Under the empowerment of the divine sword's spirit, the power of the spiritual awareness is greatly enhanced.
Chen Yun felt like he had an endless and inexhaustible force within himself.
At that moment, he felt as powerful as a god, as if one strike could destroy the heavens and earth.
The surge of spiritual awareness felt so overwhelming that he found himself somewhat addicted to it.
"The Thunder Strike on Zǐmù Wood, truly it is the King of Magical Artifacts."
Chen Yun couldn't help but secretly exclaim in admiration.
Thunderstruck wood, as the name suggests, is wood that has been struck by lightning.
After being struck by lightning, Zǎomù, Táomù, Liǔmù, Yangmù, Hóumù, and Shìmù can all be referred to as thunderstruck wood.
However, there is also an important condition for becoming thunderstruck wood, which is to survive after being struck by lightning. If it does not survive, it cannot be called thunderstruck wood.
In addition, if lightning is artificially induced, it does not qualify as thunderstruck wood.
Very few trees in nature are struck by lightning.
Striking a Peach wood or a Ziziphus jujuba tree by lightning is even more rare and can only be encountered, not sought after.
They are invaluable materials for making magical artifacts in Taoist culture.
Thunderstruck wood as the first magical artifact in Taoism, especially thunderstruck Ziziphus jujuba wood, can be considered the King of All Magical Artifacts in Taoism.
Because Ziziphus jujuba wood has a dense texture, is hard and solid, and has a strong sense of heaviness, it grows slowly. It has experienced countless days and nights under the sun and moon, thus accumulating qi from heaven and earth.
A century-old thunderstruck Ziziphus jujuba wood is an essence born from the harmonious intersection of the yin and yang qi of heaven and earth.
Its long lifespan and continuous absorption of divine energy from the heavens and earth have given rise to the term "spirit" among those born from it.
Afterward, through surviving the lightning strike, the "spirit" is equivalent to having passed the "thunder tribulation," and is then bestowed with "divine nature" by the heavens.
The immense power it contains cannot be compared to a true immortal, but it far surpasses ordinary corpse-ascending immortals and may even be comparable to ghostly immortals.
Chen Yun's qi can become more powerful after being reinforced by the "Spirit of Ziziphus jujuba Wood," but what surprises him is that the spirit force, once entering and being reinforced, has even more enormous power.
"If my spiritual awareness is within the divine sword, that would make me a being akin to a ghostly immortal."
He couldn't help but exclaim, "It's a shame that it can only be strengthened within the divine sword. If released, it would not be as powerful."
Thoughts crossing his mind, he withdrew his spiritual awareness from the divine sword.
As expected, a feeling of "weakness and powerlessness" passed through.
This feeling is like, before the moment, I was still a being with the ability to level mountains and rivers, but in the next moment, I became an ant.
The disparity was incredibly disheartening.
"It's not my own strength."
Chen Yun did not feel disappointed.
His mindset differed from that of ancient cultivators, understanding that external force is external force. He wouldn't feel disappointed because he couldn't fully unleash the divine sword's power.
Being able to augment his own strength already made him satisfied.
"Although the drip of essence blood has already 'claimed ownership', to completely merge with this divine sword, I'd better cultivate with qi every day for a moment, just like increasing proficiency in a game."
This process is also known as consecration.
In this case, even if the divine sword is taken by someone else, it will not be used by others for a short period.
"External force is still external force. Without a strong power within oneself, even if it is increased by a hundred times, what can one do?"
Chen Yun's gaze became resolute, and he sheathed the divine sword.
One must strengthen their cultivation.
He cuts a small piece of the wolf's stomach and cooks it with tiger meat.
He swallows a herb called Zhuyu, then sits down cross-legged and meditates there.
Using the condensed qi beads, he gradually integrates essence and qi into true qi, gathering it into the lower dantian.
It was about an hour later.
Chen Yun's first round of training is over.
Luckily, the wolf stomach and tiger meat stew is also done.
He stood up and poured the soup into a large bowl.
Wait for a while, warm it up, and Chen Yun swallowed the soup and meat together.
Returning to the bed, he began his second round of training to refine essence into qi, not caring whether it would increase his body's burden.
The effectiveness of the Zhuyu herb is continuously enhanced by the super stomachic and digestion function of the wolf stomach.
A large amount of essence is transformed into true qi by the condensed qi beads.
The remaining essence that could not be integrated in time, under the refinement of essence and body, constantly strengthens the physical body.
Time passed minute by minute.
Soon, the time was approaching midnight.
Chen Yun slowly opened his eyes, a look of fatigue on his face, but he couldn't help but be excited, "One night of cultivation is equivalent to over twenty days. My true qi quantity has grown significantly again. In no more than ten days, I'm sure to reach the middle stage of the eighth grade!"
...
Ten days passed by quickly.
During this time, Chen Yun cultivated his essence into qi every night with the help of the wolf stomach and the Zhuyu herb, and his strength increased rapidly.
Now, his strength has reached the mid-stage of a eighth-level mage, and his power has further narrowed compared to Liu Guibai.
At the same time, his physique was incredibly robust. Chen Yun felt that his arms had a thousand cun's strength.
"The Accumulation of Essence and Refinement of the Body method of Zhao Gongming is incredibly powerful. Now, my entire body is brimming with sinew and muscle, my physical strength is unprecedentedly strong, and if a normal tiger were in front of me, I would have the confidence to kill it with one punch!"
In the room, feeling amazed by tightening his fists, Chen Yun couldn't help but marvel at the miraculous skills of cultivators in cultivation.
Most importantly, despite his physical body becoming so powerful, Chen Yun has not yet achieved small success in the accumulation of essence and refinement of the body. He can only be said to have grasped the basic principles.
If one were to cultivate it to mastery, it might truly make one invulnerable to blades and spears, and immune to water and fire.
Chen Yun thought to himself in the dark: "To be honest, it's not that Liu Guibai angered me this time. Perhaps I wouldn't be so eager to enhance my strength and wouldn't have reached the mid-stage of the eighth-grade mage within such a short period of time."
He felt the vast power for a while.
He looked at the stack of "Peaceful and Auspicious Absorption Formulas" on the table.
In total, there are three hundred of them. All of these were made by him day and night over the past few days.
At first, the production speed was slow, and without using qigong to recover true qi, he could only make about a dozen per day.
However, as the increase of his true qi due to refining Zhuyu herb, his own true qi became increasingly abundant. Even without using qigong to recover true qi, he could still produce thirty or so per day later on.
Additionally, next to these "Peaceful and Auspicious Absorption Formulas", there were also eight of the attack type amulets: Liuyan Formulas, Dashui Formulas, Cangling Formulas, Zixuan Formulas, and Qingming Formulas.
These amulets have great power and are the best that Chen Yun can currently make.
For example, the Zixuan Formula releases a purple light attack on enemies, and if it hits, it will instantly drain the enemy's blood, causing death.
Cangling Formula is somewhat similar to Zixuan Formula. It also shoots out a white light gas, but instead of taking a person's life, it causes dizziness and leaves the soul unable to stay in place, causing a sudden fainting spell.
The most powerful among them is the Qingming Formula, which releases a blue light gas that, upon hitting a target or any object, will cause an explosion with explosive damage.
"I will not use these formulae unless absolutely necessary, especially the Qingming Formula, whose power is truly enormous. I will try my best to avoid causing harm to others."
Chen Yun put these amulets away.
At this moment, the door of the room rang with a "dong dong" knocking sound.
"Please come in."
Chen Yun turned around and shouted.
Click, the door creaked open from outside, and two men in armor walked in.
The man among them had noble bearing, with worm-like eyebrows, wearing black armor, and carrying a windbreaker.
The other man looked ugly, like the ancient evil, also wearing armor and carrying a windbreaker.
"Master Chen, a few days ago we tracked down the whereabouts of the Yellow Flag rebels. After several days of careful deployment, we have secretly surrounded them," the noble-looking general said. "Commander Zhang has ordered me to inform you that you can go and capture the Yellow Flag rebels."
Chen Yun had met these two subordinates of the General Administrator several days ago. He knew the noble-looking general was named Ma Qin, and the other, who looked like an ancient evil, was called Yan Meng.
"How many are there?" Chen Yun asked, drawing out the Red Gold Demon-Slaying Sword.
Ma Qin said, "Master Chen, as for the number of enemies, there are hundreds of deathless soldiers in the suburban mansion. This time, General Zhang has ordered me and Yan Subordinate to lead three hundred Shenge troops to attack the rebels. At that time, Chen Xianzang can watch from the sidelines."
Chen Yun, holding the divine sword, smiled and said, "I may not be able to sit back and watch. Well, distribute these formulae to the soldiers. Call my Zhang master brother and let's set off to wipe out the bandits now."
"Yes."
"Please, Chen Xianzang."
Ma Qin and Yan Meng followed Chen Yun slowly to the door.
Chen Yun held the divine sword without speaking a word.
Today, he will definitely use this divine sword to have a good match with Liu Guibai and show him his strength!
……
On the other side, at a farm ten miles outside of Tao Lin City.
"The situation is that Chen Yun is hiding inside the city of Tao Lin and won't come out. My brothers under me don't know what to do," a stout farmer dressed man frowned.
This man is Zhu Rang, the leader of the Yellow Flag rebels near Tao Lin City. He is not a local warlord but a leader under a county-level warlord. He practices body-refining techniques rather than Yin Spirit cultivation, and has arms with a thousand jin of strength. Added to his proficiency in martial arts, he would certainly be an invincible general in any ordinary army. Unfortunately, he is now a bandit.
Liu Guibai scoffed coldly, "I don't believe he will stay hidden in Tao Lin City for the rest of his life. This thief ambushed my Lin brother, destroying his physical body, and I swear I won't return until I capture him and bring him back to Xigou City!"
Zhu Rang nodded, "I have over a hundred deathless soldiers here, all of whom are proficient in martial arts. Dealing with just two people is as easy as picking fruit, no doubt. Brother Liu, rest assured, I will definitely help you capture the thief and avenge Master Lin's great hatred."
Liu Guibai suddenly remembered something, "Oh, by the way, Brother Zhu, please don't underestimate Chen Yun that scoundrel. I have fought him once and his cultivation may be far inferior to mine, but he seems to be proficient in illusions and dream-entrance techniques. These are absolute countermeasures for you who specialize in body refining. When you engage in battle with him, be extremely cautious not to fall into the dream-entrance technique."
Zhu Rang dismissed it with a nonchalant attitude, "I won't give him a chance to cast spells. If we meet, I'll knock him unconscious with one punch. Don't worry about it."
There are many pavilions and towers on the farm, emitting a subtle fragrance of flowers.
Standing on the roof of the pavilion, opening the window, you can overlook the scenery several li away, which is a vantage point.
Moreover, the farm is full of hidden spots, with secret watchtowers and guards everywhere, and there are highly skilled deathless soldiers guarding it at all times.
Liu Guibai and Zhu Rang were standing on the rooftop of the pavilion, chatting casually.
They didn't think Chen Yun would retaliate. They believed that capturing Chen Yun and Zhang Qian was as easy as picking fruit.
While they were chatting.
Suddenly, Liu Guibai noticed many figures outside the farm without intending to.
Hmm?
What is that?
Liu Guibai hurriedly turned his head to look out the window.
I wouldn't have looked if it weren't for...
Upon looking, he was startled.
The farm is not far away, and flags are flying, iron armor shines like scales, swords and spears are like a forest, black horses gallop like dragons, and a large army of soldiers stir up a thick dust cloud.
At a glance, there are probably over a hundred troops.
Liu Guibai's face turned pale. He stuck his head out of the window and looked around in all directions, then he couldn't help but suck in a cold breath.
Only the place where the farm backs on the mountainside was surrounded by thick smoke and stirring shadows on the other two sides.
Each side had at least a hundred fully armed elite soldiers, and the armor format and flag styles on their bodies clearly indicated that they were part of the Shenge troops of the Tang Dynasty!
(Chapter ends)
