Fairy, return my flying sword to me

Chapter 236 Golden elixir!

After breaking through the thorny domain created by the sixth Devouring Sword Orchid, Lin Jian once again saw faint fluctuations of spiritual energy swirling around the orchid.

The spirit once again reached out from the forest, easily accepting this fragmented memory belonging to its predecessors—

The sparring match in the valley completely spiraled out of control.

What was originally a friendly sword duel turned into a life-or-death battle, with the strange black mist crawling all over the swords of all the cultivators.

The sky was stained crimson, and the shadows of seven bronze sword pillars slowly rose amidst the frenzied sword light...

Coming to his senses, Lin Jian subconsciously took a step back.

Although the memory he touched was merely like watching a "movie" unrelated to himself, at a certain moment he felt that he had become one of those sword cultivators fighting.

The frenzied fighting spirit almost consumed every sword cultivator who participated in the battle that year, to the point that they all ended up in a fight to the death.

The seven bronze sword pillars seem to be the product of their battle.

However, the truth remains unclear, and it is difficult to draw a conclusion easily.

They continued forward through the forest, gradually approaching the seven bronze sword pillars.

The so-called Sword-Eating Orchid, in a sense, actually represents a crucial point in the distance from those bronze sword pillars.

Each time the forest successfully deciphers a Sword-Eating Orchid, the distance to the bronze sword pillar seems to suddenly decrease.

Five... six...

The amount of Taibai Xuan Gang True Qi needed to fill the entire Qi Sea was actually much more than Lin Jian had expected.

After swallowing the first sword intent essence, Lin Jian, who originally thought that four or five more would be enough to fill his Qi Sea, was still unsatisfied. So much so that even after swallowing six in total, he still seemed to have room for improvement.

But it's also nearing its limit.

The dantian, which was originally filled with thin true qi, was now filled with thick, platinum-gold true qi.

This true energy, called Taibai Xuangang, was like a large lump of paste, almost filling the entire Qi Sea in the forest.

The ever-rotating vortex of Qi in the sea of ​​qi now resembles a terminally ill old man, retaining only the tendency to rotate.

The viscous true energy was constantly being sent to the very center of the vortex under this seemingly difficult rotation, attempting to be compressed into something more solid.

"Two more!" Lin Jian's eyes lit up.

To break through, you must first accumulate enough power.

On the day Yun Feiyang broke through during the battle of Yunmeng Marsh, although he was replenished with endless spiritual energy from heaven and earth, if he hadn't accumulated his own spiritual energy over the past few decades, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to turn all the incoming spiritual energy into his own nourishment.

To achieve the transformation of elixir, one's own true qi must be of exceptional quality and quantity.

Swallow two more!

If you swallow two more pills, you can try to break through to the next level!
only……

Lin Jian looked down at the hilt of the flying sword in his hand.

That's right, only the hilt is left.

The battle at Sword Ruins was exceptionally fierce.

Lin Jian could still hold on, but the lowest-grade magic sword that his third senior brother had forged for him could no longer withstand it.

It shattered completely in the battle just now. If I hadn't reacted in time, I might have been injured by the sword light of the Devouring Sword Orchid.

In the next phase of exploration, I fear I will have no more flying swords to use.

After I leave, I'll need to find a new flying sword.

He casually put the flying sword fragments into his storage ring, and once again, alone in the forest, he crashed headfirst into the mirror gate.

As expected, without the help of the flying sword, the battle that followed became much more dangerous.

The body-forging effect of the Golden Spirit Body almost turned Lin Jian's own body into a human-shaped flying sword, and the abundant Tai Bai Xuan Gang in his body allowed him to fight and charge forward relentlessly regardless of the consumption.

Finally, after swallowing two more sword intent essences, the Taibai Xuan Gang within his body completely filled his Qi Sea, leaving no room for anything else.

If one wishes to further improve their cultivation, they must seek other methods.

The urge to break through to the Golden Core realm grew stronger, and the vortex in the Qi Sea within his body was also stirring restlessly under Lin Jian's will, ready to transform into a black hole that devoured everything and devour and refine all the Tai Bai Xuan Gang.

But that's not enough...

This place lacks spiritual energy.

The sword energy in this secret realm is abundant, but the concentration of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth is insufficient.

Although it was no worse than ordinary places outside, it couldn't compare to Yunmeng Marsh, where Yun Feiyang broke through, let alone his own residence on the spiritual peak behind the Zhengyang Sect.

Normally, it would be more appropriate to break through to the Golden Core realm within one's own residence.

It is safe and secure, and also guarantees a sufficient supply of spiritual energy.

But Chunxue had specifically instructed her before coming to the Sword Ruins—

Breaking through in this secret realm allows one to cultivate a golden core more suitable for sword cultivators, known as a sword pill.

Since we're already here, we're definitely going to give it our all.

Since there isn't enough spiritual energy, let's forge a few more sword intent essences.

This substance can be transformed into the Taibai Xuan Gang within one's body, and can also be used as a supplement of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth during breakthroughs.

Having made up his mind, he continued his sweep through the forest.

With two more sword intent essences in hand, Lin Jian once again encountered a faint fragment of memory floating above the orchid.

When the spiritual sense touched it, everything blurred before the eyes...

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"The sacrifices made today are enough. The swordsmanship of our human race must not be extinguished! You must leave quickly to preserve the flame of our swordsmanship!"

The speaker was covered in blood and had only a breath of life left.

In the final moments of his life, he looked up into the distance.

Seven peerless sword immortals risked their lives to forge a sword.

As their blood was sacrificed, seven bronze sword pillars slowly rose from the earth...

Lin Jian, his consciousness returning to his body, had a blurry gaze.

"So these sword cultivators didn't kill each other because of some kind of contamination?"

The image of the seven bronze sword pillars slowly rising from the earth kept flashing through Lin Jian's mind. "Did they choose to perform a collective blood sacrifice here to seal something?"

Even if it's a blood sacrifice, why fight each other so fiercely until exhaustion and death, as if dealing with the killer of one's father? The fragments of memory will provide the answer.

The size of the third level of this secret realm is unknown, but at least I have been moving through it through those mirrored doors in the forest without ever realizing that I have gone back the way I came.

Those Sword-Eating Orchids were like a fixed reward for him after passing some minor levels, always yielding a Sword Intent Essence.

With the collection of three more memory fragments, Lin Jian finally pieced together the truth about the events of that year from the fragmented memories of these predecessors—

Because of some anomaly that none of the memory fragments mentioned, these sword cultivators, who were originally just having a friendly spar, had to sacrifice their blood here in order to seal the occurrence of that anomaly.

However, according to the sword cultivators at the time, ordinary blood sacrifices were simply insufficient to suppress the emergence of that abnormal factor...

Only battle! A battle so frantic it's almost fatal, a frenzy of utter annihilation, is the core key to suppressing that abnormal element.

Even so, it still requires the self-sacrifice of seven land-based sword immortals.

Yes... someone like the founder of the Pure Yang Sword Sect, who was rumored to be at the Refinement Realm, was not considered top-tier in this sword cultivator competition.

Not to mention the seven land-based sword immortals who were far stronger than him, there were countless sword cultivators at his level.

He was just lucky to survive the final battle.

Only when the seven sword immortals sacrificed themselves and transformed into swords, completely establishing the sword pillar to suppress the enemy, were some unnecessary sacrifices avoided.

His escape was not a fluke, but rather a result of the other sword cultivators' humility...

Having overcome numerous trials, they finally arrived at the place closest to the seven bronze sword pillars in the forest.

They stand at the edge of this shattered space, beyond which lies a void filled with dark cracks.

The bronze-colored pillars are etched with obscure ancient seal script, each stroke seemingly cast from solidified sword marks.

The surface of the pillar was covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and red iron filings, like congealed blood scabs, kept seeping out from the cracks, then turning into tiny sparks and drifting away in the void.

When the forest approached within a hundred feet, the sword pillar suddenly emitted a slight tremor.

Seven distinct sword intents crashed down like solidified mountains, instantly igniting a blinding golden light on Lin Jian's body surface—the autonomous defense activated by the Golden Spirit Body.

Even though Lin Jian's body had been strengthened to a level that even ordinary Golden Core cultivators could hardly reach during his previous experience in the secret realm, he was still being so oppressed that his bones were cracking.

But the most terrifying thing wasn't the physical pressure, but rather that each sword pillar was forcibly instilling some kind of understanding of swordsmanship into his mind—

Even if the seven sword immortals only had a slight understanding of the sword path, it turned into a torrent that almost burst his Foundation Establishment stage soul.

The viscous Taibai Xuan Gang in the Qi Sea was boiling wildly, and under the stimulation of the sword intent, it was about to condense into seven smaller sword pellets, each of which resonated mysteriously with a different sword pillar.

Sensing the sudden changes within his body, Lin Jian frowned, attempting to control everything happening within him with his own will.

However, the results were minimal.

No matter how outstanding his individual attributes are, Foundation Building is still Foundation Building.

In this secret realm reserved for Golden Core cultivators, Lin Jian finally encountered his first truly severe challenge at this final juncture.

Golden elixir!

I must advance to the Golden Core stage!
Otherwise, these sword-craft inheritances, which should have been considered gifts, might have become deadly chains.

Having made the decision in my heart, I no longer hesitated at this moment, having already made the plan.

The viscous, paste-like Taibai Xuan Gang within the Qi Sea began to slowly rotate and gradually accelerated.

The accelerated rotation of this cyclone also creates the same trend outside the forest.

The air around him seemed to begin to swirl, and a kind of nascent power of the Golden Core began to take effect, drawing all the spiritual energy from this secret realm into the forest.

But the secluded realm, isolated from the world, possesses only a sparse amount of spiritual energy. The gradually accelerating vortex, no longer satisfied with the meager spiritual energy, begins to draw upon more natural power.

So those sharp sword energies came from afar like countless small swords, and even the outermost layer of sword energy gusts howled and collectively attacked this core area.

The original order of the entire secret realm was thrown into chaos because of this breakthrough.

Even with such a surge of energy, it was still difficult to make up for Lin Jian's breakthrough this time. Feeling the hunger-like desire to devour in his Qi Sea, Lin Jian instantly crushed several sword intent essences he had accumulated along the way.

With the influx of countless external forces, the vortex in the forest's dantian rotated faster and faster.

The accumulated Taibai Xuan Gang was completely drawn into it, transforming without restriction into a more transcendent and solidified form.

Under this extreme rotational compression, a kind of tearing pain was transmitted through the outer wall of the Qi Sea to Lin Jian's entire body.

It transmits not only the sensation of pain... but also the violent impact of countless energies from heaven and earth surging in.

Ordinary cultivators utilize the more harmless and natural spiritual energy of heaven and earth to break through, but the unowned energy available for breakthroughs in this secret realm in the forest is mostly sword energy and sword aura, which are full of destructive power.

These forces from nature, when entering his Qi Sea through the forest, inevitably cause some impact on his body.

In an instant, his body seemed to be refined by ten thousand swords, every inch of his flesh and blood was infused with sharp sword intent, and his bones emitted the sound of metal clashing against stone.

Even with the Golden Spirit Body operating at full power, the tearing pain still almost ripped Lin Jian's entire body to pieces.

Yet, amidst this tearing crisis, a more resilient quality clung to every inch of the body like glue.

Just like the internal energy sea, this physical body is also gradually transforming into a completely new realm under extreme tempering.

Judging from its appearance from afar, it resembles a human-shaped sword being gradually forged...

The physical body is tortured, the dantian is torn apart, and even the spiritual consciousness is thoroughly tested in this sublimation of life level.

Phantoms appeared one after another in the forest. All that he had experienced, imagined, or even the scattered thoughts of others had become a test for him at this moment.

Greed... Anger... Fear... Ignorance...

A variety of temptations and trials emerge one after another, determined to drag Lin Jian down into the deepest hell.

However, an invisible sword slashed out from behind these countless illusory images, and in an instant, the air was clear and the mind was at peace.

Understand what you desire in your heart, and cut off all distracting thoughts.

The only remaining pure pursuit of swordsmanship, combined with his previous understanding of sword intent, began to fall from the spiritual sea and all the way into the qi sea.

The seed of sword intent, brimming with insights into the way of the sword, was like a piece of the clearest and most transparent amber, quietly falling into the center of the rapidly spinning vortex of Qi.

Thus, all the compressed Taibai Xuan Gang seemed to instantly gain a core and backbone.

With the core of the sword intent seed at its very center, the refined Taibai Xuan Gang transformed into layers of golden powder that enveloped it.

On these layers of expanding golden spheres, various fine sword patterns can be seen flashing continuously, only to be covered by new gold powder in the blink of an eye.

In the blink of an eye, a perfectly round, golden sphere shone brightly in the Qi Sea within the forest...

Cross the swamp, pass the Ping Merchant Guild, the Demon-Suppressing Rift, and enter the secret realm.

After nine years of cultivation in the forest, I have finally achieved the Golden Core stage!

(End of this chapter)