Chapter 58

Jining watched from the side, not daring to disturb the black old ox. He saw the lines of text quickly appear on the fur, occasionally accompanied by diagrams of formations.

Soon, the furs were all written on.

"Done."

The black old ox threw away the furs and said proudly, "Little Jining, you can be considered a prodigy. A congenital being actually has such a startling soul! Only with an exceptionally powerful divine soul can one perform the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation.' However, the Small Thousand Sword Formation also requires a large number of flying sword treasures, with a particularly high demand for the quantity of treasures."

"I have plenty of these low-grade treasures," Jining said with a smile.

The black old ox shook its head: "Those low-grade treasures, once you become a Purple Mansion cultivator, will no longer be worth a second glance. At that time, you will need rank-entering treasures, and you will still need a large number of flying sword treasures to unleash the power of the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation.'"

"Large numbers of rank-entering treasures?" Jining was shocked, "How many?"

"The highest level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation requires 729 flying sword treasures," the black old ox said, "Even the worst rank-entering treasures, it's best to prepare 729... The Small Thousand Sword Formation has very high requirements for treasures. The better the flying sword treasures and the more numerous they are, the greater the power of the Small Thousand Sword Formation."

Jining was dumbfounded.

Over 700 rank-entering treasures, and they must be flying sword treasures? Even if the entire Ji Clan's five mansions pooled their resources, it was uncertain whether they could buy over 700 rank-entering flying sword treasures.

"As your strength improves, the flying sword treasures you use will naturally become stronger," the black old ox said, "From human-rank treasures, earth-rank treasures, heaven-rank treasures, to immortal-rank treasures..."

"I, I..." Jining felt immense pressure and immediately said, "After Immortal Juhua died, he left some treasures in this immortal mansion. Getting a few hundred flying sword treasures shouldn't be too difficult, right? And wasn't the great enemy he killed the one who used the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation'?"

The black old ox shook its head: "That great enemy, Thousand Sword Immortal! Immortal Juhua spent countless efforts to slay him. Although he obtained those flying sword treasures after slaying him, it was a waste to leave so many treasures unused. So Immortal Juhua immediately exchanged them for a large amount of precious spiritual materials, and used a large amount of spiritual materials to refine and create me! Therefore, it's impossible for you to get a few hundred flying sword treasures from Immortal Juhua. Truly powerful immortals only carry a few treasures they are skilled at using. The gains from slaying enemies are quickly used to enhance their own treasures, and they won't leave them idle and wasted."

"I understand," Jining said somewhat helplessly.

"Don't think too much, don't assume that just because you obtained the immortal mansion, you can soar to the heavens," the black old ox said, "There are countless relics left from the era of gods and demons, but how many truly become the most elite beings in the Great Xia Dynasty? The fourth owner, Leizhan, died at the level of a Ten Thousand Phenomena True Man. Don't be like him."

The black old ox continued: "I was able to be born thanks to that Thousand Sword Immortal. So I paid special attention to this 'Small Thousand Sword Formation.' Not only did I read it, but I also carefully pondered it. I will explain it to you."

Jining listened attentively.

"The 'Small Thousand Sword Formation,' composed of nine flying sword treasures forming one array base! Nine array bases are needed to form a sword formation. In other words, the most basic sword formation requires a total of eighty-one flying sword treasures to form. This is the first level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation."

"If you can control another set of eighty-one flying swords, making two sword formations work together... the power will instantly increase several times! This is the second level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation! You will need one hundred and sixty-two flying sword treasures!"

"If you can control two hundred and forty-three flying sword treasures, making three sword formations work together, the power will increase several times again, this is the third level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation!"

"Four sword formations working together will increase the power several times, this is the fourth level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation."

"Continue in this manner."

"Ultimately, nine sword formations working together require a total of seven hundred and twenty-nine flying sword treasures. This is the ninth level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation. The power is so great... it's simply unimaginable! Of course, with your divine soul strength, even controlling these low-grade flying sword treasures, you are far from reaching this level."

Jining nodded thoughtfully.

"For example, if you become a Ten Thousand Phenomena True Man, you can use low-grade treasures to set up a nine-sword formation! But if you use rank-entering treasures, you probably won't be able to set up even a two-sword or three-sword formation," the black old ox said, "The stronger the treasure, the more mental energy is consumed when controlling it, making it harder to manipulate. But this also means that the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation' can still be used even if you become a Celestial Immortal. However, by then, you might obtain even better sword formations. Of course, the Small Thousand Sword Formation will suffice for you for a thousand years."

"The most important secret of the Small Thousand Sword Formation is the 'Small Thousand Symbol'..."

The black old ox explained some key points.

...

A moment later, Jining read through the content of the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation' and couldn't help but be amazed. Compared to the Yin-Yang Two Qi Formation used by Tumu Zhan, the Small Thousand Sword Formation was simply on a different level.

Jining immediately took out nine sword-shaped treasures from his storage treasure, as they were all low-grade treasures, generally used for close combat, and had a different appearance from ordinary flying swords.

"Small Thousand Symbol." Jining tried to draw it on the ground with his finger.

With Jining's control over his body, he naturally imitated the symbol perfectly.

The black old ox watched and shook its head: "No, it's not just about the appearance, it's about the essence. When the Small Thousand Symbol you draw can faintly attract the power of heaven and earth, the symbol will be complete."

"Okay." Jining continued drawing.

Because the imitation was already very precise, and Jining had already reached the realm of the true meaning of the Dao, he had a faint resonance with the Dao. By the time he drew the symbol for the 312th time, he had already drawn a symbol that could faintly attract the power of heaven and earth.

"Good." The black old ox nodded, "Your realm is already high, and your divine soul is strong, making you particularly sensitive to the power of heaven and earth. It's normal to learn quickly... Remember, the Small Thousand Symbol is the foundation of the entire Small Thousand Sword Formation. Absolutely do not leak it. Once the Small Thousand Symbol is leaked, some large tribes can create the Small Thousand Sword Formation based on it."

Jining nodded: "I understand."

"Then start." The black old ox watched from the side.

Jining calmed himself completely, then took out a small basin from his storage treasure. He placed his finger in the basin, and blood quickly seeped out from the tip of his finger, filling the basin with blood in a short time. The black old ox shook its head in amazement: "The divine body cultivation path has an exceptionally strong vitality. Even if cut into pieces, they won't die. Cultivators of the qi cultivation path would die if their hearts were pierced. If a qi cultivator lost this much blood, their face would turn pale, but you probably recover while releasing the blood."

Jining didn't say much but picked up a sword treasure. The sword treasure grew larger in the air, and Jining dipped his finger in the blood and began to draw on the sword.

In a blink, a Small Thousand Symbol appeared on the surface of the sword, the blood light flickering, and the symbol quickly sank into the sword.

"Done." The black old ox nodded.

Jining took out another sword treasure and continued. Once he mastered the Small Thousand Symbol, he made almost no mistakes. During the corridor challenge, he obtained thousands of treasures, and swords were particularly common, with over a thousand sword treasures. Jining decided to draw the symbol on 729 sword treasures at once.

"Array base!" Jining sat cross-legged, and with a thought, nine sword treasures immediately floated around him, slowly rotating, but something was still missing, causing Jining to frown.

"Remember, the power of the formation comes from sensing heaven and earth," the black old ox said from the side.

After a full teacup of time.

The nine sword treasures floating around Jining suddenly had an intangible essence, as if the nine swords had become one whole. At that moment, the positions of the nine swords seemed to be perfectly aligned.

"Array base complete, set the formation!" Jining thought, and another seventy-two sword treasures floated up, forming nine pairs.

The first level of the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation' requires a total of eighty-one sword treasures to form.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Eighty-one sword treasures floated around Jining, and Jining closed his eyes to control them. Soon, with the Small Thousand Symbol as the foundation, the eighty-one sword treasures emitted a faint glow, and intangible sword beams rapidly converged on Jining.

A sword beam, fluctuating, floated beside Jining.

Jining finally opened his eyes and looked at the sword beam floating in front of him. This sword beam was formed by his innate true essence passing through the internal formations of the eighty-one sword treasures, causing a qualitative change, and its power was astonishing.

"Still quite easy." Jining thought, and another eighty-one sword treasures flew up.

...

The black old ox watched from the side, also amazed by Jining's powerful divine soul. This wasn't like controlling thousands of treasures before. It required controlling each flying sword perfectly, making them form a perfect sword formation, and constantly attracting the power of heaven and earth.

"The third level is also complete. In terms of power, the sword beam now is no less powerful than the combined attack of thousands of treasures before," the black old ox marveled. The Small Thousand Sword Formation increased in power several times with each level.

Hundreds of sword treasures surrounded Jining, each emitting a faint glow. The sword beam in front of Jining became even more powerful. Another eighty-one sword treasures flew in, and the difficulty of control increased significantly.

Sweat appeared on Jining's forehead.

"Hummm..."

A faint glow appeared on all the sword treasures.

"Done." The black old ox was shocked, incredibly shocked, "He actually performed the fifth level of the 'Small Thousand Sword Formation'!"

"Clack, clack, clack..." Four hundred and five sword treasures fell to the ground, and Jining, drenched in sweat, opened his eyes and muttered, "The fifth level of the Small Thousand Sword Formation is too strenuous, my head feels like it's splitting. In normal combat, I'll use the fourth level, which is much easier."