Chapter 95: The Sword Peacock
Chapter 95: The Sword Peacock
A bloody cloud drifted by, and after a few breaths, a Wang Clan cultivator at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment rode on a flying boat artifact, arriving in an instant from a distance.
A sweep of his spiritual sense revealed nothing amiss.
Without the slightest hesitation, the clan head pursued the direction in which the blood cloud had vanished.
Although he was intrigued by the strange sword sheath that had flown out, that treacherous specter was even more important.
Until it was dealt with, they couldn't fully relax in this new secret realm. Moreover, before the specter had fled, it had grabbed a treasure that glowed with a radiant light, and he intended to retrieve that as well.
The flying boat artifact shot forward like an arrow, disappearing into the horizon with a whoosh.
Half a moment later, Lu Chen's figure appeared under a giant tree dozens of zhang away, his face still bearing a lingering trace of fear.
After that bloody cloud had appeared, the Third-grade Pure Jade pendant hanging on his chest sent a piercing chill, as if it wanted to freeze half of his chest.
Compared to the parasitic sac of an aberrant creature he had encountered at close range before, this chill was many times more intense.
From this, Lu Chen deduced that the blood-colored skeleton in the blood cloud was far more powerful than the parasitic sac, undoubtedly a treacherous specter on par with a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
When he had inexplicably obtained the strange sword sheath attracted by the Xuntian Sword Pill, his first reaction was that something was amiss.
The speed of the sword sheath was so fast that his spiritual sense and cultivation at the eighth layer of Qi Refining didn't even react in time. Moreover, it actively sought out the location of the sword pill, clearly indicating that it wasn't an ordinary treasure.
And treasures of this caliber often brought about a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, Lu Chen's first instinct after obtaining the sword sheath was to store it in his storage bag, subconsciously activating the Third-grade Invisible Cloak to enter a brief state of invisibility, thus avoiding direct contact with the treacherous skeleton.
He took out a Pei Yuan Dan from his storage bag to quickly replenish his nearly depleted spiritual power, identified the direction, and made his way out of the secret realm.
Along the way, he raised his concealed cultivation to the fifth layer of Qi Refining and took out a Second-grade Sword Grass to enhance his credibility, lest he be too easily mistaken for a vulnerable prey by other cultivators.
At this moment, outside the secret realm, both cultivators and demon beasts had disappeared without a trace. Lu Chen slowly made his way through the forest, searching for signs of other cultivators.
Suddenly, two sword lights streaked across the sky above, and soon returned, stopping in front of Lu Chen.
The two cultivators wore standard sect robes and exuded extraordinary auras.
One was a man and the other a woman. The female cultivator was exceptionally beautiful, with a cold and aloof demeanor like a solitary orchid in a remote valley. The male cultivator had ordinary features, but his eyes were exceptionally sharp, like a pair of swords.
"Apologies for disturbing you, fellow cultivator, but could you do us a small favor and let us take a look at the item in your hand?" The cold and beautiful woman spoke, her voice carrying a hint of detachment.
Lu Chen swept them with his spiritual sense and instantly realized that both their cultivations were significantly higher than his. However, he remained calm and replied, "Going by your demeanor, you should be from a renowned sect or clan. Isn't it a bit impolite to casually demand to see another's possessions?"
"My apologies for being abrupt." A hint of apology flashed in the woman's eyes.
"It's just that the item in your hand surprised me greatly. I've never seen anyone outside our sect possess the unique spiritual plant of the Celestial Sword Sect, the Sword Grass."
"Hence, my curiosity."
Lu Chen's expression eased slightly, and his tone became more relaxed.
The fact that the woman before him knew the name of the Sword Grass at least indicated that she wasn't lying.
"This Sword Grass was cultivated by me, and it certainly didn't come from your sect." Lu Chen said in a deep voice.
The cold and beautiful woman smiled, like a blooming orchid. "I didn't mean to doubt you, fellow cultivator. The Sword Grass in your hand is slightly different from the ones produced in our sect, and that distinction is easily discernible."
She paused for a moment. "May I ask if any of your ancestors were disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect?"
"No," Lu Chen shook his head. "I'm just a wandering cultivator and spiritual herbologist who, by chance, obtained a Sword Grass spirit seed and managed to cultivate it successfully."
"It seems Fellow Cultivator has an extraordinary talent for cultivating spirit plants."
She paused, then continued, "I don't know if you have any interest in joining the Celestial Sword Sect? If so, I can recommend you."
Lu Chen hesitated, his desire to join a sect was still strong. After all, a sect could provide a safe and spirit-rich environment, as well as high-grade spirit plants and seeds, all of which he desperately needed.
However, the sudden appearance of these two made it hard for him to trust them.
The cold and beautiful woman could sense Lu Chen's hesitation and smiled gently.
"Never mind that. Like the sword grass you've cultivated, the Celestial Sword Sect has quite a few related variants. This four-grade Sword Peacock of mine, for instance, was cultivated from an ordinary sword grass."
As her words trailed off, a green flying sword identical in shape to the sword grass rose from behind her. It spun rapidly, emitting a clear sword cry as it divided into hundreds of substantive sword auras. Like a peacock displaying its feathers, the layers of sword energy were exuberant and beautiful, yet they concealed boundless killing intent.
Lu Chen's eyes lit up involuntarily.
This so-called Sword Peacock was incredibly cool...
Seeing Lu Chen's intrigued expression, the cold and beautiful woman smiled gently.
"If Fellow Cultivator joins our sect, you can directly attempt to cultivate a sword grass of the same grade or even better than the Sword Peacock."
"The Celestial Sword Sect will begin a new round of disciple recruitment in a few months. This is a Qingyun Token, and each inner sect disciple is qualified to give one to another. With this token, you can skip some cumbersome steps when joining the Celestial Sword Sect and enjoy some additional benefits."
A blue token flew out from the woman's sleeve and floated towards Lu Chen.
The token had faint blue clouds on it, and a sword tip protruded from the clouds, as if it wanted to break free from the token's confines.
Seeing Lu Chen accept the blue token, the cold and beautiful woman and her companion did not linger. They summoned their flying swords and disappeared from Lu Chen's sight in an instant.
"I hope to see you soon, Fellow Cultivator."
Lu Chen held the blue token and touched it to the Pure Jade pendant on his chest, but he felt no abnormalities.
He examined the token in his hand, feeling a sense of anticipation forming in his heart.
...
High in the sky, two sword lights sped along at an incredible pace.
"Su Shimei, why did you give away your Qingyun Token so easily?"
"And to a wandering spiritual herbologist with average cultivation, no less."
The male cultivator with sharp eyes spoke up, his tone curious.
Although he and the woman were of similar cultivation levels, their statuses were vastly different.
The woman, Su Manman, was an inner disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect, exceptionally talented, and of extraordinary background. She was the daughter of an elder in the sect, which was why she possessed a four-grade Sword Peacock at the Qi Refining stage.
"Elder Brother Zhang, you should know that cultivating a sword grass is no easy feat. It requires the spiritual herbologist to master an exquisite sword art, and there must be no mistakes during the cultivation process. Too much or too little sword energy during nourishment will hinder the sword grass's growth. Even within the sect, many spiritual herbologists fail to cultivate it."
"Moreover, I found that the sword grass in that wandering cultivator's hand was of much higher quality than the average. That makes it even more remarkable."
"With such outstanding talent in sword arts and spiritual herbology, he's worth me giving away that Qingyun Token."
"We didn't find any good treasures in this secret realm, but by chance, we might have discovered a talented individual."
"Your Master has been worried about the lack of successors for the Sword Peacock and Sword Crow, right? Perhaps this wandering spiritual herbologist could bring him an unexpected surprise!"
The cold and beautiful woman, Su Manman, smiled mischievously, a playful glint in her eyes.
(End of Chapter)
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