Chapter 344: Gourd Sword Technique

After finalizing all the arrangements for the Dao Academy’s participation in the offline exchange meeting, Chen Mobai resumed his secluded cultivation. He wished to cultivate another Sword Fiend.

According to Zuo Gong’s guidance, to withstand the power of a Sword Fiend with one’s physical body, special reinforcement was required, such as his Yin-Yang Five Elements Seven Star Sword Arm. Chen Mobai was able to cultivate the Azure Flame Sword Fiend and constantly nourish it within his Dantian Qihai primarily because he was a Fire Spirit Body, virtually immune to most fire-attribute powers.

However, apart from the fire element, he could not use his physical body to withstand the other four elements. He had examined Zuo Gong's Yin-Yang Five Elements Seven Star Sword Arm and found that cultivating it astonishingly required the assistance of four other masters to balance the Five Elements. Zuo Gong had also stated that this method was developed in conjunction with several sword masters, based on his own physique, and was primarily suitable for him.

Chen Mobai extracted the core idea from it, then imported the Yin-Yang Five Elements Seven Star Sword Arm concept into the Formless Puppet. He placed spirit stones and began the deduction process.

With Zuo Gong's successful direction, the Formless Puppet had a core concept for its deductions. Although the speed was still not fast, there was continuous progress. After spending nearly twenty mid-grade spirit stones, the Formless Puppet deduced the Five Elements Sword Fingers most suitable for Chen Mobai.

These Five Elements Sword Fingers involved strengthening his own five fingers. Then, using the method of embedding formations into the body, the Five Elements Sword Fiends would be forged onto each of the five fingers. Ultimately, a single hand would transform into a sword formation, defeating enemies.

Chen Mobai reviewed the deduction process and found that it had integrated various seemingly unrelated data he had previously imported. When he first acquired the Underworld Grand Formation, he consulted Yun Yangbing about embedding formations into the body and became engrossed in this knowledge for a period. Subsequently, he imported all the formation-refining materials given by Yun Yangbing and collected by himself into the Formless Puppet for deduction. However, the results indicated that cultivating a powerful body-tempering technique was unavoidable.

Chen Mobai understood priorities; naturally, he prioritized realm advancement and set aside both the Underworld Grand Formation and the body-embedding formation technique. However, this data remained stored within the Formless Puppet. When he placed spirit stones and clicked on "global deduction," the Formless Puppet utilized this content as well.

It was precisely for this reason that, while deducing the Five Elements Sword Fingers, the Formless Puppet also provided a body-tempering method. By utilizing previously imported body data and related materials, its deduction suggested that the remaining Longevity Tree Sap could be used to strengthen the fingertip bones of his five fingers individually. Combined with the strong vital energy from *Luotuopeng* to activate the meridians, the increased finger strength would theoretically be able to withstand the Five Elements Sword Fiends.

When Chen Mobai obtained 30 drops of Longevity Tree Sap from the Treasure Tree, some remained after refining it into his skull. Following this method, Chen Mobai had, in recent days, already refined five drops of Longevity Tree Sap into the fingertip bones of his right hand. Under the Treasure Fire Body Tempering Technique, he very easily completed the cultivation of the Longevity Dao Body finger bones.

However, since his vital energy, meridians, and flesh strength were still insufficient, he could not yet withstand Sword Fiends entering his body. But the secondary Five Elements Sword Light Array posed no problem.

Chen Mobai was self-aware of his comprehension abilities and did not cultivate those grand, yet difficult-to-master, sword arts. Apart from his own Purple Fire Sword Light, Divine Wood Sword Light, and Black Ice Sword Light, for the remaining metal attribute, he chose Zuo Gong's Gengjin Sword Qi; for the earth attribute, he chose Wutu Sword Light.

The Gengjin Sword Art was the most widespread in the Immortal Sect. It emphasized speed and sharpness, focusing on the two main characteristics of sword cultivators. Furthermore, it had the most practitioners, meaning all difficult stages had been overcome by previous generations. The Wutu Sword Light, on the other hand, originated from "The True Wutu Method," which he acquired when he took Zhuo Ming to the Divine Wood Sect's library to choose a primary cultivation method. This earth-element cultivation method of the Five Elements Sect was all-encompassing, containing everything, much like the Longevity Scripture.

Chen Mobai cultivated it for a short while and quickly mastered the sword light within it. Another very important reason for choosing this cultivation method to achieve sword light was that once "The True Wutu Method" was cultivated to perfection, it could connect to the Five Elements Sect's supreme art, the Hunyuan Dao Fruit.

Chen Mobai felt that he could now aspire to the Hunyuan Dao Fruit. He decided to study it for now; perhaps in the future, the Divine Wood Sect would counterattack the Five Elements Sect and replace the Earth Meridian as the true orthodox Five Elements.

With this thought, Chen Mobai cultivated the Five Elements Sword Light as quickly as possible. Then, he transformed the sword light into formations and refined them into his five fingertips. Subsequently, once his physical strength increased, he could attempt to condense Sword Fiends using these Five Elements Sword Lights.

However, *Luotuopeng*, a third-tier medicinal herb, required a professional alchemist to be made into an ointment. Wang Xingyu had not yet emerged from his seclusion, so Chen Mobai could only consult Qing Nü again and then returned to Xiaonanshan to have Luo Yixuan gather the necessary auxiliary herbs.

In addition to deducing the Five Elements Sword Fingers, the Formless Puppet also deduced another method for condensing Sword Fiends. If the physical body could not withstand it without training, then the Sword Fiends could be condensed externally. Once cultivated, they would not be absorbed into the body, effectively serving as an external magical artifact capable of storing Sword Fiends.

Chen Mobai had originally intended to attempt this after cultivating the Five Elements Sword Fiends. But after activating the Three Suns One Qi Formation Plate today, he recalled the gourd of Fire Yang Fiend in his storage bag. He could coincidentally use the Three Yang Sword Formation to generate Primordial Yang Sword Light, saving him the time of cultivating and transforming it himself. Although "Sword Light Transformation" could condense unaligned sword light, to convert it into Primordial Yang Sword Light, he still needed to be proficient in the Primordial Yang Sword Art, or at least master the method for condensing that specific sword light.

It was precisely for this reason that, among the Five Elements Sword Lights Chen Mobai chose, apart from the three he already had a foundation in, the remaining Gengjin and Wutu were easy to learn and hard to master. To utilize the formation plate's ability to generate Primordial Yang Sword Light, three Yang-attributed flying swords were also needed. At this point, Chen Mobai's extensive network proved beneficial. He posted a request in both the Student Union and Incarnation Class group chats, and with the help of group members asking within their respective circles, he quickly borrowed three suitable second-tier flying swords.

After gathering all the items, Chen Mobai immediately rented a third-tier spiritual energy cultivation room in Building 9 of Chicheng Mountain. The triangular formation plate rested in his palm. Three flying swords, controlled by his divine sense, floated upright with their hilts downwards and blades pointing upwards. Extremely pure Primordial Yang spiritual energy surged from Chen Mobai's palm, continuously flowing into the formation plate.

The formation plate activated, emitting a bright yellow spiritual light that rose upwards, flowing like a ray of rainbow light into the hilt of the flying sword closest to Chen Mobai. After absorbing sufficient spiritual energy, the first flying sword quickly buzzed. Then, Shaoyang Sword Qi was expelled from its tip, flowing back into the formation plate below. The formation plate transformed again, sending another ray of rainbow light into the hilt of the second flying sword. After Zhongyang Sword Qi was generated and cycled, it was followed by Laoyang Sword Qi. All three Yang Sword Qis were formed and finally converged onto the formation plate. A pure, bright yellow sword light materialized from the center of the formation plate, surrounded by the three flying swords.

The sword light was majestic and awe-inspiringly righteous. This was the Primordial Yang Sword Light! In the Immortal Sect, it could be considered one of the highest-grade sword lights. It was only because Chen Mobai cultivated the Pure Yang Scripture, which shared the same origin, and had the assistance of this Three Yang Sword Formation, that he could generate it so easily.

Once the Primordial Yang Sword Light was generated, he could consider condensing Fiends. Chen Mobai took out the gourd of Fire Yang Fiend he had prepared earlier from his storage bag. He carefully examined the yellow-skinned gourd again. When he had purchased the Earth Fiend Qi at Thunder Rolling Mountain, he hadn't noticed. It was only after playing with it carefully several times later that he realized this gourd was no ordinary item; it was a second-tier spiritual plant.

Only items of this grade could contain second-tier Fiend Qi for extended periods without damaging its spiritual essence. Other second-tier Fiend Qi, if intended for long-term preservation, needed to be refined into Fiend Qi crystals. For example, the Azure Wood Fiend that Chen Mobai had previously obtained was kept intact and nurtured within the Earth Fiend Abyss by the sect, as Xie Yuntian couldn't utilize it.

Since this yellow-skinned gourd could contain Fire Yang Fiend, with a little care, it might also be able to nurture Primordial Yang Sword Fiend. After Chen Mobai confirmed that the external Sword Fiend cultivation method deduced by the Formless Puppet was viable, he reviewed the content on condensing Fiends from the Primordial Yang Sword Art, which he had downloaded from the Immortal Sect's National Library. Only then did he use his divine sense to guide the Primordial Yang Sword Qi generated by the Three Yang Sword Formation to rise, turn in front of him, and slowly descend into the yellow-skinned gourd.

Under the observation of his Void-Piercing Spiritual Eyes, the dark red airflow within the gourd, after the Primordial Yang Sword Light was injected, began to recede, forming a hollow, swirling fiend current. But Chen Mobai's purpose was to make the sword light condense the fiend. He immediately extended his divine sense, and a green leaf from the Jade Phoenix Tree branch detached, transforming into an invisible blade that surged into the Primordial Yang Sword Light.

With his control, the Primordial Yang Sword Light slowly began to retract its sharpness. The Fire Yang Fiend, which had initially retreated, now surged back like a rising tide, flowing towards the bright yellow sword light in the center of the gourd. Strands of dark red airflow seeped into the bright yellow sword light, imbuing it with a layer of rainbow glow. It astonishingly became even brighter and golden, taking on the orange-red hue of sunrise. This was the Primordial Yang Sword Fiend!

Seeing this, Chen Mobai couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. His twenty mid-grade spirit stones were not wasted; the Five Elements Sword Fingers and the external Sword Fiend cultivation method deduced by the Formless Puppet were indeed viable.

Ten days later, after condensing all the Fire Yang Fiend in the gourd into Primordial Yang Sword Fiend, Chen Mobai went to the Divine Tree Secret Realm to test its power. Holding the yellow-skinned gourd, he gently swung it towards a forest in front of him. A brilliant orange-red light emerged from the gourd's mouth, and wherever it passed, all the Scarlet Sun Spirit Trees were severed at the waist.

Chen Mobai moved the gourd around and saw that within a thousand-meter diameter around him, there was no longer a single intact Scarlet Sun Spirit Tree. Looking at the once lush forest around him, now instantly transformed into a desolate logging site, he deeply regretted that he had mastered this gourd too late. If he had possessed this item when he first joined the Divine Wood Sect, he wouldn't have needed to painstakingly chop trees with a chainsaw.

After testing the gourd's power two or three times, Chen Mobai contentedly retracted the orange-red light. He had already given this external Sword Fiend method a very fitting name: Gourd Sword Art!

Having just mastered the Primordial Yang Sword Fiend, if he had the opportunity later, he could also incorporate the Profound Yin Sword Fiend into it. At that time, the gourd would contain both Yin and Yang, forming the Two Poles Sword Fiend Formation from the Collection of Sword Fiends. He just didn't know if the gourd would still be able to withstand it then. Chen Mobai considered it; with the current Primordial Yang Sword Fiend, the yellow-skinned gourd was fine due to its excellent material. But as his cultivation grew stronger, the power of the Sword Fiend would also increase daily, and if combined with the Profound Yin Sword Fiend to form a Two Poles structure, this gourd might not be sufficient.

However, solutions always outweigh difficulties. Ming Yihua would return by the end of the year, and he could ask him if he could solve this problem from an artifact-refining perspective.

After mastering the Gourd Sword Art, Chen Mobai tied it to his waist with a hemp rope. After all, during the offline exchange, he couldn't expose his storage bag, but he might need to use the Primordial Yang Sword Fiend, so he simply hung it generously at his waist.

Just as he was about to leave the Divine Tree Secret Realm, Chen Mobai suddenly remembered something else. He hadn't tested his spiritual root attributes in a long time. He had previously checked Yue Zutao and Yan Jinye's spiritual roots and found that the former's spiritual root value surprisingly exceeded 100, leading him to speculate that consuming Longevity Tree Fruits might enhance wood-attribute spiritual roots.

However, after reaching Foundation Establishment perfection, he was busy with various matters and had forgotten about this. Coincidentally, today in the Divine Tree Secret Realm, he thought of the Talent Tree, which was highly sensitive to spiritual root changes.

Chen Mobai took out his spirit root testing device and infused it with spiritual energy.Spiritual Roots: Metal 23, Wood 46, Water 17, Fire 69, Earth 10.

Seeing these values, Chen Mobai couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. After so many years, he had finally cultivated himself into a true supreme-grade genuine spiritual root. The 69 points in his fire spiritual root were because his Five Yang Body had also reached its final stage of cultivation. For more than two years, he had continuously used spirit stones to advance his Pure Yang Dharma Body, making slow but steady progress, increasing his fire spiritual root by 6 points, thus raising it from 63 after achieving the Fire Spirit Body to 69 points.

However, correspondingly, his water and wood spiritual roots each decreased by 2 points. But his wood spiritual root, which was previously 26 points, had now become 46 points, meaning consuming three Longevity Tree Fruits increased his wood spiritual root by 20 points. How exactly this increase occurred, Chen Mobai wasn't very clear, as he hadn't used the spirit root testing device after each fruit consumption. However, based on his years of experience consuming fish and bamboo shoots, combined with Yue Zutao's sample, he could draw a rough conclusion. It was likely that the first fruit he consumed increased his wood spiritual root by 10 points. Subsequently, when he consumed the second and third fruits, his body developed resistance, and the increase in wood spiritual root continuously diminished, with both adding only 10 points combined.

Chen Mobai wasn't overly concerned about the specifics, as the spiritual root enhancement he gained was a tangible benefit. No wonder after reaching Foundation Establishment perfection, cultivating the spells from the Longevity Scripture felt easy and pleasant. He had originally thought it was due to his higher cultivation realm making things simpler, but he hadn't expected it was because his wood spiritual root had improved.

Upon arriving before the Talent Tree, Chen Mobai felt a sense of loss again. Three instances of consuming fruits, three changes in spiritual root enhancement, which should have granted him three gifts from the Talent Tree, but now it only counted as one. However, this feeling was only momentary; with his cultivation having reached this realm and possessing the entire knowledge system of the Immortal Sect's nation, he was no longer very eager for the Daoist arts and techniques of the Longevity Sect, merely viewing them as references. His two previous fire spiritual root changes from the Five Yang Body had yielded two fire-attribute spells, but they were largely useless to him; he hadn't even fully mastered the C-Fire Divine Thunder. The only reason he came each time his spiritual root changed was purely out of habit.