Chapter 331: Chapter 195: Sword Shatters Void

A clear light shot into the sky, slashing directly at the Tribulation Thunder that was crashing down.

If it were any other Spiritual Artifact, it might choose to gather its power and endure the Tribulation Thunder head-on when undergoing its Spirit Treasure Tribulation. But a Flying Sword was an instrument of slaughter. Meeting the Tribulation Thunder directly was playing to its weakness against the enemy’s strength, and could easily damage the sword’s sharp edge.

Yang Jing sat cross-legged in his Quiet Chamber. The roof had already been blown off by the Flying Sword, leaving him to face the Spirit Treasure Tribulation—a trial of life and death for countless Spiritual Artifacts.

The Spirit Treasure Tribulation was also documented in the Five Elements Refining Technique.

The Tribulation Thunder consisted of three strikes. The first was aimed at destroying the body of the Spiritual Artifact. If the Spiritual Materials used were of poor quality, or if the Refining Technique was lacking, it would be destroyed by this bolt.

The second strike was aimed at destroying the Spiritual Artifact’s Restrictions. Failure to withstand it would result in the complete destruction of all Restrictions within the artifact.

The third strike was aimed at the nascent Spiritual Essence within the artifact. If it could not endure, its intelligence would be extinguished by the thunder, and it would regress into a mere Magical Artifact. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Each of these three tribulations was more dangerous than the last.

Among all types of Spiritual Artifacts, Defensive Spiritual Artifacts had the easiest time passing the Spirit Treasure Tribulation. Flying Swords, however, ranked last; for them, enduring it was the most difficult.

Yang Jing channeled all his power into the Celestial Waterfall Sword. Its clear light flared, and it slashed straight into the Tribulation Thunder.

The Tribulation Thunder, capable of destroying an artifact’s body, struck the Celestial Waterfall Sword. The sword was completely unharmed. Instead, it plunged straight into the thunder, cleaving the terrifyingly powerful bolt in two.

Lightning flashed erratically as Sword Aura burst forth.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword darted across the sky, executing the Five Elements True Spirit Sect’s Positive and Negative Five Elements Sword Mantra. Like a swallow soaring through the air, it first shattered the Tribulation Thunder, then absorbed the scattered True Thunder, piece by piece, into its blade.

If a Spiritual Artifact wasn’t resilient enough, this first thunder tribulation was a death sentence. But if it could endure, the Tribulation Thunder would in turn nourish the artifact, causing its durability to soar.

Seeing the Celestial Waterfall Sword pass the first tribulation with such ease, those unfamiliar with Artifact Refining felt that the infamous Spirit Treasure Tribulation was nothing special. But those with a bit more knowledge were all amazed by the sharpness of the sword’s edge.

It was the Celestial Waterfall Sword’s immense power that made the Spirit Treasure Tribulation seem so ordinary.

An ordinary Spiritual Artifact would have been blasted to pieces by that first bolt.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword completely absorbed the Tribulation Thunder. Yang Jing could feel that its body, forged from the essence of five metals, had already improved significantly under the nourishment of the West Sea Great Saint’s Primordial Spirit Essence Qi. Now, its resilience had reached its absolute limit.

’The blade is so sharp now. If I were to engage in Magical Combat with that Human Demon again, he definitely wouldn’t be able to catch it in his mouth so easily. In fact, I should be able to slice off his phoenix head with a single strike.’

The tribulation clouds in the sky churned and gathered. After nearly fifteen minutes, the second bolt of Tribulation Thunder crashed down.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword was already eager to act. Yang Jing imbued it with his own Divine Technique, the control of Five Thunders. The Tribulation Thunder, which should have easily destroyed Restrictions, landed on the sword’s body but acted like a Water Pearl on a lotus leaf. It simply slid across the surface, unable to penetrate the blade at all.

The sharp edge, like scissors cutting cloth, easily shredded the Tribulation Thunder and absorbed it into the blade.

Nourished by the Tribulation Thunder, the formerly separate Restrictions within the Flying Sword instantly merged, forming a single, complete Treasure Prohibition.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword’s aura immediately surged, and the Sword Gang on its blade shot toward the heavens.

Even from several miles away, the low-Cultivation onlookers either squeezed their eyes shut or turned their heads away. The sharpness emanating from the blade made their eyes sting with pain.

"What a powerful Sword Artifact! If it safely passes the third tribulation, its future will be limitless!"

Yang Hufu couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Fifteen minutes after the Celestial Waterfall Sword passed the second trial, the tribulation clouds roiled once more. The scale of this cloud formation far surpassed the previous two, covering an area several miles in radius.

A mournful, sinister wind blew, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Yang Jing looked to the sky, knowing that the most difficult of the three tribulations was about to arrive. For a Flying Sword, however, this third bolt was ironically the easiest to overcome. This was because a Sword Cultivator, connected to their sword by Qi Mechanism, could imbue it with their own Sword Intent and face the tribulation together.

After a moment’s thought, he chose the Summer Sword Intent from among his Celestial Intent Four Extremes Sword Intent.

In the next instant, the Celestial Waterfall Sword radiated scorching heat. In summer, with the Big Dipper pointing south, all things reach their peak vitality. The rolling heat carried a vibrant life force, dispelling the bone-chilling, sinister wind from the world.

This was the first time he had ever activated the Celestial Intent Four Extremes Sword Intent.

This Sword Intent could only unleash its full power when all four intents were used together to form a Sword Array. A single intent was less effective in combat than the Five Elements Magical Sword.

Although Yang Jing’s Divine Sense was already considered powerful among Foundation Establishment Cultivators, he was still unable to activate all four Sword Intents simultaneously. Thus, he had always kept it shelved.

The next moment, a gray, sinister Yin Thunder, carrying the intent of all things withering and dying, fell from the tribulation clouds.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword’s intent burned fiercely. Without a trace of fear, it slashed toward the Yin Thunder meant to wither its Spiritual Essence.

The instant the Yin Thunder touched the Flying Sword, a violent, silent explosion occurred.

This third bolt of Tribulation Thunder held nothing back, unleashing its full power in an instant. Survive, and you pass. Fail, and your Spiritual Essence would be extinguished in a flash.

All the spectating Cultivators felt the impact. The more severely affected saw their vision go black and nearly fainted. Even the Golden Core Cultivators with their profound Cultivation felt their Divine Souls waver.

"It truly is the Soul-annihilating Yin Thunder, which attacks the Divine Soul directly. How terrifying."

Yang Hufu remarked with feeling. The reason the reactions of the Qi Cultivators didn’t seem as severe was entirely because the brunt of the Soul-annihilating Yin Thunder’s power had been borne by the Flying Sword in the sky.

The Flying Sword, having been struck by the Tribulation Thunder, hung motionless in the air. Everyone’s hearts felt as if they were being scratched by a cat’s claws, wondering if the sword had truly passed the Spirit Treasure Tribulation.

Some with darker thoughts even secretly laid a Curse, hoping the Flying Sword would be destroyed in the Spirit Treasure Tribulation and shatter Yang Jing’s Sword Heart.

After a few breaths, the Flying Sword suddenly transformed into a rainbow of Sword Light and soared upward, piercing the heavens. The Sword Light was pure and awe-inspiring as it circled and weaved through the air, emitting waves of sonorous ringing.

A moment later, the rainbow of Sword Light, which stretched over a hundred feet long in the sky, converged. It revealed the body of the Celestial Waterfall Sword, which fell straight down into the Spirit Medicine Garden.

"Senior Brother succeeded?!"

Yang Jingxu looked at the old ancestor, unable to hide his eagerness.

"That Flying Sword has indeed passed the Spirit Treasure Tribulation and become a Magical Treasure." Yang Hufu stroked his beard and said in disbelief, "This Yang Jing’s Talent for Artifact Refining might even surpass his Talent for cultivation."

Yang Jing sat on the Meditation Cushion in his Quiet Chamber, catching the slowly descending Flying Sword and placing it across his lap.

Even he hadn’t expected that, through a fortunate coincidence, the Celestial Waterfall Sword had entered Tier Three before he did. Its aura was several times more powerful than his own.

And because he had personally forged it into his Lifebound Flying Sword, even after its promotion to a Magical Treasure, it was still as easy to command as his own arm. There was none of the stiffness seen when Sima Peng and Zuoqiu Ye used their treasures.

Yang Jing tried using the Celestial Waterfall Sword to channel Celestial Spirits Star Force. Even during the day, a torrent of Star Power was drawn down from the sky.

The speed was several times faster than the rate at which Yang Jing could refine Spiritual Qi.

Unfortunately, Yang Jing couldn’t absorb this vast amount of Star Power; he could only use it to temper his Magical Power. If he cultivated a Star Dao Technique, he could enjoy the same pleasure as the Dragon Taming Dong Family’s True Spirit Lineage—increasing his Cultivation even while lying down.

Yang Jing adjusted the flow of Star Power, siphoning off just a wisp to temper his Magical Power and letting the Celestial Waterfall Sword absorb the rest to enhance itself.

A spectral figure floated out from the Flying Sword and bowed to Yang Jing.

"Thank you, Master."

Yang Jing wasn’t surprised by this at all.

Compared to the Central Continent, the Western Continent wasn’t completely without its merits. Due to regional differences, the Spiritual Essence of Spiritual Artifacts in the Western Continent was generally much stronger than in the Central Continent. Some powerful Magical Treasures could condense an Artifact Spirit as early as Tier Three.

In the Central Continent, an artifact had to be at least a Tier Six Spiritual Treasure to condense an Artifact Spirit.

Treasures of that Tier were all Sect’s Treasures from the Major Sects before the fall of the Central Continent. After the Central Continent fell, no new Tier Six Spiritual Treasures were ever born in the Nine Heavens World.

Among the entire Six Sects of the Western Continent, only the Profound Pure Sect possessed a Spirit Treasure. Its name was the Vast Heaven Mirror, and it spent its years sleeping within the sect’s main spiritual vein to conserve energy. It would never be activated unless it was a matter of life and death.

The Celestial Waterfall Sword’s Sword Spirit appeared as a six- or seven-year-old girl, dressed in a Daoist Robe embroidered with a Circulation Star Map. Because she had taken form thanks to the West Sea Great Saint’s Primordial Spirit Essence Qi, her appearance was about fifty percent similar to the Great Saint’s. Her temperament, however, was sharper and colder.

What truly shocked Yang Jing was that he could actually form a contract with the Sword Spirit through his Beast Taming System.

[Name]: Celestial Waterfall (Celestial Waterfall Sword’s Sword Spirit)

[Species Level]: Epic

[Power]: Tier Three Magical Treasure

[Talent]: Sword Heart Clarity (Legendary), Sword Shatters Void (Epic)

[Affinity]: 100

Because she was the Sword Spirit of a Flying Sword, Celestial Waterfall had no Cultivation Technique or Skill options, but her two Talents already made Yang Jing’s heart pound.

The Sword Heart Clarity Divine Technique was incredibly famous. While not every Top Tier Sword Cultivator possessed this Divine Technique, anyone who did was almost guaranteed to become a Top Tier Sword Cultivator.

As for Sword Shatters Void, that was purely the stuff of legends. Perhaps someone had mastered it back in the Upper Realm.

’This Divine Technique must have come from the West Sea Great Saint. As a True Spirit, the Kunpeng’s greatest skill is Breaking the Boundary, and it loves to migrate between worlds.’

Through a fortunate coincidence, Celestial Waterfall had come to possess this legendary Divine Technique.

"Celestial Waterfall, can you use Sword Shatters Void?"

Yang Jing asked expectantly.

"Reporting to Master, if I rely only on my own power, I can only cut a hole the size of a grain of rice in the void. And after doing so, I would need a long time to recover."

Celestial Waterfall answered respectfully.

A Flying Sword was an artifact, after all. It could only display its full power in the hands of its master.

Yang Jing wasn’t too disappointed. Unlike supportive Divine Techniques such as controlling the Five Thunders or the Five Elements Great Escape, Sword Shatters Void was bound to consume an immense amount of Magical Power.

What he wanted to know more was how the cost of sharing Celestial Waterfall’s Talents would differ from sharing those of Iron Head and the others.