The fragments of Fuxie's blade had rotted away, leaving only its core [Great Dao Spirit Soul].
This wasn't actually a serious matter, for the spirit soul was the core of a Dao-Rhyme Spirit Treasure. With the spirit soul intact, one need only find suitable materials later, and the spirit treasure could be easily reforged.
The reason the Fuxie Sword Spirit was so astonished was that its original body had long since reached the realm of [Immortal and Imperishable, Eternal and Unworn]. Though it had not yet attained [Indestructible], and could still be shattered, at this stage even if the spirit soul perished and fell dormant, the spirit treasure itself would not be destroyed.
Yet everything had been turned on its head: the Fuxie Sword Spirit's spirit soul was completely intact, while only the blade had rotted.
What was even more inconceivable was that this spirit soul held no memories at all.
"Someone rotted my blade and stole my memories!"
This was the conclusion the Sword Spirit reached, nearly gnashing its teeth in fury. "It must be the doing of those Extramundane Demons. They defy all reason and wield the very reverse of the Dao—only thus could they accomplish something as unfathomable as stealing my memories without harming my spirit soul. I must reclaim my memories!"
"But the problem is—I don't even know which memories I've lost!"
The Sword Spirit's anger was easy to understand. It had been incomplete from the start, and had thought that this time it could rely on recovering its fragments to make itself a little more whole—only to find that someone had beaten it to it and cut off that possibility.
"How can I help you?" An Jing asked, his tone matter-of-fact.
The other had helped him so much; helping the Sword Spirit in return was only right.
But the Sword Spirit quickly calmed down. "No. Thank you, An Jing, but not now. Go rescue your companions first."
"My matter is too great. It must be tied to the Extramundane Demons and those Ancient Great Calamities. If you act rashly, you might instead lead the other involved parties to discover you... Our strength is still weak. Act cautiously—it won't be too late to deal with it once you've grown."
The Sword Spirit was quite rational, and the recovery of the 'Fuxie Spirit Soul' was not entirely useless either.
First, the greater amount of spirit soul allowed Fuxie to better suppress An Jing's Divine Sea and conceal his aura, and also allowed An Jing to better cultivate the 'Tranquil Sword Contemplation.'
Second, Fuxie Sword's ability to travel to other worlds had been strengthened.
Previously, when it had only the sword hilt, Fuxie Sword's time-space travel could last at most a few hours; after a few hours it had to return to Huaixu. Now it had been strengthened to several days.
The enhancement to travel duration was modest, but the enhancement in space was considerable.
Originally, the landing point of the time-space travel was fixed: wherever you departed from, that was where you would descend the next time.
If, when An Jing returned to Huaixu, he was already in danger in the other world, then the next time he descended into that other world, he would still be in that same dangerous area.
But now, An Jing could choose to descend anywhere within a radius of one li centered on his departure point.
And the number of time-space travels had also increased: originally, Fuxie Sword could travel to other worlds once every few days, but now it was once for each cycle of the sun's rising and the moon's setting.
The reason it was described as the sun's rising and the moon's setting was that Fuxie Sword drew upon the 'Reincarnation True Meaning' of the sun and moon's rotation to travel. In some small worlds, the cycle of sun and moon was very fast, so the charging speed would also be faster.
Finally...
"I can barely serve as a weapon to subdue demons and quell evil now—though I can only harm souls, and my range isn't large."
In a tone of finally letting out a breath of relief, the Sword Spirit said to An Jing, whose face wore a subtle expression, "After all these years with only a sword hilt, I nearly lost the qualification to be called a sword. Now I've at least recovered a little dignity."
"This... isn't really any essential change, is it?"
An Jing remarked cautiously, and the Sword Spirit sighed. "You're a human; you don't understand... As long as I can be used to harm others, no matter how hard I am to wield, at least I'm a weapon, and not a decoration."
"Now try condensing the fiend sword."
The Sword Spirit gestured, and An Jing circulated his Blood Qi; a blood-colored fiend sword congealed in his hand.
The main body of the Fuxie Sword within his Divine Sea flickered faintly.
Suddenly, at the edge of the blade, a faint silver glow lit up.
"This faint glow... this is the empowerment?"
An Jing felt it as well—as though an added keenness had settled over the outer layer of the fiend sword in his hand. The Sword Spirit instructed, "Though I am half-destroyed, the spirit soul's empowerment can make your weapons and blade-related divine abilities sharper, and can also deepen the damage dealt to wicked beings like netherworld demons."
"This is only the most direct effect. My existence is connected to your Divine Sea, so I might subtly enhance your sword Dao talent—but your talent was already very high. Even in my era, I never saw anyone who could cultivate martial techniques to such a degree at the age of twelve."
At this, the Sword Spirit grew interested instead. "Speaking of which, the flying-sword swordsmanship you used to kill that Demon Sect manor lord earlier was executed very skillfully. As I recall, that should have been your first time using it, right?"
"Using it for the first time and achieving such a result—no wonder you're the one who could awaken me. Your sword Dao talent really is high!"
...That was a firearm, not sword Dao talent.
Never mind. Flying sword it is, then.
An Jing didn't have the energy to argue the point, but on closer thought, he too found it strange.
For some reason, he was very proficient with this kind of gunpowder firearm, which made him somewhat doubt what his previous life had actually been.
—I clearly remember I was just a martial arts school disciple... so why do I know how to use a gun?
Among all the martial arts... surely none of them forbid using a gun?
No—it's a flying sword! The flying sword is a part of martial skill, so it's really no problem!
"Time to prepare for action."
Shaking his head and reining in his thoughts, An Jing turned his head and swept his gaze around.
After he and the Sword Spirit together confirmed that nothing of value remained here, he immediately strode away from this hall, where the jade-like hue was receding and which was gradually turning back into a perfectly ordinary stone grotto.
Employing the Mysterious Step, An Jing did not return to Suspended Fate Manor by the original path, because a squad of Red Armored Guards was already stationed there—they simply dared not enter to search due to the demonic qi.
Avoiding the Red Armored Guards, he climbed up along the slanted cliff face. With the power of a Martial Artist whose Inner Breath flowed like a river, he easily circled around and arrived at the back courtyard of Suspended Fate Manor, at the river that was the source of the cold-pool waterfall.
Following this river—this 'escape route' he had once contemplated—An Jing returned to the rear side of Suspended Fate Manor at top speed.
This place was almost unguarded.
The Red Armored Guards were still fighting the Demon Sect guards in a battle of alley offense and defense, their progress incredibly slow. This was because the Red Armored Guards were unwilling to suffer casualties in a meat-grinder battle against the Demon Sect, and the Demon Sect's main aim was to stall for time in the first place, so they didn't mind dragging it out even more.
The two sides were fighting at the manor's main gate and at West Mountain Manor, so the eastern manor and the rear of the manor were left rather empty.
"Luck's on my side—the battlefield isn't in the east."
After roughly ascertaining the current situation from his high vantage point, An Jing slowly approached the East Mountain Farmstead.
With his attainment in cultivation techniques and his familiarity with the manor, ordinary Instructors and guards had no chance of spotting him—let alone the Red Armored Guards.
And in the process of slowly approaching the East Mountain Farmstead, An Jing also took stock of the things he had obtained from Manor Lord Yao.
Three Iron Bamboo Medicine Tubes. According to the Sword Spirit, they were, respectively, the [Soul-Calming Powder] used for hypnosis, the [Meridian-Severing Powder] used for incapacitating people—the drug An Jing had been hit with earlier was this one—and the [Fatal-End Powder] used for killing.
A jade ritual dagger, not meant for combat but for sacrificial rites.
A small bottle containing three medicine pills. Judging by the smell, they were probably something like heart-saving pills.
There were also two pieces of lustrous jade. Their edges were semi-transparent, the center held a gradient of pale cyan, and at the very core was a bright cyan point of light.
They looked quite precious, but with An Jing's knowledge, he had no idea what they were, nor was he quite clear on why Manor Lord Yao carried these two high-grade jades on his person.
Even so, An Jing understood clearly that these jades were absolutely valuable, and keeping them was definitely the right call.
"That jade ritual dagger holds the 'Intent of Sacrifice to the Gods'; it has been steeped in it for a long time, so it counts as a dharma implement. Keeping it might prove useful," the Sword Spirit said. "As for those pills, they are 'Qi-Rousing Pills,' capable of stirring up the Blood Qi and surging the Inner Breath. A martial practitioner can use them to restore Inner Breath, and even one without any martial technique can greatly increase their strength."
"Good stuff. It might be of great use in the upcoming fight."
"As for those two 'spirit jades'... their quality is average, but they can still aid cultivation, and they can also be used to activate certain implements that only Cultivators can use."
"Can Martial Artists use them too?" An Jing knew that Cultivators were 'Qi-Refining cultivators,' so he asked. After getting the Sword Spirit's affirmative reply, he carefully put away the two spirit jades.
—Cultivation resources can't be wasted!
Before he knew it, An Jing had arrived at the East Mountain Farmstead. He was just about to climb over the wall into the manor when he abruptly halted his movement, his brows slightly furrowing.
—Someone's here.
Employing the Mysterious Step, An Jing leaped lightly onto the wall, silently lying prone atop it, concealing his aura as he observed the interior of the manor.
Then, he clenched his teeth.
Because he saw three Demon Sect followers holding up a dark gold vessel, aiming it at the medicine vats that had already been opened, siphoning out the medicine mash within!
The crimson Blood Qi and white Life Force fused into a pink Blood Medicine Power, then were refined and sublimated within the vessel, transforming into one crystalline... Blood Pill Great Medicine after another!
Chapter 46