Chapter 514: Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword

The “Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword” is the name given to the flying sword forged by this sword-refining method.

According to the Half Sword Classic, this flying sword is not among the most difficult of the several methods for forging a life-sword, and in some ways, it is relatively simple.

The materials required for this sword can be any fire-elemental spiritual material of second-rank or higher—whether crystal, spiritual iron, spiritual wood, or even the bones of fire-elemental beasts.

The only requirement is that these materials must first be meticulously refined until they are pure, leaving not the slightest trace of impurities from other elements, or the forging will inevitably fail.

As a second-rank Artificer, Wang Yu naturally had some grasp of how to refine and purify materials, but for ordinary sword cultivators outside the Artificer sect, this single step alone would likely deter nine out of ten.

Crucially, the processing of materials for the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword must be done alone by the sword cultivator; no second person may be present. If the materials become tainted by another’s aura during processing, the soul integration later will fail, resulting only in an ordinary sword, not a life-sword.

As recorded in the jade slip, this is one of the greatest distinctions between a life-sword and the ordinary life-artifacts of other cultivators.

Other cultivators’ life-artifacts, though also infused with a fragment of soul, are forged by Artificers, and only a tiny sliver of soul is embedded within them.

Sword cultivators, however, to ensure the purity of their life-sword and prevent contamination by others’ soul auras, perform the entire process alone and embed within the sword a soul portion ranging from one-tenth to nearly half—treating the sword as a second “self,” which allows the life-sword to be wielded with perfect ease, far surpassing other life-artifacts.

Thus, the difficulty of forging the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword lies in these two points.

First, refining sufficient pure fire-elemental spiritual material to forge the sword core and successfully integrating the soul.

Second, how to inscribe the complete “Southern Ming Liuhuo Pattern” onto the sword core; this pattern, like the two “sword patterns” he already mastered, is unmistakably a specialized inscription meant for sword cultivators.

The full set of “Southern Ming Liuhuo Patterns” consists of only thirteen in total, but according to the Half Sword Classic, all life-sword “sword patterns,” like other upgradeable artifacts, automatically gain additional patterns upon advancement.

Therefore, the set of “Southern Ming Liuhuo Patterns” provided in the jade slip is merely the most basic set of sword inscriptions, yet because it contains thirteen patterns, the moment forged, it becomes a second-rank low-grade artifact with power at least equivalent to a mid-grade artifact.

According to the Sword Classic, once forged, the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword becomes a purely fire-elemental flying sword, its blade extraordinarily sharp; during combat, if pure fire-elemental spiritual energy is infused, it may even resonate with the legendary spiritual flame “Southern Ming Liuhuo,” gaining the power of its spectral projection and greatly increasing its might.

The Sword Classic further notes that if the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword is nurtured to third-rank, it may summon the true “Southern Ming Liuhuo,” capable of melting all things under heaven.

But to ask a non-Artificer cultivator to inscribe spiritual patterns onto an artifact is, as one might imagine, immensely difficult.

Therefore, before forging a life-sword, sword cultivators must first comprehend and master the corresponding “sword patterns,” and also learn a secret sword technique recorded in the Sword Classic: “Divine Seal Art”—a method that uses pure spiritual awareness as a blade to directly carve the patterns onto the sword core, without needing “inscription needles” or “inscription knives.”

As Wang Yu recalled this, he murmured again, “Southern Ming Liuhuo.”

He had heard of this celestial spiritual flame before; it is said to rank among the top celestial spiritual flames on the Chaotic Ten Thousand Spirits List.

If one day he could truly summon this celestial flame with the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword and swallow and refine it, it would surely double the power of his Crimson Sun Great Art.

But now, he faced a choice: continue using the “Flame Demon Star Armor” as his life-artifact, or forge the “Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword” as his life-sword using the method in the Sword Classic.

The former was system-generated; its forging and power were guaranteed, and it could carry and activate other artifacts, instantly boosting his current strength significantly.

The latter is a unique life-artifact of sword cultivators; its power is uncertain, but its nurturing potential surpasses the former, and if cultivated to third-rank, it may even summon a celestial spiritual flame.

Yet he was not a true sword cultivator; even if he forged a life-sword, he would only be a pseudo-sword cultivator, and the true path of sword cultivation was fraught with difficulty—he had no current intention to pursue it.

Wang Yu’s thoughts raced swiftly, and he soon made his decision: he would choose the “Flame Demon Star Armor” as his life-artifact, using its power to secure the True Disciple status half a year from now.

If in the future he truly felt the Southern Ming Liuhuo Sword was better, he could still switch his life-artifact then.

Although he did not intend to forge a life-sword, another item recorded in the Sword Classic caught his interest—he thought he might first forge it for use.

That was the “sword pouch,” one of the auxiliary artifacts of sword cultivators.

The sword pouch is forged from the hide of a second-rank or higher beast, and at the cost of consuming five-element spiritual materials, it can nurture and repair the life-sword.

In addition, the sword pouch has another function: it can contain and nurture a single “sword qi.”

According to the Sword Classic, this “sword qi” is not the usual kind; it is the final strike generated when the life-sword is utterly destroyed.

Theoretically, this sword qi can be nurtured indefinitely within the pouch; its growth rate and power increase far surpass those of a true flying sword, provided sufficient spiritual materials are invested, allowing the pouch’s “sword qi” to rapidly grow and even advance.

The only limitation is that this sword qi possesses only one strike; once it leaves the pouch and dissipates, it can never be recreated.

As for the life-sword itself, he seemed to already possess one.

Wang Yu thought of this, slapped his storage bag with one hand, and a black, long sword appeared in his grasp.

He flicked the blade with one finger.

“Hum.”

The black sword emitted a faint, blurred hum, and three faint spiritual pattern shadows appeared on its surface—the very sword known as Hengjiang Sword.

Although this sword was only entry-rank, it was undeniably a genuine life-sword.

Wang Yu stared at the “sword pattern” shadows on the blade in his hand, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Half a day later.

Wang Yu left Jinghuo Peak and went to the General Affairs Hall at Yuheng Hall, then hurried back to his cave dwelling, where he began forging certain items in his artificer chamber.

On the third day.

Wang Yu was in his cave’s earth-fire furnace room, concentrating as he attempted to forge a black, rod-shaped artifact core.

Suddenly, a faint white light flashed on the wall, and a pale green message talisman flew in—but was blocked by the white light, hovering helplessly against the wall.

Wang Yu glanced over, without hesitation raised his arm, and pointed at the talisman.

“Puff.”

The green talisman spontaneously ignited, and from the flames came a woman’s respectful voice.

“Is Master Wang present? Mu Rong Lan has come as invited to pay her respects.”