Chapter 101: Sword Spirit and Memory Fragments
Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Sword Spirit and Memory Fragments
"Not good!"
Zhang Chi panicked. He couldn’t believe the boy had found the Jade Pendant’s location.
He had, after all, instantly hidden the Jade Pendant with a thought.
"Wh-what is this? Ah, help me..."
But the next moment, the child suddenly let out a terrible scream.
Where he stood, the Jade Pendant unexpectedly materialized, glowing brilliantly and emitting an invisible force that immediately rendered the child immobile.
Then, the Jade Pendant generated a powerful suction, pulling the child directly inside.
THUMP!
The next moment, the Jade Pendant remained unharmed, but it spat out nine transparent, diamond-shaped crystals.
Zhang Chi had a sudden realization: the child no longer existed.
These crystals were the boy’s Memory Fragments. They contained a massive amount of information, most of which was knowledge of the Sword Dao.
"What’s going on?"
Zhang Chi was extremely surprised.
He then tried absorbing a crystal and, just as he’d expected, instantly gained a large amount of Sword Dao knowledge.
The effect was hundreds of times better than practicing his sword here.
However, the crystals contained an immense amount of information. Just one of them would take him a very long time to digest.
If he could fully digest all the crystals, his skill in the Sword Control Technique would surely undergo a world-altering transformation.
At the same time, Zhang Chi also finally learned the child’s origins.
The rumors within the Sect were true. The Sword Tomb had indeed been left behind by that Sword Dao Ancestor Master of the Cangwu Sect.
The Flying Sword left behind by that Ancestor Master was a tier beyond Magical Treasures, an existence at the Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure Level.
However, this Spirit Treasure Level Flying Sword had been severely damaged long ago. Its original Sword Spirit was annihilated, which was why its Sword Intent now rampaged everywhere.
However, after countless years, a new Spirit Body had formed within the sword. The child from before was this very Spirit Body.
His goal was just as he had claimed: to possess Zhang Chi.
Although he was a new Sword Spirit, the damage to the Spirit Sword meant he wasn’t very strong. He couldn’t even control the Spirit Treasure Flying Sword, and more than anything, he wanted to become a free human being.
For many years, he had wandered through the Sword Testing Valley. Coupled with being a naturally born Sword Spirit, his skill in the Sword Dao was extremely high.
He had also eavesdropped when disciples came to practice their swordsmanship, and so he had some understanding of his own predicament.
Unfortunately, he was bound to the body of the sword and could not leave the valley. Moreover, as a Spirit Body, he wasn’t strong enough to directly affect the physical world.
Even his mental communications could only reach those with powerful Divine Souls.
Ordinary disciples couldn’t hear his words at all.
And to him, if they couldn’t hear him, it was as if he didn’t exist. Even if he possessed mental techniques, he couldn’t take any further action.
Some Golden Core experts, or even those stronger, could indeed sense him.
But he didn’t dare make a move against such powerhouses, or even let them discover him, because he was simply no match for them.
Fortunately, his luck was good, and he finally encountered Zhang Chi.
Zhang Chi’s Divine Soul was strong, his Cultivation was at an appropriate level, and he also possessed some great fortune.
So, upon discovering that Zhang Chi had reached Foundation Establishment, he couldn’t resist trying to bewitch him. But as it turned out, Zhang Chi didn’t buy it at all.
In his desperation, his only choice was to resort to force.
This was slightly more difficult than first bewitching the target and getting them to voluntarily lower their mental defenses.
But to him, it wasn’t a major issue.
At least, that’s what he had thought before.
He just never dreamed that Zhang Chi’s sea of consciousness contained no Divine Soul Essence. Instead, it housed some kind of Exotic Treasure that killed him in a single encounter, purifying him into Sword Dao Knowledge Fragments.
These Sword Dao Knowledge Fragments, or crystals, were similar to Jade Scrolls, but their capacity was larger and they were more advanced.
For Zhang Chi, this was practically an ultimate tome on the Sword Dao.
It contained no specific techniques, but once mastered, learning any Sword Control Technique would become effortless.
He could even grasp Sword Intent.
Moreover, once he digested all this knowledge and grasped a specific Sword Intent, he would be able to communicate with the Spirit Treasure Flying Sword and become its new master.
Of course, this would take a very long time and require a certain level of Cultivation. If his Cultivation was too low, he definitely wouldn’t be able to wield a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure.
According to Zhang Chi’s estimate, he would need at least Nascent Soul strength.
For him, that was undoubtedly an extremely distant prospect, something to merely hope for in the future.
However, the Sword Dao knowledge was real and tangible.
With these crystals, Zhang Chi no longer needed to come to the Sword Testing Valley; he could accelerate his Cultivation of the Sword Control Technique anytime and anywhere.
In fact, it would be even faster than Cultivation in the Sword Testing Valley.
"Excellent!"
Having figured all this out, Zhang Chi felt a surge of lingering fear, but also immense joy.
He now understood that the child’s earlier voice transmission had been a form of deception and probing.
It was to see if he could sense his existence.
And when he had tried to flee earlier, the boy had immediately seen his opening, which led to everything that followed.
Fortunately, the outcome was a good one.
He had been worried that going to the Demon Abyss would delay the improvement of his Sword Control Technique, but now that was no longer a concern.
’But what’s the deal with my Divine Soul Essence? Is it hiding inside the Jade Pendant? Or have the two already fused? Or am I just special and don’t have a Divine Soul Essence to begin with?’
Afterward, Zhang Chi was still puzzled by a few things.
According to the knowledge from the crystals, the mindscape that housed the Jade Pendant and the White Bone Demon God Illusion was, in fact, his sea of consciousness.
Every Cultivator has a sea of consciousness. When encountering a situation like the one before, a Cultivator’s Divine Soul Essence should automatically appear in their sea of consciousness to fight the invader.
But Zhang Chi’s, clearly, had not.
No wonder the Sword Spirit had found it so strange.
But although Zhang Chi was confused, the Jade Pendant gave no response.
He couldn’t figure it out himself, so he quickly stopped dwelling on it and decided to worry about it later.
In any case, it had no effect on him for the time being.
In fact, he could even surmise a shocking possibility: he was likely immune to Possession.
Of course, this was only a guess and couldn’t be verified.
After all, the Sword Spirit’s circumstances were unique, and it likely wasn’t very strong. It was certainly very different from a Cultivator’s Divine Soul.
And he had no desire to find an opportunity to test it. After all, failure would mean certain death.
WHOOSH!
Fearing that some strange phenomenon might occur next in the Sword Testing Valley, Zhang Chi didn’t pause to comprehend the Sword Dao. He immediately packed up his Array and left.
For some time after, the Sword Testing Valley remained as it always was, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. However, he no longer snuck over every day.
By comprehending the crystals, his Sword Control Technique truly advanced by leaps and bounds, far surpassing the progress from his Cultivation in Seclusion in the Sword Testing Valley.
But that is a story for another time.
That day, Zhang Chi returned to the Earth Fire Hall. He immediately released the Eye of the Spirit Spring, took out a drop of Earth Milk Spirit Liquid, and swallowed it along with some Jade Spirit Pills before beginning his Cultivation.
Just as he had predicted, the Refinement of a single drop of Earth Milk Spirit Liquid took about a month.
The Jade Spirit Pill was Tier Two Low Grade and contained more Spiritual Qi. Using it directly before would have been wasteful, but now it was perfect.
After finishing his Cultivation, Zhang Chi estimated that under his current conditions, it would take at least ten years to reach the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
And that was assuming he had a continuous supply of Earth Milk Spirit Liquid.
But that was clearly impossible.
Therefore, Zhang Chi knew at once that he had to find a Tier Two Spiritual Vein he could have all to himself as soon as possible.
Furthermore, his Body Refining progress, as well as things like Tier Two Spirit Wine and Spirit Tea, had to quickly catch up to his Realm.
After that, Zhang Chi took out several Jade Scrolls, extended his Divine Thought into them, and began to examine them closely.
First was the Foundation Establishment section of the Three-Turns Fierce Sun Technique, which he mastered with ease.
As for the Foundation Establishment section of the Nine Flames Spirit Devouring Technique, he had already comprehended it completely before his breakthrough.
Next, Zhang Chi began to focus his studies on the Hundred Skills of Immortal Cultivation Inheritance, especially the Turtle Shell Divination Skill.