Chapter 143 - 98: Three Yang Spirit Fire Sword

Chapter 143: Chapter 98: Three Yang Spirit Fire Sword

"I see," Shangguan Ling’Er said. She understood the reasoning, but after a brief pause, she couldn’t help but ask, "Still, my Water Qi should be of some use, right?"

"Naturally," Li Yinsheng nodded. "However, it isn’t strictly necessary. It will merely help reduce the burning pain for my junior martial sister."

Mu Xiaoyu suddenly reached out, grabbing Li Yinsheng’s sleeve tightly with wide eyes.

"It is necessary! How is it not necessary? This is absolutely essential!" she thought frantically.

Reading the desperate plea in his junior martial sister’s expressive eyes, Li Yinsheng roughly understood her meaning. He looked at Shangguan Ling’Er and smiled. "If Miss Shangguan is willing to lend a hand, that would naturally be for the best."

"What do you mean, ’willing to lend a hand’? I already told you last time—watching over Xiaoyu is a one-time thing. Never again," Shangguan Ling’Er scoffed softly. "Do I look like I’m very willing to do this?"

Li Yinsheng froze for a moment. He looked thoughtful at first, then a look of realization dawned on him. Cupping his hands in a formal salute, he said earnestly, "I ask Miss Shangguan to help us once more. I will engrave this favor in my heart."

"Hmph. Forget about the favor. Consider it me helping you out one more time for Ningzhi’s sake!" Shangguan Ling’Er’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Standing off to the side, Yanyu’s gaze swept back and forth between the two of them, her eyebrows arching slightly.

Meanwhile, Mu Xiaoyu, who was still clutching Li Yinsheng’s sleeve, suddenly realized something was wrong. She had originally planned to refuse refining this Fire Seed. But with Elder Shangguan’s sudden interruption, not only was she going to watch over the process now, but her senior martial brother had even formally requested her help.

"Since they made the situation so formal just now, I can’t even bring myself to refuse anymore!" Mu Xiaoyu wailed in her heart.

Her gaze darted back and forth between Li Yinsheng and Shangguan Ling’Er, beginning to suspect that her senior martial brother and Elder Shangguan were putting on a double act to set a trap for her.

"Don’t worry, Xiaoyu," Shangguan Ling’Er said, smiling as she patted Mu Xiaoyu’s head. "With your big sister watching over you, it will only hurt a little bit this time."

"That seniority seems a bit off, doesn’t it?" Li Yinsheng commented from the side.

Shangguan Ling’Er rolled her eyes at him. "I can call myself whatever I want!"

Feeling Shangguan Ling’Er petting her head, Mu Xiaoyu felt conflicted. Elder Shangguan said it would only hurt a little bit this time. Even though her bad senior martial brother lied constantly, Elder Shangguan didn’t seem like the type to deceive people, right?

"Since it won’t hurt that much, maybe... I should give it a try?" she wondered.

Elder Shangguan really didn’t lie! After completely refining the Fire Seed her senior martial brother had given her, Mu Xiaoyu sat cross-legged on her futon and shot Shangguan Ling’Er an affectionate look.

Throughout the entire process of refining the Fire Seed this time, the burning pain she experienced was roughly the same as when she cultivated using the Blood Refining Core. She could easily endure this level of pain! After refining the second Fire Seed, she could feel that the intensity of the Three Yang Spirit Fire within her body had almost doubled. This would definitely make Artifact Refining much easier in the future.

"It was worth it!" she thought.

"Not bad at all," Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction. "The Refinement went very smoothly. Thank you, Yanyu."

"You are too polite, Li," Yanyu smiled.

Shangguan Ling’Er looked at Li Yinsheng.

"Of course, it was also all thanks to Miss Shangguan’s help!" Li Yinsheng quickly added.

Unlike last time, the moment the Fire Seed entered his junior martial sister’s body, it was immediately enveloped by her own Three Yang Spirit Fire. This allowed Shangguan Ling’Er to channel her Water Qi into Xiaoyu’s body without any reservations or fear of damaging the Fire Seed. Because of this, even though it didn’t aid the Refinement process itself, it reduced his junior martial sister’s burning pain to less than ten percent of what it would have originally been.

Seeing Li Yinsheng express his gratitude, Shangguan Ling’Er finally looked away and waved her hand magnanimously, indicating that there was no need for such formalities.

Early the next morning in his guest room, Li Yinsheng sat cross-legged and focused on his Introspection, peering into his Dantian. While receiving the two rewards that totaled twenty-six years of Cultivation, he had never once slacked off in nurturing the Three Yang Spirit Fire.

At this moment, having already birthed a Fire Seed, the Three Yang Spirit Fire was much stronger than when it was first formed, and it blazed fiercely within his Dantian. Deep in its very core, several tiny, flame-colored crystals had appeared. Although there were very few of these crystals compared to the roaring flames surrounding them, and they were extremely minuscule, they were formed from highly condensed Three Yang Spirit Fire. These flame-colored crystals possessed enough destructive power to melt an Upper Grade Magical Artifact.

While this level of power was still negligible for him at his current stage, he hadn’t been nurturing this Three Yang Spirit Fire for very long. If he continued to temper it for a while longer until it grew even stronger, it would eventually possess enough might to threaten a Quasi-Magical Treasure, or perhaps even a true Magical Treasure.

However, at least at this current stage, the Three Yang Spirit Fire was nowhere near qualified to stand on equal footing with the other two roommates occupying his Dantian.

The White Rainbow Sword and the Celestial Cyan Sword were also residing in his Dantian. The two swords were as close as sisters, their cyan and white Spiritual Light dominating over ninety percent of the space inside. The Three Yang Spirit Fire could only huddle in a corner, burning timidly.

Li Yinsheng pondered for a moment before attempting to manipulate the Three Yang Spirit Fire. He tried to coax it from a freely burning mass of flames into a flowing, shifting state, faintly molding it into the shape of a sword. A moment later, the Three Yang Spirit Fire transformed into a Fire Sword of a similar length to Bai Hong and Celestial Cyan. Because there were far too few of those tiny flame-colored crystals, they only clustered together along the central ridge of the blade.

He then controlled the Three Yang Spirit Fire Sword, moving it closer to the Celestial Cyan Sword and the White Rainbow Sword until the three swords were arranged in a triangular formation.

Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction. "This is much more pleasing to the eye," he thought.

Under his control, the three swords slowly revolved around one another, their cyan, white, and crimson colors weaving and reflecting off each other. However, the Three Yang Spirit Fire didn’t become any brighter just because it had taken the shape of a sword. As a result, its crimson glow was still thoroughly suppressed by the cyan and white light, managing to claim only a tiny fraction of the space.

Furthermore, the moment Li Yinsheng released his control, the Three Yang Spirit Fire would be immediately shoved back into its corner, even though it managed to maintain its sword-like form.

He wasn’t particularly surprised by this. The current Three Yang Spirit Fire was simply too weak. It should improve significantly once he nurtured it further. By that time, the number of flame-colored crystals would also increase substantially. Perhaps it would even be enough to condense those crystals into a sword with a physical, solid form.

If he could truly reach that stage, this Three Yang Spirit Fire Sword wouldn’t be a Magical Treasure, but it would easily rival one. Moreover, a sword of spiritual flame capable of manifesting within his Dantian would undoubtedly become a powerful asset when it came time to condense his Dharma Aspect. In the future, his Dharma Aspect would reach an even higher level because of it.

Although this kind of "sword" was a completely different concept from a Sword Cultivator’s Flying Sword—since it was essentially just a mass of fire shaped like a sword—it at least looked aesthetically pleasing. And truthfully, if he had to be technical about it, the Celestial Cyan Sword was in a similar boat. It was, after all, just a stalk of bamboo that looked like a sword.

Li Yinsheng withdrew from his Introspection and opened his eyes, glancing toward the door. There was an unconcealed aura lingering outside.

"Miss Shangguan," Li Yinsheng called out. "Please come in."

Shangguan Ling’Er pushed the door open and walked in.

"Miss Shangguan, you’ve come looking for me so early in the morning. Is there something important?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"Nothing important. I was just... feeling bored, so I came over for a chat," Shangguan Ling’Er replied. "Am I not welcome here?"

"How could that be? Please, take a seat, Miss Shangguan," Li Yinsheng chuckled.

Shangguan Ling’Er knelt and sat gracefully across the low table from Li Yinsheng, looking as though she wanted to say something but was hesitating to speak.