Chapter 47: Twelfth Level of Qi Refinement
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
"Come." Qin Yun beckoned with his hand.
The silver flying sword in midair whizzed towards him like a fish. It landed in Qin Yun's hand and rapidly expanded to a three-foot-long sword, no different from an ordinary sword.
"Unfortunately, I'm still unable to use sword kinesis." Qin Yun gave a self-deprecating smile. "My control methods can only be considered to be kinesis through Quintessential Essence."
Quintessential Essence could control items such as gravel. Even heavy items could be lifted and launched directly.
However, simple controlling of items was done only using Quintessential Essence as a 'hand' so as to control the flying sword to strike. The amount of power that could be delivered was far from the destruction produced by a physical attack that was infused with Quintessential Essence. Furthermore, the power obtained from controlling a flying sword with Quintessential Essence wasn't sufficient. Against true experts, they could have the flying sword forcefully snatched away!
Therefore, even the flying sword Dharma treasures that were given to sword immortal disciples that left their sects temporarily were strictly used only for melee combat unless they mastered sword kinesis!
"Sword kinesis." Qin Yun anticipated it too.
Sword kinesis could also be attained in the Connate False Core realm. It was a result of one's Quintessential Essence having another qualitative change! The power of the Connate False Core's Quintessential Essence was sufficiently pure to use sword kinesis. It gathered the powers of the heaven and earth onto the flying sword! How immense were the powers of the heaven and earth? After it was gathered onto the sword, it would be a lot stronger than what mere physical strength could demonstrate.
In the Postnatal realm, one had to reach the Heaven Man Unity state to be able to use sword kinesis. After attaining Heaven Man Unity, one could automatically gather the powers of heaven and earth, making it a lot easier to use sword kinesis. Therefore, this was the only way Postnatal cultivators had the ability to deploy sword kinesis.
"My psyche had greatly strengthened after I gain insights into the Misty Rain Sword Intent. Now, I am able to permeate it to fifty to sixty feet out." Qin Yun thought to himself. "I'm still a distance away from Heaven Man Unity."
The breakthrough of one's psyche was as profound as it could be.
Gaining insights into sword intent allowed one's psyche to strengthen.
Insights into day-to-day living and into life itself could strengthen one's psyche. Typically, the growth of psyche was very slow. In cultivation, once someone reached the Seamless realm, they would be able to naturally nurture their soul, allowing their soul to strengthen and gradually mature. The stronger the soul, the stronger the psyche.
At the speed of his psyche's growth, he estimated that it would take less than a year before he could achieve Heaven Man Unity.
"Phew." Qin Yun beckoned as the axe fragments flew to his side. He grabbed at them with one hand. In another hand, he held his Intrinsic Flying Sword. Upon infusing Quintessential Essence into the flying sword, the surface of the flying sword suddenly turned even more dazzling as it slashed down with a loud hum.
"Pu!"
A white scar could barely be seen on the axe fragment that was about the size of a wok lid.
"Just the sharpness of the flying sword is not enough to break a divine weapon." Qin Yun tried slashing with the Intrinsic Flying Sword again. This time, he used the Misty Rain Sword Intent. The silver sword suffused a mist and at a speed which the naked eye could not discern, it cleaved straight at the axe fragment. With a clang, the sword cleaved through the fragment, ripping a large portion that measured about a foot long.
"Nice." Qin Yun was surprised. "I haven't used all my strength but just infusing Quintessential Essence into it and using sword intent makes it possess such power? If I were to fight White Tiger again, I can directly cleave through his axe and easily slay him."
"Impressive."
Qin Yun revealed an excited look. "This flying sword of mine is already an eighth-grade Dharma treasure upon completion. However, because it's an Intrinsic Flying Sword, it can produce strength that matches a sixth-grade Dharma treasure in my hand. Coupled with my sword intent, it has truly terrifying strength!"
To a sword immortal, no Dharma treasure, however good they were, could match their own Intrinsic Flying Sword! For a cultivator like Qin Yun that had yet entered the Connate realm, the strongest Dharma treasure he could power was at the seventh-grade. But with an Intrinsic Flying Sword in hand, he was able to produce strength that matched a seventh-grade Dharma treasure even if he were using the lowest ninth-grade Dharma treasure. The amount of Quintessential Essence expended when powering an Intrinsic Flying Sword was less than a tenth of the usual amounts. There was a lot more ease and freedom.
As such, no matter how good other Dharma treasures were, they were incomparable to his Intrinsic Flying Sword.
Qin Yun's Intrinsic Flying Sword was able to produce strength at the level of a sixth-grade Dharma treasure.
"My Intrinsic Flying Sword coupled with Misty Rain Sword Intent is able to split apart such a divine weapon easily." Qin Yun exclaimed, "Sword immortals are indeed worthy of being able to use a single sword to destroy all Dharma and be best at offense. Only till today can I truly appreciate the power of a sword immortal!"
In the past, he could not appreciate how powerful sword immortals were.
The reason was that the weapons he used were mortal weapons. The sword techniques he used were also figured out by himself. It was powerful offensively because of the Misty Rain Sword Intent he had grasped! None of that had to do with the Sword Immortal Legacy. The only thing related to it was the purer Quintessential Essence he had.
Only till today!
His Intrinsic Flying Sword had been mastered and coupled with his sword intent left Qin Yun impressed.
If he were to meet White Tiger again, it was possible for him to take its life away in about ten strikes!
"An Intrinsic Flying Sword is extremely sharp itself. It can also produce Misty Rain sword beams." Qin Yun gently brandished the silver sword in his hand. Immediately, wisps of ethereal sword beams revolved around the room like blurry misty rain once before automatically dissipating.
"Retrieve."
With a thought, the silver sword in his hand melted into his arm and vanished.
Opening his mouth, a sword beam whizzed out. It stopped in midair and revealed itself to be the Intrinsic Flying Sword.
"Sword immortals are said to be able to hold back the Milky Way upon opening their mouths." Qin Yun said with a smile, "Only when one masters an Intrinsic Flying Sword can one do that. However, I do not like spitting out a flying sword from my mouth."
Unless he was deliberately tricking his enemy in battle, why would he need to spit a sword from his mouth? Forget it.
…
Qin Yun sat cross-legged on the bed as his flying sword returned to his dantian. It distorted into a sword ball and began absorbing and releasing the Quintessential Essence in the vast dantian. Each cycle only processed extremely tiny amounts of Quintessential Essence but the released amounts turned a little purer and the sharp glimmer turned brighter.
When the Intrinsic Flying Sword was mastered, it could also help the body cultivate in Quintessential Essence.
As this was the first time he completed the refinement of an Intrinsic Flying Sword, he had improved greatly during that night's cultivation.
When the sky outside gradually lit up, the Quintessential Essence within his body had turned purer after the repeated cycles of the sword ball. The flowing Quintessential Essence in his dantian even began to naturally turn into a stable vortex. Qin Yun was delighted. "Coagulated Quintessential Essence Vortex? I've finally entered the twelfth level of Qi Refinement. Next, I have to hone myself! By letting the Quintessential Essence coagulate within the vortex, it would finally transform into a False Core."
It was similarly very difficult to go from the twelfth level of Qi Refinement to the False Core realm.
However, having already grasped the Misty Rain Sword Intent, it was unlikely difficult to overcome the bottleneck. Given time, bit by bit, he could make his Quintessential Essence gradually change. It was not something he could rush either.
"Weng!"
Opening his eyes, he saw the sunlight that seeped in from outside the windows. Qin Yun felt an upsurge of emotions.
He had mastered his Intrinsic Flying Sword and because of it, managed to step into the twelfth level of the Qi Refinement realm the previous night.
"Water God. Wait for your death." Qin Yun's eyes flashed with a cold glimmer.
******
In a blink of an eye, it was the twenty-fifth night of June. It was also the night before Qin Yun and Yi Xiao would set off to deal with Water God.
Qin Manor.
Qin Yun and his parents, brother, sister-in-law, and his niece and nephew were having dinner together.
"This is mine."
"I want it too."
The two imps were eating excitedly with mouths covered in oil.
"Second Brother, you are too generous by preparing so many delicacies. Shuyan and Shubing can eat alone at the children's table. This is way too much a fuss." Qin An said with a laugh. He was exasperated by the antics of his two children.
"It will be more lively eating together.' Qin Yun smiled as he looked at the oily mouths of his niece and nephew.
They were only about three years old. After they got familiar with him, they were unafraid of anything. They had a penchant for mischief.
Qin Yun looked at them and thought of his elder brother and younger sister when they were younger.
"Sister." Qin Yun's heart pricked in pain. "Sister, it's soon. Tomorrow, I will avenge you."
"Both of you, don't rush. It's easy to choke on large pieces of meat. Let me tear it for you." Changlan was chuckling as she tore apart a roasted drumstick for her grandchildren.
"I want it! I want it!"
"I want the bones."
"Eat the meat. There's nothing nice about the bone."
The family cajoled the two imps.
Qin Yun sat by the side, smiling as he watched and drank his wine.