Innate Immortal Seed

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Star River Sword Array

Meng Zhaode had mentioned a considerable number of worldly possessions, but they looked rather insignificant inside the Mid-Grade Storage Bag.

Aside from a few sets of spare clothes and some miscellaneous items, the most eye-catching things were three long Jade Boxes.

Bai Zichen couldn’t contain his curiosity and opened them while still in mid-air.

Spirit Stones! Spirit Stones! And more Spirit Stones!

Three whole boxes of Spirit Stones, neatly stacked, with six hundred stones in each box, for a total of one thousand eight hundred Spirit Stones.

”So rich! He really was a Foundation Establishment Elder!”

Seeing so many Spirit Stones piled together for the first time was still quite a shock.

The other Treasures might have been worth more than these Spirit Stones, but their visual impact was certainly not as direct.

Beside them were two Jade Bottles. Opening them revealed that each contained three Spirit Pills the size of longans.

They were clearly Tier Two Elixirs, effective even for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Unfortunately, after over a hundred years, their medicinal efficacy had faded and the Erysipelas had settled, reducing them to a few clumps of dregs.

There was an ancient-looking copper bell, engraved with mountains and rivers, as well as bustling streets.

Bai Zichen infused his Magical Power, attempting to begin its Refinement, but immediately found it unsustainable. His meager Magical Power was far from enough to refine the copper bell.

It wasn’t a quantitative gap that could be closed by the slow, patient work of a Water Grinding Skill over a great deal of time.

Rather, it was a qualitative difference; the level of his Magical Power was insufficient.

’The All Living Beings Bell is a Low-Grade Spiritual Artifact, meant for Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the first place. A Qi Refining Cultivator trying to refine it is just wishful thinking...’

Meng Zhaode’s Jade Scroll explained that he originally had three great Spiritual Artifacts. Two of them were destroyed by a Demon King or lost in Cyan Bull Valley during his escape, leaving only this All Living Beings Bell.

Although the All Living Beings Bell was only a Low-Grade Spiritual Artifact, it integrated both offense and defense, and a contingency had been included during its initial Refining.

As long as several conditions were met, it had the potential to be upgraded into a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

As expected of the heritage of a Nascent Soul Major Sect. Their Artifact Refining methods were truly extraordinary. Bai Zichen had never even heard of a refined Spiritual Artifact having the possibility of being upgraded.

The Jade Scroll recorded the upgrade method and refinement techniques for the All Living Beings Bell in perfect detail, but unfortunately, he could only use them after he succeeded in Foundation Establishment.

For now, it could only be tossed into his storage bag to take up space.

Still, at least he had a Spiritual Artifact. Many newly promoted Foundation Establishment Cultivators weren’t well-off and still had to use Magical Artifacts for their first few years.

Thinking this, much of Bai Zichen’s disappointment faded, and he began to look forward to the remaining Treasures.

”The Taibai Sword Sect’s True Understanding of Sword Dao, and this... it’s a Flying Sword!”

In one of Bai Zichen’s hands was an Ancient Book crafted from a material that seemed like both gold and jade, made into pages as thin as a cicada’s wings. In total, it had several dozen pages.

In his other hand was a short sword, about a foot long and golden all over.

Meng Zhaode had made it clear in the Jade Scroll that he could not pass on the Celestial Principle Sect’s Cultivation Techniques, but the fortunate opportunities he had obtained in his youth were not restricted and could be passed down to posterity.

According to the Jade Scroll, the Taibai Sword Sect had a tremendous reputation ten thousand years ago and was one of the leaders of the entire continent’s Cultivation Realm.

The Sect had over ten thousand Sword Cultivators, more than ten Nascent Soul True Monarchs, and it was even rumored that a Divinity Transformation Great Power existed among them.

But ten thousand years ago, the Celestial Demons invaded, choosing the Taibai Sword Sect’s grounds as their entry point. Endless Outer Celestial Demons poured in, led by Demon Kings equivalent to human Divinity Transformation Great Powers. After a cataclysmic battle that shook the heavens and split the earth, several mountain ranges were leveled, the landscape was altered, and rivers changed their course.

Outer Celestial Demons were formless and intangible, exceptionally skilled at bewitching the hearts of men and possessing the Divine Souls of Cultivators. Thus, human Cultivators regarded them as mortal enemies.

The Taibai Sword Sect immediately established the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Demon Extinguishing Sword Formation, transforming a thousand-mile radius into a Sword Domain. Before the Sword Array was broken, not a single Celestial Demon could escape.

The great war lasted for a full ten years. The ten-thousand-zhang-tall Taibai Peak was razed to the ground. Strangely, the other top-tier Sects in the Cultivation Realm did not lend a hand, instead watching as the Taibai Sword Sect fought the Outer Celestial Demons alone.

Ten years later, the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Demon Extinguishing Sword Formation dissipated. When the reinforcements from the other top-tier Sects finally arrived, they were greeted by the sight of countless dead Taibai Sword Sect disciples and a deathly silence.

Not a single Outer Celestial Demon was to be seen, nor was the Divinity Transformation Demon King.

In short, the Taibai Sword Sect and the demonic calamity vanished with strange synchronicity, as if the decade-long war had never even happened.

But the influence of the Taibai Sword Sect still spread, and the Cultivation Techniques of this legendary Sword Cultivation Sect remained the dream Supreme Treasure of all Sword Cultivators.

Several of the most prominent Sword Cultivation Sects in the current Cultivation Realm had intricate ties to the Taibai Sword Sect.

They had either obtained a branch of the Taibai Sword Sect’s legacy or were simply Sects founded by Sword Sect disciples who had been traveling abroad and were fortunate enough to survive.

On an expedition after reaching Foundation Establishment, Meng Zhaode had obtained this scroll of the Taibai Sword Sect’s True Understanding. He thought he had hit the ultimate jackpot and even specially purchased a Flying Sword, preparing to switch his focus to the Sword Dao.

Several years later, he discovered it was all for nothing.

For one, Meng Zhaode’s Sword Dao Talent was worrisome; it could even be described as dull-witted.

For another, this scroll of the Taibai Sword Sect’s True Understanding of Sword Dao didn’t touch upon the Sword Sect’s Basic Cultivation Technique. It only described the Realms of Sword Dao Cultivation and some of the original owner’s insights.

Because of this, the value of this True Understanding plummeted by several tiers.

In the hands of a Sword Cultivator, it could still be used for study and comprehension, allowing for insights through analogy. But for Meng Zhaode, it was as indecipherable as a Celestial Book.

As for the ultimate killing move recorded at the end of the True Understanding, the Star River Sword Array, it was a complete pipe dream without cultivating the Taibai Sword Sect’s Fundamental Great Method. It was simply impossible to set up.

This Star River Sword Array required twelve Flying Swords for its formation. It drew upon the vast Starry Sky Sword Intent, and once the Sword Array was complete, it could flow endlessly, never stopping.

To be inside the Sword Array was like directly facing the celestial bodies of the cosmos—how could mortal power possibly contend with that?

In any case, according to the True Understanding of Sword Dao, becoming invincible against those of a higher realm was commonplace for one who mastered the Star River Sword Array. Moreover, this array excelled at group battles. The original owner had used it with his Early-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivation to trap five Nascent Soul True Monarchs and several dozen Core Formation True Men, earning him the title of Star River Sword Monarch.

Bai Zichen’s heart surged with excitement as he read, both at the tyrannical strength and meteor-like fall of the Taibai Sword Sect, and at the unparalleled might of the Star River Sword Array.

According to the True Understanding, one didn’t necessarily need High-Tier Flying Swords for the formation. As long as one comprehended the Starry Sky Sword Intent, the Star River Sword Array could be set up even with Tier One Flying Swords.

But two problems stood before Bai Zichen. First, he didn’t have twelve Flying Swords. Second, simultaneously controlling twelve Flying Swords and forming them into a Sword Array... a quick mental calculation was all it took to know how much immense Magical Power would be required.

This wasn’t something that could be achieved just by raising one’s Cultivation.

Meng Zhaode had asked a fellow sect member from the Celestial Principle Sect who was proficient in the Sword Dao to make a calculation. Under normal circumstances, one would need a Core Formation Cultivation to have enough Magical Power to form the Star River Sword Array with twelve Tier One Flying Swords.

Anyone who could comprehend the Starry Sky Sword Intent and master the Sword Array would undoubtedly be a heaven-defying genius in the Sword Dao.

So what would be the point of having such a figure set up a Star River Array with Tier One Flying Swords?

No matter how exquisite the Sword Array, it couldn’t make Tier One Flying Swords withstand an attack from a Magical Treasure, let alone a Spiritual Treasure. The aftershocks alone would shatter them all.

Only the Taibai Sword Sect’s Fundamental Great Method, which allowed one to refine an unlimited number of Lifebound Flying Swords that consumed negligible Magical Power to wield, would make it possible to set up a Star River Sword Array capable of slaying Ghost Gods.

Bai Zichen stopped his Sword Control in mid-air. His ecstasy had yet to fade before a wave of disappointment washed over him, leaving him with complex feelings.

’No wonder Meng Zhaode said it was all for nothing. Without the Taibai Sword Sect’s Cultivation Method, the Star River Sword Array, no matter how good, is just a castle in the sky...’

That being said, Bai Zichen still meticulously put away the Ancient Book.

Even if the Star River Sword Array could only serve as a decoration, this scroll of the Taibai Sword Sect’s True Understanding of Sword Dao was still the most valuable item in the entire storage bag.

For Bai Zichen, at the very least, the detailed explanations of the Sword Dao Realms in the first few pages and some of the Star River Sword Monarch’s insights would be useful. At last, he would no longer have to feel his way across the river by touching the stones when it came to the Sword Dao.