Chapter 12: Azure Light Sword Technique

One will surely climb the absolute peak and look upon all mountains as small.

Over the past five years, Wang Ping has never ascended to the highest point of Azure Bamboo Peak.

Not climbing is because it would waste too much time; the highest peak of Azure Bamboo Peak reaches eight hundred zhang in height, the terrain is steep, and climbing would inevitably consume too much time.

Over the past five years, what he lacks most is time; he truly does not wish to waste time on these matters.

Previously, reaching the summit required two hours; now it only takes half a cup of tea's time.

This is why I have painstakingly pursued the Dao of immortality.

The ultimate purpose of cultivation is longevity, yet the scenery encountered along the way in the process of living long is something a mortal could never imagine in a lifetime.

Taking ordinary people's clothing, food, shelter, and travel as an example, cultivators wear Dharma robes; even the simplest robes keep warm in winter and cool in summer, self-cleaning, and no matter how fine the mundane silks and satins, they cannot compare.

As for food, needless to say, some demon beast meat is not only delicious but also increases magical power.

Even an eighteen-year-old daughter's red wine from the mundane world is considered rare; in the cultivation world, a hundred-year-old fine brew is merely ordinary liquor—why? Because cultivators live long lives!

At the Qi Refining stage one can live a hundred or so years; Foundation Establishment allows two hundred years; if one can find some longevity-extending spiritual objects, lifespan can be further extended.

As for Golden Core True Persons above Foundation Establishment, they can live five hundred years; the lifespan of Nascent Soul True Lords above Golden Core reaches over a thousand years.

With such a long lifespan, casually immersing oneself in any Dao can reach peaks unattainable by mortals.

The scenery on the path of cultivation is beyond beautiful; Wang Ping knows that what he has glimpsed so far is merely the surface.

Having stood on the summit and sighed, he again cast a spell to descend.

His spiritual power purity is at least four times that of others, and it is consumed so quickly that other cultivators, once they fly, would likely consume it even faster.

His spiritual power purity is at least four times that of others, and it is consumed so quickly that other cultivators, once they fly, would likely consume it even faster.

Perhaps only cultivators who have achieved Great Completion of Qi Refining can somewhat recklessly fly in the sky for half a day.

Their spiritual power is immensely vast, and their recovery speed in a short time exceeds consumption speed, allowing them to fly outdoors for a period.

After experimenting with flight, Wang Ping seized the moment to summon his flying sword.

This flying sword is the standard issue flying sword given to outer disciples by the Azure Moon Sect, named Azure Light Sword, classified as a lower-grade magical artifact.

It is three feet three inches long, about three fingers wide, usable for close combat or sword-flight long-range attack; compared to other lower-grade magical artifacts of the same rank, this sword is extraordinarily sturdy and sharp.

A lower-grade magical artifact can increase a cultivator's combat power by thirty percent.

Here, combat power's initial essence refers to attack power; in the cultivation world there exists a kind of crystal that can test attack power.

Whether it is a spell attack or a magical artifact attack, it will glow with different lights.

This kind of crystal is most favored by body cultivators; as for cultivators, they seldom use it.

On the Dao of cultivation, attack methods are myriad; even if one's combat power is inferior to the opponent's, defeat is not certain.

Spells, magical artifacts, talismans, secret techniques, formations, puppets, and so on—combat means are endless.

Of course, if the combat power disparity is too great, no matter how many means one has, they are useless.

Wang Ping fondly caressed the Azure Light Sword in his hand, unable to put it down; it is the first magical artifact of his cultivation career, naturally precious and extraordinary.

Matching the Azure Light Sword is also a manual of Azure Light Sword Technique, which is a lower-grade sword art; sword technique is a branch of spells.

The Azure Light Sword Technique is renowned throughout the Zhao Kingdom's cultivation world; what Wang Ping obtained is merely a simplified version.

The genuine Azure Light Sword Technique is a Dao art; only those who have condensed a Golden Core and comprehended a thread of Dao rhythm—Golden Core True Persons—can execute it.

It is said that once the true Dao Azure Light Sword Technique is unleashed, azure sword light crisscrosses within a radius of a hundred li.

Dao Technique is a realm above spells; in the Zhao Kingdom's cultivation world, only the Azure Moon Sect possesses two Dao techniques.

In the Xichu Three Kingdoms as a whole, Way techniques do not exceed ten.

Thus one can see the preciousness of Dao Technique.

The current Azure Light Sword Technique merely equals a low-level spell, yet Wang Ping does not disdain it; he repeatedly reads the hundred-odd-character sword manual.

The low-level Azure Light Sword Technique is simple; after merely half an hour, its essence has already been comprehended by him.

Wang Ping, lost in thought, rose to his feet; with a thought, the Azure Light Sword slowly floated up—this is the common method cultivators use to control objects with divine will.

After the Azure Light Sword floated up, it slowly circled Wang Ping, speed increasing from slow to fast, finally becoming ever quicker.

Around Wang Ping, the Azure Light Sword could no longer be seen; only a hazy blue expanse remained.

Thus controlling the Azure Light Sword, Wang Ping also felt some strain; faint beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

At the limit!

Wang Ping thought to himself; afterward, the hand seal changed, and his inner spiritual power surged violently; faintly, a second Azure Light Sword seemed to appear amid the blue light around his body.

At this moment, Wang Ping could no longer control the flying sword; he knew he must not persist stubbornly, so he changed his hand seal and shouted loudly:

"Ji!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

From the hazy blue light surrounding Wang Ping, two azure sword beams suddenly shot forth.

These two sword beams were extremely fast; in the blink of an eye they had flown several dozen meters, shooting toward a nearby stone.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The man‑high boulder was pierced by the two sword beams, creating a hole that went straight through from front to back.

After piercing the boulder, one of the two sword beams gradually dissipated.

Only a single Azure Light Sword remained, clattering to the ground.

Wang Ping's face turned pale, his body even swayed slightly; fortunately his formidable body cultivation steadied him, and he first calmly circulated his cultivation method for a few heavenly circuits.

Only when his complexion returned to normal did he step toward the boulder.

Wang Ping carefully examined the two front‑to‑back through holes; the boulder is at least half a meter thick and extraordinarily hard.

He was confident that his Iron Body cultivation could smash it, but to pierce it straight through like a flying sword was impossible.

Standing before the boulder, Wang Ping secretly pondered how to respond if he encountered an opponent possessing such a sharp attack method.

Defend!

Must have very high defensive power.

Protective treasures, armor, and body refinement also need to be further enhanced; Wang Ping constantly thinks about all aspects that can improve defensive power.

Also, escape ability must be strong; one must cultivate a spell with extremely fast evasion speed.

After witnessing the power of the Azure Light Sword Technique, Wang Ping keenly realized his shortcomings in many aspects.

Regarding defense, he thought of those spirit world stones, but they could be discarded quickly; those stones are astonishingly heavy.

He felt that even if he reached the Jade Body realm, wearing it would likely not hinder movement.

One cannot merely cultivate rigidly; one must also master several trump cards, and they must be formidable, capable of achieving a one-hit kill.

Wang Ping constantly pondered the gains and losses, while thinking, he walked around the boulder to the Azure Light Sword and picked it up.

His current spiritual power is still weak; after a full-force strike, he cannot control the Azure Light Sword at all.

At the moment he grasped the Azure Light Sword, Wang Ping suddenly felt that all defenses paled before formidable attack power.

The power of the Azure Light Sword Technique that condenses a single sword light is already great; the lower-level version can altogether condense three sword lights, and finally can gather them all onto the Azure Light Sword.

Who knows how powerful it will be then?

Wang Ping secretly made a resolution: besides cultivation, the practice of the Azure Light Sword Technique must also be pursued without delay.

According to the description in the sword manual, to condense three sword lights, besides reaching the late-stage great perfection of Qi cultivation, one must also have outstanding talent in the way of the sword.

Otherwise, even achieving great perfection in Qi cultivation would not allow one to execute the Azure Light Sword Technique that unites three sword lights.

Furthermore, body refinement cultivation must not be neglected.

Also, there is the upcoming study of artifact forging.

Cultivation, sword technique, body refinement, artifact forging.

This is the path Wang Ping has set for himself henceforth,

Doing this, everything is for the sake of survival.

Having put away the Azure Light Sword, he did not place it into his storage bag.

After the sword technique there is a note, essentially meaning that to cultivate the Azure Light Sword Technique, one must achieve spiritual communion with the sword.

The crudest method is to wear it on one's body; over time, the lingering aura will gradually produce a spiritual resonance between them.

Holding the Azure Light Sword in his hand, Wang Ping constantly fiddled with his storage bag.

Don't think that just because he is a mid-stage Qi cultivator he possesses a storage bag with one square meter of space; in the outside world, storage bags are very rare.

Even the failed storage bags refined by the Azure Moon Sect, when taken outside, can fetch crazy prices.

Besides that, the low-level spells recorded on that jade slip also interest him greatly.

Although Wang Ping wanted to try cultivating a bit, it was already late; practicing the Wind-Riding Technique and the Azure Light Sword Technique had already consumed a lot of time.

Tomorrow he still needs to report to that Foundation Establishment cultivator; he can only suppress these thoughts and took a Bigu pill.

Speaking of which, he hasn't eaten food for a long time; daily he fills his stomach with Bigu pills— the path of immortality is arduous, ah; Wang Ping fell asleep with that thought.

Moonlight poured down, bringing faint brightness to the originally pitch-black Bamboo Green Peak.

The boulder that was about to be pierced by two sword lights stood there silently.

Wang Ping actually didn't know that the Azure Light Sword Technique is extraordinarily difficult to practice; the Azure Moon Sect therefore gives each disciple who has broken through to mid-stage Qi a copy of the technique.

It is because they cast a wide net; basically all disciples need half a month of practice to produce a divided light sword shadow, and its power is not that great either.

Yet Wang Ping, in just a few short hours, managed to separate into two sword lights; if such talent were known to the sect's higher-ups, even Golden Core true persons might come forward.

It's a pity Wang Ping is too cautious.

All night silent, moon set, sun rose, birds cried out; a new day began again.

In the Azure Moon Sect's second-tier area, Chiyan Peak, Wang Ping, holding his waist tablet, was waiting in a hall off to the side for an audience.

The spiritual energy in the second-tier area is far richer than that of the first-tier area, and even its purity exceeds by much.

Perhaps ordinary disciples would be overjoyed upon arriving here, but Wang Ping remained calm; such spiritual energy compared to that of the spirit world is far too lacking.

Creak! Creak! Creak!

A burst of footsteps came from behind the hall; soon a middle-aged cultivator with disheveled hair and specks of black stains on his body appeared in the guest hall.

Upon arriving, he sat down without courtesy and asked in a calm tone:

"Are you Wang Ping?"

"Senior, this disciple is indeed Wang Ping."

"I am Chiyanzi; do you have any knowledge of artifact forging?"

Wang Ping thought for a moment, then spoke:

"I obtained a primer on artifact forging by chance, so I know a little about it!"

"Oh! You've read the artifact-forging primer! Not bad, not bad; that volume is good for laying foundations."

After hearing Wang Ping's words, Chiyanzi's expression softened somewhat; he also didn't bother to evaluate him, figuring this kid wouldn't dare to deceive him.

Chiyanzi has a fiery temper, often easily offending people; his relationships within the sect are not good, yet his artifact-forging prowess is astonishing.

He once refined three magical treasures in one go, shocking the Western Three Kingdoms of Zhao, Jin, and Mu for a time.

Yet why, despite his astonishing artifact-forging ability, does he have no assistant? One reason is that he is stingy and unwilling to sincerely teach disciples.

Another reason is that when he employs people, he hardly regards disciples as human.

Working under Chiyanzi is not only tiring, but one learns nothing, and it also delays cultivation progress; over time, naturally no one wishes to come here as an apprentice.

Over these years, Chiyanzi has also become aware of his flaws and has begun to change consciously.

But many things cannot be changed just by saying so.

Left with no alternative, he therefore set his sights on the Outer Sect Mission Hall.

For this, he was even mocked by several fellow sect members.

At first it was fine, but gradually his temper flared up again; as a result, over a year has passed with no one coming here.

He received a message from Xiao Zhang last night saying someone would come to report today, and for a moment he actually felt some anticipation.

Not long after, he had already come out of the forging room early, and upon seeing Wang Ping, he was also quite pleased, casually tossing out a jade slip and saying gently:

"First go settle in; tomorrow follow me into the forging hall, and if you don't understand something, first look at what's inside the jade slip."

After saying that, he disappeared again.

Wang Ping blinked, his face showing doubt; it seemed this Foundation Establishment senior was not as harsh as the rumors said.

Perhaps because his contact time was too short, Wang Ping looked around this Foundation Establishment cave dwelling; all the furnishings were extremely crude.

The entire Crimson Flame Peak didn't even have a guide boy; this situation was almost the same as his experience at Azure Bamboo Peak, the only difference being that Crimson Flame Peak has an owner, whereas his was merely relying on it.

Without a guide boy, he had no choice but to follow the jade slip's directions to a delicate pavilion, the whole pavilion shrouded in a layer of light curtain.

Seeing his lodgings, Wang Ping was extremely pleased; following the jade slip's hint, he activated his waist tablet and then placed it on the light curtain.

The light curtain instantly opened a slit wide enough for one person to pass through.

After Wang Ping entered, it automatically sealed shut; this sight made Wang Ping marvel repeatedly.

His Azure Bamboo Peak didn't have such a restriction.

The pavilion has only three floors: the first floor receives guests, the second floor is for cultivation and rest, and the third floor is for cultivating the mind and nurturing the spirit.

The pavilion is not large, more than enough for Wang Ping to live alone.