84: Chapter 081: Yin Yang Five Elements, The True Tao of Sword Heart 84: Chapter 081: Yin Yang Five Elements, The True Tao of Sword Heart Zhou Yan settled his mind, carefully arranged the Sword Array, and at the same time, a vast amount of knowledge on Arrays gradually revealed itself, letting Zhou Yan absorb it bit by bit, transforming it into his own knowledge.

“The Tao of Heaven and Earth has its own rules, but some Tao are the true great Tao; such Tao are what’s referred to as the ‘true Tao,’ universally applicable across countless universes.

“Take, for example, the Tao of Yin Yang and the Five Elements.”

“Given that, the Sword Array shall begin with the Eight Diagrams, corresponding to the Yin Yang and the Five Elements, using my Sword Heart to derive the essence of Yin Yang and the Five Elements!

“My Sword Heart is already the great Tao, so my Sword Array aligns with all laws of Heaven and Earth, requiring no change, nor any concession to the Tao of any place!”

“The great Tao of Heaven and Earth, I shall seek my own path!”

“The Yin Yang and Five Elements of Heaven and Earth, derive the Sword Heart!”

…

Within the Sword Array’s insight, Zhou Yan gradually sensed the Geng Metal Sword Dao of Yang Qingtan, the Green Water Sword Dao of the Green Water Sword, the Flame Sword Dao of Xie Feng from the Purgatory Sword Sect, the desolate Sword Dao of the Evil Ghosts, and also the Yin Earth Sword Dao of the Da Li Family’s Li brothers…

These Sword Daos, he felt only a kind of aura, and not how to cultivate these Sword Daos, nor did he know the mental methods; but sensing that aura was already sufficient.

In such an environment, with Zhou Yan’s naturally powerful sensing power, his incredible cognition, and the inheritance from a Grandmaster, combined with the understanding of the great Tao from scriptures such as the Tao Te Ching on Earth, Zhou Yan finally assimilated all knowledge of the Sword Array into his cognition.

This was equivalent to having had a library previously, and this time, he had thoroughly read and remembered all the books in the library, synthesizing them into knowledge he could use.

Instead of needing to comprehend and consider when he needed to use them.

Thus, after forgetting time itself, Zhou Yan became completely immersed.

In the incredibly vast energy, Feng Lingqing’s injuries also gradually healed.

This space contained only one thing: immense Vitality Energy, and everything else seemed non-existent.

Zhou Yan grasped all the Arrays that his Master knew and converted them into his own viewpoint on Arrays, instinctively setting up a Five Qi Toward Origination Gathering Spirit Sword Formation to draw life energy from Heaven and Earth to heal himself, Feng Lingqing, and Little Xue’s injuries.

For any injury, the most fundamental aspect is Life Energy; as long as Life Energy is unceasing, even a shattered Soul can gradually recover, because Life Energy is the foundation and origin of everything.

With Life Energy, everything else can freely evolve.

Sensing the changes in Feng Lingqing, Zhou Yan’s heart settled quite a lot.

However, his thoughts were currently captivated by this world; although it seemed fraught with dangers and killing intent, this place also presented immense opportunities, such as the terrifying power to enhance comprehension and the boundless Vitality Energy!

After grasping the Sword Array, except for not being particularly clear about the Yin Yang Dao, Zhou Yan had attained Perfection in his comprehension.

Hence, he shifted his focus onto Elixirs.

His Master, as a mighty being who could traverse the universe through the Shattered Void, naturally had experience with the Alchemy Dao over the long years; even if minimal, that knowledge was a tremendous treasure for the current Zhou Yan.

Moreover, his Master was a cold person, unaccustomed to asking others for help, hence skilled in all respects.

This time, Zhou Yan approached understanding the Alchemy Dao with the same mindset.

This was the difference between knowing what lies ahead and not knowing.

Knowing the path ahead, comprehension of the Alchemy Dao now could bypass just understanding the rules of this world, and directly start from the great Tao!

And the knowledge of the Alchemy Dao that Zhou Yan received was already the great Tao; he needed only his own comprehension.

In ancient Huaxia, Alchemy was referred to as ‘Alchemy Master,’ although that was just a title, such a group of people were revered by many for using Elixirs to overcome all deficiencies and directly challenge the great Tao of Heaven and Earth.

What Zhou Yan was realizing at this moment was the so-called ‘Supreme Alchemy Dao,’ the family Alchemy Skill of his Master’s family, the Da Li.

This comprehension brought Zhou Yan significant gains; in his sensing, it seemed that centuries had passed during this understanding of the Alchemy Dao.

Yet when he awoke once more, his Realm, hair, and body hadn’t changed at all; it was as if only a moment of time had slipped by.

But as he sensed Feng Lingqing, despite her still lying prostrate, her injuries had already recovered by nearly seventy percent; due to the Soul disturbance, she had yet to wake up.

Zhou Yan continued to use his Soul Power to aid her, to little effect, and so he had no choice but to let Feng Lingqing continue to absorb life energy for recovery.

Zhou Yan, who had already witnessed wondrous scenes, when he sent his Soul Sensing over again, naturally saw the exquisite and crystalline details of that body; the two bejeweled points, that area like beautiful and serene landscapes, that immensely desirable haven…

His own unclothed body instantly tensed up intensely in that moment, and his heart surged with heat.

He gave a wry smile; his powerful Wind Spirit Avoiding Dust Armor had also vanished into ashes due to that sword-strike earlier, such that he was now completely bare, without a stitch of clothing.

Taking a deep breath to quell the inexplicable urge, Zhou Yan continued to take advantage of this rare opportunity, diving back into his understanding.

This time, it was Artifact Refining.

If he wanted the Sword that was most in harmony with him, if he wanted to repair Little Xue’s Artifact Spirit and Sword Spirit, then his own Artifact Refining Ability was indispensable.

If there were no inheritance, Zhou Yan had planned to focus on learning when he became stronger.

Now that he had such an inheritance, all he lacked was comprehension.

With such a good opportunity at hand and unable to determine when it might cease to be effective, how could Zhou Yan not seize the chance?

Artifact Refining was a kind of training for one’s mental state.

The quality of one’s will determined the quality of the artifact they could produce.

In the Sword Continent, this meant focusing on the sword.

There were various types of swords and Sword Spirits.

Powerful Artifact Sword Cultivators, using their own Sword Heart, would endow the swords they refined with a Sword Heart instead of using another cultivator’s Soul to forge a Sword Heart.

This was because the Sword Heart they endowed had the potential to grow, whereas one forged from a Soul depended on that soul’s potential.

If a soul’s potential could reach the Sword Spirit Realm, then the forged Sword Heart could undergo a transformation and become a Sword Spirit.

However, even at its strongest, it could not break into the beyond of the Sword Spirit Realm.

If a soul’s ability was at the Sword Soul Realm, then after transforming into a Sword Spirit, the sword’s Sword Spirit could grow to reach the Sword Soul Realm.

Therefore, geniuses often died young because some cultivators, when unable to forge a growth-capable Sword Heart, would target the souls of such geniuses.

This was exemplified by how the Zhou Family treated Zhou Wangchen: extracting his soul and using it to forge a Sword Heart.

For Zhou Wangchen had at least the potential to become a powerful practitioner of the Sword Spirit Realm.

To the Great Zhou Family, the Sword Spirit was already an extremely powerful realm.

If they had such a Spirit Sword to complement them, their strength could increase significantly.

While Zhou Yan was contemplating his own Dao, he also absorbed some knowledge to this end, gradually immersing himself in comprehension once again, forgetting the passage of time.

This time it was unknown how much time had passed.

Zhou Yan felt it might have been hundreds of years.

But when he opened his eyes, everything around him looked just as it had before.

His skin had become much more translucent, and unknowingly, his realm had reached the Peak State of the Sword Heart First Layer Heaven.

The Qi Column and its nodes within his body had also become incredibly solidified.

After the baptism of a vast amount of Life Energy, Zhou Yan felt his injuries had completely healed without knowing when.

Yet the environment was identical to when the Lotus Leaf had withered, with almost no change at all.

The only difference was the verdant Lotus Leaf beneath his feet, which had aged considerably.

Beside the leaf was a lotus pod, the size of a human head, extremely ripe and erect.

It seemed to be a special lotus seed born within the Five Qi Towards Primordial Sword Array.

However, the seed had not been harvested by the white hand.

Zhou Yan stared at the enormous lotus pod, pondering deeply, and sensing the endless Life Energy between heaven and earth.

Without further thought, he unleashed a flash of Sword Light towards the lotus pod.

“Clang—”

A sound like the clash of metal abruptly rang out.

Zhou Yan was slightly startled to see the lotus seed untouched as if it had not been affected at all.

With a slight hesitation, thinking of his own powerful Soul Power, Zhou Yan gathered his Soul Power, materialized a sword, and brought it down in a single strike.

Indeed, this time, as the short sword conjured from his soul touched the black lotus pod, a flash of purple light sparkled, and instantly, the lotus pod fell.

When Zhou Yan reached out to catch it, the weight was mountainous, nearly breaking his sturdy arm with its heaviness!

His body sank sharply as endless shock filled his mind.

This thing was extremely abnormal!

Zhou Yan was well aware of what the purple light within his soul was.

But he couldn’t control the purple light; it only functioned occasionally, in tandem with his Soul Power.

With a thought, Zhou Yan stored the lotus pod into his Extreme Jade Cold Light Ring, then quietly sensed that the pod contained no more or no less than ninety-nine lotus seeds.

As the lotus pod was chopped off, the Primordial Energy between heaven and earth began to dissipate, and the Five Qi Towards Primordial Gathering Spirit Sword Formation also directly ceased to function.

Zhou Yan felt the Lotus Leaf beneath his feet starting to wilt.

This change caused all the other withered Lotus Leaves and Lotus Flowers to undergo a decaying transformation.

Then, Feng Lingqing and Little Xue suddenly awoke at this moment.

Both were bewildered and puzzled, still unaware of what had happened.

At this moment, Zhou Yan took the lead, embracing Feng Lingqing and ascending into the Shattering Void.

Little Xue returned to the fragmented body of the Silver Snow Sword, which naturally restored itself to completeness, except for a few residual cracks.

After the lotus leaves underneath rotted away, tiny sprouts began to grow in big patches.

It was as if the next wave of Lotus Leaves was blossoming, marking the start of a brand new cycle of Reincarnation.

At this time, with Zhou Yan holding Feng Lingqing, her initially icy body suddenly became scorching hot.

Zhou Yan also suddenly realized that he was holding a completely naked woman.

“Young… young master, you you you…”

Feng Lingqing was panicked, showing a mix of apprehension, confusion, and uncertainty.

In that moment of embrace, something within Zhou Yan that had grown potent was already pressing hotly against her.

She felt her body heat up, trembling and weakening.

She twisted, trying to struggle, but such movement, nearly frictional in nature, only made the situation more perilous.

Suddenly, she dared not move again.