Chapter Eighty-Three: Divine Refining
"This He Jia Yuan, his cultivation is indeed not bad. His physical skills are no worse than those of ordinary swordsmen, and at critical moments, he can even unleash a protective aura that only strong swordsmen can master. In terms of strength, he may not be able to defeat someone like Bei Yue who has advanced to the level of a swordmaster, but it would also be extremely difficult for his opponent to kill him. If there were several other swordsmen assisting on the side, he might even have a chance of defeating a strong swordmaster."
When returning to his own courtyard, Qin Tianyi was also summarizing the gains and losses of this battle.
A strong man ranked 71st on the Divine List, his strength is actually so powerful, if it weren't for not understanding his characteristics and using a close combat method to fight him, this battle would have been won easily.
"The Divine List is always attracting the attention of nearly 10,000 people in the academy. The secret brought by X-01 biological mech will soon be discovered, and when that happens, they will use their entanglement method to fight me again. I'll definitely fall into a disadvantageous position. It seems that I need to master the Tianji Flowing Light sword technique as soon as possible. Only by fully grasping this sword technique can I guarantee my stable position on the Divine List and even enter the top 50, top 30!"
Qin Tianyi muttered to himself.
Then his gaze fell back on Yun Xiao Sword.
Yun Xiao Jian is a spiritual sword.
Spiritual equipment can only be forged by a strong swordsman who has condensed true fire in the later stages.
The true fire has departed from the ordinary fire level, containing a cultivator's essence and spirit, often producing a weak spiritual consciousness after refinement, which is the origin of the word "Ling" in the term "Ling equipment".
Some powerful spirit artifacts, when the spiritual consciousness becomes strong enough, can even transform and emerge to fight against external enemies, adding a bit of combat power out of thin air.
Although Yun Xiao Jian does not possess the ability to transform and repel enemies, when it resonates with the spiritual consciousness within the sword, it can continuously activate the mysterious power of the sword body. Through the spiritual sword as a medium, it continuously absorbs the primordial energy of heaven and earth, obtains the refinement of the primordial energy of heaven and earth, and its cultivation advances by leaps and bounds.
Su Yuhuan's cultivation was not the Yunlai Sword Sect's method, and its compatibility with Yunxiao Sword was extremely low. After half a year, it barely reached one percent, but every day she absorbed yuanqi, which was equivalent to taking a Cong Qi Dan out of thin air. This showed just how strong its auxiliary effect was.
"Yun Xiao Jian, although it's said to be a spiritual sword, strictly speaking, it should be considered a sword-shaped spiritual artifact. A true spiritual sword would never have auxiliary properties as its main feature. The sword spirit inside might be transformed from the essence of bronze, mysterious iron or star stone, possessing an invincibly sharp edge..."
Qin Tianji's mouth was murmuring, his mind recalling the method of refining the Yunlai Sword recorded in the Yunlai Jianzong, his fingertips brushing against the edge of the Yunlai Sword, bringing out a thread of blood color. Then, his true energy and essence merged, using the Yunhai Chao Sheng Jue method to circulate and operate, completing the cycle within himself and the Yunlai Sword.
After a week had passed, he could faintly sense the changes in Yun Xiao Sword. It seemed that an inexplicable connection had been formed between him and Yun Xiao Sword.
"Is this what they mean by 'initial spiritual awakening'?"
Qin Tianji hesitated for a moment, then stimulated his spirit and once again wiped the sword with blood, starting the second cycle of the Heavenly Circulation.
However, after the fourth week of operation, he slightly furrowed his brow.
"It's strange, logically speaking, the Cloud Sword should be the foundation of the Cloud Sect, and with me using the Cloud Sea Tide Birth Technique in conjunction with the Cloud Sword, it should be easy to reach the initial stage of spiritual resonance. After all, spiritual resonance becomes increasingly difficult as one progresses, but at this point, it's still relatively easy to achieve... yet why... I can feel that the Cloud Sea Tide Birth Technique and the Cloud Sword have a high degree of spiritual harmony, but clearly, it's impossible to reach 100%... No! Let alone 100%, even if I continue to cultivate spiritually for ten years, it's uncertain whether my compatibility with the Cloud Sword will be able to reach 20%."
Yunhai Chao Sheng Jue is a technique created by Qin Donglai, the Yunlai Sword Master, after he advanced to the Sword Master realm. When cultivated to the Great Vehicle stage, it can be refined to the pinnacle of the Sword Master, which is also the realm of condensing true fire...
Yun Xiao Sword was also a spiritual sword refined by him using his own true fire...
"Wait!"
As he thought of this, Qin Tianyi suddenly seemed to realize something and his expression changed: "Cloud Sword, is it really the spiritual sword refined by Qin Donglai? According to the records in the classics, Qin Donglai was already 103 years old when he advanced to the True Fire stage at the peak of the Sword Master. At that time, even if he had advanced to the late stage of the Sword Master and possessed True Fire, refining a spiritual instrument would be an extremely consuming task for his vitality and spirit. Without several years of time, it would be impossible to succeed, and after completing the refinement, his vitality would definitely be greatly injured. In theory, a powerful Sword Master can live up to 200 years, but most grassroots Sword Masters are secretly injured countless times when they are young, and have hidden illnesses in their bodies. Living to 150 years is already considered long-lived, and most people only live to be 120 or 130 years old. Qin Donglai lived to be 136 years old... He was only able to condense True Fire at the age of 103, if he spent a large amount of vitality and spirit to refine the Cloud Sword... it's impossible for him to have lived to 136 years! No! At that time, his vitality and spirit were not even enough to let him refine a real spiritual instrument!"
At this thought, Qin Tianyi's gaze suddenly fell back onto Yun Xiao Sword.
The Qin family was just an ordinary martial artist family. Before Qin Donglai, the strongest in the clan had not exceeded senior swordsman. According to the records of the Qin family, although Qin Donglai had exceptional talent, he did not advance to great swordsman until he was over sixty years old. At this age, advancing to great swordsman meant that there was no possibility of further advancement to sword master...
However, he eventually rose to the realm of Sword Master and even cultivated to the peak of Sword Master, condensing true fire...
At this moment, Qin Tianyi had a faint illusion in his heart that perhaps it was not Qin Dong who forged the spiritual artifact Yun Xiao Sword, but rather the Yun Xiao Sword that created the master of Yunlai Sword, Qin Dong.
"Guessing is always just guessing, try it and you'll know."
Qin Tianji calmed down.
Others may have no way out when they encounter this method, but he...
"Number two! Task, calculate the operation route of Yunhai Tide Birth Jue! Carefully analyze Cloud Sword! Develop an optimization plan targeting Cloud Sword, striving for a 100% match."
"Drip! Task established, starting data collection..."
Qin Tianji was operating the Cloud Sea Tide Birth Jue, continuously carrying out the spiritual communication process with Yun Xiao Sword, providing No. 2 with complete data as much as possible.
It wasn't until more than an hour had passed that No. 2's fluctuating prompt reappeared in his mind.
"Drip! Data collection complete, analyzing... Drip! Plan formulated, prioritizing the most efficient plan. This plan can achieve a 100% match rate, requiring fusion. Fuse or display the second optimized plan, which can achieve a 64% match rate..."
"Fusion?"
Qin Tianyi slightly hesitated: "Display fusion plan."
He soon saw the fusion plan given by No. 2.
"Starry Sky Refining Technique? Using Starry Sky Refining Technique to strongly refine Cloud Sword?"
Qin Tianji was slightly taken aback.
However, when he saw the "Stellar Refining Technique" provided by Number Two, his face became somewhat uncertain and surprised.
This forced spiritual cultivation method actually requires him to infuse his own spirit into the Cloud Sky Sword, condensing the Starry Sky World, and after gathering enough stars in the Starry Sky World, suddenly exploding, shattering the Cloud Sky Sword's spiritual awareness. Then, using his own heart and soul to replace it, at that time, his spirit and the sword will be indistinguishable, easily reaching a 100% harmony rate, fully bringing out the Cloud Sky Sword's mysterious power.
"Has the spiritual consciousness of the Cloud Sky Sword been shattered? Can the Cloud Sky Sword still be considered a spiritual sword?"
Qin Tianyi pondered, his eyes falling once again on the second optimization plan.
"Can reach a matching degree of 64%, which is not low. In addition, the calculation time and analysis of Yunhai Chao Sheng Jue and Yunxiao Jian's fusion degree."
"Ding! Calculation results, Yunhai Chao Sheng Jue and Yun Xiao Jian have a maximum compatibility of 51%, with an error rate of 79%. It is expected to reach the highest compatibility in 67,886 days... Optimization plan two has a compatibility of 64%, and it is expected to reach the highest compatibility in 7,731 days..."
"Nearly two hundred years... even with the second optimization plan, it would take more than twenty years..."
One is over twenty years, and one is just a few days.
Obviously, this is not an option.
"The spiritual consciousness of the Thunderous Clouds and Sky Sword."
The spiritual consciousness in the spiritual instrument has its greatest advantage in coordination with the practitioner, and the two can burst out a power that is greater than the sum of their individual powers. Moreover, as the practitioner continues to temper the spiritual instrument, this instrument can also continue to grow, making its power stronger and stronger.
The plan provided by No. 2 requires the destruction of Yun Xiao Jian's spiritual consciousness, which is equivalent to cutting off Yun Xiao Jian's possibility of growth.
"If this sword were in the hands of a cultivator from Yunlai Sword Sect, it would be impossible to achieve a compatibility rate of over 50% in one's lifetime. And based on my speculation, even if Qin Dong, the first master of Yunxiao Sword, were here, its spiritual resonance would not exceed 20%. Rather than keeping this treasure mountain idle and unused, why not unleash its full power now? As long as my cultivation improves, I believe that in the future, I will definitely be able to obtain an even more powerful spirit artifact for Yunlai Sword Sect!"
At this point, Qin Tianyi suddenly made a decision in his heart.
As he held the Cloud Sword and sat up, his spirit fluctuated and spread out, producing a faint resonance with the sword's consciousness.
"Starry sky!"
As the idea flashed, a vast starry sky world immediately appeared in Qin Tianji's spiritual world. Following this, the starry sky world was continuously compressed by him along with the resonance between him and Yun Xiao Sword, directly compressing it into Yun Xiao Sword, transforming into a twinkling stardust.
Compressing a star, Qin Tianji clearly felt his mind go blank.
Ten percent spirit, at least four percent gone.
"Ah!"
Taking a deep breath, Qin Tianyi once again concentrated his spirit and imagined the starry sky world, compressing and condensing the second star into the Cloud Sword.
The second star entered the Cloud Sword, and the weakness of his spiritual world became more apparent. If it weren't for the reinforcement of the green tender root system in his spiritual world, he would probably be showing signs of mental instability by now.
"The spiritual consciousness of the Thunder Shattering Clouds Sword sows its own spiritual seeds..."
Qin Tianyi didn't dare waste time and took a brief rest.
The spirit that had clearly weakened a lot once again extended into the Cloud Sky Sword, making contact with the two stars buried within the Cloud Sky Sword...
"Shatter the spirit now! Starlight! Explode!"
