"Can a sword spirit also become a soul?"
"An ordinary sword spirit certainly couldn't, but the Sword Tower Supreme is different. He was a half-immortal, after all. His sword spirit must have slain enemies alongside him for years and years, steeped in immortal blood and the like, endowing it with immortal spiritual rhyme."
"Look at that Kirin Immortal Herb in the Herb Garden—didn't it gain sentience and become a spirit after being soaked in Immortal Kirin's blood?"
As the one man and one ghost saw their authority climb all the way to the position of Acting Sect Master, they had also learned some closely guarded secrets.
Take the Sword Tower Supreme, for instance.
"Supreme" was a title that could be bestowed only upon half-immortal-level powerhouses; the Immortal Celestial could be addressed as the Immortal Supreme.
What kind of rudimentary Dao fruit the Sword Tower Supreme had possessed was unknown. All that was known was that when he attempted to perfect his rudimentary Dao fruit to seize the chance to become an immortal, he failed, ending up reduced to ash.
No one met the requirements to inherit the legacy he left behind, and the Sword Tower suffered defeat after defeat, sinking to its current state as a first-rank sect.
If Mingtai truly was the Sword Tower Supreme's sword spirit, it stood to reason that he could inherit the Sword Tower Supreme's mantle.
"You should know that the higher a cultivator's cultivation realm, the harder it is to produce offspring. When two half-immortals become Dao companions, having children is harder still."
Lu Yang nodded. He knew about this. Most of the current imperial princes and princesses had been born when Emperor Xia was young—not because Emperor Xia was now old, decrepit, and unable to produce them, but because his cultivation was too high, making it difficult to produce offspring.
Of course, it was also possible that he really just couldn't manage it anymore.
"Some half-immortal couples would drip their blood together, mingling their immortal blood. With a bit of luck, something resembling a sword spirit would be born from the blood. Over more time, it would develop intelligence and become a soul—their child."
"That's why the higher a cultivator's cultivation, the more cautious they have to be in battle. They must never shed blood."
"Why?"
"Think about it. If two half-immortals fought a grueling battle, vomiting blood and spilling brains without deciding a victor, and in the end agreed to fight again the next day..."
"When they show up the next day—good grief, the blood has turned into a spirit, and now the two of them have a child! What are you supposed to do then?"
Lu Yang: "..."
That... actually made a terrifying amount of sense.
"Back in our ancient era, half-immortals exercised restraint when fighting. They avoided shedding blood whenever possible, and even if blood was shed, they made sure to clean up every trace after the fight to avoid any mess later where no one could say whose responsibility it was."
"Besides, that method of producing offspring was controversial. Immortal Kirin's family, for example, resolutely refused to use it."
...
On the arena stage, both combatants took their positions and prepared for battle.
"Dao Seeking Sect, Li Haoran."
"Corpse Driving Sect, Zhao Po."
Both cupped their fists in formal greeting, observing proper etiquette.
"Senior Brother Li, please." Zhao Po's expression was grave. His opponent was a senior brother from the Dao Seeking Sect; he could not afford the slightest carelessness.
He had seen firsthand how formidable Lu Yang was.
And that lifespan tamer Wei Nanfei.
Yet he was no longer who he used to be either. After receiving pointers from his Sect Master, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and his living corpse had undergone a transformation as well.
"Junior Brother Zhao, after you."
Zhao Po did not stand on ceremony. He and the living corpse attacked simultaneously.
With bones of steel and iron sinews, the living corpse felt no pain. It slammed toward Li Haoran like a shifting mountain. Li Haoran clapped both hands against it; though he sent the corpse flying, his arms were left numbed by the impact.
Before Li Haoran could shake off the pain, Zhao Po raised a copper coin sword. Coin after coin lit up, igniting a towering golden aura like sword qi, yet also like flame, bearing astonishing offensive power.
"Cleave!"
The golden aura condensed into sword qi, piercing through the air with a deafening roar, dazzling like a burst of sparks.
Li Haoran remained utterly unfazed, facing the copper coin sword with an open palm.
The instant his palm met the golden sword qi, an unexpected change occurred.
Between his palm and the golden sword qi, a thin film seemed to appear, composed of countless irregular fragments—paper-thin, yet nearly impossible to pierce, blocking the assault of the golden sword qi.
"Refining space?" Luo Hongxia recognized the weapon-refining technique Li Haoran had employed.
Master craftsmen could refine space for their own use, turning it into part of a weapon, but this was definitely not a technique an early Golden Core cultivator should be able to master!
The Fifth Elder looked at Li Haoran with a beam of satisfaction, thoroughly pleased.
Li Haoran had not focused on advancing his cultivation realm recently because he had been comprehending this very craft technique.
Zhao Po lacked experience and had never seen such a method before, throwing him into temporary disarray. Li Haoran gave him no chance to recover.
Shattering the spatial film, Li Haoran lightly flicked two fingers against the copper coin sword, his taps carrying a subtle rhythm.
With each flick, the sword's power weakened a fraction. After three consecutive flicks, the copper coin sword's sword qi had grown completely dim and lusterless.
Zhao Po's pupils contracted. He could no longer activate the copper coin sword.
"Junior Brother Zhao, you must have acquired this copper coin sword recently, haven't you? It hasn't been fully attuned yet. Next time you fight, remember to use a weapon that truly belongs to you," Li Haoran said unhurriedly, having severed the connection between Zhao Po and the copper coin sword for the time being.
This was another standard technique of weapon refiners.
Zhao Po gritted his teeth. Things had reached this point; he had to take a risk.
He bit into his wrist and bathed the living corpse in his blood. The corpse's pores opened wide, absorbing the offering.
Beneath the corpse's pale skin, blood began to flow, making it seem almost alive.
"Together!"
The living corpse charged like an elephant, while Zhao Po took to the air like an eagle.
Under normal circumstances, when two people teamed up against one, a lack of shared combat experience made perfect coordination difficult to achieve.
Zhao Po and the living corpse were different. Intimately attuned, their coordination was seamless.
The living corpse fought like a martial arts grandmaster, its punches and kicks heavy and ferocious like cleaving blades and crushing axes. Every strike carried lethal peril, ringing out across the stage like claps of thunder.
Meanwhile, Zhao Po hovered in the air with a peach wood sword and talismans, targeting the gaps in Li Haoran's defense.
Beset by both man and corpse, Li Haoran was hard-pressed to defend and fell into a disadvantage.
Boom!
Zhao Po and the living corpse struck Li Haoran's chest at the same time, sending him flying backward.
Zhao Po panted heavily. This offensive style took an immense toll on both him and the living corpse; he had to finish the match quickly.
*Clap, clap, clap—*
A lonely burst of applause came from below the stage. Both Zhao Po and the audience looked toward the sound in bewilderment.
The person clapping looked identical to the Li Haoran on the stage.
It was actually Li Haoran!
How was that possible? Wasn't Li Haoran up on the arena?
Only the sect masters and elders of the major powers smiled, as though they had seen through the mystery.
"Junior Brother Zhao, well fought. It seems relying on just a clone really wasn't enough to defeat you."
"A clone?" Zhao Po frowned, still unable to fathom how Li Haoran had done it.
Was it a wood clone like Senior Brother Lu Yang's?
Li Haoran explained at a leisurely pace, "My Golden Core is called the Rebirth Golden Core. As the name implies, it allows severed limbs to regenerate, severed heads to grow back, severed legs to regrow."
"So if I chopped off my entire body, wouldn't I be able to assemble a complete corpse?"
Zhao Po's pupils shrank slightly. There was actually a method like that?!
"Then I consulted Senior Brother Man on the corpse-driving art. I used the corpse-driving art to control my own corpse. While its combat power isn't quite equal to my true body, it still retains seventy to eighty percent."
A warm, breeze-like smile touched Li Haoran's lips. "Since my clone couldn't beat you, how will you respond when my clone and I attack together?"
Zhao Po's heart sank. Just dealing with the clone had taken everything he had. If Senior Brother Li's true body joined the fray, how could he possibly fight?
The other cultivators in the early Golden Core division grew uneasy as well. Li Haoran's combat power was plain for all to see and already immensely troublesome—and that was just his clone! If clone and true body joined forces, who could defeat him?
The gaunt referee glanced at Li Haoran standing below the stage and announced the result of the match.
"According to the competition rules, once the match begins, if a competitor is outside the arena stage, that competitor is deemed the loser."
"Zhao Po wins!"
The smile froze on Li Haoran's face.
Chapter 491