Chapter 435 - 236: Refining the True Form in Fire (Part 2)

Chapter 435: Chapter 236: Refining the True Form in Fire (Part 2)

The Mixed Element Child glanced down with disgust and snapped, "Address me as Zhenren!"

"Yes, Zhenren." The Mixed Element Child was too pink and cute to look the least bit intimidating. Lan Su Nu flew up to the corner of the eaves and asked with a grin, "Is Senior Brother Xu cultivating?"

The Mixed Element Child rolled his eyes and pointed into the distance.

Lan Su Nu followed his gaze and was startled to see that a mysterious, dark blue iceberg over a hundred zhang tall had appeared in the sky. Xuzhuang was sitting cross-legged atop it, perfectly still.

"The Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul!" Lan Su Nu blurted out. "Don’t tell me Senior Brother’s Flying Sword is already undergoing its Fire Calamity?"

"It started several days ago," the Mixed Element Child said.

"That’s wonderful!" Lan Su Nu said joyfully. "If he can pass this trial, Senior Brother will have a True Form Flying Sword. Wouldn’t that be like having a Primordial Spirit True Man who is a Sword Cultivator in our midst?"

"It’s not that simple," the Mixed Element Child muttered. "The True Form Celestial Tribulation isn’t so easy to pass."

Lan Su Nu’s expression tightened. "Even with the help of the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul, it’s not a sure thing?"

"Perhaps," the Mixed Element Child said dismissively. "We’ll know if we wait and see."

In truth, just as the Mixed Element Child had said, if not for being forcibly delayed, the Three Calamities would usually come and go quickly.

But the two of them ended up waiting for two whole months—sixty or seventy days—and the outcome was still undecided.

In mid-air, Xuzhuang sat cross-legged atop the iceberg. For the past sixty or seventy days, he appeared to be meditating with his eyes closed, but in reality, his entire consciousness was focused within the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul.

There, a three-foot-long streak of rainbow light flickered erratically, pulsing without pause. At every moment, scorching flames would ignite and then vanish, entwine and then be extinguished, as if caught in an eternal cycle.

He had expected the Taiyi Rainbow Sword to face its True Form Fire Calamity in about ten years, but he never imagined that the growth of its spirituality would accelerate, increasing with each passing day.

Perhaps this was the transformation from the ’mortal’ to the ’Zhenren’ level. Moreover, during this time, Xuzhuang had not slacked off in refining the Taiyi Rainbow Sword for even a moment.

The Three Calamities are tribulations brought about by the growth of a Daoist’s cultivation, and the True Form Celestial Tribulation is no different. As the Taiyi Rainbow Sword’s spirituality grew and it was continuously refined, it seemed to reach a limit. After a mere three years, the True Form Fire Calamity had arrived without warning.

The Three Calamities are divided into the Wind Calamity, the Fire Calamity, and the Thunder Tribulation. Although they don’t have a fixed order, the differences between them are significant.

Compared to the Thunder Tribulation, which arrived with murderous intent from the heavens and the rumbling might of tribulation clouds overhead, the arrival of the Fire Calamity was often silent.

The Fire Calamity is born from within. It is a tribulation fire, a heart-fire, and a law-fire. Whether it be the soul, Magical Power, or even the Primordial Spirit, all become fuel for its flames.

Thankfully, the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul lived up to its great reputation, drastically diminishing and slowing the tribulation fire’s intensity. However, this also plunged the Taiyi Rainbow Sword and the fire into a protracted stalemate.

It would burn, then be extinguished, only to ignite once more. Sixty or seventy days passed just like that.

’Eighty-one days.’ Xuzhuang suddenly had a premonition. ’Nine times nine is a number of extremity. If the Taiyi Rainbow Sword can’t overcome the Fire Calamity within this eighty-one-day limit, all my efforts might be for naught.’

But from the looks of it, let alone overcoming the Fire Calamity within eighty-one days, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword might not even be able to hold on for much longer.

As the master of the Taiyi Rainbow Sword, Xuzhuang could sense that within the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul, the tribulation fire’s intensity had waned to a certain degree. At the same time, however, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword was also on its last legs.

Xuzhuang’s heart sank. ’Is the Taiyi Rainbow Sword not going to make it through this trial?’

’No wonder achieving a True Form Treasure is so difficult, even rarer than becoming a Primordial Spirit True Man. You have to face a calamity before even attaining the Dao. Even if it’s not as terrifying as the Three Calamities, you don’t have the cultivation of a Primordial Spirit True Man to withstand it. It’s truly a life-or-death struggle!’

Xuzhuang certainly didn’t want to see this happen, but even as the master of the Taiyi Rainbow Sword, he had no way to interfere in the tribulation. He could only leave it to the sword’s own fate.

Just then, however, Xuzhuang’s expression flickered. "Hm?"

A faint wisp of a voice seemed to pierce through the tribulation fire, through the Profound Ice, through space itself, struggling to reach Xuzhuang’s mind. But it was completely unintelligible, impossible to discern!

"Is that the Taiyi Rainbow Sword?" Xuzhuang wondered aloud, focusing his senses on the activity within the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul.

No one answered Xuzhuang’s question, of course, but he confirmed his thought almost instantly. He gazed intently into the Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul. ’What is the Taiyi Rainbow Sword trying to tell me?’

Inside the dark blue iceberg, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword seemed to want to break free from the tribulation fire. It trembled slightly, its sword glow pulsing, but it couldn’t escape. Instead, the tribulation fire roared, threatening to burn ever hotter and ever brighter.

Just as the Taiyi Rainbow Sword seemed to be on the verge of failure, a glint flashed in Xuzhuang’s eyes.

’That’s it! A Flying Sword is something that shatters all obstacles, that roams Qingming and the eight wildernesses, coming and going with unrestrained freedom...’

’The Taiyi Rainbow Sword is the fastest Flying Sword in the world. Its nature is to press forward relentlessly and sever all things. Success means condensing its True Form; failure means its form shatters and the weapon perishes. How could being trapped in this Ice Soul, slowly being worn down day and night, be the right Tribulation Crossing Technique?’

’I was wrong!’ Xuzhuang shot to his feet. With a great sweep of his sleeve, the seamless, flawless Profoundly Refined Tribulation-Avoiding Ice Soul instantly split open with a chasm-like crack. A monstrous Sword Qi shot toward the heavens!

Accompanied by a clang that resounded through the clouds, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword shot out. It flew faster and faster, farther and farther, as if trying to leave the tribulation fire behind. In an instant, it reached the horizon, then banked and flew off in another direction.

’Not good.’ Xuzhuang’s heart leaped into his throat. This was the Profound Ice Pavilion, after all. If he disturbed the pavilion’s ancestors, it would be a disaster.

Fortunately, his worries were unfounded. The Taiyi Rainbow Sword streaked through the air like a fiery shooting star, galloping freely with a long, flaming tail. In the space of a few breaths, it seemed to paint a Fire Lotus in the sky before suddenly turning back to deliver a single slash!

Xuzhuang’s heart trembled. ’It did it!’

This slash had neither earth-shattering power nor a soul-stirring cry. Instead, it was like the blooming and wilting of a flower—a natural cycle of creation and destruction. In that single moment, it utterly dispersed the sky-full of tribulation fire, transforming it into a cascade of radiant light, so beautiful it was breathtaking. It prompted gasps of surprise from many disciples of the Profound Ice Pavilion.

...

In the Ice and Snow Hall, Master Jing Chu suddenly looked up. "A True Form Flying Sword. His fortune is truly profound."

...

Atop the elegant pavilion, the Mixed Element Child scratched his sky-pointing pigtail and muttered to himself, "It actually succeeded."

Lan Su Nu, who had been watching with rapt attention, was overjoyed when she heard the Mixed Element Child’s words. "It succeeded? It passed the tribulation and condensed its True Form?"

The Mixed Element Child pursed his lips and grumbled, "There are huge differences among True Form Treasures, you know."

...

In the sky, after its final slash, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword vanished completely into the clouds. Xuzhuang opened his Dharma Eye to look for it but couldn’t catch the slightest trace, which made him frown again.

’Based on what just happened, the Taiyi Rainbow Sword seems to have overcome the Fire Calamity,’ Xuzhuang mused. ’But if that’s true, why has it disappeared?’ Just as he was about to fly into the sky to search for it, he felt a stir in his heart. His Spiritual Sense seemed to have locked onto something.

Sure enough, as he focused his perception, the sound of silver-bell-like laughter reached him. Immediately after, a flying rainbow materialized from thin air, shifting from intangible to tangible, and began to circle Xuzhuang affectionately.

With a thought from Xuzhuang, the rainbow light began to execute various forms of Swordsmanship, following his will. It was a world of difference from before. Not just its killing power and flight speed, but even the variations in its Swordsmanship felt exhilarating to Xuzhuang.

It seemed the Taiyi Rainbow Sword’s Swordsmanship had already surpassed Xuzhuang’s own. It could even provide him with endless inspiration during its practice, allowing him to touch upon a sliver of the mysteries of Primordial Spirit Swordsmanship.

"Good Taiyi, good Flying Sword!" Xuzhuang exclaimed. "A True Form forged in fire, a rainbow born in the sky. From now on, I will call you Hong’Er."

The Taiyi Rainbow Sword seemed overjoyed. It danced elegantly in the air for a few more strokes, then suddenly descended and coalesced in front of Xuzhuang, transforming into a little girl as exquisitely carved as pink jade. She giggled and said, "Hong’Er greets Master."