Chapter 61: The Fulong Cauldron and the Sword Art (Revised)

(PS: This chapter has been revised, expanded from 3000 words to 5000 words. The previous version was unsatisfactory, so I rewrote it entirely, and the worldline has also changed.)

A special primal force surged from within his abdomen, circulating through his entire body.

With just that single bite, Fang Shi felt very clearly that his life form had undergone a slight alteration.

An ordinary person might not have noticed, but with his extraordinary perception, he could not possibly be mistaken.

"Eldest Senior Brother, what is the matter with this meat?"

"When it comes to external affairs, ask the Eldest Senior Brother," Fang Shi had already figured out along the way.

The Eldest Senior Brother was a gentle-tempered person, always happy to answer questions from junior brothers and sisters, never showing the slightest impatience.

The Eldest Senior Brother said in surprise, "Your spiritual sense is sharp; you actually sensed it after eating just a little."

"I only realized it after finishing my meal back then."

Fang Shi feigned confusion: "I feel as though my body has undergone a slight change. What exactly is going on?"

The Eldest Senior Brother said, "No need to worry; this is a good thing, and also a benefit provided by the Sect."

"The food in the canteen has the effect of replenishing Qi and nourishing the Yuan, transforming the body and bones."

"As long as one eats enough for a month, one can basically advance to the Qi Refining Stage."

Fang Shi suddenly understood; no wonder the Eldest Senior Brother had said earlier that everyone in the canteen had entered the Sect within a month.

Apparently, those who stayed longer than a month had all become Qi Refining cultivators; this efficiency was simply astonishing.

On the Blue Star, before the Second Impact, that is, one month after the apocalypse began, the average level of humans was barely above level 2.

Only a very few top-tier individuals could reach level 6 and enter the First Tier.

Countless life-and-death crises were endured during this process to achieve such accomplishments.

Yet the Heavenly Sword Sect could actually guarantee that every newcomer would enter the First Tier within a month.

During this period, one only needed to eat and sleep, waiting for time to pass, and success would come naturally.

Moreover, these meats were not from high-tier creatures.

They came from First Tier demonic beasts hunted by Qi Refining disciples.

This was truly astonishing!

"Eldest Senior Brother, I have eaten demonic beast meat in the mortal world before, so why wasn't it so nourishing?"

The Eldest Senior Brother smiled proudly: "That is natural; how could mortal methods compare to immortal methods?"

"This demonic beast meat was cooked using the Fulong Cauldron and contains the power of the Great Dao."

Fang Shi asked again: "What is the Fulong Cauldron? And what is the power of the Great Dao?"

The Eldest Senior Brother continued: "As the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people; cultivators are naturally no exception."

"It is just that cultivators eat better and more refined food."

"The 'better' here refers to the quality of the food, requiring various heavenly treasures and earthly wonders."

"The 'refined' here refers to proper processing, requiring professional personnel and tools."

"The Fulong Cauldron was forged specifically to allow cultivators to eat better and more refined food."

"Of course, the primary function of the Fulong Cauldron is to refine pills and Yuan Qi."

"Meat and the like can only be considered byproducts."

"As for the power of the Great Dao, it is a force that only cultivators at the Jin Dan Stage can access; even I, your senior brother, am not entirely clear on it."

Seeing the apologetic look on the Eldest Senior Brother's face, Fang Shi hurriedly said, "This is enough; thank you, Senior Brother, for the explanation."

What Fulong Cauldron, what power of the Great Dao; it truly opened Fang Shi's eyes.

If the Heavenly Sword Sect was so powerful, then the "Sword Art" they distributed must be anything but simple.

He felt somewhat impatient to return and cultivate, to see what miraculous aspects it contained.

After eating and drinking his fill, guided by the sect map, Fang Shi quickly found his house.

The house was not small; besides having its own courtyard, it featured three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom.

These three bedrooms were the bedroom, the sword-practice room, and the storage room.

After moving his miscellaneous items, Fang Shi arrived at the sword-practice room.

He first took out the "Sword Art" and studied it carefully.

The Sword Art consisted of six forms: Thrust, Slice, Chop, Press, Flick, and Twist.

They sounded very simple and quite basic.

However, the method of exerting force within them completely defied common sense.

Fang Shi simulated it in his mind but felt something was wrong.

If one exerted force this way, wouldn't the power be greatly reduced?

But no amount of thinking was better than trying it out.

So he stood up and executed a thrust according to the method in the "Sword Art."

"Whoosh!"

The result was that the power of this thrust was still quite ordinary.

No! Not quite ordinary!

The cultivation efficiency boost provided by the training ground had taken effect.

Fang Shi's comprehension increased greatly whenever he cultivated any skill or specialty.

The 30-fold comprehension boost allowed him to feel the difference in this thrust.

In reality, this thrust possessed slightly more power than the force Fang Shi exerted.

And this slight boost originated from within his own body.

A mysterious force merged into Fang Shi's body the moment he drew his sword.

This amplified the power of that strike.

Fang Shi sensed it carefully and immediately understood the source of this force.

It was clearly the Primordial Force, or, using the terminology of the Heavenly Sword Gate, Spiritual Qi.

But isn't Spiritual Qi the power that nourishes all things, incapable of harming any living being itself?

Fang Shi thought for a moment and realized the method of the 【Sword Art】 did not directly use Spiritual Qi to attack.

Instead, it indirectly utilized Spiritual Qi to temporarily enhance the body's physical attributes, unleashing greater power.

One could say it was incredibly exquisite.

But it didn't seem particularly outstanding either.

Isn't this just like the Sword Saint's Qi-Raising Slash and the Monk's Shocking Fist?

Both utilize the Qi within the body to amplify one's own attacks.

The only difference of the 【Sword Art】 is that it does not need to convert Spiritual Qi into another form of power before amplifying.

"I estimate that once mastered, it would be equivalent to gaining a combat technique specialization."

"It seems it still cannot synergize with the Version of Second Layer like other energies can."

Fang Shi felt a little disappointed; the Version of Second Layer is a special exertion technique, and so is the 【Sword Art】.

The two conflicted, making it impossible to perform them simultaneously.

Having witnessed the wonders of the Heavenly Sword Gate earlier, Fang Shi had held great expectations, only to find it was merely this.

"No, I have fallen into a cognitive trap. It is only because I possess the Version of Second Layer that I feel it is so underwhelming."

"In reality, after mastering supernatural power, gaining an additional amplification method is a huge improvement for anyone."

"It's just that I already possess this method."

Although Fang Shi was disappointed, he would not give up cultivating the 【Sword Art】.

First, besides the six special exertion techniques, the 【Sword Art】 also came with corresponding combat moves.

During Fang Shi's cultivation, he could easily master the three specializations: Longsword Weapon Focus I, Longsword Weapon Specialization I, and Longsword Critical Strike I.

Second, the Eldest Senior Brother had casually mentioned it after finishing his meal.

Whoever mastered the 【Sword Art】 to perfection first should find him, as there would be some extra benefits.

Fang Shi was naturally intelligent, and with a thirty-fold boost to his comprehension, he was very confident in taking first place.

"After long-term training, your Shi Breathing Method III has improved."

"Shi Breathing Method III → Shi Breathing Method IV."

"【Shi Breathing Method IV】: This is a profound training technique. Through long-term practice, your stamina recovery speed has increased. (Stamina Recovery Speed +40%)"

"Through cultivating the Shi Breathing Method IV, your attributes have been completed."

"Your Strength has permanently increased: 16 → 17."

"Your Agility has permanently increased: 16 → 17."

"Your Constitution has permanently increased: 16 → 17."

In just one day, Fang Shi's breathing method had broken through to Level 4.

Besides the thirty-fold cultivation speed bonus, this was also due to the abundant Spiritual Qi of the Heavenly Sword Gate and the food in the canteen.

As for the Spiritual Qi, it goes without saying; after all, the training grounds Fang Shi experienced before his rebirth...

... no place had Spiritual Qi comparable to that of the Heavenly Sword Gate.

Even the Otherworld could not compare to the Heavenly Sword Gate.

As for the food in the canteen, the Eldest Senior Brother indeed did not bluff; it truly was a transformation of the body and bone.

Besides the change in the essence of life, the physical attributes also received a tremendous boost.

Originally, Fang Shi was puzzled; the 【Sword Art】 belonged entirely to fighting techniques.

Its improvement to physical attributes was even inferior to the breathing method.

Did these people of the Heavenly Sword Gate not know the importance of base attributes? Did they not train at all?

Of course they knew; they had even planned the path forward for you.

If you eat in the canteen for a full month, even if you were originally powerless, your Strength, Constitution, and Agility will steadily reach 18 points.

You only need to master the 【Sword Art】 and know how to kill enemies.

However, the 【Sword Art】 does not seem that strong.

After one day of cultivation, Fang Shi's first form, the Thrust, had already reached perfection.

A perfected Thrust has roughly twice the power of a normal strike.

It is basically comparable to the complete Version of Second Layer, just not as comprehensive.

The only advantage over the Version of Second Layer is that performing the 【Sword Art】 does not consume extra stamina nor damage the body.

It only consumes the Spiritual Qi within the body.

And Spiritual Qi is something that exists within all things as long as one stays in a Spiritual Qi environment.

The amount depends on the average Spiritual Qi concentration of the surrounding environment.

If consumed too much, the surrounding Spiritual Qi will automatically flow in to replenish it.

There is absolutely no need to worry.

In an environment rich in Spiritual Qi like the Heavenly Sword Gate...

... one could say that unless Fang Shi exhausted his stamina, every move would be one of the six forms of the 【Sword Art】.

But entering an environment with scarce Spiritual Qi, like on Blue Star, it would be terrible.

Fang Shi doubted that in such an environment, being able to use even one move of the Sword Art would be good enough.

"No! It shouldn't be like this."

With the 30-fold comprehension ability acting again, Fang Shi always felt a sense of incompleteness whenever he executed the Thrusting Sword.

It seemed he could advance further, reaching a higher realm.

He also believed that Tianjian Gate's previous performance had been so impressive.

How could the most basic sect Cultivation Technique be a defect Version of Second Layer?

"Whoosh!"

The long sword was drawn again; Fang Shi did not rest.

He stood up directly to practice the sword, having already grasped a hint of inspiration.

As long as he successfully seized it, he could break through immediately.

"No, this feeling is wrong."

Fang Shi practiced a little, then began to wave the sword wildly, trying to solve the problem with another line of thought.

This feeling was just like tackling a major math problem; it seemed he had an idea, a train of thought.

But he simply could not find the way in.

Every idea, every train of thought felt both correct and wrong.

If he knew absolutely nothing, it would be fine.

But this kind of half-understanding was the most torturous.

Fragmented thoughts mixed together, leaving him completely lost in direction.

"Calm down, calm down, start thinking from the basics."

"What was the original intention of Tianjian Gate distributing the Sword Art?"

"It was to let outer sect disciples master powerful killing moves, then go kill demonic beasts after entering Qi Refining."

"After all, the senior brother said before that cultivating Cultivation Techniques is not free."

"The Sword Art obviously cannot be used until death."

"According to the Common Sense Handbook, one must consume sect contributions to exchange for deeper Cultivation Techniques at that time."

"But letting outer sect disciples hunt demonic beasts after practicing sword for just one month is too unreliable."

"Even if the outer sect disciples' basic attributes are not bad after advancing to Qi Refining."

"But what about the others? Are combat experience and such not considered?"

"What if they encounter a slightly stronger demonic beast? They would be finished."

"Therefore, the Sword Art must have even greater power."

As for why these are not recorded on the Sword Art.

Fang Shi believed this was the intention of Tianjian Gate's high-level leaders.

He had already inquired before; Tianjian Gate recruits based solely on comprehension, not background.

So among the disciples who entered in the same batch as him, there were people from all walks of life, with varying wealth.

Plus, after entering, there wasn't even a single teacher.

They just threw a Sword Art at you and let you cultivate on your own.

Isn't this just testing comprehension?

In Fang Shi's memory, in Hua Guo novels and scripts, those powerful cultivators also liked this style.

It was truly not surprising that Tianjian Gate's cultivators liked to do this.

"The simplest thing is to continue increasing the amplification of Qi."

"See if it can maintain a stronger combat state."

When the Thrusting Sword reached mastery, its power was twice that of a normal attack.

It meant maintaining double the power at any time and place during combat.

But in reality, you could continue to charge, breaking through the barrier of two times.

However, doing so would make the move not smooth enough, full of flaws.

It would be easy for enemies to exploit and kill you.

Therefore, double the power is the optimal output limit.

Any higher would be unnecessary.

What Fang Shi needed to do now was to break this optimal limit.

Raise the power of the Sword Art to another height.

For an ordinary person, this might be impossible.

But with the support of 30-fold comprehension, Fang Shi had already surpassed the limit.

Two point one times...

Two point two times...

Two point three times...

As time passed, the power of the Thrusting Sword grew greater and greater.

This made Fang Shi even more convinced that he had not taken the wrong path.

Just like that, after three days and three nights of arduous cultivation, the power of the Thrusting Sword finally approached three times.

"Whoosh!"

A violent sound of tearing the air came; inside the sword practice room, it was like thunder striking the flat ground.

The long sword, traveling at a speed of up to sixty meters per second, pierced through the dummy used for sword practice.

Then with a boom, the dummy exploded into a shower of fragments.

"What is this?"

Fang Shi was shocked, looking at the long sword in his hand in disbelief.

"This is clearly a thrusting sword, not a powder pack; penetration should be the normal phenomenon, right?"

"The toughness of this dummy shouldn't be that poor; how could it cause such a shattering?"

Fang Shi hurried to inspect the dummy's remains and found traces of fire scorching at the fracture points.

This was completely not friction-generated heat; traces of friction-generated heat would not be that large, nor would they cause an explosion.

"Could it be?"

Fang Shi recalled carefully; it seemed that when he thrust the long sword just now.

There indeed was a current of spiritual energy gathering at the sword tip.

He originally thought it meant nothing, after all, pure spiritual energy has no killing power.

This is a very simple principle: if spiritual energy had killing power.

Everything, as long as it stayed in an environment rich in spiritual energy, would suffer damage every moment.

In that case, the world would only be a wasteland, and living beings could not survive at all.

For spiritual energy to cause damage, it must be converted into other forms of energy.

This can be called a theorem of the multiverse.

Therefore, there is only one possibility: the spiritual energy gathering at the sword tip changed at a certain moment.

This change was the culprit behind the explosion just now.

It also greatly increased the power of the thrusting sword.

If not for the insufficient spiritual energy within his body, Fang Shi would have wanted to try it again.

That's right; the spiritual energy within his body was indeed insufficient.

Fang Shi discovered that as the power of the thrusting sword increased, the required spiritual energy grew greater.

It could not be replenished immediately by the surrounding environment at all.

There was an interval between every move.

Like the Art of Dragon Slaying, it had corresponding limiting conditions.

But this did not affect Fang Shi's enthusiasm.

He had already considered that he now needed to consume his own spiritual energy.

In the future, it might not be necessary to do so.

Cultivating Qi, cultivating Qi; without Qi, how can one have the face to call it Cultivating Qi?

After entering the First Stage, Cultivating Qi will surely have an energy source like other professions.

At that time, one could directly use the energy source to amplify, following the method of strengthening the body with spiritual energy when casting the Sword Art.

And one's own self could once again employ the force-generation technique of the Sword Art for a double amplification.

Or, for oneself, one could switch to Double Force.

Looking at it this way, I previously thought the Sword Art was too simple.

Not to mention the supernatural power that appeared after breaking through three times the power.

"Boom!"

Another dummy shattered, fragments scattering in all directions.

At this moment, the sword practice room was filled with the remains of dummies, like a large garbage dump.

However, Fang Shi's eyes were filled with excitement.

He confirmed, truly confirmed, that the thrusting sword can indeed transform spiritual energy.

Three times the power seemed to be a threshold.

After reaching three times the power, spiritual energy would gather at the sword tip.

Then, within a short time, it would transform into the power of the Fire Element, or one could also call it Fire-type Spiritual Power.

This caused the thrusting sword to carry fire damage, forming huge killing power.

This was the supernatural power Fang Shi pursued.

He originally thought it could only be possessed after changing professions to an advanced one.

Who would have thought that after entering the Heavenly Sword Gate, one could obtain it so simply.

However, it was a pity that this method of utilizing external spiritual energy would also be affected by the external environment.

The magnitude of the fire damage's power depends on the external spiritual energy content.

But even so, Fang Shi was already very satisfied.

He did not believe that the Heavenly Sword Gate, which created such an exquisite Cultivation Technique, would not have considered this problem.

There must be a solution, or perhaps it is the same as Fang Shi's previous assumption.

It also relies on the energy source after Cultivating Qi to solve it.

"Never mind; since I have mastered it, the dummies in the room are all exploded."

"Now I will go find the Eldest Senior Brother to ask if there are any rewards."

"And ask him about these questions; it will surely be more accurate than my own wild guesses."

"Thump, thump, thump."

"Eldest Senior Brother, are you there?"

The courtyard door swung open without wind; the eldest senior brother sat cross-legged with eyes closed in the courtyard, a long sword laid flat across his knees, doing who knows what.

"Fang Shi, why have you come to see me?"

Fang Shi respectfully said, "Eldest senior brother, my sword technique has reached a bottleneck; I have questions I wish to ask the eldest senior brother."

"Oh..." the eldest senior brother kept his eyes tightly shut and said lightly.

"Speak; as long as I know, I will answer you."

Fang Shi continued, "Eldest senior brother, while practicing the thrusting sword, I discovered something."

"When the power of the thrusting sword reaches about three times that of a normal strike, the sword tip erupts with the power of fire elemental spiritual energy."

"This greatly increases the power of the thrusting sword; what is this situation?"

The eldest senior brother suddenly opened his eyes, as if a sharp sword flashed within them: "You have actually cultivated the thrusting sword to the state of perfection!"