Chapter 34: Witch Clan Sword Formula

Suddenly, Mu Yuan felt a chill from the aura rising within the mountain. It wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, yet it was filled with eerie and unpredictable, profoundly cunning and sinister undertones. A soul-deep pressure made him tremble, as if his whole body was covered in venomous insects and snakes, his hair standing on end!

For a moment, Mu Yuan felt his thoughts freeze. His Sea of Consciousness was muddled, entirely taken over by that mysterious aura. The ancient Divine Ability of the Wu Clan, crossing through time, had lost none of its fearsome power after thousands of years!

Yuan Longtai, a man who didn’t cultivate, felt none of this directly. Yet, the power in his ancestral blood allowed him to sense something. He became delirious, wildly dancing and gesturing, chanting strange, bizarre words. These characters seemed like a summoning spell, causing the peak of Zhaoyang Mountain to begin shaking violently.

This tremor snapped Mu Yuan out of his daze. Staring in shock at the gradually splitting mountain peak, he saw the vast, straight-as-a-sword structure crack open a fissure right down the middle. It was easily a zhang wide. Gray smoke billowed out, spreading rapidly. Even when Mu Yuan poured all his strength into focusing, he couldn’t see anything clearly beyond three chi ahead of him.

The incantation from Yuan Longtai’s mouth grew faster and faster. The mountain peak split completely in two. Rocks tumbled, dust kicked up, and the gray fog thickened relentlessly. Finally, it revealed a long stone staircase winding deep into the mountain’s heart. Its end vanished into an endless sea of gray mist, indistinct and hazy, mere shadows lurking within.

Overcome with excitement, Yuan Longtai didn’t spare Mu Yuan a word. He dashed headlong down the stone staircase. The towering Golden Corpse followed close behind. After a moment’s hesitation, Mu Yuan also stepped slowly onto the descending stairs!

The staircase was carved entirely from mountain rock. Unseen years had deposited a thick layer of dust upon it. Yet, as Mu Yuan stepped on it, a sensation of deep, ancient weight washed over him. Bending down, he brushed the accumulated grime aside. Beneath, winding and broken, carved onto the stone steps, were symbols like tadpoles. They resembled incantations or perhaps writing, bizarre to the extreme. After scrutinizing them for only a short while, Mu Yuan felt dizzy. His mind filled with swimming symbols darting about freely, an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

Shaking his head forcefully, Mu Yuan stopped his close examination. He continued down the stairs, but Yuan Longtai was already lost from sight ahead. The staircase seemed endless; Mu Yuan felt like he’d been walking for the time it takes a stick of incense to burn, yet the bottom remained unseen. The fog grew denser, and the path became increasingly cramped and narrow, soon narrowing to barely allow one person to pass. At this point, ancient seal script large characters began appearing on the stone walls beside him, along with simple, crude yet lively carvings. These were uncomplicated depictions of primitive, rustic swords. They stirred something in Mu Yuan’s heart, prompting him to look closely with focused attention.

Fortunately, Qi Refining Practitioners studied ancient seal script. After all, the seal script passed down from antiquity was created by ancient sages and worthies; it best reflected their concepts and was also the symbol closest to Heaven and Earth itself. Translations into modern characters, while simple and easy to comprehend, lost the ancient, original intent. It was difficult to grasp the true meaning and form; it simply became explanations added by later generations, like a pre-chewed, singular form of nutrition, far less profound than the original text.

“The sword transforms into spirit, merging the body into profound connection. Formed of Primordial Qi, concealed beyond the form. Refine the body to embody spirit, body beyond body, spirit beyond spirit…”

Chunk by chunk of thick, rough seal script flowed downward. Only after Mu Yuan descended nearly a hundred steps did the characters finally form a complete, intricate mind-formula. Mu Yuan pondered it deeply, sensing infinite subtle wonders within it. It was a sword-refining mind-formula!

However, this Sword Formula was utterly different from any Daoist Sword Formula Mu Yuan had encountered. Daoist Swords Formulas nurtured the sword with spirit, taking the essence of metals to form the sword’s shape, imbuing it with arrays and Talismanic Script internally to forge the sword’s spirit. Then, one communicated with it via their own Spiritual Sense, refined it with spiritual energy, commanded it with their heart’s blood, capable of shattering techniques and weapons, unbreakable itself!

This sword mind-formula, however, was a legacy of the Wu Clan. The Wu Clan’s cultivation involved spreading their soul spirit throughout their entire body, specializing in refining the physical form. At the peak, their bodies became immensely powerful, combat strength unparalleled. Their path was not that of the Primordial Spirit. Their flesh and spirit melded into one, indivisible; unlike the Daoist Primordial Spirit, which could divide or roam freely, where the person went, the spirit also resided. They were nearly impossible to separate!

Perhaps observing the ways of the Daoist Sect, great Divine Ability users and profound wisdom holders among the Wu Clan also created a sword mind-formula. But instead of gathering metals or fusing arrays, it gathered the Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth to forge illusory swords. These were then offered sacrifice with heart’s blood, much like creating an External Incarnation. Each Sword Qi was like a strand of split spirit, roaming Heaven and Earth. Ultimately, one could materialize billions of Transformation Bodies, wandering freely across realms.

The Wu Clan’s practice of specializing in the physical body was itself a great secret. Studying this, the Daoist Sect derived some similar techniques, like the Nine Transformations Foundation Cultivation Method. The Buddhist Sect also had the Eight-Nine Arcane Method, both being body-refining mind methods. Cultivated to the peak, they granted Divine Abilities of Thousand Transformations, unlocking the body’s maximum potential. Every drop of blood, every inch of hair, every fragment of skin could transform into a separate self, a state where flesh and blood multiply!

This was similar to how every strand of consciousness in the Daoist Primordial Spirit could grow anew; different paths, same destination.

Mu Yuan, of course, couldn’t grasp this yet. Even many powerful experts might not know this. But seeing this mind-formula, he only felt it was incredibly daring, profoundly ingenious, bursting with crazed possibilities!

“So it seems,” Mu Yuan thought, “the sword technique practiced by that person I encountered earlier was this very one! Ten thousand swords unleashed at once, gathering Qi to form swords! It seems he hasn’t yet transformed the swords beyond his flesh into split spirits. He only controls them as one entity, missing its true essence!” Mu Yuan lowered his head, lost in deep thought, momentarily transfixed. He meticulously examined the wondrous aspects within – gathering Qi into ten thousand swords, manifesting the field of swords beyond the flesh!

Many unclear points arose in his mind. Abruptly, he remembered the scratch marks he’d seen in the dwelling of the Light Man – insights from that essence spirit as it studied gathering Qi into swords. A flash of understanding struck Mu Yuan. Raising both hands, the air around him suddenly rippled. Spiritual energy gathered, condensing into a five or six-inch-long Flying Sword in Mu Yuan’s palm!

The ability to condense Qi into a sword existed in both Daoist and Buddhist sects. The crucial difference here was that, for Daoists and Buddhists alike, a sword formed this way was used immediately upon creation; even if not used, it would dissipate shortly after. However, the Flying Sword formed through the Witch Clan Sword Formula was like a sword of metal – unless destroyed or dispersed by an opponent, it could endure indefinitely! Truly amazing!

Despite Mu Yuan’s decent talent – perhaps even a natural for sword refinement – forming just one Flying Sword was a serious struggle. After all, he had only just begun studying it. It was only thanks to witnessing the Light Man’s insights and experiences while refining this method that he grasped its finer points so quickly. Even so, the Flying Sword he manifested was only like a Flying Sword cast from metal – mere lifeless matter. No Spiritual Sense mark existed inside it. Anyone could pick it up and use it!

Nevertheless, Mu Yuan was overjoyed. He toyed with the Flying Sword in his hand, savoring the essence of this Sword Formula. Lost completely in thought, he stood there motionless, forgetting entirely about moving deeper into the passage!