Chapter 297: No Worry Sword

"Wuyou?"

Qin Mu’s heart stirred. He looked at the sword’s patterns again, but the characters "Wuyou" were no longer visible, as if the flowing patterns he had just seen were merely an illusion. However, it was not an illusion; the characters "Wuyou" had indeed appeared.

"Is this sword, named Wuyou, connected to Wuyou Village?"

He fell into contemplation. Could the Wuyou Sword have originated from Wuyou Village?

But why had it become a broken sword?

And why did it restore itself when it encountered this unknown metal?

It seemed as if fate had orchestrated everything: the Wuyou Broken Sword falling into the hands of the Loulan Golden Palace, the Heavenly Saint Cult acquiring the metal, Qin Mu stealing the broken sword from the Loulan Golden Palace, Qin Mu causing the extraterrestrial metal to collide with the Wuyou Broken Sword, and the Wuyou Sword restoring itself to its former glory!

Too many coincidences suggested that they were not mere chance, but rather the result of some force facilitating them.

"Xiang, was that metal from beyond the heavens? When did it arrive?" Qin Mu asked.

Si Yunxiang was also stunned speechless by the sudden change, taking a moment to recover. She glared at him. "Yes, it's from beyond the heavens, but I don't know exactly when it arrived. My great-grandmother would need to look into it. And don't call me 'Xiang.' You sound so affectionate; I'd think you were being sweet-talky but secretly plotting to kill me."

Qin Mu stammered, "Then please, Saintess, investigate the origin of this metal."

Si Yunxiang took out her mirror, turned it twice, and a mirror-within-a-mirror appeared, showing Si Yunxiang's great-grandmother on the other side. After Si Yunxiang explained, her great-grandmother exclaimed, "Such a thing happened? Please wait, I'll check. Divine metals like that are usually documented."

Soon after, Si Yunxiang's great-grandmother returned with a booklet. "This is an extraterrestrial divine metal. It appeared sixteen years ago. Records state that in the winter sixteen years ago, a divine light streaked across the sky and fell into the Underworld Valley. Disciples from our cult went to investigate, suffering dozens of casualties, but recovered this divine metal and presented it to the treasury."

"Sixteen years ago?"

Qin Mu was slightly taken aback. Fifteen years had passed since Granny Si found him. The divine metal that repaired the broken sword had appeared in the winter sixteen years ago, very close to the time he was discovered.

"Were there any people from the Loulan Golden Palace in the vicinity at that time?" Qin Mu quickly asked.

Si Yunxiang's great-grandmother looked at him, surprised. "How did the Holy Cult Master know that? The Underworld Valley is behind the 'Duck's Tongue' area, in front of Qingmen Pass. When the extraterrestrial divine light arrived, our cult's disciples, who were guarding Qingmen Pass, saw it and immediately entered the Duck's Tongue area. On the opposite side, the border pass of the Barbarian Di Kingdom also had grand shamans and shaman kings from the Loulan Golden Palace guarding it, and they also went to investigate. Our Holy Cult lost a hall master and dozens of divine arts practitioners, and the Loulan Golden Palace also suffered many casualties. I heard the situation was quite tragic back then. After they obtained this divine metal, they suffered heavy losses and had to retreat from the Underworld Valley. The grand shamans and shaman kings of the Loulan Golden Palace seemed to have obtained a broken sword..."

Qin Mu's mind was racing. So that was it!

Both the broken sword and the divine metal originated sixteen years ago. The divine metal obtained by the Heavenly Devil Cult and the broken sword acquired by the Golden Palace were actually parts of a whole. These two treasures would only become complete when brought together!

The Great Ruins' Underworld Valley!

"I must go there and see it for myself!" he thought.

Si Yunxiang's great-grandmother said, "The Underworld Valley in the Duck's Tongue area is very dangerous. Later, our Holy Cult searched it a few times, but it was fraught with perils, so we retreated without venturing deeper."

Qin Mu thanked the elderly woman. Although Si Yunxiang was the Saintess and mistress of the Si family, this elderly woman was the true power behind the family. Her status in the Heavenly Devil Cult was also extremely high; she had once been the cult's Saintess herself before yielding the position to Granny Si.

Si Yunxiang put away her bronze mirror, glancing at the sword in his hand. "Great Cult Master, your sword..."

Qin Mu quickly tightened his grip on the Wuyou Sword, wary. "This is the mother sword for the sword pellet. I can't give it to you."

Si Yunxiang chuckled. "I didn't say I wanted it. I was just wondering if your sword pellet was successfully refined after all that time and effort you spent."

"A sword pellet, with 'pellet' implying roundness, requires exceptional calculation skills to combine thousands of swords into a spherical shape. The curvature of each sword hilt's base must perfectly form eight thousand identical segments of a sphere, needing precision down to minute decimal places!"

Qin Mu said with considerable pride, "My calculation skills have always been excellent."

Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang both pursed their lips.

Qin Mu laughed, gripping the Wuyou Sword. As vital qi flowed into it, the mother sword immediately resonated with the other 7,999 subsidiary swords. Keen swords whistled through the air, and in an instant, sword light shimmered and danced throughout the supervision workshop.

Qin Mu swung the sword, and countless sword lights whistled towards him, clashing with clanging sounds, one after another disappearing.

Qin Mu's face grew redder and redder. He grunted, his thighs trembling, and his arms shaking.

Suddenly, the flagstones beneath his feet shattered, and his shoes were crushed.

More sword lights flew in, and with a loud crash, Qin Mu vanished, crushed into the ground, creating a large hole in the workshop floor!

Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang were utterly shocked and rushed forward, shouting, "Quick, help him!"

Other disciples of the Heavenly Craft Hall in the supervision workshop hurried over. They heard rumbling vibrations from underground. The sword pellet was so incredibly heavy that it continued to press Qin Mu deeper into the earth. Judging by the vibrations, he must have sunk three to five zhang deep already.

As everyone prepared to dig him out, Qin Mu's muffled voice suddenly came from underground: "I'm fine, the sword is just too heavy. Stand back!"

Everyone quickly dispersed. From the large hole, countless flying swords burst forth like a spring, with eight thousand swords dancing in the air before clattering as they plunged into the ground, their hilts still trembling.

Qin Mu leaped out of the large hole, landing on his feet, though his legs were still shaking a bit, and his face was rather pale.

He swung the sword again, and with a swish, swish, swish, countless flying swords flew towards him. This time, however, Qin Mu was smarter. He stood on a pile of profound iron blocks in the workshop. With their tips pointing downwards, the eight thousand swords merged to form a sword sphere.

Just as he had said, the bases of so many sword hilts could perfectly merge into a large, flawless sphere, with only negligible deviation.

However, this sword pellet was unexpectedly large, about one zhang and eight or nine chi in diameter.

"Such a large sword pellet is quite rare..." Ling Yuxiu walked around the sword sphere, looking up at it, barely suppressing a laugh.

"Shrink!"

Qin Mu channeled his magic, and the colossal sword pellet began to shrink slowly. When it reached its smallest size, it was still three chi in diameter.

Qin Mu had pushed his vital qi to its limit, his face flushed, but he still couldn't shrink it further.

In reality, all eight thousand of his flying swords could be refined to an inch in size, but because of their sheer number, forming them into a sword pellet still resulted in a large object.

"I haven't had enough time to refine it; I still need to continuously nourish and forge it. If I could refine them to be as thin as silk threads, I could form a sword pellet the size of a pigeon's egg. But not yet. Fortunately, my sword has another form."

Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath, gripped the hilt of the Wuyou Sword with both hands, and sharply rotated it. The 7,999 swords within the pellet immediately expanded outwards with a clang, each flying sword floating in the air, their tips pointing towards the center.

He activated the Wuyou Sword again, and flying swords shot towards it, colliding with the Wuyou Sword with a hum and then disappearing into the mother sword.

The collisions grew faster, and more and more flying swords vanished into the air.

Everyone uttered exclamations of surprise. Qin Mu was now using a different method to refine the sword pellet.

There are two types of sword pellets. One method involves merging the swords into a sphere, with the tips pointing towards the center. This refining technique demands high mathematical skills, and sword sects of the Daoist lineage often use it.

The second method involves the mother sword absorbing the subsidiary swords, incorporating all of them into itself. This is primarily used by Southern sword sects.

The second method requires the mother sword to be refined to be extremely pliable. After absorbing all the subsidiary swords, one can rub the sword body with both hands to form it into a sword pellet, and it doesn't demand high mathematical skills.

Both methods have their strengths. A sword pellet refined using the first method is easy to wield in sword arts, allows for quicker attacks, and can readily form sword formations.

The second "sword-swallowing" method allows the power of the subsidiary swords to converge into the mother sword, unleashing exceptionally powerful might.

These two refining techniques are not interchangeable; only one can be used.

Yet, Qin Mu had simultaneously used both refining techniques, and he had even succeeded—truly a strange and baffling feat!

"The second-best refiner in the world, a well-deserved reputation," Si Yunxiang sighed. "I truly wish to witness how skilled the world's best refiner is..."

Qin Mu managed to retract only over two thousand swords before feeling overwhelmed. His arms couldn't be raised, and repeatedly activating so many flying swords had depleted his vital qi.

He quickly stopped retracting swords, shook his Taotie Pouch, and countless flying swords streamed into it, entering the pouch one after another.

Although the sword pellet was now refined, it was too large and heavy. His only option was to use the Taotie Pouch as a sword sheath to store the flying swords. Otherwise, carrying a three-chi-diameter sword pellet would be shocking and impractical, not to mention too heavy to lift.

"I used to somewhat envy the Cowherd's sword pellet, but now I don't envy it one bit."

Ling Yuxiu suppressed a laugh and whispered, "His spirit weapon is good, but he can't use it."

Si Yunxiang nodded. "Even if he could lift it, his vital qi would be exhausted after a few uses."

Qin Mu tied the Taotie Pouch to his waistband. Although the Taotie Pouch could negate geomantic vital force, it wasn't a strap made of actual Taotie skin. Some geomantic vital force still acted on the flying swords inside the pouch, making it weigh over a hundred jin and causing his trousers to constantly slip down.

With a dark expression, the Great Cult Master Qin untied the Taotie Pouch, took out some golden silk rope, and fashioned two straps to carry the pouch on his back like a small backpack.

"Smack!"

A crisp sound rang out. Si Yunxiang's face flushed as she rubbed her backside. Qin Mu had just seized the opportunity when no one was looking to give her a slap on the rear. The Great Cult Master likely knew that she was the one who had tampered with the sword-refining materials, making the flying swords so heavy.

Ling Yuxiu looked over in surprise but didn't ask further. "My brother has been gone for several months already. He's probably reached the Southern Frontier by now. Should we rush over there?"

Qin Mu shook his head. "I won't go to see the Crown Prince. Qingmen Pass is north of the Great Thunderclap Temple, not far from here. I want to make a trip to the Underworld Valley."