Chapter 5: Absorbing the Last — The Thousandth Strand of Sword Qi
After nearly half a day of all-out cultivation, Lin Xiao had raised his cultivation to the seventh stage of the Qi Refinement Realm, formally entering the Late Qi Refining Stage.
He could already feel that after reaching the seventh stage, his cultivation speed had slowed considerably. After all, it was only a modified version of the Qi Nourishing Art — the foundation of the technique had its limits.
He would have to find a higher-grade cultivation technique to try out sometime.
If anyone had heard that thought, they would have cursed him out without hesitation.
Going from the first stage of the Qi Refinement Realm all the way to the seventh — in a single day. That was utterly unheard of. And he still wasn't satisfied??
For an ordinary person, that kind of progress would take at least a year or two.
Lin Xiao rolled his neck, and a series of crack crack crack sounds rang out. He felt power surging through every inch of his body.
Boom!
He threw a punch at the large tree beside him. The trunk — thick enough that two people couldn't wrap their arms around it — shuddered violently, sending countless leaves raining down, and a fist-shaped hole appeared in the bark.
That single punch carried at least two thousand pounds of force.
Lin Xiao was overjoyed.
Back on Earth, he'd already be a miniature superman. But in this world of fantasy and cultivation, someone with two thousand pounds of strength was nothing more than an ant.
Lin Xiao shook his head and didn't dwell on it.
Dusk was approaching, and night would soon follow. He had no intention of spending the night in the Demonic Beast Forest.
He dealt with the demonic beast carcasses nearby, pocketed the valuable parts, and prepared to head back.
During the past half-day, aside from the Azure Demon Python at the start, several more powerful demonic beasts had been drawn in by the commotion. Without exception, every one of them had been dispatched by the strands of Sword Qi he flung out — clean, swift, and effortless.
Upon returning to the sect, Lin Xiao sold the valuable parts from the demonic beasts for over twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones — the equivalent of a Tomb Guardian's entire annual income.
Sword Demon Sect did have a Technique Depository, and it housed countless cultivation technique manuals. But the minimum requirement to enter was being a formal Outer Sect Disciple. Tomb Guardians like him were no different in status from Servant Disciples — they had absolutely no right to enter.
He would have to wait for the Outer Sect Trial in half a year. By then, he would aim for a strong result and try to secure a position working inside the Sword Pavilion within Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb — a role that would be equivalent in standing to an Outer Sect Disciple.
After storing away his Spirit Stones, Lin Xiao returned to Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb. When he reached the barrier at the restricted zone's entrance, the Tomb Guardian Token at his waist flickered faintly, and he passed through without obstruction.
"Hey, the lone wolf is back!"
"Of course he came back — not coming back means death."
"Wonder what he went out to do."
"I'm so jealous. He already finished tending to his assigned sword tombs, and I can't even finish cleaning a single one."
"Same here — I couldn't even keep up with one Sword Tomb."
The other Tomb Guardians who had entered alongside him watched Lin Xiao return and murmured among themselves. But Lin Xiao paid them no mind. He still had plenty to do.
Going out had consumed nearly twenty strands of Sword Qi — he would need to replenish them. More importantly, when he was at the first stage of the Qi Refinement Realm, he could hold a hundred strands of Sword Qi. Now that his cultivation had risen to the seventh stage, he had no idea how many he could hold.
No time to waste.
Lin Xiao slipped away from the others and began moving through the outer reaches of Pyre Heaven Sword Tomb. The sword tombs varied in size and in the strength of the cultivators they housed — there were at least tens of thousands of them. There was absolutely no need to worry about running out of Sword Qi to absorb.
He also discovered that even the swords he had already drawn Sword Qi from would slowly regenerate another strand over time. Truly an inexhaustible supply.
Rumble rumble rumble!
As Lin Xiao touched sword after sword atop the tombs, fragments of each tomb owner's memories surged into his mind. The completeness of these memories depended on how long ago the tomb's owner had died. Those who had been dead for a very long time left only scattered, incomprehensible fragments. Those who had died more recently still told coherent stories.
He comprehended the human-grade superior sword art, Mystic Flame Sword Art.
He comprehended the earth-grade low-tier sword technique, Sword Secret.
He comprehended the earth-grade low-tier sword art, Phantom Sword Art.
He comprehended the human-grade superior sword art, Sky Traversal Sword Art.
Day after day, he absorbed Sword Qi and comprehended sword arts of every grade.
After more than twenty days, Lin Xiao had absorbed over nine hundred strands of Sword Qi and comprehended more than forty sword arts of varying grades. The highest-ranked among them was an earth-grade mid-tier sword art called the Heavenly Abyss Sword Art.
During these weeks, in the dead of night when all was quiet, he would quietly circulate the Qi Nourishing Art to cultivate. Over the past two days, he had finally pushed his cultivation to the ninth stage of the Qi Refinement Realm.
Meanwhile, the strongest among the other Tomb Guardians who had arrived with him had only reached the second stage of the Qi Refinement Realm. Most were still at the entry level — not even having reached the first stage.
* * *
On this particular day, Lin Xiao once again slipped away from the others and randomly selected a Sword Tomb to approach.
Touch the sword — done.
Observe the memory — done.
Comprehend the sword art — done.
Absorb the Sword Qi…
Beads of sweat formed on Lin Xiao's forehead. He could feel that he was approaching his absolute limit.
After a dozen or so breaths, the nine hundred and ninety-eighth strand of Sword Qi was successfully absorbed.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Lin Xiao moved directly to the nearest Sword Tomb.
Boom!
Sword Qi entered his body. Every strand of Sword Qi already within him trembled faintly. Lin Xiao exerted full control, and after more than twenty breaths — drenched in sweat — he finally settled the new strand.
The nine hundred and ninety-ninth strand of Sword Qi absorbed.
Just one more.
Some vague instinct told him — just one more strand to go.
But…
Lin Xiao furrowed his brow. He didn't immediately attempt to absorb the final strand. He genuinely felt he couldn't fit any more. Even the nine hundred and ninety-ninth strand had been an extreme struggle to force inside. If he tried one more and his entire body exploded, what then?
Yet if he stopped short of absorbing that last strand, he couldn't bring himself to accept it.
After a long moment of deliberation, Lin Xiao finally decided to go all in.
Fortune favors the bold — high risk, high reward. That held true anywhere.
Trusting his instincts, Lin Xiao randomly chose another Sword Tomb.
Touch the sword — complete!
Observe the memory — complete!
Comprehend the sword art — complete!
Absorb the Sword Qi…
The moment Lin Xiao drew the thousandth strand of Sword Qi into his body —
In an instant.
Boom! Boom!
Over a thousand strands of Sword Qi began to tremble in unison. All of them converged together, spinning, layering, and fusing at a tremendous speed…
Bang! Bang!
The modified Qi Nourishing Art surged into high gear at that very moment. A stream of extraordinarily pure energy flowed from top to bottom, circulating ceaselessly through his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, shattering blocked acupoints one after another!
Lin Xiao's face twisted in agony, yet he clenched his teeth and made not a single sound.
Then his body shuddered violently.
He felt as though his Dantian had transformed into an entire world unto itself. Boundless Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth poured in from all directions.
Not only was the scene within Lin Xiao's body staggering — what unfolded around him was even more astonishing.
Every Sword Tomb within a radius of several li centered on Lin Xiao began to tremble faintly. The swords atop the tombs all let out a resonant cry in unison.
A visible vortex spun hundreds of meters above Lin Xiao's head, wind and clouds churning together, as the entire night sky rippled and surged with wave after wave of turbulent energy!