Chapter 2: The God-slaying Sword, the Destructive Technique!
Jiang Chen returned to his empty room.
'The human heart is truly the most inscrutable thing. I never thought Ziyou would be so materialistic and pragmatic. Fine. Now that I've seen their ugly true colors, it's the perfect time to sever my attachment to the Jiang Family. After the Yulan Festival, I'll submit a request to the Elder Council to get back my Saint Martial Order and head to the Saint Martial Sword Sect!'
Jiang Chen shook his head with a bitter smile, a foul taste in his mouth.
After all…
Ever since his father, Jiang Taixu, left Yandu City six years ago, Jiang Ziyou had been the only one by his side in the vast Jiang Family residence. They were childhood sweethearts.
The way she treated him now was truly disheartening.
'What's gone is gone, and yesterday cannot be held onto. What vexes my heart brings only sorrow today. She's so heartless, why should I even spare her a thought? Let these six years of friendship scatter in the wind!'
Jiang Chen let out a long breath and took out a purple Jade Pendant that he always wore close to his skin.
On its surface was a majestic purple dragon, coiled around a Holy Sword.
This was the Jade Pendant his father, Jiang Taixu, had given him before he left.
Even after six years.
Jiang Chen remembered it vividly. Late one night six years ago, his father had suddenly returned and given him both the Saint Martial Order and this Jade Pendant.
He had instructed him to wear the Jade Pendant at all times and to diligently practice a strange Magic Formula every day.
Then, he left.
He was gone for six years, without a single word.
Everyone said Jiang Taixu had offended a powerful enemy and had been killed.
But Jiang Chen always believed his father was still alive somewhere in this world. His goal was to become stronger and then find him.
To achieve that, the first step was to go to the Saint Martial Sword Sect.
"Focus intent on the Dantian, let the single Yang stir…" Jiang Chen began to practice the strange Magic Formula he had persisted with for six years, his movements fluid and familiar. For the first hour or so, just like in the past six years, nothing happened.
But just as he was about to end his cultivation, the Jade Pendant in his hand suddenly grew warm.
Immediately after…
The Jade Pendant became scalding hot.
Jiang Chen instinctively opened his palm. The searing Jade Pendant fell, landing right on his stomach. A flash of purplish-red light blinked, and the purple dragon on the pendant came to life!
It reared its head and roared, then, carrying the Holy Sword, it shot toward Jiang Chen's lower abdomen with a SWOOSH.
The purple dragon and the Holy Sword then vanished without a trace.
"Wh-what happened? Where's the Jade Pendant?" Jiang Chen's eyes widened in shock and confusion.
But at that moment, a vast and surging torrent of information flooded into his mind.
"God-slaying Sword, Destructive Technique!"
Jiang Chen's eyes flew open. A buzzing sound echoed in his head, making his mind go completely blank.
Then, a bizarre scene unfolded…
Jiang Chen felt a strange ripple emanate from his Dantian and spread throughout his body. Under the force of this wave, his robes exploded into tatters, and his body became transparent.
His meridians, bones, and the flow of his blood were all clearly visible.
His lower abdomen was precisely where his Dantian was located!
At this moment…
Inside Jiang Chen's Dantian, aside from the faintly glowing Golden Needle Martial Soul, a speck of golden light was expanding, transforming into the phantom of a golden Holy Dragon.
It roamed and circled within his Dantian. As the golden Holy Dragon twisted its body, a Holy Sword appeared within its form.
The Holy Dragon coiled around the Golden Holy Sword!
"Isn't—isn't this the Jade Pendant my father gave me? H-how did it get into my Dantian?" Jiang Chen was stunned. A flash of insight suddenly struck him.
ROAR—
The golden Holy Dragon spiraled above the Holy Sword, its eyes glinting with a cold, arrogant light.
The Holy Dragon and Holy Sword slammed violently into Jiang Chen's Yellow Tier First Grade Golden Needle Martial Soul.
BUZZ!
His entire Dantian trembled violently. The Golden Needle Martial Soul erupted with brilliant golden light as the Holy Dragon and Holy Sword shrank, slowly fusing with it.
A faint golden mist enveloped the Golden Needle Martial Soul.
Through the mist, Jiang Chen could clearly see the Golden Needle Martial Soul undergoing a dramatic transformation. A ferocious, sprawling dragon engraving appeared on its surface, and its very shape began to change.
Its tip slowly protruded outwards on two sides, and its cylindrical, needle-like body flattened and widened.
It finally took the form of a Golden Holy Sword, encircled by a dragon engraving.
"The Golden Needle Martial Soul... it swallowed the Holy Dragon and Holy Sword that the Jade Pendant transformed into?" Jiang Chen's eyes widened in astonishment as the golden mist gradually faded.
The Golden Needle Martial Soul was gone. In its place was a Golden Holy Sword Martial Soul, shimmering with a brilliant golden light, its dragon engraving seeming to rise and fall on its surface!
This was the true form of Jiang Chen's Golden Needle Martial Soul, which everyone had called a worthless Martial Soul—the God-slaying Sword!
Jiang Chen's eyes widened. 'So my Martial Soul was sealed? No wonder it was only Yellow Tier First Grade. It seems Father knew all along that my Martial Soul was extraordinary. That's why he left me the Jade Pendant and had me practice that Magic Formula day and night—all to break the seal and let my Martial Soul, the God-slaying Sword, reappear in the world...'
His gaze fell upon his Martial Soul—the "God-slaying Sword"!
When Jiang Chen's consciousness touched the Sword of Gods, another surge of information poured into his mind. It was a Supreme Technique: "Profound Yellow Undying Technique!"
"Profound Yellow Undying Technique: cultivate a heaven-defying method, forge an Undying Body, refine an immortal soul... Undying and indestructible, escaping the cycle of Reincarnation!"
Jiang Chen's eyes lit up, his fists clenching unconsciously.
Though it was just a short description, it fully revealed the domineering power of the Profound Yellow Undying Technique.
Undying and indestructible!
Escaping the cycle of Reincarnation!
Jiang Chen's blood boiled. 'I see! My Martial Soul, the God-slaying Sword, was sealed. Only by cultivating the Profound Yellow Undying Technique can I gradually break the seal. Mastering the First Stage will unseal it to a Yellow Tier Martial Soul, the Second Stage to a Profound Tier Martial Soul, the Third Stage to an Earth-tier Martial Soul... As long as I master the Sixth Stage, my God-slaying Sword Martial Soul can advance to a Divine Tier Martial Soul. And the Profound Yellow Undying Technique has ten stages in total. If I cultivate it to the Perfection Realm, what heights will my Martial Soul reach?'
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Chen began to cultivate the Profound Yellow Undying Technique.
First Stage: Profound Yellow Qi Condensation Chapter!
This corresponded to the realm of the Martial Arts Ninth Stage.
The Martial Arts Ninth Stage was the Foundation Establishment phase for a Martial Artist. It focused on absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, drawing it into the Dantian, and refining it into True Qi.
But the Profound Yellow Undying Technique, after absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, didn't condense it into ordinary True Qi, but into Profound Yellow True Qi!
Ordinary True Qi was merely more condensed qi. Even when practicing some high-level Cultivation Techniques, one would only refine True Qi of a higher quality.
However, the Profound Yellow True Qi directly condensed by the Profound Yellow Undying Technique traced Spiritual Qi back to its source, restoring it to its most primordial and peak state.
Legend had it that heaven and earth were originally a single mass of chaos, gestating the Qi of Profound Yellow. Only when a primeval god split the chaos apart did heaven, earth, and the great wide world come into being.
It could be said that the Qi of Profound Yellow was the ancestor of all Spiritual Qi and True Qi!
The truly strongest True Qi!
'Incredible, simply incredible! If I cultivate the Qi of Profound Yellow, doesn't that mean I'll be using the ancestor of Spiritual Qi and True Qi to fight against its descendants? Wouldn't I be able to slay gods and buddhas alike, sweeping away everything in my path?'
Jiang Chen sat cross-legged on his bed and activated the Profound Yellow Undying Technique!
The vast Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi began to surge wildly. It started as extremely fine, weak threads of Spiritual Qi, which then grew thicker, twisting and coiling around each other.
A Spiritual Qi vortex formed above Jiang Chen's head, and streams of Spiritual Qi converged into it.
From the center of the vortex, a cyclone of Spiritual Qi descended, frantically funneling streams of it into Jiang Chen's body. It circulated through him along a special pathway, purifying itself of impurities during the process, before finally gathering in his Dantian.
This Spiritual Qi poured into the God-slaying Sword. When it was spat out by the open mouth of the dragon engraving, it had already transformed into the purest ancestor of all qi—Profound Yellow True Qi!
「Two days passed in the blink of an eye.」
Jiang Chen circulated his Cultivation Technique slightly, and the Profound Yellow True Qi in his body surged like a tidal wave, emitting a series of terrifying roars. "What a technique, this Profound Yellow Undying Technique! It let me break through to the Martial Arts First Stage in just two days!"
The cultivation hierarchy for a Martial Artist was strict. The foundational phase was the Martial Arts Ninth Stage.
Above the Martial Arts Ninth Stage were the True Martial Realm, the Heavenly Destiny Realm, the Union Palace Realm, and so on...
When Jiang Ziyou awakened her Profound Tier Ninth Grade Martial Soul, the power fed back from it allowed her to directly advance to the Martial Arts Third Stage Realm.
But so what?
With the Profound Yellow Undying Technique, it had only taken Jiang Chen two days to reach the Martial Arts First Stage Realm.
With a bit more hard cultivation, reaching the Martial Arts Third Stage would be a simple matter!
'At this rate, I'm confident I can even challenge the Martial Arts Seventh Stage by the time the Yulan Festival arrives. Hmph, Jiang Ziyou, don't you look down on me? I wonder how surprised you'll be during the festival when you find that the 'waste' you see is actually stronger than you.'
Just then…
The tightly shut door was suddenly kicked open with a BOOM, flying inward and crashing heavily onto the floor, sending up a cloud of dust.
Jiang Chen's pupils contracted as he looked toward the doorway...