Chapter 265: Chapter 260: Great Circle Sword, Heavenly Will Sword
"The three of them," Elder Kaixiang introduced, "are Daoist Guangming from Yuxu Temple, Jingyang Jun, the second seat from Sword Discussion Sea, and Yuan Fu, a loose cultivator from Mystic Sect."
After Yan Hanqing had finished introducing the grandmaster from the Mo Sect, Elder Kaixiang began introducing the other three.
Jingyang Jun hailed from the previous venue of the Sword Discussion Conference—Sword Discussion Sea.
Sword Discussion Sea, located in the East Sea, is a loose coalition of sorts, acting as a fellowship for sword cultivators. Apart from a few key members, the rest hail from the Four Seas; any accomplished practitioner of the Sword Dao could leave their mark on the Sword Peak of Sword Discussion Sea, thus becoming a member.
The Sword Discussion Conference initially originated from the members of Sword Discussion Sea and continued to be held there.
However, due to Jingyang Jun, who was then the second in charge and the chief swordsmith of Sword Discussion Sea, aligning himself with the Retro Party during the last conference, it became difficult to maintain neutrality. Thus, Elder Kaixiang seized the opportunity, drawn by the allure of the Xuanyuan Sword, to move the venue to the Dinghu Sect.
"It’s a pity that Uncle Master Guang Cheng couldn’t come," Daoist Xuanming sighed softly. "Otherwise, we could have secured a victory right there."
"If Daoist Guang Cheng were here, the Mo Sect Master would also have appeared," Yan Hanqing coldly chuckled, "and then, I’m afraid you all would have suffered an even more miserable defeat."
At these words, Daoist Xuanming’s expression stiffened momentarily.
The Guang Cheng he spoke of was one of the current third grades of Yuxu Temple, counted among today’s Four Swordsmen along with Taibai True Monarch from Daode Sect, the chief of Sword Discussion Sea, and Manjusri Bodhisattva from Buddha Country.
Although Guang Cheng was not skilled in sword casting, with his mastery of the Sword Dao, his presence would indeed significantly bolster Yuxu Temple’s chances of winning.
But then, the Mo Sect Master would likely appear as well.
While Guang Cheng might outmatch the Mo Sect Master in raw strength, the latter surpassed him in the mastery of Artifact Dao. After all, that was his professional realm.
The innovative trend led by the Mo Sect, which stood in contrast to the Retro Party, was also due to the presence of the Mo Sect Master.
Unfortunately, neither could attend.
Because they were third grade.
Third-rank strong people were seldom free, even those who were not outwardly very powerful. No one knew whether the power they displayed was their true strength, and the enhancement difference contributed by different Dao Fruits also varied.
Perhaps, by sheer strength, a certain third grade might not be formidable; but their Dao Fruit could have already reached perfection and prepared for advancement. Even the power they showed might not have been real.
Due to mutual deterrence, these third grades were all incredibly secretive; you never knew when someone might suddenly make a significant move.
Hundreds of years ago, someone had attempted to compile a ranking of the powerful figures of the age, but soon after this news spread, the person, like the Jiang family’s head, suddenly died.
At that time, rumors circulated that his actions had potentially exposed the foundations of the third grades, leading to his demise by one of them.
The truth of this information remains unclear to date, but what is certain is that since then, no one has dared attempt such a ranking again, out of fear of meeting a similar abrupt end.
For this reason, any action taken by the third grades garnered everybody’s attention. To avoid being suddenly surrounded by peers of the same realm, they preferred to remain inactive unless absolutely necessary. If action was inevitable, they would proceed stealthily and quietly.
This was evident as, in the past editions of the Sword Discussion Conference, only the chief of Sword Discussion Sea, a third grade, would represent them, with hardly any participation from other third grades.
Yan Hanqing’s remark essentially killed the competition, and after pondering for a long time, Xuanming found no points to refute.
He couldn’t shamelessly claim the Mo Sect Master’s absence was a sign of weakness but had to acknowledge the superior prowess in Artifact Dao of the Mo Sect Master.
Otherwise, there wouldn’t be factions like the Retro Party and the Innovative Faction.
Yet, Xuanming couldn’t help but say, "When Uncle Master Guangming ascends to a Golden Immortal, he will personally visit the Mo Sect to witness the skills of your Master."
Afterwards, everybody fell silent, either focusing on their Qi to reduce the consumption of True Qi or observing the sword casting.
Elder Kaixiang seemed itching to get involved, but since the Dinghu Sect was hosting, and to ensure fairness and neutrality, involvement was theoretically prohibited. Moreover, the Dinghu Sect wasn’t aligned with either the Retro or Innovative factions, and like the Kunxu Immortal Palace, had no reason to join the dispute, despite its connections to the Artifact Dao.
Elder Kaixiang could only watch the two factions casting, then his gaze somewhat absently drifted to the giant sword.
The hours then passed amidst the ringing and clanging.
The process of sword casting was, in actuality, rather tedious, especially to those unfamiliar with the Artifact Dao; it merely looked like the Mo Sect’s Dragon Master endlessly hammering while the other party continually released Seal Techniques. After a while, it could become quite monotonous.
Jiang Li was among those who found it boring, so he vacant-eyed, silently circulated his Innate Qi, using the recently acquired body refining technique to temper his body.
’With the advancement of Wood Qi, advancing the rest of the All Qi seems relatively simpler,’ Jiang Li sensed the flow of the eight qi, thinking to himself internally.
The advancement of the eight qi was not independent but could complement each other.
For instance, with Wood leading to Fire, Wood Qi could serve as the basis for the transformation, aiding in enlightenment.
Moreover, as his insight into Wood Qi deepened, Jiang Li’s control over Primordial Qi became increasingly clear; his Realm rose accordingly, further benefiting his comprehension of the remaining All Qi.
Time thus slowly passed, and as the temperature of the Heaven and Earth Furnace peaked to its limit and gradually declined with the twilight, the convergence of Earth Fire and Heavenly Yin and the transformation from day to night induced corresponding changes in the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
Even without the spiritual mechanism of Heaven and Earth, the natural order still followed certain rules, and the Heaven and Earth Furnace operated reflecting these rules.
Suddenly, the hammering that had been ringing ceased—Mo Sect Master Long Yue submerged the sword embryo that had already taken shape into the Earth Fire Spring Flow, waiting two quarters before lifting it out and placing it into an iron bucket that had appeared to the side at some unknown time.
Thick mist immediately rose from the bucket, and the glowing red sword embryo quickly cooled.
"Ten-thousand-year-old Cold Spring from the North Pole?" Elder Kaixiang recognized the contents of the unremarkable iron bucket. "Quenching with cold spring water, has the sword embryo finished forging?"
Looking at the sky, it was still far from midnight—the sword from Mo Sect would soon be completed.
Meanwhile, the Retro Party followed a timing aligned with the celestial movements to refine their artifact; though they couldn’t forge it for the full seven weeks and forty nine days, working within the twelve hours of a single day to refine the artifact at the moment of "midnight, when yin is at its extreme and yang begins," was also feasible.
"No, it still needs some more time."
Tan Wuwei walked over leisurely and looking downwards said, "The main show is about to start."
As soon as she finished speaking, Long Yue had already picked up the sword embryo—a thick, rough, sword-shaped bar appeared before everyone’s eyes, releasing a heavy sword momentum as it did.
Hefty, deeply rooted, capable of pressing the heavens; this sword, a Heavy Sword, greatly ingenious, so much so that it even made sharpening unnecessary.
This was a sword embryo cast from Heavenly Sinking Iron.
But in the next moment, Long Yue drew forth more Earth Fire, recast the sword embryo, and took out fresh materials.
"Refined Gold from the West?" Elder Kaixiang expressed his surprise.
This was because Western Pure Gold was a harsh material that, although it was also a gold material like Heavenly Sinking Iron, it did not harmonize with it.
Long Yue threw the Western Pure Gold into the furnace with the other materials, forcefully channeled his True Qi, drew in the Earth Fire from the spring, and fused them as one.
Afterwards, he withdrew the sword embryo once more, swung the hammer like rain, strike after strike, hammering the solid embryo into a blade-shape, producing sharp Sword Qi with each hit.
Even without a sharpened edge, even just as a sword embryo, such a sharpness was already evident, indicative of the sword’s potential lethality.
This forging was much quicker than before, and within one hour, he had completed the process.
Then, it was time to quench the sword again, then take out a new material.
"Sun Golden Feather?" Elder Kaixiang, looking at the item resembling a feather from the Golden Crow, was stunned again.
The Golden Crow was the spirit of the sun, the essence of fire, greatly restraining any metal...
And then, he saw Long Yue infuse the Sun Golden Feather into the sword embryo, hammer it repeatedly, the embryo becoming ever more slender and straight.
Afterward, it was the Essence of Soft Clouds, the softest of materials.
Next, it was Purple Thunder Gold Copper...
As time slowly passed, it was almost approaching noon.
When the moon reached the zenith, a moonbeam pierced through the lofty flames and entered the Furnace of Eight Trigrams, immediately inspiring an unparalleled Sword Qi; the body of the furnace trembled.
The beardless Daoist, Guangming, made a seal with one hand—the Eight Trigrams Furnace opened, and a long rainbow soared upward, splitting the flame, within the dazzling Sword Light, a translucent sword shadow faintly appeared.
"Refine solid to void, turning the sword into a rainbow!"
Daoist Guangming, looking at that sword shadow, laughed heartily, "This sword, named ’Da Huan.’"
An ancient phrase goes, "Da Huan above, Da Juzi below"—Da Huan, which means heaven. Naming it Da Huan is quite a modest appellation; interpreting it, this sword ought to be Heavenly Sword.
However, the term Heavenly Sword is too direct and rather clichéd; calling it "Da Huan" instead accentuates erudition.
"Da Huan Sword, refine solid to void..." Elder Kaixiang looked at the sword light, "From solid to void, nearly indestructible; Daoist Guangming indeed stands on invincible ground."
A sword is deemed defeated only when destroyed, yet the Da Huan Sword, refined solid to void, is both sword body and sword rainbow, beyond description. Apart from using absolute power to completely annihilate it, Elder Kaixiang truly couldn’t conceive of any method to destroy this sword.
And did Jiang Li possess that absolute power? Certainly not.
As the sword was finally forged, Daoist Guangming was hugely relieved, he couldn’t help but look towards his opponent and laugh, saying, "Dragon Master, do you perhaps need us to give you more time?"
At this moment, the sword cast by Long Yue was still only an embryo, marking the fifth time he had cast such an embryo.
Hearing the words of Daoist Guangming, Long Yue directly grabbed the sword, which consisted solely of the handle and body, turned around, and calmly said, "No need, this sword is complete."
As soon as he finished speaking, Long Yue opened his giant palm, displaying what to him was like a sewing needle of a sword embryo, and tossed it into the air. Instantly, the Sword Qi intensified, the sword embryo transformed in mid-air five times—Heavy Sword, Sharp Sword, Thin Sword, Soft Sword, Battle Sword, each metamorphosis occurring in succession.
A single sword embryo, showing different sword bodies.
It was the sword embryo, the original form of the sword, thus capable of transforming into various sword forms.
"The sword is named ’Heavenly Will,’ embodying the culmination of Mo Sect’s casting principles, created by Master Juzi, forged by Long Yue."