The Transmigrator’s Cultivation

Arc 21: Breaking Through The Nascent Soul Stage | Chapter 387: Sword Soul

This time was different from before. Yun Lie stood quietly for a moment, and the pain from the numerous needle-like sensations finally faded away.

Xu Ziqing relaxed and couldn’t help but ask, “Shixiong, what is this…?”

Yun Lie replied, “Refining the Sword Soul.”

Xu Ziqing was taken aback.

…Sword Soul?

He had never heard of such a thing. Wasn’t the perfect sword intent supposed to be the ultimate form of sword intent? As he pondered this, he asked again.

Yun Lie nodded slightly, “After fighting against Le Zheng Hezhi for many days, my sword intent has changed, and I have come to understand this.”

So it was that Yun Lie, who previously only knew of sword intent, was unaware that there could be further advancement after refining it to its peak.

It seemed that it was by chance that, after this period of seclusion, he suddenly gained these insights.

As the two walked outside, Xu Ziqing listened as Yun Lie spoke about the refining of the Sword Soul.

He already knew that sword intent was divided into four realms, and after achieving perfection in sword intent, one could merge it with their primordial spirit to refine it, ultimately transforming it into a Sword Soul.

The strength of the Sword Soul exceeded that of the primordial spirit to some extent.

If the primordial spirit were exposed to the scorching sun and worn down day by day, it would eventually dissipate into the universe. However, the stability of the Sword Soul allowed it to exist for a long time even without being housed in a spiritual object or another’s body. It could withstand erosion with its sword intent, surviving for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

Even if someone tried to extinguish it, the Sword Soul could emit protective sword intent to resist attacks, showing no fear of fire or water—almost indestructible.

However, a Sword Soul that could achieve such a feat was one of great mastery.

Yun Lie intuitively sensed that there were nine levels of refinement for the Sword Soul.

When the sword intent and primordial spirit fully merged, it marked the completion of the first refinement. Each subsequent refinement required the use of fiery energy for forging, as well as external forces for training, making it quite difficult.

The more times one refined the Sword Soul, the stronger it became, capable of slaying enemies with a fierce gaze.

A single slash from the Sword Soul, with the formless sword intent emerging from the body, could be even more powerful than perfect sword intent, perhaps ten or even a hundred times stronger, without reaching its limit.

The terrifying aspect of sword cultivators lay in this ability.

Currently, though Yun Lie’s sword intent was strong and had already materialized, its power was still somewhat dispersed.

Whether it was divided into fine strands of sword intent, forming countless small swords to create a sword formation, or transforming into a giant sword for a sweeping slash, it lacked finesse and wasted too much energy.

Once the Sword Soul was refined, there would be a greater enhancement.

Xu Ziqing’s understanding of the sword path was not deep, but after hearing this, he grasped a good deal.

In any case, his shixiong still had immense untapped potential; that sword intent he had originally considered the strongest still had many aspects that could be refined.

Given this, he naturally felt immense joy for his shixiong.

After the joy, Xu Ziqing thought of his shixiong’s earlier performance and asked, “I wonder how my shixiong is doing now?”

Yun Lie replied, “The first refinement is still incomplete; I need more days to polish it.”

Xu Ziqing nodded.

That made sense. It was not easy to advance sword intent, let alone refine it into a more powerful Sword Soul. Furthermore, upon hearing that he needed to merge the sword intent with his primordial spirit, he realized it was no simple task. Even with his shixiong’s talents, it wouldn’t be easy to accomplish in just a month. However, since his shixiong had previously displayed such formidable power, it was likely that he had found the right path, and with time and effort, there was nothing to fear.

After exchanging these words, the two didn’t stop their steps and walked out together.

Once the barrier at the cave entrance was lifted, they found themselves standing on a flat grassy area halfway up the mountain, where they each settled down in a meditative posture.

If anyone were to come for a challenge, the Venerable Xing would call out to the crowd, so they only needed to pay some attention.

While Xu Ziqing absorbed the wood energy from the mountains, he traced shapes in the air with his fingers, his expression solemn. He simply wanted to become more familiar with the techniques he practiced, and this required diligent effort.

Meanwhile, Yun Lie seemed to have employed some method, causing a massive vortex of spiritual energy to form above his head, expanding to a radius of a thousand feet and pouring down like a deluge. It was evident how deep his dantian was and how broad his meridians had become, as if he were competing with the heavens for spiritual energy.

Three days passed, and indeed, someone came looking for them.

A hearty laugh from the Venerable Xing rang out, calling, “Disciples of Wuling, hurry over!”

Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie opened their eyes simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and transformed into two streaks of light—one blue, one gold—reaching the main peak in the blink of an eye.

Lord Domain Hang was still fishing, and upon seeing them, he merely smiled faintly.

Before long, the other seven shixiongs also rushed over, arriving almost in unison, suggesting they were quite experienced.

Upon seeing the two shidi, Mi Xing and the others laughed, “Xu Shidi and Yun Shidi have arrived quickly.”

Xu Ziqing also smiled and replied, “I was out for some time before; thank you, shixiongs, for taking the trouble. Now that I’m back, I must perform well and not keep you all waiting.”

The other shixiongs all laughed in unison.

The challengers today were the same group as last time, from the Huoyuan Mountain Domain.

Upon hearing this, everyone was puzzled.

The Wuling Mountain Domain was indeed weaker compared to some others that frequently sought trouble, and they had lost more in the past. However, as time went on, the strength of the Wuling disciples gradually grew. While there were victories and defeats among the various Sky Pillars, overall, they had achieved a majority of wins. Thus, over the past few decades, the number of times these challengers had come had significantly decreased. Although they had recently come several times, the disciples of Wuling understood that this was merely because they had heard about the new disciples joining and wanted to test and suppress them. Eventually, with both Yun Lie and Xu Ziqing almost able to defend the Sky Pillars, they slowly found their footing.

After that, things returned to the previous state of not being under constant pressure.

As a result, when the same mountain region came to challenge, several months would typically pass before they returned.

However, the Huoyuan Mountain Domain had only come last month and had lost… why were they back so soon?

Could it be that they thought the Wuling disciples were still heavily injured and wanted to fight back?

But the disciples of Wuling had indeed suffered injuries, yet they were not hard to heal and had long since recovered.

Thus, the return of the Huoyuan Mountain Domain was truly unwise.

After some speculation, the Wuling disciples decided to respond to the challenge, suppressing their questions and rising into the air to their respective Sky Pillars.

Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie also arrived at the pillar they usually guarded.

On this Sky Pillar stood six individuals.

Among them were three at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul, two at the peak of the late-stage Nascent Soul, and one in the Divine Transformation Stage.

As soon as Xu Ziqing stood firm, he sensed a malicious gaze sweeping over him. He looked up and saw a cultivator with a cold smile and a sinister look in his eyes.

Upon seeing him, Xu Ziqing felt a sense of familiarity. After a moment’s thought, he recalled.

A month ago, when he and his shixiong returned, there had been a small figure who had yelled at them. ‘Wasn’t this the same person?’

Suddenly, he had an inkling that this visit from the Huoyuan Mountain Domain for a duel was somehow related to this individual.

Xu Ziqing was not mistaken; it was indeed because of this person.

This man was named Cai Tongguang, who held a high status in the Huoyuan Mountain Domain and possessed remarkable cultivation himself, having reached the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage at just over four hundred years old. He had always been proud and arrogant. After losing face to Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie, he held a grudge and, upon returning, made various schemes to persuade the regional lord to come and provoke them again.

To personally torment the two of them, Cai Tongguang specifically chose this Sky Pillar for their duel, intending to teach them a lesson himself.

With a sinister laugh, Cai Tongguang’s figure flickered and appeared before them, dragging along another cultivator at the early Nascent Soul stage, standing opposite Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie.

Behind him, a peak late-stage Nascent Soul youth furrowed his brows, looking somewhat solemn.

Had Xu Ziqing paid attention a month ago, he would have recognized that this youth was the one who had advised Cai Tongguang against causing trouble. His name was Wen Tianhua, and his intention was to stall for time, but he had not expected Cai Tongguang to force the Huoyuan Mountain Domain to engage in a continuous battle with the Wuling Mountain Domain. He felt quite displeased, as many cultivators from the Huoyuan Mountain Domain had been severely injured last time and should have been recuperating. Bringing all the uninjured ones this time meant that if they returned with injuries again, there would hardly be anyone left to guard their pillars, which would be detrimental to them. In his eyes, the previous conflicts were trivial matters, but now it had escalated into such a situation; it was truly reckless.

However, no matter how Wen Tianhua felt, Cai Tongguang was brimming with enthusiasm.

Xu Ziqing ignored his vicious gaze, waved his hand, and summoned countless plants to control the sides of the arena. Then, he clenched his fist, transforming many plants into fierce beasts that lay on the ground, growling ominously, appearing extremely ferocious. This time, the techniques Xu Ziqing used were noticeably faster and flowed more smoothly than before.

Xu Ziqing’s opponent, an early Nascent Soul cultivator, immediately released a flying sword, flicking his fingers to transform it into thirteen swords, forming a small sword formation that protected him from all sides. As the fierce beasts lunged at him, the flying swords danced up and down, and a fierce battle ensued!

As for Cai Tongguang, he opened his mouth and spat out a scroll.

This scroll was about the length of a little finger; it rapidly stretched in the wind until it was nearly ten feet long, hovering in mid-air.

Cai Tongguang pulled on the scroll, and in an instant, it unfurled, stirring up a violent wind that kicked up dust and stones, obscuring the area in a haze.

In the blink of an eye, Cai Tongguang’s figure vanished.

At this moment, Yun Lie slightly closed his eyes.

An overwhelming killing intent spread like flowing water, penetrating through the wind and sand. Wherever the killing aura extended, the wind and grass stirred, unable to conceal anything from him.

Before long, he located Cai Tongguang.

It turned out that Cai Tongguang was hiding within the sandstorm, murmuring incantations, with a giant fiery figure appearing in front of and behind him.

As the wind grew fiercer, the fiery figure became more imposing, its visage fierce and intensely hot.

Countless streams of wind poured into the fiery figure, making it more solid and clear!

Yun Lie’s expression remained unchanged as he suddenly withdrew his entire aura—

In an instant, a sharp light burst forth from behind him, moving as swiftly as lightning, taking the shape of a bolt.

In just a moment, that piercing light had traversed the wind and sand, striking the scroll directly!

Believing he had enough time to unleash his heavenly fire technique behind the cover of the fierce wind, Cai Tongguang had never anticipated that the technique would fail and the formation would break! In the blink of an eye, the scroll was hit by the fierce light, shattering into countless fragments and disappearing.

The wind and sand instantly dissipated, leaving only Cai Tongguang, who was still casting his spell.

In the next moment, the fierce light that had shattered the scroll shot downward, ruthlessly aimed at Cai Tongguang’s head!

Wen Tianhua, who had been watching from the back, realized something was amiss when the sandstorm cleared. Seeing Cai Tongguang in such a precarious situation, he was immediately alarmed.

He thought to himself, This is not good!

He quickly looked beyond the Sky Pillar, feeling incredibly frustrated that the Lord Li from his own domain, who should have rushed to their aid, was nowhere to be seen!

Translator: Lynn

Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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