A bountiful harvest
"Hahaha! While the snipe and clam fought, I, Qi, reaped the fisherman's rewards!"
An intangible, formless breeze raced through the forested mountains, so fast it left only a blurred afterimage. Qi Yun's heart brimmed with delight, and a pleased chuckle escaped his lips.
All that miserable effort following that smiling tiger Tang Shun and watching the show for so long certainly wasn't wasted.
Pushing his speed to the limit, Qi Yun fled more than ten li in the blink of an eye.
After transforming into a fresh breeze, he could not soar through the sky or burrow through the earth.
But in his [Fresh Breeze] state, he could ignore physical obstructions, sweeping past the tangled branches and jagged rocks ahead in an instant.
On top of that, the Clear Breeze Technique itself granted a speed boost.
Version 2.0 of the Clear Breeze Technique had practically become an extraordinarily wondrous escape technique!
Soon, Qi Yun's gaze locked onto an extremely well-hidden underground hollow deep in the valley.
Its entrance was only as wide as a large bowl and concealed beneath thick vines. An ordinary person could not possibly squeeze inside.
But it could not stop him in his current formless, invisible state.
The interior was dry and small, with only enough room for two or three people to hide.
After slipping into the cave, Qi Yun first inspected its interior. Only after confirming that nothing was amiss did he sit cross-legged and begin sorting through his gains.
"A second-generation cultivator really is something else. We haven't even joined the sect yet, and he already had a Storage Bag." Rubbing his fingers over the Storage Bag's fine fabric and gleaming gold-thread patterns, Qi Yun clicked his tongue softly.
Drawing a deep breath, he deftly untied the cord securing the bag's opening.
A rich, pure spiritual presence, almost tangible, flowed out like spring water held back for a long time. Soft, bright light instantly filled the entire cramped cave.
Five items lay quietly inside the Storage Bag.
A white jade porcelain bottle, lustrous as fine fat.
A strange piece of "gold" the size of a goose egg, embedded in a pitch-black, stubborn stone.
Two palm-sized blue-green jade talismans of an ancient, simple make.
And... a silver bracelet, simply fashioned and slightly worn.
Qi Yun first took out the mutton-fat white jade porcelain bottle and opened it. A powerful, heavy medicinal fragrance wafted out. With just one sniff, the meager True Qi inside him suddenly boiled and stirred like cold water thrown into scalding oil.
It seemed to have faintly grown a little stronger!
A precious pill that increased cultivation?
Peering through the opening, he saw three scarlet pills the size of longans lying quietly at the bottom.
A faint golden glow flowed across their surfaces, and wisps of hazy white mist curled around them. They might as well have had "premium goods" written on them.
There isn't even an instruction manual.
Although he knew the pills in the bottle were most likely good medicine, Qi Yun still replaced the stopper before determining their medicinal potency. Ensuring that not a trace of medicinal Qi could escape, he carefully returned the jade bottle to the Storage Bag.
Next, he took out the strange piece of gold embedded in the pitch-black stone.
"So this is the [adamant metal] Fang Hai mentioned?" Turning the piece of metal and stone over in his hands, Qi Yun found it heavy and cold to the touch, with a faint sharpness contained within. He guessed it was another kind of natural spiritual treasure.
Since it and [wind-hiding grass] are both natural spiritual treasures...
Why isn't the Law Technique Panel reacting to this [adamant metal] at all?
Qi Yun tried to activate the Law Technique Panel to refine the [adamant metal] as it had the [wind-hiding grass], hoping to speed up the automatic update.
But the panel, woven from clouds, mist, and ink, floated quietly in the air, utterly ignoring the [adamant metal] right beside it. Not a single ripple appeared.
No matter how he tried to guide it, it remained unmoved.
"Could it be... that not every natural spiritual treasure can be refined..." A thoughtful look entered Qi Yun's eyes as he recalled the details of the earlier refinement of the [wind-hiding grass].
It had possessed a light, lively Dao resonance intimately connected to wind.
Looking again at the [adamant metal] before him, what it contained was instead dense, sharp, pure metal-element Qi.
"Or could it be... that the Law Technique Panel only refines spiritual treasures whose Dao resonance matches the law technique?
"That seems very likely. The [Clear Breeze Technique] belongs to the wood element and centers on lightness and speed.
"But [adamant metal] belongs to the metal element and centers on sharpness and slaughter.
"Their Dao resonances conflict, so the Law Technique Panel has no interest."
The more he considered it, the more reasonable it seemed. With his doubts somewhat eased, Qi Yun set the [adamant metal] aside.
Testing this conjecture would not be difficult.
Once he learned a new law technique, or found another spiritual treasure compatible with the Clear Breeze Technique, he would naturally be able to reach a conclusion.
Two gains in a row: pills he dared not take and a spiritual treasure he could not use. Qi Yun rubbed his slightly aching brow, his gaze involuntarily turning toward the two blue-green jade talismans lying quietly in the Storage Bag.
Surely something useful should turn up now.
Reaching in, he fished out the two jade talismans. The instant his gaze fell upon them, Qi Yun's eyebrows rose, and a smile curved his lips.
Finally.
Clearly visible words were carved onto the two jade talismans in ancient, forceful seal script.
One bore the words [Red Night Sword Qi].
The other bore [Basic Sword Qi].
He channeled a thread of True Qi into the two jade talismans. In an instant, vast amounts of profound, intricate text, diagrams, and detailed annotations on visualization and comprehension poured from them, projecting clearly into the air before Qi Yun!
Lifting his head to study the floating text and diagrams, Qi Yun's eyes burned as he branded their contents into his mind, word by word.
"First cultivate [Basic Sword Qi], then use a Secret Method to draw blood essence and vital Qi from living cultivators. That will produce the even more powerful, vicious, and terrifying [Red Night Sword Qi].
"It requires [Basic Sword Qi] as a prerequisite, as well as the blood essence and vital Qi of living people to sacrifice to the sword and hone its edge.
"No wonder Tang Shun, who possessed this swordsmanship, could slay Fang Hai of the Qi Refining Second Layer despite only being at the Qi Refining First Layer."
Having witnessed the terrifying power of [Red Night Sword Qi], Qi Yun shook his head slightly.
Fortunately, he had not encountered Tang Shun as soon as he entered the valley. Otherwise, he feared he too would already have become a wronged soul sacrificed to the sword.
With a wave, Qi Xiu put away the jade talisman containing [Red Night Sword Qi] and turned to the [Basic Sword Qi] beside it.
Though [Red Night Sword Qi] was powerful, he did not intend to cultivate it.
This sword Dao method was far too distinctive; anyone could identify its origins at a glance. If he practiced it, it would be tantamount to telling Tang Shun that he had taken the Storage Bag.
So openly offending a smiling tiger with a backer in the Limitless Devil Sect...
Was hardly a rational thing to do.
By comparison, [Basic Sword Qi] was much more suitable, nowhere near as conspicuous as [Red Night Sword Qi].
Common, ordinary, unremarkable.
It was one of the offensive law techniques commonly used by beginning cultivators and would never draw attention.
Moreover, although [Basic Sword Qi] could not match the power of [Red Night Sword Qi]...
He had the Law Technique Panel.
Version 1.0 of [Basic Sword Qi] could not compare.
But what about 2.0? Or 3.0?
Most importantly, [Basic Sword Qi] encompassed a broad Dao resonance. Not only was it a sword Dao law technique, it was also a genuine metal-element law technique!
In that case, the piece of [adamant metal] in his possession might prove useful!