Chapter 48 Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability: Clarity of Sword Heart
Beside the cold pond, the registered disciples showed no reaction, unable to sense anything.
They merely noticed that the long sword on Vice-Captain Liu Chenggong’s back began to tremble.
These individuals were only at the Meridian-Opening Stage of cultivation and lacked spiritual power within their bodies, thus not yet having truly begun their cultivation journey. Consequently, they were completely oblivious to the strange phenomena occurring in the world around them.
However, Liu Tianfeng and the others were different.
The old man suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed on the cold pond with shock.
Niu Yuanshan couldn’t help but step forward, lowering his head to look into the unfathomably deep pond water. With their cultivation levels, they could perceive a mystical “ripple” spreading outwards. Liu Chenggong’s long sword’s strange behavior was likely due to this very reason!
The two outer disciples on duty exchanged glances. Even with their cultivation, they couldn’t discern the cause. They immediately walked over to Liu Chenggong and began to examine the sword.
“Did you obtain this sword from Hidden Spirit Mountain?” Niu Yuanshan inquired.
Liu Chenggong removed his long sword. This was his Natal Magical Treasure, and as such, he should have been in perfect sync with it. Yet, gripping it in his hands, he found himself unable to control it!
“Steward Niu, this sword is called Green Pine Sword. I indeed obtained it from Hidden Spirit Mountain. It’s a mid-grade sword embryo and my Natal Spiritual Sword,” he replied, his voice filled with astonishment. Outer disciples rarely qualified to retrieve treasures from Hidden Spirit Mountain. Liu Chenggong, with a bit of showmanship, carried this sword to garner admiring glances! But what had happened now?
“This is rather peculiar,” Liu Tianfeng remarked, looking at the Green Pine Sword.
Niu Yuanshan stated with considerable certainty, “I suspect the mysterious power at the bottom of the cold pond has affected far more than just this sword!” Neither he nor Liu Tianfeng were Sword Cultivators. However, they were both convinced that the treasure within the secret realm had definitely been acquired, otherwise, such a phenomenon wouldn’t have occurred! They simply didn’t know who the fortunate recipient was!
In the outer sect, on Medicine Mountain.
Mo Qingmei, one of the nine stewards, was practicing her sword in her courtyard. Among the entire outer sect, there were only three female stewards, half the number of male stewards, and she was one of them.
Mo Qingmei, though middle-aged, was well-preserved and exuded a mature allure, the type of woman Liu Chengqi would intensely fantasize about at night. She wasn’t stunningly beautiful, but her fair skin was pleasing to the eye, classifying her as a woman of refined temperament. Coupled with the graceful curves characteristic of her age and her gentle disposition, she was quite popular among the outer sect disciples.
Recently, Mo Qingmei had acquired a Profound tier sword technique named Falling Blossoms. This technique was created by a senior female Sword Cultivator and greatly pleased her, as it was exceptionally beautiful when executed.
At this moment, midway through her sword practice, she abruptly turned around in surprise. She sensed a mystical power rippling outwards, and it had just swept through her courtyard. Mo Qingmei’s Natal Spiritual Sword began to tremble uncontrollably! While the tremors weren’t as pronounced as those of Liu Chenggong’s Green Pine Sword, they were still somewhat beyond her control.
“What’s going on!” she exclaimed in surprise. An anomaly in one’s Natal Magical Treasure was no small matter.
“Could it be coming from the cold pond?” Mo Qingmei glanced to the west. She immediately sheathed her sword and headed towards the cold pond. Strangely, even after sheathing her sword, it continued to tremble slightly.
Unlike outer disciples like Liu Chenggong, Mo Qingmei was a cultivator at the peak of the third realm. She had been nurturing her Natal Spiritual Sword for many years, and its Sword Spirit was undoubtedly more spiritual than that of the Green Pine Sword.
“It seems a bit agitated,” Mo Qingmei mused, unable to comprehend the situation. She quickly made her way towards the cold pond, her expression grave. The ripple was still spreading outwards and soon exceeded the boundaries of Medicine Mountain. The outer sect of the Daoist Sect had three peaks in total, with Medicine Mountain being the closest to the inner sect.
In the inner sect’s Purple Bamboo Forest, the Tenth Elder, Chu Yinyin, was in flight. She held her Natal Spiritual Sword, her expression solemn. However, due to her cultivation technique, her physical form resembled that of a young girl, giving her a rather precocious, adult-like appearance when she wore a serious expression. She quickly flew into the depths of the Purple Bamboo Forest, her face like a sheet of ice, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Ahead, there was a rock face, and before it, a large boulder. Seated cross-legged on the boulder was a woman. She was slender, perhaps too much so, appearing incredibly frail. The woman wore a Daoist robe, dressed as a Daoist Nun, her ink-black hair tied into a neat bun with an ancient wooden hairpin. She faced the rock face, her back to Chu Yinyin. Because she was so thin, her Daoist robe seemed somewhat loose on her.
Chu Yinyin, as the Tenth Elder of the Daoist Sect, possessed cultivation at the Great Perfection of the sixth realm. She deliberately concealed her aura and quietly flew to this location, pointing her Natal Spiritual Sword at the Daoist Nun on the boulder and thrusting it forward fiercely.
As the sword approached, the Daoist Nun, still with her back turned, remained motionless. Only the wooden hairpin in her hair seemed to shimmer with a nearly imperceptible radiance. A wave of spiritual energy emanated from it, sending Chu Yinyin flying backwards. She landed heavily on the ground, her rear first. Her sneak attack had failed. Chu Yinyin, naturally spirited, let out a pain-filled cry and threw a tantrum, “You wretched woman! You deliberately made me fall on my bottom again!”
The Daoist Nun, the Seventh Elder of the Daoist Sect, remained seated on the boulder facing the rock face, her back still to Chu Yinyin. She made no sound, appearing deaf to everything. Chu Yinyin grumbled for a long time, but the other woman paid her no mind. It seemed she was quite accustomed to this. After venting her frustration, Chu Yinyin looked up at the slender figure on the boulder and said, “Shen Man, when are you coming out of seclusion? You have no idea how they’ve been bullying me in your absence!”
She began to chatter about her experiences in the great hall that day, how they all spoke in riddles, saying there were important matters to discuss that were not meant for those below the seventh realm, and how their Senior Brother, the Elder of Law Enforcement, had set up a magic array to prevent her from eavesdropping.
“They just look down on me!” Chu Yinyin declared, hands on her hips, puffing out her incredibly flat chest. As the Junior Sister, she actually liked her Seventh Senior Sister the most and disliked her Ninth Senior Sister, Nangong Yue, the most. The reason was simple: due to the drawbacks of her cultivation technique, she still retained the appearance of a young girl. Nangong Yue, on the other hand, was a perfect example of “ample bosom.” Not only was she charming, but her chest was astonishing.
Chu Yinyin had bathed with her once, and her breasts actually floated in the water, making Chu Yinyin nauseous. It was infuriating. However, Seventh Sister Su was great because she was so thin; only a hint of nascent bud peeked out. Although she possessed an incredibly refined aura, making her seem ethereal even in her thinness, Chu Yinyin felt she was also very cute! Not inferior, not inferior! But Nangong Yue was different; she was shamefully massive, disgracefully so!
Therefore, despite her constant insults like “wretched woman” after her failed trickery, Chu Yinyin, the Seventh Elder Shen Man, who had secluded herself in the Purple Bamboo Forest to comprehend the Dao Ancestor’s legacy, was only frequently disturbed by Chu Yinyin because she missed her terribly after a few days. After she had spoken at length, the Daoist Nun, seated high on the boulder, merely nodded slightly, remaining silent like a mute. But Chu Yinyin knew that Seventh Sister wasn’t truly mute; she simply didn’t like to talk. Even when she did speak, Shen Man was true to her name, speaking very slowly with peculiar pauses. —Because she stuttered.
Just as Chu Yinyin was about to say a few more words, she suddenly turned her head and looked behind her. The mystical ripple had already spread to this location. As the ripple propagated, it stirred countless swords. Even her Natal Spiritual Sword, Mutual Joy, trembled slightly twice. Although it was very subtle, Chu Yinyin definitely noticed.
“Hmm? What is this phenomenon…” she exclaimed, suddenly looking up at the Daoist Nun on the boulder. Chu Yinyin’s eyes curiously fixed on the wooden hairpin in her hair. To her disappointment, while her spiritual sword, Mutual Joy, couldn’t help but react, the Daoist Nun, also a Sword Cultivator, had a wooden hairpin that remained motionless. The entire ripple stopped abruptly right at the boulder.
This time, the Daoist Nun, who had been silent all along, addressed her for the first time. She provided the answer to the phenomenon. Her voice was slow, her pauses peculiar, yet beautiful:
“Clarity… of Sword Heart.”
“What!?” Chu Yinyin immediately gasped, then looked towards Medicine Mountain. “That’s the outer sect!” she exclaimed, her voice rising in pitch. Her figure vanished instantly as she flew towards Medicine Mountain, leaving only the words, “Shen Man, I’m leaving!” The Daoist Nun on the boulder was left to shake her head and chuckle. “Not even calling me Senior Sister… impolite,” she whispered in a doting tone.
Within the cold pond secret realm, Chu Huaixu, who was meditating cross-legged, and Han Shuangjiang, who was guarding him, were unaware of the commotion currently unfolding by the cold pond. The Profound Heaven Fetal Respiration Pill was being rapidly digested and absorbed, leaving him feeling warm all over. Although his body felt as if it were about to boil, he experienced no discomfort. Unlike when he cultivated the Sword Refining Art, which felt akin to experiencing debilitating menstrual pain, Chu Huaixu felt incredibly comfortable!
Just half an incense stick ago, he had heard the system notification: “[Ding! Congratulations, Spiritual Embryo Attribute+1].” And just a moment ago, he heard the same notification again. A single Profound Heaven Fetal Respiration Pill had actually increased his Spiritual Embryo Attribute by a full two points! He had initially expected it to increase by at most 1 point, as the pill’s characteristic was to have a high probability of increasing the Spiritual Embryo’s grade, meaning it was also possible for it not to increase at all.
“As expected of a pill refined by the Pill King himself, it’s truly potent!” he marveled inwardly. Chu Huaixu suspected that ordinary Profound Heaven Fetal Respiration Pills were Level Seven Spirit Pills, while this one might be even higher! Immediately after, he heard a third system notification: “[Ding! You have successfully unlocked the Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability: Clarity of Sword Heart!]” Hearing this, Chu Huaixu, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, abruptly opened them.
