Chapter 454: Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact
When a sword reaches the level of a sacred artifact, it can give birth to a sword spirit.
Or rather, it is precisely because the sword has nurtured a sword spirit that it can advance to become a sacred artifact.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword, entirely pitch-black, hovered in midair, as if it possessed life, inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Eight hundred years ago, the Abyssal Ancient Sword had already nurtured a sword spirit. However, after the sword body was severed, the sword spirit also suffered severe damage and fell into a dormant state.
It was not until the Divine Sword Sacred Land repaired the Abyssal Ancient Sword that the sword body began to autonomously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the sword spirit finally awakened, recovering a faint consciousness.
Under Kong Lanyou's gaze, Zhang Ruochen walked to the side of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, extended a hand, and gently stroked the ancient sword body with his fingers.
Kong Lanyou's eyes were fixed tightly on Zhang Ruochen and the Abyssal Ancient Sword. She held her breath, and the ten fingers within her sleeves involuntarily clenched.
Since reaching the Saint realm, she had not experienced such a tense moment in a long time.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword trembled, emitting a black radiance. It transformed into a streak of light, flew up, circled around Zhang Ruochen once, and finally landed in his hand.
Zhang Ruochen grasped the sword hilt, and a feeling akin to a family member returning surged within him, as if his bloodline had merged with that of the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
His five fingers tightened, and Zhang Ruochen immediately twisted his arm, thrusting the sword forward.
"Clang!"
The long sword pierced the air, emitting a joyful sword cry.
The light at the sword's tip flickered in and out, full of spiritual nature.
Seeing this, Kong Lanyou's body trembled as if struck by lightning. She immediately rushed to Zhang Ruochen and said, "You are him. Tell me, you are him."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew the sword, straightened his body, and said, "Senior, what are you talking about?"
"Don't pretend you don't recognize me. I know you are Zhang Ruochen, the same person from eight hundred years ago," Kong Lanyou said.
Zhang Ruochen remained very calm and said, "I'm sorry, I don't know what relationship you, Senior, had with the previous owner of this sword. But I can be certain that I am not the person you are looking for. May I ask, Senior, is that person from eight hundred years ago still alive?"
A trace of bitterness appeared in Kong Lanyou's eyes. She took a step back, shook her head, and said, "He... he is dead. Eight hundred years ago, I saw with my own eyes, he died before me."
Seeing Kong Lanyou's pained expression, Zhang Ruochen felt an immense bitterness as well and said, "In that case, Senior should learn to let go. Eight hundred years have already passed; the departed have long since left, turned to dust. Those who live should not continue to dwell in sorrow."
Kong Lanyou took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said, "You may withdraw."
Zhang Ruochen nodded, took three steps back, then turned and, together with Lu Youcai and Nie Honglou, exited the bamboo grove, leaving the mansion.
Kong Lanyou stood alone in the bamboo grove, muttering to herself, "Do you think it's him?"
In the void, an aged voice sounded, "Very similar, but definitely not the same person. Moreover, he seems to know something about those events from back then, deliberately concealing something. This person is somewhat strange."
Kong Lanyou reopened her eyes, her gaze turning cold and sharp, and said, "Since the Creation-Born Sword accepts him, it means he must have some connection to that person from back then. What secret is hidden within him?"
...
...
Returning to the Martial Market Inn, Zhang Ruochen's heart could not calm down for a long time.
"How is Kong Lanyou connected to the Divine Sword Sacred Land? What level has her cultivation reached? She said she saw me die before her eyes. Is she connected to Chi Yao? Does she have anything to do with what happened back then?"
Being able to see a relative from eight hundred years ago filled Zhang Ruochen with both joy and immense fear.
If even Kong Lanyou were his enemy, how tragic would that be?
Finally, Zhang Ruochen put away his thoughts, fixed his gaze on the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and said, "Since I am here, I will take things as they come. As long as I become strong enough, I will naturally uncover the truth in the future."
"Swoosh!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword flew up, its tip pointing downward and hilt upward, suspended before Zhang Ruochen, slowly rotating.
Lines of inscriptions flowed across the sword body, like a spiderweb.
"One hundred and eight basic inscriptions, eighteen intermediate inscriptions. With the current grade of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, it should have just barely entered the level of a sacred artifact."
The Abyssal Ancient Sword could absorb other weapons, continuously growing stronger, much like Empress Chi Yao's Blood-Drop Sword, which could absorb the blood of living beings and eventually grow into a world-shaking divine sword, causing all cultivators in the Kunlun Realm to tremble.
As long as it refined enough weapons, the Abyssal Ancient Sword would surely grow to the same level as the Blood-Drop Sword.
Sacred artifacts are divided into three levels: Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact, Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact, and Ten-Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact.
A Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact refers to a weapon inscribed with over a hundred basic inscriptions and more than ten intermediate inscriptions.
The more inscriptions, the greater the power.
Currently, the Abyssal Ancient Sword is only the lowest grade among sacred artifacts.
Of course, even if it has only just entered the sacred artifact level, even the weakest sacred artifact can unleash immense power.
Zhang Ruochen grasped the sword hilt with both hands, infused his true qi into it, and gradually activated the inscriptions within the sword body.
Gradually, the Abyssal Ancient Sword grew heavier, and its radiance became more intense.
With Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation at the mid-level Heavenly Extreme Realm, he could only activate the seventy-second basic inscription within the sword body, roughly unleashing one-tenth of the sacred sword's power.
Only by fully activating all the inscriptions within the sword could the sacred sword's full power be unleashed.
"Soul-Suppressing Shadow Stand."
Zhang Ruochen held the sword with both hands, dragging a long sword shadow as he slashed downward.
A giant sword shadow, seven zhang long, materialized above the Abyssal Ancient Sword, fell vertically, and struck the ground. With a boom, the sword qi pierced the earth, leaving a deep sword pit.
"The power of this strike should be close to a full-force attack from a cultivator at the first transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm."
Next, Zhang Ruochen released his martial soul, suspending it above his head, using it to control the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and continuously infuse it into the sword body.
It should be noted that Zhang Ruochen's current martial soul strength was comparable to the sixth transformation of the Fish-Dragon Realm, reaching the peak of his current cultivation.
By mobilizing his martial soul, Zhang Ruochen activated ninety-nine basic inscriptions within the sword body, and the aura emitted by the Abyssal Ancient Sword grew even stronger.
"Swish, swish!"
Guided by the Abyssal Ancient Sword, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth condensed into hundreds or thousands of sword-shaped gas forms, flying around Zhang Ruochen like waves of sword rain.
Zhang Ruochen swung his arm, slashing the Abyssal Ancient Sword outward.
Instantly, countless sword qi also flew out, striking the array light barrier of the Martial Market Inn, creating ripples like water rings.
"It seems that with my current cultivation, I am far from able to unleash the true power of the Abyssal Ancient Sword."
Zhang Ruochen sat cross-legged again, thrusting the Abyssal Ancient Sword into the ground. At the same time, he took out the Purple Thunder Sword, a tenth-rank True Martial Treasure.
The Abyssal Ancient Sword automatically flew up, struck the blade of the Purple Thunder Sword with a loud crash, and left a crack on its surface.
"Swoosh!"
A stream of black radiance surged from the tip of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, spinning rapidly to form a black vortex.
The Purple Thunder Sword split into particles of metal, flew into the vortex, and merged into the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
Before long, the Purple Thunder Sword had completely disappeared.
Zhang Ruochen lifted the Abyssal Ancient Sword again and found that not only had the sword body become heavier, but it had also gained a basic inscription of the "lightning" attribute.
The total number of basic inscriptions reached one hundred and nine.
"Does the Abyssal Ancient Sword gain an inscription every time it absorbs a weapon?"
To verify this hypothesis, Zhang Ruochen took out an eleventh-rank True Martial Treasure, the Dragon Bone Spear, and used the Abyssal Ancient Sword to refine it.
Sure enough, the Abyssal Ancient Sword gained another basic inscription, bringing the total to one hundred and ten.
"The Purple Thunder Sword and the Dragon Bone Spear are both priceless divine weapons, yet they only added two basic inscriptions to the Abyssal Ancient Sword," Zhang Ruochen sighed.
It should be noted that the Purple Thunder Sword was worth three hundred and seventy thousand spirit crystals.
The Dragon Bone Spear was even more valuable, exceeding one million spirit crystals.
If used to purchase elixirs, they could have allowed large families and sects to train many young disciples.
Now, after the Abyssal Ancient Sword absorbed them, it only gained two basic inscriptions.
Continuing the test, Zhang Ruochen had the Abyssal Ancient Sword absorb ten more True Martial Treasures. Among them were two eighth-rank True Martial Treasures and one seventh-rank True Martial Treasure. The remaining seven were all below the seventh rank.
After absorbing the ten True Martial Treasures, the Abyssal Ancient Sword only gained one basic inscription.
Through analysis, Zhang Ruochen ultimately concluded that absorbing a True Martial Treasure of ninth rank or above would add one basic inscription to the Abyssal Ancient Sword.
For True Martial Treasures below the ninth rank, it would take ten or even dozens to add a single basic inscription.
Of course, after refining weapons, the Abyssal Ancient Sword did not just gain inscriptions; it also absorbed the essence of the weapons, making the sword sharper and harder.
"Now that the Abyssal Ancient Sword is at the Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifact level, I wonder how many weapons it needs to absorb to grow to the Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifact level?"
Sacred artifacts are extremely precious. Even some Half-Saint families only possess one or two Hundred-Mark Sacred Artifacts, which serve as their clan's treasures.
Only those Saintly clans with deep foundations might possess Thousand-Mark Sacred Artifacts.
Over the next two days, Zhang Ruochen spent sixty million spirit crystals at the Martial Market Bank's shop to purchase one hundred tenth-rank True Martial Treasures.
Zhang Ruochen currently had no shortage of spirit crystals. Even after buying one hundred tenth-rank True Martial Treasures, he still had three hundred million spirit crystals left.
With the wealth from the spirit crystals and various treasures he now possessed, it was comparable to the accumulated wealth of a Half-Saint family over several centuries.
As long as it could enhance the power of the Abyssal Ancient Sword, spending any amount of spirit crystals was worth it.