Sea of Qi

The power of the Seven Yin Soul-Snatching Sword lay not in its edge, but in its ability to silently pierce directly into the heart and mind. Xue Ying did not believe that at Zhou Wuji's tender age, he could possess the cultivation and temperament needed to resist the assault of yin fiends. Zhou Wuji, however, did not hesitate for a moment. Turning, he spotted Xue Ying clad in her black dharma robe and immediately slashed out with his sword once more. The White Rainbow Sword transformed into a solar wheel once again. Even before the sword light descended, its blazing, supreme yang aura rendered the void extraordinarily bright and scorching hot. Xue Ying felt the blazing sword qi bearing straight down upon her brow and eyes, yet she remained motionless, merely raising her left palm to unleash the Profound Yin Ghost Claws. The colossal black ghostly claw collapsed and shattered directly beneath the blazing sword wheel, and even Xue Ying's figure was obliterated by the wheel's cleaving slash. Hidden behind the void barrier, Xue Ying felt smug. No matter how formidable this boy's swordcraft was, in the end he had still fallen under the sway of her Seven Yin Soul-Snatching Sword, reduced to maniacally flailing his blade in frantic slashes. With such a ferocious sword momentum, how many strikes could Zhou Wuji, a mere Rank Six, possibly sustain? Xue Ying reckoned that with the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book in hand, she could easily toy Zhou Wuji to death... Yet no sooner had a triumphant smile surfaced on her face than it was illuminated by the blazing sword wheel, her emerald eyes wholly consumed by the dazzling disk of light. She was jolted in shock—how had Zhou Wuji managed to lock onto her true position? With no time to think, Xue Ying swept her long sleeves and urged the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book, laying down layers of void barriers before her. As the blazing sword wheel descended, the layers of void barriers shattered simultaneously. Illuminated by the sword wheel, Xue Ying had no time to dodge and could only circulate her true qi with all her might to stimulate the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book. The black dharma robe on her body transformed directly into an immense black curtain, completely enveloping Zhou Wuji. Yet the blazing sword wheel flared forth once more, tearing straight through the black curtain and bearing down directly on Xue Ying. Xue Ying was horrified. What kind of sword technique could so easily breach the tangible dharma domain forged by the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book? Without realizing it, Xue Ying had already been cowed by the sword wheel's blazing sword intent. Panic seizing her heart, her will to fight shattered, she hastily triggered the Ghost Shadow Escape condensed within her acupoints, splitting into seven illusory phantoms that fled in seven different directions. In Zhou Wuji's hand, the White Rainbow Sword transformed into a solar wheel once again; only this time, the solar wheel was bright without being blinding, carrying in its revolutions the gentle, ethereal delicacy of rippling water. It was none other than the Sunset Sword's Three Suns Shining Together—the setting sun hung in the sky, while two reflections of the evening sun shimmered on the parted waters of the river. The perfection-stage sword intent brought out every bit of Three Suns Shining Together's sublime subtleties, and the moment Xue Ying's seven phantoms moved, they were minced to pieces by the wheel-like sword light. Forced out of the void to reveal her true body, Xue Ying hurriedly executed the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Finger, pointing straight at Zhou Wuji. Yet the radiant Sunset Sword shifted into the deep, endless Night Rain Sword; dense, ethereal, and blanketing heaven and earth, a rain of swords descended soundlessly. The sword qi shifted from Tianji Profound Yang to Tianji Profound Yin, governed within by the Xiaoxiang Sword's perfected sword intent that commanded the cycle of yin and yang—the highest plane of swordsmanship Zhou Wuji commanded. The dense Night Rain Sword was nearly noiseless, its hundreds and thousands of sword qi soaking through Xue Ying's protective true qi in an instant. Sensing imminent disaster yet unsure of how to counter, Xue Ying could only madly push her lunar true qi to resist. Through the clash of sword qi, Zhou Wuji saw right through the shifts in Xue Ying's true qi. Unaware of the true and feigned facets of his swordcraft, Xue Ying countered with all her might, yet no matter how potent her true qi was, every bit struck empty air. Silently, the Night Rain Sword pierced through the lunar true qi, and the White Rainbow Sword tapped lightly against Xue Ying's glabella. The blade penetrated bone, and the dense Night Rain sword qi surged right along with it. Even as she was struck by the blade, Xue Ying unleashed the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Seal with her spiritual sense. Empowered by the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book, this technique was guaranteed to hit whenever unleashed within the Ten Directions dharma domain. Zhou Wuji felt an icy chill at his chest as endless yin qi coalesced into an intricate, profound black mark upon it. The azure heavenly robe formed by the Heavenly Puppet had ultimately failed to fully block Xue Ying's spell. The black mark was branded upon his chest, upon his five viscera and six bowels, and even deep into his sea of consciousness. The black dharma seal seemed to merge into one with him, siphoning away every shred of vitality within his body. Zhou Wuji relied solely on the purity of his cultivation and the fact that the spirit aperture at his brow could still connect to the Tianshu Star high in the nine heavens to keep his consciousness from immediately unraveling. "The Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Seal... you're dead for—" Struck through the glabella by the sword, her life force extinguished and her eyes ruined by sword qi, Xue Ying was nonetheless able to sense Zhou Wuji's state through a lingering wisp of spiritual sense. To drag Zhou Wuji down with her before dying was vengeance enough. Yet before her words could fully leave her lips, she "saw" a gleam of divine light flicker in Zhou Wuji's dimming eyes, and a touch of ruddy color return to his blackened face. The black qi suffusing Zhou Wuji inside and out dissipated considerably. Xue Ying's heart filled with sheer disbelief: "How is that possible? How could it be?!" Zhou Wuji had no leisure to care about Xue Ying at this moment. He was actively channeling the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment to convert Primordial Profound Essence and reinforce his own vitality. The Primordial Profound Essence he had previously accumulated from the three Gu insects of Chen Dagou and the others had all been applied to himself, yet it still failed to completely dispel that yin qi. Casting all reservations aside, he immediately converted the malevolent spirit into Primordial Profound Essence and applied it straight to himself. Five taels and three mace of Primordial Profound Essence cascaded down as azure light, instantly banishing all the yin qi. The remaining eighty percent of the azure light permeated his viscera, bones, muscles, and flesh, constantly strengthening his physique. Having regained his strength, Zhou Wuji's first thought was to finish Xue Ying off once and for all, only to find that she was already dead, her contorted face etched with incredulous shock and suspicion... He had no time to dwell on that. The vigorous vital blood within his body boiled like fire; he had to guide this power properly, or he might very well shoot up one or two chi in height, bursting with sinew and turning into a hulking brute of muscle. That went completely against his aesthetic sensibilities, and once his body grew that tall and bulky, shrinking back to normal would be exceedingly difficult. There was also another major issue: such an abnormal bodily transformation would be difficult to explain reasonably, inevitably inviting all manner of trouble. Regardless of the reasons, Zhou Wuji had no wish to alter his current physical appearance. He immediately circulated the Five Tigers Fist to properly transform the Primordial Profound Essence within his body. The Iron Tiger Fist of the Five Tigers Fist was a body-refining method; combined with Black Tiger Strength Refining, Flying Tiger Speed Refining, Heart Tiger Intent Refining, and White Tiger Spirit Refining, it allowed him to swiftly digest the Primordial Profound Essence. When it was all over, Zhou Wuji's exterior remained in its original form, yet his skin, flesh, bones, and viscera had been immensely bolstered. Most importantly, visualizing the Heart Tiger had caused a sea of qi to condense within his lower dantian. His Five Tigers Fist had already reached great achievement, and his physical body had long attained the level of a Rank Six martial artist; he simply had been unwilling to break through. After this bodily enhancement, whether he was willing or not, he had to take advantage of the momentum to condense a sea of qi so that he could regulate the Primordial Profound Essence throughout his entire body. The qi of the Heart Tiger corresponded to fire; the true qi it condensed was fierce and ferocious, such that the slightest surge of true qi would set his entire body's vital blood boiling like fire. For a martial artist, this was a dream enhancement. For him, however, it was a massive headache. The Five Tigers Fist was an orthodox fist art heritage of the Eight Extremes Sect; its qi-training method matched the five tigers to the qi of the five elements and was also known as the Five Elements True Qi Method. As the true qi circulated within Zhou Wuji's sea of qi, its route of operation clashed distinctly with his Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture. Fortunately, the foundation of his Northern Dipper Celestial Pivot Scripture was exceptionally solid, and his Tianshu true qi was majestic and profound enough to suppress the true qi in his dantian. For now, there was no problem, but the conflict between martial arts and his sect's secret scripture would even impact his opening of the five-viscera acupoints. He had to find a way to resolve this as soon as possible! Once Zhou Wuji had adapted to his physical changes and brought the clash between the two different qi under control, he finally went to inspect Xue Ying's corpse. The moment he drew near, the dharma robe on Xue Ying's body transformed into a ghost general and lunged straight at him. A water-like bolt of lightning struck down; trembling all over, the ghost general dissolved into wisps of black smoke, and the black dharma robe fell limply to the ground. Bereft of magical power to control it and lacking a ghost general to drive it, the black dharma robe folded and shrank, turning into a single black book page. On one side of the page, five large characters were inscribed in snake-worm seal script: Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book. The other side was densely covered with countless tiny characters. Zhou Wuji was both startled and overjoyed. Xue Ying's dharma robe was actually a page of secret lore—or more precisely, a magic treasure bearing secret methods, which was why it could take on various forms, somewhat resembling the Heavenly Puppet. No wonder Xue Ying had been so formidable! No wonder the Heavenly Puppet hadn't been able to fully block her final strike! Xue Ying had practically delivered a treasure straight to his doorstep; she was practically a benefactor! Zhou Wuji could only console himself this way. A magic treasure was wonderful, but when he couldn't even make sense of profound yin true qi, he was likely even less capable of using a fundamental magic treasure tied to an entire sect's legacy. He tried stowing it into the Five Yin Pouch; the Ten Directions Spirit-Severing Book remained stable, causing no harm to the Five Yin Pouch. Checking Xue Ying's personal belongings, he found a thick volume of Tianji Shenjun's Notes, along with some medicinal pills and a few small gold cakes. Of the black longsword, only a scabbard remained; evidently, it was a magic implement rather than a genuine sword. After packing these items away, Zhou Wuji stimulated his Tianji Profound Yang sword qi and thoroughly disintegrated Xue Ying into light... Having tidied everything up, Zhou Wuji looked for a stone to sit down on, but fearing he might soil his precious stellar gold Daoist robe, he could only stand there zoning out for a while. Looking back on this battle, it had truly been perilous to the extreme. "Never underestimate the heroes of this world!" Zhou Wuji reminded himself: he had divine artifacts and magic treasures, but others might possess them as well; he still had to act with prudence in the future. With nothing else to do, Zhou Wuji flipped through the diary left by Tianji Shenjun. It was the same kind of booklet, with a similar calligraphy style, though it had likely been transcribed by someone else. This notebook recorded far more content, primarily stating that Yunyang possessed special earth veins. He had arranged an immortal cave in advance to nurture several divine artifacts, and when the earth vein inversion occurred, the divine artifacts would emerge into the world. If someone fated could obtain the keys to open the cave, they could also claim the divine artifacts ahead of time. Tianji Shenjun wrote that he had hidden keys in seven subterranean locations; those fated could follow the map to seek them out, and gathering all seven keys would open the cave... Zhou Wuji saw a crude map drawn in the diary, depicting rivers and mountains. Why did it look somewhat familiar? He suddenly remembered: wasn't this the location of Wu Family Village... So, Xue Ying had been at Wu Family Village to obtain a key to open the cave? Could the crimson bead left behind by the malevolent spirit be a key? Looking at the notebook in his hand, Zhou Wuji felt that something was very off about this thing; whether it had genuinely been left by Tianji Shenjun was hard to say. However, the immortal cave was real. The malevolent spirit at Wu Family Village was also real. The more Zhou Wuji thought about it, the deeper the waters seemed. With his slender limbs and small frame, he had better not join in this fray. There was another problem: if others also knew the location of the cave, keeping this secret to himself was utterly pointless. Before the demonic cultivators made their move, it would be far better to report it to the sect early to reap some rewards. It would be best to approach Master Zhihua directly; that Master was quite generous, and perhaps Zhou Wuji could seize this opportunity to learn the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper Sword. Yet there was an awkward dilemma: he was a disciple of the Tianshu lineage, yet he would be delivering such crucial news to Master Zhihua of the Yuheng lineage. If word got out, the experts of the Tianshu lineage would undoubtedly look upon him with deep disapproval. The strife between the seven lineages was no joke. This matter was of grave importance; whom to report to and how to report it would require some serious thought...