Chapter 512 522: Sword Spirit

Zhang Xiaoyun stared blankly at Wen Qingye before her. Wiping her tears with her sleeve, she nodded emphatically and said, "Okay, I won't cry anymore. I'll do whatever you say."

Wen Qingye, suspended in mid-air, continued, "I am leaving a Magic Technique for you. You must memorize it carefully and not pass it on to anyone else. Also, you've fused with the Ancient Phoenix Soul. You must never let the people of the Taiyi Pavilion find out."

Zhang Xiaoyun nodded. "Mm-hmm. I'll be sure to remember. I won't tell anyone, and I especially won't let the Taiyi Pavilion find out the true secret within me."

Rows of minuscule characters materialized before Wen Qingye, shimmering with a captivating light. Then, one by one, the characters flew swiftly into Zhang Xiaoyun's Primordial Spirit.

Zhang Xiaoyun, completely oblivious, simply kept her eyes fixed on Wen Qingye.

After an unknown amount of time, once the characters had all flooded into Zhang Xiaoyun's body, the mid-air Wen Qingye finally nodded.

The next moment, the figure floating in mid-air began to slowly dissipate.

"Don't!" Seeing this, Zhang Xiaoyun's heart seized with panic. "Husband, I miss you," she cried out.

But the figure formed from motes of light continued to dissipate. Wen Qingye stood in mid-air, looking down at her, his eyes growing impossibly gentle, like a vast, azure ocean. "Xiaoyun," he said softly, "I miss you too."

His voice drifted away on the gentle breeze. An instant later, Wen Qingye's figure dissolved completely into the wind.

"Husband!"

Zhang Xiaoyun couldn't hold back any longer. Tears streamed down her face as she rushed forward, but Wen Qingye's wisp of Divine Thought had already turned to motes of light and vanished. All she could do was lunge for the Jade Pendant left hanging in the air.

"Where... are you?"

She looked at the Jade Pendant in her hand as her tears flowed like a bursting dam, falling unceasingly onto the cold ground.

........

「In the Ancestral Hall.」

Within Wen Qingye's Sea of Consciousness, a man and a woman stood in mid-air, staring coldly at him.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" the man said viciously, glaring at Wen Qingye.

Wen Qingye shook his head impassively. "I don't."

Before the man could speak, the woman beside him shouted, "I am the Peak Master of the Celestial Profound Sect's Forget-Life Peak! You've crossed me, brat. You're dead!"

"You're nothing but remnant Primordial Spirits. Why bother with the false bravado?" An immense suction force suddenly erupted from Wen Qingye's hand. He then smiled. "Besides, who cares who you are? The moment you dared to enter my Sea of Consciousness, you sealed your fates."

WHOOSH!

A beam of golden light shot toward the pair, carrying an overwhelmingly powerful aura.

"Run!"

Horror-struck, the two panicked and tried to flee Wen Qingye's Sea of Consciousness, but it was too late. The two remnant Primordial Spirits were directly sucked into the golden Dragon Pearl in Wen Qingye's hand.

Wen Qingye slowly withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness. Looking at the golden Dragon Pearl in his hand, he shook his head and said, "It's still far from enough. These Primordial Spirits only possess a sliver of the strength they had in life. Absorbing them into the Dragon Pearl is just a drop in the bucket."

"Then what should we do?" the Ice Python asked in confusion.

Wen Qingye's brow furrowed. "I want to lure all the surrounding remnant Primordial Spirits here. I wouldn't fear them even at their peak, let alone in their current fragmented state. I'm just worried about causing too great a disturbance."

Pausing, Wen Qingye continued, "I just have a feeling there's something else in this place."

The Ice Python asked, puzzled, "Something else? What is it? I don't feel anything."

Wen Qingye gazed ahead and said softly, "This aura is incredibly sharp, and it feels like it's still in a nascent state. I can't clearly perceive what it is, but I can sense its general location."

With that, Wen Qingye pointed in a direction before them.

The Ice Python's body floated slowly forward, its eyes scanning the surroundings, but it still couldn't sense anything out of the ordinary.

Wen Qingye surveyed their surroundings. "The Yin Qi here is getting denser. I've already exhausted and replenished my Primordial Qi three times. I expect the Yin Qi will only get stronger the further we go. But no matter what, I have to press on to restore a sliver of the Dragon Pearl's origin."

Wen Qingye had already absorbed all the remnant Primordial Spirits on the periphery, so he had no choice but to continue forward.

He walked for an unknown amount of time.

In the hazy gloom ahead, three altars suddenly appeared. Upon them sat several Spiritual Positions, all belonging to the ancestral masters of the Celestial Profound Sect.

Wen Qingye glanced at them briefly before continuing on his way.

He continued to absorb the surrounding remnant Primordial Spirits as he walked. These spirits retained only a sliver of their memories from life; the rest was just base instinct and negative emotions like treachery, evil, and greed.

Wen Qingye showed no mercy, absorbing them all into the Azure Dragon Pearl to mend the sliver of origin within it.

Time passed. Before he knew it, Wen Qingye had already been wandering the Ancestral Hall for two days.

He had encountered countless Spiritual Positions and remnant Primordial Spirits, but the origin of the Azure Dragon Pearl was only slightly mended—far from enough to repair his meridians.

The sharp aura grew more and more piercing. It wasn't just Wen Qingye anymore; even the Ice Python seemed to sense it now.

Furthermore, the farther Wen Qingye went, the denser the surrounding Yin Qi became, and the higher the cultivation of the remnant Primordial Spirits had been in life.

This gave a glimpse into the overall strength of the Celestial Profound Sect.

"What is that light up ahead?"

Suddenly, the Ice Python flicked its tongue and hissed softly, staring straight ahead.

Wen Qingye stared ahead without blinking, saying in surprise, "A Sword Spirit?"

A Sword Spirit. Generally, when a Magical Artifact reaches Spirit Grade, it gives birth to a wisp of Spirit. The difference in power between a Magical Artifact with a Spirit and one without is like night and day.

Of course, possessing a mere wisp of Spirit is entirely different from developing true Lingzhi. The Sword Body of the One Thought Sword, for instance, only had a trace of Spirit, giving it the potential to become a Spirit-Grade Magical Artifact.

In short, possessing a wisp of Spirit means a weapon either has the potential to become a Spirit-Grade Magical Artifact or already is one. Its future growth depends not only on precious materials but also on the nurturing of that wisp of Spirit.

The light ahead, which flickered with an unparalleled sharpness, appeared to be the Spirit of a sword-type Magical Artifact. He just didn't know what level this Sword Spirit had reached.

A smile touched Wen Qingye's eyes. 'If I infuse this Sword Spirit into the One Thought Sword, I wonder just how powerful it will become.'