Dao Equaling the Heavens
Chapter 182 - 141: The Devil Clan Crosses the Boundary

Chapter 182: Chapter 141: The Devil Clan Crosses the Boundary

"Shall I sheathe the Immortal Sword’s fragmented image?"

Gu Wen’s right hand formed an empty grip, condensing the fragmented image of the Immortal Sword which cast a swath of snow-white light illuminating the interior of the room. The sword’s brilliance merely flickered across the table, instantly cleaving it into two halves.

This caught the attention of Yu Hua, who had been dozing off to the side. Her eyes, heavy with sleepiness, focused on Gu Wen.

Gu Wen appeared slightly embarrassed, as he never intended to flaunt the sharpness of the Immortal Sword’s fragmented image. It was simply too difficult to control.

For him, the True Sword Dao was like a child wielding a huge hammer—being able to use it decently was already quite good; to ask for more would be excessive.

Sheathing the sword blade, which appeared to be formed of condensed ice and snow, into the scabbard, a subtle friction sound emerged, followed by a click signifying a perfect fit.

At that moment, a certain connection between Gu Wen and the fragmented image of the Immortal Sword vanished. Originally, the Immortal Sword’s fragmented image seemed as if it was bonded to him by flesh and blood, and without the nourishment of his mana, it would dissipate. Also, unless he held it in his hand, it would shatter due to the lack of his maintenance.

Now it seemed to have formed an inner cycle, able to sustain its own existence by relying on the mana condensed into it.

Gu Wen drew the sword blade again, a strand of sword light reflected in his pupils, and behind him, the roof gained a one-meter-long slit. However, the stroke felt to Gu Wen like a gentle spring breeze caressing his face.

The Sword Qi had become a bit more restrained, and after passing through the scabbard, the Immortal Sword’s fragmented image was better controlled.

Yu Hua asked, "It looks a bit like a Sword Nourishing Skill. Has your swordsmanship improved another step?"

Gu Wen nodded in response, "I have understood the connection between the scabbard and the Immortal Sword’s fragmented image."

He then condensed another Immortal Sword’s fragmented image and found that it could not stack with the fragment within the scabbard; when they collided, they would negate each other instead.

The sword condensing method was derived from the Yuqing Sword Skill, and indeed the heart sword of the Yuqing Sword Skill materialized in solid form.

Seeing this, Yu Hua suggested, "Perhaps you could seek advice from Chi Yu Zi. The Sword Control Sect is also a prominent name in the way of the sword, and they possess much deeper heritage than Broken Sword Mountain. They should have many top Sword Nourishing Skills."

Gu Wen exited the room to find Jun Yan cooking in the kitchen with Chi Yu Zi in the room to the right.

"Chi Yu Zi, do you have a moment?"

He knocked on the door as he pushed it open, and upon entering, immediately detected a faint scent of blood.

Chi Yu Zi sat cross-legged on the floor, wielding a Taoist Sword to slice flesh, her arm covered with numerous wounds. But strangely, there was no blood flowing from the wounds.

She glanced at Gu Wen and said, "Don’t knock and push the door at the same time."

"Isn’t this learning from you?" Gu Wen asked, "Are you cultivating the Undying Taoist Body?"

"Somewhat, but the results are trivial."

Chi Yu Zi clenched her fist, and immediately, flames surged over her wounds, wafting a slight aroma of cooked flesh into the air.

The Angri True Fire now seemingly harnessed by her with a pure, fiery innocence, yet as for Gu Wen, it was still mere stored potential.

"How is the Angri True Fire inside you?"

Gu Wen replied, "As long as I don’t touch it, it remains very quiet."

The Angri Demon Saint was no match for Yu Hua and was therefore suppressed thoroughly.

Chi Yu Zi suggested, "You should try touching it a little in your day-to-day, at least to get familiar. Otherwise, after the Sixth Transition, it will be very painful."

After the Sixth Transition, Gu Wen would start consuming various essence stones, which is why Chi Yu Zi was consuming spiritual swords.

For this, Chi Yu Zi had prepared thousands of spiritual swords, and within the Sword Box from the trip to Heavenly Spring Mountain, there were five thousand.

One thousand had already been consumed by Chi Yu Zi, another thousand were spare, and a third thousand were for fighting. The remaining two thousand were prepared for Gu Wen.

As for the cost, she did not mention it—Gu Wen took her silence to mean there was no charge.

Such a spiritual sword would be priceless in the outside world; the Nascent Soul Master’s life-bound Magic Treasure was typically a Spiritual Treasure. These several thousand would equal the entire fortune of a Major Sect. Only the Sword Control Sect and Broken Sword Mountain could afford such expenses.

However, considering that the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill was an Immortal Skill requiring so many spiritual swords for cultivation, it was understandable. Moreover, most of the spiritual swords came from Heavenly Spring Mountain, which as a sword cultivation site was not simple.

The four essential aspects of cultivation—the law, the land, the wealth, and the companionship—were not just empty words. A sect is not all-powerful. But a good sect can allow a genius to reach his limits without being buried by other factors.

Better to owe a favor for each consumed sword than to pay in flesh as a Taoist master.

As they spoke, the flames on Chi Yu Zi’s arms disappeared, leaving behind burnt and congealed chunks of unsightly skin.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

Gu Wen got straight to the point, "I need a Sword Nourishing Skill."

"Do you want the best, or just a suitable one?"

"The best."

Chi Yu Zi raised her hand, sending a wave of Divine Thought. Gu Wen received it and a Cultivation Technique emerged in his mind.

Now that he had a Primordial Spirit, reading new techniques did not result in the dizziness he had previously experienced in Bianjing, and he could understand most techniques even without a Fate Diagram.

[Heavenly Gang Sword Nourishing Skill, First Level requires eighty years of Heavenly Marrow.]

Gu Wen fell silent for a moment, then said, "I need a more suitable one."

Although he could come up with eighty years’ worth of Heavenly Marrow, Gu Wen thought it was not worth using to cultivate the Sword Nourishing Skill. He only needed its magic skills applied to his sword scabbard.

Chi Yu Zi didn’t beat around the bush and tossed out another magic skill.

[Profound Sun Sword Nourishing Skill, comprising three levels. First Level requires one year of Heavenly Marrow, Second Level two years, Third Level three years.]

-----------------

In the bamboo forest.

Gu Wen found Ao Tang lying in the shadow of the bamboo and leaned over to take out a batch of pills from the latter’s belly—ten in total, each pill worth two years of Heavenly Marrow.

He swallowed them all at once, causing Ao Tang, who was nearby, to stare agape.

Although he knew this Second Ancestor was a monster who never worried about pill poisoning or indigestion, as if an abundance of Spiritual Medicine could make one become Immortal on the spot,

it still seemed absurd every time he saw it.

Medicine always carries a measure of poison, yet Gu Wen consumed so much for so long without showing any signs of health issues.

[Sixty years of Heavenly Marrow]

With the fifty years of Heavenly Marrow from his breakthrough to Fourth Transition Golden Core, that made sixty years of Heavenly Marrow.

Gu Wen asked, "Senior Ao, how many more pills do we have left?"

"The Spiritual Medicine of Immortal Land is special; they need some time to refine."

Ao Tang introspected his inner alchemical stomach and estimated, "Probably about forty more pills can be refined, should take around a week."

Gu Wen returned to his room, took out six years of Heavenly Marrow, and invested it into the Profound Sun Sword Nourishing Skill, perfecting it instantly. Since it wasn’t some divine, sophisticated Miracle Method, he didn’t undergo much change.

Using the Sword Nourishing Skill to nurture the remnant form of the Immortal Sword within the scabbard, its aura began to grow slowly.

"It’s useful, but very slow."

Gu Wen estimated that it would likely take a month to condense the aura to twice that of the remnant form of the Immortal Sword, and this remnant form was a one-time deal.

It could only be used as a means of saving his life, not as a regular offensive method.

Thud thud thud.

Chi Yu Zi knocked and entered. She came to borrow the sword scabbard, without which she would experience pain and be unable to sleep at night.

Seeing Gu Wen flipping the sword scabbard, she inquired and found out he had improved his control over both the sword scabbard and the Immortal Sword.

"Are we going to visit other secret realms from now on?"

"Why not?"

"Those secret realms were initially prepared by my sister for me, I’m worried it might be a trap."

"Let’s talk about it when she’s capable of defeating Yu Hua."

Gu Wen knew Chi Yu Zi was fearful of that Demi Immortal, and fear could cause one to lose their judgment, so he didn’t let her make the decision.

Moreover, he hadn’t yet gathered the Spiritual Medicine for the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill; he needed to wait for his own news to be revealed in Nanshui so as to give the enemy time to shift their position.

Otherwise, if he kept guarding the Fire Cloud Cave, Gu Wen wouldn’t dare to enter.

-----------------

Three days later.

Jiang Family Village had many weary and dirt-covered commoners who knelt before Jiang Fugui’s house, begging for food, with groups of them moving in and out of the village, cries and wails heard all day long.

Later, the young men of the Jiang family, armed with clubs, drove them out, and people patrolled at night, creating a tense atmosphere all of a sudden.

Refugees are a major destabilizing factor anywhere—they might be pitiable, but Jiang Family Village was just an ordinary clan village.

Jiang Fugui made another visit to Gu Wen to report news, just as it was done in Bianjing.

The Southern Barbarian Tribe invaded the borders of Nanshui, breaking through several key towns, creating hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Nanchun Army took this opportunity to expand its forces, coercing the refugees to plan to attack nearby large cities.

That night, Jun Yan left to gather intelligence.

The next day, Jiang Fugui paid another visit, bringing a rather insignificant piece of news.

Jiang Jucai led his troops to conquer a nearby county town, and Nanchun Army seemed poised to swallow up all of Nanshui before Wenren Wu could arrive.

It was because the imperial court had raised the taxes again.

That night, Jun Yan finally returned. He called everyone together and spoke gravely, "The Devil Clan has entered the land of the Human Race. Eight hundred miles from here, there’s a Devil Clan prodigy whose realm is comparable to that of Red Dust."

"I posed as a prodigy from a small sect seeking help from various factions, but not a single response came. Back in the day, Qingcang Immortal shattered several Devil Clan’s Grotto Heavens; this time, it seems they are targeting us, and it’s likely that the major Immortal Sects of the Human Race have already acquiesced or are even in collaboration."

Local tycoons in Nanshui plan to rebel in earnest, with a Barbarian invasion on the frontier and a Devil Clan prodigy crossing the borders, all while a Demi Immortal is watching in the dark.

Indeed, trouble comes in waves.