# Chapter 1136: Bestowing the Sword
"A sword can nurture a person!" Lin Feng's expression shifted slightly as he murmured to himself, seeming to vaguely understand something.
"A sword cultivator can adopt two methods of cultivation. The first is to personally comprehend various powerful divine abilities and profound meaning forces, then apply them within the sword. The second is to nurture the sword—through the method of nurturing the sword, bestow various profound meaning forces upon the sword, condense a sword soul, and ultimately, the person who cultivates the sword comprehends profound meaning forces from the sword itself. This is what is called the sword nurturing the person. Of course, both methods can be cultivated simultaneously."
"A person's energy is limited. To be able to comprehend various profound meaning forces—what extraordinary talent that is! Even without cultivating the sword, such a person would still be terrifyingly powerful." Lin Feng thought to himself. Of course, he naturally would not speak these words aloud; it was enough to keep them in his heart. As for the second method, it was created specifically for sword cultivators, like walking the path in reverse, using another method to comprehend the power of profound meaning. Truly terrifying.
"The martial path is difficult, and the further one goes, the harder it becomes. Talent plays an enormous role. Aside from talent, it relies on one's persistence and tenacity toward the martial path. The nurturing effect of family influence will weaken to its minimum as one's realm grows stronger. The further the realm, the more one must rely on oneself. If I give you a pile of Essence Crystals but you cannot comprehend them yourself, what use are they? You merely obtain the Essence Crystals earlier than others. Comprehending even one type of profound meaning force is not simple, let alone comprehending multiple types simultaneously. Therefore, the first type of person are all those with extraordinary talent."
"Then what role does the martial soul play?" Lin Feng asked.
"The martial soul appears from the moment a martial cultivator is born. In a certain sense, it influences the martial cultivator's destiny. For example, one who possesses a winged martial soul has high comprehension of speed, so they comprehend the Wind Will, and eventually comprehend Wind Essence or Speed Essence. Meanwhile, a Shadow Martial Soul possessor is suited to comprehending Shadow Essence, and the martial soul itself is also a powerful means, possessing a boosting effect on profound meaning forces. Moreover, the martial soul can even influence how many types of profound meaning forces you can comprehend. Some extraordinary martial souls can evolve into powerful martial physiques!"
The old man patiently explained to Lin Feng, causing Lin Feng to feel quite grateful in his heart.
"Young friend, are you interested in learning the method of nurturing the sword?" the old man asked with a smile, causing Lin Feng's expression to tremble. Nurturing the sword could bestow profound meaning upon the sword, ultimately acting upon oneself. How could he not want to cultivate such a benefit?
"If Senior is willing to teach me, I naturally am willing to cultivate it." Lin Feng respectfully replied.
"Good. Relax your defenses. I will impart to you the method of nurturing the sword." The old man nodded slightly at Lin Feng. Then, at the center of his brow, a light flickered faintly, then detached from his brow and shot toward Lin Feng, directly entering Lin Feng's mind without resistance.
Closing his eyes, Lin Feng remained silent, slowly adapting and digesting the memories that had been added to his mind. After some time, his eyes opened again, but now clearly held a trace of shock. He opened his mouth, staring at the smiling old man, speechless for a moment.
"Are you still willing to learn?" the old man looked at Lin Feng with a half-smile.
Lin Feng stared blankly at the old man, gave a bitter smile, but ultimately nodded firmly: "Willing!"
"Nurturing the soul with the soul—to make the sword give birth to the Lightning Essence, the sword must endure the forging of heavenly thunder, and your soul will also endure the calamity of being struck by the Five Thunders. Only then can the Lightning Sword Soul be born. From then on, the sword is bestowed with the Lightning Essence, and you yourself have undergone the tempering of lightning, naturally able to unleash the attacking power of Lightning Essence through the sword soul. Can you endure this pain?"
"Nurturing the soul with the soul—to make the sword give birth to the Flame Essence, the sword must endure the roasting of extremely powerful flames, and your soul will also endure the burning of powerful exotic flames. Eventually, the Flame Sword Soul is born. From then on, the sword is bestowed with the Flame Essence, and you yourself can use the attacking power of flames through the sword soul. Can you imagine this pain?"
"Every time you forge a type of sword soul, causing the sword to possess that profound meaning, first, your own soul must endure this terrifying power. In the past, Skyless Sword Emperor nurtured his sword for ten years, traveling across the continent, seeking the strongest lightning and flames to forge his sword soul. Only then did he have the battle before becoming emperor, unmatched across the Eight Wastelands, and thus attained the Dao and became emperor. You—do you dare to endure this pain?"
The old man pressed Lin Feng with consecutive questions. But at this moment, Lin Feng's gaze was clear, his expression resolute, and he nodded seriously.
"In this world, how can there be something for nothing? In the world of martial arts, people can contend with the heavens and contend with the earth. This heaven-defying method, forcibly extracting the power of profound meaning from heaven and earth—how could it not come at a cost? Moreover, without this sword manual, even if I endured this pain, I would not obtain what I desire. Now that Senior has bestowed this opportunity upon me, how could I not cherish it?"
Lin Feng stood up and bowed slightly to the old man. This method of nurturing the sword was actually a profound sword manual, containing infinite mysteries, seizing the creative power of heaven and earth, going against the natural order to gather the power of heavenly thunder to condense the Lightning Sword Soul, as well as various other profound meaning sword souls. Such means could be called heaven-defying. Since ancient times, powerful sword cultivators have all possessed an unyielding will, just like the sword itself, enabling them to soar above heaven and earth.
Seeing Lin Feng's actions, the old man smiled with satisfaction, shook his head, and sighed: "Pity those people of the Sword Pavilion. Skyless Sword Emperor left behind this type of sword cultivation method for them, yet no one cultivates it. They only think of starting from their ancestor Skyless Sword Emperor, contemplating relying on external forces, borrowing the lingering might of the Sword Emperor, rather than their own strength. Pitiful."
Lin Feng remained silent. In his previous life, there was an ancient saying: wealth does not last three generations. This had a certain philosophical truth. It did not mean that the descendants of the wealthy were inferior to others, but rather because they had dependence and placed their hopes on their fathers' generation. The Sword Pavilion was likely the same. A family that had produced a Skyless Sword Emperor who dominated the continent—the later generations only thought about how to excavate everything their ancestor the Sword Emperor had left them, how to cultivate the sword Dao supreme arts left by the Sword Emperor, and how to use their ancestor's divine weapons. They abandoned the root and chased the branches, completely running counter to sword cultivation.
"Why doesn't Senior explain these advantages and disadvantages to the people of the Sword Pavilion?" Lin Feng asked in confusion.
"If they had the intention, as long as someone showed such a sign, I would have imparted the method of nurturing the sword to them without reservation. But I have yet to discover any such person. Of course, in their eyes, I am merely a sick old man sweeping the Sword Grave." The old man shook his head and sighed, leaving Lin Feng speechless. The Sword Pavilion—pitiful.
"Senior, I still have one doubt. Is that thing inside really just a sword soul?" Lin Feng pointed at the Skyless Sword and asked the old man. According to the memories in the sword manual, a sword soul was a soul nurtured by one's own soul, for the purpose of nurturing the sword, then condensed into a sword soul. Each type of sword soul was a type of profound meaning force. Therefore, if he wanted to bestow many types of profound meaning forces upon the sword, he would have to condense different sword souls.
But this peerless divine weapon—was it really just as simple as a sword soul?
Hearing Lin Feng's words, the old man revealed a smile, shook his head with a smile, and said: "It seems you can also tell. This little fellow—how could it be just a sword soul? It has long completed the transformation of the sword soul and awakened the intelligence of the sword!"
"Then what is it?"
"Sword Spirit!" the old man said solemnly: "A spiritual object. You can regard it as a small life. Within the sword, there is a spirit, there is life. It's just that this sword spirit has just been conceived and is rather playful!"
Within the sword, there was a spirit, having awakened intelligence—a small life!
The sword had given birth to life, like a demon, capable of thought.
"Do you want it?" the old man asked Lin Feng with a smile, causing Lin Feng's expression to stiffen.
Rubbing his head, Lin Feng chuckled awkwardly: "Naturally."
"You little rascal." Seeing Lin Feng's rather roguish action, the old man shook his head with a bitter smile: "Though the little fellow is small, it is a sword spirit born from the fusion of many sword souls. In its bones, it has the domineering spirit of Skyless. It simply will not listen to you. Moreover, it is too powerful. If you were to control it, you would neglect your own cultivation. That would not be beneficial to you!"
"I don't have to use it—only for preserving my life!" With a Sword Emperor divine weapon in hand, his life would have an extra layer of protection.
"Only for preserving your life!" The old man stroked his beard, then looked at Lin Feng again. Finally, he said with a smile: "Good. Since you say you will only use it to preserve your life, then I will give you three chances to strike. Let it obey only your three commands. After three strikes, I will have it return to the Sword Grave."
A strange light bloomed in Lin Feng's eyes, flickering continuously. At this moment, quite a few thoughts were running through his mind. This fellow possessed intelligence and controlled various profound meaning forces. Even if he didn't use it, just communicating with it and building a relationship in normal times—wouldn't that be wonderful? What if, by accident, he became familiar with this little fellow?
PS: Today the flowers increased by five. If this continues for another two days, it will almost average out the increase in flowers from the burst release period!