Chapter Ninety-Seven: Flying Sword

That night, Chen Jin studied the Tiger Fang Flying Sword he had only just mastered. It had truly become like an external organ to him now; with a mere thought, he could set it in motion. More than that, it could further widen the reach of his senses, much like a drone. This peculiarity, too, was the result of the sudden growth of his spiritual will.

If Chen Jin could break through to the Spirit-Settling Realm and project his spirit outward, then his thoughts would be able to cling to the flying sword, and its range would grow even farther, at the very least to half a mile, and with greater refinement, even to a full kilometer.

As for the legendary feat of a flying sword taking a head from a hundred li away, that would require the Soul-Gathering Realm.

Before one could attain immortality through cultivation, there were six realms: Thought-Settling, Qi-Settling, Spirit-Settling, Soul-Gathering, Yang Union, and Mortal Transcendence.

Chen Jin was currently in the Qi-Settling Realm, on the verge of condensing the fivefold true essence, a transformation that would further strengthen his spiritual will. In the present age, there were no cultivators who had reached the Soul-Gathering Realm. Even the Yellow Sprout Golden Elixir, the modern equivalent of the ancient Soul-Gathering stage, had yet to appear once. It seemed there was some mysterious and unfathomable force beyond comprehension suppressing the upper limit of cultivation in this world.

Still, Chen Jin had not yet even reached Spirit-Settling, so his longing for Soul-Gathering was not especially intense. After all, one must eat one bite at a time, and cultivation must also proceed step by step.

To Chen Jin, the world was full of mysteries. Something capable of suppressing the cultivation ceiling of an entire world was far beyond what he could grasp at his current level.

For now, he would simply cultivate in peace.

He sent the Tiger Fang Flying Sword out through the window of his room. Suspended in midair, it circled around the villa again and again. It flew so fast that, in the darkness of night, it became a streak of white-gold light.

Chen Lan was also sitting in meditation, painstakingly tempering the spirit within her mind and trying to gather the energy of heaven and earth with the Supreme Azure Firmament Record. Yet she simply could not condense true qi.

True qi was a feature of modern cultivation, a kind of weakened version of primordial qi. In refining essence into qi, what one condensed was true qi. Afterward, in strengthening the foundation and replenishing the source, that true qi would be transformed into primordial qi. And this primordial qi, like that of the ancient methods, contained spirit within it. Only by merging spirit into it could one proceed to the next stage, the Yellow Sprout Golden Elixir.

After another meditation session that yielded no trace of true qi, Chen Lan got up from the bed in low spirits.

"Why do I never feel any qi at all? It’s not as if I’ve never succeeded in cultivation before. Could it really be, as my brother said, that my thoughts are too chaotic, so I can’t refine essence into qi? But why don’t I feel even the slightest thing?"

Just then, she saw a streak of light flash abruptly past the window of her room.

"Huh? What the hell was that? A meteor? A missile?" Chen Lan wondered in alarm.

She did not rush to open the window. Instead, she crouched against the wall beneath it.

When faced with something unknown, it was best to keep one’s distance.

The streak of light continued to circle their villa.

Chen Lan found the sound irritating enough, but the fact that it could keep circling like this only proved that it was no ordinary thing. And anything extraordinary implied danger.

Carefully, she raised her head to the level of the windowsill and stole a glance outside.

Once again, she saw the streak of light flash past the window.

"Oh. It’s a flying sword!" With that glimpse, Chen Lan immediately made her guess.

"So there really are sword immortals in this day and age?" Her expression was filled with uncertainty.

"And it’s circling around our house? I don’t remember anything like this happening. Could this be the variable? The change stirred up by this little butterfly of mine?"

She thought on.

"First there’s my brother. He was supposed to be tested for cultivation aptitude with me a few days ago, and yet now he’s already a cultivator of no low realm. Judging by his current level, he must have started cultivating as early as three years ago. Could it be that the wind from my butterfly’s wings has already blown back three years?"

These were conjectures known only to herself.

"Still, the national order hasn’t changed, and the treasures that were originally meant to appear haven’t gone missing. The changes are all in the details. Hmm, my brother’s change is the biggest of all. Could the timeline itself be different?"

Chen Lan turned the matter over and over in her mind.

"And that flying sword outside... uh, it’s still flying. Why does it keep circling my house? Could it be trying to whip up a storm around us and send our house spiraling into the sky?"

Such was the subtle twist of a young girl’s thoughts.

Then the sword made one final circuit.

After that, the whistling sound cut off.

"Has it gone?" Chen Lan cautiously lifted her head to look out the window.

"Good grief, it’s finally gone. Sword immortals really are impressive these days. Still, cultivation in heaven and earth is still being suppressed, so that sword immortal can’t be too far from my home, can they? Should I go look for them?"

Her mind wandered.

At that moment, in Chen Jin’s room, he had already taken back the flying sword. He exhaled a breath of primordial qi onto it.

The sword required careful nurturing, and primordial qi was best of all, since it contained the cultivator’s essence, energy, and spirit. Naturally it was ideal, and it could also deepen the tacit understanding between Chen Jin and the sword, raising their compatibility still further.

The flying sword swallowed the primordial qi, and then... well, nothing happened after that. It did not suddenly grow enthusiastic or nod in approval.

Chen Jin put it away again, letting it settle against his arm so that it merged snugly with it.

At that moment, he heard faint footsteps outside the room. Chen Lan was going downstairs.

"Lan, where are you going?" Chen Jin sent his voice as a thread of qi through the door, reaching Chen Lan outside.

"Huh?" Chen Lan cried out.

"Going out... just going out for a walk... to look around." She had not expected to be discovered by Chen Jin.

"It’s already nine o’clock. Where are you going for a walk?" Chen Jin said with a slight frown.

Then he got down from the bed and stepped out of the room.

"Just a walk, that’s all," Chen Lan said this time without panic, her tone stubborn.

"Fine. Take this talisman with you, and be careful." Chen Jin drew a talisman paper from the black-bound book and handed it to Chen Lan.

"Hm? Oh. Thank you, brother." Chen Lan took the talisman, and her expression immediately brightened.

"Come back early. Don’t go too far. Don’t leave the villa district. And keep the talisman with you from now on. Carry it on your person. It can withstand a collision from a small car traveling at eighty miles per hour, for about a minute," Chen Jin explained.

The talisman was one he had drawn himself, based on the spell Iron Body.

"Thank you, bro." After hearing Chen Jin’s explanation, Chen Lan nearly threw herself at him, but Chen Jin simply pushed her aside with a surge of primordial qi.

"Be careful. Come back early. Don’t go too far," Chen Jin said, sounding like a nagging parent.

"No problem," Chen Lan replied.

But this little excursion of hers was doomed to end in failure.

So this night, once again, was a peaceful one.