Chapter 24: Chapter 24 — Astral Spirit Art

Chapter 24 — Astral Spirit Art

“So that’s how it is. After hearing Senior Sister Mo’s analysis, it really does make sense.”
One of the inner disciples immediately voiced agreement.

“But what exactly does Fang Qingxue want him for?”

“This likely involves struggles among the True Disciples themselves—something we can’t interfere with for now.”

Senior Sister Mo’s eyes turned cold.

“To truly come into contact with the core power struggles inside Yuhua Sect, one must become a True Disciple. Without that status, all conflict is meaningless. And if inner disciples interfere in battles between True Disciples, the outcome will never be good.”

“Senior Sister Mo, then is my Spirit Wind Sword just… Gone?”
the inner disciple asked, his voice carrying a chilling murderous intent.

“I’ll think of a solution,”
Mo replied calmly.

“A spirit artifact is no small matter. In the mortal world, you couldn’t trade it for a city of a hundred thousand people. Of course it can’t fall into someone else’s hands. Our plan to slay the Red Powder Prince relies on the flying-sword formation—we must have your Spirit Wind Sword. How could we let everything fail at the final step?”

As she spoke, Mo’s gaze gradually settled, as if she had already devised a plan.

“Exactly,”
another inner disciple laughed. “If we manage to kill the Red Powder Prince this time, Senior Sister Mo will surely receive an Yin–Yang Longevity Pill. Once consumed, you’ll break through your bottleneck, enter the Divine Ability Realm, and become a True Disciple in no time.”

“That’s right,”
Mo said solemnly.

“Although I’ve cultivated my physical body to the Transformation Realm, my spirit is still incomplete. I haven’t reached the level where I can forget what I choose to forget. If I obtain the Yin–Yang Longevity Pill, it will compensate for this deficiency—strengthening both body and spirit, breaking the limits, opening the Gate of Divine Ability, and awakening true supernatural powers.”

“As for the Spirit Wind Sword,”
she continued coldly,

“I’ll retrieve it from Fang Han—along with the demonic artifact on his body. That demonic artifact is extraordinary. If it falls into our hands, our chances of killing the Red Powder Prince will increase dramatically. Today, all of you focus on cultivation and adjust yourselves to peak condition. I’m going somewhere.”

“Where are you going, Senior Sister Mo?”

“Azure Flame Peak. Fang Qingxue of Purple Lightning Peak has long-standing tensions with Jin Shitai of Azure Flame Peak. I’ll pay a visit and also borrow a few immortal cranes for travel. Without them, reaching the Vast Sea Desert would be far too slow.”

Mo stood up.

Outer and inner disciples were not permitted to keep spirit beasts.

Only True Disciples—those granted a personal mountain—were allowed to raise them. A True Disciple was essentially capable of founding their own sect within the sect itself. Their power was immense, comparable to feudal lords within a nation.

Only upon becoming a True Disciple did one truly become part of Yuhua Sect’s core—able to participate in high-level decisions.

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A spirit artifact is no small matter. Senior Sister Mo and her group definitely won’t let this go. And now the secret of the Dragon-Coiled Yellow Springs Diagram has begun to leak… What should I do? Leave Yuhua Sect? No—if I had already reached the Divine Ability Realm, maybe. But leaving now would mean death the moment anyone pursued me.

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Outside Yuhua Mountain, deep within a stretch of barren wilderness, Fang Han stood inside a hidden valley, turning the Dragon-Coiled Yellow Springs Diagram over and over in his hands.

He had left Purple Lightning Peak, riding Crane Fairy thousands of miles away to an unknown desolate mountain before landing.

Crane Fairy had already explained the essential incantations and methods of the Astral Spirit Art, and Fang Han had cleverly sent her away. Now was the time to study the diagram.

This legendary treasure of the Yellow Springs Emperor felt like a burning hot coal in his hands. He absolutely couldn’t discard it—but keeping it was also dangerous.

Within the diagram’s Yellow Springs River, besides the previously absorbed Sevenfold Wolf-Fiend Miasma, there was now a flying sword.

The sword had no hilt—just a strip of icy crystalline metal etched with countless wind-shaped symbols. These symbols formed text, formations, and arrays that circulated endlessly like the rising and setting of the sun.

Thanks to his study of _The Worlds_, Fang Han understood what he was seeing.

Those wind symbols were condensed mana. The text was a formation array. It was precisely this array that granted the sword its power.

How do I take it out? And even if I do, I can’t refine it. A spirit artifact already bound by blood requires a Divine Ability Realm expert to erase the previous owner’s blood imprint.

Fang Han touched the diagram—it still appeared completely ordinary.

Unless Fang Qingxue personally erased the blood imprint with her divine power, the sword would be unusable.

When artifacts were first forged, their mana was pure and untainted. Whoever first refined them with blood gained control. Once bound, only overwhelming divine power could erase that imprint.

I’ll focus on cultivating the Astral Spirit Art first.

He sat cross-legged, placing one hand on the center of his crown—the Heavenly Gate Acupoint—and concentrated fully.

“He who seeks immortality must cultivate the Heavenly Gate.”

He imagined the Heavenly Gate as a pitch-black world—symbolizing ignorance of the brain.

Then he visualized his blood, marrow, organs, and membranes transforming into pure white essence, like crane feathers, rising upward to illuminate the darkness of his mind.

Using bodily essence to dispel mental darkness—this symbolism was profound.

He felt his physical vitality being drained, converted into light to illuminate the brain.

So this is why mental cultivation requires an incredibly strong body.

Fortunately, Fang Han’s physique was far stronger than that of ordinary experts—especially with the Nine Apertures Golden Pill nourishing his marrow.

Gradually, the darkness within the Heavenly Gate receded.

In the depths, he faintly saw a massive ancient stone door—neither fully round nor square—its surface etched with patterns resembling the folds of the human brain.

The brain itself was the Gate of Divine Ability.

This is the Divine Ability Gate! Break it open, and one enters the Divine Ability Realm!

Yet no matter how much light he poured in, the darkness surged back even thicker.

Eventually, exhaustion overwhelmed him. He snapped out of meditation.

“So weak… No wonder people wasted by lovesickness grow thinner by the day. Mental consumption is far greater than physical.”

After resting, he felt clearer-headed, sharper-eyed—able to vaguely perceive the shape of his own brain.

Let’s try blood. This is a deserted place—no harm if something strange happens.

He bit his finger and let drops of blood fall onto the diagram.

Something astonishing happened.

The diagram absorbed the blood like cotton soaking water. The Yellow Springs River began to ripple.

A sudden blood-linked sensation connected Fang Han’s mind to the diagram.

His consciousness plunged into the Yellow Springs River—rolling yellow waves all around.

There, he saw the Spirit Wind Sword.

He grabbed it with his mind.

Whoosh!

A flash of light—and the sword burst out of the diagram, landing in his hand and cutting his palm. Blood soaked in, and a powerful connection formed.

I refined it?! Impossible… Unless the diagram can erase blood imprints! If that’s true… Then I’ve struck gold!

With a thought—

Whoosh!

The sword’s formation activated. A blade of wind shot forth, slicing a tree a thousand steps away clean in half.

Fang Han’s heart exploded with joy.