Chapter 617
Zheng Fa listened without a ripple of emotion. What family didn’t have a few Dao fruit treasures?
“And it’s not just any Dao fruit,” Shinan Dang added.
Not just any Dao fruit?
Zheng Fa furrowed his brow and looked at Shinan Dang, realizing he needed to take this seriously.
Does this mean that Dao fruits vary in strength?
The others also caught on, their curious gazes turning toward Shinan Dang.
“I’m not entirely sure about this myself,” Shinan Dang said, glancing at Zheng Fa as if to explain just for him. “But the Holy Ancestor once said: Dao fruit is merely a general term. Those who first enter the Dao fruit realm are called scattered immortals. They have no worries about lifespan, but they do face the scattered immortal tribulation.”
“Once they pass the scattered immortal tribulation, they become true immortals. Only at this level can one achieve true immortality, transcending the five elements.”
“As for what lies beyond that, I cannot say.”
Zheng Fa’s heart trembled. It was only now that he grasped the true meaning of Dao fruit:
From the words of this Dao fruit cultivator from Haori Mountain, Dao fruit equated to immortality!
Not just him; even the six transformation gods beside him were breathing a bit faster, their eyes filled with longing—like travelers in a desert finally catching sight of the snow-capped peak at the end of their long journey.
“As for Dao fruit treasures, they correspond to different Dao fruit realms.”
“And the Xianjian (Sword of Immortal Trapping) is a Dao fruit treasure of the true immortal realm.”
Zheng Fa’s heart stirred, and he asked, “May I ask what realm the Holy Ancestors are in?”
“Yang Shangxian is the youngest, still at the scattered immortal level. The other two Holy Ancestors are true immortals.”
Zheng Fa felt a bit of a headache.
Now he understood the formidable strength of the Tianhe Zunzhang. The Four Swords of Extermination weren’t they equivalent to four true immortals?
A small Haori Mountain really wasn’t enough for him to handle.
Could it really backfire?
No wonder Haori Mountain valued the Xianjian so highly; once they refined it, wouldn’t that be like having multiple true immortal ancestors?
To be fair, while the Fusang wood was strong, it would still struggle against Yang Shangxian, a mere scattered immortal, and it definitely couldn’t compare to the Xianjian.
“Can we really refine the Xianjian?” one of the lean elders among the six transformation gods asked, a hint of self-doubt in his expression.
After all, seven transformation gods seemed like a lot, but they were still far from the Dao fruit level—one strike from the Xianjian could take them all out.
“The Xianjian has been suppressed in the sect for hundreds of thousands of years and is incomplete. It has lost some of its spirit. More importantly, the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation was specifically designed for the Xianjian. No matter how strong this sword is, it cannot contend with this formation.”
“We just need to operate the formation.”
Zheng Fa understood this; they were merely operators, while the real power lay in the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation.
“I’m telling you all this to make you understand that no matter how many transformation gods the Hundred Immortals Alliance has, as long as the Xianjian is here, it won’t change the overall situation.”
“If we successfully refine the Xianjian, we will have made a tremendous contribution to the sect.”
“I’ll benefit, and so will you.”
Shinan Dang’s words left Elder Jiu momentarily stunned.
So, you were just trying to encourage everyone by using the Xianjian to boost our spirits?
She secretly glanced at Zheng Fa, who was staring intently at the volcano’s mouth, his eyes filled with interest:
…It seems the Alliance Leader Zheng is quite inspired and full of energy.
…
With newfound energy, Zheng Fa dove into a shift work routine:
Haori Mountain sent over numerous spiritual pills and herbs, meant to replenish the spiritual power and souls of Shinan Dang and the other six, as well as Zheng Fa.
The operation of the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation primarily relied on Shinan Dang and his group.
Zheng Fa and the others would only step in for a while when someone among the seven transformation gods ran out of spiritual power.
It was basically a case of people resting while the formation kept running.
Understanding this, Zheng Fa looked at Shinan Dang with a hint of sympathy:
Working on an assembly line for twenty years without food or drink, without sleep or rest, and when tired, only relying on pills to keep going.
Who wouldn’t shed a tear upon hearing that?
Thinking back to their earlier plan to work for forty years, Zheng Fa felt that his desire to seize the Xianjian was filled with the brilliance of humanitarianism.
Because they needed Zheng Fa to operate the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation, he finally saw the complete layout of the formation:
What Shinan Dang and his group had to do over the past twenty years was merely the pre-processing:
Using the power of the stars above to suppress the Xianjian, gradually connecting it to the formation with painstaking effort.
Just this task required seven transformation gods and four Yuan Ying cultivators to work tirelessly for twenty years…
It was clear how difficult it was to handle the Xianjian.
The key to refining this sword lay in the final step:
Using the power of the stars above, combined with extracting the spiritual veins of the Hundred Immortals Alliance, along with the lives of the disciples of the Chongxuan Sect, to reshape this treasure in one fell swoop.
“How are you all doing?”
“I remember most of it,” the head of the Chongxuan Sect replied respectfully.
Zheng Fa nodded in agreement.
“Show me what you’ve got.”
Zheng Fa and the three Yuan Ying cultivators from the Chongxuan Sect cast their spells.
Shinan Dang scanned the four of them, finally locking his gaze on Zheng Fa, his eyes lighting up.
Thanks to modern research, Zheng Fa’s understanding of the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation far surpassed what Shinan Dang knew.
In fact, he even had control over certain nodes of the formation at this moment.
Thus, he learned quickly.
Among the four, he immediately stood out.
The three heads of the Chongxuan Sect, who had been demonstrating their techniques together, soon stopped their movements, turning to look at Zheng Fa with astonished expressions.
They had all learned together, so why did he seem so much more skilled?
Didn’t he understand the importance of respecting his teachers?
But Shinan Dang was overjoyed, exclaiming, “I knew you were talented, Li Hao! If it weren’t for you being just a Yuan Ying, we wouldn’t need twenty years!”
“Come, give it a try!”
With that, he stepped aside, clearing the space beneath him.
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa entered the formation, looking at Shinan Dang, who was smiling broadly, and genuinely suspected that the man was so happy because he could finally slack off.
He turned to the other six transformation gods, nodded, and cast his spell, connecting his energy with theirs. He felt a star in the sky suddenly shine brightly, a strange power enveloping his entire being.
As he cast his spell, the star’s power surged into the volcano’s mouth, cleansing the Xianjian hidden within the mountain.
A few days ago, Shinan Dang had still been a bit worried, keeping a close watch on Zheng Fa.
Seeing that Zheng Fa hadn’t made a single mistake for several days, he finally felt at ease, sitting down to take a spiritual pill and focusing on recovering.
Seeing him like this, Zheng Fa’s thoughts shifted, and he connected his consciousness to the Tiandi Shensha Great Formation.
The mist at the mountain’s peak swirled, concealing his aura.
His internal spell shifted, and his spiritual power began to operate according to the “Xianjian Classic,” his eyes eagerly watching the Xianjian.
He wasn’t so impatient as to want to seize the Xianjian right away; he merely wanted to see if the “Xianjian Classic” had any effect on this treasure.
What puzzled him was that the Xianjian remained completely still…
Did Master Yan give him a counterfeit?
Just as he was pondering this, he suddenly felt a chill on his forehead, and an unexpected guest appeared in his sea of consciousness:
This person wore a black dress, was slender, had a youthful face, and large eyes, with two small hair buns on her head.
From her appearance and size, she looked like a girl around four years old.
The girl blinked her eyes, a hint of confusion in them, looking up at Zheng Fa with a friendly expression.
“Your cultivation technique feels so familiar…”
“Who are you?”
Zheng Fa’s heart raced with a sudden guess.
He couldn’t help but ask.
The girl extended her small hand, pointing to the mountain’s interior: “I am it.”
Indeed, she was the spirit of the Xianjian.
Zheng Fa’s heart filled with astonishment.
Aside from the Nine Mountain Ancestor, he had never seen a true weapon spirit—Xie Qingxue shouldn’t count yet.
But if there really was a spirit of the Xianjian, shouldn’t she be one of the four ancestral masters of the Tianhe Sect?
Could it be that he and Senior Sister Zhang had misinterpreted the “Xianjian Classic”?
“Are you here to save me?”
“Save you?”
“I’m in pain.”
The Xianjian spirit hugged her head with both hands, swaying side to side as if she had a headache.
Zheng Fa looked at her delicate brows furrowed in pain, realizing she probably wasn’t pretending.
The Tiandi Shensha Great Formation was essentially a method of refining tools. From the content of the formation, it seemed similar to what Zheng Fa had done with the Nine Mountain Ancestor:
Washing away certain symbols from the Xianjian, then using the Haori Mountain technique to reshape it.
The problem was, Zheng Fa was washing away parts that didn’t belong to the ancestor, which would not only be harmless but also beneficial to the ancestor.
However, Haori Mountain likely intended to wash away this sword spirit’s consciousness in order to control the treasure.
“Are you here to save me?”
Zheng Fa hadn’t answered yet.
The sword spirit asked again, and seeing Zheng Fa silent, she continued, “If you save me, I’ll help you kill people.”
“…”
That sounded a bit off.
“Save me.”
“How do I save you?”
“If you break this formation, I can escape.”
The girl released her head and pointed to the sky.
Zheng Fa pondered her words.
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