Divine Brilliance

A two-inch silver black flying knife gripped in his palm, Zong Shou generously injected spiritual energy supported by true qi to wash through the flying knife.

Pretty much every half an hour, Zong Shou would absorb a beast spirit stone and beast crystal to replenish the true qi and spiritual energy in his body.

He also rubbed a special beast oil on the body of the knife to prevent this flying knife from being damaged by the purification and training of true qi and spiritual energy.

The flying knife in his hand was mainly fine steel, however the supporting materials were not just red copper, as there was also obsidian and some black iron.

The knife body itself was also slightly wider than the Willow Mark flying knife from before. Although it was slightly uncomfortable, he was still barely able to use it.

The entire knife training process normally lasted for a full four years. It consumed a total of three hundred Grade One monster crystals and spirit stones. The purpose was for him to be able to achieve a spiritual connection with these three black Willow Mark flying knives.

Using beast oil to brush the knife body brought the flying knife, which was becoming hot from the wash of true qi and spirit energy, back to normal temperatures.

Zong Shou used his spiritual connection to connect to the talisman knife in his hand, making it shake slightly.

It was like he just needed to add a little strength, and the knife would be able to rise up from his hand.

Knowing that the time was right, Zong Shou used his spiritual control as a bridge to connect this flying knife to one of the Cloud Shocking God Destroying sword intents. He imprinted the sword intent in a well-practiced manner into the knife.

After a few experiments, Zong Shou was more at ease and familiar this time. In just a short while the flying knife in his hand started to change, and some patterns started to appear on the black knife’s blade. It was like there were clouds rolling within.

“Success! With these three knives here, I will at least have some confidence to protect my life. However, that person…”

Thinking back to that person who was looking at him in Xiaoyuan City, Zong Shou felt a cold feeling piercing into his bones.

Unfortunately in the last few days, even with the legendary Energy Swallowing Technique in his hands, his cultivation couldn’t see huge improvements.

On the other hand, his soul power, relying on the Sky Mirror Soul Shining Technique and twelve God Talismans, he had reached the peak of the Focus Concentration Realm. His soul ocean was totally stabilized.

The next step of cultivation would be the Soul Observing Stage. Like its name suggested, one had to observe each and every corner of one’s soul to understand its structure. Only then could one prevent themself from being injured and their soul being totally dispersed when one reached the Out of Body Realm. Even if the soul was dispersed, one could find a way to gather it up once more. However, to reach such a level, one needed to be at least at the Day Wandering Realm.

Cultivation needed time… but it wasn’t like he had no way to speed it up.

This method was something he thought about these last few days. He didn’t know whether or not it would cause repercussions, which was why he was still hesitating.

Just as he hid the flying knife into his sleeve, Zong Shou saw Xue’r walk in excitedly, her expression filled with joy. “Uncle Yin said that we finally ditched those people! Young Master is really smart, choosing this path. As expected, no one else thought about it. With the Wind Barrier Formation the carriage speed is seventy percent faster than before. To think those ignorant spirit blacksmiths who didn’t know anything said that it didn’t matter.”

When Zong Shou heard that, his expression became solemn instead.

He had expected to be able to ditch all the people on their trail. Within this carriage, the Wind Barrier talisman that was modified could manipulate wind element spiritual energy to reduce the weight of the carriage to pretty much zero.

Moreover, it could also enable the Cloud Stepping Foals at the front to borrow the wind energy of the carriage itself, such that their galloping speed wasn’t affected. When they went full speed, it would be thirty percent faster than normal.

Unfortunately, in such a small place, they weren’t able to buy the Windrider Foals, which were much faster than the Cloud Stepping Foals. If not, this carriage could even rise up a hundred feet and ‘fly’ through the air.

In this endless and vast marshland filled with mud and swamps, just these eighteen Cloud Stepping Foals were enough for them to totally break away from the people chasing them.

However, since they had already gotten away from those people, why hadn’t the sense of danger in his body disappeared, and instead he felt a chill?

Zong Shou frowned slightly, standing up, no longer hesitating. He decisively took placed over ten spirit stones and beast crystals in the four directions of the room. They were actually all Grade Two and above. Then he took out some beast blood which came from the purest and rich in spiritual energy Grade Three baby beasts, whose price was not cheap either.

Zong Shou started drawing, and in a blink of an eye he drew a twenty-square foot diagram.

“This is a altar?” Chuxue looked on from the side. She herself wasn’t that certain, and it wasn’t until Zong Shou placed an incense table and lit up candles and sandalwood incense that she confirm that the thing in front of her was an altar.

Zong Shou’s arrangement was slightly different from the commonly used altar methods of spirit masters of that era. For some reason, the spiritual energy composition around it was more peaceful and harmonious.

Zong Shou stood in the center of the altar, reaching out with his right hand, only to see a silver-white, water droplet like octopus beast appearing in his hand.

“Little Gold, ah Little Gold, whether or not your master can survive this depends on you! If I die today you won’t be able to live too, do you understand?”

Little Gold was startled, bouncing up and down in his palm. Zong Shou didn’t expect that it could understand, just placing the little fellow in the center of the incense table.

His hand made a sign and he chanted some incantations. After a wait, he opened his eyes, and green smoke and yellow light was drawn out from the surrounding beast spirit stones and beast crystals, moving along the talismans that Zong Shou drew to gather towards the incense table.

Little Gold was originally jumping around, but it had became quiet now, allowing this true qi and spiritual energy to encapsulate its body.

It absorbed them all into its body. Its body was like a balloon as it started to swell up. It was originally just the size of two fists, but now it was several sizes fatter.

When all the spirit stones and beast crystals shattered one by one, the small body of Little Gold looked like it was going to explode. A bright glow flashed in Zong Shou’s eyes.

He stretched out his hand to grab Little Gold’s head, and the center of his palm gave off an energy swallowing power which reached directly into Little Gold’s body.

In just a breath’s time, an ocean of essence energy and soul energy was pulled out by Zong Shou and into his palm. The two flows easily spread into their own currents, a portion flowing towards his dantian, while the other streamed towards the soul ocean between his eyebrows.

“With Little Gold’s body as a net, after a round of purifying and refining, the absorbed essence energy and spiritual energy is many times purer than if I directly absorbed from the spirit stones and beast crystals! It can pretty much be directly used, the effect is even better than my first set of the Energy Leading Technique. If I purified all this energy myself, I would probably die immediately…”

Zong Shou didn’t dare to lower his guard, making use of the twelve God Talismans and eighteen sword intents, along with his Energy Leading Technique, to purify the essence energy and spiritual energy once more.

Only when all the impurities within were wiped out did Zong Shou allow them to return to their original positions.

Within his soul ocean, numerous huge storms broke out, and only when that whirlpool nearly doubled in size did it stop.

All the essence energy was also used by Zong Shou, directing them towards his abdomen, seeping in bit by bit to strengthen his Foundation and Breathing Chakra Meridians.