Chapter 438: Sun Abyss

"Moon Stream..."

Jiang Ding now had the leisure to look at this river named after the moon.

Around him, the destroyed rocks, Lin Mu, and thin mist began to slowly restore themselves; after a few breaths, they returned completely to their original state.

Birds singing, flowers fragrant, thick mist, a fairyland within the moon.

The Great Sun Heavenly Pool is a holy land for sword cultivators; combat here is no different from breathing, and this function was considered during its initial construction.

"Compared to the destruction, scorching heat, and desolation of the Sun Flame River, it is quite different."

Jiang Ding spread the hem of his Dao robe and sat cross-legged.

"Judging by this, the Moon Vein sword cultivators may be more emotional."

Hazy mist drifted over, carrying a hallucinogenic, hidden aura; if one's divine soul and sword intent were slightly weaker, in the blink of an eye, they would fall into the eternal forest Illusion Realm and drown to death.

Whoosh!

The Taiqing Flying Sword, its body glowing red, pierced through layers of mist and fell into the source of Moon Stream, a pool of water several kilometers wide and bottomless.

The moment the sword tip touched the pool water, Jiang Ding's divine soul trembled involuntarily.

An extreme cold sensation surged into his divine soul along the blade; his entire body froze in place, his skin turned blue and purple, frost covered his eyebrows and hair, as if he had been frozen solid.

The Flying Sword completely submerged into Moon Stream.

Crack!

A wave of extreme cold, imbued with icy sword intent, flowed continuously into the Flying Sword and into his body; the frost on his skin and hair grew thicker, layer upon layer, until finally, an ice sculpture of a figure sitting cross-legged formed.

For a long time.

A wisp of blue-gold sword qi appeared within the ice sculpture, creating fine cracks, before exploding apart with a bang.

"Moon Stream not only tempers the Flying Sword, but also refines magic power."

Jiang Ding sensed for a moment and discovered that his electromagnetic magic power, which he thought had reached its limit, had become slightly more pure; he could not help but feel greatly surprised.

It was no wonder that within Taiyi Qingmu Xianzong, even disciples of ordinary talent were far stronger than cultivators in Bi Xiao Gao Jie.

Gong Fa, teachings, and various Secret Realm opportunities stacked together meant that cultivators of the same talent, simply due to different birthplaces, had completely different destinies.

Buzz...

The extreme heat of the Flying Sword collided with the extreme cold, causing water to churn and white mist to rise.

Amidst this violent alternation of cold and heat, the weak were broken while the strong grew stronger; the Flying Sword's sharpness and solidity improved, and the divine consciousness seal within it became more resilient, merging completely with the sword.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes slightly, sensing the violent changes in the Taiqing Flying Sword and his divine consciousness; his furrowed brows gradually relaxed into calmness.

Unknowingly, three months passed.

Whoosh!

The Taiqing Flying Sword burst out of the water, hovering before him.

One chi long, without a hilt, thin as a cicada's wing; the icy sword intent of Moon Stream neutralized the high temperature of the Sun Flame River, and the red sword body returned to its original blue-gold luster.

The trace of restlessness within the sword dissipated into nothingness, becoming balanced and peaceful.

"Having undergone a largely complete process of sword forging and sword tempering."

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and sensed for a moment.

He could clearly feel that the connection between the Taiqing Flying Sword and himself had become even tighter; although it was already equivalent to an extended arm or limb, connected by bloodline.

But now, building upon this foundation, it began to gradually surpass this level.

It possessed a smoothness where the thought moved and the sword arrived instantly.

"The threshold for Sword Qi Thunder Sound is much lower for me than for others."

Jiang Ding had a vague guess in his heart.

"However, now I need to dig out the Moon Stream Crystal."

The Taiqing Flying Sword fell back into the deep pool; the cold sword intent and chill touched the sword, grinding the blade and tempering the divine consciousness seal upon it.

Downward, downward, it went until it reached the deep pool at a depth of ten thousand meters.

Here, the water of Moon Stream had turned a deep blue color.

Every single droplet around was heavy as Rushan, possessing many characteristics of Yi Yuan Zhong water, and imbued with sharp, icy sword intent; a single drop flying out at random could smash a small mountain to ruins and then freeze it solid.

The Taiqing Flying Sword perfectly aligned with the flow patterns of the sword-path heavy water, struggling to weave through it and cutting apart whatever blocked its path.

Finally, ahead, a hexagonal ice crystal appeared.

Upon it, extreme cold sword qi would occasionally appear and then vanish; while freezing all things, it generated layers of illusions that could cause the divine soul to be permanently lost.

"Cut!"

Jiang Ding said softly.

The Taiqing Flying Sword moved through the extreme cold heavy water; the heavy pressure could not stop it, but instead, it used the immense force generated by the internal motion of the heavy water to add propulsion, cutting a smooth, elegant arc to strike the layers of heavy water on the surface of the Moon Stream Crystal.

Ding!

A crisp sound rang out; the layers of extreme cold heavy water shattered and scattered; the gravity structure maintaining them was severed, collapsing once again into pond-sized river water that pushed outward in all directions, creating a bulge in the surrounding extreme cold heavy water.

Moments later, under the powerful gravity and extreme cold, this river water was frozen and compressed again, and the bulge shrank rapidly.

Seizing this opportunity, the Taiqing Flying Sword swept up the unprotected Moon Stream Crystal, broke through the pool water, flew swiftly toward the sky, landed before a youth in green robes, and presented a thumb-sized hexagonal ice crystal.

Cold qi radiated from the sword; in this already cold place, another thick layer of ice shell formed on the sword body.

Within the deep pool lay terrible pressure and extreme cold; even a third-grade Flying Sword, if it fell in unnoticed for a moment, would be frozen into powder after a few breaths; it was a death zone, and for them, it was not an opportunity at all.

Hum!

The Taiqing Flying Sword vibrated, shaking off the ice shell on its blade to reveal the original sword body, but wisp after wisp of cold qi continued to rise, flowing endlessly.

"Truly a violent and cruel method of sword tempering."

Jiang Ding recovered his nearly frozen divine soul and sighed in admiration.

After resting for a moment, the Taiqing Flying Sword fell back into the deep pool, flew deeper, sought out the Moon Stream Crystal, cut through the extremely heavy, extreme cold heavy water shell of the crystal, and dragged it up.

Time and again, sword-tempering and treasure-hunting went hand in hand.

More than a month later, the thirtieth Moon Stream Crystal was stored away into the jade pendant.

"Enough."

At a thought from Jiang Ding, the Taiqing flying sword flew into his glabella.

Crack!

A point of ice crystal began from the azure patterns at his glabella, spreading toward his skull, freezing his head into a ball of ice, then rapidly spreading across his whole body, wrapping him in a layer of deep-blue ice several chi thick.

"Ugh, got enchanted with frost."

Jiang Ding's head went cold for a moment.

Blue-gold sword qi erupted, slicing the ice layer into a skyful of shards.

His figure flew into the sky and vanished.

……

At the center of Dayang Dayang Tianchi lies a place called the Sun Abyss!

Jiang Ding looked ahead.

A resplendent beam of sunlight came from beyond the heavens, over a hundred kilometers across, shining straight down onto the ground—pure scorching heat and a will of destruction spread in all directions, forbidding all living things.

This great sunbeam was the Sun Abyss.

It was the place where generations of Dayang Sword Disciples honed their sword intent, and also where the Dayang Soul Flame—essential for Core Formation—resided.

(End of this chapter)