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Novel: [The Primordial Law]
Volume 4: [Shuangsheng Dao Sect (Twin Rice Sect)]
Chapter 64 (319): [The Strange Staff]
(64th of Volume 4)
Translator: Shadow Knight AK
Editor: Shadow Knight AK
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"It can't Seed Dao, but it can store and release Spiritual Artifacts," Li Weiyi explained patiently.
Si Kong Jingyuan cursed violently, then roared, "You're courting death!"
Li Weiyi's eyes sharpened.
He raised the Yellow Dragon Sword above his head, frantically channeling Spiritual Qi into the blade.
"Whoosh!"
Nine Dao Scriptures appeared on the sword's surface, and lightning crackled at its tip.
Having reached the Dao Seed Realm, the Yellow Dragon Sword had become even more mystical.
The Dao Scriptures on the blade weren't scriptures, but the Six Jia Secret Incantations of Daoism, which had emerged from within the sword itself.
"Boom!"
Li Weiyi crouched low and swung the sword horizontally.
With a thunderous roar, sword light and lightning shot forth.
The Ghost Generals accompanying Si Kong Jingyuan burst apart like bubbles, seven or eight of them instantly vaporized.
Even their formation couldn't withstand the attack.
In the distance, Er Feng (Second Phoenix) led a swarm of Bone-Corroding Miasma Mosquitoes, a vast cloud that blotted out the sky.
They crashed into Si Kong Jingyuan's Dao Heart Manifestation area, shattering the Hundred Ghosts Formation.
"Whoosh!"
A chilling wind swept through the air, and the ghost clouds surged.
The sound of war banners snapping in the wind echoed through the battlefield.
A fifty-foot-tall Yin Ghost Commander charged forward at lightning speed.
Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao stood on its shoulders, one wielding a sword and shield, the other drawing a bow and arrow.
With the battle weapon changing masters, it was clear that Si Kong Ce and Si Kong Qin were in dire straits.
Faced with this perilous situation, Si Kong Jingyuan felt a chill run through his entire body. Regaining his composure, he immediately retracted his Dao Heart Manifestation and Ghost General, then activated a Technique of escape.
His body shot into the mud swamp with a sudden burst of speed.
"Boom!"
Li Weiyi's sword strike cleaved down like the parting of the sea, splitting the swamp in two.
The sword mark plunged a full ten feet deep.
Unfortunately, it was a step too late. Si Kong Jingyuan had already escaped.
Li Weiyi immediately released his Spiritual Power Earth Nerve, scanning the surroundings.
Er Feng followed Si Kong Jingyuan's aura, flying two or three miles in a certain direction.
But the aura abruptly vanished there, disappearing without a trace.
Tuoba Butuo and Qi Xiao also searched, but found nothing.
"Damn it, he got away again!" Qi Xiao's chest heaved with anger, "When we get back, I'm going to cultivate a powerful escape technique. Survival is more important than anything else."
Li Weiyi remained calm, smiling: "Si Kong Jingyuan's cultivation far surpasses ours. Trying to defeat him in a desperate situation and keep him here would cost us dearly. Once Tuoba reaches the Fourth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, we'll join forces again, cutting off all his escape routes to ensure he can't get away."
Tuoba Butuo said, "Someone like Si Kong Jingyuan, at the Fifth or Sixth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, would be difficult to capture or kill, even for us. Brother Weiyi, what's your cultivation level? I felt like you were always on the offensive during your fight with him."
"It was all thanks to my battle weapon and Dao Techniques catching him off guard. Besides, I'm at the peak of Three-Star Spiritual Master cultivation. Who says Spiritual Masters can't overcome adversity?"
Li Weiyi looked at his left hand, which throbbed with pain. Even with the protection of the Blood Handprint Demon Armor, his palm had been injured when he retrieved the golden ancient mirror, leaving his flesh torn and raw.
But the thought of having seized a Seventh-Grade Hundred-Character Artifact, worth at least a million Yongquan Coins, immediately lifted his spirits.
After sheathing the Yellow Dragon Sword, Li Weiyi asked, "Did those two old geezers escape too?"
"One escaped, and we captured the other."
Tuoba Butuo, having exhausted a significant amount of Spiritual Qi, believed Si Kong Jingyuan had truly fled far away.
He stopped channeling the Ghost Banner and recalled the Yin Ghost Commander into the banner.
He opened his Boundary Pouch and released Si Kong Ce.
Si Kong Ce's skin was charred black from the Duling Cold Fire, and he was severely wounded and unconscious.
Si Kong Qin, already injured when he used his escape technique, had naturally been forced to flee alone.
Though the Yin Ghost Commander was powerful, its attacks were monotonous. A Martial-Mystic Cultivator in the Fourth Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm could easily escape, making capture nearly impossible.
Li Weiyi stripped Si Kong Ce of all his valuables: "Capturing even one is a great feat! A Fourth Heaven Dao Seed Realm expert is worth a fortune. Tuoba, he's all yours for now!"
"Understood."
Tuoba Butuo let out a malicious chuckle and proceeded to break Si Kong Ce's limbs one by one. This was the most reliable method for dealing with captured Martial-Mystic Path experts.
"We've actually managed to capture a Fourth Heaven Dao Seed Realm Martial-Mystic Cultivator! Our Qi Clan's First Commander is only one realm higher than him," Qi Xiao remarked with a smile.
Li Weiyi quickly regulated his breathing to restore his Spiritual Qi and asked, "How long have we been in the Netherblack Swamp?"
"About four days," Qi Xiao replied.
Li Weiyi mentally calculated the time and then asked, "What have we found?"
"We've harvested three Meditation Mushrooms, but haven't found any Spirit Platform Blazing Star Stone Fragment yet," Qi Xiao said.
"I've harvested three Meditation Mushrooms and a Millennial Essence Herb."
Tuoba Butuo produced a palm-sized, pitch-black Essence Herb, resembling a squat, chubby child. It exuded a potent Medicinal Fragrance and a dense aura of life. Knowing that Li Weiyi was raising seven Strange Insects, which consumed vast resources, he handed him the Millennial Essence Herb.
Next, he retrieved a rusty spear: "I can't quite understand this item, but it's clearly no ordinary object."
When Qi Xiao took the spear, he nearly sank into the swamp. It was incredibly heavy, weighing over 30,000 jin.
Indeed, it was no ordinary object.
When he tried to activate it with Spiritual Qi, nothing happened.
"I don't understand it!"
He shook his head and passed it to Li Weiyi.
Li Weiyi was prepared.
He summoned a cloud of Spiritual Qi beneath his feet to support and carry his body.
Grasping the rusty spear, he channeled his own Spiritual Qi into it. But it remained as inert as dead iron, refusing to absorb any energy.
Tuoba Butuo explained, "Both the spear and the Millennial Essence Herb were found deep underground, three hundred li into the Netherblack Swamp. That area is quite eerie..."
Qi Xiao interjected, "It's probably just a spear forged from a highly dense metal."
"The spear's craftsmanship is exquisite. It measures exactly one zhang in length, not a fraction more or less, and weighs precisely 33,333 jin."
As a Spiritual Master, Li Weiyi was acutely sensitive to length and weight.
Formation Masters couldn't add or subtract even a fraction of an inch when setting up formations. Alchemists couldn't weigh their ingredients even a fraction of a gram off during alchemy.
Li Weiyi examined the spearhead. It was exactly one foot long, razor-sharp, with ear-like protrusions on either side.
Wiping away the rust revealed faint traces of a star chart pattern beneath, one he felt he'd seen before.
He turned his attention to the spear's tail...
The tail was hollow, tubular, and jagged.
He wondered if this was intentional design or if something had been stored inside.
A thought struck Li Weiyi. He channeled his Psychic Power, summoning the Golden Crow Flame to incinerate the spear and see if it would melt.
"Hiss!"
The Golden Crow Flame enveloped the rusty spear.
Something strange happened.
The spear, covered in rust, began rapidly absorbing Li Weiyi's Psychic Power.
Li Weiyi was astonished.
He poured all his Psychic Power into the spear.
Gradually, the one-foot spearhead grew brighter, and the star chart patterns became clearer. Identical star chart patterns appeared above the heads of all three, covering a vast area.
"Could this be a Psychic Master's Spiritual Staff?" Qi Xiao exclaimed in amazement.
The Spiritual Artifacts of Martial-Mystic Cultivators were diverse and varied, ranging from swords and spears to shields and armor.
In contrast, Spiritual Masters possessed far fewer artifacts, and each one was incredibly precious.
Talismans and Formation Flags didn't count as Spiritual Master artifacts, since Martial-Mystic Cultivators could also activate and use them.
Li Weiyi swung the long spear, but the light at its tip and the star-track patterns on its head instantly vanished without releasing any power.
"It should be a staff... or rather, a battle weapon that combines a spear and a staff. But it seems to be missing a section, so it can't unleash its full power."
Li Weiyi sensed the spear's extraordinary nature and asked, "Tuoba, where did you find this? If we can find the missing section, I'll trade you my Ghost Banner for it."
He needed to conceal his Martial-Mystic Path cultivation as much as possible by posing as a Spiritual Master.
When fighting Si Kong Jingyuan, he didn't need to worry about revealing his true strength - he could easily bluff him.
But if an Immortal Realm Giant were to watch, the vast disparity in his Martial-Mystic Path cultivation and combat power would inevitably draw unwanted attention.
A suitable staff would significantly boost his combat effectiveness as a Spiritual Master, allowing him to truly fight above his level.
Tuoba Butuo chuckled: "No need to trade. Brother Weiyi, just take it. Even if it truly is a Spiritual staff, I wouldn't be able to use it! Besides... do you really think I could wield a treasure like the Ghost Banner? I don't think even you could, Brother Weiyi."
Having activated the Ghost Banner, Li Weiyi now understood its extraordinary nature.
Tuoba Butuo, with his Third Heaven cultivation in the Dao Seed Realm, had summoned an Yin Ghost Commander whose combat strength rivaled weaker Fifth Heaven Dao Seed Realm experts.
Moreover, he could fight alongside it.
However, the cost in Spiritual Qi was immense.
Tuoba Butuo had said Li Weiyi wouldn't be able to wield the Ghost Banner because no one knew its true limits.
Palace Master An and Venerable Yao must have considered using it.
At best, their silence could be attributed to pride or the lack of a crisis they couldn't handle.
At worst, the possibilities were far more numerous.
Tuoba Butuo continued, "Brother Weiyi, don't be so reserved. Given you saved my life, you can accept this without hesitation. Besides, if we can't find the other half, it's just a useless object, worth nothing."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony! I'll make it up to you later."
Li Weiyi retracted his spear and said, "Let's go back to that strange area you mentioned and search again! I want to see just how strange it is."
Qi Xiao looked concerned: "Si Kong Jingyuan will definitely return to the Withered Flourish (Kurong) Hall and ask for powerful reinforcements. Wouldn't it be too dangerous for us to stay in the Netherblack Swamp any longer?"
Tuoba Butuo nodded: "We should return to Headquarters first. We're the ones in the right. Let Si Kong Jingyuan go back first. He'll undoubtedly twist the truth and make a big deal out of Si Kong Ce's death."
Li Weiyi said, "Your concerns are valid, but have you considered this? Si Kong Jingyuan probably assumes we'll immediately return to Headquarters. He's already left, and we can't catch up. Returning to Headquarters now might be even more dangerous."
Li Weiyi had many life-saving methods and wasn't overly afraid.
He continued, "There's another possibility! Si Kong Jingyuan is a Divine Son, and his cultivation is higher than ours."
"He wouldn't retreat so shamefully. Not only did he suffer a crushing defeat, but I also took his treasure mirror. That's too humiliating! If I were him, I'd hide in the shadows and regroup for a counterattack without sustaining any injuries."
"His concealment techniques and escape arts are truly remarkable."
Tuoba Butuo nodded lightly: "If it were me, I would have done the same. Moreover, he and Si Kong Yanlun are Ren Dao Brothers, bound by a mysterious spiritual connection. If he calls Si Kong Yanlun, he'll be brimming with confidence, ready to fight us again."
"Let's go. With our current strength, even if the brothers joined forces, they wouldn't stand much chance of winning."
After his clash with Si Kong Jingyuan, Li Weiyi's confidence soared, dispelling his awe of Fourth Heaven Martial-Mystic Cultivators in the Dao Seed Realm.
Figures who had condensed Dao Lotuses had once seemed unattainable, like towering mountains pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.
Now, he saw they were nothing more than that.
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END OF CHAPTER
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