Gateway of Immortality
Chapter 412: Sword Pavilion

Chapter 412: Sword Pavilion

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, seven days had elapsed. At Huilong Temple, everything remained as usual.

Inside the cave dwelling, the sword light and the blood-red light, which had once shared equal brilliance, finally determined a victor. The Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood retreated into a corner, its blood-red light reduced to only a thin layer covering its surface with a dull luster, unable to stave off the menacing ebony sword.

The sword light contracted until it completely enveloped the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood, taking on a shape reminiscent of a chicken egg as it floated in midair.

The killing symbols shone brilliantly and began to rotate on their own, assisting the ebony sword in gradually eroding the blood-red light.

At last, the final trace of blood-red light was worn away, revealing the true essence of the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood—a seamless, unadulterated block of blood-red wood.

As his spiritual consciousness drew near to the wood, Qin Sang faintly sensed a subtle taint emanating from it. This divine wood was exceedingly otherworldly, and he wondered if other divine woods possessed similar powers.

Qin Sang was full of anticipation, eager to discover what metamorphosis and wondrous surprises would be granted once the ebony sword had refined the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood.

He moved with utmost caution, manipulating his sword qi to slowly refine the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood.

Under Qin Sang’s incessant refining, the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood melted away like ice and transformed into bloody water. Remarkably, not a single impurity remained; the entire spiritual wood had become pure essence.

Qin Sang then opened his eyes and fixed his gaze upon the bloody water. After a brief moment, as his heart stirred, the ebony sword trembled slightly, its sword light flashing before it plunged into the blood water.

The sword’s blade melted as well, merging with the bloody water to form a sword embryo.

For a moment, it was unclear whether the ebony sword was devouring the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood or if the latter was consuming the ebony sword.

Yet, amidst the bloody water, the three killing symbols remained steadfast—two intact and one damaged—like three unyielding sea-calming needles that firmly suppressed the sword embryo until everything stabilized.

Both the ebony sword and the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood had entirely vanished, leaving only the sword embryo before Qin Sang.

The interior of the sword embryo was divided into two distinct hues.

Qin Sang could sense that the ebony sword was refining the power of the divine wood; he knew that once the blood color completely vanished and the sword embryo regained its clarity, it would mark the moment of the ebony sword’s metamorphosis.

However, this process would be exceedingly slow.

Qin Sang recalled the sword embryo back into his primordial spirit and entered a deep meditative state to contemplate it in detail. A full day passed before he opened his eyes with a solemn gaze—his premonition had come true.

That modest mass of bloody water, after an entire day, had yielded only a minuscule trace refined by the ebony sword.

At this rate, it would take nearly forty years to completely refine the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood!

Throughout this process, the ebony sword remained in its sword embryo form. Its true body was exceedingly fragile—unfit for combat—and had to be continuously nurtured within the primordial spirit.

Fortunately, with the assistance of the three killing symbols, the ebony sword could autonomously refine the divine wood without demanding Qin Sang’s constant attention.

Nevertheless, the time required was simply far too long!

The ebony sword in its sword embryo form was not even daring enough to be used in battle, let alone withstand the full force of the third killing symbol. In other words, Qin Sang had to wait until the ebony sword had finished devouring the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood before he could break through to the late stage of the Foundation Building Realm.

He possessed potent herbs and pills such as the Blood Dripping Ghost Mushroom and Lilong Pill, and after surviving several deadly battles in the Endless Valley, he had already gained a deep understanding of the third killing symbol. Normally, it would have taken just over a decade to break through, yet because of the ebony sword, the process would take nearly forty years.

It's far too long.

However, this problem was not without a solution; otherwise, Qin Sang would not have acted so recklessly. At the very least, he intended to wait until after reaching the late stage of the Foundation Building Realm before refining the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood again.

Qin Sang then retrieved a jade slip—the very one Shopkeeper Wu had given him—which contained the artifact refinement insights of the Wu Family's ancestors as well as even more precious insights into refining astras.

He had long harbored a faint premonition, and now it was confirmed: the process by which the ebony sword consumed the spiritual wood was, in essence, a form of artifact refinement.

The insights contained in the jade slip also aided the ebony sword.

As long as Qin Sang could fully comprehend the contents of the jade slip and achieve a certain level of mastery in artifact refinement, he could greatly reduce the time required for the ebony sword to consume the spiritual wood.

Of course, understanding the jade slip was no easy feat.

With no prior foundation in artifact refinement, Qin Sang had to start from scratch and gradually accumulate experience.

The path of artifact refinement was all-encompassing and could never be mastered overnight; fortunately, he needed only to focus on perfecting the art of refining the spiritual sword.

Moreover, he was not required to produce artifacts of exceptional quality—instead, by grasping the jade slip’s teachings during the refining process and applying them to the refining of the ebony sword, he would reap immense benefits.

Once he mastered these skills, they would serve him well in the future.

The Primordial Spirit Sword Nourishment was unique. The life-bound spiritual sword resided within the primordial spirit, and cultivators could refine a second life-bound astra, which was stored in the dantian and nurtured by Pill Fire.

These experiences were also applicable to the process of refining the life-bound astra after Core Formation.

Qin Sang had perused the contents of the jade slip many times, and after grasping its rudimentary aspects, he had reached a bottleneck due to a lack of personal practice.

Consequently, he had rented a cave dwelling in Qingyang Market that even included a nondescript shop. His dual identities as an artifact refinement master and shop owner served as an excellent disguise, accomplishing multiple objectives at once.

...

Qingyang Market.

In a secluded corner of the market, down a quiet alley, a modest little shop had quietly opened without any fanfare or announcements.

A simple sign had been newly hung above the shop, bearing only the elegantly inscribed characters "Sword Pavilion."

The inscription exuded the spirit of the sword, lending the shop an air of distinction that perhaps stood as its sole highlight.

Although it was named "Sword Pavilion," the shop did not exclusively display spiritual swords; various types of artifacts had been arrayed across the shelves. Yet, they all shared one common trait—their quality was exceedingly low.

A Foundation Building cultivator who happened to pass by had noticed the new shop. Amused by its audacious name, he had ventured in for a glance, only to leave muttering curses under his breath.

These inferior artifacts had been dismissed by cultivators of even a slightly higher caliber in the Qi Refining Realm.

Similar shops were not uncommon in the market; they operated as small-scale businesses barely scraping by.

However, the proprietors of these new establishments often appeared unreliable—without assistants and managing everything by themselves in a sporadic manner—so much so that some shops had been closed for as many as ten days within less than half a month since opening.

Their doors had been scarcely visited, and they had likely struggled even to sustain themselves, let alone pay the rent.

The owner of Sword Pavilion was none other than Qin Sang.

Due to its location, this cave dwelling—despite including a shop and costing only marginally more than other cave dwellings—perfectly suited Qin Sang’s requirements.

After consulting ancient texts at Treasure Tower Peak and procuring several artifact refinement classics from the Shaohua Mountain's collection, he had left his sect and returned to Qingyang Market to set up his little shop.

He had only recently arrived and had not yet begun to delve into the path of artifact refinement.

The artifacts displayed in the shop were not ones he had refined himself; they were part of the assets he had accumulated over years of wandering, exhibited merely for show, modestly priced, and not truly intended for sale.

Qin Sang had also disregarded the meager spirit stones on display.

His Mustard Seed Pouch was not lacking in valuable items; rather, he had planned to gradually release some of the artifacts he refined himself once his prowess in artifact refinement had improved.