Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 378: Mingyue Sword

Lu Yang was amazed. As expected of an enlightened senior monk from the Golden Buddhist Kingdom. Their words are the epitome of profound Chan wisdom.

His curiosity piqued further. “Elder, how did you get to know this senior monk back then?”

Fifth Elder replied, “This senior monk held an exceptionally high seniority and possessed high ambitions. As a master from the ‘Ming’ character generation,[1] his dharma name was ‘Mingtian (Tomorrow).’ Those who knew him addressed him as Master Mingtian.

“Back then, both Master Mingtian and I took a liking to the same girl, but since one maiden cannot serve two masters, we competed, mainly by comparing who had more spirit stones. In my youth, I had already applied for numerous patents, so I feared no one when it came to wealth.

“When Master Mingtian realized he couldn’t outmatch me in spirit stones, he asked if I could yield to him. Claiming we had affinity with each other, he willingly offered me the No Desire True Fire. I said, ‘No need, no need,’ but he said, ‘You do, you do,’ practically forcing it on me.

“At the time, I felt that beautiful women were nothing more than skeletons under rouge; no matter how attractive they were, they would turn into skeletons one day. Why should I fritter away my days in a brothel? And so, I left the brothel.

“Later, I sought out Master Mingtian to discuss the matter, secretly hoping for a chance to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, his proficiency in spells put me to shame. Most importantly, he was already at the Transcendent Tribulation Stage—neither I nor Old Third could defeat him.”

Lu Yang, “...”

So Third Elder’s ‘Heaven-Shaking Six Forms’ wasn’t meant to shake the heavens but to shake Master Mingtian, whose name contains the character for ‘heaven?’[2]

“Speaking of which, Immortal Fairy, did Buddhist sects exist in your time?”

“Yes.”

Lu Yang was astonished. According to Buddhist sects’ records, their history dated back to the ancient era. However, after Lu Yang met the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and learned of the existence of the Five Ancient Immortals, he assumed that the Buddhist sects had fabricated such origins to bolster their prestige.

If Buddhist sects and the Buddhist founder existed in the ancient era, why hadn’t the Immortal Fairy ever mentioned the Buddhist founder?

Lu Yang didn’t feel he could associate the Five Ancient Immortals with the Buddhist founder. “Really? Then the Buddhist founder existed too? Was he an immortal?”

“I remember the Buddhist sects having a Buddhist founder, countless enlightened Buddhists, arhats, and bodhisattvas, and something about thirty-three layers of heaven, right?”

“Yes, all documented in various texts.”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy revealed a sly smile. “Doesn’t this framework remind you of the Heavenly Court?”

Exclamation marks almost popped out of Lu Yang as a shocking possibility struck him.

Pleased by his reaction, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy chuckled. “That’s right. The Buddhist sects were fabricated by the five of us.”

Now it makes sense why the Immortal Fairy was confident that her Arhat Fruit Fist was more orthodox than the Arhat Fist—that’s because she’s one of the founders of the Buddhist sects. With her status and absolute authority, her word alone could dictate what was orthodox.

Lu Yang drew a sharp breath. The Ancient Five Immortals’ sabotage abilities are even more terrifying than I’d imagined.

The five of you fabricated multiple versions of the Heavenly Court that didn’t get passed down, yet your framework for the Buddhist sects did and even flourished under later generations!

Fifth Elder was unaware of Lu Yang’s conversation with the Everlasting Immortal Fairy. He simply saw the change in his expression and found it peculiar.

Though in the Dao-Seeking Sect, this barely counts as strange.

Back in those days, when Old Nine was the same age as Lu Yang, he even fantasized about an ancient ferocious beast sealed within him, where the aura that leaked out would destroy mankind. Thus, Old Nine would maintain a stoic face all day long and pretend to be aloof, telling others that he had sealed away his emotions.

Sometimes, he would even clutch his wrists in agony, claiming that he couldn’t suppress the ferocious beast in him and warning others to flee before he lost control. Now, if anyone brings this up to Old Nine, he’d blow up and swing at them with his sword.

Compared to Old Nine’s random kneeling and wailing, the change in Lu Yang’s expression was pretty normal.

“Perhaps this is the master-disciple legacy and the destiny of a Sword Spirit Root,” Fifth Elder murmured.

“Ah, Fifth Elder, what did you say about the destiny of a Sword Spirit Root?” Lu Yang snapped back to attention, his heart tightening.

Could those with a Sword Spirit Root have some hidden destiny, like how every generation of Sword Spirit Roots faced enemies but failed and carried regrets for the rest of their lives?

Is Shifu’s frivolous lifestyle of playing around in the mortal world a manifestation of a regretful person venting their emotions?

The more Lu Yang pondered, the more plausible he found it.

“The No Desire True Fire is my most frequently used true fire. Magical treasures tempered with this true fire can grant their wielders maximum composure during battles.” Fifth Elder believed “composure” to be the ultimate treasure in increasing one’s win rate.

With a wave of his hand, he took true fire from another vial. “This is the Six Ding Divine Fire, an ancestral true fire passed down through generations of Hundred Refinements Peak’s masters. It can devour impurities and is perfect for forging artifacts. Separating the Fire-Borne Stones and Summit Spirit Stones within the immortal sword requires the Six Ding Divine Fire.”

He placed the Six Ding True Fire in the center of the artifact-refining chamber and activated the arrays beneath his feet and on the walls. The temperature rapidly rose, and Lu Yang was forced to protect himself with the Three Flavor True Fire.

Unfazed by the high temperature, Fifth Elder stared fixedly as the flames licked away the immortal sword’s outermost coating of immortal golden powder, revealing the layer underneath. The original appearance of the immortal sword was blackish-gray and nondescript, bearing no signs of an immortal forged from two precious, mystic stones.

Under the Six Ding Divine Fire, the immortal sword melted and split into two lumps of metallic liquids filled with spirit nature, one red and one black. Fifth Elder brandished an iron hammer, fiercely smashing the metal liquid. Despite exploding within the flames, the metal liquid could never escape them.

As Fifth Elder pointed with his left hand, the No Desire True Fire hovering in the air rushed into the Six Ding Divine Flame, and the two fused, creating a hybrid with dual properties.

Lu Yang didn’t grasp the brilliance packed in this simple move. If a skillful artifact-refining master had been present, it would have been enough to upend their understanding of artifact refinement.

After the metal liquids formed from the Fire-Borne Stones and Summit Spirit Stones merged, it gradually took shape and formed a sword embryo.

Retrieving the sword embryo from the true fire, Fifth Elder extended two fingers and gently traced them against both sides, and decorative patterns emerged. These were sword patterns aimed at minimizing wear and tear.

Every magical treasure had its unique pattern, but most artifact-refining masters weren’t capable of such engraving methods. Those who could produce such patterns with just a touch were exceedingly rare.

Hiss! The bright red sword embryo was repeatedly quenched with water until its temperature cooled, revealing its original silver-white color.

After that, Fifth Elder fitted the sword hilt and sword tassel, finally finishing the sword.

“Here, test it.” Fifth Elder tossed the spirit sword to Lu Yang.

As Lu Yang wielded the sword, he found it so light that it felt like an extension of his arm, allowing him to swing it to his heart’s content.

“Break!”

“Cleave!”

“Slash!”

Lu Yang executed the sword mantras, his motions fluid and practiced, as if he had used this blade for a long time. After he completed his set of sword techniques, he withdrew his sword, beaming widely. “Good sword!”

“Give it a name,” Fifth Elder urged with a grin.

Examining the sword pattern of his new spirit sword, Lu Yang proposed, “A sword is a tool that kills. The sword is silver-white, like the silver moon in the sky. What about calling it Mingyue Sword, as in ‘Nether Moon?’”

Fifth Elder nodded. “Qingfeng Sword, Mingyue Sword—they sound matching.”

1. Some clans or families like to use the same character in the names of people from the same generation. You might have seen examples of this in siblings who share the same character in their names. ☜

2. This was truly difficult to translate into English. Basically, the ‘tian’ character in the technique can mean heaven, sky, day etc, and while ‘Mingtian’ means tomorrow, the ‘tian’ character is the same. Hence, the technique's name misleads people into thinking it’s supposed to be grand, but it might have referred to just the person instead. ☜

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