Chapter 160

Someone in the blade?!

In an instant, Qin Shuo felt his hairs stand on end all over his body, his scalp going numb.

He quickly communicated with the Taotie Ding, confirming he was still in the refinement process and could abort at any time, which somewhat eased his mind.

"How could there be a person inside this sword?"

After repeatedly confirming that this was merely the illusion where the refinement ingredients resided, Qin Shuo boldly stepped forward, hoping to see the face of the person inside the blade.

However, when he actually got close, he discovered that the person inside the blade was just a blurry, humanoid phantom.

Afterward, he examined several nearby long swords one after another; without exception, each sword's blade contained a seated figure.

Buzz buzz buzz!

Suddenly, an extremely faint tremor of a blade sounded from not far ahead.

Qin Shuo followed the sound and saw that it was a long sword identical in style to the surrounding ones.

The only difference was that its blade was gleaming white, with no seated figure inside, and its constant trembling seemed to be calling to him.

"Could it be that the so-called unity of person and blade means having one's mind and spirit take over these longswords formed from blade intent?"

Qin Shuo recalled what Huang Lao Tou had said after entering the testing chamber.

To become a true blade nurturer, one must, within a year, achieve unity of person and blade with the Juetian Blade in hand.

And now, aren't those seated figures inside the blades, resembling reflections in a mirror, exactly the unity of person and blade?

Buzz buzz buzz.

The ownerless long blade trembled violently, continuously emitting a call, wanting Qin Shuo to unite with it as person and blade.

But Qin Shuo paid no heed and continued observing the surrounding long swords.

Upon closer inspection, Qin Shuo indeed found a clue.

These long swords, while similar in style, varied in size.

The closer one got to the Thousand-Zhang Divine Blade's edge, the larger its volume became, and the blade intent condensed upon it grew more fierce and terrifying.

Among them, eight longswords stood out like cranes among chickens, towering in a sea of blades.

Each of them was over a hundred zhang tall.

Although they paled in comparison to the Thousand-Zhang Divine Blade, they were still insignificant.

Yet compared to the other blades on the ground, they were as lofty as divine mountains, impossible to surpass.

They stood like guardians, encircling the Thousand-Zhang Divine Blade, their bodies wrapped in golden chains.

The other end of these chains was none other than the blade of the Thousand-Zhang Divine Blade itself.

In fact, it wasn't just those eight hundred-zhang longswords.

Even the longswords only a zhang or so tall, situated closer to the Thousand-Zhang Divine Blade, were similarly entwined with chains.

However, these chains were not golden but blue, like the thunder and lightning spreading across a barren land.

The chains blended with the blue electric sea, making them indistinguishable unless examined closely.

Afterward, Qin Shuo looked at the ordinary longswords beside him; they, too, had chains wrapped around them.

However, these chains were much fainter compared to those on the longswords several meters high.

If one weren't deliberately observing, it would be impossible to notice.

"This blade nurturing technique sure has problems!" Qin Shuo felt a chill run down his spine.

"Could this be another Howling Moon Demon King trying to forge a blade using a person?"

Blade nurturing technique, blade nurturing technique...

As it turns out, it really is about nurturing a blade with a person.

Qin Shuo felt a sense of dread, and his vigilance heightened to the extreme.

However, he wasn't overly worried.

After all, based on past refinement experience, regardless of whether someone is manipulating the blade nurturing technique behind the scenes, once he refines the blade intent, there will be no possibility of it being recontrolled by others.

Just like the Heavenly Wolf Blood Pill of the Howling Moon Demon King earlier, even if demonic spirits lurked within, after being refined by the Taotie Ding, they could only become nourishment for his sea of consciousness.

Surely, this Absolute Heaven Blade Intent would be no exception.

"If that's the case, then don't blame me for ridding the world of harm!"

A cold feeling welled up in Qin Shuo's heart.

After experiencing how the Howling Moon Demon King used the Heavenly Wolf Blood Pill to control the populace of Black Water City, he is now extremely sensitive to the idea of refining pills with people and forging blades with people.

Therefore, he now directly classified the so-called Zhenwu King as evil, wanting to see if he could cause some damage.

He returned to the ownerless long sword that had summoned him and yanked it out of the ground.

In an instant, familiar text prompts flooded his vision.

【Absolute Heaven Blade Intent】

【A wisp of blade intent peeled off from the blade of the Thunder Tiger Absolute Heaven Blade, a divine weapon of the suppressed realm.】

【Absolute Heaven Blade Intent, exterminating all vitality, destroying all hope!】

【Current refinement progress: completed!】

The blade intent peeled off from the divine weapon of the suppressed realm?

The Thunder Tiger Absolute Heaven Blade of the Zhenwu King turned out to be the divine weapon of the suppressed realm that the Holy Beast Bai Ze had long dreamed of.

Qin Shuo's heart skipped a beat.

He knew he had uncovered the core secret of the blade nurturing technique.

But before he could digest this information, new text appeared on the Taotie Ding:

【Current energy reserves are sufficient; continue refinement?】

Can one refine more than a single strand of blade intent?

Qin Shuo really was startled this time!

But he quickly came to his senses, realizing that he and He Mingjing et al. were ultimately different.

He Mingjing et al. connected through the fusion of soul and blade intent, thereby linking with the Lightning Tiger Sever-Heaven Blade and grasping its blade intent.

He, however, was refining it, equivalent to devouring the Sever-Heaven Blade intent into his body, transforming and absorbing it via the Taotie Cauldron, turning it into blade intent wholly his own.

Thus, as long as there is sufficient energy, he can refine as much as he wants.

"In that case, don't blame me for being impolite!"

Qin Shuo's eyes flashed with an astonishing light as he swiftly roamed the Blade Sea Forest, seeking ownerless blade intent to refine.

One strand, two strands, three strands…

With each strand of Sever-Heaven Blade intent he refined, Qin Shuo felt his connection to that thousand-zhang divine blade deepen a bit.

When he refined the fifth strand of blade intent,

Whoosh—

The previously dead-quiet Blade Forest suddenly whipped up a gale, causing the tens of thousands of chains linking the thousand-zhang divine blade to shake violently, producing the sound of metal clashing.

A pair of enormous golden eyes, like two magma hells, suddenly opened above the thousand-zhang divine blade, gazing down upon this vast land.

In an instant, Qin Shuo felt everything around him freeze.

Time, space, even his thoughts.

"Huh?"

A flicker of surprise and curiosity flashed in the golden eyes.

Immediately afterward, Qin Shuo saw a colossal palm, covering the sky and blotting out the sun, its five fingers as thick as mountain peaks, reaching down from the firmament above, as if trying to seize him.

"Withdraw!"

Qin Shuo roared in his mind!

Swish!

Just as he withdrew from that strange space, he heard another exclamation of surprise.

Immediately afterward, his consciousness returned.

Then he saw, hovering above the gold-and-silver intertwined sea of consciousness, a golden long blade about one zhang in length.

An extremely terrifying, sharp blade intent emanated from the blade's body,

as if it wanted to split his entire sea of consciousness into countless fragments, causing his soul to faintly ache.

"Hiss!"

Qin Shuo sucked in a cold breath.

He also secretly felt relieved.

Fortunately, the appearance of that strange golden eye came just in time, preventing him from continuing to refine the Sever-Heaven Blade intent.

Otherwise, with his current soul strength, refining five strands of Sever-Heaven Blade intent would already be the limit.

Even if he refined just one more strand, his sea of consciousness could not bear it and would likely collapse outright.

"Too dangerous!"

Qin Shuo's heart pounded like thunder; he silently swore never to be so greedy again.

That is, he had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Divine Ability, his soul tempered by Vajra Buddhist Nature, already as tough as iron.

Otherwise, the one-zhang-long blade condensed from those five strands of Sever-Heaven Blade intent right now would be enough to rend his mind and soul, causing his consciousness to collapse.

"Refining is done; it's time to go out!"

Qin Shuo rose from the futon, sheathed the long blade, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Outside the door, in the courtyard.

Since Qin Shuo entered the secret chamber for testing, He Mingjing has been waiting in the courtyard without leaving.

His gaze would occasionally sweep toward the room where Qin Shuo was, and he said with regret:

"Old Huang, is Qin Shuo truly incapable of mastering the Blade Nurturing Technique?"

"How so? Even you, kid, don't believe me?" Huang Jeyun sneered.

"Not possible!"

He Mingjing hurriedly replied with an apologetic smile: "Everyone in the Demon Suppression Office knows, Old Huang, your Blade Nurturing Technique is unrivaled in Yun Province."

"If it weren't for screening Blade Nurturers for the Prince, you'd by now be a famous figure in Yun Province."

"Hah! At least you, kid, know how to speak nicely."

Huang Jeyun glanced at the room still showing no movement, then sighed lightly:

"Little He, I know you mean well; I hope that kid can walk a bright path."

"But becoming the Prince's Blade Nurturer is not that simple."

"I understand."

He Mingjing sighed, changed the subject: "Old Huang, when you first participated in the selection, how long did it take you to draw your sword?"

"One incense stick!"

"That fast?"

"And uniting sword and person?"

"Three months!"

"Tsk! I thought I was the fastest in our office, but I didn't expect Old Huang to be this fast."

"You're not bad either; half a year to unite sword and person is barely enough to qualify for the Prince's Divine Sword Guard."

"The Divine Sword Guard? That's the Prince's personal army."

"I've heard that the leaders of the Eight Great Divine Blades have each cultivated the Blade Nurturing Technique to the utmost, their blade intent condensed to over a hundred zhang in length—I don't know if it's true or not."

That's naturally true!

The leaders of the Divine Blade Guard are all blade dao masters handpicked by the Prince from the martial world; their blade-nurturing technique is naturally superb.

I don't even know how long it took those Divine Blade Guard leaders to achieve blade-body unity.

According to what I know, the fastest among them only took three days.

Three days? That's truly a despair-inducing number!

The two chatted on and off.

Creak!

Suddenly, the door of the testing room was pushed open, and Qin Shuo walked out from within.