Chapter 83 Flowing Clouds 5 Dragon Scale Sword Forging
The sword energy was so powerful that it took Chen Du a considerable amount of time to dispel it on behalf of Xiang Yuquan. By the time the two returned, it was already the next day.
Along the way, they hardly saw any magical beasts, and Shen Du suddenly had an ominous premonition. As they approached the barrier, they saw that the barrier's area had shrunk considerably, and the magical beasts in the secret realm were constantly gathering and launching an attack on the barrier.
"Senior Brother Shen, you go ahead! Don't worry about me!"
Xiang Yuquan noticed that Shen Du looked unwell and immediately told him to go first.
Shen Du shook his head, used a defensive magic artifact to protect the two of them, and then flew over quickly. Fortunately, the magical beasts only had eyes for the crumbling barrier at this time, and even though the two of them leaked some spiritual power while traveling, they had no time to notice them.
"Why are they suddenly acting like they've gone mad?!"
With a seventh-tier magical beast pressing down on them, its ferocious roar caused everyone's ears to bleed. Even though the elders of the Flowing Cloud Sect had recovered a lot of their spiritual power after a night's rest, they were still struggling to deal with it.
Kong Lan flew outside the barrier and replaced an elder who had exhausted his spiritual power. As soon as she came out, the six pairs of blood-red eyes of the seventh-order magical beast locked onto her precisely.
"I suspect their target is the Flowing Cloud Sword!"
Kong Lan would not use this sect's treasured sword unless it was a matter of life and death. For the successive sect leaders of Liuyun Sect, this sword was more of a cherished memory than a symbol of its own power. Otherwise, a small sect like Liuyun Sect would not have been able to protect it for so many years.
Thinking of how the person behind it had killed so many disciples of the Flowing Cloud Sect for the sake of the Flowing Cloud Sword, Kong Lan gritted her teeth, her eyes blazing with fire, and unleashed ten thousand sword energies simultaneously, which temporarily suppressed the arrogance of the demonic beast by two points.
Even with the Flowing Cloud Sword in hand, Kong Lan was still not confident in facing a seventh-tier magical beast.
Ordinary magical beasts wounded by the Flowing Cloud Sword cannot heal on their own, but in just one night, the seventh-tier magical beast's severed leg had grown back more than halfway! It spewed out highly corrosive venom, and when an elder's arm was touched by a little bit, his flesh instantly melted. If he hadn't severed his own arm in time, he would probably have lost his life.
Upon hearing this, Dong Xinglan shouted, "Sect Master, you should take your sword and leave first!"
"no!"
Kong Lan didn't believe that these demonic beasts would let the others go. If she could exchange the Flowing Cloud Sword for the life of the Flowing Cloud Sect, she would certainly be willing to hand over the sword. However, the other party directly connected to the Erosion Abyss and released a large number of demonic beasts. From the beginning, they had not given the Flowing Cloud Sect a chance. Whether they handed over the sword or not, they would all only have one way out: death!
Without the protection of the Flowing Cloud Sword, they would have died even faster!
Inside and outside the barrier, several elders of the Flowing Cloud Sect came and went, while Xu Xing, protected by the group, was intently refining something. She was surrounded by layers of countless shields, so even if the barrier were breached, she would be unharmed.
After glancing at the situation, Xu Xing released all three of his beast pets. "Go help!"
Yin Xue hesitated for a moment, but when she caught a glimpse of a sword shadow flying towards her, she felt relieved and left the barrier as instructed to help the Liuyun Sect fight against the demonic beast.
Xu Xing's eyes lit up. "Senior Brother! You're back? Senior Brother Xiang?!"
Xiang Yuquan smiled and nodded gently, "I'm fine, I'm sorry to have worried you."
He was still weak, so he sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing.
Shen Du quickly walked to Xu Xing's side and was relieved to see that she was unharmed. "Why did the monsters riot?"
"Senior Kong guessed that these magical beasts' target was the Flowing Cloud Sword. Perhaps it was because when he used the Flowing Cloud Sword to deal with the seventh-tier magical beasts yesterday, it gave them their target."
Xu Xing fetched medicine for Xiang Yuquan while answering him.
"The Flowing Cloud Sword?"
Chen Du glanced in Kong Lan's direction, his brow furrowing slightly.
Although the Flowing Cloud Sword is the sect's treasured sword and is of superior quality, strictly speaking, it is not a true divine sword, and there is a big gap between them. So many magical beasts came out in droves just for such a sword.
"Senior brother, let's fight off these monsters first!"
Xu Xing took out the Snowless Sword, and as he and Shen Du left the barrier, he didn't forget to turn back and remind them, "Senior Brother Xiang, you should get some rest!"
Xiang Yuquan opened his eyes, smiled and nodded, "Okay, be careful."
The two left the barrier side by side, with Shen Du leading the charge into the horde of magical beasts. He could almost force back a third-tier magical beast with a single sword strike.
Xu Xing also took out his most lethal magical artifacts, and for a time, explosions were heard incessantly. Although they had a hard time dealing with fifth-order magical beasts, with their cooperation, they were not afraid of fourth-order magical beasts. After half a day, the pressure on the Liuyun Sect members was greatly reduced, and they also had time to heal their injuries.
An elder murmured, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that I would one day be saved by juniors at the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment stages..."
"The Flowing Cloud Sect is indeed too closed off; they have no idea that the young people outside have reached such a level."
With no other magical beasts interfering, Kong Lan was able to focus on dealing with the seventh-tier magical beasts. One was empowered by the Flowing Cloud Sword, and the other was poisonous; it was difficult to determine who was superior.
This wave of monster riots lasted for five days and nights before finally subsiding.
The wounded seventh-tier magical beast retreated to the depths of the secret realm, while Kong Lan and the others also exhausted their spiritual power.
While opening the message sent back from outside, Dong Xinglan suggested to Kong Lan, "These past few days, we've kept all the high-level magical beasts under control inside the secret realm. Only a few low-level magical beasts have managed to break out, and the disciples outside are more than capable of handling them. Now is the perfect time to repair the secret realm."
"What good is it if the secret realm is repaired? If we don't solve that black hole, we still won't be able to hold this place in the end." Kong Lan was not optimistic.
In the past few days, while others could take turns fighting against the magical beasts, she couldn't. After dealing with seventh-tier magical beasts for four consecutive days, her hands were trembling slightly, and she could barely hold her sword.
"Sect Master," Dong Xinglan's gaze froze, and he raised the spiritual message he had just received, his voice strained as he said, "Seven Luminaries Mountain has been destroyed by demonic beasts."
"What?!" Kong Lan was horrified. The Seven Luminaries Mountain was about the same strength as the Flowing Cloud Sect, yet it had been wiped out in just a few days?!
"It was discovered by disciples who returned to the sect. It is said that the Seven Luminaries Mountain activated its protective formation in advance, and the demonic beast black hole happened to appear inside the formation. They were trapped like turtles in a jar, and none of them escaped."
Such a strange black hole has appeared in the Seven Luminaries Mountain...
Kong Lan looked at the sword in her hand. It seemed she had guessed wrong; these magical beasts were probably not after the Flowing Cloud Sword.
Although Seven Luminaries Mountain had broken its promise, Kong Lan felt no joy, only a growing sense of desolation. "The Flowing Cloud Sect will soon be the next Seven Luminaries Mountain."
"Senior, did you see that? No new monsters are emerging from the black hole."
Xu Xing, whose mouth was stuffed with a handful of fasting pills, looked towards the direction of the black hole and confirmed his guess once again.
“Activating a magical artifact also requires accumulating energy, especially a high-level spatial magical artifact like this, which must require a huge amount of energy to support it, and now is the charging time of this black hole.”
"Now is the best time! Success or failure hinges on this!" Xu Xing spoke rapidly. "Senior brother, protect me while I take this opportunity to reverse its teleportation direction!"
How long will it take?
Xu Xing thought for a moment, "At least three days!"
Dong Xinglan, who was meditating after taking a pill, was shocked upon hearing this and exclaimed, "You're going to stay near the black hole for three days?! No way! How can you do that! Nobody knows when the next magical beast will emerge. What if you actually run into it? Wouldn't you be..."
Xu Xing said nonchalantly, "If we're really that unlucky to run into this, then we'll just run away."
"In short, I want to give it a try. If it succeeds, Liu Yun's tribulation will be over; if it fails, then we will all have no choice but to abandon the sect and flee."
"..."
Kong Lan pondered for a moment. They could hold out for three days if they fought with all their might, and they could ensure the safe escape of these young friends at the last moment. Although she didn't believe Xu Xing could really modify the black hole, but...
What if?
It's worth trying even the slightest chance.
"Alright, go ahead and try. I'll do my best to stop the monsters from interfering with you."
"Thank you very much, Senior Kong!" Xu Xing immediately provided the materials he needed.
The elders pooled their resources, but could only gather a small portion. Fortunately, the Liuyun Sect had a system of supporting weapon refiners and stored a considerable amount of weapon refining materials. Several elders went out to retrieve them, and together they managed to gather most of the materials. Xu Xing had to make up the remaining amount himself.
Finally, the group discussed and decided that Kong Lan, Dong Xinglan, and Shen Du would protect Xu Xing, while the others would continue to restrain the demonic beasts.
Xiang Yuquan stood up. "I will go with you."
Shen Du said in a deep voice, "Your foundation is damaged and cannot be restored for the time being, so there is no need to force yourself to continue."
“That’s right, Senior Brother Xiang, why don’t you go out and meet up with Senior Brother Zuoqiu and Ayao first?” Xu Xing also disagreed.
She had examined him and found that her senior brother's injuries were quite severe. Although she had a lot of pills, a damaged foundation could not be healed in just a day or two.
Xiang Yuquan shook his head slightly, his tone firm, "No need to persuade me anymore, I will stand with you through thick and thin! We are all..."
Xu Xing exclaimed in surprise, "My God! What is that?!"
Xiang Yuquan subconsciously looked up, but Xu Xing quickly walked behind him and knocked him unconscious with a single palm strike.
She laid Xiang Yuquan down and casually called out to an elder, "Please take care of him for me, senior."
Then he turned to Chen Du and said, "Alright, senior brother, let's go!"
Shen Du: "..."
He saw nothing.
With Nan Ye's help, the group approached the black hole discreetly. Kong Lan stared at the ominous black mist, her expression tense: "If any demonic beasts emerge, I will protect you and get you out of here immediately."
She repeatedly emphasized, "Whether it succeeds or not, you absolutely cannot have anything happen to you."
Xu Xing agreed, first taking the detoxifying pill, then putting on the Spirit-Absolute Gloves to ensure that his entire body was completely covered without any gaps, before touching the edge of the black hole and indeed feeling the cold, hard object hidden under the black mist.
She guessed that someone capable of crafting such a spatial artifact must be at least an eighth-tier artifact crafting master, yet they did something like this...
Xu Xing took a deep breath, took out the forging table and refining furnace, and began to study the structure of the spatial black hole on the spot.
Two more days have passed in the blink of an eye.
"well……"
Kong Lan and Dong Xinglan were watching the black hole warily when they suddenly heard Xu Xing sigh. They immediately asked, as if facing a formidable enemy, "What happened? Did it fail?"
Seeing Xu Xing's dejected expression, Kong Lan felt a pang of despair, but her tone remained gentle, not wanting to put pressure on him, "You've worked hard. Since it didn't work out, it's just fate."
"No, I'm just too hungry."
Xu Xing rubbed his stomach and resignedly popped another handful of fasting pills into his mouth. He couldn't get rid of the habit of getting hungry after consuming too much spiritual energy.
She secretly decided that she should make time to develop more fasting pills in different flavors in the future, just in case.
"..."
Seeing her eat the fasting pills like they were sugar pills, Kong Lan and Dong Xinglan exchanged a confused look.
Isn't the situation very dangerous? Isn't it very urgent? How can a Foundation Establishment disciple be so relaxed and casual about it?
Shen Du stood beside Xu Xing, sword in hand, glancing at the scattered spatial artifacts beside her, and guessed what was going on. "Is it finished?"
Xu Xing put away his casual expression and said seriously, "No, there's still one last step."
She took out a sixth-order spirit-gathering array and placed it at her feet, then piled mid-grade spirit stones on top of it. "Even with the support of the spirit-gathering array, it's still not enough. I need a lot more stable spiritual energy."
No matter how powerful her skills are, they are useless if she doesn't have enough spiritual power. She can't modify such a high-level spatial artifact with the spiritual power of the Foundation Establishment stage. She needs a source that can stably supply her with spiritual power.
Without hesitation, Shen Du said, "I will transfer my spiritual power to you."
Although his senior brother was very powerful, his spiritual power at the Golden Core stage was still insufficient. Xu Xing shook his head.
Kong Lan stopped Dong Xinglan, who was about to step forward, and sheathed her Flowing Cloud Sword. "I'll do it."
Kong Lan took the Spirit-Replenishing Pill and sat down behind her to meditate, channeling spiritual energy into her. With the steady flow of spiritual energy from a Nascent Soul cultivator, Xu Xing's spiritual fire gradually distorted the edge of the black hole as it was refined.
Dong Xinglan stared intently at the scene, his shock beyond words. He even wondered if the monster calamity of the Liuyun Sect and this mysterious female cultivator were all just dreams.
He must still be dreaming, right? Otherwise, how could he have seen a Foundation Establishment female cultivator completely recreate a black hole that even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't destroy...?
Another day and night passed, and Xu Xing finally opened his eyes, golden flames dancing in his pupils.
Shen Du's heart skipped a beat. For some reason, he felt that his junior sister's expression had been unusually cold for a moment.
Xu Xing casually tossed a scrap of food into the black hole, and sure enough, it was swallowed up. She relaxed and was about to speak when she suddenly heard a series of roars from the demonic beasts, which came crashing down like a tidal wave. It turned out that the demonic beasts had sensed something was wrong and had broken through the defenses set up by the elders of the Flowing Cloud Sect, rushing towards them.
The earth shook violently, and the entire secret realm groaned in agony, unable to bear the weight of the situation.
"Get out of here immediately!"
As everyone tried to escape, a swarm of demonic beasts charged in, their sudden burst of power crushing the barrier that the elders had been desperately holding up!
Kong Lan had exhausted her spiritual energy. With trembling hands, she swallowed a spirit-replenishing pill, gritted her teeth, and picked up the Flowing Cloud Sword. "You all go first! I'll cover your retreat!"
"Xinglan, you must ensure their safe departure."
She glanced at Dong Xinglan quickly, her tone calm and even, "I'm entrusting the Liuyun Sect to you."
"etc!"
“She hasn’t failed, she’s not in dire straits yet.” Shen Du gripped the blade of the Flowing Cloud Sword, stopping Kong Lan’s near-self-destructive act, his gaze unwavering. “Please believe in her, senior.”
"Get out of the way!"
With a loud shout, countless spirit stones around her turned into powder. Using the last bit of spiritual power from the Spirit Gathering Array, the flames in her hands blazed brightly, illuminating the world.
The next moment, the demonic energy reversed, the black hole reversed, the teleportation direction changed instantly, and the continuously surging demonic energy turned into spiritual energy within the secret realm and was sucked into the black hole, causing a sudden gust of wind!
"This...it's a success?!"
Before Xu Xing could speak, she was almost sucked into the black hole, but fortunately Shen Du caught her in time.
His eyes and brows gleamed with joy. Xu Xing looked at Chen Du, his voice carried away by the howling wind, "Senior Brother! I did it!"
Shen Du smiled and wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Yes, you did it."
"Now, we should send these magical beasts back!"
...
The wind stopped.
Apart from the corpses of the monsters, there were no other monsters still alive on the ground.
The members of the Liuyun Sect sat sprawled on the ground, panting, too exhausted to even move a finger.
"Success! The Flowing Cloud Sect has been saved!"
Dong Xinglan lay sprawled on the ground, laughing and crying without any regard for her image.
After the spiritual energy was cut off, the black hole slowly shrank and eventually turned into a black mirror. Just as Xu Xing was about to pick it up, he heard Xiang Yuquan's urgent and worried voice coming from behind him.
"Junior Sister Xu! How are you?!"
"It's nothing," Xu Xing said with a smile as he turned around. "I didn't mean to offend you before, so please don't take offense, Senior Brother Xiang."
Xiang Yuquan seemed relieved and said with a gentle smile, "I owe you all the credit for saving me this time. How could I possibly blame you?"
In that moment of distraction, when Xu Xing looked down again to look for the mirror-shaped spatial artifact, it had already vanished.
Could it have been taken back to the Abyss by the person behind the scenes?
Xu Xing felt a little regretful. He had thought he could take this opportunity to obtain a decent spatial artifact, but now it seemed that the chance was gone.
She turned to look at the Liuyun Sect members. Now that they were out of danger, it was time to settle accounts!
Xu Xing mentally calculated the value of the pills and materials used in this battle. She decided to consider the labor costs as a friendly donation. She clapped her hands and said, "Senior Kong, I'll give you a discount. Let's just say it's 200,000 mid-grade spirit stones!"
The Flowing Cloud Sword clattered to the ground, and Kong Lan's body slowly fell backward—
"metropolitan!"
Dong Xinglan jumped up and caught her instantly.
Two hundred thousand mid-grade spirit stones isn't an exaggeration, is it? And that's a significant discount!
Xu Xing, who thought the price was fair, was startled and thought Kong Lan was shocked by the amount on the IOU. "Senior Kong, are you alright?"
Kong Lan's once elegant white hair had turned yellowish-brown, and her face had aged considerably, losing its former radiance. She coughed twice and said softly, "It's just that I've used up too much spiritual energy. I'll be fine after a few days of rest."
Dong Xinglan, realizing the true state of her body, looked very worried, but Kong Lan shook her head at him imperceptibly, so he could only keep quiet for the time being.
Kong Lan looked at Xu Xing, her eyes filled with gratitude, "Young friend, your kindness is beyond repayment; it cannot be compensated by these spirit stones alone."
"The Flowing Cloud Sect doesn't have anything good, only..."
With a slight flick of her wrist, Kong Lan summoned the Flowing Cloud Sword, which hovered quietly beside her.
"This spirit sword isn't of the highest grade, not much stronger than your Snowless Sword, but it has one special feature." She gently stroked a golden thread running through the sword's blade and said softly, "Our ancestor obtained a dragon scale by chance and added it when forging this sword..."
Dragon scales?
Upon hearing this, both Xiang Yuquan and Shen Du looked over.
"Today, as the Sect Master of the Flowing Cloud Sect, I present this sword to you, young friend. Please accept it."
Xu Xing glanced at the shimmering Flowing Cloud Sword, then at the Flowing Cloud Sect elders who hadn't voiced any objection. After a long pause, he hesitated and said, "Then..."
"Will you return the 200,000 spirit stones?"
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Author's Note: Xu Xu, who loves spirit stones more than spirit swords, righteously proclaims: It's not that I'm stingy, but all this money I earn is hard-earned! [Please!]
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Thank you so much for the free ticket! [heart emoji]
Thank you to Rabbit Demon Osmanthus Cake, Ling Shaoning, Sleep a Little Longer, Jade Ball's Knife, Xiaoming Classmate, Fanma Hanma, Lychee Without Peel, Quiet Angel, Blue Feather Tears, Feng Ran, Rich Salted Fish, Changchun, Zhizhi, Weiyan, and 65053565 for the nutrient solution! [Heart]
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