vstars Chapter 74: Admission to the Clan
Chapter 74: Admission to the Clan
Chapter 74: Admission to the Clan
Three months have passed in a flash.
Zhao Cheng'an led a very fulfilling life. During the day, he cultivated the "Yi Wood Morning Sun Scripture" to solidify his foundation at the fourth level of Qi Refining. In the evening, he perused the several calculus books he had brought back from the Floating Scale Cave Heaven, attempting to construct a formula for interrupting the flow of Qi within his Niwan Palace.
Occasionally, he would leave the bamboo house to visit Qi Weizhao in Thousand Ears Valley, or offer guidance to Zhou Ji and Chu Pei, the two newly initiated junior brothers and sisters, on their cultivation questions.
That morning.
Zhao Cheng'an pushed open the bamboo window, letting in the fresh air filled with the scent of grass and trees.
He returned to the futon, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused all his mind on the Niwan Palace (the area around the temple of the head).
Deep within the pitch-black sea of consciousness, a few sparse streaks of light could be faintly seen. These were the traces left behind by his repeated attempts to inscribe formulas over the past few months, like faint trails in the starry sky.
He calmed his mind and began to mobilize his divine sense, slowly and steadily outlining the final complex geometric structure in that void.
The outer layer is a regular octahedral framework, while inside, a reduced regular tetrahedron is suspended in reverse rotation. At each intersection of the light filaments, a tiny, deep blue dot of light, as small as a grain of rice, condenses.
The fine, hair-like blue light trails slowly extended with his will.
I could almost hear a very faint buzzing sound, like a string being gently plucked in the distance.
As the last trace of light fell, it precisely fused with the previous structure, and a buzzing sound rang out.
The entire Niwan Palace trembled slightly.
A dazzling blue light burst forth from the complex geometric pattern in an instant, illuminating the entire pitch-black sea of consciousness for a moment.
The three-dimensional structure, precisely coupled from four computing cores, emitted a faint cyan halo, resembling some ancient and exquisite bronze ritual implement, suspended in the very center of the sea of consciousness.
Flow interruption formula.
Zhao Cheng'an slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, and revealed an undisguised joy on his face.
He could clearly feel that after three months of repeated training, his divine sense had become more refined and resilient than before. Consequently, the speed and accuracy of his inscriptions on the Hidden Dragon Vine had also improved significantly.
"However, it's not enough to just deduce it yourself; we also need to find someone to test its actual effects."
Zhao Cheng'an stood up, and a candidate came to mind.
Chen Heng.
Chen Heng was practicing his sword by the stream behind the valley.
A golden sword light darted around her, sometimes like a serpent emerging from its hole, sometimes like a rainbow piercing the sun, slicing the falling leaves in half. She had now completely stabilized her Qi Refining Level 5 cultivation, and her Grass Sword Technique had also reached a new level.
The golden sword-edge grass seemed like an extension of her limbs, as if she could control it at will.
Seeing Zhao Cheng'an walking along the stream, she stopped her swordplay and tilted her head: "Fellow Daoist Zhao, what's the wind blowing today? It's rare to see you take the initiative to come out and find me."
Zhao Cheng'an cut to the chase: "I'd like to have a friendly spar with you."
Chen Heng was slightly taken aback.
She looked Zhao Cheng'an up and down, somewhat surprised. In the past, she was the one who would take the initiative to ask Zhao Cheng'an to spar with her, and Zhao Cheng'an rarely challenged her to a match.
"Looks like you've come up with something new during your three months of seclusion?"
Sword cultivators possess two excellent qualities.
One is eager for war, the other is to remain poor.
Although Chen Heng has not yet formally joined the Daoist lineage, he has already laid a solid foundation, and his future is bound to be limitless.
"You'll know once you try," Zhao Cheng'an said, keeping everyone in suspense.
Chen Heng raised an eyebrow, picked up the sword-leaf grass again, and looked eager to try it out.
"Okay, shall we do it here?"
The two arrived at a relatively open space downstream of the stream and stood about ten feet apart.
"Watch out!"
Chen Heng didn't stand on ceremony. He pointed his fingers like a sword, and the sword-leaf grass between his fingertips instantly lit up with a dazzling golden light.
As her spiritual energy circulated within her body, the golden light transformed into a sharp sword beam, tearing through the air and shooting towards Zhao Cheng'an.
The sword light moved extremely fast, leaving a straight golden afterimage in the air.
However, Zhao Cheng'an stood still, unmoved, in the face of this fierce sword strike.
He didn't even make any defensive or dodge gestures; he simply watched the sword light fly towards him.
Chen Heng's pupils contracted slightly.
She had a clear understanding of Zhao Cheng'an's combat skills. With Zhao Cheng'an's speed and reaction, this sword strike, though fast, was by no means unavoidable.
Why isn't it moving?
Does he have some backup plan?
In a flash, Chen Heng's mind raced, but he ultimately decided to retract his sword first.
With a sudden thought, she tried to change the flight path of the sword-leaf grass, making it brush past Zhao Chengan.
however.
When her divine sense touched that golden light, it was as if she had touched a slippery loach.
That familiar, effortless sense of control vanished without a trace in an instant.
The sword-leaf grass was completely out of control.
It emitted a reluctant hum in mid-air, its light quickly dimmed, and then, like a withered leaf blown away by the wind, it spun and floated lightly into Zhao Chengan's outstretched palm.
Chen Heng:
The valley was quiet for a few moments.
Chen Heng looked down at her empty fingertips, then looked up at the sword-leaf grass lying quietly in Zhao Cheng'an's hand.
Zhao Cheng'an clearly didn't do anything just now.
However, the connection between himself and the flying sword seemed to have been disrupted and severed by some force.
What's going on here?!
"What did you just do to my flying sword?"
Chen Heng took a deep breath. Her tone sounded relatively calm, but her wide eyes were filled with unconcealed shock and confusion.
"It's a kind of interference method." Zhao Cheng'an handed the sword-leaf grass back to her.
Chen Heng took the sword-leaf grass and examined it several times to make sure there was no damage before finally letting out a sigh of relief. A thought flashed through her mind, and she realized, "Was it knowledge I learned from those books?"
Out of curiosity, Chen Heng also flipped through the books that Luo Qingyi gave to Zhao Chengan several times.
But it's like reading a book written in a foreign language; you can't understand it at all.
Unexpectedly, in such a short time, Zhao Cheng'an not only grasped the basics but had even begun his cultivation.
"Chen Heng sighed inwardly, but fortunately she had already gotten used to Zhao Cheng'an's talent in this area."
"Not bad!" Zhao Chengan smiled slightly and explained, "I found that some of the contents could help me strengthen my divine sense, so I tried it out and it was somewhat of a gain."
"It looks pretty good now."
"But how should we deal with such tactics?" Chen Heng immediately thought of some scenarios he might encounter in actual combat, and felt a chill run down his spine. The most important thing for a sword cultivator is the longsword in their hand. If they lose their sword, they will lose at least half of their strength.
This method is absolutely terrifying!
"Of course there are ways to deal with it, all we need to do is—" Zhao Cheng'an had just begun to speak.
Just then.
A clear and melodious cry suddenly came from the horizon.
The sound was melodious and far-reaching, piercing through the clouds and echoing across the vast valley.
The two of them looked up at the same time.
Above, a silver-white figure pierced through the clouds and swooped down towards Thousand Ears Valley at an incredible speed.
It was a spirit bird covered entirely in silver-gray feathers, with a wingspan of over ten feet and long tail feathers that gleamed with a metallic sheen in the sunlight. A golden letter tube was tied to its ankle, emitting a clear tinkling sound as it flew.
Zhao Chengan and Chen Heng exchanged a glance.
They both sensed a hint of tension in each other's eyes.
That was the messenger of Flying Star Pavilion—the Silver-feathered Black Bird.
This black bird is used exclusively to deliver official documents between the Daoist court and various sects; it is not used for any urgent or important correspondence.
At this point in time, the only thing that could be delivered by the Silver Feathered Black Bird is one thing.
——Enter the clan ultimatum.