Chapter 35

The next day at noon, Zongshou sat on the soft couch inside the carriage, his body swaying with the jolts of the vehicle. At this moment, he was in a daze, lost in thought. He didn't know how long he had been like this before he finally sighed, his expression filled with bitterness.

"What can I do? The favor I owe to the ancestor of Lingyun Sect has become even greater—"

Since he learned that the twelve Heavenly Talisman seeds could help him draw the Twelve Heavenly Talismans after being nurtured to a certain level, Zongshou knew that the gift from the Lingyun Ancestor was far more generous than he had imagined. Just the eighteen Sword Intent of Surprised Clouds alone was already a tremendous help. Add to that the Heavenly Talismans, and the benefits were even more significant.

Yesterday was too tiring, and he didn't think much about it. It wasn't until he slept for a whole day and night, and then began his daily routine of qi cultivation and meditation upon waking, that he started to feel troubled.

In his previous life, he was one of the seven emperors of the Cloud Realm, with martial arts skills that could rival the top figures of the various sects and the Ten Great Holy Lands. But that was in his previous life, and it was all in a virtual illusion.

For his current body, both the Sword Intent of Surprised Clouds and the Heavenly Talismans needed to be cherished greatly.

What troubled Zongshou the most was how he could still take action against Lingyun Sect after receiving these things today?

The grudges from his previous life's virtual world and the real-life coercion that once shattered his meridians, he could all let go and not dwell on. But the scripture cave and the Ancestor Hall of Lingyun Sect were truly too tempting.

"Enough! With my current cultivation, I can't dispel this Sword Intent and Heavenly Talisman. If I have the chance in the future, I'll find a way to repay this favor. After all, if I can't pass the tribulation of my own death, what's the point of talking about the future? Am I just worrying needlessly?"

With this thought, Zongshou felt at ease and resumed his interrupted cultivation.

The path of qi cultivation and meditation requires focus. Once Zongshou entered a meditative state, he was free of all thoughts. A thread of true essence was forcibly extracted from the beast crystal in his hand and guided into his qi sea. He then gathered a mass of true qi, like a long spear, and thrust it into the unopened acupoints of the Xi Meridian, forcefully breaking through without hesitation!

Unlike before, this spear of true qi now contained all eighteen sword intent seeds!

The already powerful qi now had a sharpness and intensity it lacked before, almost sweeping through all the unopened acupoints in the Xi Meridian, breaking them open.

Inside the qi sea, a series of explosive sounds echoed, like thunder. His blood and qi surged, turning his pale skin completely red.

Zongshou remained unperturbed. After a light shout, he took a deep breath. Immediately, the air in the carriage swirled, as if a small whirlwind, drawing all the air and spiritual energy into his mouth and nose. His lungs seemed bottomless, producing a faint sound of wind and thunder.

He then exhaled forcefully, producing a loud sound, and the air he had inhaled was expelled with a powerful force.

With just one inhalation and exhalation, all the acupoints of the Tai Xi Meridian were fully opened, forming two circles around his qi sea and navel.

"After the Xi Meridian, it should be the Sui Meridian!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Zongshou directed all the remaining true essence in the wheel meridian into the Sui Meridian.

The entire Sui Meridian was also an irregular 'wheel' encircling the body, with twenty-four acupoints, just like the other wheel meridians.

Zongshou pushed through two of them in one go. Before the true essence was exhausted, he forcibly stopped.

With the help of the Sword Intent of Surprised Clouds today, the injuries from the forced opening of the wheel meridian were far less than he had expected. Even opening one or two more acupoints would be fine.

However, qi cultivation and meditation require moderation. His progress in the Tai Xi Meridian was too fast. In just three months, all the acupoints were opened, leaving no time for accumulation.

The Tai Xi Spirit Fist, which he had only partially mastered, had yet to truly strengthen his Tai Xi Meridian to the level of a rock-solid foundation and a spring-like qi flow.

Without a solid foundation, how could he build a tower that reaches the heavens?

He dispersed all his true qi, letting it circulate freely through his meridians. Seeing the sky still overcast, he couldn't use the Heavenly Mirror Soul Reflection technique, so he didn't meditate. Instead, he took out a willow leaf flying knife, holding it in his palm, his eyes showing a hint of seriousness.

The Six Spirits Flying Knife Technique was the purest martial cultivation secret. It involved infusing the essence, momentum, intent, spirit, soul, and divine aura of martial cultivation into the flying knife, step by step, to achieve the Six Spirits Flying Knife Technique!

Although it wasn't as convenient as the spirit cultivation's weapon control technique, which could take a head from a distance of ten thousand miles, once the knife was released, its dexterity surpassed the weapon control technique. Its power and explosive force were far beyond what spirit weapons and magical treasures could match.

In his previous life, Zongshou was a pure martial cultivator. After obtaining the Six Spirits Flying Knife Technique, he naturally practiced it without any reservations.

However, in this life, after being forced to cultivate both spirit and martial arts, Zongshou couldn't suppress the urge to infuse his soul power into this secret technique.

In just three months, he had no significant results. The only achievement was that the five flying knives in his sleeve were more closely attuned to his spiritual consciousness.

However, these few months of attempts inadvertently opened a small backdoor for him to enhance the power of the flying knives today—

After much deliberation, as the sky outside the carriage window grew dark, a sharp light appeared in Zongshou's eyes.

"This method might work, but the degree of control is indeed difficult to grasp—"

Without hesitation, Zongshou again sensed the sword intent seeds in his body. He randomly chose one and wrapped a thread of his will around it. The other end of these will threads was the willow leaf flying knife in his hand.

He was actually using the 'imprinting' method to transfer his will into a similar 'sword intent' and infuse it into the flying knife.

This was a spirit master technique known as 'Seal Imprinting' that Zongshou knew from his previous life. It was a secret Daoist technique, mastered only by a few top-tier talisman masters, but it was widely spread in later generations. It was a necessary skill for talisman practitioners, though they often only mastered the form, not the essence, but it was still quite mystical.

Zongshou made a slight improvement, turning it into a method to 'imprint' sword intent.

However, only Zongshou, relying on the vast martial experience accumulated in his previous life, could possibly use his soul will to successfully 'replicate' and simulate the Sword Intent of Surprised Clouds.

As time passed, sweat began to bead on Zongshou's forehead. The flying knife in his hand also began to change, its cold light flowing, and the blade becoming even sharper, as if something was about to break out from within the knife.

In just a moment, the entire willow leaf flying knife exploded into fragments. Dozens of white lights scattered, piercing the carriage walls silently, deeply penetrating the steel plates without a trace.

Even though Zongshou's right hand retreated quickly, it was still cut by the flying knife fragments, leaving dozens of bloody marks.

Zongshou was not concerned or regretful, only slightly frowning.

"Even made of fine steel and blood copper, it couldn't withstand it. Is this sword intent too powerful? I can only imprint the most superficial layer. Truly, the Sword of Surprised Clouds can destroy immortals and deities—"

He flipped his hand again, taking out another willow leaf flying knife, and once more used the Seal Imprinting technique to imprint the Sword Intent of Surprised Clouds.

However, this time, it also exploded into fragments after just a moment.

This process repeated until the fourth time, when Zongshou's face was completely pale. In his palm, a willow leaf flying knife lay quietly.

It was still a green blade with blood patterns. But if you looked closely, you could see that there were faint cloud patterns moving within the blade.

PS: First triple update, please support and encourage me. Uh, I found that there's a Three Rivers recommendation ticket besides recommendations and collections. Please help me with it when you have time, I'm very grateful!

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends