Life as a Rogue Cultivator

Chapter 297: The Mystery of the Flying Sword

Liu Xiaolou achieved Foundation Establishment at the age of thirty. And by doing so, he managed to extend his lifespan all the way to a hundred and sixty years.Spiritual energy streamed in through the countless pores on his skin and quickly transformed into true qi, building up in his Qi Sea.

That true qi drifted inside his Qi Sea like rolling mists, some thick, some thin.

But his speed at absorbing spiritual energy was more than twice that of a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, so even the spirit spring on Ganzhu Ridge no longer felt quite satisfying to him.

He spun, dropped lightly from the summit, then sprang up again. His leap cleared more than six zhang, twice what he could manage back when he had peak Qi Refinement.

His awareness of everything around him also sharpened by a wide margin.

He could hear everything: birds calling from a tree nearby, the buzz of a few bees flying over a slope, even insects creeping through the distant grass or fish gliding in the stream...

Anything that happened within about ten zhang fell clearly into the reach of his spiritual sense.

At first, the experience was amazing. It felt like he had the whole world in his hands. But after a while it became overwhelming. The constant noise made it hard to cultivate, and he struggled to stay focused.

Only after six or seven days did he slowly get used to it, learning to let sounds pass by without sinking in, like clouds drifting out of sight.

After more than ten years of hard work, he had finally become the top cultivator of Wulong Mountain. Liu Xiaolou was feeling emotional.

He walked into the bamboo grove, cleaned his master Master Sanxuan’s grave, and poured a cup of wine as an offering.

“Master,” he said softly, “Sanxuan Sect has finally reached its peak...”

After sharing the good news with his master beneath the earth, he headed to Ghostdream Cliff. The cliff was covered in yellow leaves scattered by the autumn wind. He stepped into the cave and took a look inside. Layers of spiderwebs hung everywhere, and a green snake was coiled in one corner. He let out a sigh, but still turned toward a certain spot in the cave. “Brother Wei,” he said, “I’ve built my foundation. Keep pushing, brother, keep pushing.”

Next, he made his way through the quiet Half-Acre Gorge and the ever-roaring Dragon Horse Falls. He informed Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bajhang as well.

It had been three years since he returned. Wulong Mountain was still empty, as if the whole world had forgotten it existed.

Being forgotten wasn’t so bad. Even now, Liu Xiaolou still wasn’t keen on showing his face in public. Didn’t matter that Tianmu Mountain hadn’t put a bounty on his head or anything.

Right after leaving the mountain, he successfully reached the Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, their Alchemy Room was robbed just a few months ago. If word gets out, how would that look? It’s bound to raise some eyebrows.

So he needed to keep a low profile for a while longer.

After Foundation Establishment, the greatest skill unlocked is the ability to use a flying sword.

A flying sword wasn’t just about controlling it through the air. That's merely the technique displayed during a fight. What really mattered was nurturing the magical sword, warming it with your true qi. That was the key. Even someone at the peak of Qi Refinement could fling a sword that looked like a flying strike, but the difference was huge. They couldn’t control it the way a Foundation Establishment cultivator could. The real gap came down to whether the weapon had been properly nurtured.

You had to place the artifact into your qi sea and warm it with true qi. Only then could it link with your spiritual sense. That was what made a flying sword a real flying sword.

Standing in the bamboo grove, he took the Three-Mystery Sword from his pouch and poured his true qi into it. A three-foot sword-light shot out instantly. The light split into five strands that could merge or separate at will. Split apart, they spread like prongs; drawn together, they formed a net. The effect was nothing short of dazzling.

Alright, so the real question now was this: how exactly was he supposed to pull it into his Qi Sea?

He thought it over for a moment, then ordered in his head, Come.

The Three-Mystery Sword lay flat on his palm without the slightest reaction.

Gritting his teeth, he tried grabbing it with his spiritual sense. He kept at it forever, stretching his neck until it hurt, but it was all for nothing.

He stood the sword upright, opened his mouth wide, blade down, and tried swallowing it.

He smacked the hilt against the back of his head.

He spent a good while poking and prodding three inches below his navel.

By the end of the day, he had tried every strange idea he could come up with, but nothing worked. He still couldn’t get the Three-Mystery Sword into his Qi Sea.

He'd always assumed that after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the flying sword would slip into his qi sea on its own. Turns out it was not that simple.

Even though he knew the True Mysteries Scripture inside and out and could recite it backward, he still pulled the book out and went through it again, word by word. Not just that manual. He reread the Illusion Scripture and even the Yin-Yang Scripture from start to finish.

Nothing. Not a single line about how to warm and nurture a flying sword or any kind of mantra for doing it.

And without nurturing the sword, a Foundation Establishment isn’t truly complete.

After stewing over it for a long time, he could only sigh and head down the mountain.

Maybe he should wander through the market or buy another cultivation manual. Someone out there must explain how you’re supposed to get a flying sword into your belly.

On the way down, a twinge of regret hit him. Why hadn’t he asked his ex-wife about this back then?

Should he go to Shenwu Manor and call on his former in-laws? Of course, that was a last resort. After all, once the Su family cast him out, crawling back to ask for help would be more than a little humiliating.

As for the Tianmu marketplace, Liu Xiaolou had decided to steer clear of it for now. If he could avoid it, he would. Which meant he had to travel another three hundred li to reach the Yueyang market instead.

At least he had family there. Sister Qing from Green Serenity Courtyard lived in Yueyang.

By now, Sister Qing was pushing forty, and the years had carved some marks into her face.

She practiced martial arts, but she had been stuck at the first layer of Qi Refinement for ages. She’d opened two of the three meridians, but no matter what she tried, she just couldn’t break through the third, the Foot Yang Bright Meridian.

Part of it was her mediocre talent, but part of it was the family technique she inherited, which was honestly kind of a trap. The first stage required cultivating three meridians: the Foot Greater Yang, Foot Lesser Yang, and Foot Yang Bright. Those three happened to contain 67, 44 and 45 acupoints, the highest count among all twelve meridians.

Because of this, almost no one in Sister Qing’s lineage ever managed to break through the first layer. And if you couldn’t get past that, your cultivation would never take off. You would be stuck as an ordinary martial artist forever.

The only reason Sister Qing managed to clear the first two meridians was that she had twice cultivated the Yin-Yang Scripture together with two generations of Sanxuan Sect leaders. That counted as an incredible stroke of luck.

Liu Xiaolou knew her situation well. He knew she still had 23 acupoints left blocked on the Foot Yang Bright Meridian. Coming to Yueyang this time, he intended to lend her a hand.

Their relationship was complicated in an odd way. It started out as a simple hometown connection, but over time... after spending more and more time together and practicing yin-yang cultivation, they’d developed layers of sibling-like affection, romantic attraction, and the bond of fellow cultivators. It was subtle and shifting, something that could change flavor at any moment.

Now that Liu Xiaolou had achieved Foundation Establishment, he was no longer the same person he used to be. His true qi struck harder, he controlled it with far greater precision, and he could sense the meridians of others much more clearly. His understanding of dual cultivation had also taken a serious leap forward. He finally had the confidence to change Sister Qing’s cultivation fate.

Sister Qing was surprised and touched. She almost teared up. “Xiaolou, I really didn’t dote on you for nothing. What happened to you? You’re bursting with energy today, your yang force is steady and strong…”

“Sister Qing, don’t talk. Stay focused. Let’s try to break through a few more acupoints.”

“I did, I did… another one just opened… my progress today is unbelievable…”

“Sister Qing, hang in there. You can’t stop halfway.”

“Ah! Xiaolou, is this what achieved Foundation Establishment feels like? it really is…”

“Sister Qing, you opened another acupoint, right? How many are left?”

“Xiaolou, maybe another seven days and I’ll have them all cleared. Then I should reach the second layer!”