Chapter 47

As Chufeng lowered her head to ponder Yue Qing's words, Sanfeng suddenly came over happily and said, "Sister Xu has already agreed to let Daoist Yue teach us the method of refining swords! Let's give all the Tianyi True Water to Daoist Yue; anyway, it's of no use to us."

Jin Xunu quickly interjected from the side, "Tianyi True Water is a rare treasure in the world. How can we easily give it away? Besides, even a drop or two is extremely precious. We mustn't waste it all."

Sanfeng immediately retorted, "The Tianyi True Water has been stored in the Golden Hall and Jade Pillar for five hundred years. Though rare, what use is it? You only used it once to transform your body. No matter how rare it is, it's just a waste in our hands. It would be better to give it to Junior Brother Yue. He is an expert in refining artifacts. If he can refine some treasures, wouldn't he treat us well in the future?"

Jin Xunu was frustrated and could only try to persuade Chufeng again. Chufeng finally made a decision: "The Tianyi True Water is indeed useless in our hands. Let's give it all to Daoist Yue!"

Yue Qing clasped his hands and said, "Then I thank the palace masters! I will write down the method for refining the Five Poison Immortal Swords."

An agreement was reached. Chufeng personally went to the Golden Hall and Jade Pillar to fetch the Tianyi True Water stored in a coral gourd and handed it to Jin Xunu. "Here is also the method for refining the True Water left by the ancient Tianyi Golden Mother. I have copied it for you. None of us knew how to use it, and we never paid attention to it. According to the method, it requires Western Taiyi Gold Essence. If we had the Taiyi Gold Essence, we would have used it to refine immortal swords long ago. Who would be willing to use it to refine this True Water?"

The Five Poison Immortal Swords consist of five swords: the snake is called Poison Dragon, the toad is called Moonlight, the spider is called Silk Web, the scorpion is called Yi Wu, and the centipede is called Thousand Eyes.

These swords are extremely famous in the Wutai Sect and throughout the world. Many disciples of the Wutai and Huashan Sects have imitated them to refine their own flying swords. For example, the flying sword of the Golden Body Arhat Fayuan, when released, appears as several red lines instead of normal sword light, which is a imitation of the Silk Web Sword. Some flying swords are curved, resembling a Wu hook, which is a imitation of the Yi Wu Sword.

Master Taiyi Hunyuan spent nearly ten years in Maoshan to refine this set of flying swords. Yue Qing's suggestion to the Ziyun Palace was to refine them separately among five people. Even a single sword of this level can dominate the world. In times of crisis, the five swords can be combined, which would be invincible.

After a discussion, Chufeng decided that Chufeng would refine the Poison Dragon Sword, Erfeng would refine the Moonlight Sword, Sanfeng would refine the Silk Web Sword, Huizhu would refine the Yi Wu Sword, and Dongxiu would refine the Thousand Eyes Sword, with each of the five women in charge of one sword.

The Ziyun Palace treasure vault was opened, and the best materials were taken out to refine the sword blanks. Then, they repeatedly refined them with concentrated poison paste and added specific talismans. Each of the five swords has a different temperament and nature, so the methods used were different. Some were polished with poison sand, some were roasted with immortal fire, and some were soaked in poison liquid. Therefore, the five women usually refined their swords in their respective halls, gathering in the Yellow Crystal Hall every twenty-five days to combine and refine them once. After twenty-five sessions, the flying swords would be considered partially complete. To increase their power, Yue Qing also taught them the Five Poison Sword Formation recorded in the secondary volume of the Hunyuan Manual.

During the sword refining period, Chufeng issued twelve palace rules, which Yue Qing helped modify and expand to thirty-seven. From the palace masters to the maids, everyone had to follow them. If anyone violated them, they would be sent to the Heavenly Punishment Chamber for punishment. Chufeng also invited Xu Feiniang and Yue Qing to be guest elders of the Ziyun Palace to supervise the palace laws.

At first, Sanfeng and Dongxiu did not care, thinking it was just to discipline the palace people. Later, during a mission to the South Sea to kill a poisonous dragon, they recklessly used poison sand, harming many fishermen. When Chufeng found out, she sent them to the Heavenly Punishment Chamber without any leniency. They were burned and pierced with needles, experiencing life and death twelve times. Only then did they become more restrained.

Seeing that Chufeng was serious, Yue Qing taught her the "Palace Guard" method: "The Ziyun Palace is hidden deep in the sea eye, supported by the Golden Hall and Jade Pillar. The palace master only needs to use a restriction to connect the entire palace's foundation to the sea eye. If a powerful enemy comes to seize the palace and we cannot resist, the palace master can activate the restriction, break the Golden Hall and Jade Pillar, and rupture the sea eye, releasing the endless magma and fire from the earth's lungs, boiling the South Sea. At that time, even the three immortals and two elders of the Emei Sect, the three demons and five monsters of the evil path, and the four monks and two nuns of the Buddhist path would not dare to risk their cultivation to fight you."

Chufeng hesitated after hearing this: "The Ziyun Palace is hundreds of miles deep, with sixty-three levels. Connecting it to the sea eye is no easy task."

Yue Qing smiled, "As long as the palace master trusts me, I am willing to help you complete this."

Chufeng was delighted, "Such a great favor, how can I repay you?" She thought for a moment, "If you don't mind, can we call each other brother and sister in the future?"

Yue Qing was also pleased, "Since the palace master is so kind, I will accept it! Our Wutai Sect has a technique called the Twelve Great and Small Secret Demon Restrictions, which can draw on the power of the stars and also reverse it to derive secret demon powers. The two are endless and never cease. My uncle, Venerable Mahakala, is most skilled in this technique. When he activates the Twelve Great and Small Secret Demon Thunder, within a thousand miles, the earth, water, fire, and wind all boil, the five elements and the four greats rub against each other, causing continuous violence. Within the restricted area, all flying, swimming, moving, and growing things turn to ashes, and mountains and rivers are flattened. It is enough to destroy the Ziyun Palace and rupture the sea eye."

Chufeng was amazed, "Is it really that powerful?"

Yue Qing nodded, "In the past, my master did not allow us to refine such treasures. He believed that even if we were killed, we could be reborn. However, once such treasures cause a great disaster, it would be irreparable. Therefore, he met such an end! I once had the same thought to prevent the Emei Sect from exterminating us, but I lacked the necessary materials. Palace master..."

Chufeng pretended to be angry, "Still calling me palace master!"

"Ha ha, sister, your palace is filled with treasures and many helpers. If we need to complete the restriction, it won't be difficult. At most, it will take five years. By then, even the two elders of Mount Song would not dare to forcibly seize the Ziyun Palace!"

Yue Qing drew the array diagram for setting up the Twelve Great and Small Secret Demon Restrictions and gave it to Chufeng. "This restriction can draw on the power of the stars, generate secret demon resonance, and even reverse yin and yang, disrupting the five elements. Therefore, it requires a large amount of elemental essence as a foundation. You need to help me find five people to gather the elemental essence."

Chufeng and the five women were all refining swords, leaving only Jin Xunu and Xu Feiniang free. They needed three more experts with similar powers. Chufeng was at a loss, so Yue Qing decided to help her all the way. He asked Xu Feiniang to invite four fellow practitioners to help. Xu Feiniang returned half a day later with four sword immortals from the Wudang Sect: Zen Master Yougen, Zhuge Ying, Mad Daoist, and Suixin.

The relationship between the Wudang and Wutai Sects has always been good, even closer than with the Emei Sect. When Master Taiyi Hunyuan was alive, their four masters called him uncle. Technically, they were a generation younger than Yue Qing and Xu Feiniang, but after hundreds of years of interaction, they didn't pay much attention to these details and considered each other peers.

Xu Feiniang introduced them to the Ziyun Palace people. The four were amazed by the various wonders in the palace, and the Ziyun Palace people admired their deep cultivation and noble demeanor. They treated them with the best immortal wine and rare treasures, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Yue Qing first refined five spirit furnaces from red copper and placed them at the bottom of the Ziyun Palace, above the water eye. Each of the four Wudang friends took charge of one furnace, while Xu Feiniang oversaw the entire process from above. Together, they cast spells to search for the elemental essence in the world and gather it into the furnaces.

Yue Qing jumped into the sea eye and was immediately pulled by the invisible force from the earth's core, causing even the Taiyi Five Smoke Silk to distort. He pointed his right hand at the double swords, which transformed into a silver light, splitting the swirling water. In his left hand, he held the Xuan Guang Ruler and slowly descended.

Yue Qing sat cross-legged in the dark sea eye, the Xuan Guang Ruler held horizontally in front of his chest, generating five light rings that floated above his head. He performed the hand seals and cast the Twelve Great and Small Secret Demon Restrictions, drawing on the power of the stars. The five light rings of the Xuan Guang Ruler corresponded to the five stars of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, generating resonance and drawing down the light and energy of the stars. Since the five stars do not appear simultaneously, there were specific times each day for drawing their energy.