Chapter 65: Talisman Sword Nurturing

Small courtyard.

In direct sunlight, Jiang Ding sat cross-legged, two swords resting on his knees: the longer one, one meter thirty centimeters, an ordinary sheathed steel sword; the shorter one, forty centimeters long and three and a half centimeters wide, laid crosswise atop his knees.

The short sword gleamed brightly in the sunlight, clearly showing that the light upon and within three inches of its blade was even brighter.

Jiang Ding closed his eyes and regulated his breath; unconsciously, he had grown fond of basking in the sun.

Especially since the occasional tingles of comfort emanating from the talisman sword deepened his affection for the golden sunlight flooding the sky.

First-grade golden-fire bamboo paper, first-grade Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array—both naturally attuned to the sun; in fact, only under sunlight could they achieve maximum growth.

Three days passed; his essence and blood had preliminarily fused with the intricate array patterns.

It must be said that the Immortal Sect’s cultivation technology system had grown to a terrifying scale—even the most obscure techniques had accumulated technical reserves.

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Its speed had reached that of an arrow; ordinary eyes could no longer track it, and it posed a serious threat even to cultivators who had achieved partial mastery of internal qi.

Hua Zhengtian explained:

Jiang Ding’s pale face had fully recovered; his internal qi surged through his body, refining the fine branching meridians of the twelve primary meridians at peak condition.

“Remnants of the Great Sun Sword Pavilion: ‘Great Sun Seed Sword Refining Method,’ a Realm-Outside Dao Son-level scripture.”

At the dinner table, the family of three ate together; Hua Bing asked curiously:

Jiang Ding instinctively continued expanding, suffering damage, then being repaired—speed exceeding by more than tenfold the previous slow, step-by-step waiting. “Is this what a spirit pill beyond the mortal realm is like?”

Although the alchemist at that alchemy shop had never even heard of Bai Yuanye, he retrieved the formula from the Immortal Sect’s library, pondered it briefly, and effortlessly brewed it.

Jiang Ding’s interest rose; he drew his sword and danced. A perfect circular arc glowed, then countless sword shadows emerged, filling the entire courtyard space, before gradually fading—while the talisman sword joyfully darted among them.

“In its prime, the Great Sun Sword Pavilion controlled forty-two inhabited minor worlds, with infinite populations; even with such a base, only nine potential Dao Sons were selected every ten thousand years, and ultimately only one succeeded.”

“So I told you not to get too close to him—this man is a hazard; you never know what he might attack. But his cultivation method, though obscure, isn’t illegal, and there’s nothing we can do.”

She had clearly seen that scene during the day with her spiritual sense, but kept quiet out of respect for his privacy; Wu Tianli likely felt the same.

For the past ten days, Jiang Ding had remained cautious and never left home, constantly monitoring drone footage; each time Long San delivered the blue fluorescent butterflies, he immediately departed—even when Huang Deyou wanted to report on the shop’s business, he told him to handle it himself.

They could easily cut down flying arrows, but the talisman sword was not as rigid as an arrow.

Hua Mu was also a Qi Refining cultivator; upon hearing the term, she gasped and warned sharply: “Don’t you dare cultivate this harmful thing—the increased control range and strength from blood-refined artifacts are useless to us Immortal Sect cultivators.”

This was the first time he had taken a Ginseng Essence Qi Pill while not severely injured; he immediately sensed a difference—the meridians’ capacity for reshaping seemed greatly enhanced?

“You can look it up in the Immortal Sect library—any scripture that enhances talent is famous.”

Eating meals daily with family was rare for a Foundation Establishment cultivator; such cultivators often meditated for weeks or months, their routines utterly unlike ordinary people’s.

…

She opened her sparkling eyes.

She then took out another jade vial, poured some white jade liquid, and evenly coated the golden-red talisman sword.

A faint sting—this was damage to the meridians during expansion; he must carefully repair them with internal qi, repeating the process again and again.

When Long San returned with the blue fluorescent butterflies, he immediately returned to the Immortal Sect.

“It shows he has great ambition—even madness. Best not to get too close.” He slowly swallowed his last bite.

“It can forge an ultimate foundation, but its materials are utterly unobtainable; even if one obtained secondary materials, the method’s extreme difficulty would cause qi deviation and death.”

“Go!”

Hua Zhengtian felt deeply relieved.

Ten days later.

Effective control range reached fifty meters.

Jiang Ding lightly pointed at a shrub ten meters away.

Three days ago, Lin Wanqiu and Jiang Yuan had nearly tied him up and taken him to the hospital; it took tremendous effort to calm them down, countless promises, and the presentation of a cultivation chamber certificate before they reluctantly let it go.

He then poured internal qi into the sword body; the white jade liquid immediately boiled, and delicate threads of gentle spiritual power were absorbed by the blade—the talisman sword sent waves of comfort, strengthening its bond with him further. Hua Bing froze, unable to associate the words “madness” and “ambition” with that delicate boy.

“Maximum attack range: fifty meters. Effective attack range: thirty meters…”

Shh! The talisman sword flashed, slicing through the air and cleanly severing the shrub’s tip, its edge smooth; then it returned to its place, resting quietly on his knees.

He closed his eyes and regulated his breath; the dantian’s qi vortex rotated, internal qi surging through the twelve primary meridians, then slowly penetrating their finer branches, nurturing and refining them.

Three days passed; the damage from depleted essence and blood had preliminarily healed; now he could barely refine ten or so fine meridians daily—full recovery would likely take another ten days.

Hua Bing grumbled, as if he thought she was a child who knew nothing.

Yet the array patterns were still extremely fragile; he must constantly cover the sword’s surface with internal qi to prevent failure.

Ten days passed; his essence and blood had fully fused with the intricate array patterns, able to autonomously draw spiritual energy and Great Sun essence from the first-grade Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array to sustain and grow—now it could touch the air.

Instantly, a warm, continuous spiritual power spread from his abdomen; his entire body grew pleasantly warm, even his meridians softening.

All alchemy techniques belonged to the same system, the same standard—understanding posed no difficulty.

Jiang Ding’s heart jolted.

He immediately did not delay; using stillness meditation, he activated the “Young Eagle Soaring Sword Art” internal qi, letting it surge through the twelve primary meridians and then expand into the previously unrefined fine branches.

Jiang Ding tested many times, then murmured: “Continue nurturing and refining—it can still grow, but no more than a hundred steps, a hundred meters—this must be some kind of limit.”

“Many greedily sought results and tried brewing ‘monkey version’ after ‘monkey version’—materials obtainable even by Foundation Establishment cultivators—but nearly everyone failed with qi deviation; it was too difficult. Some even lost their minds and caused a bloody incident.”

These past few days had been like this—he felt unsafe in his weakened state; if the blue fluorescent butterflies weren’t so vital, he wouldn’t have come at all.

“Hmm?”

“Got it!”

“Hundred-step Flying Sword?”

Yet at that moment, a gentle spiritual power spontaneously surged forth, repairing the damaged meridians.

Speed increased again; it now posed a serious threat to cultivators who had fully mastered internal qi, forcing even those at the peak of internal qi to tread carefully.

This was Bai Yuanye—Jiang Ding had commissioned an alchemy shop online, using decades-old herbs delivered by the Four Seas Trading Company, to brew it; it could multiply the growth rate of the Hundred-step Flying Sword.

After a round of practice, his internal qi was heavily depleted; Jiang Ding swallowed a Ginseng Essence Qi Pill.

Shhh-shhh-shhh! In the sky, the talisman sword darted back and forth; countless dry yellow leaves, still falling, were sliced cleanly in half before they could touch the ground—countless fragments fluttered everywhere, not a single intact leaf managing to land.

“Dad, how come someone who can reliably get into Qianling University’s Dao Studies department would bother cultivating the Hundred-step Flying Sword?”

Hua Bing said solemnly; his faint curiosity toward Jiang Ding vanished.

“Someone who can reliably get into Qianling University’s Dao Studies department… hmm, that’s talent indeed—yet he cultivates the Hundred-step Flying Sword…” Hua Zhengtian picked up a leaf of vegetable, lost in thought for a long while.

“Finally fully recovered…”

Half an hour later, Jiang Ding ended the talisman sword’s nurturing, placed it under the sun, infused sufficient internal qi, and let the first-grade Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array spontaneously rotate, gathering Great Sun essence and spiritual energy to refine the blade.

“Why?”

…

“Dad, why?”

“I understand.”

!.

Jiang Ding’s heart was shaken: “Then, wouldn’t the scions of powerful families who continuously supply spirit pills all be prodigies?”

He immediately dismissed this speculation.

Having spirit pills certainly accelerated progress, but to achieve his efficiency, he would need the “Young Eagle Soaring Sword Art” to reach full mastery.

He immediately stopped thinking and plunged into uninterrupted nurturing and refining of the fine meridians.

(End of Chapter)