My Beasts Grind Proficiency For Me-Chapter 60: Refining Sword into Gang
Yang Jing had tried all sorts of methods recently, even feeding the Three Cities Bloodthirsty Mosquito Mother a precious Bone Marrow Transformation Pill. But the Demon Mosquito was completely unyielding; its Affinity remained stuck at -50, without the slightest change.
Its ferocity had weakened somewhat, though. Yang Jing had woven a long whip from Cyan Light Vine to avoid accidentally killing the mosquito with the Bone Demon Spine. Whenever the Three Cities Bloodthirsty Mosquito Mother’s ferocity flared, he would lash it with the whip.
The whip was imbued with Celestial True Yang, and every lash inflicted excruciating pain.
After several consecutive days of this treatment, the Demon Mosquito’s viciousness finally dissipated a great deal. At the very least, it learned not to aim its Long Needle at people.
Yang Jing knew such a crude Insect Training Skill was only a temporary fix, not a true solution. The Three Cities Bloodthirsty Mosquito Mother was merely subdued by his might for now. Once it recovered its Power, it would likely try to suck his Essence Blood dry at the first opportunity.
However, the art of training and raising insects was quite niche. And since Demon Sects were the ones who excelled at Gu Insect Skills, the practice was rather taboo in the Chen Kingdom. The manuals sold by the Great Trading Houses were all superficial—at most, they could teach one to tame Spirit Bees for collecting honey, but they were of no real use.
The channel Yang Jing thought of was the black market.
Wherever Independent Cultivators gathered, a black market was bound to exist, providing a convenient place to sell illicit goods. Some Tribulation Cultivators also needed channels to offload their stolen goods and avoid brokers from taking too large a cut.
In the black market, all sorts of Magical Artifacts, Elixirs, and Cultivation Techniques of questionable origin were for sale, and the prices were much lower than in the Marketplace. Even forbidden Demon Skills were available.
As a veteran player, Yang Jing naturally knew the black market’s location. However, it was filled with shady characters of every stripe, and robbery and murder were common. He planned to wait until he broke through to the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation and his Power had greatly increased before going.
After the Five Elements Wheel formed in his Dantian, its rotations caused the Magical Power in Yang Jing’s body to grow increasingly pure. The bottleneck to the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation was right before him.
On this day, Yang Jing first took the Muscle Strengthening Pill, Golden Skin Pill, and Jade Bone Pill in sequence. He then circulated his Celestial True Yang and performed a set of the Tiger Roar Iron Cloth Shirt to temper his body. Afterward, he used a Cleaning Spell to wash away the sweat, changed into a loose Daoist Robe, and sat cross-legged on the large rock where he usually practiced Qi Cultivation.
Today’s Qi Cultivation felt different. Yang Jing found the Magical Power in his Dantian to be exceptionally active. Having long ago cultivated the Five Talisman Scripture to the realm of Refined Skill, he knew this was the sign he was about to break through to the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation.
Unhurried, he simply followed the routine, circulating his Magical Power along the pathways described in the Five Talisman Scripture and Refining the Spiritual Qi from each Circulation into his own Magical Power.
An unknown amount of time passed before Yang Jing suddenly felt a jolt in his Mud Ball Palace. Something was sprouting within it, much like when he first sensed Magical Power and opened his Dantian at the beginning of his Qi Cultivation journey.
He keenly seized upon this momentary change, pouring his Divine Sense into the space.
The Divine Sense that entered his Mud Ball Palace shot up like bamboo after a spring rain, growing and soaring rapidly. This transformation lasted for more than three hours before it slowly came to an end.
Yang Jing extended his Divine Sense outward and found it was as if he had grown a third eye. Everything within a ten-meter radius was revealed in the finest detail, only starting to become blurry and indistinct beyond fifteen meters.
The Divine Sense of an ordinary Middle Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator could probe a range of about five to seven meters. His was at least three meters wider.
’This is likely because my realm in the Five Talisman Scripture has reached Refined Skill. My True Yang Body also played a significant role.’ Yang Jing concluded that pure Magical Power and a powerful physique could, in turn, nourish one’s Divine Sense, making it stronger than that of other Cultivators at the same Realm. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮
He eagerly took out the Flying Sword he had obtained from the Tribulation Cultivator and injected his Divine Sense into it. The sword’s previous owner was long dead, and most of their Divine Sense lingering within it had dissipated over time.
With just a bit of cleansing, Yang Jing completely wiped away the residual Divine Sense and then began imprinting his own into the sword’s Restriction.
The Restriction inside a Flying Sword was far more complex than that of a typical Magical Artifact. It took Yang Jing more than two hours to complete this step.
The Flying Sword at his side wobbled into the air. Its movements were awkward at first, but after a moment of practice, it became as nimble as a swimming fish, darting back and forth through the air.
Iron Head and Yinjiao stared wide-eyed, watching the Flying Sword weave through the air.
Unfortunately, the Cave Mansion was too small for him to test the sword’s maximum control distance. A Late Stage Qi Cultivation Cultivator could control a Flying Sword from within a hundred paces; for the Middle Stage, that distance was halved to only fifty paces.
With a flick of his Divine Thought, the Flying Sword returned to his side.
Controlling the Flying Sword this way was, in essence, no different from using an ordinary Magical Artifact; it was simply relying on the blade’s inherent sharpness to kill. Only by reaching the Sword Dao Realm of Refining Sword into Gang could one truly be called a Sword Cultivator.
Once one achieved Refining Sword into Gang, a Flying Sword could cut through a Defensive Spiritual Artifact as easily as slicing through a melon.
Yang Jing considered the three Sword Mantras he possessed. The Red Training Sword Mantra came from the Huang Family, a Foundation Establishment Clan, so its origins were illicit and couldn’t be revealed. The Fire Dragon Sword Scripture, meanwhile, was immensely powerful; cultivating it to an advanced degree could even lead to comprehending the realm of Sword Light Transformation.
However, the threshold for this Sword Mantra was too high; one had to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage to even begin practicing it.
Having ruled out the other two options, Yang Jing was left with the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship. This Sword Mantra had been created by Li Jixun, who had modified it from the Five Elements True Spirit Sect’s True and False Five Elements Sword Scripture.
Although Li Jixun had been a man of poor character, he was a first-rate genius in cultivation. After his Transformation into a Demon, his achievements had even surpassed those of the Biyuan Ancestor. The Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship he created was easy to begin, yet profound in concept, and its power was in no way lacking.
As long as he used the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship to master the realm of Refining Sword into Gang, his direct Power of Magical Combat would increase dramatically. Then, as long as he didn’t encounter a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the black market, he would be able to come and go as he pleased.
Yang Jing thought for a moment, then summoned Yinjiao.
The Twenty-Four Solar Terms were mostly related to meteorological phenomena. True Dragons possessed the ability to move clouds, make rain, disperse fog, and summon lightning—to control the weather. As a Flood Dragon with a True Dragon Bloodline, Yinjiao was a natural fit for the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship.
Yinjiao rode a cloud to Yang Jing’s side, looking expectantly at his Master. Iron Head followed eagerly, his eyes filled with envy.
"Yinjiao, today I shall pass a Sword Technique on to you. I will Refine it into a Dao Seed and perform an Empowerment. Iron Head, if you wish to learn this Sword Technique, wait until you achieve Transformation and then ask your Junior Brother Yinjiao for guidance."
Yang Jing said, patting Iron Head’s head.
Iron Head nodded obediently. Ever since Junior Brother Yinjiao had quietly told him that a Dao Seed Empowerment consumed a great deal of the master’s Vitality, he no longer dared to complain in his heart whenever his Master ordered him to perform Alchemy.
Every day, he thought only of Refining more Spirit Pills to repay his Master’s kindness.
"Master, this time, please consume my Magical Cultivation again to lessen your burden," Yinjiao said earnestly.
"Alright."
Yang Jing was very pleased with Yinjiao’s devotion.
[Consume Spirit Stones to have the Flood Dragon (Yinjiao) learn the *Twenty-Four Solar Terms Swordsmanship*?]
After he confirmed, the Spirit Stones harvested during the autumn defense began to rapidly disappear.
