Chapter 57: Sword Intent and Principle

The Mortal World

Turning to the last pages of the complete 'Nether Sutra,' he found the spells the fatty had carefully chosen.

These included: Heart-Cleansing Charm, Aura-Sensing Art, Object Manipulation Art, Dust-Repelling Charm, Secret Sound Transmission, Breath Concealment Art, Wind-Walking Technique, and Air Control Art.

The Aura-Sensing Art, when activated, was like opening a celestial eye in the center of one's brow. It allowed one to not only discern a cultivator's approximate cultivation level but also identify the grade of magical artifacts, observe the spiritual energy of mountains, rivers, and lakes, and see through illusions. In short, its uses were endless.

A dozen or so of these were auxiliary spells, similar to the Aura-Sensing Art. Qin Sang quickly scanned through them, his gaze finally settling on the last five spells: Water Barrier Condensation, Cloud Escape Technique, Shape-Shifting Illusion, Mist-Shrouded River, and Thousand-Mile Ice Seal.

Water Barrier Condensation shared the same name as the talisman paper he had sold. The book stated that once mastered, this spell allowed one to manipulate spiritual energy to condense a layer of water around oneself, providing defensive capabilities. When cultivated to mastery, the condensed water would form a shield, moving at will and becoming even more robust. The Cloud Escape Technique was a type of Five-Element Escape Art.

As for the last three, despite their intimidating names, they were quite similar. Qin Sang strongly suspected the fatty had altered their names privately to fetch a higher price. Once mastered, Shape-Shifting Illusion allowed one to condense a clone using spiritual energy. This clone was almost identical to the main body, appearing lifelike, but possessed no abilities and could only be used to deceive enemies. Mist-Shrouded River generated a cloud of mist to envelop enemies, obscuring their vision. When refined to a deeper level, it could also block divine sense. Thousand-Mile Ice Seal was actually a spell for condensing profound ice. If a cultivator's spiritual energy was sufficiently powerful, they could indeed seal off a vast area with ice. When timed perfectly, it could directly trap enemies within the profound ice, and then... one could escape.

Qin Sang pondered over them for a while before suddenly realizing that all five spells were related to escape and self-preservation. No wonder he found it strange that there wasn't a single offensive spell. Only Thousand-Mile Ice Seal, Qin Sang thought, could potentially be developed for other uses. It wasn't necessary to merely seal enemies; forming ice spikes or ice blades could also kill.

Qin Sang was speechless, wondering how cowardly the fatty was to have collected only escape-related spells. However, Qin Sang couldn't say the fatty's choice was wrong; as the saying goes, "what is too rigid breaks easily."

Cultivators differed from mortals. Mortals only had a few decades in their prime; to achieve anything, they had to be sharp and put in their full effort, lest they waste their youth, as everything ended with old age and death. Moreover, mortals adhered to the saying, "A gentleman's revenge, though ten years late, is never too old." For cultivators, this saying became, "A gentleman's revenge, though a hundred years late, is never too old."

Qin Sang had learned that after the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment stages, there was the Core Formation stage (also called Golden Core), and above that, the Nascent Soul stage, inhabited by powerful old monsters. Qi Refining cultivators could live for over a hundred years. Foundation Establishment cultivators could easily live beyond two hundred and fifty years. As for the later Golden Core Venerables and Nascent Soul Patriarchs, their lifespans were even more astonishing. In his previous life, legends spoke of Peng Zu living for eight hundred years; in this world, Nascent Soul cultivators could indeed achieve such lifespans. With such long lifespans, if one encountered an insurmountable enemy, why fight to the death? It was better to simply escape first, then live in seclusion, diligently cultivating until their cultivation surpassed the enemy's, before returning for revenge. The fatty vendor's survival philosophy resonated greatly with Qin Sang; in the world of cultivators, as long as one lived, anything was possible.

After reading through them, Qin Sang focused his attention on the basic spells like the Aura-Sensing Art. Spell cultivation was not an overnight success; beginners would fumble at first, and only through diligent practice and familiarity could they unleash a spell's full power. The basic spells were not difficult to cast, with simple incantations of only a few lines. Qin Sang managed to cast them after a few attempts, and naturally, the first one he practiced was the Object Manipulation Art. As soon as he mastered it, he immediately took out the Seven-Colored Brocade Pouch.

With a rustle!

The room was suddenly filled with an assortment of items. Qin Sang felt a pang of shame; his spellcasting was unskillful, and he had pulled out everything from the Seven-Colored Brocade Pouch at once.

He had already seen the contents of the pouch countless times. He immediately picked up a spirit stone, feeling the abundant and pure spiritual energy within, and couldn't bear to put it down. In the cultivation world, spirit stones were extremely useful. They could not only be used as currency but also directly absorbed, arranged into Spirit Gathering Formations to aid cultivation, or quickly replenish depleted spiritual energy during combat. These were merely low-grade spirit stones; higher-grade ones had even greater uses. Carefully putting away the spirit stones, Qin Sang glanced around. Only the gold and silver might be useful later, so he put those away too. As for the other miscellaneous items, Qin Sang touched each one, confirming there was nothing special, and kicked them aside. Finally, he found the three books he had been thinking about.

As expected, 'Profound Yin Scroll,' like 'Nether Sutra,' was a foundational cultivation technique, but it was an Earth-element technique, requiring an Earth spiritual root to cultivate. Each person only needed to cultivate one foundational technique; more were useless unless one made no progress for a long time or lacked a follow-up technique, in which case they might choose to switch. 'Profound Yin Scroll' also came with its own spells, such as Earth Escape Technique, Profound Earth Shield, and so on. Qin Sang wasn't sure if he could cultivate them, as 'Nether Sutra' and 'Profound Yin Scroll' belonged to different Five Elements. After a quick flip through, Qin Sang put down the Profound Yin Scroll and picked up the Song family genealogy.

The genealogy clearly stated on its first page the origins of the Song family's Old Ancestor. After reading it, Qin Sang's face showed surprise. He quickly flipped through the pages; the Song family was not prosperous in numbers. From the Old Ancestor onwards, through more than a dozen generations, only two direct descendants remained: Song Hua and Song Ying. Song Hua was a male, and Song Ying was a female. The one who perished with the black-clad demon by the banks of the Sinking River was likely Song Hua.

Throughout the entire Song family genealogy, few individuals were deemed worthy of having their life stories recorded. Without exception, all of them were cultivators who died during the Qi Refining stage. Most either disappeared or met with accidents; very few reached the end of their lifespan and died peacefully. The entire Song family genealogy was a microcosm of the cultivation world, allowing Qin Sang to truly experience its cruelty. Qin Sang was amazed that a single family could produce so many descendants with spiritual roots. At the same time, he meticulously read through the life stories of each person. He was trying to ascertain one thing: whether the Song family descendants had retrieved the Sword Intent Edict from the Old Ancestor Song's tomb.

The Song family's Old Ancestor had an extraordinary background. The genealogy stated that he once cultivated in a sect called Shao Hua Mountain, an immensely powerful righteous sect. The Old Ancestor was initially an unremarkable disciple at Shao Hua Mountain. He cultivated to the thirteenth level of the Qi Refining stage but, due to insufficient talent, failed to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Ultimately, he became disheartened and left the sect, settling down in a market town at the foot of the mountain to raise a family. However, he had once rendered great service during his time at Shao Hua Mountain. Thus, upon his departure, Shao Hua Mountain granted him a Sword Intent Edict, stating that if any future descendant possessed exceptional talent, they could present the edict to directly enter Shao Hua Mountain for cultivation. Such a Sword Intent Edict was a reward given by Shao Hua Mountain to disciples who had rendered great service, highlighting its immense value. After establishing his family, the Song family's Old Ancestor took the Sword Intent Edict into his tomb. He warned his descendants that the edict should only be retrieved and used to enter Shao Hua Mountain to revitalize the Song family when a descendant with outstanding aptitude, hopeful of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage, appeared.