Qi cultivation, while origin profound spirit was equivalent to temporarily improving his comprehension.

Zhou Wuji's learning was limited. Among what he knew, the Golden Light Incantation was a law technique for subduing demons and expelling evil, almost useless against martial artists.

He had the Seven Star Sword. Improving his law techniques was pointless.

The only truly useful choices were the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture and the Xiaoxiang Sword.

In the long run, improving the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture was naturally the choice, as it would improve his control over Qi and the efficiency of his Qi refinement.

But he had only just advanced to the eighth rank. No matter how much he improved the Northern Dipper Tianshu Scripture, he could not advance again in the short term.

There was another issue: killing ghosts allowed him to accumulate origin profound Qi, which was far faster than cultivating on his own.

Thus, his only choice was the Xiaoxiang Sword. With the Seven Star Sword in hand, every measure of improvement in his swordsmanship would bring three measures of improvement in combat strength.

Converting origin profound spirit also required worshipping the Northern Emperor, following a prescribed ritual. It could not simply be converted on a whim.

Fortunately, as an extraterrestrial otherworldly spirit, he was exempt from all punishments for violating the precepts. He could simply convert the origin profound spirit directly now.

A ball of purple light fell upon the Xiaoxiang Sword. The light rippled, and Zhou Wuji felt as though he had fallen into a strange world.

In this world, he practiced Xiaoxiang Swordsmanship tirelessly, day and night.

In this state, his swordsmanship progressed extremely quickly.

After an unknown length of time, Zhou Wuji emerged from his daze. He glanced out the window; the night was still deep and dark.

Going by his senses, he felt that very little time had passed. It was as though only the blink of an eye had gone by!

Yet within the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, it was as though he had practiced the sword for twenty years.

In the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, the notation after Xiaoxiang Swordsmanship had changed to proficient.

Anyone who practiced any skill to the proficient level could be considered an expert in that field.

Zhou Wuji got off the bed and gripped the Seven Star Sword's hilt. Without drawing it, he could feel that the sword seemed to have become a part of his body, so familiar and so close.

He casually drew his sword and thrust in succession, delivering seven thrusts in the blink of an eye.

The cold sword light still flaunted itself in the dark room, but the blade was already back in its sheath.

The draw and return were smoother and more fluid than when he had first succeeded in refining Qi earlier.

With the same moves in the same amount of time, going from five consecutive thrusts to seven meant his sword speed had increased by forty percent.

It was not that he had become faster, but that he was more familiar with the sword's nature and could coordinate his body and true Qi more effectively.

When wielding his sword, he could even make his Qi turn with the blade.

With his current swordsmanship, even if Zhang Wuding had a sword in hand, he could not withstand three moves. The same would hold true even with Fang Wuzhen joining him!

His superb swordsmanship made Zhou Wuji feel extraordinarily powerful, as though he could even exchange moves with a seventh-rank martial artist.

Of course, that was only a thought. He would not be so impulsive.

Seventh-rank martial artists had honed their bodily strength to a miraculous degree. Their internal organs were exceptionally powerful, and a single leap could carry them three to five zhang. Every movement carried a thousand jin of force. They were terrifyingly strong.

If his swordsmanship reached his master's level, he would be able to cross ranks and slay Zhang Xinhu.

In the past, when Zhou Wuji watched his master slay demons and exorcise evil, it had all seemed simple and easy.

Only now, after his own swordsmanship had improved enormously, could he understand the brilliance of his master's swordsmanship.

The Xiaoxiang Sword was a complete sword art, lofty in conception and exquisite in its moves, while also matching the transformations of heavenly pivot true Qi perfectly.

According to martial lore, even powerful second- or third-rank martial artists might not be able to create a martial art or sword art.

Without a doubt, his master had also used this special transformation of the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to accumulate many years of experience, and only then created the Xiaoxiang Sword.

This Xiaoxiang Sword was specifically designed to complement heavenly pivot true Qi, so it could be considered tailor-made. It would also save him countless hours of effort.

His talent for both sword practice and Dao cultivation was mediocre. Fortunately, he had the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment.

Zhou Wuji's gaze fell on Fang Wuzhen's name: fate weight, one tael and nine mace.

Fang Wuzhen's fate weight was four mace lighter than Zhang Wuding's.

He did not know how much significance those four mace held. Clearly, the origin profound spirit converted from Fang Wuzhen would certainly be inferior to Zhang Wuding's.

To improve swordsmanship at the proficient level, he would inevitably need a stronger, weightier fate!

Through the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, Zhou Wuji naturally understood the principle behind this.

Thus, the origin profound spirit converted from Fang Wuzhen's fate weight was insufficient to raise his swordsmanship realm.

Earlier, unaware of the situation, he had used Zhang Wuding's fate weight first, getting the order backward.

A thought suddenly stirred in Zhou Wuji's mind. If it can't improve the entire sword art, using it to improve a single sword move should work, shouldn't it?

With only four mace less in weight, the gap shouldn't be that great, should it?

He had originally considered improving his drawing speed. A sudden draw and strike could serve as a surprise attack.

But then he felt that would not work very well. How keen were the senses of powerful martial artists? They would not give him the chance to approach, draw his sword, and launch a sneak attack.

Rather than looking for loopholes to launch sneak attacks, he would be better off improving his movement speed. Moving faster and having more variations would let him make better use of space in combat.

The Xiaoxiang Sword consisted of eight sword forms. The essence of the Flowing Cloud Sword lay not in the sword, but in variations of movement.

After all, clouds moved with the wind; clouds had form, while the wind was formless. This was also an essential principle of the sword art that his master had explained to him.

Now that his swordsmanship had reached the proficient level, Zhou Wuji could understand the essence of the Flowing Cloud Sword ever more deeply.

To measure the time, Zhou Wuji deliberately changed his lifespan display to a countdown in seconds.

He activated the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, converted Fang Wuzhen's fate weight into origin profound spirit, and invested it in the Flowing Cloud Sword.

Purple light swirled, and another little world, seemingly real and illusory, unfolded. Within it, Zhou Wuji practiced the Flowing Cloud Sword exclusively.

After an unknown length of time, the world of sword practice silently collapsed, and Zhou Wuji awoke.

Looking again at the lifespan countdown in the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he saw that only one second had actually passed.

The ratio between the long span of sword practice and the time that passed in reality was astonishingly vast!

This was naturally a good thing.

Zhou Wuji circled the room, then leaped into the air, drew his sword, and struck repeatedly. Like a flying bird, his body shifted position twice in midair before he drifted gracefully to the ground like a falling leaf, making almost no sound.

Zhou Wuji felt that his movement speed had increased by at least thirty percent. When he looked at the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment again, the Xiaoxiang Sword was still at the proficient realm and had not advanced.

However, when he had each sword move displayed separately according to his wishes, he could see that the Flowing Cloud Sword differed from the other seven moves: it had reached minor attainment.

He could not help smiling. Even a fool, after a thousand thoughts, could have one good insight.

Although Fang Wuzhen's fate weight was somewhat inferior, concentrating on practicing a single move could still yield gains.

With such light, agile, and swift movement, he could comfortably defeat two Zhang Wudings. He could even kill Zhang Wuding barehanded.

Zhou Wuji could not help feeling pleased with himself. He felt that he truly was clever, to have thought of such an ingenious idea...

Using origin profound spirit consecutively like this had not exhausted Zhou Wuji. Instead, he was brimming with vigor and spirit, not tired in the slightest.

There would still be things to do after dawn, and there was no telling what the situation outside might be. Zhou Wuji did not dare actually sleep.

He silently circulated his Qi and regulated his breathing, entering a meditative state with his mind calm and unruffled, quietly nourishing his spirit.

When Zhou Wuji opened his eyes again, a faint light was already showing through the window paper.

Judging from his years of experience, it should now be the hour of the Rabbit, a little after five in the morning.

Zhou Wuji washed his face and rinsed his mouth. Facing a bronze mirror half a person's height, he tidied his topknot and straightened his Daoist robes.

Finally, he bared his teeth in a smile at the mirror. Only after confirming there was nothing wrong with his appearance did he go down to the secret chamber.

He took the chest of gold and his master's token, carrying all the important items with him, including the account books and notes.

Lastly, he took a medicine gourd from among the miscellaneous belongings.

The gourd contained Grain Avoidance Pills. Each pill cost one tael of silver, but was enough to meet a person's needs for an entire day.

Zhou Wuji returned to his own room and took some small self-defense items he usually kept ready.

Once everything was packed, Zhou Wuji went to the main hall at the front for another look. Everyone was sitting on the floor against the walls, eyes closed in a drowsy sleep.

Not one was missing.

The corpses were also still sprawled on the floor, untouched.

Li Ruyi was very alert. She immediately opened her eyes when she sensed Zhou Wuji's gaze.

Zhou Wuji beckoned to Li Ruyi. The two discussed a few more matters outside before he glided out of Hidden Dragon Temple and headed down the mountain...