Chapter 278: 4. Sword Art and Ritual

4. Sword Art and Ritual

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Ouyang Rong stared blankly at the silver-white soft hair wrapped between his fingers.

Feeling the girl's steady nasal breath blowing on the thin inner garment on his chest, he came back to his senses.

He turned his head and looked at the empty room.

The light in the inner room was dim, with only a weak lamp lit on the small table in front of the bed. The orange light barely shone on the bed, with two pairs of shoes, one large and one small.

Ouyang Rong and Ye Weilai had deliberately closed the windows tightly before going to sleep.

In the deep night of early winter, the outside was as quiet as water, making it easy for people to immerse themselves in their thoughts.

Ouyang Rong felt the little girl's nasal breath blowing on his chest, making it itch.

He scratched it, then suddenly turned over and got out of bed, bypassed the girl in his arms sleeping on the outside, picked up a lonely lamp in front of the window, wearing only a thin snow-white inner garment, and walked silently toward the desk in the outer room.

And after the lonely lamp was picked up by Ouyang Rong, the orange-yellow halo briefly illuminated the messy scene on the bed in the inner room.

Then, as his footsteps moved, the fixed range covered by the halo slowly moved away from the bed.

During this period, it was fleetingly visible that there were wet stains on the bed sheets, crumpled belly bands and underpants, and a pair of exquisite, petite, and snow-white beautiful backs.

Ouyang Rong placed the lamp on the desk and went to wash his face and hands first.

After his hands and face were no longer sticky and he was refreshed, he returned to the table, leaned back in the chair, and exhaled a long breath.

In the pitch-black inner room, on the bed, Ye Weilai was lying on her side with her eyes closed, hugging the quilt, her snow-white back facing the direction outside the bed.

Suddenly, a faint "soft moan" sounded.

The cold-fearing girl seemed to notice that a warm embrace had disappeared and groped in front of her with her small hands.

No one.

Her closed eyebrows frowned slightly, and she turned over to touch the bed sheet behind her, also touching nothing.

"Master..."

Ye Weilai hugged the quilt to cover her chest, rubbed her sleepy eyes with her small hands, lazily propped up her upper body, and called out foolishly toward the desk in the outer room.

"You sleep first." A voice came from the direction of the desk.

"Oh."

The white-haired girl had her blue silk draped over her shoulders, her small face confused, and she responded, casually pulling out a narrow green mandarin duck belly band from the quilt, using it as a hair tie, and casually tying up her messy long silver-white hair.

The white-haired little head and snow-white back shrank back into the warm quilt.

It looked like she was very tired, possibly tossed around quite a bit, and was a bit sleepy.

Finally back to being alone.

Ouyang Rong rubbed his face and first checked the Mo family sword box.

The mechanism opened the box.

He gently stroked "Craftsmanship" as if stroking the snow-white back skin of a girl.

"Craftsmanship" suddenly avoided someone's fingertips, detached from the sword box, paused in the air for a while, and suddenly flew toward the bed in the inner room.

The clear blue halo faintly illuminated the silver hair Ye Weilai exposed outside the quilt.

"Craftsmanship" flew around and circled above the girl's head for a while, as if curious about what the sword master had just been doing.

It's a pity it was still young and didn't understand at all.

Ouyang Rong coughed, closed his eyes as if drowning, sank into his mind, pulled "Craftsmanship" back, and forcibly put it into the box.

This tripod sword seemed to have some spiritual intelligence. Ouyang Rong estimated that this spiritual intelligence was equivalent to the level of a six- or seven-year-old child. Sometimes, Ouyang Rong could faintly perceive the impulses and instincts it transmitted.

"I know you're stuffy, just come out for a few breaths."

Ouyang Rong pressed his finger on this piece of "Glazed Iris Petal", closed the sword box, and lectured with a serious face:

"Go back quickly, don't look around, leak your tracks. Many people are looking for us. If you get caught, you'll be happy to have a new victim, but I'll be unlucky."

The closed long wooden box for hiding the sword jumped twice on the table, and the desk followed with a "creak—" tremor, as if expressing strong dissatisfaction with a certain dog owner.

Ouyang Rong hurriedly held the edge of the table and pressed it with his big hand.

"Don't make trouble."

His tone was unquestionable.

The long sword box responded with a heavy sound, then stopped jumping and ignored him.

Ouyang Rong shook his head.

It had been almost a month since he arrived in Xunyang City, and he really hadn't let it out much, mainly because he didn't need the tripod sword for the time being.

He didn't even need his Grade 9 full spiritual energy cultivation base much.

Just as he told Little Xiao Shimei not long ago, Xunyang City, the capital of Jiangzhou, is different from Longcheng County and requires a decent way of playing.

As the newly appointed Jiangzhou Chief Clerk, Ouyang Rong certainly couldn't fight and kill on the surface. Even Little Xiao Shimei, who liked to be reckless the most, had to switch to female attire and return to being a noble and elegant Xie clan noble lady.

"Apart from Yunmeng Sword Marsh, there should be many forces looking for this new tripod sword... For now, the fact that I became the sword wielder is only known by my mentor, Little Xiao Shimei, and Li Guoer, all of whom kept their mouths shut for me."

Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered the words he had tricked out of the Persian merchant named Li Li when he was in Longcheng before.

During his coma at Sanhui Temple, the figures of the female lords such as Xue Zhongzhu of Yunmeng Sword Marsh had appeared at Donglin Temple on Mount Dagu, searching for the tripod sword.

Looking at it this way, that Great Female Lord not only knew about the old sword smith casting this tripod sword, but even had special means to locate the approximate position of the tripod sword.

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that they specifically searched the mountain temple where he was in a coma?

It's just that for now, it seems they didn't discover his identity as the sword wielder, let alone find "Craftsmanship".

"What kind of means did they use to sense our position? Could it be that the movement was too big when I violently killed Qiu Shenji?"

Ouyang Rong lowered his head and stared at his palm, a thoughtful look on his face:

"Little Xiao Shimei carefully investigated before and said that a strange change had occurred in me. As long as I don't deliberately urge the intense turbulence of spiritual energy in my body, it won't reveal spiritual energy fluctuations...

"Even when I urge the dantian spiritual energy and pour it into 'Craftsmanship' to draw the sword, Little Xiao Shimei doesn't notice it at all.

"The whole person is like a sharp sword hidden in a sheath. Most Qi practitioners, if they don't have special means, will skip my existence in the crowd at a glance and won't be able to find my spiritual energy cultivation base. It is considered an invisible person in a sense.

"Why does it sound like a ghost?

"But Little Xiao Shimei was happy and said that this is very suitable for the fragile sword wielder, who can hide the sword and kill suddenly.

"Is this the rhythm of becoming a professional 'Old Six'?"

Ouyang Rong was speechless, sighed, and then couldn't help but mutter in confusion:

"Remember when I crawled out of the underground palace and killed Wei Shaoxuan and Qiu Shenji, it didn't seem to be like this.

"Could it be the sequelae produced after overdrawing the 'Unfair Qi', or are the characteristics of the sword wielder's absolute pulse beginning to emerge?"

Ouyang Rong pondered for a while and shook his head in abandonment:

"Forget it, no matter what, for the time being, this change is far more beneficial than harmful to me.

"The searching means of that Great Female Lord of Yunmeng Sword Marsh are unknown for the time being, so it is better to be low-key and careful, and hide yourself well."

"Apart from this, the most important thing right now is to break through to Grade 8 cultivation and have more self-protection strength."

Thinking of this, Ouyang Rong immediately closed his eyes and meditated, checking his dantian.

The feeling of internal vision was very magical. After "looking" at the dantian capacity that remained unchanged, Ouyang Rong opened his eyes and tapped the wooden box with his index finger.

He supported his chin with his other hand, his eyes thoughtful, summarizing step by step:

"Currently, it is known that every grade of the sword wielder's absolute pulse requires a new sword art to open. The sword art is like the cultivation method of this grade. Therefore, without the method, one cannot advance to the next grade and will hit a dead end, falling into a bottleneck.

"Therefore, the sword wielder is called the mythical absolute pulse, because there may be less than nine sword arts existing in the world, which is not enough for a sword wielder to reach the end of this mythical path.

"Just like before 'Craftsmanship' was born, the ceiling of all sword wielders in history was always a bit short. This is what kind of despair.

"And now the birth of 'Craftsmanship' has filled the missing link, raising the upper limit by one grade.

"But it is very likely that there are still 'tripods' that have not been turned into swords, and I can't gather nine sword arts... but this is still far away, and I don't need to worry about it for the time being."

Ouyang Rong nodded:

"Right now, I have mastered and thoroughly digested the 'Return' sword art left by the 'Cold Scholar Sword Master' Tao Qian, so I can walk unimpeded in this Grade 9 and start preparing to advance to a new grade.

"And I have already found the sword art for the next grade. Well, it can be considered that I have mastered half of it, and I have also understood the approximate true meaning given to 'Craftsmanship' by the old sword smith."

Speaking to this point, his fingers stopped tapping the wooden box, and he pursed his lips.

That day, watching the Zhe Yiqu flood being neutralized from the mountaintop, and then suddenly rising to behead Qiu Shenji, Ouyang Rong first realized the true meaning of "craftsmanship":

The old sword smith spent more than ten years like one day, boringly casting swords, humbly learning humble female work, and casting myths from the mortal world... This is craftsmanship.

Gathering thousands of laborers to open the Zhe Yiqu with a shovel and a hoe, turning decay into magic, and thoroughly resolving the natural disaster flood... This is craftsmanship.

Ashan stood out with lonely courage, put on a heavy mask, exchanged one person for thousands of people, and destroyed the sacrificial conspiracy of Liu Zian and the Liu clan... This is also craftsmanship.

Craftsmanship, the original meaning is the ordinary work of a craftsman, but ordinary work can create myths.

Falling on the sword master, a commoner can also use a breath of unfairness to cut off all unfair things in the world.

So Ouyang Rong obtained the rough magical power of "Craftsmanship" to absorb the purple mist of merit and the unfair qi in his chest.

Especially on that night not long ago, after he wore the bronze mask and answered Mother Liu's questions, and bid farewell to them.

At that time, walking on the night road to Tanlang Ferry, Ouyang Rong suddenly felt that the stuffy qi in his chest was thoroughly smooth, and the true meaning of "Craftsmanship" was almost completely digested by him.

For now, at most, it is the final step of creating the "Craftsmanship Sword Art".

And this kind of harsh achievement of summarizing sword arts is almost only achieved by the legendary sword masters of each tripod sword.

It is even more difficult for sword masters who are not originally high-spirited people.

But once this remarkable achievement is completed, the legendary sword master can exert the maximum power of this tripod sword.

Just like Ouyang Rong, although he mastered the "Return" sword art, his application of the tripod sword's unique skill "Return" is certainly not as powerful as the legendary sword master Tao Qian who created this sword art, and he cannot exert the maximum power of the lost tripod sword "Cold Scholar".

"Logically speaking, as the first sword master, I have realized the true meaning to this extent, and it should be almost the same as obtaining the sword art.

"But why is it so slow to break through to Grade 8? Is it necessary to complete the final step, the creation of the 'sword art', or is it some other reason..."

Ouyang Rong locked his brows in confusion.

The secret knowledge about the sword wielder's absolute pulse is the highest secret of the major hidden sects in the world, and it is never passed on, and even his mentor and Little Xiao Shimei don't know the details.

As a wild sword wielder, he can only gradually summarize and explore by himself.

Ouyang Rong was worried and confused, and then for more than half an hour, he frequently looked inside his dantian and urged spiritual energy to find the problem.

At a certain moment, he looked at the spiritual energy in his dantian that was like an ancient well without waves, and suddenly a flash of inspiration:

"Wait, could it be the most obvious reason, simply that the spiritual energy required to break through the bottleneck is not enough?"

"Remember when Little Xiao Shimei broke the grade, she observed my 'Qi', obtained the infusion of spiritual energy from the surrounding heaven and earth, and then broke through the bottleneck in one go.

"Do I also need to observe 'Qi'... not necessarily, this kind of method is hard to come by.

"But no matter what, it is definitely necessary to have a large amount of extra spiritual energy to impact the bottleneck and chisel the dantian capacity.

"Then where do I find this large amount of extra spiritual energy..."

Ouyang Rong pondered hard and began to recall the situation about Qi practitioners he had learned in the past.

He locked his brows and suddenly took out a pill box and opened it. Inside lay a dark green pill, which was "Mo Jiao".

"Wait." Ouyang Rong shook his head:

"Maybe not, Little Xiao Shimei said that Qi-supplementing pills can only supplement the maximum spiritual energy capacity owned by the dantian, and are not used to break the grade. Using external pills to break the grade is a crooked way, and different Dao pulses have different ways of breaking the grade..."

"Eh!"

Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered the promotion methods of the Lady Yuzhi Female Immortal and Liu Zian.

"I sacrificed the Lady Yuzhi Female Immortal and inherited the Grade 9 cultivation. The initial Dao pulse is the same as hers... couldn't I learn their promotion methods?"

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it felt. "But... they are through arranging cruel rituals, killing sacrifices in public, and absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy and spirituality to promote.

"And the identity, status, bloodline cultivation of the sacrifice, and the number of surrounding spectators are all important indicators of the ritual effect.

"Do I also have to arrange this kind of evil ritual?"

Ouyang Rong held his forehead, showing hesitation, and suddenly felt that this matter was a bit troublesome.

He got up and walked away, opened the tightly closed window, and stared at the night scenery of the Xunyang River in the distance.

The lonely lamp on the desk was blown out, and the night breeze carried away a mutter:

"It's fine, where do I find a suitable sacrifice..."

The next day, Ouyang Rong went to work as usual.

In the evening, just after returning to the residence, a beautiful woman in a skirt greeted him, took his arm, and pulled him into the flower hall for dinner with a smile.

I saw Xie Lingjiang and a bowl of longevity noodles waiting at the table.

Aunt Zhen smiled and said: "Wanwan is coming to stay for one night tonight, Tanlang, accompany her more."

Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang looked at each other calmly, "Okay."

Midnight.

In Yinbing Zhai, on a certain bed, Ouyang Rong suddenly opened his eyes and looked outside the window.

There was a slight movement.

Ouyang Rong got out of bed nimbly, changed into black clothes, and left the house lightly;

On the bed behind him, the white-haired little head exposed in the quilt was sleeping peacefully.

On the roof not far away, Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang met. Just now was the agreed signal.

"Senior Brother..."

"Shh, let's talk when we get there."

"Yes."

The two took advantage of the night cover and went to the Liang Wang Fu together... ===== CHAPTER 279 =====