Blood clouds drifted by, and after a few breaths, a cultivator from the Wang family, who was at the initial stage of Foundation Building, landed on a flying boat artifact and quickly arrived from afar.
He scanned the area with his spiritual awareness but found nothing unusual. Without any hesitation, the head of the Wang family chased after the direction where the blood cloud had disappeared.
Although he was very interested in the strange sword sheath that had flown out, the malevolent spirit was even more important. He couldn't fully relax in this new secret realm without dealing with it. Moreover, before the spirit escaped, it had grabbed a treasure of light, which he also wanted to retrieve.
The flying boat artifact shot through the sky like an arrow and vanished from sight.
Moments later, Lu Xuan appeared under a giant tree several dozen meters away, his face still showing signs of fear.
After the blood cloud appeared, the third-grade Pure Jade pendant hanging on his chest sent a chilling sensation through him, as if it wanted to freeze half of his chest.
Compared to the alien-level parasitic skin he had seen up close before, this cold feeling was many times stronger.
Lu Xuan concluded that the blood-colored skeleton in the blood cloud was much stronger than the parasitic skin, definitely a malevolent spirit on par with a Foundation Building cultivator.
After he inexplicably obtained the strange sword sheath that was drawn to him by the Xun Thunder Sword Pill, he sensed something was off immediately.
The speed of this sword sheath was so fast that even his eighth layer Qi Refining level spiritual awareness didn't react in time, and it actively sought out the location of the sword pill, clearly not an ordinary treasure.
Such high-grade treasures often brought unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, after obtaining the sword sheath, Lu Xuan quickly stored it in his storage bag and instinctively activated the third-grade Hidden Spirit Cloak to enter a brief state of invisibility, avoiding a direct encounter with the malevolent skeleton.
He took a Yuan Cultivation Pill from his storage bag to quickly replenish his dwindling spiritual power, then checked his direction and hurried toward the outside of the secret realm.
On the way, he raised his hidden cultivation level to the fifth layer of Qi Refining and took out a second-grade sword herb to enhance his persuasive power, so that he wouldn’t be too easily seen as a fat sheep by other cultivators.
At this moment, on the outskirts of the secret realm, both cultivators and spirit beasts had vanished, and Lu Xuan walked slowly through the woods, searching for signs of other cultivators.
Suddenly, two beams of sword light swooped down from above, quickly turning back and stopping in front of Lu Xuan.
The two figures were dressed in standard robes and had an extraordinary demeanor.
One was a man and the other a woman. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with a cold and elegant aura, like an orchid in a secluded valley. The man looked ordinary, but his gaze was exceptionally sharp, like a sword.
“Excuse me, fellow cultivator, may I ask you to show me the item in your hand?” the cold woman asked, her voice carrying the same chill.
Lu Xuan scanned them with his spiritual awareness and instantly realized that both of them were much stronger than him. He maintained a calm expression and replied lightly, “Given your demeanor, you must come from a prestigious sect. Asking for someone else's item so casually seems a bit impolite, doesn’t it?”
“I apologize for my rudeness.”
A hint of regret flashed in the woman’s eyes.
“It’s just that the item in your hand surprised me. This is the first time I’ve seen someone outside possessing the unique spiritual plant of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the sword herb.”
“Thus, I became curious.”
Lu Xuan’s expression softened a bit, and his tone became much calmer.
Since the woman knew the name of the sword herb, it at least indicated that she was not lying.
“This sword herb was cultivated by me and did not come from any cultivator of your sect,” Lu Xuan said solemnly.
The cold woman understood the implication in his words and smiled, like an orchid blooming.
“I have no doubt about your words because the sword herb you have is subtly different from those produced in our sect, which is easy to distinguish.”
She paused for a moment.
“Does your ancestry have any cultivators who joined the Heavenly Sword Sect?”
“No.”
Lu Xuan shook his head.
“I am just a loose cultivator and spiritual plant cultivator. By chance, I obtained a sword herb spirit seed and managed to cultivate it successfully.”
“I see.”
The woman nodded gently, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. She hadn’t expected that a sect’s legacy spiritual plant would be cultivated by a loose cultivator.
“It seems you have a strong talent for cultivating spiritual plants.”
She paused again and continued, “I wonder if you would be interested in joining the Heavenly Sword Sect? If you are, I can recommend you.”
Lu Xuan hesitated. He had considerable expectations about joining a sect, as they could provide a safe environment rich in spiritual energy, along with high-grade spiritual 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 woman noticed Lu Xuan's hesitation and smiled.
“Not to mention, the sword herb you cultivate has many related variants in the Heavenly Sword Sect. My sword peacock, which is a fourth-grade item, was cultivated from an ordinary sword herb.”
Before she finished speaking, a blue flying sword that looked just like a sword herb rose from her back, quickly spinning and emitting a ringing sound as it split into hundreds of tangible sword energies, resembling a peacock spreading its tail, beautiful and vibrant, hiding endless killing intent.
Lu Xuan's eyes lit up.
This so-called sword peacock was quite impressive...
Seeing Lu Xuan's interest, the cold woman smiled.
“If you join our sect, you can directly try to cultivate a sword herb of the same level as the sword peacock or even better.”
“The Heavenly Sword Sect will begin a new round of disciple recruitment in a few months. This is a Qingyun Order. Each inner disciple is qualified to gift one to others. With this order, you can skip some tedious steps when joining the Heavenly Sword Sect and enjoy some benefits.”
A blue token flew out from the woman’s sleeve and floated in front of Lu Xuan.
The token had faint blue clouds on it, with a sword tip piercing through the clouds, as if it wanted to break free from the token.
Seeing Lu Xuan accept the blue token, the cold woman and the other person did not linger. They summoned their flying swords and disappeared from Lu Xuan's sight in an instant.
“I hope to see you soon.”
Lu Xuan touched the Pure Jade pendant on his chest with the blue token in hand, but felt nothing unusual.
He examined the token in his hand, feeling something quietly forming in his heart.
…
High above, two beams of sword light raced through the sky.
“Su Shimei, why did you so easily give away the Qingyun Order?”
“After all, he is just a loose cultivator with average cultivation.”
The sharp-eyed cultivator suddenly spoke up.
The cold woman accompanying him, although their cultivation levels were similar, had a vastly different status.
Her name was Su Manman, an inner disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect, with outstanding talent and a unique background as the daughter of an elder in the sect, allowing her to have a fourth-grade sword peacock for protection even at the Qi Refining stage.
“Zhang Shixiong, you must understand that cultivating a sword herb is no simple task. It requires the spiritual plant cultivator to master an exquisite sword technique, and any mistake during the cultivation process could be detrimental. Even in the sect, many spiritual plant cultivators cannot cultivate one.”
“Moreover, I found that the quality of the sword herb in that loose cultivator's hand is far above average, which is even rarer.”
“With such a strong talent in swordsmanship and spiritual plant cultivation, it was worth my giving away that Qingyun Order.”
“During this trip to the secret realm, I didn’t find any good treasures, but perhaps by chance, I found someone worth nurturing.”
“Isn’t the elder worried about the lack of successors for the sword peacock and sword crow? Perhaps that loose cultivator can bring him an unexpected surprise!”
The cold woman smiled, a playful glint in her eyes.
(End of Chapter)