Chapter 290 Sword Techniques and Ritual
Ouyang Rong stared blankly at the silvery-white hair twirling between his fingers.
He snapped out of his daze when he felt the girl's steady breath on his thin inner shirt against his chest.
I turned my head and glanced at the empty room.
The inner room was dimly lit, with only a faint lamp on the small table in front of the bed. The orange light barely illuminated two pairs of shoes, one large and one small, in front of the bed.
Ouyang Rong and Ye Weilai made sure to close the windows tightly before going to bed.
In the dead of night in early winter, the outside is as still as water, making it easy for people to sink into their thoughts.
Ouyang Rong felt a tickling sensation on his chest from the little girl's breath.
He scratched himself, then suddenly got up, walked around the girl sleeping in his arms on the outside, picked up a solitary lamp by the window, and, wearing only a thin white undershirt, silently walked to the desk in the outer room.
After Ouyang Rong picked up the lamp, its orange glow briefly illuminated the messy scene inside the inner room.
Then, as he moved, the fixed area enveloped by the halo slowly moved away from the bed.
During that brief moment, one could catch a glimpse of the bed sheets with faint damp stains, the wrinkled undergarments, and a delicate, petite, and snow-white back.
Ouyang Rong placed the lamp on the desk and first washed his face and hands.
Once his hands and face were no longer sticky and he felt refreshed, he returned to the table, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh.
In the pitch-black inner room, on the bed, Ye Weilai lay on her side with her eyes closed, hugging the quilt, her snowy back facing outwards.
Suddenly, a faint "whimper" was heard.
The girl, who was afraid of the cold, seemed to realize that a warm embrace had disappeared, and reached out her small hand to touch the area in front of her.
unmanned.
Her closed brows furrowed slightly as she turned and touched the bed sheet behind her, only to find nothing.
"Owner……"
Ye Weilai hugged the quilt to cover her chest, rubbed her sleepy eyes with her small hands, lazily propped herself up, and gave a silly, innocent sound towards the desk in the outer room.
"You go to sleep first." A voice came from the direction of the desk.
"oh."
The white-haired girl, with her long black hair cascading down her shoulders, responded in a daze, then casually pulled a narrow, emerald-green, mandarin duck-patterned bodice from under the covers to use as a hair tie, loosely binding her long, disheveled silver-white hair.
The little white head and snowy back tucked back into the warm blankets.
He looked very tired, probably because he had been through a lot and was quite sleepy.
Finally, I'm back to being alone.
Ouyang Rong rubbed his face and first checked the Mo family sword box.
The mechanism is opened.
He gently stroked the "craftsman's work" as if caressing the snowy back of a young girl.
The "craftsmanship" suddenly evaded someone's fingertips, detached from the sword case, paused in the air for a moment, and then flew towards the bed in the inner room.
A faint blue halo illuminated Ye Weilai's silver hair, which was exposed outside the blankets.
The "craftsmanship" hovered above the girl's head, spinning and flying for a while, seemingly curious about what the sword master had just been doing.
Unfortunately, it's still too young to understand.
Ouyang Rong coughed, closed his eyes as if drowning, and sank into his mind, pulling the "craftsmanship" back and forcefully putting it into the box.
This cauldron sword seems to possess some intelligence. Ouyang Rong estimated that its intelligence was equivalent to that of a six or seven-year-old child. Sometimes, Ouyang Rong could vaguely sense the impulses and instincts it transmitted.
"I know you're feeling cooped up, just come out for some fresh air."
Ouyang Rong pressed his finger against the "glass iris petal," closed the sword case, and began to lecture with a serious expression:
"Hurry back, don't look around, or you'll leave a trace. Lots of people are looking for us. If we get arrested, you'll have a new scapegoat, but I'll be in trouble."
The long, narrow wooden box containing the sword bounced twice on the table in a disgruntled manner, causing the desk to creak and tremble, as if expressing its strong dissatisfaction with a certain dog owner.
Ouyang Rong quickly grabbed the edge of the table and pressed it down with his large hand.
"Stop fooling around."
His tone left no room for argument.
The long, narrow sword case responded with a loud thud, then stopped beating and ignored him.
Ouyang Rong shook his head.
It's been almost a month since we arrived in Xunyang City, and we haven't really let it out much, mainly because we don't need the Dingjian sword for the time being.
Even his perfect ninth-grade spiritual cultivation level is not very useful.
As he had told his junior sister not long ago, Xunyang City, the capital of Jiangzhou, is different from Longcheng County, and we need to find a more dignified way to enjoy ourselves.
As the newly appointed Prefect of Jiangzhou, Ouyang Rong certainly cannot openly engage in fighting and killing. Even his most impulsive junior sister has to switch into women's clothing and return to being the noble and elegant Lady Xie.
"Besides Yunmeng Sword Marsh, there must be quite a few other forces searching for this new Ding Sword... Right now, only my master, junior sister, and Li Guo'er know that I have become the sword wielder, and they have all kept it a secret for me."
Ouyang Rong suddenly recalled what he had gotten from the Persian merchant named Li Li in Longcheng.
During his coma at Sanhui Temple, the figures of the female rulers, including Xue Zhongzhu from Yunmeng Jianze, were seen at Donglin Temple on Dagu Mountain, searching for the Dingjian sword.
From this perspective, it seems that the Great Queen not only knew about the old swordsmith's forging of this cauldron sword, but also possessed special means to pinpoint its approximate location.
Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that they specifically searched the mountain temple where he was unconscious?
However, it seems that his identity as the swordsman has not been discovered, nor has the "craftsman" been found.
"How exactly did they sense our location? Could it be that the commotion they caused when they brutally killed Qiu Shenji was too great?"
Ouyang Rong looked down at his palm, a thoughtful expression on his face:
"After a thorough examination, my junior sister said that a strange change had occurred in my body. As long as I don't deliberately cause my spiritual energy to fluctuate violently, it won't show any fluctuations..."
"Even when I channeled my spiritual energy from my dantian and poured 'craftsmanship' into my sword, my junior sister was completely unaware."
"My whole being is like a sharp sword hidden in its sheath. Most Qi cultivators, without special means, would easily overlook my presence in the crowd and fail to detect my spiritual cultivation level. In a sense, I am an invisible person."
"Why does it sound like a ghost?"
"However, Junior Sister was happy to say that this is very suitable for a swordsman as fragile as glass, who can hide the sword and kill suddenly."
"Is this the prelude to becoming a professional sixth-born child?"
Ouyang Rong was somewhat speechless, sighed, and then murmured in confusion:
"I remember when I crawled out of the underground palace and killed Wei Shaoxuan and Qiu Shenji, it didn't seem like this."
"Could it be a side effect of overdrawing one's 'resentment,' or is it the characteristic of the swordsman's severed meridians beginning to emerge?"
Ouyang Rong pondered for a moment, then shook his head in resignation:
"Never mind, for the time being, this change is far more beneficial than harmful to me."
"We don't know how the Great Queen of Yunmeng Sword Marsh finds out yet, so it's best to keep a low profile and be careful, and hide ourselves well."
"Besides that, the most important thing right now is to break through to the eighth rank of cultivation and have more strength to protect myself."
Thinking of this, Ouyang Rong immediately closed his eyes, sat down, and began to examine his dantian.
The feeling of internal vision was magical. After "looking" at the unchanging volume of his dantian, Ouyang Rong opened his eyes and tapped the wooden box lightly with his index finger.
He rested his chin on his other hand, his gaze thoughtful, summarizing step by step:
"It is currently known that for each grade of the Swordholder's Meridian Severance, a new sword technique is required to unlock it. The sword technique is like the cultivation method for that grade. Therefore, without the technique, one cannot advance to the next grade and will hit a dead end, getting stuck in a bottleneck."
"Therefore, the swordsman is called the Mythical Lineage, because there may be less than nine sword techniques in the world, which is not enough for a swordsman to reach the end of this mythical path."
"It's like before the birth of 'craftsmanship,' the ceiling for all swordsmen in history was always lower, which is such a despair."
"The emergence of 'craftsmanship' now fills the missing link and raises the bar by a whole new level."
"However, there are still likely 'cauldrons' that haven't been transformed into swords, so we can't gather all nine sword techniques... But that's still a long way off, so I don't need to worry about it for now."
Ouyang Rong nodded:
"I have now mastered and thoroughly digested the 'Return to Home' sword technique left by Tao Yuanming, the 'Master of the Poor Sword,' so I was able to smoothly progress to perfection in this ninth rank and begin preparing to advance to a new rank."
"As for the next level of sword technique, I have also found it. Well, I can say that I have mastered half of it, and I have also grasped the general meaning of the 'craftsmanship' that the old swordsmith gave it."
He stopped tapping the wooden box as he muttered to himself, and pursed his lips.
That day, witnessing the Zheyi Canal's mitigation of the flood from the mountaintop, and then suddenly killing Qiu Shenji, Ouyang Rong realized for the first time the true meaning of "craftsmanship":
The old swordsmith has been forging swords day after day for over a decade, humbly learning from humble female workers, creating a legend from the mundane world... This is craftsmanship.
The Zheyi Canal, carved out by thousands of laborers with shovels and hoes, transformed decay into something miraculous, completely mitigating the natural disaster of floods... This is the work of craftsmen.
Ah Shan bravely stepped forward, donned a heavy mask, and sacrificed himself for the sake of millions of people, thwarting Liu Zi'an and the Liu family's sacrificial conspiracy... This too is a masterpiece.
The word "craftsmanship" originally meant the ordinary work of a craftsman, but ordinary works can create legends.
When it falls into the hands of the sword master, even a commoner can use a single grievance to eliminate all injustices in the world.
Therefore, Ouyang Rong acquired the rudimentary supernatural power of "craftsmanship" to absorb the purple mist of merit and the resentment in his heart.
Especially that night not long ago, after he answered Liu's mother's questions while wearing a bronze mask, and then said goodbye and left.
As he walked along the night road to Tanlangdu, Ouyang Rong suddenly felt a knot in his chest completely untie, and he almost fully digested the true meaning of "craftsmanship".
At most, all that's left is to create the final step of the "Craftsmanship Sword Technique".
Such a demanding achievement in summarizing sword techniques can only be attained by the legendary sword masters of each Ding sword.
This was especially difficult for the swordsman, who was not a particularly spirited person.
However, once this remarkable achievement is accomplished, the legendary swordsman will be able to unleash the full power of this cauldron sword.
Just as Ouyang Rong, despite mastering the "Return to the Past" sword technique, was certainly not as skilled as Tao Yuanming, the legendary swordsman who created the technique, in applying the ultimate Ding sword technique "Return to the Past," nor could he unleash the full power of a certain lost Ding sword, "Han Shi."
"Logically speaking, as the first sword master, my understanding of the true meaning to this extent should be almost the same as obtaining the sword manual."
"But why can't I break through to the eighth rank? Is it because I need to complete the final step, the creation of the 'Sword Technique,' or is there some other reason..."
Ouyang Rong frowned, puzzled.
The secrets about the Swordholder's severed meridians are the highest secrets of all the major hidden sects in the world, never to be divulged. Even their master and junior sister are unaware of the details.
As a self-taught swordsman, he could only gradually figure things out on his own.
Ouyang Rong frowned in confusion. For the next half hour, he frequently examined his dantian and circulated his spiritual energy to search for the problem.
At one moment, he glanced at the still, undisturbed spiritual energy within his dantian, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him:
"Wait, could it be the most obvious reason, simply that there isn't enough spiritual energy needed to break through the bottleneck?"
"I remember when my junior sister broke through to the next level, she observed my 'Qi' and received the spiritual energy from the surrounding world, and then broke through the bottleneck in one go."
Should I also go and observe the "qi"? ...Not necessarily, this is a rare and unpredictable thing.
"But no matter what, it will definitely require a large amount of additional spiritual energy to break through the bottleneck and expand the capacity of the dantian."
"So where did I find this large amount of extra spiritual energy...?"
Ouyang Rong pondered deeply, recalling what he had learned about Qi cultivators in the past.
He frowned, then suddenly took out a pill box and opened it. Inside lay a dark green pill, the "Ink Dragon."
"Wait a minute." Ouyang Rong shook his head:
"It might not work. Junior Sister said that Qi-replenishing pills can only replenish the maximum spiritual energy capacity of the dantian, and are not used for breaking through ranks. Using external pills to break through ranks is a crooked method, and different Dao lineages have different ways to break through ranks..."
"Huh!"
Ouyang Rong suddenly remembered the methods of advancement used by the Jade Cup Fairy and Liu Zi'an.
“I am the Jade Cup Immortal who sacrificed herself, and I inherited the ninth-grade cultivation. My initial Dao lineage is the same as hers... Couldn't I learn their advancement methods?”
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. "But... they ascended by setting up cruel rituals, publicly killing sacrificial offerings, and absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy and spirituality."
"Furthermore, the status, bloodline cultivation, and number of spectators surrounding the offerings are all important indicators of the ritual's effectiveness."
"Should I also set up this kind of slightly sinister ritual?"
Ouyang Rong rubbed his forehead, his eyes showing hesitation, and suddenly realized that this matter was somewhat troublesome.
He got up and went to open the tightly closed window, gazing at the night view of the Xunyang River in the distance.
The lone lamp on the desk was blown out, and the night wind carried away a whisper:
"Where are we going to find a suitable offering for this purpose...?"
...
The following day, Ouyang Rong went on duty as usual.
As evening fell, just as he returned to the mansion, a beautiful woman in a flowing dress came forward, took his arm, and led him with a smile into the flower hall where they would dine.
Xie Lingjiang was waiting at the table with a bowl of longevity noodles.
Zhen Shuyuan said with a smile, "Wanwan, come and stay for the night. Please keep her company."
Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang exchanged a silent glance. "Okay."
It was the dead of night.
Inside the Yinbingzhai, on a certain bed, Ouyang Rong suddenly opened his eyes and glanced out the window.
A slight noise was heard.
Ouyang Rong quickly got up, changed into black clothes, and quietly left the house;
Behind him, on the couch, a small white head peeked out from under the covers, sleeping peacefully.
On a rooftop not far away, Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang met up; it was the agreed-upon signal.
"Senior Brother..."
"Shh, we'll talk about it later."
"yes."
Under the cover of night, the two headed together to the Xunyang Prince's Mansion...
(End of this chapter)
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