The Five Elements Divine Swords
Five years later, beside a lake fifty li west of Peacock Ridge.
Kong Wenxuan sat cross-legged with a piece of First-Tier Superior-Grade earth-element spirit material, Thick Mountain Stone, before him. A Yellow Peacock Feather hung point-down above it like a sword. He circulated his Law Power and formed hand seals, sending one Law Restriction after another for refining the Yellow Earth Divine Sword into the Yellow Peacock Feather.
As he refined the yellow Peacock Feather, great clouds of yellow dust could be seen breaking away from the Thick Mountain Stone below, to be devoured and refined by the feather.
The earth-element substance within was absorbed and refined by the yellow Peacock Feather, becoming material for refining the Yellow Earth Divine Sword. The Spiritual Qi it contained was refined into Law Power and flowed into Kong Wenxuan's Dantian Qi sea, raising his cultivation.
Refining swords was refining Qi!
When Kong Wenxuan had first awakened his peacock bloodline, he had received two inheritances. One was the Peacock Soul-Bewitching Scripture, an inheritance already present in the Lineage's peacock bloodline and commonly cultivated by its members. The other was the Five Elements True Scripture, which he had received from the Five-Colored Divine Light.
The Peacock Soul-Bewitching Scripture could only be cultivated up to the second-tier Foundation Establishment Realm, and it placed greater emphasis on refining the soul, making it somewhat less effective at refining Qi. Its offensive methods also focused on illusions and soul bewitching, giving it somewhat weaker attack power.
The Five Elements True Scripture, on the other hand, had been passed down from the Five-Colored Divine Light and was without question an inheritance that reached the heavens. It could be cultivated to the utmost at every stage, and its cultivation results were top-notch. The first-tier Qi Refining Realm was naturally no exception.
Thus, when Kong Wenxuan chose his main Cultivation Method, he naturally chose the Five Elements True Scripture without hesitation.
What was more, the bloodline Divine Ability he had awakened consisted of five Five-Colored Peacock Feathers, corresponding to the five elements. Cultivating the Five Elements True Scripture with them yielded twice the result for half the effort.
The Five Elements True Scripture also contained an inheritance for refining the Five-Colored Peacock Feathers, but this inheritance offered two paths. One was to refine the five feathers into the Five Elements Divine Swords, following the path of One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws and One Sword Gives Rise to Ten Thousand Laws. This path offered greater combat strength and killing power.
The other path was to refine the Five-Colored Peacock Feathers into the Five Elements Talisman Slips, following the path of Ten Thousand Laws Reach the Heavens. It began with five-element runes and involved cultivating five-element Law Techniques and studying various arts, such as alchemy, artifact refining, talismans, and formations. Its methods were more varied and mysterious.
However, whether one followed the path of the Five Elements Divine Swords or the Five Elements Talisman Slips, both ultimately led to refining the Five-Colored Divine Light. Different roads led to the same destination.
Kong Wenxuan had chosen the path of the Five Elements Divine Swords because it was simple enough, quick enough, and offered the greatest combat strength.
He only had to refine the five Five-Colored Peacock Feathers—azure, red, yellow, black, and white—into the Five Elements Divine Swords, then continue refining and improving them to steadily raise his cultivation and combat strength. It was both sword refinement and Qi refinement, and it also gave him the formidable combat strength to break ten thousand techniques with one sword. That was enough.
As for the path of the Five Elements Talisman Slips, it also required cultivating ten thousand techniques and studying various arts. It was far too cumbersome, and its combat strength might not even match that of One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws.
Kong Wenxuan did not have that much time, effort, or patience to slowly follow the path of Ten Thousand Laws Reach the Heavens.
After all, the projection of the Cuckoo True Spirit Star still hung high in his Dantian Qi sea. Although it was now suppressed by the power of the Five-Colored Divine Light and could not draw on his bloodline power, who knew whether the Du Household might one day discover that something was wrong and make a move against him and the Kong Household?
Thus, Kong Wenxuan had devoted all his efforts over the years to raising his cultivation and combat strength. He felt very insecure.
After awakening their bloodlines and becoming bloodline cultivators, members of the Kong Household had three years to cultivate free from other duties. The Lineage supported and guided their cultivation, and during those three years they learned cultivation arts such as the Spirit Plant Technique, artifact refining, talisman paper making, and spirit wine brewing.
The Kong Household had settled on Peacock Ridge nearly a hundred years ago, and by now the Lineage had four main industries.
The first was the Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo planted on the mountain. Azure cloud spirit patterns grew on the bamboo, and its canopy spread like azure clouds. The Kong Household had members dedicated to learning the Spirit Plant Technique and tending the bamboo. In three years it could be cultivated into a first-tier inferior-grade Spirit Plant, in six years a first-tier middle-grade Spirit Plant, and in nine years a first-tier superior-grade Spirit Plant. In the tenth year, it flowered and bore bamboo rice.
This Azure Cloud Bamboo Rice was the daily spirit food of the Kong Household's cultivators. It was also one of the main ingredients used to brew the Kong Household's spirit wine, Bamboo Leaf Green.
The Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo also produced materials such as bamboo shoots, leaves, and branches. The Kong Household possessed a method for making talisman paper from the leaves, and selling this bamboo-leaf talisman paper was its second industry.
The third industry was Bamboo Leaf Green spirit wine, brewed from Azure Cloud Bamboo Rice and spirit water from the spirit spring on Peacock Ridge.
As for the fourth industry, the Kong Household raised a flock of peacock spirit beasts in the Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo grove. The feathers and plumes shed by the beasts could be refined into feathered robes and feather-fan Law Artifacts.
Originally, the Kong Household had also possessed an inheritance for refining Law Artifacts from Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo branches. Unfortunately, it had been lost during the Lineage's earlier years of displacement. Otherwise, the present Kong Household could have had a fifth industry. Instead, it could only sell the branches as ordinary spirit materials.
After awakening their bloodlines, Kong Household members usually spent their three years of cultivation free from other duties studying in the Lineage's Scripture Hall. They learned the Spirit Plant Technique for growing Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo, the spirit brewing technique for making wine from Azure Cloud Bamboo Rice, the art of making talisman paper from Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo leaves, or the art of refining peacock spirit beast feathers and plumes into Law Artifacts such as feathered robes and feather fans.
After those three years, having gained a basic grasp of one skill, they could join the corresponding Lineage industry. They cultivated while producing resources, both accumulating wealth for the Lineage and earning contribution points for themselves. They could then exchange those points with the Lineage for Spirit Stones, resources, inherited arts, and other things.
Kong Wenxuan, however, had decided to follow the path of the Five Elements Divine Swords and felt a sense of crisis. Thus, during his three years of cultivation free from other duties, he spent no time or effort learning those arts, instead devoting himself wholeheartedly to his own cultivation.
With such wholehearted cultivation, the mysteries of the Five Elements True Scripture, and the assistance of the five Five-Colored Peacock Feathers, he had successfully advanced to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining in just two years. His speed nearly matched that of the Lineage's members at its peak, and the Lineage consequently rewarded him with a considerable number of contribution points.
Kong Wenxuan used those Contribution Points to obtain six stalks of Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo from the Lineage, each cultivated for six years and having reached the First-Tier Middle-Grade. His azure Peacock Feather devoured and refined all six stalks. Over the course of a year, he refined the Azure Wood Divine Sword and, at the same time, pushed his cultivation to the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining.
When his three years of cultivation free from other duties ended, he took a Lineage assignment from the Household Affairs Hall. Rather than choosing a production task such as cultivating Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo or brewing Bamboo Leaf Green spirit wine, he joined the Lineage's patrol team. He patrolled Peacock Ridge and the surrounding area daily, responsible for safeguarding Peacock Ridge and the Lineage.
The assignment suited him perfectly. Most of the Lineage's other members cultivated the Peacock Soul-Bewitching Scripture, and their combat methods consisted mainly of illusions and Law Techniques. Their combat strength was relatively weak, far inferior to the power of his Azure Wood Divine Sword.
Less than two months after joining the Lineage's patrol team, he became one of its main fighting forces and earned a considerable number of Lineage contribution points.
Kong Wenxuan used these Contribution Points to exchange with the Lineage for nine portions of first-tier middle-grade Cold Spring Spirit Water. This was spring water produced on the Lineage's Peacock Ridge and one of the main ingredients it used to brew Bamboo Leaf Green.
His black Peacock Feather devoured and refined the nine portions of first-tier middle-grade Cold Spring Spirit Water. He likewise spent a year refining the Black Water Divine Sword and pushed his cultivation to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining.
By now, he had been on the Lineage's patrol team for more than two years. After saving enough contribution points, he had obtained three portions of the first-tier superior-grade earth-element spirit material Thick Mountain Stone from the Lineage.
The Thick Mountain Stone was not produced by the Lineage. Seeing that he needed it, the Lineage had purchased it from Cuckoo County for him to obtain in exchange.
Over the past year, he had been using his yellow Peacock Feather to devour and refine the first-tier superior-grade Thick Mountain Stone, refining the third of the Five Elements Divine Swords, the Yellow Earth Divine Sword, and using it to attempt a breakthrough to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer.