Chapter 631: Qian Flame Fire Bamboo Sword

“Don’t rush to reclaim the rest of Qii Mountain. For now, focus only on the Medicine Garden Secret Realm.”

Bai Zichen squinted, holding the section of Fire Bamboo horizontally across his palms. He allowed the specks of flame upon it to climb along his palms and up his forearms as if they had a will of their own.

These orange-red flames were bright and pure. They emitted an endless radiance and seemed to possess an aura that could purify and dispel evil.

And yet, they held no heat. The sensation on his skin was cool, and his Daoist Robe remained completely unscathed.

“There are tens of thousands of mortals in that Secret Realm—all of them are the immediate family of Holy Lotus Sect disciples. Move them all out. Have our Sect transfer the residents of two towns over from Black Mountain to fill the vacancy.”

“Furthermore, tell the Spirit Plant Hall and Spirit Field Hall to stop arguing. I want both halls to send people over to ensure the next harvest of Spirit Medicines from the Medicine Garden is secured without fail.”

“Have the two Honored Guest Elders I invited from the Divine Wood Sect set off immediately. They are to requisition any suitable Spirit Fields on Qii Mountain and within the Medicine Garden Secret Realm.”

“End this turmoil as soon as possible. I want a stable home front, not a Central Province ablaze with war, where everyone from Cultivators to mortals lives in constant fear for their lives.”

“Don’t be afraid to kill. Crushing this chaos requires an iron fist… Take this sword with you for a time. If you encounter a powerful enemy, you can call upon Xiaozhi for aid. No one below the Nascent Soul Realm can withstand a single one of its strikes.”

Many of the Tribulation Cultivators in the Central Province were originally Sect Cultivators who had simply changed their identities.

There were quite a few Core Formation Cultivators among them, and Ma Ruoxi and her companions weren’t strong enough to intimidate them.

To pacify the Central Province more efficiently, Bai Zichen communicated with the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword and decided to lend out his Lifebound Flying Sword.

Ma Ruoxi would merely act as a conduit. The strikes would draw upon the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword’s own Origin Power.

Normally, the Sword Spirit would never agree to such a thing, but with the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box, any lost Origin Power could be recovered in a year or two.

Besides, opponents at the Core Formation Level wouldn’t drain much of the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword’s power anyway. It could kill them with ease.

“Thank you for this treasure, Master. I will swiftly purge the Tribulation Cultivators and restore peace to the Central Province.”

Ma Ruoxi accepted the sword with both hands and kowtowed in gratitude. Seeing that her master had no further instructions, she backed away and exited the grand hall.

‘Whether she can use this opportunity of commanding Xiaozhi to comprehend the Refining Sword into Silk Realm will depend on her own Karma Technique…’

Bai Zichen murmured to himself as he watched his fourth disciple’s departing figure, then slowly closed his eyes.

The Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword was of an incredibly high tier, even beyond Tier Five.

As his Lifebound Flying Sword, it was constantly immersed in the aura of his Sword Dao Realm.

For a Sword Cultivator like Ma Ruoxi, long stuck at the Sword Qi Thunder Sound Realm, this was like skipping two levels to glimpse the profundity of Sword Light Division.

If her foundation was sufficient, a single moment of enlightenment could save her decades of hard work.

The Qingfeng Sect already had a decent number of Core Formation Cultivators, but none had yet shown any true potential for reaching the Nascent Soul Realm.

‘If the opportunity arises, I should certainly give my disciple a helping hand.’

‘I can’t believe the Holy Lotus Sect was hiding a Tier Four Flying Sword. There wasn’t even a whisper about it… Perhaps they haven’t possessed it for long, and since their recent Sect Leaders weren’t proficient in the Sword Dao, it remained a secret.’

Bai Zichen had asked Hong Xuan about it. The Core Formation Elder only knew that the Holy Lotus Sect’s Leader possessed a fourth Spiritual Treasure, but he had no idea what it was or where it came from.

Thanks to his Sword Dao mastery, which ranked among the very best in the entire Cultivation Realm, he had immediately sensed the true nature hidden deep within the bamboo stalk: it was a Flying Sword.

But while both were Bamboo Flying Swords, the Thunder Sound Sword had at least been refined into the shape of a sword. This bamboo stalk looked like it had been crudely trimmed, at best.

‘I never would have thought a sword made of bamboo could reach Tier Four. It seems to be unprecedented in history.’

Bai Zichen gripped the Fire Bamboo tightly. The flames instantly retracted into the stalk, leaving it looking like a bare stick.

“I ask you: are you willing to acknowledge me as your master and be wielded by me?”

The Fire Bamboo seemed to nod repeatedly, radiating nothing but eagerness and joy. His True Essence flowed into it, beginning the Refinement process with ease.

He recalled how, years ago in the Sword Tomb Secret Realm, he had used the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword to make the Tier Four Moon Xuan Sword choose him—a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator at the time. The event had sent shockwaves through the Tianhe Sword Sect.

It had led both Tang Fei and Yann Yuanzai to marvel at his Sword Dao Talent, declaring it to be unparalleled through the ages. Only those few luminaries from the Taibai Sword Sect ten thousand years ago could possibly compare.

But now, he could make a Tier Four Flying Sword acknowledge him as its master through his own genuine power, without even needing to use the Supreme Qingwei Sword Box.

A Mid-Stage Nascent Soul Cultivator who had also reached Sword Light Division—the number of people in the entire Cultivation Realm who met these conditions could be counted on one hand.

Factoring in Bai Zichen’s age, he was truly one of a kind in the entire world.

A sharp surge of True Essence completed a simple Refinement of the Fire Bamboo Flying Sword, and information about its original creation flowed into his mind.

The Qian Flame Fire Bamboo Sword. It had originally been a Tier Three Bitter Bamboo that grew one new section every 60-Year Cycle, taking several hundred years to reach maturity.

It was unexpectedly struck by Celestial Fire. In a Bitter Bamboo Forest with over a thousand stalks, it was the only one not incinerated to ash. Instead, it absorbed the power of the Celestial Fire and became a one-of-a-kind Tier Four Spiritual Bamboo.

The owner of the Bitter Bamboo Forest had invited a Sword Refining Grandmaster to forge it into a Tier Three Flying Sword. After changing hands multiple times, it eventually fell into the possession of a young Sword Cultivator.

When that cultivator was breaking through to Late-Stage Nascent Soul, at the stage where his Realm was transforming into a Grotto Heaven Prototype, the Qian Flame Fire Bamboo Sword’s own accumulation reached a critical point, and it miraculously advanced to become a Tier Four Flying Sword.

Unfortunately, that Sword Cultivator passed away from old age at the Nascent Soul Perfect Realm, never managing to take the final step in his entire life. Thus, the Qian Flame Fire Bamboo Sword never had the opportunity to use the window of its master’s Divinity Transformation to attempt to break through to Tier Five.

‘I didn’t realize a Lifebound Flying Sword could advance without having to wait for a Grotto Heaven to fully form… But that sliver of Grotto Heaven Power was just a small boost. The key was that its everyday accumulation was already sufficient.’

Bai Zichen keenly noted that the primary Spiritual Material used in refining the Qian Flame Fire Bamboo Sword was very similar to that of the Thunder Sound Bamboo. Both had relied on the might of the heavens to cause a Spiritual Bamboo to mutate.