Chapter 61: The Dragon-Subduing Cauldron and the Sword Art (Revised)

(PS: This chapter has been revised—expanded from 3,000 to 5,000 words. The previous version was inadequate, so I rewrote it entirely, altering the worldline as well.)

A special primordial force arose from his abdomen and flowed through his entire body.

With just that one bite, Fang Shi clearly felt a subtle change in his life form.

A normal person might not notice, but his extraordinary perception would never mislead him.

“Senior Brother, what’s going on with this meat?”

For matters outside the sect, ask the Senior Brother—he had already learned this on the journey.

The Senior Brother was a gentle person, always happy to answer his junior brothers’ and sisters’ questions, never showing the slightest impatience.

The Senior Brother said in surprise, “Your spiritual sense is impressive—you felt it after just a bite.”

“I didn’t realize it until after I finished my meal.”

Fang Shi feigned confusion: “I feel my body has changed slightly—what exactly is happening?”

The Senior Brother said, “Don’t worry—it’s a good thing, and a benefit of the sect.”

“The food in the dining hall replenishes Qi and nourishes the primordial essence, refining the body and transforming the bones.”

“As long as you eat enough for a month, you’ll almost certainly advance to Qi Refining.”

Fang Shi suddenly understood—no wonder the Senior Brother had said everyone in the dining hall had entered within a month.

Those who had been here longer than a month had already reached Qi Refining—this efficiency was astonishing.

On Blue Star, humans before the Second Impact—just one month after the apocalypse began—averaged only Level 2 or so.

Only a tiny handful of top individuals reached Level 6 and entered the First Tier.

They had endured countless life-or-death crises to achieve such results.

Yet the Heaven’s Sword Sect could guarantee that every new disciple would enter the First Tier within a month.

All they needed to do was eat, sleep, and wait—success came naturally.

And this meat wasn’t from high-tier creatures.

It came from First-Tier monsters hunted by Qi Refining disciples.

This was truly astonishing!

“Senior Brother, I’ve eaten monster meat in the mortal world—why wasn’t it this potent?”

The Senior Brother smiled proudly: “Naturally—how could mortal methods compare to immortal techniques?”

“These monster meats are cooked in the Dragon-Subduing Cauldron, infused with the power of the Dao.”

Fang Shi asked again: “What is the Dragon-Subduing Cauldron? And what is the power of the Dao?”

The Senior Brother continued: “As the saying goes, food is the paramount need of the people—and cultivators are no exception.”

“But cultivators eat better, more refined food.”

“‘Better’ means the ingredients themselves—requiring rare heavenly treasures and earthly wonders.”

“‘Refined’ means the preparation—requiring skilled personnel and specialized equipment.”

“The Dragon-Subduing Cauldron was forged precisely to help cultivators eat better and more refined.”

“Of course, the Dragon-Subduing Cauldron’s primary purpose is refining pills and primordial energy.”

“Meat dishes are merely byproducts.”

“As for the power of the Dao—that’s a force only Golden Core cultivators can access. Even I don’t fully understand it.”

Seeing the Senior Brother’s apologetic expression, Fang Shi quickly said, “That’s enough—thank you for explaining.”

The Dragon-Subduing Cauldron, the power of the Dao—Fang Shi’s horizons had been utterly expanded.

If the Heaven’s Sword Sect was this powerful, then the Sword Art they distributed must be no ordinary thing.

He couldn’t wait to return and cultivate, to see what wonders it held.

…

After eating his fill, guided by the sect’s map, Fang Shi quickly found his quarters.

The house was spacious—not only did it come with a courtyard, it had three rooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

The three rooms were the bedroom, the sword practice room, and the storage room.

After arranging his belongings, Fang Shi went to the sword practice room.

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

The Sword Art had six forms: thrust, slice, chop, press, lift, and twist.

They sounded simple, even basic.

But the way power was generated defied all logic.

Fang Shi mentally simulated it—and felt something was off.

Wouldn’t this method drastically reduce its power?

But no amount of thinking was better than trying.

So he stood up and thrust a sword according to the Sword Art’s method.

“Shhh!”

The result was still unremarkable.

No! Not unremarkable!

The training ground’s cultivation efficiency bonus had taken effect.

Fang Shi’s insight surged dramatically whenever he cultivated any skill or proficiency.

The 30x insight bonus allowed him to perceive the difference in this strike.

This thrust actually delivered slightly more force than he had exerted.

And that slight increase came from within his body.

A mysterious force had merged into his body as he struck.

Amplifying the power of the thrust.

As he focused, Fang Shi immediately understood the source of this force.

It was primordial force—also called spiritual energy by the Heaven’s Sword Sect.

But wasn’t spiritual energy supposed to nourish all things, harmless to any living being?

Fang Shi thought briefly and realized—the Sword Art didn’t directly use spiritual energy to attack.

Instead, it indirectly used spiritual energy to temporarily enhance physical attributes, unleashing greater power.

It was exquisitely refined.

But it didn’t seem particularly outstanding.

Wasn’t this just like the Sword Saint’s Qi-Enhanced Slash or the Monk’s Shocking Fist?

Both used internal Qi to amplify attacks.

The Sword Art’s only distinction was that it didn’t require converting spiritual energy into another form before amplification.

“I suppose once mastered, it’s just another combat proficiency.”

“It probably can’t synergize with Double Impact like other energies can.”

Fang Shi felt a small disappointment—Double Impact was a unique power technique, and so was the Sword Art.

They conflicted—utterly incompatible, impossible to use together.

Having seen the Heaven’s Sword Sect’s wonders, he had high hopes—only to find this was all it was.

“No—I fell into a cognitive trap. I only think it’s mediocre because I already have Double Impact.”

“In truth, gaining an additional amplification method after acquiring supernatural power is a massive boost for anyone.”

“I just already have one.”

Though disappointed, Fang Shi wouldn’t abandon cultivating the Sword Art.

First, the Sword Art included not only six unique power techniques but also corresponding combat maneuvers.

During cultivation, he easily gained the proficiencies: Longsword Weapon Focus I, Longsword Weapon Specialization I, Longsword Lethal Strike I.

Second, the Senior Brother had casually mentioned after dinner.

Whoever mastered the Sword Art first should come to him—he’d offer extra rewards.

Fang Shi was intelligent himself, and with his 30x insight bonus, he was confident he’d win first place.

…

“After prolonged training, your Fang Family Breathing Method III has improved.”

“Fang Family Breathing Method III → Fang Family Breathing Method IV.”

“【Fang Family Breathing Method IV】: This is an advanced cultivation technique. Through prolonged practice, your physical recovery speed has increased. (Physical recovery speed +40%)”

“By cultivating Fang Family Breathing Method IV, your attributes have been perfected.”

“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 advanced to Level 4.

This was due not only to the 30x cultivation speed bonus but also to the Heaven’s Sword Sect’s abundant spiritual energy and the dining hall’s meals.

The spiritual energy need not be explained—Fang Shi had experienced training grounds in his previous life.

No place had spiritual energy as rich as the Heaven’s Sword Sect.

Not even other worlds compared.

As for the dining hall’s meals—the Senior Brother hadn’t lied. They truly transformed the body and bones.

Beyond a transformation of life essence, his physical attributes were greatly enhanced.

Fang Shi had originally been puzzled—the Sword Art was purely a combat technique.

Even breathing methods offered better improvement to physical attributes.

Don’t these people at the Heavenly Sword Sect know the importance of base stats? Do they simply refuse to train?

Of course they know—and they’ve even planned your path forward.

Eat in the cafeteria for a full month, and even if you were originally as weak as a newborn, your strength, constitution, and agility will steadily reach 18 points.

You only need to master the Sword Art and learn how to kill your enemies.

But the Sword Art doesn’t seem that powerful.

After a day of cultivation, Fang Shi had already reached Great Completion with the first technique: Thrust.

A Great Completion Thrust was roughly twice the power of a normal strike.

It was nearly equivalent to the full version of Double Force, except it lacked its comprehensiveness.

The only advantage over Double Force was that wielding the Sword Art consumed no extra stamina and caused no bodily damage.

It only consumed internal spiritual energy.

And spiritual energy—any living thing within a spiritual energy environment naturally contains some.

The amount depends on the average spiritual energy density of the surrounding environment.

The more you consume, the more spiritual energy automatically flows in to replenish it.

No need to worry at all.

In an environment as rich in spiritual energy as the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Fang Shi could say that unless he exhausted his stamina, every strike would be one of the Six Sword Techniques.

But in a low-spiritual-energy environment, like on Blue Star, it was pathetic.

Fang Shi suspected that in such an environment, even using one technique of the Sword Art would be a miracle.

“No! This isn’t right.”

His 30x insight kicked in again—Fang Shi felt that whenever he performed the Thrust, something always felt incomplete.

As if it could go further, reach a higher realm.

He also believed that the Heavenly Sword Sect had previously demonstrated such formidable power.

How could their most basic sect technique be nothing more than a flawed version of Double Force?

“Shh!”

The longsword drew again, and Fang Shi didn’t rest.

He rose immediately to practice swordplay—he had a glimmer of insight.

If he could grasp it, he would break through instantly.

“No, this feeling is wrong.”

After practicing slightly, Fang Shi began swinging wildly, trying to solve the puzzle with a different approach.

It felt like solving a complex math problem—there were ideas, there were thoughts.

But he couldn’t find the entrance.

Every idea, every line of thought felt both right and wrong.

If he had known nothing at all, it would’ve been fine.

But this half-understood state was the most tormenting.

Fragmented thoughts mixed together, leaving him utterly lost.

“Calm down, calm down—start from the most basic point.”

“What was the Heavenly Sword Sect’s original intent in distributing the Sword Art?”

“To have outer disciples master a powerful killing technique, then enter Qi Refining to hunt demonic beasts.”

“After all, Senior Brother had said before that cultivation techniques aren’t free.”

“The Sword Art clearly can’t be used forever.”

“According to the Common Sense Handbook, eventually you must exchange sect contributions for more advanced techniques.”

“But forcing outer disciples to hunt demonic beasts after only a month of sword practice? That’s absurd.”

“Even if outer disciples’ base stats are decent after advancing to Qi Refining.”

“What about everything else—combat experience, for instance?”

“What if they encounter a stronger demonic beast? They’d be finished.”

“Therefore, the Sword Art must have greater power.”

As for why these details weren’t recorded in the Sword Art itself,

Fang Shi believed it was the intention of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s higher-ups.

He had already inquired—this sect recruits solely based on insight, not background.

So his batch of new disciples came from all walks of life, rich and poor alike.

Added to that, after entry, they were given not a single teacher.

They were simply handed a Sword Art manual and told to cultivate on their own.

Isn’t that testing insight?

In Fang Shi’s memory, powerful cultivators in Chinese novels loved this kind of approach.

It was hardly surprising that the Heavenly Sword Sect’s cultivators did the same.

“The simplest idea is to further amplify spiritual energy.”

“See if you can maintain a stronger combat state.”

At Great Completion, the Thrust’s power was twice that of a normal attack.

That meant maintaining double power at all times during combat.

But in reality, you could continue charging, breaking past the two-fold barrier.

But then the technique would lose its fluidity, full of openings.

Easy for enemies to exploit and kill you.

Thus, double power was the optimal output limit.

Anything higher was unnecessary.

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

Raise the Sword Art’s power to another level.

For an ordinary person, this might be impossible.

But with 30x insight, Fang Shi had already surpassed the limit.

2.1 times…

2.2 times…

2.3 times…

As time passed, the Thrust’s power grew ever greater.

This only strengthened Fang Shi’s belief that he was on the right path.

After three days and nights of grueling cultivation, the Thrust’s power finally neared threefold.

“Shh!”

A violent tearing sound echoed—the training room rang like thunder.

The longsword, moving at sixty meters per second, pierced through the training dummy.

Then—BOOM—it exploded into countless fragments.

“What?”

Fang Shi was stunned, staring in disbelief at the longsword in his hand.

“This is just a Thrust—not a bomb. Penetration is normal, but this?”

“This dummy’s durability isn’t that weak—why did it shatter?”

Fang Shi rushed to inspect the debris and found scorch marks at the fracture points.

This wasn’t friction heat—friction heat wouldn’t leave such large burns, let alone cause an explosion.

“Could it be?”

Fang Shi recalled carefully—he seemed to have felt a concentration of spiritual energy at the sword’s tip just now.

He had thought nothing of it, since pure spiritual energy had no destructive power.

That was simple logic—if spiritual energy had destructive power,

then everything in a high-spiritual-energy environment would be damaged constantly.

The world would become a wasteland; no life could survive.

To inflict damage, spiritual energy must be converted into another form of energy.

This could be called a universal law of the multiverse.

Thus, only one possibility remained: the spiritual energy gathered at the sword’s tip had changed at some moment.

That change was the cause of the earlier explosion.

It also drastically increased the Thrust’s power.

Had his internal spiritual energy not been depleted, Fang Shi would’ve tried again immediately.

If only his spiritual energy weren't so depleted, Fang Shi would have tried again.

That’s right, his internal spiritual energy is indeed insufficient.

Fang Shi realized that as the piercing strike’s power increased, the required spiritual energy grew ever greater.

It could not be restored instantly from the surrounding environment.

There was a gap between each technique.

Like a dragon-slaying art, it came with corresponding limitations.

But this did not dampen Fang Shi’s enthusiasm.

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

In the future, he might not need to do so.

Qi Refining, Qi Refining—how can you call it Qi Refining if you have no Qi?

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

At that time, you could directly draw upon the energy source to amplify the body, just as the Sword Art enhances it with spiritual energy.

And your own body could still apply the Sword Art’s striking technique for double amplification.

Or for myself, I could substitute it with Double Force.

It seemed he had previously underestimated the Sword Art too much.

Not to mention the supernatural power that emerged after surpassing triple power.

…

“Crash!”

Another dummy exploded, shards scattering everywhere.

Inside the sword-practice chamber, the floor was littered with fragments of dummies, like a massive junkyard.

Yet Fang Shi’s eyes glowed with excitement.

He confirmed it—truly confirmed—that the piercing strike could indeed transform spiritual energy.

Triple power seemed to be a threshold.

Once triple power was reached, spiritual energy would gather at the sword’s tip.

Then, within a short time, it would transform into fire-element power—or, more accurately, fire-type spiritual power.

This granted the piercing strike flame damage, creating massive destruction.

This was the supernatural power Fang Shi sought.

He had assumed he would need to advance to a higher class before gaining it.

Yet after entering Jianwutang, he had acquired it so easily.

Unfortunately, this method of drawing upon external spiritual energy was affected by the environment.

The strength of the flame damage depended on the ambient spiritual energy content.

Even so, Fang Shi was already satisfied.

He did not believe Jianwutang, which had created such an advanced art, would have overlooked this issue.

There must be a solution—or perhaps one just as he had imagined.

Also dependent on the energy source after Qi Refining.

“Forget it. I’ve mastered it, and all the dummies in the room are destroyed.”

“Now I’ll go ask Senior Brother and see if there’s any reward.”

“And I can ask him these questions directly—it’s better than guessing on my own.”

…

“Knock, knock, knock.”

“Senior Brother, are you in?”

The courtyard gate opened without wind—Senior Brother sat cross-legged in the yard, eyes closed, a long sword resting flat on his knees, doing nothing apparent.

“Fang Shi, why are you here?”

Fang Shi bowed respectfully. “Senior Brother, I’ve hit a bottleneck with my Sword Art and need your guidance.”

“Hmm…” Senior Brother kept his eyes shut, speaking lightly.

“Speak. If I know, I’ll answer.”

Fang Shi continued: “Senior Brother, while practicing the piercing strike, I noticed something.”

“When the piercing strike reaches about three times the power of a normal strike, fire-type spiritual energy erupts from the sword’s tip.”

“This greatly enhances the strike’s power—what is this phenomenon?”

Senior Brother suddenly opened his eyes—within them flashed the gleam of a sword: “You’ve perfected the piercing strike?!”