With Chen Dalu eliminated, along with his accomplice Chen Chaofeng, and all the zombies mutated by the yin dragon's soul put to rest, the incident at Old Dragon Island had finally drawn to a close as far as Zhiyuan was concerned.
As for the earthly fiend qi blanketing the ground, that was a natural phenomenon of heaven and earth. Zhiyuan could not resolve it, nor could Zhihua, a third-rank Realized Person.
From now on, Old Dragon Island could only be designated a forbidden zone.
The earthly fiend qi would gradually be absorbed and harmonized by the boundless spiritual qi of the world, posing no real harm to anywhere beyond the island.
When Zhou Wuji departed, he conveniently picked up the iron staff Chen Dalu had cast aside.
The item was not made of refined steel, but forged from some peculiar metallic ore. Its quality was out of the ordinary, and it was bound to fetch a decent price...
Emerging from the cave, Zhiyuan gave Daoist Yizhen a few parting instructions before escorting Zhou Wuji back to the encampment. Although the old Daoist had not raised a hand in the fight, his advanced age had caught up with him, and he hurried off to rest.
Lying inside his tent, Zhou Wuji found himself far too keyed up to sleep, nor did he want to.
Opening the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he saw that the Tianji Sword now occupied a distinct, dedicated page.
There were no annotations following its name, which clearly indicated he had yet to truly cross the threshold of mastery.
Although Realized Person Zhihua's instruction in the technique had been limited to the fifth-rank level, it was remarkably subtle and profound.
The Tianji Sword encompassed not only swordplay mnemonics, but also a method for refining qi that corresponded directly with the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture.
Strictly speaking, it was simply an alternate variation of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture.
For any other cultivator of the Celestial Pivot, transitioning to the Tianji Sword might have posed some difficulty.
However, his mastery of the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture had reached perfection. So long as it remained below the fifth rank, he could freely convert his true qi, making his practice of the Tianji Sword come quite naturally.
After studying it for a while, Zhou Wuji remained in no hurry to consume primordial profound spirits to advance the Tianji Sword.
The Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment still held a fair number of primordial profound spirits, yet all were derived from destiny patterns below three liang.
Cultivating such an exquisite sword art would clearly require far more.
Besides, there was no need to rush into mastering the Tianji Sword. He preferred to ponder it over the coming days, using the exercise to take measure of his genuine natural aptitude.
Turning his attention back to Chen Dalu, the man possessed a destiny pattern of five liang and six qian, which could be converted into five liang and six qian of primordial profound spirit.
This was the highest destiny pattern he had ever obtained.
Judging by the book's method of calculating destiny patterns, a seventh-rank cultivator yielded above three liang, while a sixth-rank cultivator yielded above four liang.
Chen Dalu was merely a sixth-rank martial artist. Even with his formidable Gu techniques, his own destiny pattern would never have reached five liang.
To attain five liang and six qian was clearly the result of merging with the remnant yin dragon soul and the mother Gu, which the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment had tallied all together.
Zhou Wuji estimated that if Zhiyuan were weighed on the scale of destiny patterns, he would only register around five liang and six or seven qian, nothing higher.
Chen Dalu's destiny pattern of five liang and six qian was essentially equivalent to twenty or thirty years of dedicated cultivation from someone like Zhiyuan.
Looking at the secret arts at his disposal, even the Tianji Sword could probably be driven straight to perfection with it.
Yet should he really do that?
Zhou Wuji was genuinely reluctant. No matter how sublime the Tianji Sword might be, he was constrained by his cultivation realm and could never replicate the power displayed by Realized Person Zhihua.
Reaching the perfection realm in the Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture had taught him the vital importance of a foundational cultivation method.
He had already revealed his sixth-rank cultivation. When he went to the upper abbey for further study next year, he was bound to gain access to higher-tier doctrines.
Brilliant as the Tianji Sword was, it remained secondary to his foundation. If it were the complete set of the Big Dipper Seven Stars Sword, that might warrant the investment...
Weighing the matter back and forth, Zhou Wuji decided to hold onto this destiny pattern for now and see how things developed.
Apart from that, the ordinary zombies he had slain yielded very little primordial profound qi; even in large quantities, it had no noticeable effect on him.
Zhou Wuji funneled all this low-grade primordial profound qi into the Five Yin Pouch.
The Five Yin Pouch was an arcane spell, yet its bedrock lay in five yin spirits.
While his spellcraft attainment in the Five Yin Pouch was exceptionally high, the five yin spirits that composed it were modest in caliber, which inherently capped the pouch's potential.
As substantial amounts of primordial profound qi flooded the five spirits, all five stirred with newfound vigor.
Before long, each of the spirits had grown noticeably stronger.
Within the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, the Five Yin Pouch was also elevated to the transcendent realm.
When Zhou Wuji channeled the Five Yin Pouch, its interior space expanded from eight chi to fifteen chi, and its form could now be reshaped at will.
He had read Daoist texts and knew that above the Five Yin Pouch lay the Five Spirits Pouch.
Not only could the Five Spirits Pouch expand into an even vaster space, but the five spirits could also materialize into physical forms to seize physical matter, accompanied by a myriad of versatile transformations.
The spell appeared unremarkable, yet was intensely practical.
Realized Person Zhihua had taken Chen Chaofeng away so effortlessly because she, too, had mastered the Five Spirits Pouch.
Armed with the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment, he could afford to invest more effort into this art.
The next morning, Zhiyuan summoned Daoist Yizhen, instructing him to remain behind with his men to handle the aftermath.
Zhiyuan himself prepared to escort Yiping back to the Yunlong Branch Abbey.
Yiping's departure was something Zhou Wuji had shamelessly begged for.
He knew Uncle-Master Yiping disliked strife and had no taste for slaying demons or purging evils.
Leaving Uncle-Master Yiping behind to suffer on the island would have weighed on his conscience.
As he was about to set off, Zhiyuan reminded Zhou Wuji once more, "Stay on the island and don't go running around!"
Zhou Wuji obediently assented. He understood what Zhiyuan meant: the abbot was telling him to steer clear of the Zhang family and avoid looking for trouble.
In a low voice, he inquired, "Abbot... what about that precious sword?"
During his duel with Chen Dalu the previous night, his Seven Stars Sword had been twisted into a pretzel and could no longer be used.
Old Dragon Island was far from safe, and he had no shortage of enemies. Without a handy blade, encountering a formidable adversary would prove exceedingly perilous.
Zhiyuan looked at him and asked, "Where's the money?"
"How much?"
"By slaying Chen Dalu, you solved a massive problem for me. For that, I'll give you half off—fifty thousand taels."
Zhou Wuji's expression twisted the moment he heard the sum. What kind of sword commanded a price tag of a hundred thousand taels of silver?
The Tiger Wing Saber in his possession had been intended as an heirloom by Zhang Xinhu, yet its true worth was only ten to twenty thousand taels.
The entire branch abbey's annual operating expenses probably did not even reach a hundred thousand taels.
Zhou Wuji could not help protesting, "A single copper coin buys one plain steamed bun, and one tael of silver buys a thousand. A hundred thousand taels can buy a hundred million steamed buns!
"Abbot, you're about to retire! What could you possibly want with so many steamed buns...?"
"Mortal folk seek nothing more than full bellies, warm sleep, and carrying on the family line. Meeting their everyday needs is enough for them.
"Our kind pursues the transcendent Great Dao. How can the two be compared on equal terms?"
Zhiyuan shook his head. By mortal standards, a single elixir costing tens of taels was something one would rather die than squander money on.
Yet for true cultivators, taking elixirs to nourish the body and mind was indispensable.
Yunyang Prefecture, along with its numerous surrounding counties, accounted for a census population of at least six to seven million.
Yet across the entire branch abbey, genuine Qi Ingestion cultivators numbered only a little over two hundred.
From that alone, one could see the precious rarity of cultivators.
Martial artists vastly outnumbered cultivators simply because the barrier to entering the Dao was excessively steep.
Martial artists were certainly formidable in combat, but in every other respect, they fell far short of cultivators.
Given the chance to pursue the Dao, not a single martial artist would ever refuse.
Zhiyuan was confident that Zhou Wuji understood these principles; the lad was simply reluctant to part with his coin—a trait that, in truth, made the boy much like himself.
He remarked calmly, "This White Rainbow Sword of mine is a third-rank pure yang ritual sword, forged from meteoric iron over several years using nine-yang earthly fire. It is incomparably sharp; a single strike can easily slice a third-rank monstrosity in two."
Hearing Zhiyuan's extravagant praise, Zhou Wuji felt his interest piqued all the more. It was just that the price remained utterly preposterous.
He said, "Abbot, you have to at least let me see what it looks like..."
Zhiyuan nodded; the request was entirely reasonable.
The old Daoist summoned an attendant acolyte to bring the White Rainbow Sword before Zhou Wuji.
It was a longsword in a black wooden scabbard, fitted with a cyan-gold lotus guard and a hilt wrapped in black silk cord.
Outwardly, it appeared as nothing more than a slender longsword, outfitted with simple, unadorned mountings.
Zhou Wuji wasted no ceremony and took the sword in hand. The moment he held it, he felt its considerable heft—it weighed at least seventeen jin.
His Tiger Wing Saber measured five chi long with a broad, thick blade, yet it also weighed a mere seventeen jin.
The sword fit tightly within its scabbard. Zhou Wuji had to exert a bit of force to draw it free.
The blade gleamed clear and lucid like autumn water, measuring three chi six cun in length and one cun two fen in width, with two faint, raised ridges running down the center. Its hilt was eight cun, bringing the total length to four chi four cun.
Standing nearby, Zhiyuan explained, "The White Rainbow Sword contains internal pure yang astral power. With this sword in hand, inwardly it strengthens the spirit and fortifies the body; outwardly, it wards off evil and dispels foulness..."
Zhou Wuji found this somewhat amusing. Zhiyuan's sales pitch was terrible, roughly on par with a street peddler hawking vigor pills!
Still, it was undeniably an exceptional blade. A weight of seventeen jin spoke to the dense composition of its steel.
A weapon of that mass—even without a sharp edge—would carry tremendous force if swung with strength, like a solid iron rod.
Another sixth-rank cultivator might have found it unwieldy and heavy, but with two thousand four hundred jin of strength in his arms, the sword felt remarkably well-balanced in his grip.
By feel alone, Zhou Wuji knew this was a superior weapon, far outstripping the Seven Stars Sword his master had left behind.
Channeling true qi into the blade, Zhou Wuji sensed layers of deep-seated talismans nestled within its core.
They differed drastically from the demon-slaying talismans on the Seven Stars Sword. Though he did not recognize them, he could feel a fierce, all-severing qi emanating from their structure.
As the talismans were stimulated by his true qi, the blade erupted with a dazzling white rainbow light. Responding to the resonance, Zhou Wuji naturally felt a surging murderous intent to raise the sword and cleave down everything in his path.
Zhiyuan flicked his finger, sending a speck of golden light that suppressed the brilliantly glowing weapon.
Zhou Wuji reined in his true qi as well. Barely awakening the embedded talismans just now had consumed nearly ten percent of his reserves.
By his estimate, only a tenth of the talismans within the White Rainbow Sword had been activated.
In other words, drawing out the weapon's full might would require the entirety of his true qi.
Zhiyuan's claim that this was a third-rank ritual sword did indeed carry substantial merit.
"The White Rainbow Sword is engraved with the Broken Army sword talisman. Activating the talisman to transmute sword qi yields the divine power to cleave through all things, but it is terribly draining on one's true qi. Given your cultivation, wielding it is still a bit strenuous. When using the sword, try to avoid activating the talisman..." Zhiyuan quietly cautioned.
Zhou Wuji shook his head. "It consumes far too much true qi, it's this heavy, and it bears the Broken Army sword talisman. Using it feels thoroughly awkward."
"The reason the White Rainbow Sword qualifies as a treasured blade is that it never suffers ordinary wear and tear. Even if damaged, refining it with a bit of meteoric iron will restore it to its original state..."
Zhiyuan glanced at Zhou Wuji and held out a hand. "This isn't a street stall; there's no haggling here. If you want it, pay up. If you don't have the money, forget it."
The White Rainbow Sword was indeed rather idiosyncratic: low-tier cultivators found it hard to manage, while high-tier cultivators generally possessed their own bonded blades.
The old Daoist was also unwilling to sell it to anyone from the Broken Army lineage. Caught between high and low, the sword had remained unsold in his hands.
Zhou Wuji sheathed the blade but made no move to return it to Zhiyuan. Smiling obsequiously, he asked, "Would forty thousand taels do?"
Zhiyuan shook his head. Zhou Wuji had no choice but to grit his teeth. "I'll write you an IOU for the remaining ten thousand taels."
"Fine. Seeing as we're well acquainted, I won't charge you interest."
Zhiyuan nodded. The sword served no purpose sitting in his hands, and Zhou Wuji possessed boundless potential. He might as well do the young man a favor...
Pocketing forty thousand taels in banknotes and a ten-thousand-tael promissory note, Zhiyuan decided to offer Zhou Wuji a little reward in return. In an undertone, he murmured, "Chen Dalu had quite a fortune to his name. Search their hideout thoroughly; you might just stumble upon an unexpected windfall..."
Zhou Wuji's heart leapt. He had not even considered that. Truly, the older ginger was the spicier; when it came to amassing wealth, old Daoist Zhiyuan's knack was definitely superior to his own!
Chapter 115