Chapter 114: Unique Gift
Chapter 114: Unique Gift
Golden Jade Hall courtyard number seven.
Multiple barriers separated the inner room from the outer courtyard, creating two worlds.
Lü’e, Cong Fang, and Ruan Qing stood in the courtyard, familiarizing themselves with their newly acquired magical artifacts, unable to put them down.
Inside the inner room, the five sword spirit elders were delightfully engaged in the process of brewing spirit honey, completely immersed and unable to extricate themselves:
“Oh! This is truly amazing!”
Sword One, being the eldest brother, took charge of the honeycomb artifact without hesitation. He transformed into a small golden figure, holding the honeycomb that was much larger than himself. His eyes almost burrowed into the artifact, trying to see how it worked: “This honeycomb seems to have its own soul, don’t you think?”
Sword Two, Sword Three, and Sword Four each held a Qiankun pouch, continuously taking out spirit stones, demon beast inner cores, and other spiritual items from them, and placing them into the honeycomb artifact. They moved skillfully and in perfect coordination, resembling assembly line workers.
“It really is interesting.”
“When we put in lower-value spiritual items, the amount of spirit honey produced is small; but as soon as we put in a demon beast inner core, there’s a huge burst—the transformation is so fast!”
“This thing really isn’t picky.”
The last one, Sword Five, sat pitifully below holding a wine gourd, continuously collecting the spirit honey falling from above. He gathered it into a stream and directed it into the wine gourd, which was as large as a lake.
After a while,
Sword Five said pitifully:
“I’m exhausted! How much longer?”
Sword Two and Sword Three stuck their heads into the Qiankun pouches for a moment, then pulled them out and said earnestly:
“It’s still early; we’ve only used up less than a tenth of the spirit stones.”
“And there are still quite a few demon beast inner cores left.”
These demon beast inner cores were the rewards from hunting demon beasts outside the Xuanxin Sect over the past few days. Converting all of them would definitely yield a vast amount of spirit honey.
This was exactly Lu Hangzhi’s goal.
Once they went to Two Realms Mountain, there might not be such leisurely time…
It was best to convert enough spirit honey in one go to complete the transaction with Lady Honglian, avoiding future troubles.
The five sword spirit elders were initially very enthusiastic, but as time passed, they gradually lost patience.
Lu Hangzhi then threw out a remark:
“After tomorrow, we will encounter countless soul-concentrating demon beasts at Two Realms Mountain, most of which will be at the late spirit concentration stage and the concentrated spirit peak stage. At that time, we’ll have to trouble you five elders to lend your full support!”
The five sword spirit elders had been bored for hundreds of years in the Sword Tomb and were almost driven mad. Hearing Lu Hangzhi’s depiction of this “bright future,” they immediately became very interested.
The five sword spirit elders were very smart…
They quickly realized that the biggest challenge in battling late and peak stage soul-concentrating demon beasts was the consumption of magic power. They soon understood Lu Hangzhi’s meaning and calmly continued brewing the spirit honey.
Lu Hangzhi once again immersed himself in his cultivation state, continuing to comprehend the Seven-Seven Sword Formation.
This time, with the help of the Revitalization Technique, he continuously accumulated magic power, leading from quantitative change to qualitative change. He smoothly broke through to the ninth grade of the comprehension stage, which was equivalent to the tenth grade of the ordinary cultivator’s comprehension stage. The increase in magic power was the most obvious.
His spiritual power pool expanded several times at once, reaching the size of a lake.
Moreover!
After breaking through the bottleneck, a faint hint of heaven and earth power was added to his magic power.
Although the amount of heaven and earth power in his attacks was not very strong, compared to the peak of the ninth grade of the comprehension stage, it was like heaven and earth—a solid early spirit concentration stage strength.
However…
It would still be quite difficult to hold his ground in the core battle zone of Two Realms Mountain with the strength of the tenth grade of the comprehension stage.
This was also why Lu Hangzhi immediately threw himself into a new cultivation state without stopping:
“Before going to Two Realms Mountain, I must quickly consolidate and familiarize myself with the power of this realm.”
“Although I have successfully mastered the first layer of the Seven-Seven Sword Formation, with my current strength, controlling fourteen flying swords and supporting ninety-eight mind-concentrating sword qi was quite a strain. Otherwise, under one hundred mind-concentrating sword qi, even a late spirit concentration stage demon beast would find it hard to resist.”
Lu Hangzhi knew that with his current strength, it was somewhat unrealistic to immediately display the power of the second layer of the Seven-Seven Sword Formation, but…
“As long as there is enough spirit honey continuously supplied, maintaining a short burst of power from the sword formation isn’t completely impossible.”
So!
He still needed to properly comprehend it…
and try to form a second sword formation after deploying the first one.
Lu Hangzhi had been trying to deduce the second sword formation, and then he realized that the subsequent steps were actually very simple.
“Ever since I comprehended and mastered the first layer of the sword formation, the later ones have become simpler and simpler! I only need to split off one thought to control the entire sword formation, and I can even attack forty-nine targets at the same time! Under the principle of seven motions with one thought… I actually already have the foundation for multi-line control and opening multiple sword formations, except…”
A very practical problem!
Deploying a sword formation required a huge amount of magic power!
If he wanted to control more sword formations at the same time, he would need to expend more mental effort and magic power. Moreover, the further he went, the consumption would multiply.
For example:
If deploying the first layer of the sword formation only required 1 point of magic power, then deploying the second layer would require an additional 2 points of magic power;
The third layer would require 4 points of magic power!
The fourth layer would require 8 points of magic power! And so on… By the time he reached the seventh layer, it would require 64 points of magic power, which was sixty-four times that of the first layer.
Of course!
The amount of magic power injected would unleash an equivalent amount of destructive power.
Once the seventh layer of the sword formation was deployed, it could be described as earth-shattering. Within a radius of dozens of miles, everything would probably be torn to pieces by countless sword qi in an instant!
Of course…
This was just Lu Hangzhi’s own wild imagination.
In the entire Xuanxin Sect, he was the only one who had cultivated the Seven-Seven Sword Formation to a minor achievement stage;
As for what the Seven-Seven Sword Formation was like in the later stages, who knew?
While comprehending the Seven-Seven Sword Formation, time passed quickly…
The moon set, the sun rose!
A day soon passed.
“Vice Sect Leader!”
Ruan Qing stood respectfully at the door and reminded him, “Elder Nangong Jun and Elder Hu Bugui have come as promised. Senior Brother Leng Wuya, Senior Brother Yun Yi, Senior Brother Lü Liang, Senior Brother Xiong Qi, and Sister Zhu Fuqin are all here too… they’re all in the courtyard.”
Lu Hangzhi replied:
“The gifts for everyone still need a bit more time to prepare. Please, everyone, feel free to sit.”
“Isn’t it just spirit honey? Why make it so mysterious.”
The group was very familiar with Lu Hangzhi and were used to his ways. They gathered in small groups in the courtyard and started chatting.
Lü’e and Cong Fang were handling the hospitality. The lotus bracelets on their wrists were noticed by Nangong Jun, who showed a keen interest:
“Little junior brother, you’ve only just taken up your post, and you’ve already given away the lotus bracelets I gave you. You really are generous.”
“Isn’t that right? That kid Ruan Qing is even carrying that set of artifact flying swords.”
Hu Bugui joined in with a laugh.
Everyone looked over.
Among the crowd, Zhu Fuqin was filled with envy.
Whether it was the Lotus Bracelet on Cong Fang’s hand or the Sword Box on Ruan Qing’s back, both were top-notch treasures of the Xuanxin Sect. Unexpectedly…
They were given away just like that.
As for Lü’e, since she had the closest relationship with Lu Hangzhi, the item she received definitely wouldn’t be bad either.
Just thinking about Ruan Qing, who used to be an unimportant nobody in the Inner Sect, having a life even worse than hers, had now advanced to become a True Disciple as the top Inner Sect disciple, and was rewarded with a full set of Artifact Flying Swords, putting him on the verge of joining the ranks of the top True Disciples… if anyone said she felt no envy, no one would believe it.
Lü’e and Cong Fang were even more so.
These two girls were originally just maids in the Third Courtyard of the Zhu Residence, very unnoticeable existences. But now, because of Lu Hangzhi, not only had they entered the Inner Sect, but their cultivation had also reached the Fourth Grade, and they received Defensive Magical Devices as rewards…
However, everyone could understand the reasons behind the three receiving these Magical Artifact rewards:
Lü’e and Cong Fang had followed Lu Hangzhi out from Violet Cloud Town, serving him all the way until now; even if they hadn’t achieved great merits, they had their share of hard work.
Ruan Qing had decent talent; he was someone buried by the sect but rose exceptionally under Lu Hangzhi’s guidance, achieving the unprecedented status of a True Disciple. Plus, since he cultivated the “Seven-Seven Sword Formation”, receiving a set of Artifact Flying Swords was perfectly reasonable.
But for a sixteen-year-old Vice Sect Leader, this level of generosity still exceeded everyone’s expectations in the Xuanxin Sect.
“The world of geniuses truly isn’t something we ordinary folk can comprehend.”
“Yes! Come, let’s drink, let’s drink.”
“Hangzhi is about to leave. Chances to treat ourselves at his expense are getting fewer and fewer. We should take every opportunity we get, so don’t hold back, everyone, drink up!”
“Hahaha… Right!”
After three rounds of drinks.
Nangong Jun, Qi Yuanfeng, Cheng Fei, and several other Peak Ninth Grade cultivators put down their cups one after another, looking around with surprise and doubt.
“Did you feel that?”
Qi Yuanfeng glanced at Nangong Jun, closed his eyes slightly, and asked.
The latter nodded.
There was something unusual!
Starting from a moment ago, the concentration of Spiritual Energy in the courtyard had clearly increased… but it definitely wasn’t because of the Spirit Fruit, Spirit Bamboo Shoots, or Nectar Immortal Elixir.
After scanning the area, Cheng Fei lifted his chin, pointing toward the inside of the house:
“The Magic Power fluctuation is coming from inside… Huh!”
“It’s getting stronger!”
Qi Yuanfeng and Nangong Jun both sensed it, their gazes focusing in the direction of the house.
At the same time.
More and more people in the courtyard began to feel the Magic Power fluctuation emerging from inside the house and the unusually high concentration of Spiritual Energy, gradually stopping what they were doing.
Among the crowd, only Zhu Fuqin quickly showed a look of delight:
“It’s the Revitalization Technique!”
Her eyes lit up.
She understood now…
The gift Lu Hangzhi mentioned he wanted to give everyone was actually this!
Zhu Fuqin immediately became excited. Without another word, she found a corner, sat down cross-legged, and began to wholeheartedly absorb the transformed silvery Magic Power.
Yesterday, in just a few moments, her cultivation had advanced significantly, achieving a major breakthrough. She naturally understood the value of the “small gift” Lu Hangzhi had spoken of.
Noticing Zhu Fuqin’s unusual actions, Nangong Jun, Leng Wuya, Lü Liang, and Xiong Qi quickly caught on. After exchanging glances, they swiftly found spots to sit and meditate quietly.
The others in the courtyard weren’t foolish either. Seeing this, how could they not understand what was happening? They all followed suit… over forty people began sitting in meditation…
Inside the courtyard!
The wind gradually picked up.
Magic Power tinged with faint silvery light flowed out from the house, accompanied by Hangzhi’s rhythmic voice:
“Hangzhi has been fortunate to support each other with all of you, reaching this day!”
“Tomorrow, I must return to Two Realms Mountain. We do not know when we will meet again. Feeling grateful, I have nothing to offer in return, except to open my Spiritual Power Pool and cultivate together with everyone, hoping you all gain something.”
As soon as his words fell, a massive silvery Spiritual Energy Vortex surged magnificently and overwhelmingly from the house, instantly enveloping all forty-plus people in the courtyard.