Chapter 117: 112 Broad Knowledge

After stepping down the stairs, the Blue Stone was restored, and the surroundings suddenly turned dark.

Immediately after, the ceiling above lit up, glowing faintly as if covered in a layer of fireflies. A tunnel wound forward before their eyes.

The tunnel had a slight incline, leading downward all the way, and at the end was another door; before the two could push it, it opened automatically.

A blue, shimmering Micro Light lit up.

Behind the door was a hall, and the hall was circular. Above, there was actually an entirely transparent glass ceiling, through which one could see green water ripples outside, and fish swimming past against the glass.

Right, this place is beneath the water marsh.

Tang Zhao watched in endless admiration; a Sword Smith is truly a person who creates miracles.

Around the hall were several doors, and in front of each door stood a white crane sculpture.

Xue Xianyun said nothing and pushed open the first room door on the far left.

Tang Zhao followed him inside and saw at a glance that there was a faint, flickering Rune Character on the head of the crane at the entrance.

It looked familiar—

"Empty"!

Tang Zhao immediately thought of the first page of his initial Rune Formula primer.

Empty, the original, most basic primal Talisman; there is nothing, everything is empty.

Then what is inside here...

An empty room.

Just as Tang Zhao guessed, this was indeed an empty room, without any furniture or decorations, but no one who entered would feel it was empty; instead, they would feel their vision was in Chaos.

One could see the four walls of the room were pitted and covered with small holes. It was like a honeycomb; if one looked closer, the hollows were not floating on the surface of the wall but went deep into it, and the wall itself was also strange—it was not transparent, but a faint silver, yet one could see the hollows inside the wall through the surface.

Tang Zhao's heart stirred: Wait, where have I seen this wall material before?

"Strange Stone?"

Right, when he first extracted the invading Sword Seed, Xue Yeyu had taken out such a piece of Strange Stone to place the Sword Seed inside.

"It is indeed Strange Stone." Xue Xianyun spoke, his voice long and drawn out, "All four walls are crafted from Strange Stone."

He paused here for a moment, seemingly waiting for Tang Zhao to say something, but Tang Zhao only looked at the walls with curiosity.

Xue Xianyun paused slightly and said, "Strange Stone is the only material that can contain a Sword Seed."

Tang Zhao nodded, just about to say, "I have heard of that." He then reacted, let out an "ah," and said, "These four walls... are all Sword Seeds?!"

This is... too extravagant, right?!

If all four walls were Sword Seeds, wouldn't Zhuoyu Villa be hiding hundreds of Sword Seeds?

Who said Sword Seeds were rare?

Xue Xianyun said, "Of course that is impossible. It is not even certain if there are hundreds of Sword Seeds in this world that haven't been forged into swords. It is merely hiding wood in a forest. Inside here are Sword Seeds, but also other materials. Besides Sword Seeds, are there no other 'empty' materials in the world? Space is also empty. Here—" He pointed to a hollow.

This hollow was only the size of a finger, and unlike the other quiet hollows, it occasionally expanded and contracted slightly, with fine black cracks flashing within it from time to time.

"This is space on the verge of collapsing, taken from a Demon Cave that was about to be closed."

He pointed casually, "There are many similar materials. All forms of 'empty' are contained within."

Tang Zhao's emotions fluctuated; he felt this plain, unremarkable room had become mysterious and unfathomable.

After the tour, Xue Xianyun led him out. Until the end, he did not explicitly state how many of the hollows on the walls were Sword Seeds, and Tang Zhao guessed secretly in his heart.

The two entered the room next door, and on the crane's head at the entrance was another symbol:

"Wind!"

There was no wind in the room, only round spheres. These spheres had no stands or strings, just floating in the air. The spheres were neither gold nor jade, with a texture as light as foam, and their surfaces were hollowed out, looking like incense balls. Through the hollows, one could see there was nothing in the center of the spheres.

"Is wind hidden inside these balls?" Tang Zhao was even more puzzled.

"What is wind?" As Tang Zhao pondered, Xue Xianyun suddenly asked.

Tang Zhao instinctively answered with the answer Chen Zong had taught him: "Wind is moving air, an air current."

Xue Xianyun said, "You are half right. To a Sword Smith, wind is a large category of materials. All materials that you cannot see or touch, but can feel, are wind. The most common is air, various types of air. But it is not just air. Grab the sphere next to you and feel it. Remember to hold it in your palm, grip it tight, and block all the hollows."

Tang Zhao grabbed a Floating sphere at random and covered the surface with his hand; he only felt a trace of chill emerge from those hollows, seeping into his skin, making his palm cold.

"Cold air, or temperature, is also a type of air."

He let go of the sphere, and the incense ball still floated in the air, only it did not float as high as before, dropping several feet out of thin air.

Tang Zhao found it very interesting and couldn't help but grab another floating ball nearby.

As soon as he grabbed it, he felt a pain in his skin, as if countless small fists had reached out from the hollows and were punching his palm wildly; he hurriedly loosened his hand, only to see his palm had turned red.

"That is strength." Xue Xianyun's expression darkened slightly.

Tang Zhao noticed the Manor Master's bad expression and knew it was rude to touch things without permission, so he hurriedly apologized, but couldn't help asking, "Is strength also wind?"

Xue Xianyun said, "Of course. Is strength not something you cannot see or touch, but can feel? Since that is the case, why wouldn't it be wind? The strength cultivated by different martial arts is also different; they are different materials, a very broad category of wind-type materials. Don't move blindly; you don't know what these are, and some are dangerous."

He glanced obscurely at that sphere; after being touched by Tang Zhao, the sphere had dropped a large distance and was hanging weakly at knee height, as if leaking air.

A lot was lost in that moment. Ah, it hurts to see.

But he couldn't say it, or he would appear stingy.

Tang Zhao asked, "Strength is wind, what about Internal Energy?"

Although Xue Xianyun kept a straight face, he showed no impatience in answering the question, saying, "It is also wind, though it leans more toward fire-type than strength. We have collected a few types here as well."

"What about Spirit?"

"That too. It is a higher-quality material. And it is harder to collect."

Tang Zhao thought: It seems that being able to collect various elusive materials is also a means for a Sword Smith.

"Then what about Qi of Valor?"

"Qi of Valor is not here."

The two went to the next room, and without needing to look at the entrance, Tang Zhao already knew what it should be.

"Fire!"

In the room were large mirrors, one after another. The mirrors faced the walls; upon entering, one could only see the backs of the mirrors, which featured various patterns—some with sea beasts and grapes, some with intertwined branches and flowers, some with lotus flowers and cranes, and others with strange, bizarre, or even extremely abstract designs.

"These here are Fire-Quality Material. You may turn them over to look, but you must not touch." Xue Xianyun turned one mirror around, and inside the mirror, flames surged as if fire snakes were dancing wildly.

"Fire, naturally, is Fire-Quality Material." He turned another mirror, and inside, Thunder Light flickered.

"Thunder is also a very common Fire-Quality Material. You may flip a few more."

Having received Xue Xianyun's permission again, Tang Zhao carefully flipped one over, only to see the mirror surface was completely black, as if it were deep night.

Xue Xianyun glanced at it: "Shadow. Also a typical Fire-Quality Material."

"Then is light one as well?"

"Of course. All kinds of light."

Tang Zhao pondered and said: "Is Fire-Quality Material the kind of material that cannot be touched, but can be seen?"

Xue Xianyun showed a hint of approval and said: "It is not just about being seen; it must also contain energy or other properties. Pure colors or patterns do not count as materials. The Qi you mentioned earlier is right here." He turned a mirror in the corner. Inside the mirror, the light was brilliant, and that radiance was full of a sense of power.

This was Qi, which Tang Zhao had seen on experts like Si Liyu—a high-level power capable of resisting Sword Art. Indeed, Qi was visible to the naked eye and could be attached to fists, feet, and weapons, but it ultimately had no physical form.

Behind the mirror of Qi, there was an exceptionally exquisite mirror. The edge of the mirror frame was inlaid with a silver rim like a Strange Stone; even when viewed from behind, it seemed to be reflecting light.

Tang Zhao could not help but take an extra look. Xue Xianyun noticed this and said indifferently: "That is Soul."

Soul belongs to Fire-Quality Material.

Tang Zhao's heart surged with emotion. He left the Fire Room; next door was the Water Room.

The materials in the Water Room were much closer to Tang Zhao's understanding, and the containers were merely exquisite jade bottles. Although they were crystal clear and of extraordinary quality, they lacked that soul-stirring sense of mystery.

Here, Tang Zhao saw various types of water, wine, oil, mercury, and even quicksand. All materials that were truly massive, could flow, and had no fixed shape were classified as Water-Quality Material.

Of course, there were also materials similar to Qi.

"Sword Essence."

"The energy of a sword is a thick liquid; you should know this."

Tang Zhao said sincerely: "This student is ignorant; this is my first time seeing it."

Sword Essence was very beautiful, with a lustrous and translucent sheen, but even a tiny drop contained soul-stirring power. Tang Zhao felt his heart pounding just from one glance.

There was also a Water-Quality Material in the same sequence as Spirit and Soul, which was unexpectedly common: blood.

Finally, of course, was the Earth Room. It was the largest of all the rooms, larger than all the previous ones combined.

Tang Zhao returned to the real world at once, seeing various materials displayed inside large Crystal Cabinets. Metals, rocks, plants, fabrics, furs, and jewelry were all there, and there were even rare substances like coal, paper, pottery, wax, and ink. The variety of materials was vast and endless to behold.

In the past, if Tang Zhao had seen so many dazzling things piled together, he would surely have been amazed, but after the series of wonderful viewings just now, he instead felt these things were plain and unremarkable.

He saw the successor to the Spirit, Soul, and blood series—Bone—but did not see the power series, so he asked Xue Xianyun.

Xue Xianyun said: "There is none. I have heard that a Sword Immortal can condense a Sword Pill, which might count as condensing into substance. But it is not used for Sword Casting. I do not have any here either."

The words "condense into substance" were like a small hammer, striking Tang Zhao on the head. He was suddenly stunned, with many thoughts emerging, and he stood frozen in place for a moment.

Xue Xianyun did not urge him, waiting for him to react on his own.

After a while, Tang Zhao gained some insight, came to his senses, and apologized to Xue Xianyun. The two then walked out.

Having passed through five rooms, they had finished visiting half of the rooms in the Glazed Hall. Xue Xianyun did not lead him into the other half. He sat down in the hall and looked directly at Tang Zhao.

"What did you see?"

Tang Zhao did not expect that immediately after the tour, he would have to give his impressions. He found it difficult to phrase his words for a moment and said: "I saw... five categories of materials? If we speak in terms of Sword Casting... should it be Sword Seed and four categories of materials?"

This was a thought he had vaguely conceived: Sword Seed belongs to the Void, and it seems to be parallel to other Void-quality materials. Therefore, Sword Casting might not use Void-quality materials.

He left this thought there, not knowing if it was correct or not.

He still had many such fragmented thoughts, like countless shimmering Pearls that needed to find a thread to be strung together one by one into a precious necklace.

"Those materials, from Void to Earth, gradually moved from illusion to reality?"

Xue Xianyun's eyes flickered. He stood up, walked to a room opposite, and said: "I will wait for you in this room. When you have thought it through, come in and tell me."