"Hmm, I should seek the materials now to refine the five Five Elements Flying Swords, but if I’m to refine them, I must refine the best ones."

Gu Yuan silently mused in his heart, "This Five Elements Sword Dao Grand Array obviously serves as the foundation of my future Primordial Spirit, so it cannot be casually treated."

Regarding this Five Elements Sword Dao Array, Gu Yuan has only initially comprehended the portion at the Golden Core Realm level. He is still far from truly perfecting it, but Gu Yuan is not worried. When he advances to the Yin Spirit Realm in the future, he can continue to comprehend it...

Furthermore, Gu Yuan also has considerations for the foundation of the array, which consists of the five Five Elements Flying Swords.

He has two options.

The first option is to seek out Five Elements materials, such as Divine Gold, Innate Spirit Roots, Innate True Water Essence, Fire Spirit Elder, Nine Heavens Nurturing Earth, or Earth Mother Stone, and individually refine each Flying Sword as the foundation of his Five Elements Sword Dao Array.

This option sounds good, but the downside is the difficulty in finding the materials.

The difficulty of the nine Divine Golds aside, the difficulty of finding the other four materials is not much less than that of seeking out the nine Divine Golds.

For instance, the Innate Spirit Root, the Spiritual Bamboo that Gu Yuan previously obtained, could be considered one, but unfortunately, it was later devoured by Gu Yuan’s Creation Cyan Lotus and turned to ashes.

As for other Innate Spirit Roots... such things are often under the watchful eyes of the prominent figures of those Great Immortal Sects.

They are likely considered precious as life itself by those Yang Spirit powerhouses and Primordial Spirit True Immortals. If Gu Yuan were to covet them, it would be akin to pulling a tooth from the mouth of a True Dragon, more likely to end in disaster for him.

Then there’s the Innate True Water Essence... Previously, the Xuanming True Water used by Gu Xuanqing counts as one, and the Taiyuan True Water that Gu Yuan could refine upon reaching the Yin Spirit Realm might barely count as one as well.

However...

For Gu Yuan to condense the Taiyuan True Water, he must reach the Yin Spirit Realm. By the time that happens, who knows how long it will be, and by then, it’ll be too late when he’s famished.

As for the Xuanming True Water condensed by Gu Xuanqing, the truth is that Xuanming True Water he condensed is not pure, still lacking maturity, and needs refinement.

But even after refining, it is still only Innate True Water, and the Innate True Water Essence is a more exquisite substance, requiring Yang Spirit powerhouses or even Primordial Spirit True Immortals to use mana to smelt the Innate True Water, which transforms into the Innate True Water Essence. In terms of grade, it is no less than the nine Divine Golds, excellent material for refining Magical Treasures and Spirit Treasures!

Such treasures, even if they exist, are often hoarded by cultivators for their use, and if they appear, they are typically traded among cultivators, not something Gu Yuan could have dreamed of.

Fire Spirit Elder, this is something condensed by True Flame.

For instance, when certain fires become overly concentrated, over time, they often condense into some True Flame Essence.

These True Flame Essences can eventually develop spirituality over time, transforming into a kind of fire spirit, already considered an alternative lifeform.

When this fire spirit reaches an extreme level of growth, an essence core may develop within it, which is an artifact refining material with fire attributes, the top-grade item among fiery matters.

However, things of this nature are even rarer than the nine Divine Golds, so naturally, Gu Yuan wouldn’t fantasize about them.

Then there’s the Nine Heavens Nurturing Earth, a legendary material. Gu Yuan has only read about it in ancient texts and has never seen it with his own eyes.

It’s said that this Nine Heavens Nurturing Earth possesses a certain divinity, used by ancient great deities in the act of creation. Of course, myth is myth, but one thing is certain.

This divine object has the effect of nourishing all things; even a withered Spirit Root planted in the Nine Heavens Nurturing Earth can, after some time, take root and sprout, rejuvenating.

As for Earth Mother Stone... this is equally impressive, formed in the Earth’s deep underground, where the Earth Qi is most concentrated, nurtured over millions of years, extremely heavy and hard, containing a grand and vast essence akin to the Earth.

Likewise, this is also quite rare, the top-grade spiritual material for refining Spirit Treasures!

These materials, while excellent, are so difficult to seek out. Even for Yuqiao Immortal Palace and Luofu Immortal Island, such top-tier powers, collecting them all would be next to impossible.

Gu Yuan doesn’t have the energy to seek these things out.

As for considering inferior, less potent spiritual materials, it is an option, but since Gu Yuan is the type who would rather go without than settle, he naturally dismisses those materials with lower potential.

Even if they were truly refined, they’d likely remain stuck just before the stage of becoming a Spirit Treasure, offering little use to Gu Yuan then.

Therefore, Gu Yuan immediately discarded this option.

As for the second option...

The second option is simpler, to use materials that integrate multiple Five Elements attributes to refine the Flying Sword.

In the Cultivation Realm, there are many spiritual materials with a single attribute, some with dual attributes, but those with three or four attributes are extremely rare.

As for materials melding all Five Elements... these may be rare, but they do exist.

For example, the Five Spirit Treasure Tree, Five Elements Immortal Iron, Five-Colored Stone, Five Spirit Pearls, etc...

The Five Spirit Treasure Tree exists as a solitary entity in this world, growing within the mountain gate of the Five Elements Immortal Palace in Central Earth.

The Five Elements Immortal Palace is a long-standing ancient power, a Cultivation Sacred Land indeed, ranking among the top three in Central Earth’s hierarchy. Not only does it have Spirit Treasures repressing fortune within its gate, but also Primordial Spirit True Immortals stationing there.

Targeting this Spirit Root is less promising than finding a place to hang oneself outright.

The Five-Colored Stone, like the Nine Heavens Nurturing Earth, is a peerless rarity, so there’s no need to say more.

As for the Five-Colored Pearl, it’s born from the depths of the sea, within Five-Wisdom Divine Clams. However, adult Five-Wisdom Divine Clams are beings comparable to Thousand-Eyed Dragon Whales, True Dragons, and Divine Phoenixes. It is said that they’ve been extinct since the near-ancient times, uncertain if they can be found today.

The only option left is the Five Elements Immortal Iron, one of the nine Divine Golds, of sufficient grade, containing the attributes of all Five Elements, completely eligible for refining his five Five Elements Flying Swords!

However... while it is present in this world, it remains one of the nine Divine Golds, high in value and limited in quantity.

For Gu Yuan to find sufficient amounts of it might not be easy.

Gu Yuan pondered, deciding the matter should be entrusted to Xu Haoran of Luofu Immortal Island and Yan Chunyang of the Heaven-Sundering Sword Sect to help locate some information.

Their backing influences are significant, with many channels for information; they should have some news... right?

Next, Gu Yuan simply moved to another location, opened up a new Cave Mansion, and then sent out a clone to continue heading to Luofu Immortal Island.

The main body then hid away, continuing the closed cultivation.

...