Chapter 156: Discussing Sword Intent Once More

Blazing Sun City.

A tall yet exquisite courtyard residence.

Inside a quiet room, Zhao Xianchun, draped in a profound purple-moon robe, sat with eyes closed for a long time. Suddenly, she opened her eyes, stood up, and walked toward the exit.

As she pushed open the door, Zhao Xianliang, who had been cultivating in the adjacent room, also pushed his door open. This time, he wore no hood, clad instead in the same profound purple-moon robe. His face was an illusory version of Zhao Xianchun's, sharing an eighty-percent resemblance. His figure was equally ethereal and ghost-like as he drifted forward, with wisps of Yin Qi settling around him as he walked.

The two took their seats opposite each other in the courtyard pavilion.

They communicated through spiritual voice transmission as usual.

Zhao Xianchun’s expression was calm, and she said indifferently, "Ancestor Heyang said that when that cultivator surnamed Jiang left Blazing Sun City, she was accompanied by a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Blazing Sun Chamber of Commerce. It seems both she and that Golden Core cultivator are shrewd individuals. We have no choice but to give up and avoid offending them."

"I have some regrets. If I hadn't yielded during the spell duel and stepped up myself, perhaps the Utter-Yin Spiritual Marrow would have belonged to me."

A look of regret appeared on Zhao Xianliang's face.

"Now, we can only wait for the end of the Guihai-Jiazi year nine years from now. By then, the Yin Qi in the Zongshan Kingdom will surge immensely, and many sealed Utter-Yin locations will reappear in the world. I will go there to try my luck and search for Utter-Yin treasures."

"Let this matter rest. Xianchun, return to the Immortal Sound Valley and properly prepare for the Nine Sects Dao Discussion. I will spend a few more years in the Earth-Yin Pool and only emerge when the Guihai Yin year arrives."

Zhao Xianchun’s expression remained placid, her eyes calm without a ripple. "The Nine Sects Dao Discussion... just walking through the motions. Xianliang, you need not worry."

...

A few days later.

Hundred Flowers Valley.

A mountain cave dwelling.

Jiang Min stayed in the guest room, sitting cross-legged on a couch with hundreds of books piled around her. Judging by their covers, every single one was titled *Comprehensive Collection of Earthly Treasures*.

Cross-referencing the master index, she picked up another book to read shortly after. Only after finding everything she wanted to know did she close the pages, wave her sleeve, and store the hundreds of volumes of the *Comprehensive Collection of Earthly Treasures* into her cosmos sack.

"To forge the Taiyin Sword, the vast majority of materials can be resolved with spirit stones, but the Primordial Nether Yin Iron and the Primordial Solar Yang Iron cannot. Both of these items are born in places of extreme Yin and extreme Yang, and their yield is extremely scarce. I probed around at the spiritual mineral assembly and found out that even Nascent Soul cultivators are desperately searching for these materials, which means money cannot solve the problem. I can only slowly try my luck..."

"However, the matter of forging treasures is not urgent. Many disciples with good talent in the Nine Sects drag it on until Foundation Establishment perfection before even beginning to forge their natal magical treasures, all waiting to enter the Nine Sects Hall to seek treasure-forging inheritances. There are also cultivators who possess only a magical treasure embryo even upon reaching the Golden Core realm because they are searching for suitable treasure-forging materials."

"It seems this Taiji Sword of mine cannot be forged anytime soon. I had better focus on improving my cultivation realm! Within seven years, I strive to harvest enough Yang Qi and enter the minor success stage of Foundation Establishment, using martial fire to refine the Golden Core."

Just as Jiang Min was pondering this, outside the cave dwelling, the powerful aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator descended.

A slight stir moved through Jiang Min's heart. She put away the few array disks that concealed auras, walked out of the cave dwelling, and seeing True Monarch Guanhai standing at the entrance, she cupped her hands and said, "Master."

"The Nascent Soul gathering has concluded. Let's go, back to Taiji Mountain."

True Monarch Guanhai released a small boat suspended mid-air and walked onto it with his hands behind his back. Jiang Min hurriedly followed closely, leaping onto the deck of the flying boat. Seeing him set out a chessboard once again, he lifted his robes and sat down before the table, inquiring of her, "Did you gain anything from the trip to Blazing Sun Terrace?"

After sitting down, Jiang Min handed over a cosmos sack containing the spiritual minerals True Monarch Guanhai had wished to procure.

Following that, while accompanying True Monarch Guanhai in a game of Go, she recounted her trip to Blazing Sun Terrace, focusing particularly on True Person Baoyi's two encounters with Wanjin Mountain.

True Monarch Guanhai raised his eyebrows slightly, picked up a black piece from the piece bowl, calmly placed it in a corner of the chessboard, and asked, "Who do you think paid the bill in the end?"

"This disciple guesses that Ghosting Mountain will compensate the Blazing Sun Chamber of Commerce for this transaction of spiritual minerals with spirit stones," Jiang Min said, following up by placing her own piece.

"Obviously so."

True Monarch Guanhai smiled leisurely, raised an eyebrow in praise, and said, "Ghost Mountain's disciple handled this in a truly clever manner. Every party's interests were thoroughly attended to. It seemed as though she did nothing at all, yet she accomplished everything that needed to be done. That is indeed great wisdom."

"That True Person's self-cultivation and composure are also remarkable. This disciple spent several days with her without discovering what kind of Daoist magic she practices," Jiang Min remarked with a sigh.

"She is a blood cultivator, but you couldn't tell at all, could you?" True Monarch Guanhai smiled.

"A blood cultivator?"

Jiang Min's hand holding a Go piece paused, and as she raised her eyes, a look of slight astonishment appeared.

The cultivation method of blood cultivators was a hundred times bloodier and more cruel than the fiendish path of Old Man Ghost Mountain; it inevitably relied on the blood of living beings as a catalyst. Yet, having spent several days with True Person Baoyi, Jiang Min had not only failed to see her reveal a single trace of fierce malevolence, but she hadn't even caught a hint of the smell of blood. Truly, she hid herself deeply enough.

"When others can no longer tell that you are a sword cultivator, you can also consider your self-cultivation and composure accomplished." True Monarch Guanhai dropped a black piece, capturing several of the white pieces.

Jiang Min lowered her gaze to look at the state of the chessboard. The sharp edge of the white pieces was faintly revealed, lurking in dormancy, yet they were continually broken down, losing their opportunity to grow.

"Then what should this disciple do?"

This was the second time Jiang Min had asked this question.

"Forget yet do not forget."

As True Monarch Guanhai spoke, he retracted the few pieces he had just played, and then picked up several white pieces to help Jiang Min play out the path of the white pieces. However, his style was completely different from Jiang Min's—neither aggressive nor accommodating, natural and easygoing. Yet, after moving forward a few steps, this patch of white pieces presented a poised and calm situation capable of both attack and defense.

"Neither clinging to the sword, nor clinging to this thought of non-clinging, let go and naturally forget your sword cultivator path. Yet, in reality, that sword is right within your heart, and you can unsheathe it to kill at any moment."

"Unstuck in non-stuck, transcending beyond transcendence—this method of Dao enlightenment applies equally to the Sword Dao."

Jiang Min stared at the chessboard, deep in thought.

Forget yet do not forget...

Seeing that she had yet to comprehend, True Monarch Guanhai said, "Let Master take a look at your sword intent."

Hearing this, Jiang Min brought her fingers together to produce a wisp of sword Qi. This wisp of sword Qi was simple and plain to the extreme, yet it harbored a fierce intent hidden within its sharpness.

"You have the sword intent, but it has yet to take form," True Monarch Guanhai remarked after viewing it.

Hearing this, Jiang Min had a sudden realization.

No wonder her sword intent felt somewhat different from others—it was too unrefined, possessing only sharpness without forming a grand climate. It turned out she was merely at the very beginning of her path of sword intent.

"How does one make it take form?" She hurriedly sought instruction.

True Monarch Guanhai ceased the chess game and instead imparted the Dao: "This relates to one's path of cultivation. Cultivators mostly take spiritual roots as their foundation, deriving the phenomena of the Five Elements. For example, some people's sword intent is as scorching as fire, while others' is as heavy and solid as a mountain."

"Beyond that, one can also contemplate heaven and earth, stars, sun and moon, mountains, rivers, birds and beasts, wind, rain, clouds, and mist. All things in heaven and earth flow endlessly, and the Great Dao is contained within them. Observing and comprehending them, transforming them into the will of the Sword Dao, is also a method."

"What is even more difficult is to combine it with one's own cultivation insights. However, those who achieve this are invariably individuals who have cultivated for decades or even a century, possessing a profound understanding of the path of cultivation and of life itself. And these insights actually connect back to the Dao of heaven, earth, and nature in the end."

"Master has told you all these methods."

"However, how you choose is a decision you must make for yourself."