The light green Heavenly Peach Wood suspended in midair in front of Junior Leopard; it glowed with a faint green light.
He sucked in a deep breath and concentrated completely on the half-meter piece of peach wood.
A rich, pure spirit of life emanated from it, causing him to feel that the thing in front of him was not a piece of wood taken from the heart of a tree trunk, but rather an entire tree, one that had considerable vitality.
He could also sense the power of the wisp of Thunder Yuan within it, weak but full of life!
It was the power of Thunder Yuan!
Heavenly Peach woods which had been struck by Heavenly Thunder more than a thousand times within ten thousand years contained a small amount of Thunder Yuan.
Thunder Yuan was different from the energy of regular thunderbolts. It was the source from which thunderbolts were created; it was the seed of the power of thunderbolts. Like the Mysterious Fire kindling Junior Leopard had acquired from the Dragon Chimera, thunderbolt was like the seed of a plant: As soon as it chanced upon a favorable environment, it would germinate.
Of course, if it was left untouched for too long, or if it wasn't properly nurtured, the Thunder Yuan would gradually lose its potential and fade away.
But as of now, the Thunder Yuan within the piece of Heavenly Peach wood was still alive and vigorous.
He was going to integrate the piece of Heavenly Peach wood with his Emerald Pearl Sword. The combination would level up the power of his Flying Sword.
In fact, even during the Middle Ages, the Heavenly Peach wood had been a top-quality material for forging Flying Sword. As long as the wisp of Thunder Yuan in the Heavenly Peach wood was dealt with well, it would not only greatly increase the attack force of the Flying Sword but also have a crucial influence on the sword's speed. After all, there were not too many things in the world that could travel faster than thunderbolts.
The Silver Moon Sword Technique was a complete system of practice; it included methods for creating Flying Sword. Of course, if it weren't for this Junior Leopard would not have successfully made the Emerald Pearl Sword into a Flying Sword.
But compared to the process of creating his first Flying Sword, the move to integrate the Heavenly Peach wood into the Flying Sword was still highly risky. A wrong move would destroy the Flying Sword and the invaluable Wood as well.
Therefore, Junior Leopard could not help but be extremely cautious!
Fortunately, before he made the Flying Sword, Junior Leopard had consulted Elder Qing thoroughly on this matter; he had knowledge about every single detail of the process of practicing the Flying Sword. He knew the matters that needed attention and the possible mishaps that could occur. He was choosing to do this only because he knew he had a 60 to 70 percent chance of success.
For someone like Junior Leopard who liked to take risks, these odds were good enough for him.
He flicked his finger lightly, and a single drop of blood flew out. It shot straight into the Heavenly Peach wood. His gaze tightened; a small part of his divine thoughts had been transferred into the Wood along with the drop of blood.
HISS!
A pleasurable feeling was transmitted to him from the Heavenly Peach wood, and his peering eyes suddenly opened wide.
He felt great, really great. This was a wonderful feeling that arose from the depths of his mind.
Peaceful and harmonious. Pure, without a single speck of impurity, and full of vitality!
After Junior Leopard's divine thoughts had attached to the Heavenly Peach wood, his entire being seemed to become purified from the inside out from an extraordinary energy. His mind was immensely clear, and his thoughts flowed smoothly inside his mind. He felt that even his divine thoughts had been purified; many intricate details had been integrated harmoniously.
"Huh? This is—!"
At that precise moment, Junior Leopard's expression became weird, as if he had discovered something strange.
"Why is it like this? Why do I feel like I can infuse all of my divine thoughts into the Heavenly Peach wood!?" He felt surprised. A bizarre thought flashed through his mind.
The way of Reining Sword was split into two types. The first type was to use Qi. The second one, which was also the higher level method, was to use Divine.
To use Qi meant using one's internal Qi to rein the sword; to use Divine meant to use the power of divine thoughts to rein the sword. Because Junior Leopard's divine thoughts were extremely powerful, his method of Reining the Sword was to use his divine thoughts.
Unlike Junior Leopard, the sword practitioners of the Middle Ages had not been able to sense the presence of divine thoughts. Their cultivation was below Level Seven.
Therefore, the sword practitioners of the Middle Ages who had cultivation below Level Four used Qi for Reining Swords. When their cultivation reached Level Four, the Bone-Forging Realm, their spirit and willpower strengthened. While they still could not sense divine thoughts, they had devised another method of using their own essence and blood to nurture the sword. This allowed the Flying Sword to combine with the soul, reaching a state where the human and the soul became one. From there, they could progress to the level where they could use divine thoughts for Reining Swords.
Therefore, for a real sword practicer, the Flying Sword in their hands would usually be the first Flying Sword they had nurtured using their essence and blood. The Flying Sword was deeply connected with their spirit. When it was destroyed, their spirit would be damaged as well.
When their cultivation reached Level Seven, they would be able to sense the presence of divine thoughts. Only when they were able to attach a strand of divine thoughts to the Flying Sword, could they be said to have completed their Flying Sword and to truly use Divine for Reining a Sword.
However, that meant that only a single strand of divine thoughts could be attached to the Flying Sword, like what Junior Leopard was experiencing right now. But he discovered that the Heavenly Peach wood could not only contain that strand of divine thoughts, it could accommodate the entirety of his divine thoughts.
In other words, he could transfer all of his spirits into the Heavenly Peach wood and use it as an additional physical body!
"It's a pity that my spirit cannot leave my body completely!" Junior Leopard smiled wryly inside. In this world, with the start of cultivation, a key principle was the external and internal cultivation. The way of the external and internal cultivation firstly meant cultivation of the Internal Qi and the body together. After the cultivation reached Level Four, the spirit gradually changed and was unknowingly moisturized by the body and the Internal Qi during the cultivation. It expanded continuously. Meanwhile, during the expansion, the spirit became more and more closely connected with the body. Finally, they became inextricable; the spirit would never free itself from the body. Even if the spirit could actually leave the body, nobody dared to do that. There was a reason. Theoretically, once the spirit separated from the body, it would bring the essence out of the body. Thus, the body that one had strenuously practiced would die. Without the support and nourishment of the body, the spirit would also slowly disappear from the world.
Therefore, spirits were inseparable from the physical body.
"While I cannot transfer the spirit into the Wood, I can still transfer a relatively large amount of divine thoughts. Then I could manipulate it more easily!"
The relationship between divine thoughts and spirit was actually very simple: If the spirit was a complete physical body, the divine thoughts would be appendages extending from the body.
The stronger the spirit, the higher the number of appendages. When the spirit was practiced to a certain extent, the divine thoughts could even materialize, having a physical form with strong attack power.
The usage of a celestial device depended on the divine thoughts. The more divine thoughts attached to a celestial device, the more powerful it would become, and the easier it would be for its owner to manipulate it.
However, not everything in the world was able to absorb divine thoughts.
Objects that were able to absorb divine thoughts needed to have intelligence. This was also why intelligent materials were required to forge Flying Swords.
However, the intelligence of an object was hard to define, and the amount of intelligence within many kinds of materials differed greatly. Those with high intelligence were able to absorb more divine thoughts, and vice versa. In other words, the intelligence of the materials determined the quality of the Flying Sword or celestial device.
For example, Demon Devil Needles had high intelligence, so Junior Leopard was able to infuse his divine thoughts into them completely. This allowed him to manipulate them as if they were his very own hands. Ultimately, however, the size of the Demon Devil Needles was much too small. Even if they were easy to manipulate, when 49 Demon Devil Needles were gathered, the total volume did not exceed that of his little finger.
It was different for the Flying Sword. Its size was hundreds, even thousands of times larger than that of the Demon Devil Needles. Therefore, it was millions of times harder to manipulate it.
While the relationship between intelligence and divine thoughts seemed abstruse, it was basically a matter of volume and capacity.
The smaller the size of the celestial device, the more the divine thoughts were able to fill up the entire volume, allowing the user to manipulate it according to his will. However, if the size of the celestial device was large, the requirement for the level of intelligence of the materials would be very high. Because of this, in the Middle Ages, the Flying Swords were mostly the size of daggers and long swords were rare. This principle applied to celestial devices as well. Many large celestial devices existed in legend, but they mostly required a coordinating formation to be manipulated.
The materials of Junior Leopard's Emerald Pearl Sword would have been considered excellent, especially during the Middle Ages. This was why it was so easy for him to forge it into a Flying Sword. Furthermore, it had sufficient intelligence; Junior Leopard's divine thoughts could wield the sword as if he was holding it. The sword's weight was comparable to the strength of his hand, but even his hand would tire after a long period. Junior Leopard would not be able to infuse his divine thoughts entirely into the sword.
The Heavenly Peach wood was different!
Its intelligence level was so high that even if Junior Leopard transferred all his divine thoughts into it, it still could not be completely filled up. Thus, it would be as if he was holding a piece of dough in his hand. He could do whatever he wanted with it.
"This is the first time I've seen something with such a high level of intelligence. I wonder what will happen when it integrates with my Emerald Pearl Sword?! You know, my sword isn't just a Flying Sword!"
Of course, the Emerald Pearl Sword was not just a Flying Sword; it was also one of Junior Leopard's External Elixirs!
It was an External Elixir that could practice independently and had cultivation at the peak of Level Six!
Even though the Sword had been made into an External Elixir, it was nurtured in Junior Leopard's Dantian. It had already merged with Junior Leopard himself. Their lives were tied together.
"Here's hoping I'll succeed! If it fails, my External Elixir will be destroyed!" Junior Leopard fixated his gaze on the light green piece of Heavenly Peach wood in front of him, as he made his decision firmly.
He opened his mouth. A ray of green light shot out and enveloped the entire piece of Heavenly Peach wood. The divine thoughts that had entered the Wood started to interact with the intelligence, causing it to integrate with the surrounding green light.
At first, everything went smoothly, and nothing was out of place. The spiritual Qi within the Heavenly Peach wood readily infused with the Sword Qi. As the infusion went a step further, the light green Wood started to dissolve into dust, like the skull of Dragon Chimera had previously, and fused with the green light.
"Great, everything is going well!"
Through his divine thoughts, Junior Leopard felt the spiritual Qi of the Heavenly Peach wood integrate with the Green Jade Qian Element little by little; Junior Leopard was delighted.
"Great! The Heavenly Peach wood has abundant spiritual Qi. After it fuses with my Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi, I'll practice it using Bright Moon Deifying Technique. Then, the quality of my Flying Sword will increase at least one level. When that time comes...!"
At that moment, just when he thought everything was going well, something happened.
The Heavenly Peach wood, under the control of his divine thoughts, had completely broken down. At that instant, a small but immensely destructive power suddenly appeared.
This power was so small yet so terrifying, that when it appeared, it dealt a huge blow onto his divine thoughts, causing them (they had long acquired a physical form) to shatter. The blow not only disrupted the divine thoughts within the Heavenly Peach wood; even his divine thoughts within the Emerald Pearl Sword were affected. It almost caused him to lose control of the sword.
SZZZZ! Junior Leopards' cross-legged form trembled violently for a moment, as if he had been electrocuted. He ground his teeth hard and forced his remaining divine thoughts to gather in one spot. Only then was he able to withstand the terrifying power.
"Eff, this is Thunder Yuan!" Junior Leopard cursed quietly. Heavenly Peach wood contained Thunder Yuan. That he knew, but he had never thought that Thunder Yuan would be so violent, almost disintegrating his divine thoughts with a single blow and nearly affecting the spirit in his original body.
However, after he had managed to withstand this single blow, an even stranger thing happened.
The cyan sword light suddenly began to glow intensely. He had no chance to react before the Thunder Yuan within the Wood and the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi collided violently, creating an explosive reaction.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The cyan light from the sword started to circulate, and the dust from the Heavenly Peach wood began to gather into the light. A green starlight vortex was forming in front of Junior Leopard.
"Psst, psst, clap, clap—!"
The vortex began to spin faster and faster. Tiny strands of hair-like blue lights appeared within the vortex, gradually filling it up.
"I get it! The power of thunder in the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi is fusing with the Thunder Yuan!" Junior Leopard's eyes flashed red. He understood everything.
The Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill was an immensely powerful and rare cultivation method that had the properties of thunder. However, the properties of thunder were too violent. At the start of practice, if the inner body was not strong enough, it would not be able to withstand it. Therefore, the cultivation method had ways to suppress the violent nature of the Internal Qi's thunder properties; it also only absorbed spiritual Qi with thunder properties from the surrounding air. Each time, only a small amount would be absorbed. The principle was to take it slowly, strengthening the person's body and increasing its compatibility with thunder-propertied Internal Qi one step at a time. Only when the body was strengthened to a certain extent and the cultivation method was completed to a certain extent, would the absorption of thunder-propertied spiritual Qi gradually increase.
Junior Leopard had used his External Elixir to practice this cultivation method, so he didn't need to consider his body's ability to bear the Internal Qi's thunder properties. In addition, the External Elixir could practice independently 24/7. Therefore, it was natural that its Internal Qi would contain the power of thunderbolts.
While the power of thunderbolts was strong, it was only formed from the thunder-propertied spiritual Qi that he had absorbed. Like a tree without roots, it did not have any foundation, so there was a certain limit to its power.
However, Thunder Yuan was contained within the Heavenly Peach wood. While it was only a small amount, it was the source of the power of thunderbolts. As long as it was nourished carefully, it could produce the power of thunderbolts infinitely. Except that the wisp of Thunder Yuan was much too weak. It was extremely difficult to nurture it when it was within the Heavenly Peach wood. Now, the Wood had been removed from its roots. While it contained abundant vitality spirit and pneuma, it had become impossible for it to grow. In ten thousand years, when the vitality pneuma dissipated, it would die out as well.
However, this situation was different. Within Junior Leopard's Emerald Pearl Sword, the abundant power of thunderbolts was just right for nurturing the wisp of Thunder Yuan. Similarly, after gaining the Thunder Yuan, the Sword would be able to absorb the power of thunderbolts within the air more easily, and the absorbed power would be purer. The two complemented each other very well.
Of course, it was impossible to see these benefits now. What could be seen was that the Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill's power of thunderbolts had been completely purified. This affected the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi once more. Under the influence of many sources of power, the vortex began to glow more brilliantly.
As for the divine thoughts that had just been almost destroyed, Junior Leopard gathered them and transferred them into the vortex.
"It seems that the nature of the Internal Qi is changing!" Receiving this information from his divine thoughts, Junior Leopard focused his gaze for a moment, and then he became overjoyed. "Yes, the nature of the Internal Qi is starting to change. This is a sign! It is progressing from Level Six to Level Seven!"
Every practitioner knew there was a huge barrier between Level Six and Level Seven. To overcome this barrier, there were two tests that one needed to pass!
The first was regarding the nature of Internal Qi; between Level Three and Four, the Internal Qi would transition from a scattered to an orderly state. This gaseous state was deeply complex. Much like a person's spirit, it would not diffuse. Between Level Six and Seven, the Internal Qi would transition from a gaseous to a liquid state; this was the stuff of legends. The second was about the toughness of the physical body. The liquid Internal Qi required a body whose toughness was many times higher than before. Only when a groundbreaking change happened to the body and when the skeleton became as strong as steel, would the body be just barely able to withstand the Internal Qi.
These two tests were tremendously difficult to pass.
Therefore, those at Level Six, could only be called masters of martial arts; only those at Level Seven and above could be called experts!
Since ancient times, these two tests had stumped countless talented people.
But it was precisely because of these talented people that an alternative method, the practice of External Elixirs, was discovered. It allowed them to avoid the toughness of the body test.
Later, these people found that the External Elixirs method could not only be used to pass this test, it had many other uses as well, causing the usage of External Elixirs to become extremely popular. Afterward, something similar to the antiquity times and the medieval period happened again: all of the materials available for the practice of External Elixirs were snatched up. Therefore, the materials for the practice of External Elixirs were extremely rare.
Of course, this was not a concern for Junior Leopard.
Junior Leopard had practiced the External Elixir for several years. Besides, he had also had the ingenious idea to let it practice independently and continuously. Its cultivation had long reached the peak of Level Six, and the Internal Qi had become extremely rich and intense.
Junior Leopard's Internal Qi had not only reached the gaseous state; under the purifying effects of Bright Moon Deifying Technique, it had become extremely pure and dense. While it was still in the gaseous state, it was much more powerful than normal gaseous Internal Qi. This was why Junior Leopard had the confidence to duel with experts at Level Seven and above.
Except that, however rich and dense the Internal Qi was, if it did not undergo a qualitative change, it would not be able to step into Level Seven.
He needed an opportunity, one that allowed him to step into Level Seven. Well, that opportunity was here now.
The thunder-propertied power of the Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill integrated with the Thunder Yuan. Finally, a change happened, causing his inside breath to begin to circulate.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
POP! POP! POP!
In the vortex, the green starlights and the mysterious blue electric lights interacted harmoniously, occasionally creating spark-like sound effects.
KRR!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
When the rotation speed of the vortex reached a peak, its center suddenly froze, and a thin layer of green light started to extend in all directions. While this was a slow process, its effects were very obvious.
Seeing with his eyes and feeling with his divine thoughts, he clearly sensed that wherever the green light reached, the Green Jade Qian Yuan Internal Qi had changed to the liquid state. In addition to the Internal Qi, the strands of electricity flashing within the vortex had become liquid as well, slowly gathering at its center.
"Wow, this is amazing. I didn't know that the violent thunder could also be gentle like water. It's peaceful, like an undisturbed pond!" Junior Leopard expressed his amazement, while his hands focused on the task.
His Internal Qi had upgraded to Level Seven, but at the same time, he was practicing his Flying Sword. He could not afford to neglect either of these processes.
Gathering his divine thoughts once more, Junior Leopard's fingers moved as he started to practice his Flying Sword.
The cyan vortex slowly stopped rotating because the Internal Qi had turned into water. When the last drop of liquid thunder reached the vortex center, the rotation stopped automatically.
POOF!
There was a light sound, and then the cyan vortex exploded into dozens of liquid droplets.
These droplets floated in front of Junior Leopard. There were eighty-one in total. Each droplet was identical in size and they glowed faintly like green crystals. Along with the glow, the occasional mysterious blue light would flash.
"Gather!" Junior Leopard ordered coldly, his finger pointing forward. The eighty-one droplets merged into a green sphere the size of a kidney bean. However, this sphere was not liquid; it was solid with a metallic glow to it.
"Haha, Sword Orb! I've created a Sword Orb without realizing it!" Junior Leopard's face shone with delight. He raised his right index finger and tapped the Sword Orb. Automatically, it split into two rays of green light, twisting like two snakes around his fingertip. At last, they settled around his finger and solidified into a green-colored ring.
"From now on, I won't call you Emerald Pearl anymore. I'll call you Biyou instead!"