“Haha. I was abrupt. Your unyielding temperant suits my taste quite well. May I know your esteed na?”
Zhao Wufeng laughed heartily as he asked.
“Rogue cultivator Fang Jin.”
Fang Qing’s expression did not change. After leaving the shop, he wandered around the market for a while longer before eventually flying out of the marketplace.
“Fellow Daoist, please wait!”
Before he had flown very far, a voice sounded behind him.
Fang Qing swept his divine sense behind him. It was Zhao Wufeng.
He did not slow his escape light. Only after reaching a place of clear mountains and beautiful waters did he slowly turn around. Zhao Wufeng followed unhurriedly and spoke first.
“Are you a sword cultivator?”
“Correct. You cultivate the path of [Kang tal]? That would also make you a sword cultivator.”
Fang Qing stood with his hands behind his back, leisurely admiring the scenery.
He had heard a little about the Zhao Family of [Kang tal]. It seed they had previously sched against Li Rulong, only to suffer greatly in return, losing their Dao Foundation seed Zhao Wuxu.
“Haha. As expected.”
Zhao Wufeng laughed loudly and produced a three-foot green sword in his hand.
“I am at the ninth layer of Qi Ingestion. You are also at the ninth layer. Perfect for a duel to the death with our swords. What do you say?”
“You… are you ntally unsound? Or are you planning to use as a human pill? Unfortunately I cultivate [Lou tal] while you cultivate [Kang tal]. They are completely incompatible.”
Fang Qing felt sothing was strange.
“You only know part of the matter, not the whole truth.”
Zhao Wufeng sneered confidently.
“Within the virtue of tal exists a Daoist divine ability known as Mutual Slaughter.
“When sword cultivators of the sa realm et, they may initiate a life-and-death sword duel. All external power is forbidden. Victory must be decided solely by the sword in one’s hand.”
“The victor may temper their flying sword with the defeated opponent’s blood, greatly improving both cultivation and their natal flying sword.
“With our current ninth-layer Qi Ingestion cultivation, the winner will certainly be able to forge a Dao Foundation. Fellow Daoist, you are my destined opportunity to achieve Dao Foundation!”
“Oh?”
Fang Qing had to admit that his understanding of the tal virtue was inferior to those born into tal lineage families.
“Mutual Slaughter? It only works between cultivators of the sa realm? If a lower cultivator defeats soone above them, the benefits should be even greater. But if a higher cultivator kills soone below them, there would be no benefit, correct?”
“Exactly.”
Zhao Wufeng nodded lightly.
“Even a one-revolution flying sword, if it defeats a nine-revolution sword in such a duel, could absorb its essence and advance to nine revolutions.”
“Of course, that is practically impossible. Slaying soone above your realm is extrely difficult. To dominate among peers already marks one as a top-tier sword seed.”
He lifted his sword slightly.
“The na of my sword is 'Green Edge'. What is the na of your flying sword, fellow Daoist?”
“Mine?”
Fang Qing took out his cracked magical artifact flying sword.
“This sword… has no na. Though you are sowhat stronger than Zhao Wuxu.”
“Hmph. That trash only knew how to exploit flaws in cultivation thods and consu human pills to attempt Dao Foundation.”
Zhao Wufeng’s voice was filled with disdain.
“I refuse to stand alongside such a person. He rely relied on being a direct descendant of the Dao Foundation lineage and chose what seed like an easier road. In truth he had already lost the heart of a sword cultivator. His death and the breaking of his sword were only fitting.”
He looked at Fang Qing’s sword carefully.
“Your flying sword is damaged? As a sword cultivator, how could you treat your sword so carelessly?
“Wait… earlier you were purchasing sword-refining materials. Was that to repair this sword?
“And what if it is?” Fang Qing asked with mild amusent. “Will you give ti to repair it first?”
If Zhao Wufeng truly agreed, that would be rather interesting.
“Are you joking?”
Zhao Wufeng sneered.
“If your flying sword is dull, then heaven itself has granted an opportunity. Please.”
He flicked the blade with his finger.
The sword rang like a dragon’s cry, and strands of sword qi burst outward.
Clearly, he had already reached the Condensing Sword Qi stage of the Sword Dao. With the sharpness of that sword qi, few Qi Ingestion cultivators could match him.
Whoosh!
Zhao Wufeng thrust his sword forward, striking directly toward Fang Qing’s center like a white rainbow piercing the sun.
Fang Qing’s flying sword flashed.
Sword Motion Like Thunder.
Crack!
Lightning flashed.
Zhao Wufeng suddenly clutched his throat, his eyes gradually losing their light.
“Im… possible…”
“I may still only possess ninth-layer Qi Ingestion mana. But my Sword Dao realm does not disappear.”
Fang Qing’s expression was unreadable.
After killing Zhao Wufeng according to the etiquette of sword cultivators, he imdiately felt sothing change.
Various profound mysteries of tal virtue surged through his heart.
Even his [Lou tal] mana surged wildly, as if he had swallowed a powerful tonic. It instantly climbed to its peak, almost forming the ‘Sharp Edge Chapter’ directly.
Not only that, when Fang Qing picked up the Green Edge sword, he sensed a strange connection between it and his own flying sword.
With only a slight refinent using true fire, he could lt the Green Edge sword and rge it into his own magical artifact flying sword.
At that point, this magical artifact sword might even advance into a low-grade spiritual artifact.
‘So by killing an opponent, one gains Dao attainnt, mana, and improved sword quality… Is this the power of Mutual Slaughter?’
Fang Qing felt a chill in his heart.
‘If true sword cultivators in this world encounter a bottleneck… they will probably roam everywhere searching for suitable opponents for life-and-death sword duels.’
‘Even if sword refinent fails, they could simply go out, duel soone, and refine their sword through battle.’
‘Wouldn’t that turn them all into reckless madn?’
Just now, he had clearly sensed a mysterious power within the void.
A ritual power.
Which ant that sword cultivators engaging in life-and-death duels truly aligned with a law of heaven and earth.
Or rather…
A law engraved upon the world by the Virtue Of tal.
‘If Mutual Slaughter were combined with the human pill thod, then the probability of a Qi Ingestion sword cultivator advancing to Dao Foundation would likely reach eighty or even ninety percent.’
‘The manifestation of tal virtue in this world could hardly be more evident than this.’
‘Wait… the more important point should be that the Dao-Genesis Pearl hiding my cultivation can actually deceive the heavens and earth of this world?’
If heaven and earth truly recognized him as a Dao Foundation cultivator, then a superior sword cultivator suppressing an inferior one would never produce any feedback from the Sword Dao.
Yet just now Fang Qing had clearly felt the nourishnt of Mutual Slaughter. That confird that during the life-and-death sword duel earlier, he had indeed been regarded as a Qi Ingestion sword cultivator.
This was clearly the power of the Dao-Genesis Pearl.
But what was the use of that? The sword insights and mana of a Qi Ingestion sword cultivator were useless to him.
‘If I want to gain real benefits, I still need to find an early Dao Foundation sword cultivator and fight them to the death. The more talented they are, the stronger their fortune, and the more treasures they carry, the greater the reward after victory. Of course… if I die, I cannot bla anyone else.’
Moreover, in a life-and-death sword duel all external assistance was forbidden. Talismans, outside help, or similar thods were clearly impossible. If one tried to force it, the secret rite would certainly fail. Even if one won, there would be no feedback whatsoever.
‘Sword cultivators really are madn.’
He flicked out a spark of fla, burning Zhao Wufeng’s corpse into ashes.
‘The Zhao Family already lost one Dao Foundation seed before, and now another has died. They probably will not produce anyone capable of reaching Dao Foundation for a century.’
For a Dao Foundation clan, such Dao Foundation seeds were extrely precious.
Losing two in succession was almost equivalent to a generational break.
Fang Qing knew that the Zhao Family now regarded him as a mortal enemy.
Still, it was only a Dao Foundation clan. Their family cultivated the [Kang tal] lineage, producing many sword cultivators and fad for the Geng tal Sword Art. Nothing particularly remarkable.
Besides, in a few days he would change his identity and beco Fang Shui.
It was Fang Jin, the [Lou tal] sword cultivator, who killed him. What does that have to do with Fang Shui, the [Ji Water] Dao Foundation cultivator?
A flash of sword light cut through the air.
The rock wall before him shattered instantly. Guided by Fang Qing’s divine sense, the flying sword carved out a crude cave dwelling.
He sat down cross-legged and took out Zhao Wufeng’s Green Edge Sword.
The sword was three chi long, its cold radiance piercing. No one knew what materials it had been forged from, but it had long since fused into a single flawless whole.
Even a second-rank master refiner would find it difficult to lt it down and separate the original ores.
But now, as Fang Qing took out his own magical artifact flying sword and lted the Green Edge Sword using the innate true fire of a Foundation Establishnt cultivator, the blade quickly dissolved. Drops of molten tal seeped into the cracks of the artifact flying sword, filling them before wrapping around the entire blade.
After a mont, a fluctuation at the level of a low-grade spiritual artifact erged.
‘As expected… a second-rank low-grade flying sword. It is complete.’
‘I am not even a second-rank artifact refiner, yet it was so effortless.’
‘But if I tried to preserve this molten tal or use it to repair other artifacts, it would be completely impossible… Is this the power of a divine ability?’
Fang Qing placed the newly ford spiritual artifact flying sword across his knees and sat silently, comprehending what he had gained today.
‘Mutual Slaughter… a tal-virtue divine ability… inscribed into heaven and earth?’
‘Perhaps this divine ability truly belongs to [Lou tal].’
‘[Lou tal] occupies the rightful position of tal. And one who holds the rightful position is a ruler. That ans the divine abilities of [Lou tal] influence all cultivators who follow the tal virtue?’
‘If so, the rightful positions of the Five Virtues and the Sun and Moon must be extrely important. They carry powerful symbolic aning. Perhaps similar to the [Year Arbiter] Fate… or slightly inferior?’
‘Unfortunately my fate aligns with [Ji Water], not the rightful position of water virtue. It always feels like I am sohow one step lower.’
After adjusting his breathing for a while, Fang Qing transford all his mana into [Ji Water] and nurtured the Long-Awaited Sweet Rain Dao Foundation, becoming a thoroughly orthodox Dao Foundation cultivator.
As for his appearance, it remained that of Fang Shui.
This identity’s Dao Foundation specializes in healing and logistical support. It would be best to maintain good relations with others.
Moreover, his life history was clear and traceable. After revealing himself in the future, everything could be verified.
Several days later.
He stepped upon the waves and returned once more to Yuanqing Market.
This ti the atmosphere of the marketplace was noticeably tense. From ti to ti, several cultivators in golden robes blocked the roads and conducted inspections.
“Hmph.”
Fang Qing snorted coldly.
The golden-robed cultivators imdiately changed expressions and bowed respectfully.
“Zhao Dongshan… Zhao Donglai greets Senior.”
“What happened here?”
“Our apologies, Senior. We are mbers of the Zhao Family. One of our disciples was killed by a rogue cultivator near this market, so we have co to conduct an investigation.”
Zhao Dongshan hurriedly explained.
“I see. I heard there will be a Dao Foundation exchange eting here soon. Lead the way.”
Fang Qing nodded, his voice calm.
“Yes, Senior. This way, please.”
Zhao Dongshan imdiately beca extrely respectful and escorted Fang Qing to a teahouse.
The teahouse had three floors. At this mont the first and second floors were empty.
When Fang Qing stepped onto the third floor, he instantly felt the difference.
A faint stream of water appeared in his hand and swept aside an invisible curtain ahead. Imdiately several auras revealed themselves.
On the third floor of the teahouse sat several Dao Foundation cultivators in small groups. So wore wide robes and tall crowns, others looked like old fishern from cold rivers, and several fairy-like won with distinct temperants sat among them.
All of their gazes turned toward him.
‘As expected. After reaching Dao Foundation, the circle becos much larger. This single room contains more Dao Foundation cultivators than I have ever seen before.’
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