Chapter 275 – Controlling Artifacts and Swords (2/2)

Hua Chenglu was grumbling, “Gosh. Something so fascinating went down, yet you didn’t even call me over.” After learning about what she had missed last night, she was filled with regret.

Hua Chengzan hushed her silently. He pointed at Li Qingshan, who sat by the stream nearby.

“Li Qingshan! He has really reached the sixth layer!” Hua Chenglu was surprised. The last time she had met him, he was only at the second layer. In just a few measly months, he had advanced four layers. He was astonishingly fast. During this period, she had never stopped cultivating either, but she had only reached the fourth layer. Of course, that was already quite impressive at her age.

“What’s he doing?” Yu Zjian asked curiously. Although it had only been a few months, everything she had gone through made what happened on the Island of Cherishing Flowers seem extremely distant. The young man seated there could only be regarded as a stranger to her.

Hua Chengzan said, “He’s refining a flying sword. Chenglu, don’t get jealous of him. He might have cultivated extremely quickly, but his foundation will be rather unstable, and his true qi won’t be pure enough. This step will become much more difficult as a result.”

The Hua family had plenty of methods that could boost Hua Chenglu’s cultivation to higher levels, but these methods of quick success would definitely lead to many consequences. And, with an unstable foundation and impure true qi, cultivation would become much more difficult too.

Before Hua Chengzan had even finished speaking, Yu Zijian pointed at Li Qingshan and said, “It’s flying.”

Hua Chengzan looked back in a rush. He saw the small sword in Li Qingshan palms take off into the air with a swish. After that, it turned around and flew back with a swoosh, silently piercing a fake mountain before returning to Li Qingshan’s side, hovering before him.

Hua Chengzan was as insightful as they came. Although the flying sword was still rather stiff when it came to turns, it was basically an unbelievable achievement if this was the first time he had controlled the sword. In particular, he had noticed that the flying sword had actually flown over a hundred paces away. That had completely surpassed the range of regular sixth layer Qi Practitioners. It was on par with seventh or even eighth layer Qi Practitioners.

There was only one explanation for this. Li Qingshan’s true qi was extremely pure.

Faced with Hua Chenglu’s doubtful gaze, Hua Chengzan rubbed his nose and smiled bitterly. How he cultivated was truly a mystery.

Even if there were a lot of pills that could increase the purity of true qi, they could not make it so pure. It would still require tremendous amounts of time for the Qi Practitioner to refine it to such a degree, and when it came to purifying true qi, it would mean stretching out the time spent on cultivation. He must have spent day and night cultivating for the past few months! To be able to catch her attention, he possessed a lot of extraordinary aspects, sure enough.

No matter how clever Hua Chengzan was, he would have never imagined that Li Qingshan possessed a sumeru ring that even Foundation Establishment cultivators did not possess. Moreover, he could absorb the spiritual qi of the world as a Qi Practitioner.

Li Qingshan had noticed their arrival quite some time ago. However, he had just been concentrating on controlling the sword, so he could not acknowledge them.

He formed a seal with his hand, and the sea of qi in his dantian churned endlessly. Using his obscure connection with the flying sword, he made the flying sword fly about freely, piercing rocks and wood. The power was startling. It demonstrated the power worthy of a high grade spiritual artifact.

His pure true qi played a decisive role in why he could grasp the art of controlling artifacts so quickly. Water was gentle in nature. It was not suited for attacks, but it was extremely mellow, making it easy to control. And, without his pure true qi, he would have struggled to refine a high grade spiritual artifact in such a short amount of time.

After a slight estimate, he noticed that the range of his sword control was around a hundred paces. He could actually behead someone from a hundred paces away now. Once the flying sword left this range, it would weaken significantly, and he would even lose control over it. Who knew how long it would take until he could behead people from a hundred kilometers away.

However, he was already extremely satisfied with this power right now. He also gained a better understanding of why the art of practising the body was in decline. Just how much effort did Body Practitioners have to spend to move faster than a tiny flying sword? And, under the blade of the sword, they were useless even if they were made of metal.

After refining the flying sword, Li Qingshan stood up and smiled. “You’ve come.”

With a flash, the small sword shot into his sleeve and wrapped around his arm like a bracelet. As the first flying sword he would be controlling, this would be his primary method of attack within the human world in the near future. He had to carry it on him constantly and assimilate with it until he could wield it as freely as a third arm.

Only now did the trio approach him. Li Qingshan greeted Hua Chenglu, “Young miss Hua, long time no see. I haven’t forgotten about the assistance you provided me in the past. I’m thinking about a way to return the favour right now.”

Thinking about it now, he realised that both siblings had backed him up before, and it was both against the Sect of Clouds and Rain.

Hua Chenglu smiled in a reserved manner. “It was nothing difficult, so you really can’t label it as kindness. There’s no need to call me young miss either. Just call me by my name. After tomorrow, we’ll be fellow students. I hope you can take good care of me then, Qingshan.”

Li Qingshan said, “Chengzan, your dear sister exceeds you in nobility!”

Hua Chengzan smiled. “Exactly! That’s what the others say too. I sigh over my inferiority too!”

Hua Chenglu had always been clever, so how could she not realise that they were making fun of her? She immediately became unhappy with it all.

Hua Chengzan felt powerless towards this younger sister of his too. Yu Zijian smiled. Only then did she demonstrate her past naivety again.

“And, long time no see to you too, miss Yu.” Li Qingshan saw how Yu Zjian still wore violet, but her aura was much calmer and steadier than before. With a sword on her waist, she seemed valiant in bearing.

She asked in concern, “B- big brother Li, I heard that the Sect of Clouds and Rain wanted to do things to you. Are you fine?”

“I’m fine.” Li Qingshan felt amazed inside. Back then underground, she had called him Niu Juxia. Now, she called him big brother Li.