Mist and clouds drifted ethereally, immortal qi swirling around. Between the towering peaks that pierced the clouds, flashes of sword light appeared from time to time, sometimes with sword aura soaring to the heavens, sometimes with sword intent pressing down oppressively, lasting for half a day before finally ceasing.
High in the air, amidst the clouds and mist, Jing Xingzhi willed his thoughts, and his flying sword returned to him.
He looked with satisfaction at the flying sword in his hand, its radiance restrained yet sharp beyond compare. This was an ownerless sword he had obtained from an ancient immortal manor when he was building his Foundation. To this day, he still did not know what precious materials this sword was forged from, but after recognizing him as its master and being nurtured for over two hundred years, this sword had become connected to his heart and mind, its edge growing ever sharper, its sword intent ever more intense.
He still remembered over two hundred years ago when he obtained this sword. His then-living master, Sword Venerable Chongguang, had said, "This sword is as clear as autumn water, its sword aura contained within. Why not call it the Stillwater Sword?"
In truth, he appeared to wander the mortal world at will, but his inner nature was unyielding and unbending, not at all suited to such a sword name. However, he understood his master's meaning—hoping he would sheath his sharpness to avoid attracting calamity.
Unfortunately, back then he was young and impetuous, not understanding these things. Later... there was no more opportunity.
After his master perished, he endured for a hundred years in the Ancient Sword Sect, but in the end, he still couldn't endure any longer.
The Stillwater Sword, named for still water, had been cultivated by him into a sword of slaughter with a fierce and sharp sword intent.
But he had no regrets. What use was mere endurance? This world valued strength. Possessing strength meant you could stand above others!
He didn't have the same kind of opportunities as Qin Shoujing and Mo Qingwei, but within this Immortal Palace, he had obtained quite a few good things. Just the high-level spirit stones—after cultivating without restraint for twenty years, he still had tens of thousands left. If taken outside, this would be an almost unimaginable fortune.
In the cultivation world, spirit stones of mid-level and above were hard to come by. Even Nascent Soul cultivators mostly used low-level or mid-level spirit stones for daily transactions, reserving high-level spirit stones for their own use. An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator's transactions mostly amounted to tens of thousands, with their total assets being around a million or so. Tens of thousands of high-level spirit stones were equivalent to hundreds of millions of low-level spirit stones.
This couldn't help but make him sigh—ancient times were indeed ancient times, where high-level spirit stones weren't considered valuable! The pity was, although this enormous Immortal Palace was also constructed from high-level spirit stones, it had restrictions. Otherwise, he would have really liked to take an entire spirit stone house back with him.
However, as rare as high-level spirit stones were, they couldn't compare to crystal jade. Unskilled in miscellaneous arts, he had traded away materials in exchange for crystal jade. Using a swordsman's secret method, he refined this crystal jade into the Stillwater Sword. After twenty years of nurturing, the already murderous Stillwater Sword became even sharper and more formidable. In his view, it was in no way inferior to the Fengyu Sword, hailed as the number one sword under heaven, wielded by Sword Venerable Yuanying, the only late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator of the Ancient Sword Sect.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance toward the northeast direction, where another lone peak stood quietly in a corner of the Immortal Palace.
Strangely enough, it had been twenty years. What were Qin Shoujing and Mo Qingwei doing? They hadn't taken a single step out of their cave abode. Even when he visited, they sent their spirit beasts to deal with him.
He knew that after exiting the underground palace, Mo Qingwei was going into seclusion for Nascent Soul formation. But even so, was it necessary to not see them for twenty years? That demonic cultivator kid from the underground palace had already cultivated to Core Formation Perfection and was planning to go into seclusion for Nascent Soul formation. Besides, she was doing her seclusion—why wasn't Qin Shoujing coming out either? When it came to Nascent Soul formation, others couldn't help.
Were they perhaps enjoying themselves so much here that they forgot they still needed to leave? This thought suddenly popped into Jing Xingzhi's mind, but then he felt he was overthinking. No matter how good this Immortal Palace was, it was pointless if they couldn't leave. He reckoned they wouldn't be that foolish.
But why hadn't they appeared for twenty years? Had Mo Qingwei succeeded in forming her Nascent Soul or not?
Full of questions, he wanted to go check their cave abode again, even though he knew the one to deal with him would definitely be that spirit beast that looked at the sky with disdain!
After thinking this and that, his thoughts in disarray, Jing Xingzhi finally decided to return to his own cave abode to meditate. No matter what, improving his own cultivation was the most substantial thing.
Turning in mid-air, just about to ride his sword back to his cave abode, he suddenly paused, turning once more to look toward the northeast.
"Spiritual light!" he exclaimed.
He saw that the cave abode in the northeast direction had suddenly erupted with dazzling spiritual light. Countless spiritual qi surged toward that area, converging into points of spiritual light that enveloped the entire cave abode.
"Nascent Soul formation heavenly phenomenon!" By the time auspicious clouds appeared and spiritual magpies danced, Jing Xingzhi was already certain.
A look of joy appeared on his face. "It seems Mo Qingwei has succeeded in forming her Nascent Soul!"
This way, among them there would be three Nascent Soul cultivators. Add to that Yang Chengji's imminent Nascent Soul formation, and they were one step closer to their plan.
But this phenomenon lasted less than half an hour before stopping. There was no sound of wind and thunder, nor any subsequent heavenly phenomena. After the spiritual light dispersed and everything returned to normal, Jing Xingzhi was puzzled again.
What was going on? How could a Nascent Soul formation heavenly phenomenon only reach this level? It should last at least half a day! Had Mo Qingwei succeeded in forming her Nascent Soul or not? If she hadn't succeeded, there shouldn't have been any heavenly phenomenon at all. If she had succeeded, why did the spiritual light disperse so quickly? And there wasn't even the most basic sound of wind and thunder!
It was said that in ancient times, when cultivators formed their Nascent Soul, a minor heavenly tribulation would descend because Nascent Soul cultivators had initially obtained the divine ability to move mountains and overturn seas, stepping into the gate of immortality. In modern times, the minor heavenly tribulation no longer appeared, but the sound of wind and thunder was indispensable. This was a remnant trace of the minor heavenly tribulation and also a symbol of a cultivator's Nascent Soul reaching completion.
Full of doubts, he turned his flying sword and flew toward the northeast direction.
...
Mo Tiange opened her eyes, feeling comfortable throughout her entire body, filled with powerful strength. With a light wave of her sleeve, spiritual qi surged around her.
She stepped out of the seclusion chamber, and the first thing she saw was the person she expected, just like when he had formed his Nascent Soul back then.
Their eyes met. After a long while, his voice was hoarse: "Finally..."
Mo Tiange smiled, naturally wrapping her arms around his waist. He also reached out to embrace her.
They didn't know how much time passed before the two calmed their emotions, hand in hand exiting the Void Heaven Realm.
"What exactly happened? How did it take twenty years?" Qin Xi asked this way.
"Twenty years?" Mo Tiange was surprised. "You say I was in seclusion for twenty years?"
"Yes. If not for the spiritual qi remaining very stable, I would have almost thought something had happened to you!"
Mo Tiange was also puzzled: "I just felt the spiritual qi circulation was very comfortable, and I was completely unaware. Later, when the core shattered to form the infant, it happened naturally too. I didn't actively guide it."
"Is that so?" Hearing this, Qin Xi pressed on her pulse gate, carefully probing for a while, then said happily, "It seems to be a good thing. The spiritual qi throughout your body is very condensed, not at all like someone who just formed their Nascent Soul."
Hearing his words, Mo Tiange set down her worried heart. Although she felt the Nascent Soul formation had gone smoothly, twenty years was truly somewhat abnormal. After all, she had entered the seclusion chamber and immediately began Nascent Soul formation, unlike some cultivators who cultivated to a certain level before starting Nascent Soul formation. The so-called seclusion of several decades actually only involved a few years of actual Nascent Soul formation.
She recalled her Nascent Soul formation experience.
After smoothly passing the initial trial of the heart realm, she took the pills and then continuously absorbed spiritual qi. This process wasn't actively controlled by her but happened naturally. At the final moment, the core shattered to form the infant as naturally as water flowing in its course. The core-shattering process was also smooth, with almost no pain felt. Perhaps her primordial spirit was strong enough, and her previous spiritual qi absorption had been sufficient, making it easy to absorb the power after the core shattered and form the Nascent Soul.
Finally came the true inner demon trial. Different from the inner demon trial during Core Formation, during Nascent Soul formation, one had to pass the first heart realm trial before entering the core-shattering-to-form-infant stage. After the infant formed, there was still the true inner demon trial to pass. The initial heart realm trial tested the Nascent Soul aspirant's dedication to the Dao—whether they had firm conviction to continue advancing on the Great Dao of Nascent Soul. As long as there were no obvious flaws in the heart realm, this trial wasn't difficult to pass. But the inner demon trial was much more terrifying. Anything feared or hoped for would appear in this trial. If one couldn't maintain control and got lost in the inner demon, then all previous efforts would be wasted.
Fortunately, over these years, she had never relaxed her heart realm cultivation. She didn't remain immersed in the inner demon for long before easily breaking free.
After talking about her own matters, she began asking about the situation outside during these twenty years.
During these twenty years, Qin Xi had been guarding within the Void Heaven Realm. At first, he felt something was abnormal and didn't dare leave even briefly. Later, discovering her condition was stable, he also calmed his emotions, paying attention to her situation while cultivating himself.
After undergoing tempering by the Vermilion Bird's Breath, he needed to readjust to his own body and spiritual qi. The Three Yang True Fire on the Three Yang True Fire Sword had transformed into the more domineering Vermilion Bird's Flame. Even the Extreme Yang True Fire had been fused by the Vermilion Bird's Flame. Within his dantian, the pure Yang spiritual qi combined with the Vermilion Bird's Breath, forming a new powerful force. But because of this, he needed to refine the Yang Spirit Bead again. Otherwise, he couldn't control the Vermilion Bird's Bow that had been absorbed into the Yang Spirit Bead.
After twenty years of refinement, he had already regained control of the Yang Spirit Bead. He estimated it wouldn't be long before he could retrieve the Vermilion Bird's Bow.
As for the several spirit beasts and the cave abode outside, nothing unusual had happened. Just as Qin Xi had guessed, Xiao Fan had advanced to the sixth rank during these twenty years. Xiao Huo was almost there too. Although the Chongming Bird hadn't advanced in rank, its strength had greatly increased. That Blood-Eating Vine indeed had miraculous effects on spirit beasts.
As for Feifei, left outside the Void Heaven Realm, he had also cultivated to the peak of the fifth rank. As for the cave abode... there weren't many people in this Immortal Palace anyway, so nothing unexpected would happen. At most, Jing Xingzhi would come to harass them occasionally.
Speaking of Jing Xingzhi, the man himself arrived outside.
"Qin Shoujing, Mo Qingwei, you should be out of seclusion now, right?" He didn't send a message talisman but shouted at the entrance of the cave abode.
Mo Tiange and Qin Xi smiled at each other, rising to open the cave abode restrictions.
Seeing them, Jing Xingzhi immediately put away his flying sword and rushed in.
"Did you form your Nascent Soul or not?" he asked, quickly scanning Mo Tiange from head to toe. Discovering she had indeed become a Nascent Soul cultivator, his expression turned strange. "Passed the inner demon trial? No problems?"
Seeing him like this, Mo Tiange didn't understand: "Otherwise how could I be standing here perfectly fine? Fellow Daoist Jing, what are you doing?"
Jing Xingzhi rubbed his nose and said, "I saw the Nascent Soul formation heavenly phenomenon outside, but there was no sound of wind and thunder at all, and the spiritual light dispersed very quickly. I thought you had formed the infant but didn't pass the inner demon trial..." He muttered to himself again, "Strange. Since you successfully formed your Nascent Soul, why was the heavenly phenomenon only half-complete?"