Chapter 309: Refined by the Spirit Fire, the Golden Spirit Sword is Born

Chapter 309: Refined by the Spirit Fire, the Golden Spirit Sword is Born

"Who dares to fight in the Immortal City?"

Just then, a voice called out from a distance.

In the next moment, a group of six cultivators quickly flew towards them.

Leading them was a middle-aged cultivator at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment.

Upon arriving at the scene, he merely swept his gaze around before promptly landing.

He bowed respectfully towards Chu Ning, "Greetings, Senior. It seems we have a Golden Core cultivator among us."

After the greeting, the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator hesitated, his face bearing a difficult expression.

"Within the Icefield Immortal City, fighting is prohibited. May I ask, Senior, if you were the one who just displayed your powers?"

Chu Ning's eyebrows twitched slightly upon hearing this.

"That's right. This person bullied the weak with his strength. I asked this fellow Daoist to help me sell some items, but he tried to rob me instead.

Was I wrong to punish him?"

"This..." The middle-aged cultivator hesitated but still spoke, "Senior, in such cases, you could have reported it to our enforcement team.

The rule against fighting in the city was established by the three Palace Masters.

Moreover, Senior, you directly killed someone within the city.

I apologize, but we must ask a Golden Core cultivator from the Palace to handle this matter."

As he spoke, the man casually sent out a signal.

However, Chu Ning paid no heed to this and turned to Xi Menxia, "Pack up, let's go to Frost Moon Pavilion."

After Xi Menxia had packed her things, Chu Ning prepared to leave.

The middle-aged cultivator quickly spoke up, "Senior, please wait a moment. A Golden Core cultivator from the Palace will be here soon."

Hearing the middle-aged cultivator's words, even someone with Chu Ning's good temper couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.

His gaze fixed on the man as he coldly asked, "Are you trying to stop me?"

The middle-aged cultivator felt his body tighten, but he gritted his teeth and replied, "It is my duty, please forgive me, Senior!"

Hearing this, Chu Ning's gaze swept over him indifferently, and he slowly raised his palm.

Just then, a fleeing light quickly approached from a distance.

As if sensing the situation with his spiritual sense, a voice called out, "Please refrain from acting rashly, Fellow Daoist Chu."

Along with the voice, a man swiftly arrived and landed before Chu Ning.

He was a Golden Core cultivator at the late stage, with a slightly tanned complexion and a medium build.

This person seemed familiar with Chu Ning and immediately bowed upon landing, "Fellow Daoist Chu, please refrain from anger. I am Pang Jiabin from the Long Sky Palace. Allow me to understand the situation first."

Pang Jiabin turned to the middle-aged cultivator and asked, "What happened here?"

"Reporting to the Executive, this Senior claims that a Foundation Establishment cultivator tried to forcefully take the items he had entrusted this Daoist to sell.

Thus, he killed the culprit."

Upon hearing the middle-aged cultivator's words, Pang Jiabin immediately turned to Chu Ning and said, "Fellow Daoist Chu, you displayed remarkable valor in the Snow Mist Valley, turning the tide and helping everyone escape.

Yet, this person dared to harbor ill intentions towards you in the city. He deserved to die!

Please do as you see fit, Fellow Daoist."

Hearing Pang Jiabin's words, Chu Ning finally nodded slightly and left with Xi Menxia.

The middle-aged cultivator's eyes widened in surprise, but he remained silent.

It was only after Chu Ning had left that he looked at Pang Jiabin with a puzzled expression.

"Executive, what...?"

Golden Core cultivators did hold a certain degree of privilege within the Icefield Immortal City.

While it wasn't uncommon for them to act within the city, they still had to provide a reasonable explanation for their actions.

Additionally, they would also have to offer some form of concession to the enforcement team of the Long Sky Palace, assuring them that such an incident wouldn't recur.

This was important to reassure the lower-ranked cultivators and prevent them from feeling insecure due to the knowledge that Golden Core cultivators could kill them with impunity.

However, Pang Jiabin's direct allowance of Chu Ning's departure, without so much as a word of objection, truly surprised the middle-aged cultivator.

Pang Jiabin's gaze swept over the crowd, including the middle-aged cultivator and his team, and he slowly said, "This time, in the Snow Mist Valley, numerous demonic beasts attacked human cultivators while blocking the valley exit.

Fellow Daoist Chu, despite his severe injuries, single-handedly killed over a dozen sixth-rank demonic beasts at the valley exit, ensuring the safe escape of many cultivators.

His actions have earned the gratitude of the Long Sky Palace and numerous powers and cultivators from the Northern Cold Region.

Yet, this person dared to spread false accusations and even attempted to rob Fellow Daoist Chu. He deserved his fate!"

Upon hearing Pang Jiabin's words, everyone present fell into an uproar.

Even the faces of the enforcement team members who had accompanied the middle-aged cultivator changed slightly.

If they had acted against Chu Ning earlier, what would their fate have been...?

With Pang Jiabin's words, Chu Ning's fame in the Icefield Immortal City spread far and wide.

At that moment, Chu Ning had already arrived at the Frost Moon Pavilion with Xi Menxia.

Inside the Frost Moon Pavilion, Tang Jinchuan was still present, and upon seeing Chu Ning, he introduced another late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, since Fellow Daoist Wu is still recuperating, this place will temporarily be managed by Fellow Daoist Lu."

After Tang Jinchuan finished speaking, a middle-aged woman with a pleasant smile bowed to Chu Ning.

"I am Lu Liqin. I've heard of Fellow Daoist Chu's great reputation."

Chu Ning appraised the woman before him, who seemed slightly younger than Wu Lingwei.

Lu Liqin took the storage bag and swept her spiritual sense through its contents, her face reflecting her surprise. She smiled lightly and said, "I didn't expect Fellow Daoist Chu to bring such a substantial trade so soon after arriving at our pavilion. However, the spirit pills, demon pills, and refining materials you require are not insignificant in amount, and these refining materials are not easily sourced. Our pavilion may not be able to provide everything all at once."

Chu Ning was not surprised by this. While they had spirit pills, the refining materials he needed for the Water Spirit Sword were not readily available in the Northern Cold Region, and even the Frost Moon Pavilion might not be able to gather them quickly.

Pointing at Xi Menxia, he said, "Her name is Xi Menxia. She will come here every six months, so if you have the relevant materials, please give them to Miss Bai Ruo to pass on to her."

Lu Liqin agreed, then called for Bai Ruo to introduce her to Xi Menxia.

Lu Liqin smiled and asked, "Fellow Daoist Chu, your talismans were very well-received in our pavilion before. We hope you can continue to provide them."

However, Chu Ning didn't commit to a definite answer and replied vaguely, "I'll need to spend a lot of time healing my injuries in seclusion, so I won't be able to craft as many talismans as before. But every six months, I'll still have her bring some talismans over. As for the quantity, we can discuss that later."

Lu Liqin and Tang Jinchuan exchanged glances but didn't press the issue further.

Chu Ning sold the demon beast corpses to the Frost Moon Pavilion and exchanged them for the required pill refining materials. Then, he led Xi Menxia towards the upper city, intending to familiarize her with the place as she would be his liaison.

Xi Menxia followed behind Chu Ning and hesitated before asking, "Senior Chu, are your injuries alright?"

"It's nothing serious. I'll be fine after a period of seclusion," Chu Ning replied. "You heard what I said earlier, right? Come to my cave residence every six months, and I'll let you know what materials I need. You can also bring some talismans with you and retrieve the items I need. As for your own stall..."

Chu Ning had been about to tell her not to bother with her stall if she didn't want to, as he had already sold most of his low-level items. Moreover, he wouldn't have the time to craft low-level talismans. But then he reconsidered; Xi Menxia needed cultivation resources, and he couldn't give her too much if she was just running errands for him.

After a moment's thought, he asked, "Do you know how to craft talismans?"

Xi Menxia's face turned slightly awkward as she replied, "I only know a few very basic ones. These talismans don't have much power, so not many people use them."

Chu Ning nodded, not saying anything further.

Xi Menxia guessed that Chu Ning intended to teach her his talisman crafting techniques, and her heart filled with anticipation, though she didn't dare to ask.

She followed Chu Ning silently to the outside of the cave residence on the fourth level of the upper city.

As they stood outside, Chu Ning's gaze flickered towards another cave residence not far away.

"Jiushi Twenty."

This cave residence seemed unoccupied before, but now it had restrictions in place, indicating that it had a new owner.

"It's probably Situ Yan." Chu Ning's eyes narrowed slightly, then he calmly opened the restrictions to his own cave residence and led Xi Menxia inside.

Xi Menxia had never been to such a high-level cave residence before, and she couldn't help but look around curiously.

Although there were no Snow Crystal or Spirit Illuminating Fruits visible inside, the Spirit White and Golden Thunder Eagle were still in their spirit beast bags. Nonetheless, the various precious spirit herbs and spirit fruits were enough to astonish Xi Menxia, a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator.

At that moment, Chu Ning took out several special sound transmission talismans that he had refined himself and handed them to Xi Menxia. "Every six months, when you arrive outside the cave residence, activate one of these talismans. I'll sense it and let you in."

Without waiting for a response, he took out a blank jade slip and casually selected several talisman crafting methods to record on it before handing it to Xi Menxia. "Practice crafting these talismans in the cultivation room over the next ten days. I'll check on your progress then."

"Yes, Senior!" Xi Menxia replied immediately.

Chu Ning casually gave her some unused talisman brushes, talisman ink, and low- and mid-grade talisman papers that had been in his storage bag.

Seated in a cross-legged position within his cultivation room, Chu Ning's aura immediately stabilized.

Then, controlling the Earth Vein Spirit Fire within his body, he once again separated a wisp and began to refine it.

Ten days later, after refining another wisp of Spirit Fire, Chu Ning exited his cultivation room.

He entered the cultivation room where Xi Menxia was and glanced at the scattered talismans in front of her. "Show me the talismans you've practiced drawing the most over these past few days."

"Yes, Senior!" Xi Menxia replied as she began to draw a lower-grade superior talisman.

With her Foundation Establishment cultivation, drawing this lower-grade superior talisman was not difficult.

After drawing twenty talismans, ten of them were successfully crafted.

After examining them, Chu Ning gave an ambiguous evaluation: "A fifty percent success rate for lower-grade superior talismans. As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, your talent for talisman crafting is passable."

Chu Ning gave a relatively fair assessment and then ignored Xi Menxia's expression.

He took the talisman brush from her, casually grabbed a few sheets of talisman paper, and began drawing casually.

"You haven't systematically studied talisman crafting before, so let me give you a general introduction. As for how much you can comprehend, it depends on you."

Chu Ning possessed the ability to analyze talisman sources, and he had already analyzed top-tier talismans like the Ice Shadow Sword Talisman.

When it came to understanding the art of talisman crafting, not just any Golden Core cultivator, but even many Nascent Soul cultivators who specialized in talismans might not be able to match him.

The techniques he was about to teach Xi Menxia were not just the basic talisman crafting techniques he had seen in Qingxi Sect, but also included techniques from other sect inheritances he had obtained from Wolong Valley in the Western Alliance Continent, along with his personal insights gained from analyzing talisman sources.

As he explained, Xi Menxia's eyes would occasionally sparkle with a gleam of enlightenment.

Many times, she felt as if she had suddenly understood something profound.

After finishing his explanation, Chu Ning returned to his cultivation room to continue refining the Earth Vein Spirit Fire.

Ten days later, when Chu Ning emerged from seclusion again, Xi Menxia's talisman crafting success rate had indeed improved significantly.

She had even started drawing intermediate-grade inferior talismans.

After observing her talisman crafting, Chu Ning provided targeted pointers and then said, "Alright, you can go back to the lower city for now. I'm going to enter seclusion. If you have any questions later, feel free to come and ask me."

"Yes, thank you, Senior!" Xi Menxia replied without any hesitation, despite the reluctance in her heart.

She packed her things and left the cultivation room, heading out of the cave residence.

At that moment, Chu Ning casually took out several high-grade talismans and handed them to Xi Menxia. "Keep these talismans with you. If there's an emergency, you can activate the sound transmission talisman I gave you. Within the range of Iceland Immortal City, I'll be able to sense it. Remember to go to Frost Moon Pavilion to pick up your items."

Xi Menxia was delighted to see that there were three high-grade middle-quality defense talismans and three attack talismans. She happily accepted them and said, "Yes, thank you, Senior!"

She bowed once again to Chu Ning before leaving the cave residence.

Chu Ning immediately activated the cave residence's restrictions.

Then, he began setting up formations in the courtyard.

Referring to the previous setup for the Snow Crystal, he selected an area in the herb garden and carefully laid out restrictions.

First, Chu Ning retrieved the Snow Crystal and restored it to its spiritual plant form before planting it.

Then, he took out the Spirit Illuminating Fruit tree from his storage bag.

As soon as he removed the tree from its jade box, the two spirit infant-like fruits began drilling towards the ground, dragging the entire tree with them.

Just like the Snow Crystal before, they bumped into the restrictions repeatedly before finally giving up their attempt to escape.

Only then did Chu Ning truly plant the Spirit Illuminating Fruit tree.

However, the two spirit infant-like fruits still swayed on the tree, seemingly ready to flee at any moment.

Chu Ning paid them no heed and directly performed the Mysterious Spring Technique.

Spiritual energy quickly gathered towards the two spiritual plants.

As the spiritual energy converged, the two spirit infant-like fruits gradually calmed down.

Seeing this, Chu Ning's eyes lit up.

"The techniques and spells of the Qingxi Sect don't seem that extraordinary to me now. However, the Mystic Spring Technique and Profound Spring Technique are indeed very commendable. They are perfect for nurturing spiritual plants. It's a pity that Spirit Little White still needs about half a year before it can advance to the next stage; otherwise, the Spirit Illuminating Fruit wouldn't have been able to escape."

Chu Ning clearly remembered that after he had performed the Profound Spring Technique on the Snow Crystal and had Spirit Little White urinate on it, the Snow Crystal had never tried to escape again.

"It looks like I won't be able to enjoy the benefits of this Spirit Infant Fruit for now."

As the Spirit Infant Fruit had just been planted, Chu Ning was concerned about possible complications, so he didn't continue refining the Earth Vein Spirit Fire.

Instead, he planned to perform the Profound Spring Technique daily and wait until the plant was properly nurtured before resuming his refinement.

During this time, Chu Ning could also focus on cultivating several types of techniques.

After about twenty days of this, Chu Ning could clearly sense that the two spirit infant-like fruits within the Spirit Illuminating Fruit had completely stabilized.

Thus, Chu Ning further strengthened the array formations and spirit-gathering effects.

Then, he once again began refining the Earth Vein Spirit Fire.

He refined the Earth Vein Spirit Fire for ten days and then rested for a day to cultivate his martial arts, while also cultivating the Spirit Illuminating Fruit.

As time passed, with each refinement of the Earth Vein Spirit Fire, Chu Ning could noticeably feel his speed of refinement increasing.

Initially, it took ten days to refine a wisp, but after half a year, his refinement speed doubled, and he could refine two wisps in ten days.

On this day, Chu Ning, who was in his cultivation room, had just finished refining the last wisp of Earth Vein Spirit Fire.

He then left the cultivation room and entered the adjacent forging room.

Chu Ning extended his hand, and a flame the size of an egg appeared at his fingertips.

This flame was red, with hints of purple, and it was the Earth Vein Spirit Fire that had just been refined!

After completely refining it, Chu Ning casually manipulated it.

At this moment, with the appearance of this wisp of red-purple flame, the temperature in the entire forging room suddenly rose.

Chu Ning flicked his hand, and the flame flew out and hovered in the air, while a long black chain appeared in his hand.

It was the black chain made of Black Mysterious Gold.

Chu Ning waved his hand, and the wisp of flame returned to his palm.

Controlling the Earth Vein Spirit Fire, Chu Ning slowly approached the black chain.

Then he wrapped the flame around the joint of the two sections of the chain.

The next moment, Chu Ning's eyes flickered slightly.

The joint was visibly melting at a rapid pace.

"The Earth Vein Spirit Fire is indeed worthy of its reputation!"

Chu Ning was overjoyed and immediately manipulated his spiritual power to continuously maintain the Earth Vein Spirit Fire.

This continued for about an incense stick's worth of time.

"Clang!"

A piece of Black Mysterious Gold fell from the black chain.

"The materials for refining the Golden Spirit Sword are now truly complete!"

Chu Ning arranged the Black Mysterious Gold and then took out the Nine-Yin Gold, Star Core Sand, Black Feather Water, Golden Cup Wood, and the tail feathers of the Golden-Silver Bird one by one from his storage bag.

Although with his current mid-Golden Core cultivation base, coupled with the Earth Vein Spirit Fire,

Chu Ning felt that refining the entire Golden Spirit Sword wouldn't be a problem.

However, at this point, Chu Ning still consumed a drop of Snow Crystal Spirit Milk and began meditating to restore his state to its peak condition.

He also placed the remaining Millennium Spirit Milk nearby as a backup.

Only then did Chu Ning truly begin the refining process.

As for the method of refining the Golden Spirit Sword, Chu Ning had long ago committed it to memory.

He refined and purged each material, and then began the melting process.

The most important Nine-Yin Gold was directly refined by the Earth Vein Spirit Fire and condensed into a sword embryo.

Then, one by one, the materials were either melted with Earth Fire or Dan Fire and condensed onto the sword embryo.

Finally, it was the turn of the Black Mysterious Gold.

The Earth Vein Spirit Fire, which had been used once before to refine the Nine-Yin Gold, was once again summoned by Chu Ning.

A piece of Black Mysterious Gold was wrapped and refined by the Earth Vein Spirit Fire. After about an hour, it had completely melted into a liquid state.

It, too, was condensed onto the sword embryo.

The material melting process, which originally took nearly ten days, was now completed in just three days, and without using the Millennium Spirit Milk.

As for the next step of engraving the sword with talismans, it was also not a difficult task for Chu Ning at this moment.

After more than twenty years of insights into forging and formations, his understanding of this art was far beyond what it used to be.

As the final talisman was engraved onto it, the spirit sword in Chu Ning's hand suddenly radiated dazzling golden light.

The metallic spiritual energy of the world frantically converged towards the sword, forming a small spirit cyclone.

At this moment, Chu Ning took out the tail feather of the Golden-Silver Bird, which he had prepared beforehand.

He threw it into the spirit cyclone.

When refining the Fire Spirit Sword, Chu Ning had once tried to fuse the Golden-Silver Bird's spirit soul into it.

However, due to the bird's high level and his own low cultivation base, he had failed.

But now, it was different.

Chu Ning struck out with both hands, casting several esoteric hand seals onto the feather. Then, he reached out and grabbed at the air.

Instantly, the wisp of the Golden-Silver Bird's spirit soul that was attached to the feather was directly extracted.

It still struggled to escape.

At this moment, Chu Ning once again formed a series of profound hand seals and cast them onto the spirit soul.

The struggling spirit soul of the Golden-Silver Bird soon followed the spirit cyclone and merged into the sword body.

The next moment, the Golden Spirit Sword erupted with dazzling radiance once more!

And all the light then converged and dissipated into the sword body.

In front of Chu Ning, a dazzling golden flying sword appeared!

The Golden Spirit Sword was born!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end