Jing Qian had spent no small effort before he finally seized upon a near-impossible opportunity, and he had obtained yet another unique Spiritual Construct.
[Spiritual Construct: Fate-Locking Needle]
Type: Root of Self-Seeking
Grade: Eighth-Rank
Suppression Requirement: Spirit-Treasure Manifestation
Lifespan Burden: Four Hours per Day
In an instant, his cultivation surged once more. Boundless mana roared within him, and a phantom dharmic image took shape, pushing him toward the Great Accomplishment of the Dragon-Elephant Realm. It appeared as the figure of an old man fishing in the void.
Jing Qian casually slashed a sword-light outward, shattering the phantom into pieces.
Fishing was just a hobby. To make it my main path… the growth potential is far too limited. Naturally, he would never choose it.
Then he drew out the last of his Zhuo Ling Qi and poured it directly into the Fate-Locking Needle.
The Spiritual Construct devoured the nourishing essence and began a new round of evolution.
Two hours later, the transformation was complete, and the Fate-Locking Needle had advanced into the Seventh Rank.
Jing Qian carefully examined the profound changes this Spiritual Construct had brought.
For the first time in history, he had forged four Spiritual Constructs into his destiny. Each additional Spiritual Construct represented a qualitative leap in cultivation.
His Fate Stele Space now weighed in at four taels and eight qian, granting him one more slot for a Life Pattern before the Dharmic Image!
More importantly, with the Fate-Locking Needle, he no longer had only the "fisherman's hook." Now, he was truly a swordsman with a blade in hand!
This was his first offensive Spiritual Construct, an enormous boost to his combat strength.
In the cultivation world, needles, hooks, stingers, and awls were all considered unique forms of flying swords. They meshed perfectly with his lifelong dedication to the sword path.
With a thought, Jing Qian guided the Fate-Locking Needle into the Qingping Sword Casket, where it was taken in to be nurtured.
This was the true, complete usage of the Hidden Sword Casket!
The Sword Casket, his foundational Spiritual Construct, could store unlimited spiritual energy. With the aid of the Qingping's Life Pattern, it nourished a single, supremely pure core sword-qi.
Normally, the casket would split that sword-qi into countless Qingping Sword-Lights to be used in combat.
Each sword-light could be overlaid with powerful effects such as Lifespan Shortening, Lifespan Blessing, Evil-Suppression, and Blood-Draining, incredibly deadly combinations.
But if the casket held a true sword within, then all that sword-qi and those divine effects gained a tangible material foundation. The power would undergo a complete transformation!
This was the true opportunity for a cultivator of the Pure Yang Ruins Sect to dominate an era, to make their combat strength skyrocket.
At the lower three grades, they cultivated the casket, tied it to their life pattern, grew its powers, and stored sword-qi.
At the Spirit-Suppressing Realm, they suppressed a powerful flying sword, placed it into the casket to nurture, and used it to ascend. This was the orthodox path for all disciples of the Pure Yang Ruins.
By sheer fortune, Jing Qian had already gathered both casket and sword while still in the Eighth-Rank Dragon-Elephant Realm.
At last, he had the qualifications to glimpse a trace of the awe-inspiring might that the ancient Pure Yang Sons once wielded when they slaughtered all beneath the heavens.
...
Inside his Fate Stele Space, Jing Qian tested his transformed Sword Casket against the Fourth-Rank Qiongqi once more.
He first drew upon the core sword-qi, splitting off a strand of Qingping Sword-Light, the simplest, most basic strike. It costs little to use.
Yet even so, with added effects like Lifespan Shortening, Evil-Suppression, Blood-Draining, and Silent Extinguishing, it easily pierced the Qiongqi's mana defenses, leaving its hide wounded.
This strike, at its strength, put Jing Qian on par with an ordinary Fifth-Rank Earthfiend cultivator. He called it "Skinning."
Next, he unleashed a second sword-light, this one empowered with a weakened version of the Ghost-Devouring Technique. It devoured vast amounts of vital essence from the beast's flesh. The cost was many times higher.
This strike pierced into the Qiongqi's body, leaving it bleeding and wounded. Jing Qian called it "Flesh-Cutting."
These two strikes, Skinning and Flesh-Cutting, defined the lower and upper limits of his regular output without drawing upon the Sword Casket's core sword-qi or adding the true flying sword.
Then, for the first time, he merged the Fate-Locking Needle into Skinning and unleashed a third sword-light.
It streaked down like a falling star, roaring like a dragon and thunder. With one thrust, it bored a bloody hole through the Qiongqi's body.
This strike could damage the beast's organs and shatter its bones. Its power was fifty percent greater than Flesh-Cutting. Jing Qian named it "Bone-Stripping."
Undeniably, this Bone-Stripping Sword-Light, born from the fusion of the Fate-Locking Needle and his Skinning Sword-Light, balanced cost with power. It would surely become his core offensive technique.
Finally, he merged the Fate-Locking Needle into Flesh-Cutting and unleashed a fourth sword-light.
This was no ordinary strike
This was the true Killing Sword!
The Star-Seizer Qiongqi lay obediently outside the safe zone, unable to resist, only to be passively cut down.
As Jing Qian's sword-light fell, its vast, surging mana melted like wax before fire severed it cleanly in two.
A moment later, its towering body was likewise cleaved apart, annihilated.
From its corpse, a flood of primal energy surged forth, merging into Jing Qian's soul and driving his Life Essence cultivation to break through once more.
This strike, powerful enough to slay a Star-Seizer Great Fiend, became the mightiest of his "standard" attacks. He named it "Burial."
As the saying goes, Skin the beast, cut its flesh, strip its bones, and finally bury its body.
With the addition of his new spiritual sword, he had now distilled his sword arts into four fundamental moves: Skinning, Flesh-Cutting, Bone-Stripping, and Burial.
These four sword techniques were fully solidified, becoming the mainstay of his arsenal.
Their thresholds for use were bearable, their power impressive enough to handle nearly every battle scenario he might face in the present world.
To push higher than Burial, Jing Qian would have to unleash the Sword Casket's core sword-qi, something he was firmly unwilling to do.
If he ever faced an enemy that even Burial could not kill, he would never stubbornly fight on. The correct choice was to flee without hesitation.
The arrival of the Fate-Locking Needle had raised his offensive ceiling by a whole tier, and with it came a stronger ambition.
Activating Sumeru once more, he vanished and reappeared above the Sea of Resentful Souls.
Beneath him, a Seventh-Rank Great Ghost was being suppressed by a Nine-Hearted Ghost Brood.
With a flick of his hand, Jing Qian unleashed a Skinning sword-light that cut the great ghost down. Then, with a sweep of the Hell Scroll, he drew it in.
The scroll pulsed, transforming. The twenty-second ghost was quietly born:
[Hair Ghost]
Rank: Eighth
Life Pattern: Baldness (Blue)
Jing Qian summoned it onto himself, letting it burrow into his hair.
Afterward, he once again invoked the power of his Entwining Karma Fate, threading it into his Sumeru Ghost-Skin.
Upon that ghost-skin, at the center of his brow, lay a blood-red dot.
It was the unique mark of the Sea of Resentful Souls, sealed down by his arts.
Normally, this mark could not be dealt with. But under the silk threads of Entwining Karma, he pierced it gently, pried it open.
Inside lay strands of karmic resonance, flowing straight into Jing Qian's mind, free for him to study.
With a flick like plucking a zither string, he tugged on one karmic line.
At once, something buried deep within the Sea of Resentful Souls stirred.
Jing Qian slipped once more into the hidden folds of the dimensional void, silently preparing a Burial sword-light in his hand, biding his time.
Each Burial sword-light costs him at least four flesh buds. The price was steep, and in the mortal world, he would never expend it lightly.
If he did, it was because a harvest was guaranteed.
From the abyss, a pitch-black hook pierced out, following along the karmic line Jing Qian had plucked. It chased swiftly toward him.
But the karmic line had been cut short in this empty expanse.
The hook reached the end, lost its target, and hung suspended.
Then, a figure in red bridal robes emerged from the dark waters.
It was an extraordinarily beautiful Star-Seizer Great Ghost, one of the overlords of the Sea of Resentful Souls.
She cultivated the Ghostly Dao of Marriage Bonds, excelling in the manipulation of karma. That blood bead embedded in Jing Qian's brow mark was her karmic thread; hence, during their last encounter, she had pierced across dimensions to sense him.
But this time was different.
With Entwining Karma in his grasp, Jing Qian had turned foresight against her, ready to give this gorgeous specter a most unpleasant surprise.
Hidden in the void, he unleashed the Burial Sword-Light he had been brewing for so long.
And he aimed it precisely along the karmic thread he had chosen
The thread intertwined the bridal ghost and the black, dragon-like hook coiling at her side.
Jing Qian's strike fell.
The karmic line shattered in an instant!
The instant that the karmic thread was severed, the bridal-ghost lost control of the black hook in her hand!
This ghost bride was the only Star-Seizer existence in the mortal world that Jing Qian could actually interact with.
His original intent had been to strike her with a single sword, to test the power of his new technique. The karmic thread hadn't even been his true target.
Yet when she revealed herself, he suddenly noticed
The hook she wielded wasn't fully subdued, but merely bound down by her karmic threads:
[Spiritual Construct: Calamity Hook-Kiss]
Type: Outer Dao Moon
Grade: Fourth Rank
Suppression Requirement: Ghost Manifestation
Lifespan Burden: One Month / Day
This Calamity Hook-Kiss was not her spirit-root; she had only constrained it with karmic filaments, much like Jing Qian used Entwining Karma to tug at his Fate-Locking Needle.
The moment he realized this, inspiration struck. He shifted his sword's aim at once.
With one stroke of Burial, the karmic thread was cut
, and the Calamity Hook-Kiss regained its freedom.
The next instant, a crack in the void ripped open. Jing Qian, already prepared, unleashed his karmic lines, weaving them into a thick rope that lashed around the Calamity Hook-Kiss and dragged it away!
"HOW DARE YOU!"
The ghost bride was utterly stunned.
She had come, stirred by karmic resonance, to investigate the cave-heaven master who had eluded her last time.
Instead, she was left empty-handed, no quarry, and her most relied-upon hook stolen away?
Intolerable!
Fury unbounded, the Star-Seizer Great Ghost unleashed a tidal wave of power across the Sea of Resentful Souls. Countless karmic threads, summoned by her wrath, converged upon her form.
And at the end of each thread, a powerful ghost was dragged forth.
In moments, the heavens darkened beneath a host of ten thousand spirits.
Then every last one of these ghosts dissolved into flowing sigils, merging into the ghost bride's crimson wedding robes.
The scarlet silk turned jet black.
Her aura surged skyward, soaring all the way to the Third Rank – Heaven-Mending Realm!
With her strength skyrocketing, she reached along the lingering trace of her own mana imprinted on the Calamity Hook-Kiss, pursuing it relentlessly.
Such a high-grade spiritual construct was priceless, even to her. How could she accept losing it so absurdly?
Following the resonance, she locked onto a mysterious cave-heaven.
Enraged beyond reason, she rammed herself against it, intent on shattering it outright.
But in the next instant, pure Fate-Fire flared from that cave-heaven, illuminating the endless void!
The cave-heaven, like a giant hearth just awakening from darkness, slowly lit up.
One by one, flames ignited across it
, each flame the mark of a mighty Furnace-Spirit, each backed by a powerful Life Furnace.
Even as a Third Rank ghost, she could not hope to break through so many defenses.
Then came a sound, first a frog's croak, then a voice echoing through the cosmos:
"Madam, calm your wrath. We of the Hearth-Hall do not quarrel with the Sea of Resentful Souls. Why bring such anger here?
We merely trade in this place, a little business of our own. The karmic matters of realms belong to the realms themselves. We of the Hearth-Hall do not meddle in the affairs within. Do not make us your enemy."
At the same time, the many hearth flames all flared in unison, sending their own messages to press down on the ghost bride:
"Do not make trouble."
"Do not make trouble."
"Do not make trouble."
…
The chorus of Furnace-Spirits, though polite, brooked no refusal.
Facing so many acting as one, even this Third Rank Great Ghost could only retreat. Reluctantly, she sank back into the Sea of Resentful Souls, forced to bide her time.
Both the Sea of Resentful Souls and the Hearth-Hall were among the Ten Great Secret Realms of the Yingfutu World. In sheer might, the Sea might even surpass the Hearth-Hall.
But the Furnace-Spirits were unshakably united. When trouble came, they all rose together.
And behind most Furnace-Spirits stood great human clans and sects. The true extent of power they could call upon was unfathomable.
The ghost bride was but one of the Sea's core entities; she had no authority to mobilize the full might of her realm.
Thus, she could only grit her teeth, swallow the loss of a Fourth Rank Outer Dao Moon, and etch this humiliation deep into her soul for vengeance later.
The clash of Third Rank power and the Hearth-Hall gradually ebbed, the presence of the Hearth-Hall fading from the world once more.
Yet within the Hearth-Hall itself, chaos reigned.
There was Jing Qian, manifested in flesh, struggling with all his strength to rein in a black dragon beneath him.
The dragon rampaged like a wild horse loosed from reins, crashing through stalls, overturning pavilions, and drawing curses from outraged Furnace-Spirits.
It was a scene of uproar.
For when Jing Qian dragged the Calamity Hook-Kiss back into the Void Realm, Xi Li had already opened the gateway to the Hearth-Hall.
Without wasting a breath, he had hauled the Fourth Rank spiritual construct straight inside.
To do so, he had burned nearly seventy percent of the Fate-Fires within his Void Furnace.
His current ability to barely control such a spiritual construct was only thanks to the ghost bride's lingering suppressive aura.
But he dared not risk letting it run rampant within his Void Realm.
Thus, his best option was simply to bring it here to the Hearth-Hall and sell it off.
For this was no ordinary treasure.
A Fourth Rank Outer Dao Moon, a jewel beyond price, an unparalleled marvel!
Even if it sold at a discount, Jing Qian would still walk away with a fortune.
More importantly, he could rely on the power of the Hearth-Hall to suppress both the spiritual construct and the ghost bride's backlash.
Everything unfolded smoothly, exactly as he had calculated.
Everything except one thing.
Even here within the Hearth-Hall, this spiritual construct was simply too unruly. Jing Qian couldn't control it at all.
In the end, it was the old Golden Toad himself who had to intervene.
The massive frog squatting at the center of the Hearth-Hall suddenly leapt up, crashing down atop the black dragon form of the Calamity Hook-Kiss, pinning it firmly beneath its bulk.
Then, the old frog croaked:
"Boy, you really have too much time on your hands. Why in blazes did you provoke her?"
"Now she'll have my name etched deep in her ledger. Who knows how she'll try to settle the score later?"
"Damn rotten luck. Why is it that on my watch, something like this has to happen?"
"Well then, out with it. You stole her spiritual construct. What did you do it for? And how do you plan to deal with it now?"
Jing Qian gave an awkward smile and replied:
"Many thanks, Frog God, for helping me suppress it."
"I didn't know the ghost lady's background. I was just tempering myself in the Sea of Resentful Souls when she targeted me. This was my last resort."
"This spiritual construct is no use to me anyway. I was hoping Frog God might be kind enough to help me sell it off."
The Golden Toad fell silent for a moment, utterly speechless.
Truly, a newborn calf unafraid of tigers.
Not only had this boy stolen the treasure of a she-demon tiger, but he even wanted to turn right around and auction it off? That took a special kind of nerve.
But after a moment's thought, the old toad nodded.
After all, he had already thoroughly offended the Sea of Resentful Souls. He might as well go all in.
Auctioning a Fourth Rank Spiritual Construct? Even in the Hearth-Hall, such an event was exceedingly rare.
As a unique marketplace, the Hall thrived on rare goods. Hosting such a sale would greatly expand its reputation and influence.
With that in mind, the Fate-Toad spoke:
"Since you've put it that way, I'll handle the Calamity Hook-Kiss.
"I intend to use it as the centerpiece for a grand ritual gathering.
"When the time comes, I guarantee you'll fetch an excellent price."
"Of course, of course. I'll leave it all in Frog God's hands."
Jing Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
That Fourth Rank Outer Dao Moon was far beyond his ability to suppress. And besides, it wasn't well-suited to his own cultivation path. The best move was to pass it along.
Handing the spiritual construct to the Fate-Toad, he quickly excused himself and slipped out of the Hearth-Hall.
All he'd wanted was to test his swordplay on a powerful opponent. Who could have imagined it would cause such an uproar?
Meanwhile, rumors already swirled throughout the Hearth-Hall.
Every spirit attendant was gossiping about who was the foolhardy madman who, with no sense of proportion, had snatched the hook from the hands of the Ghost Mother of the Sea of Resentful Souls, just to sell it for coin?
Even in the Yingfutu World, where humans held sway, none dared provoke that ghostly matron.
This lunatic's reckless deed left everyone dumbstruck in admiration.
The tale spread like wildfire, and soon half the human world of Yingfutu had heard it.
The absurdity of the incident was striking enough, but more importantly, the upcoming auction of a Fourth Rank Spiritual Construct instantly became the most sensational event in the Hearth-Hall.
Major sects stirred at once, eager to claim it and strengthen their foundations.
A treasure like this could reshape the destiny of an entire sect. Rare beyond compare, impossible to miss.
But all of that no longer concerned Jing Qian.
Once he entrusted it to the Hearth-Hall, his only task was to collect the proceeds.
The Fate-Toad treated this auction with utmost seriousness, preparing for more than a year. Jing Qian let them do as they pleased, not bothering to interfere.
As for himself, he returned once more to Yingdu, composed his mind, and prepared for the next phase of cultivation.
With a new spiritual construct in hand and his combat strength sharply risen, Jing Qian shut himself away in the Fan Clan's inner residence for a period of seclusion.
The Fate-Locking Needle still required careful study. Whether used as a sword or as a hook, it would greatly shape his future path.
He needed time to refine his training plan.
At this point, only half a year remained before the next Academy Festival Banquet.
The final chance for a last push was drawing close.
And deep down, Jing Qian already sensed this festival banquet would be anything but easy.
He was no longer the clueless novice he had once been. He now understood clearly how the Imperial Academy of the Divine Dynasty influenced all the great sects.
Even mighty sects like Pure Yang Ruins, Kitchen Lord's Hall, and Cihang Abbey still abided by the Academy's rules and kept themselves within the dynasty's order.
Now, at last, Jing Qian understood why.
The Ying Imperial Dynasty, allied with the greatest sects, used the Heavenly Gang Tower to monitor the world, seizing control of ninety percent of the realm's cave-heavens.
These cave-heavens were interlinked, forming a vast barrier membrane high above the world of Yingfutu.
The barrier shielded the realm from outside invasion, with powerful cultivators stationed within to guard it.
But it also meant that whenever a Fifth Rank Earthfiend cultivator sought to project his mana beyond the barrier and commune with the stars, there was an extra obstacle in the way.
This barrier increased the difficulty of ascending to Star-Seizer.
It was a matter that threatened the very survival of lineages and blocked the path of countless cultivators.
Neither the Ying clan nor the great sects nor even the great bloodline spirits and ghostly powers would tolerate the barrier's existence without a solution.
The compromise they reached was the Academy Festival Banquet.
All sect disciples, imperial spirit officers, and the prodigies chosen by the various continents came together to take part, each receiving a share of Festival Essence Qi.
With this stamp of approval, they could later break through the barrier and ascend to Star-Seizer without hindrance.
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