Chapter 198: Chapter 195 Planting Beans into Soldiers
"The great battle that just occurred had the Heavenly Thunder furiously bombarding the area, resulting in the fish within several miles either dead or scattered. Now in the stream, there were hardly any living creatures swimming, only sand and weeds being carried forward by the torrential flow.
Jiang Li slowly descended, his gaze constantly sweeping beneath the waters. Using the Emperor’s Qi Observation Skill, he overlooked no trace.
Suddenly, Jiang Li’s sight caught a glimmer of silver light.
"Three Points Return to Primordial Qi."
Jiang Li transformed Innate Qi into Innate Water Qi and with a surge of his energy, lifted upwards. The area of the river where the silver light was located immediately formed into a water sphere, separating from the river.
"Whoom—"
The water sphere rose, and a sound of rapid flow emerged from it. The water rippled, and where the silver light was, a silvery-gray energy surfaced, and a figure cloaked in a black robe suddenly appeared, punching out and causing the water to ripple violently.
It was that Sword Cultivator!
He had clearly been sliced in two by Zhong Shenxiu earlier, yet now he appeared beneath the water, seemingly unharmed, and displayed formidable strength.
The Sword Cultivator’s final sword had been received by Jiang Li, and his Sword Orb had also been taken by Jiang Li, now residing within Jiang Li’s Storage Bracelet.
Without his sword, the Sword Cultivator’s Fist Skill was still tyrannical; a punch broke the water sphere open, splashing countless droplets toward Jiang Li. However, they gradually solidified midway.
Without anyone noticing, a light blue rune had appeared on the palm of Jiang Li’s right hand. Frost formed in the air and spread forward. Wherever it passed, the droplets froze and the water around the fist turned into encasing ice, the cold coloring spreading throughout the sphere.
Turning water into ice, the frost was bone-chilling.
The Sword Cultivator was entirely frozen within the icy sphere, his punched fist unable to advance.
But in the next instant, intense sword sounds erupted from within him, and numerous Sword Qi burst forth from his body, instantly shattering the icy sphere. With his fingers spread wide, five streaks of Sword Qi shot out like a torrential downpour, aimed straight at Jiang Li’s face.
"Boom!"
Jiang Li raised his other hand, thunder booming, and a Dragon Claw appeared just in time to block the Sword Qi. Meanwhile, Thunder Light flickered, and electricity zipped around.
"Sizzle—"
Accompanied by the sound of surging electricity, arcs of electricity fiercely traveled in front of Jiang Li, colliding with the storm-like Sword Qi.
Each twist of the electric arc perfectly blocked a streak of Sword Qi. In mid-air, the electric light formed a net, Sword Qi showered like rain, and the two fiercely clashed, sending sparks flying.
As the fight prolonged, the Sword Cultivator’s momentum grew more fierce. However, at that same time, waves appeared on his body, making him flicker like an illusion, his body sometimes solid, sometimes ethereal.
"You truly aren’t a flesh and blood body."
Jiang Li suddenly spoke, his eyes clear with insight into reality.
The Dragon Claw raised up, covering the sky. Interwoven Thunder Light created peculiar waves that made the strange condition of the Sword Cultivator’s body even more apparent.
This move would be decisive.
Faced with this strike, the sound of sword ringing inside the Sword Cultivator intensified. Nearly three hundred strands of Sword Qi erupted explosively from his body - alternating between hard and soft, long and short, straight and curved, narrow and wide - majestic yet agile and strange, cutting through the electric arcs, hitting the Dragon Claw with a force that seemed to split heaven.
"Boom!"
The Dragon Claw was struck, bursts of electric light shooting off, the interweaving Sword Qi slashing with unmatched fierceness, severing the Dragon Claw and filling the sky with flickering electric light.
But at that moment, a shadow of a sword moved circling from behind Jiang Li, slicing through dense Sword Qi at a lightning-fast speed, directly cutting at the rain guard’s neck.
After the hundreds of Sword Qi severed the Dragon Claw, they shot towards Jiang Li like numerous blades, their sharp edges causing a stinging sensation on Jiang Li’s face even before they arrived. However, before the three hundred paths of Sword Qi could pierce Jiang Li, the Mo Sword had already slashed through the Sword Cultivator’s neck, separating his head from his body.
A silvery-gray liquid splashed from the wound, and the fierce Sword Qi paused at that moment.
Jiang Li reached out his hand, his fingers translucent like crystal, exuding an invisible majesty. A mark of a Thunder Talisman appeared in his palm and with a thunderous palm strike, he shattered the dense Sword Qi, striking the Sword Cultivator’s chest like a wild dragon.
Having already lost his head, the body took such a heavy blow and trembled again. Furious thunder burst forth from Jiang Li’s palm, violently shattering the body.
"Bang!"
In the burst of electric light, whether the body or the severed head, both turned into dull silvery-gray energy, a pungent smell of mercury entering Jiang Li’s nostrils, prompting him to slightly raise his eyebrows.
He closed his hand, pressing Innate Qi inward. The silvery-gray energy gathered and merged, slowly forming a round bead.
This bead was silvery-gray, shining with a metallic luster, appearing as a metallic sphere, yet actually..."
In front of Jiang Li, the Karma Collection flipped to a certain page, "actually, it was an Incarnation Golden Core."
Anything Jiang Li knew was recorded by the Karma Collection, which seemed thin yet had endless pages. Jiang Li had copied all of Elder Wan’s collection and still hadn’t used up the Karma Collection’s pages.
This page was indeed from Elder Wan’s collection, documenting knowledge of the Alchemy Dao.
Within the Mystic Sect, there was a Magic called ’Planting Beans into Soldiers,’ scattering beans that transformed into soldiers upon hitting the ground, truly a mysterious technique.
This Magic indeed existed, but what was scattered were not beans but Golden Cores created from ingredients like mercury. The Caster would merge their heart and sweat into the Incarnation Golden Core and infuse it with Divine Thought and True Qi before using it, forming a solid figure with the essence of mercury.
If one could have a multitude of Incarnation Golden Cores, indeed, they could achieve "Planting Beans into Soldiers" and evolve an army. However, the specific strength depends on the caster’s foundation.
The more Divine Thought and True Qi one injects, the stronger the force. The more avatars evolved, the more diluted the strength becomes. In a sense, "Planting Beans into Soldiers" is also a Divine Skill for overwhelming the weak. While it might seem that more is better, this Magic actually benefits from fewer but more precise uses.
By controlling the avatar number to one, one can create an incarnation nearly as strong as oneself. Although this doesn’t multiply the strength, it can produce miraculous effects at critical moments.
Judging by this Sword Cultivator’s performance, the caster must be at least Sixth Rank, and a prominent one at that.
Incarnation Golden Cores need blood and sweat to be integrated at the moment of successful refinement. Generally speaking, those capable of using "Planting Beans into Soldiers" must possess high expertise in Alchemy Dao. Coincidentally, there’s a disciple from the Pill Dao Major Faction Daode Sect present here.
Jiang Li weighed the Golden Core in his hand before riding the wind again towards the river on the right.
Blood and sweat are the essence of vitality, and combining it with Essence Qi and Divinity forms the Three Elements, which refines the Incarnation Golden Core that allows avatars to walk and closely links to the caster. When the avatar is scattered, the caster also suffers a heavy blow.
Now, Jiang Li wanted to track down that caster.
He suspected Yuan Zhen was the owner of the Incarnation Golden Core.
Yuan Zhen had stayed here, and the Golden Core was found here. If he was the owner, he certainly intended to retrieve it, but as Jiang Li had arrived just in time, he had no choice but to leave and plan to return later.
Yuan Zhen took the right river path, as he likely wanted to determine the direction of the water flow. Jiang Li was probably taking the left side, so Yuan Zhen could simply wait for him to leave before retrieving it without running into Jiang Li.
As a result, the Golden Core was exposed.
This connection was indeed logical.
However, it also couldn’t be ruled out that Yuan Zhen wasn’t the owner of the Golden Core, nor was he that Sword Cultivator. This might have been a misunderstanding by Jiang Li.
"True or false, one will know upon seeing."
With this thought flashing through his mind, Jiang Li accelerated, trying to catch up with Yuan Zhen.
If he was the owner of the Golden Core, he must have been greatly wounded by now, and prior to that, Yuan Zhen had been held up by Hui Lun without sustaining any injuries. As long as Jiang Li found him, everything would become clear.
However...
Jiang Li followed the river for three miles but still saw no trace of Yuan Zhen.
"Sword Cultivators typically contain Sword Immortal Dao Fruits by Sixth Rank, and Yuan Zhen’s Sword Flight is faster than mine. But if he wanted to retrieve the Golden Core, he wouldn’t go too far. Logically, I should be able to find him unless he fled elsewhere."
Jiang Li looked around the riverbanks, feeling a bit troubled.
If that was the case, he truly wouldn’t be able to locate Yuan Zhen.
Of course, it was also possible that Yuan Zhen didn’t stop at all and flew straight on. In that case, he wasn’t the owner of the Incarnation Golden Core, the genuine body of the Sword Cultivator.
With this in mind, Jiang Li flew further forward, following the winding river for several more miles until he reached a gorge.
Due to the lower terrain, the river water became rougher, and this was even more evident in the gorge.
Jiang Li flew directly into the gorge, his gaze suddenly fluctuating.
He sensed a sharp Sword Qi.
"Zhang!"
A piercing sound broke the air, and a pure white Sword Light shot into the sky, the concentrated Sword Qi splitting the cloud-covered sky and creating a gap filled with sunlight.
Yuan Zhen was right there.
Jiang Li swiftly moved towards the explosion of Sword Light and soon arrived at the scene.
In the gorge ahead, amidst the turmoil, a hideous indigo humanoid creature wielding an iron trident stirred up massive waves crashing against the Sword Light.
"Boom!"
A torrential roar struck the Sword Light, creating a thunderous noise, followed by the appearance of bright white light as the fierce Sword Light split the water wave, unstoppably charging forward.
Yuan Zhen’s Sword Orb was made from Geng Metal Energy, and his Sword Qi was all Geng Metal Sword Qi, incomparably fierce. Although the water waves were turbulent, they stood no chance against such force.
The Sword Light split the waves and suddenly fell onto the trident, almost instantaneously splitting both the trident and its wielder in two, and even slashing a sword mark through the river below.
Then, the Sword Light landed on a stone protruding from the water’s surface, revealing Yuan Zhen’s figure.
He looked toward Jiang Li, who had arrived at the scene, his brows slightly raised in apparent confusion, and then said, "I came here and found a Sea Patrol Yaksha performing magic to manipulate the water. I intended to capture it alive but did not anticipate its frailty."
"Sea Patrol Yaksha?" Jiang Li expressed surprise, "To my knowledge, the Dao Fruit of the Sea Patrol Yaksha should not appear in Yong Province."
As the saying goes, the local environment nurtures the locals, and some Dao Fruits can also be considered regional characteristics.
For instance, given the sea character in Sea Patrol Yaksha, it naturally belongs in the海, and once on land, even if still in water, its effects should be significantly reduced.