Chapter 120 - 81: Lifebound Treasure, Celestial Cyan Sword

Chapter 120: Chapter 81: Lifebound Treasure, Celestial Cyan Sword

Evening, halfway up Bamboo Forest Peak.

With a soft shout, Mu Xiaoyu summoned eight streaks of sword light around the Cold Leaf Sword. They merged and condensed into a four- or five-foot-long serpent’s fang, shooting toward a black-feathered, hook-beaked giant eagle in the sky.

In an instant, the serpent fang pierced through the dense canopy, carving out a three- to five-foot-wide path before striking the giant eagle.

The giant eagle had a wingspan of over a dozen feet. It already bore numerous wounds and was entangled in several loops of thorny vines. Upon seeing the serpent fang, it flapped its wings and twisted mid-air, attempting to dodge. However, the thorny vines slowed its movements. It only managed to dodge halfway before its left wing was pierced entirely by the fang. The wing was instantly ruined, and the eagle plummeted from the sky in a spiraling descent.

A few more streaks of cyan sword light rose up, finishing it off in mid-air.

Standing on the ground, Mu Xiaoyu raised her hand and used the Artifact Manipulation Skill to catch the giant eagle’s corpse. She pulled it toward her and laid it on the ground.

Every feather on the giant eagle was as tough as cast iron. Although it had many wounds, very few could be considered severe, thanks to these black feathers. Yet, before that serpent fang just now, these black feathers had been as flimsy as paper, easily pierced and torn apart.

"What a fierce sword technique!" the young man from Huang Bamboo Temple marveled from the side. "Fellow Daoist Mu, you are so young, yet your sword technique is exquisite. You must be aiming to become a Sword Cultivator, right?"

Earlier, when he saw her use the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, he already thought she was formidable. Even though his cultivation far surpassed hers, his techniques were miles behind. But now, after witnessing the Profound Evil Sword, he realized that her exquisite method of splitting sword light from before was merely her ordinary trick. Therefore, despite Mu Xiaoyu being much younger and weaker in cultivation than him, he directly addressed her as Fellow Daoist Mu rather than Junior Sister Mu.

After all, searching his soul, he honestly felt he probably couldn’t defeat her.

"A Sword Cultivator?" Mu Xiaoyu shook her head and pushed the demon corpse toward the young man from Huang Bamboo Temple, setting it on the ground. "I haven’t thought about that. I just learn whatever my Senior Brother teaches me."

With practiced ease, the young man from Huang Bamboo Temple squatted down to dissect the giant eagle’s corpse.

Standing nearby, Lu Kuan and Wu Mingke’s faces were filled with envy. They had both contributed to hunting down that giant eagle just now; many of the wounds on its body were left by them. However, while those wounds were numerous, they were not deep. To a demon, they were nothing more than scratches. In contrast, Mu Xiaoyu, whose cultivation was slightly weaker than theirs, killed it in one move.

Mu Xiaoyu skipped over to Wu Mingke and handed her a stick of candied haws.

"Thank you, Xiaoyu." Wu Mingke took the candied haws and took a bite. The sweet and sour taste spread in her mouth, much like her current mood.

This was already the seventh day she had been patrolling with Mu Xiaoyu. At first, she had treated Mu Xiaoyu like a little sister to take care of—just a little sister with a very formidable senior. But after seven days of patrolling and demon hunting, the little sister she thought she was taking care of was actually far more capable than her.

A bitter smile unconsciously surfaced on Wu Mingke’s lips. It made sense, though. Although Xiaoyu looked young, innocent, and carefree, she had a Senior Brother who treated her well and constantly urged her to cultivate. How could she possibly be weaker than an ordinary disciple from Songyue Temple like herself? Besides, Xiaoyu worked incredibly hard herself. Every night over the past few days, she trained bitterly late into the night until she was drenched in sweat before finally bathing and going to sleep.

The young man from Huang Bamboo Temple dissected the giant eagle’s corpse, carefully preserving its feathers, claws, beak, and eyes one by one. Checking the time, he realized their patrol shift should be over. Another team would take over patrolling this area at night, so he led Mu Xiaoyu and the other two back toward the rest area. Along the way, Mu Xiaoyu chatted and laughed with Wu Mingke, completely oblivious to the older girl’s absent-mindedness.

After pondering deeply over these past few days, Wu Mingke had made up her mind: she would rely on demon hunting to earn talismanic coins. Even though demon hunting meant straying far from the Daoist Temple and entering the Hundred Thousand Mountains—where even venturing just along the outskirts was incredibly dangerous—the rewards were equally lucrative. Entering the mountains to hunt demons allowed one to harvest demon materials as well as forage for herbs. Combined, the profits were more than double what cultivators doing ordinary sect tasks would earn.

It was just that demon hunting was dangerous. Many cultivators, even when traveling in groups, often never returned. Or, they barely escaped with severe injuries, leaving them with hidden traumas that plagued them for a lifetime. However, her talent was ordinary; she was only hardworking, making it difficult for her to catch a Steward’s eye. If she wanted to rely on talismanic coins to pay for the guidance of a Steward or a senior disciple, she wouldn’t be able to afford such expenses without taking risks. Moreover, Lu Kuan also planned on demon hunting. When the time came, the two of them could find a few more like-minded Fellow Daoists to enter the mountains together, which would make it safer.

So she was calculating. After returning this time, she would sell whatever she could, borrow some talismanic coins from her good sisters, and live frugally for a while to buy herself a lower-grade magical artifact. Only then would she have the capital to venture into the mountains and hunt demons.

Wu Mingke racked her brain for various ways to scrape together talismanic coins as she followed the team back to the rest area. A tall female cultivator, wearing the same Songyue Temple disciple uniform as her, walked over. Although it was the same temple’s Daoist Robe, there were subtle differences in style. The embroidery on the tall female cultivator’s robe was far more exquisite, with faint seal scripts tracing the cuffs and collar. Wu Mingke froze for a moment, feeling a bit nervous. She recognized that Daoist Robe. Only the direct disciples of a Steward were qualified to wear it.

"You must be Junior Sister Wu Mingke, right?" the tall female cultivator stopped her and asked with a beaming smile.

"I am..." Wu Mingke cupped her hands in greeting, shrinking her fingers inside her sleeves. "Greetings, Senior Sister."

"Junior Sister Wu, your aura is quite solid," the tall female cultivator’s smile widened. "I wonder, have you taken a master in the temple?"

"My aptitude is dull; I’ve never been favored by any seniors," Wu Mingke shook her head.

"Then... do you know Steward Liu of the Hua Yu Hall?" the tall female cultivator asked.

"Of course I do. Steward Liu is the most formidable female cultivator among her peers in the temple!" Wu Mingke replied. According to the other disciples, if Steward Liu wasn’t so engrossed in her cultivation and unwilling to be bogged down by too many mundane affairs, she would have become a Vice Temple Master.

"Then, would you like to take Steward Liu as your master?" the tall female cultivator asked. "Steward Liu heard that you are diligent in your cultivation and grounded in character, so she wishes to take you as her disciple."

Wu Mingke was stunned. A few breaths later, the shock on her face turned into sheer ecstasy. "I do! Senior Sister, I am willing!"

"Good. Then go back and freshen up, and follow me to meet my master," the tall female cultivator smiled. "If she is satisfied, you will officially become her disciple tonight."

Wu Mingke felt her head spinning and her footsteps light and floaty.

"Steward Liu... wants to take me as her disciple?" She pinched her own cheek, still unable to recover from the pleasant surprise. "But why..."

"Well... Master said it was because a certain senior recommended you," the tall female cultivator explained.

"A senior?" Wu Mingke was taken aback. She quickly realized that among everyone she had ever interacted with, there seemed to be at least one person qualified to be called a "senior." She looked toward Mu Xiaoyu, who had already run off to line up at a stall selling Cultivation Fruits.

"Congratulations! It seems there really is light at the end of the tunnel." Beside Wu Mingke, Lu Kuan smiled and congratulated her, suppressing the envy in his eyes.

It looked like he would have to go demon hunting alone now. He would definitely need to find a few more Fellow Daoists to join him when the time came.

In the distance, a burly man built like an iron tower strode over. Wearing a Yuanya Temple Daoist Robe, he shouted at Lu Kuan from afar, "Hey! You over there! Are you Junior Brother Lu Kuan?"

***

At Bamboo Forest Peak, inside Li Yinsheng’s bamboo house.

Two Li Yinshengs sat cross-legged, facing each other. His flesh body spread its hands out, seemingly cradling a verdant bamboo stalk in mid-air. The bamboo looked as though it had melted. Although it maintained its shape, its entire body exuded a translucent texture. Li Yinsheng’s soul formed hand seals, continuously pouring magical power into the Celestial Cyan Bamboo, though he only occasionally struck it with a restriction.

After several days of gentle nourishment, the Celestial Cyan Bamboo’s spirituality had reached its peak. The time to refine the magical treasure was now. When refining such a highly spiritual treasure into a lifebound magical treasure, one sought a state of natural perfection without artificial blemish. Even if its initial power was lacking, once nurtured and cultivated over time, it would become vastly more powerful than a man-made magical treasure. Therefore, Li Yinsheng did not interfere much with the Celestial Cyan Bamboo. He simply refined it with his magical power while occasionally adding a restriction or two to guide it into the shape of a sword.

A long time later, the originally ten-foot-long Celestial Cyan Bamboo had shrunk to three or four feet in length. It looked completely transformed into a blob of verdant liquid that still maintained the shape of a bamboo stalk. As Li Yinsheng injected his final few techniques, the liquid-like bamboo slowly flattened out. Its ends narrowed as it rapidly solidified. A moment later, a thoroughly verdant sword hovered before Li Yinsheng, its only distinguishing feature being the slight, raised bamboo node patterns along the blade’s spine.

This sword possessed not a trace of metallic texture. It looked more like a flawless stalk of green bamboo that had naturally grown into the shape of a sword. Especially after all its radiant brilliance retracted, it truly looked like nothing more than a peculiarly shaped bamboo stalk. Its edges weren’t even sharpened.

"Since you were refined from Celestial Cyan Bamboo and haven’t undergone much carving or embellishment, I won’t give you any flashy name. We’ll simply change ’bamboo’ to ’sword’ and call you the Celestial Cyan Sword."

Li Yinsheng’s soul reached out and grasped the Celestial Cyan Sword. He instantly felt an incredibly pure and dense surge of Wood Qi flood into his soul. After circulating through his soul once, it flowed back into the Celestial Cyan Sword, forming a self-sustaining cycle that circulated endlessly. The Celestial Cyan Sword trembled slightly in Li Yinsheng’s grip, emitting a RUSTLE like the wind blowing through a bamboo forest, as if responding to him. As Li Yinsheng poured his magical power into it, the Celestial Cyan Sword responded joyfully, and the influx of Wood Qi became even more abundant and gentle. Li Yinsheng’s soul returned to his flesh body, taking the Celestial Cyan Sword inside.

Previously, there had only been the White Rainbow Sword within his Dantian; now, a verdant bamboo sword joined it. Logically speaking, sword-type magical treasures were highly prone to repelling each other. When two flying swords met, their intrinsic spiritualities were almost bound to fight for supremacy. Thus, while cultivators weren’t limited to a single magical treasure, Sword Cultivators practically never had a second sword. If someone tried to store and nurture two flying sword magical treasures in their Dantian simultaneously, the two swords were genuinely likely to start fighting.

Yet right now, the White Rainbow Sword floated almost flush against the Celestial Cyan Sword in the center of his Dantian, showing not the slightest hint of aggression. One white and one cyan, the two were as intimate as sisters. Although the White Rainbow Sword was his Martial Uncle’s lifebound magical treasure, it had been nurtured by him for many years. Coupled with the White Rainbow Sword Intent his Martial Uncle had given him, he could align with the sword’s spirituality when wielding it.

The main reason the White Rainbow Sword showed zero intention of fighting the Celestial Cyan Sword right now was simply that it didn’t even perceive the Celestial Cyan Sword as a sword. To the White Rainbow Sword, the Celestial Cyan Sword was merely a piece of bamboo shaped like a sword. This was a good thing for Li Yinsheng; at the very least, it meant there wouldn’t be any constraints when nurturing both of them simultaneously.

After carefully sensing it, he couldn’t help but admit that this magical treasure refined through the method of natural perfection was indeed extremely weak. Although the current Celestial Cyan Sword was leagues beyond what the Cold Bright Sword or the Brass Incense Burner could compare to, it was still far inferior to the White Rainbow Sword. Li Yinsheng even suspected that if the White Rainbow Sword were fully restored to its prime state, the gap between it and the current Celestial Cyan Sword would be more than ten times greater than the gap between the Celestial Cyan Sword and the Cold Bright Sword. However, the Celestial Cyan Sword’s advantage lay in its outstanding potential for nurturing and cultivation. For it to truly display its power, he would likely have to wait until it had been nurtured and cultivated for a very long time.

With a stir of Li Yinsheng’s mind, golden text surfaced before him.

[Current Time Allocated for Magic Cultivation: 91 years, 1 month, 26 days]

He originally estimated that he would have ninety years’ worth of time for magic cultivation. But right now, barely half of the fifteen days had passed, and he already had ninety-one years. It seemed his junior sister had been working incredibly hard at demon hunting as well.

Once this harvest of Cultivation Fruits at Huang Bamboo Temple ended, he would nurture the Celestial Cyan Sword for over ninety years. He wondered if the Celestial Cyan Sword would then be able to match the White Rainbow Sword in its prime. Aside from this anticipation, Li Yinsheng was also somewhat curious. How exactly would cultivation work within this Grotto Heaven meant for magic cultivation? Would there be any difference compared to the Grotto Heaven used for elevating one’s cultivation level?