chsdbacks Chapter 253: The Deterrence of a Semi-Spiritual Artifact
Chapter 253: The Deterrence of a Semi-Spiritual Artifact
"It's a magical artifact!"
The surrounding cultivators instantly erupted in a frenzy, their eyes widening as they stared intently at the gleaming white longsword in Dongfang Shuyi's hand, their faces filled with disbelief, and gasps of astonishment rose and fell.
"She's only at the Essence Blood Realm, how could she possibly activate a spiritual weapon?!"
Xu Hao's fierce and menacing demeanor vanished instantly, replaced by astonishment and confusion on his face.
Everyone knows that spiritual weapons are natal weapons that only cultivators at the Divine Integration Realm can control. Cultivators at the Body Refinement Realm cultivate their physical body and blood, and have not yet transformed their original spiritual power, so they cannot possibly activate spiritual weapons even slightly. Even if they were to burn their heart's essence to force activation, it would come at the cost of half their life, and no one would do such a thing unless they were in a life-or-death situation.
This is why they were so shocked when they saw Dongfang Shuyi easily summon his spirit sword.
Suddenly, Xu Hao realized a possibility, his eyes widened instantly, and he stared intently at the spirit sword. He noticed that the spiritual energy fluctuations on the sword were far less powerful than those of the orthodox spirit weapon in the sect, and there was even a trace of blood and qi flowing within the fluctuations.
"It's a semi-spiritual artifact!" Xu Hao exclaimed, his voice filled with undisguised shock.
Long Zuoben, who was standing next to him, was so intimidated by the power of the spirit sword that he felt a tightness in his heart. But when he heard Xu Hao's words, he quickly looked closely and recognized that it was a semi-spiritual weapon.
But instead of putting them at ease, this made them even more panicked.
Between mortal weapons and spiritual weapons, there does indeed exist a special type of weapon called a semi-spiritual weapon. It is a product of the top-tier Nascent Soul cultivators in powerful forces, created to give their descendants a weapon advantage even when they are in the Body Refinement stage. In reality, this modification involves forcibly weakening the core runes and spiritual materials of the spiritual weapon, cutting off its own power to reduce its strength, just to lower the barrier to entry for its use.
Even with its power greatly reduced, this semi-spiritual weapon can still be perfectly activated by cultivators at the fifth or sixth level of the Body Refinement Realm. Within the Body Refinement Realm, it can be considered a divine weapon that allows one to roam freely.
Everyone understands the principle, but almost no power would actually do it.
After all, crafting a semi-spiritual weapon essentially means destroying an entire orthodox spiritual weapon. Even if it is specially crafted from scratch, a complete spiritual weapon must be forged first before weakening it. The losses and costs involved are astronomical.
Only super-large sects spanning multiple states are willing to spend money on such a feat. Any power with a weaker financial foundation simply doesn't have the resources or the confidence to do so.
In this Thousand Mountains region, not to mention the Green Ox Sect, even the number one ranked Heavenly Gate has never heard of anyone possessing a semi-spiritual artifact!
Details about the semi-spiritual artifact flashed through Long Zuo's mind, and a layer of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead. He had only one thought in his mind: Damn it, did I really kick a hornet's nest this time and offend someone I shouldn't have?
He hurriedly pulled out what Dongfang Shuyi had said earlier, the phrase "The sect leader is a great cultivator of the Divine Realm" and "He has a close personal relationship with Captain Inkfish of the Flying Pavilion." He had thought it was just boasting before, but now every word pierced his heart, and his mind was instantly thrown into chaos.
Xu Hao glared at him fiercely, almost cursing out loud in his heart: Damn it, I've been really screwed over by this idiot this time!
A deathly silence fell instantly. When the spirit sword was first drawn, many people who hadn't recognized it as a semi-spiritual weapon were whispering among themselves, but once they heard the explanation of semi-spiritual weapons from those around them, they all shut their mouths instantly, not daring to even breathe.
The other sect cultivators who were just standing by making sarcastic remarks and stirring up trouble have all vanished, afraid that if they are a step too slow, they will be killed by Dongfang Shuyi's sword.
gurgle—
Xu Hao swallowed hard, the soft sound unusually clear in the deathly silence. The distant noises of other sects recruiting disciples only served to accentuate the stillness of the place.
He suppressed his fear, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and waved his hands repeatedly: "Fellow Daoist, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! I just acted rashly and made a mistake!"
"Your sect appears righteous and awe-inspiring; how could you possibly be associated with evil sects? I was blind; it was my fault!"
As he spoke, he carefully backed away, his muscles tense, fearing that Dongfang Shuyi might suddenly make a move.
The disciples of the Green Ox Sect behind him were so frightened that their legs trembled, and they retreated step by step.
The Qingniu Sect members, who were just moments before aggressive and shouting that they would wipe out the evil sects, were now cowering like quails. The contrast between their previous behavior and their current state was so stark that it left everyone speechless.
"Pfft."
Lu Rou couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The laughter pierced the silence, instantly drawing everyone's attention to her. Lu Rou jumped in fright, quickly covering her mouth and waving her hands frantically, "I... I didn't mean to!"
She was innocent and unaware of the immense humiliation that her uncontrollable laughter brought to the already disgraced Qingniu Sect members.
Xu Hao's face flushed crimson instantly, his hands, hidden in his sleeves, clenched into fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. But he didn't dare to retaliate, keeping his head down and quickly retreating.
Only after completely leaving the Yin-Yang Sword Sect's outpost area did he suddenly turn around and rush down the mountain without looking back, his speed as fast as if he were being chased by a ghost, showing no trace of his previous arrogance.
"Senior brother! Wait for us!" The disciples of the Green Ox Sect hurriedly followed.
Long Zuo was the only one who lagged behind. Under the gaze of everyone, he was at a loss and, in his panic, slipped and broke a dry branch. He fell to the ground with a "plop," making a huge fool of himself.
"Pfft— Hahahaha!"
This time, no one held back anymore, and a burst of laughter erupted from the surrounding area.
Dongfang Shuyi lowered his hands slightly, sheathed his spirit sword, and a trace of undisguised fatigue flashed quickly in his eyes.
"Senior Sister!" Upon seeing this, Wu Tianyu quickly stepped forward to support her.
"I'm fine." Dongfang Shuyi shook his head gently and said in a low voice, "This spirit sword is a practice piece made by the sect leader. It consumes much more energy than an ordinary semi-spiritual weapon. With my cultivation level, I can only activate it three times at most."
She gazed in the direction where the Qingniu Sect members had disappeared, secretly relieved and filled with a sense of relief.
"The sect leader can actually forge spiritual weapons himself?!" Wu Tianyu instantly grasped the key point, his face filled with shock. "With such skill in weapon forging, he would be qualified to serve as an elder even in the Divine Weapon Pavilion of Penglai Immortal City!"
Dongfang Shuyi shook his head: "The sect leader previously said that he was not good at weapon crafting, but who knew that a month ago, he actually crafted this spirit sword by himself."
"The sect leader has always been mysterious and unpredictable; we don't need to delve into it." Wu Tianyu composed himself, turned to look at the female cultivators still surrounding him with eyes full of awe, and said in a deep voice, "Let's take care of business first; recruiting disciples is the most important thing. We're still far from the sect leader's goal of five hundred disciples."