Chapter 295
Chapter 295
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 295
Chapter Title: The Big Dipper Sword Art, Spirit Plant Advancement
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With a thought, Chen Jianghe retrieved the letter from the relay box. He looked at the signature on it—it was indeed from Ruan Tieniu.
If all went as expected, there must be progress on the trade.
Even if the result wasn't ideal, it was still a Core Formation-grade spirit item, which would be of great use to him.
He opened the letter and read its contents.
"A sword art?!"
Chen Jianghe's expression changed, his eyes widening in disbelief. Lady Jinghong had actually traded a sword art for the Spirit Nurturing Ganoderma.
It felt somewhat surreal to Chen Jianghe.
Let alone a near-third-rank Spirit Nurturing Ganoderma, even one that had grown for another five hundred years to become a true third-rank spirit herb would be difficult to trade for an offensive art.
Ruan Tieniu's letter was to ask Chen Jianghe to make a trip to Duobao Market City to collect the sword art from the trade with Lady Jinghong.
Originally, Ruan Tieniu had intended to have it delivered to Muyun Market City.
But someone had arrived from the capital—a direct descendant of the Beast Taming Zhou Clan. He was also planning to enter the unknown mystic realm and had come to discuss the matter with Ruan Tieniu.
Moreover, the sword art was too important to be entrusted to another for delivery.
Chen Jianghe calculated the time. It would take ten hours to travel from Muyun Market City to Duobao Market City by flying ship.
A round trip would take two days.
The flying ships between the two market cities ran once every ten days.
This meant a round trip would take half a month.
"I still have to make the trip to Duobao Market City."
Compared to the sword art, this bit of delay was nothing.
After waiting for eight days, the day to depart for Duobao Market City arrived. Chen Jianghe went to the isolation formation, waited for Xiao Hei to awaken from his cultivation, put him into a second-rank spirit beast pouch, and then walked out of the Rosy Cloud Cave Residence.
This trip to Duobao Market City was meant to be a quick one, so he didn't bring Jiang Ruxu and Zhuang Xinyan along.
After arriving at Duobao Market City.
Chen Jianghe didn't delay. He went directly to the Prime Minister's residence and had a guard inform Ruan Tieniu that he would be waiting at the Duobao Restaurant.
About an hour later.
Ruan Tieniu finally arrived at the Duobao Restaurant.
"Brother Chen, my apologies for the wait. A member of the imperial family is here, and I had no choice but to entertain them!" Ruan Tieniu said with a cupped-fist salute.
"It seems this young master from the Zhou Clan is no ordinary person!"
Chen Jianghe said with a smile.
If it were an ordinary member of the Zhou Clan, someone of Ruan Tieniu's status wouldn't need to pay him any mind.
"News of Lady Jinghong's arrival in Xichuan Prefecture reached the capital, which gave some people in the imperial court ideas. The imperial family had no choice but to send the First Prince to inquire."
"I see. I've caused you trouble, Brother Ruan."
"What trouble is this? Just a bunch of clowns. Once I get to the imperial court, they'll have to behave themselves."
Ruan Tieniu was very dismissive of those small fries in the court.
With his current status, if he were to go to the imperial court, he would be the lofty Right Prime Minister. With a mere flick of his finger, he could make that group of people suffer.
They just didn't know his methods and thought he was a kind person who could be bullied.
"Let's not talk about that. Brother Chen, take a look at this."
Ruan Tieniu took out a jade slip and handed it to Chen Jianghe. It wasn't the inheritance slip for the sword art, but a copy of *The Modern Times*.
Chen Jianghe scanned it with his spiritual sense.
The contents were instantly absorbed into his mind.
It was a magazine article about Lady Jinghong: "A Century of Effort to Save Her Husband Finally Bears Fruit; A Love that Scorns Immortality."
Lady Jinghong's husband, who had been in a coma for a hundred years, had finally awakened a month ago, continuing their beautiful story.
"What's the word on that Peak Lord from the Tiannan Sect?"
Chen Jianghe asked.
"What can he do? I'm in the Feng Kingdom. If he dares to come, leaving won't be so easy." The corners of Ruan Tieniu's mouth curved up.
"Even if the imperial descendant hadn't come, I would have found a way to get them to accompany me, hehe..."
Chen Jianghe understood Ruan Tieniu's thinking.
With his current status, he was already very safe in the Feng Kingdom, yet he still tied a direct descendant of the Zhou Clan to himself.
This made him even safer.
That Peak Lord from the Tiannan Sect could only suffer this loss in silence.
Watching the woman he loved fly away with her husband.
"Brother Ruan is thorough in his work."
Chen Jianghe praised him.
Bold yet meticulous, steady in his actions—such a person could go far on the path of cultivation.
Ruan Tieniu chuckled. He was very clear on how to choose between offending a branch Peak Lord of the Tiannan Sect and rendering a great service to the Feng Kingdom.
In the hands of others, the Azure Water Golden Lotus Seed was just an ordinary absorbable spirit item of the late-second rank.
It could be refined into low-grade Origin Spirit Pills.
But in the hands of the Beast Taming Zhou Clan, it could potentially become a late-third-rank spirit root in the future—an Azure Water Golden Lotus.
The chances were low, but there was still a chance!
This allowed Ruan Tieniu to achieve another monumental merit in the Feng Kingdom.
"Brother Chen, this is the sword art I got from Lady Jinghong. However, it seems she figured out that you were trading through me."
Ruan Tieniu gave the inheritance jade slip to Chen Jianghe. It still had Lady Jinghong's spiritual power restriction on it.
Only by breaking the spiritual power restriction could one's spiritual sense probe it and learn its contents.
In other words, when Lady Jinghong made the trade, she was also wary of Ruan Tieniu.
Chen Jianghe put away the inheritance jade slip.
A smile appeared on his face.
It didn't matter if Lady Jinghong had guessed. As long as he had the sword art, everything was fine.
And as long as outsiders didn't know, it was fine.
Just now, when reading *The Modern Times*, the process of how Lady Jinghong obtained the Spirit Nurturing Ganoderma was described with great clarity.
She had traded a Core Formation-grade spirit item and two opportunities to have a Spirit Nurturing Artifact refined with the Feng Kingdom's Right Prime Minister, Ruan Tieniu.
It could be said that Ruan Tieniu had drawn all the animosity from that branch Peak Lord of the Tiannan Sect onto himself.
Nothing in the matter had anything to do with him.
He chatted with Ruan Tieniu for a little longer.
Chen Jianghe's mind was on the sword art, and he also needed to catch the flying ship back to Muyun Market City before the Hour of Xu.
So he bid farewell to Ruan Tieniu.
Arriving at the flying ship port in Duobao Market City, Chen Jianghe directly boarded the ship heading back to Muyun Market City.
With a friend like Ruan Tieniu, he didn't have to buy tickets for flying ships in the Feng Kingdom, which saved him a considerable amount of spirit stones.
He returned to Muyun Market City.
Chen Jianghe eagerly returned to his cave residence, entered his cultivation chamber, and took out the inheritance jade slip.
He formed a hand seal, circulated his spiritual power, and broke the restriction left by Lady Jinghong.
Then, his spiritual sense probed inside.
Information about the sword art practiced by Lady Jinghong flooded his mind.
"The Big Dipper Sword Art! It's actually an offensive art with no elemental requirements for cultivation?!"
Although Chen Jianghe had never encountered an offensive art before, he knew what made one superior and what made one inferior.
Offensive arts that had requirements for the elemental attribute of one's cultivation technique.
For instance, Chen Jianghe cultivated the Myriad Waters True Scripture, which was a water-attribute cultivation technique.
Some offensive arts could only be practiced by cultivators with water-attribute techniques.
Such offensive arts were mostly inferior, with a few being average and very few reaching a superior grade.
Like the Bright Moon Sword Art from the Tiannan Sect's Silver Moon Peak, it didn't restrict the cultivation technique's attribute. Whether one cultivated a fire-attribute or wood-attribute technique, they could still practice it.
Such offensive arts were mostly average, with a few being superior and very few being inferior.
The Big Dipper Sword Art had no attribute requirements, so it was at least an average-grade offensive art.
But Lady Jinghong's combat prowess was extremely high, largely due to this Big Dipper Sword Art. Therefore, it was highly likely a superior-grade offensive art.
Chen Jianghe quickly read through the summary of the Big Dipper Sword Art.
"Tiannan Cultivation World? The ancient mighty True Lord Polaris?"
The Big Dipper Sword Art was created by the ancient mighty True Lord Polaris of the Tiannan Cultivation World. With this sword art, True Lord Polaris suppressed all cultivators of the same realm in the Tiannan Cultivation World for two thousand years, leaving them unable to catch their breath.
Two thousand years?
A Nascent Soul True Lord only lives for a thousand years.
Then this True Lord Polaris must have been a cultivator above the Nascent Soul realm.
Or perhaps he created the Big Dipper Sword Art when he was at the Nascent Soul realm, and later broke through to a higher cultivation level, which was why he could suppress his peers for two thousand years.
Chen Jianghe felt this summary was a bit exaggerated.
It was understandable. A melon seller will always praise his own melons. A sword art passed down through generations could hardly avoid such embellishment.
But even if it was an exaggeration, the Big Dipper Sword Art should still be very powerful.
The Big Dipper Sword Art had seven layers. The first was Alkaid, the second was Mizar, the third was Alioth, the fourth was Megrez...
The first three layers were offensive arts for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
But some prodigies could comprehend the fourth layer, allowing them to fight False Core cultivators without being defeated.
However, such prodigies were extremely rare.
Chen Jianghe had never seen one.
"True Lord Polaris must have been an Artifact Refining Grandmaster. Otherwise, he wouldn't have created such a monstrous sword art. The requirements are just too harsh."
After reading the summary of the Big Dipper Sword Art, Chen Jianghe couldn't help but complain inwardly.
To cultivate the Big Dipper Sword Art, each layer required a corresponding flying sword.
In other words, having a Spirit Nurturing Artifact-grade flying sword was useless.
One had to re-forge a Spirit Nurturing flying sword according to the artifact refining requirements of the first layer of the Big Dipper Sword Art.
When one reached the second layer, they would need to forge a second Spirit Nurturing flying sword according to the second layer's requirements.
Upon reaching the fourth layer, one would need to forge a Dharma Treasure-grade flying sword according to the fourth layer's requirements.
Furthermore, all the Spirit Nurturing flying swords from the first three layers would also need to be re-forged into Dharma Treasure-grade flying swords.
Otherwise, after reaching the Core Formation realm, one would be unable to execute the Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth forms.
"Is this an offensive art created by a human?"
Chen Jianghe cursed inwardly.
It was manageable during the Foundation Establishment stage, just needing three more Spirit Nurturing flying swords than others. But at the Core Formation stage, it meant needing six more Dharma Treasure-grade flying swords.
Were these cultivation requirements something a human could come up with?
Chen Jianghe had been cultivating for over a hundred years, and even he was scratching his head at these requirements.
This was simply not an offensive art that a rogue cultivator could practice.
Besides an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, who else could possibly cultivate it?
With what resources could they cultivate it?
With a thought, Chen Jianghe summoned his Silver Moon Flowing Wave Sword. He looked at the water-like patterns on it, shimmering with a silver glow.
"The Big Dipper bestows blessings, bright clouds spread forth, flowing light illuminates all, true qi ever supports, the seven stars guide destiny, a name listed in the purple book..."
The body of the sword bore none of the celestial patterns required for the first layer of the Big DIpper Sword Art. In other words, the Silver Moon Flowing Wave Sword was not suitable for him to practice the Alkaid form.
Chen Jianghe was dumbfounded.
He looked at the inheritance jade slip in his hand.
The good news: he had the sword art, and it seemed very powerful and promising.
The bad news: without a compatible Spirit Nurturing flying sword, he couldn't cultivate it.
"If only Luo Xiyue were here."
The image of the ice beauty appeared in Chen Jianghe's mind. Although she was a bit cold, she was actually quite a good person.
Most importantly, if she were around, he wouldn't have to worry about cultivating the Big Dipper Sword Art.
With such harsh requirements, the power of the sword art must be immense.
Three more Spirit Nurturing Artifacts than others during the Foundation Establishment stage.
Six more Dharma Treasures than others during the Core Formation stage.
That senior, True Lord Polaris, was completely messing with future generations!
"I'll still have to find Lady Jinghong."
Chen Jianghe was a bit dazed. After all this, he still had to face Lady Jinghong directly. No wonder her gaze was a little strange when she left Muyun Market City.
She must have guessed that he had used Ruan Tieniu as an intermediary for the trade.
"Do I really have to use that favor?"
Chen Jianghe hesitated.
Lady Jinghong owed him a favor.
He could ask Lady Jinghong to help him refine an artifact, or he could ask her to help him once inside the unknown mystic realm.
Forging the Alkaid Sword.
This would allow him to cultivate the first layer of the Big Dipper Sword Art.
But he didn't know how powerful the first layer was, and what would he do about cultivating the second layer?
Who would forge the Mizar Sword for him?
And who would forge the Alioth Sword?
He couldn't even cultivate all of the first three Foundation Establishment layers. How could he expect the Big Dipper Sword Art to help him in the unknown mystic realm?
It would be better to have Lady Jinghong help him once inside the mystic realm.
If his luck was good, he might even obtain a Core Formation-grade spirit item.
"True Lord Polaris, you old man, you're really a trickster!"
Chen Jianghe complained inwardly and put away the inheritance jade slip for the Big Dipper Sword Art.
The Big Dipper Sword Art couldn't be cultivated anytime soon.
Chen Jianghe could only focus on improving his own cultivation first.
He cultivated the Myriad Waters True Scripture and the Soul Sea Fortifying Origin Scripture.
Time flew by, and it was New Year's Eve again.
Chen Jianghe finished refining the spiritual power of a Dustfall Pill. The Foundation Establishment spiritual power in his dantian became much purer.
However, although this spiritual power had gathered together, each drop remained distinct from the others.
It would still take a long time to condense it into a sea of spiritual power.
But he had already condensed three hundred and fifty drops of Foundation Establishment spiritual power. In less than a year.
He would be able to reach the eighth layer of Foundation Establishment.
Chen Jianghe walked out of the isolation formation and took out a letter from the relay box. It was from Gao Peiyao, sent two months ago.
He opened it and read.
It stated the opening time of the unknown mystic realm.
On the first day of the first month, four years from now, the unknown mystic realm would open.
"Four years is enough. I still have twenty-five sets of late-second-rank talisman materials. At my current speed of drawing late-second-rank talismans, it's more than enough."
Chen Jianghe currently had thirteen Purple Lightning Cloud-Piercing Talismans, twelve Yin Wood Green Vine Shield Talismans, and twenty Yin Wood Soul-Entangling Talismans.
After turning the remaining twenty-five sets of late-second-rank talisman materials into talismans.
He would have seventy late-second-rank talismans. Not a lot, but enough to get by.
After all, he also had four Talisman Treasures.
It was just that the other Talisman Treasure could not be successfully nurtured.
"I just don't know if Maoqiu and Latiao can successfully break through within four years."
Maoqiu was currently at the late-second rank, and Latiao was at the mid-second rank.
If Maoqiu could break through to the peak-second rank, he would be a great help to Chen Jianghe in the unknown mystic realm.
The same was true if Latiao broke through to the late-second rank.
Therefore, for Maoqiu and Latiao's cultivation resources, Chen Jianghe had been giving them Dustfall Pills.
He couldn't afford to let them waste any time.
His life and fortune depended on it; he couldn't be careless.
After reading Gao Peiyao's letter, Chen Jianghe's expression changed slightly. The conflict in Tianmen Market City was escalating.
Gao Peiyao, an Immortal Seedling with great potential for Core Formation, had actually been sent by Silver Moon Peak to Tianmen Market City.
To participate in the conflict between disciples.
Silver Moon Peak had always controlled the flying relays, but with this recent change, the three branches of the North Gate wanted a share of the rights.
In exchange for giving up their interests in Tianmen Market City.
Silver Moon Peak was naturally unwilling. They didn't want any interests in Tianmen Market City.
You are fighting over Tianmen Market City, so why should we concede our rights to the flying relays?
Therefore, Silver Moon Peak and the three North Gate branches arranged a disciple competition to decide the matter.
If Silver Moon Peak's disciples won, the flying relays would remain theirs, and the three North Gate branches would have to give up seventy percent of their interests in Tianmen Market City.
If Silver Moon Peak's disciples lost, they would have to give up thirty percent of the rights to the flying relays, and the three North Gate branches would still give up seventy percent of their interests in Tianmen Market City.
It seemed like the three North Gate branches would lose out either way.
But in reality, it was Silver Moon Peak that had been forced into a passive position.
This matter originally had nothing to do with Silver Moon Peak, but they were dragged into it by the main peaks of the South Gate.
Facing immense pressure.
Silver Moon Peak had no choice but to accept the challenge, and so Gao Peiyao was sent to Tianmen Market City as one of the three disciples representing them.
Chen Jianghe wasn't worried about Gao Peiyao's safety.
Gao Peiyao had hidden her true strength. Back when she fought Lu Qingfeng, she had used his Spirit Nurturing Artifact, the Silver Moon Flowing Wave Sword.
In this sect competition, Gao Peiyao should be able to win.
"Since she's gone to Tianmen Market City, I won't write back for now." Chen Jianghe had originally intended to reply.
To ask about Lady Jinghong and her husband's current situation.
To see if he could ask Lady Jinghong to help forge the Alkaid Sword without using his favor. He would, of course, pay her for her services.
The same price as hiring an Artifact Refining Grandmaster on the open market.
He happened to have a piece of Blood Fiend Gold Crystal. If he could find a way to get a peak-second-rank spirit core, he could forge the flying sword.
The Alkaid Sword had no elemental attribute, a fact Lady Jinghong knew better than anyone.
Afterward, Chen Jianghe left the Rosy Cloud Cave Residence, flew to the nearby Treasure Pavilion, and went up to the barter exchange hall.
He still had a trade to complete with Yun Bufan.
He had already given Yun Bufan the Dustfall Pills refined from two near-third-rank absorbable spirit items, but he still owed him five spirit pills for strengthening the physical body.
This required Chen Jianghe to try his luck at the barter exchange hall.
If he couldn't find any, he would have to find a way inside the unknown mystic realm.
The barter exchange hall on the fifth floor was spacious, but there weren't many cultivators, and the quality of the spirit items was naturally not very high.
As long as the grandmasters of the various arts didn't come to the Feng Kingdom, its resources would remain scarce.
There was nothing to be done about it.
He walked a lap around the hall.
The best item for trade was a peak-second-rank absorbable spirit item, and it was only suitable for refining Origin Spirit Pills.
It couldn't be used to refine Dustfall Pills.
Let alone Blood Soul Pills or Essence Soul Pills.
As for the New Year's Eve auction in Muyun Market City.
Chen Jianghe had no plans to attend. It was all resources for Qi Refining cultivators, or perhaps for those in the early to mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
There were simply no resources that he needed.
If there were, the manager of the Treasure Pavilion in Muyun Market City would have come to his Rosy Cloud Cave Residence to inform him in advance.
As the only Talisman Dao Grandmaster in Muyun Market City.
With an Alchemy Grandmaster by his side, Chen Jianghe's status in Muyun Market City was very high.
Coupled with his relationship with Ruan Tieniu, even the Immortal Emissary Official of the Muyun region was extremely cautious when dealing with Chen Jianghe.
"Looks like I can only find a way in the mystic realm."
Chen Jianghe thought to himself and returned to the Rosy Cloud Cave Residence.
Since he had taken Yun Bufan's near-third-rank puppet spirit material, he would provide the corresponding payment.
After calming his mind.
Chen Jianghe performed the Soul Sunder Art and continued to cultivate the Soul Sea Fortifying Origin Scripture. The construction of the fifth layer's Soul Sea Barrier was almost complete.
Before long, his spiritual cultivation would have a major breakthrough.
Half a year passed without him noticing.
Chen Jianghe's eyes snapped open. He looked at the violently trembling Dragon Pattern Red Pine, a look of joy on his face.
"It's finally happening. I'm almost out of Giant Python Spirit Blood."
Chen Jianghe muttered to himself.
Without the Tiannan Sect as a channel to acquire Giant Python Spirit Blood, his two thousand catties of it were dwindling with each use.
Now, only four hundred catties remained.
If the Dragon Pattern Red Pine didn't advance soon, he would have to find another way to procure suitable spirit blood for it to absorb.
Xiao Hei, Maoqiu, and Latiao were all awakened by the violent tremors. They came to Chen Jianghe's side and watched the Dragon Pattern Red Pine as it broke through.
The entire area within the isolation formation was filled with the roots of the Dragon Pattern Red Pine. As it advanced, the very ground trembled.
Bang!
Roots as thick as arms burst through the ground. It seemed this advancement was causing the Dragon Pattern Red Pine great pain.
The trunk shuddered, and its leaves and branches fell.
Its roots were rapidly withering.
This stunned Chen Jianghe. He looked at Xiao Hei with a puzzled expression, only to find that Xiao Hei was also startled by the scene.
"Is there any Giant Python Spirit Blood left? Try watering it."
Xiao Hei sent a mental message.
Chen Jianghe nodded, took out the remaining four hundred catties of Giant Python Spirit Blood, and poured it onto the Dragon Pattern Red Pine.
Instantly, the four hundred catties of Giant Python Spirit Blood were absorbed by the tree.
But the withering roots only showed a slight improvement.
This made Xiao Hei look at Latiao, and then back at Chen Jianghe.
Chen Jianghe also glanced at Latiao, which immediately started to tremble, even more violently than the Dragon Pattern Red Pine.
"Not a good idea."
Chen Jianghe shook his head.
This was a critical time for Latiao's cultivation. It couldn't afford to waste time recovering its vitality.
So, Latiao's blood could not be used.
Latiao breaking through to the late-second rank was far more useful to Chen Jianghe than the Dragon Pattern Red Pine advancing to a near-third-rank spirit plant.
"The Dragon Pattern Red Pine must have an insufficient foundation, which is why it's in this state during its breakthrough. It's like a spirit beast with a high-grade second-class bloodline trying to force a breakthrough to the second rank."
"If the bloodline isn't pure enough, a forced breakthrough will only lead to the collapse of its energy channels and death. This is likely what's happening to the Dragon Pattern Red Pine."
Xiao Hei thought for a moment and sent a mental message to Chen Jianghe.
Chen Jianghe nodded in deep agreement with what Xiao Hei said.
It made a lot of sense.
"So what do we do now?"