Fifteen days ago, Author: Pig Heart Shrimp
Chapter 26: The Second Sword in the World
Gu Wen adjusted his breath to digest the gains, while Yu Hua flipped through numerous scrolls on the desk beside him.
"Your poetry is good, just the characters are a bit crooked," Yu Hua remarked.
Gu Wen replied calmly, "Not everything written by Gu is for calligraphy practice."
Yu Hua smiled without revealing anything, continuing to focus on the books.
This book was made of hemp paper, costing one coin per book, with fifty pages in total, making it the cheapest paper in Da Qian.
Similar to the mundane world, lacking in immortal techniques to control the elements, the common people lived in hardship, not something ordinary folks would use.
But it wasn't meant for recording poetry either, as it was difficult to write on and prone to damage, likely intended for Gu Wen's calligraphy practice.
She had read the poetry inside, also found in the several volumes Zhao Feng had sent, but there were a few unheard-of verses among them.
Her slender fingers glided over the paper with the candlelight, her divine sense seemingly wandering between the ink and paper, appearing messy at first glance, but revealing a vast expanse between heaven and earth upon closer inspection.
Line after line, the verses flowed endlessly, as if his talent knew no bounds.
"After getting drunk, not knowing if I'm in the sky or in the water, full of clear dreams pressing down the Milky Way..."
"Who was the first to see the moon by the river, and when did the moon first shine on people..."
"I see the green mountains are charming, and the green mountains should see me in the same way..."
It was understandable to have informal poetry that didn't meet the standards, but these verses were exceptional, unless the people of Da Qian had eyes growing between their brows.
However, these verses had vastly different sentiments, not seeming to be from Gu Wen's hand.
It wasn't a question of his talent, but rather the diversity of life.
Gu Wen could speak of "Heaven bestows great responsibilities upon this person" when hiding and biding his time, yet when his treasure was stolen, he could exude killing intent, saying, "The inner treasury burns to become embroidered ashes, the streets are filled with the bones of officials and nobles."
From cultivation talent to literary talent, Gu Wen was the best in Yu Hua's eyes, but all of these had their traces to follow.
Perhaps, as he said, it wasn't his writing, unless his talent had transcended common sense.
Beside him, Gu Wen formally began refining the spiritual treasure.
As their divine senses intertwined, the illusory image of an eel spiraled up, its size several times larger than its outward appearance, resembling a yellow dragon overlooking Gu Wen from above.
Glancing at the curved sword intent in his hand, Gu Wen realized that sword intent could be infused into it, proving its usefulness.
Looking at the eel, several meters long, it wouldn't be difficult to kill it.
Divine sense was an extension of the physical body, and both were still fragile, even more so than the physical body.
The real challenge was to tame it, to tame it without harm.
His fate fluctuated slightly, and the Imperial Essence boiled.
This was his confidence.
If the Dao Master speaks sincerely to you, why do you insist on playing mind games with the Dao Master!
Imperial Essence, one load.
Order in chaos, all beings coexist, five immortals and five insects, the uniqueness of fate, equality of all beings, in this realm of neither life nor death.
A dim golden light revolved around the two, trapping them in a boundless water realm, reflecting the images of a person and a snake beneath their feet.
Gu Wen understood the purpose of the Imperial Essence, and roughly understood why he couldn't comprehend it before.
He couldn't truly understand the concept of fate, nor accept that everything was predetermined.
Because he lost his heavenly mandate from the Zhao family, he was destined not to obtain immortal fate.
But the Imperial Essence formed a special Dao rhyme, allowing him to ignore fate and grasp all the laws of causality.
As fate trembled once again, the profound meaning turned into something more concrete, something that Gu Wen could understand better.
Here, the soul was immortal, refining spiritual treasures didn't risk harming the soul, and there was no need to worry about the spiritual essence being erased.
All the laws of causality and fate were useless, like how the earth nurtures all things, and all beings are born after the fact.
Ignoring fate, seizing immortal fate.
Gu Wen sighed helplessly, "The heavenly essence is not bestowed, the Imperial Essence still requires one to fight to the death. Is even fate a toilsome task? But it's also good, success lies in man, not in heaven."
With a grip of his right hand, a three-foot green blade entered his palm, straight and sharp.
The Jade Clear Sword Intent was different from before, skipping the step of refining the void into reality, requiring less energy and a sufficiently resilient sword intent.
This made Gu Wen feel slightly better, as the Heavenly Essence he had used before wasn't entirely useless.
He raised the sword, pointing it directly at the yellow dragon, with a hint of dark red aura clinging to the blade.
"Now it's just you and me."
The yellow dragon lunged at him, its speed astonishing.
Gu Wen lacked experience in life-and-death battles, despite being an old hand in the jianghu, even veterans on the border battlefield might not know how to deal with such a situation.
A dragon charged towards him, lacking any finesse, just a straightforward collision.
Gu Wen stood with the sword in hand, raising it high, the clear and transparent sword intent reflecting the yellow dragon, completely falling into its pupils.
He murmured, "At first, dark and mysterious, the sword intent is clear and reaches the ninth heaven."
With a single strike, the sword light extended ten zhang, breaking skin, cutting flesh, and shattering bones!
The eel split in half, bursting open ten steps away from Gu Wen, blood carried by the wind, flesh and blood swiftly passing by on both sides.
In this realm created by the heart, divine sense clashed with the heart as the main focus, and the sword intent, clear and invincible, was supreme.
Boom!
The massive body of the eel crashed heavily to the ground, blood flowing into the watery mirror on the ground, merging into Gu Wen's body as strands of essence.
Gu Wen felt his divine sense strengthen slightly, although extremely subtle, for him who had not yet begun to refine his divine sense, even the slightest enhancement seemed particularly significant.
In a blink of an eye, the body disappeared, everything rewound, and the eel reappeared.
This time, it no longer showed hostility, its meager spirituality overwhelmed by confusion and fear.
The clash of the great Dao, all beings returning to one.
The role of the Imperial Essence was not just for refining spiritual treasures; it was not such a narrow thing.
It was more like a place where "big fish eat small fish."
I can devour it to strengthen my divine sense.
Gu Wen suddenly realized, then looked at the eel with a different meaning.
Its spiritual shadow immediately prostrated, extending a sense of submission through its divine sense.
It was only natural; divine sense was an extension of the mortal body, and those with spirituality feared life and death, with lower spiritual intelligence tending towards instinct.
Approaching it, Gu Wen gazed at the eel in a submissive manner.
The killing intent diminished significantly.
Indeed, what Yu Hua had said was the most convenient.
Spiritual treasures were not mere objects; even if they were, they could harm oneself.
Directly enhancing divine sense was still uncertain, much like how the Jade Clear Sword Technique had consumed so much Heavenly Essence before truly proving its worth.
What Gu Wen needed was to maximize his self-defense capabilities, rather than the mysterious and elusive divine sense.
A spiritual treasure would undoubtedly greatly enhance his self-defense capabilities.
The eel shrank its body, rubbing against Gu Wen's ankle.
Its ugly appearance was surprisingly cute...
Huh! Changing its form?
I don't even know how to do that, and you dare to?
Bang!
The eel's head was suddenly pressed to the ground, and with a swift motion, blood flowed like a river.
Unknown equals danger.
In the realm of divine sense, the eel had gone further than himself, so he had to suppress it more, keeping it in a weakened state at all times.
Upon its second resurrection, the eel resisted, indicating it had not been completely subdued.
On its third resurrection, the eel begged for mercy again, showing that it was conserving its strength.
Three times, four times, the fifth time...
A strand of essence entered his body, and Gu Wen held the palm-sized mud loach, sighing, "In this life, I tread on thin ice."
Even this spiritual treasure harbored hidden dangers towards him.
The Imperial Essence dried up.
Dong!
The midnight bell rang through the house.
Yu Hua propped her chin with her right hand, breaking free from the messy ink, feeling a headache coming on as she pinched her brow.
Cultivation and worldly pleasures were similar, involving music, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry, and prose.
Except for a few powerful individuals who reached the pinnacle, most cultivators were still human, with the seven emotions and six desires.
Even the bald donkey at the Buddha's level had greed, anger, and delusion, and the Daoist elders of the Three Clear Paths were driven to rage by their disciples.
Among these pastimes, music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were the most popular and profound, with the peak achievers able to use them to enter the Dao.
It was uncertain whether people pursued these activities because they led to the Dao, or if the appearance of Dao practitioners led to an increase in enthusiasts.
Yu Hua often enjoyed reading poetry, songs, and strange tales, as it was a hobby that didn't require interaction with others, which she greatly appreciated.
However, this book made her feel a headache.
It was clearly meant for calligraphy practice, containing many popular poems.
But in Yu Hua's eyes, most of them were unbearable, with many well-known verses that had been around for centuries, making these informal poems, combined with Gu Wen's messy handwriting, hard to read.
Yu Hua could choose not to read them, but unfortunately, there were always a few unheard-of golden lines mixed in between, haunting her with just a few lines.
Turning the page once more, another verse caught her eye, wondering where he found so many famous lines.
"To the end of the sea, the sky becomes the shore; climbing to the top of the mountain, I am the peak."
At that moment, Gu Wen slowly opened his eyes, and their gazes met.
He asked, "May I ask, Immortal, who is the peak in refining spiritual treasures?"
Yu Hua raised her chin slightly, her soft and pleasant voice saying, "At the Sword Mountain of Broken Swords, there are 132 people on the Sword Refining List. Those who refine spiritual swords before spring into summer can make it onto the list. The top-ranked person refines 39,000 swords in a day, one sword in twenty days, and one sword in a month."
Gu Wen's mouth slightly agape, a look of astonishment on his face.
He thought he was already extraordinary.
The reason he asked this question was to see if it would be too shocking to refine a spiritual treasure in just a few hours.
He needed to establish himself as a genius in front of Yu Hua, but he had to leave room for surprises in everything.
But he never expected someone to be even more outrageous than him, refining 39,000 spiritual swords in a day.
What kind of monster was that?
In that case, I don't need to worry about being too shocking.
There are always extraordinary people in the world, some are born extraordinary.
Yu Hua leaned forward slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips behind the light veil, saying, "Are you also aiming to make it onto the list? I happen to know the way to Sword Mountain of Broken Swords. When you enter the cultivation world in the future, I can take you there, but I don't know if those sword fanatics will let you up."
"Of course, the premise is that you can refine spiritual treasures."
Hum~
The free-floating spiritual energy was stirred by an inexplicable ripple, and tiny water lights began to shimmer around them.
Yu Hua's eyes froze, a hint of emerald reflected in her deep gaze.
Gu Wen asked, "I wonder if Gu is worthy of being second on the list?"
Of course, he could, because the first on the list was the founder of the Sword Mountain, the number one swordsman in the world, on par with the founder...
Yu Hua didn't answer, silent and speechless, unsure of how to respond.
Four days to build the path, one day to refine the spirit, was there really someone in this world with such extraordinary talent?
She didn't know, but just happened to glance at the ink and paper absentmindedly.
To the end of the sea, the sky becomes the shore; climbing to the top of the mountain, I am the peak.
Her dazed consciousness suddenly had a flash of insight, as if a thunderbolt pierced through the sky.
This seemed like something he could write, with a heart higher than the sky, his intentions soaring above the clouds.
Perhaps his modesty wasn't caution, but rather arrogance to the point where he no longer cared to show off to others.
Closing the book and tucking it into her sleeve, Yu Hua said solemnly, "This matter is settled. I will take you to Sword Mountain of Broken Swords. It is said that the person ranked second on the Sword Refining List can obtain a celestial sword. Just like this spiritual treasure, that celestial sword should be yours."
"I, an outsider, can't just take someone else's sect treasure, can I?"
Gu Wen was somewhat skeptical, as it didn't align with the interests, and the rankings were meant to motivate disciples.
Yu Hua chuckled lightly, "If I can leave the Immortal Land alive, they will naturally give it to me. This is a rule set by their founder. It's just that over the years, people have forgotten about righteousness."
"Whether it's my Three Clear Daoist Sect, the Sword Mountain of Broken Swords, or the Zhao family, they are all filled with old folks who stink to high heaven."
Many books are hard to find now, so cherish them while you can.