Nurturing the Staff

The Empress Dowager intervened when Tian Fen entered the palace.

The combination of the two proved ineffective, which means that no one is exempt from the power of the Red Empyrean Sword.

"My mother sent a letter wishing to invite His Majesty to a banquet..."

Princess Dou couldn't resist and asked the Empress in the Jiaofang Palace to convey her message.

The new emperor wielding the Red Empyrean Sword is not frightening; what is frightening is who actually possesses the Red Empyrean Sword Red Empyrean Sword and what the other party intends to do with it.

In such matters, everyone must prove their innocence.

Even if no one had any intention of seizing the Red Empyrean Sword, no one could guarantee that they didn't have such a character under their command.

The most troublesome thing is the investigation by the Prefectural Governor of the Capital, which will inevitably find out the family situation of everyone. No one can withstand such an investigation, but without finding the Red Empyrean Sword in advance, no one can stay out of it.

Sitting at home, trouble fell from the sky. Princess Dou was just as anxious as anyone else, wanting to clear herself of suspicion and get rid of the trouble.

From a distance, the new emperor neither refused to attend the banquet nor agreed to attend immediately.

After hearing the sound twice, Zhang Xuezhou took the key and returned to the small hall where he had been assigned to live.

The new emperor wasn't joking when he mentioned "facing the wall" (a metaphor for facing adversity). Before the truth of the Red Empyrean Sword case was revealed, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't run around recklessly, lest he ruin things.

He couldn't return to the residence of the Office of the Jingzhao Intendant, which required careful verification, and could only stay in the Imperial Palace to wait.

It won't be long, maybe three to seven days, maybe ten days to half a month, or maybe a month, before all these things come to an end.

Life in the palace was destined to be very boring. Zhang Xuezhou's range of activities was not very large. After wandering around for a while, he lost interest and instead tried to cultivate the nurturing method in his residence.

The cultivation method is not something that can be achieved by simply picking up any weapon. Those skilled in swords cultivate their swords, those skilled in sabers cultivate their sabers, and those skilled in magic cultivate their staffs in order to seek greater power. This requires matching one's own cultivation with their own.

In the early stages of cultivation, it's fine, but the level of nurturing is low, and no great power can be nurtured. Some conventional weapons can be used for practice.

However, once one's cultivation level is high enough, nurturing one's skills cannot be done casually. This requires not only divine weapons and sharp blades, but also something that aligns with one's cultivation.

For example, it's not very useful for Zhang Xuezhou to nurture the Red Empyrean Sword, and it's also a bit lacking when using the Azure Rock Staff, since Zhang Xuezhou doesn't rely on petrification techniques in combat.

However, the Fangzhang Island innate spiritual wood staff is more suitable for Zhang Xuezhou, as this staff can guide and enhance deterrence capabilities.

Although Zhang Xuezhou survives through cultivation, his methods of attack are mostly related to intimidation.

The reason why Zhang Xuezhou rarely used intimidation when fighting against cultivators was simple: he was certain that his intimidation would have no effect.

Once he enters the Sole Self Realm, there is still room for his spirit to grow. This ability will no longer be used to target the weak, but will be able to target cultivators of the same level. Zhang Xuezhou is undoubtedly willing to nurture a Law Treasure to assist him and see if he can improve the scope of his target.

Holding the innate spirit wood staff in his arms, Zhang Xuezhou also relied on the method provided by Badun to refine it.

"Squeak squeak squeak!"

As he continuously channeled his spiritual power to nurture it, a low, mouse-like squeak began to resonate in Zhang Xuezhou's mind.

Compared to ordinary cultivators who need to gradually increase their spiritual power during cultivation, Zhang Xuezhou's own spiritual power was already extremely strong, so he skipped many complicated procedures and did not need to hone it over many years.

Provided the conditions are met, many complex and complicated cultivation methods are indeed not as difficult as imagined.

If one's own resources far exceed one's needs, then it's as simple as eating and drinking.

Zhang Xuezhou felt that the processes of perception, interaction, and feedback mentioned in the nurturing method were progressing very quickly, and he began to come into contact with the origin of this innate spiritual wood staff.

"This is probably the soul of the staff!"

A green light appeared in my perception, accompanied by sounds from an alien creature that were difficult to communicate with.

Taking advantage of the fight among the gourd vines, Zhang Xuezhou and his group severed the spirit wood staff by the roots.

From the perspective of ordinary living beings, the staff they severed was already dead.

However, the innate spirit wood staff was not human; the opponent was indeed not dead, and even resisted his use of the staff's remaining power.

"If we can't work together as one, what use are you!"

The weapon spirit cultivated by Badun's method is as responsive as an arm, with no coordination issues; the Ruyi Transformation Staff moves almost entirely at will.

Badun's concept of a 'spirit' can be categorized as a special kind of spiritual energy entity, or an empty shell waiting to be commanded.

Just like Zhang Xuezhou's body, as long as his three souls and seven spirits enter it, he can control the body and unleash its power.

Once the spiritwood staff is analyzed and can function normally, the existence of the staff's original soul is irrelevant; at most, its power will decrease, but it will not be unusable.

"Squeak squeak squeak..."

Seemingly sensing Zhang Xuezhou's intention, the green light became extremely agitated and tried to wander around.

But within the green light, lotus leaves continuously emerged, stretching out like vines.

This is the method of the Master of the Zhunti. If the lotus leaves can be continuously manipulated and controlled, a different kind of control can be achieved, thereby controlling the soul of the staff and ultimately achieving a heart-to-heart command between the person and the Law Treasure weapon.

As long as this treasure isn't used against the two leaders, this method of manipulation should likely have no lasting consequences.

It wasn't that Zhang Xuezhou looked down on the methods of the Zhunti Master, or that he was trying to avoid using his staff against the Zhunti Master and suffering a backlash; rather, he found that Badun's cultivation method seemed simpler.

Compared to indirect manipulation, self-cultivation naturally leads to responsive control, allowing for faster and more thorough utilization of one's abilities.

"It's not easy to catch you normally, but it's much easier now. If you have to blame someone, blame Master Zhunti for setting up this huge net, which made it so easy for me to capture you!"

Zhang Xuezhou kept exploring, like a fisherman waiting for the snipe and the clam to fight, constantly observing the green light. Finally, he confirmed that he could also control the staff. Only then did he use his spiritual power to strike, wanting to completely erase the green light and thus regain a well-controlled staff.

A burly man wielding an axe appeared in the green light, then transformed into a female nun holding a sword.

In its futile resistance, this form was not only wrapped and entangled by lotus leaves, but also suffered continuous mental attacks from Zhang Xuezhou, causing its body to crack and collapse.

Several years ago, Zhang Xuezhou and his group were almost wiped out by this spirit wood staff. Now, he can strike with ease and simplicity, and when chasing, it's almost like hitting a stationary target.

"You're the kind of person who only responds to force!"

The creatures that had taken human form collapsed one after another. Zhang Xuezhou sensed the green light rushing towards him like a cornered dog. He was about to deliver a powerful blow, directly suppressing it until it was crushed and obliterated, when he suddenly noticed the green light jumping to the side of his soul.

When Zhang Xuezhou pointed his mind forward, the green light also pointed forward.

This direction is not simply a matter of consistency in behavior and actions. Zhang Xuezhou felt as if his mental power had been amplified by some kind of device, making him much stronger than before.

"Could this be the spiritual power I can unleash after achieving great success in my practice of the Heart Sutra?"

A shattering sound reached his ears, and Zhang Xuezhou saw the furniture in the small hall's side room being pointed at by the staff crumbling into pieces.

From trembling to cracking, and then turning into dust, this piece of furniture was as if it had experienced high-frequency vibrations, destroying its original structure and turning into pulverized fragments beneath a chaotic structure.

All of this was achieved solely through the use of the innate spirit wood staff.

Zhang Xuezhou aimed to exert psychological pressure and deterrence to defeat his opponents; he never intended to engage in physical sabotage.

This was not what he had thought in the past, but Zhang Xuezhou also wondered if if his mental strength were to increase again, and thus a new qualitative change was triggered by quantitative change, it might evolve into a physical destruction that seemed to have immeasurable power at the moment.