Seeking the Flying Sword Path

Morning.

After Qin Yun had breakfast with his family, he left the residence alone and walked on the streets.

He used the Divine Concealment Spell and walked amid the crowds.

"Father is imprisoned in County Governor Manor but I can’t do a thing! Gongye Bing, you have the powers vested in you by the imperial government and do everything according to imperial law. However, the evidence you have of my father colluding with demons is falsified!" Qin Yun was furious and anxious but he could not do a thing. County magistrates and governors that ruled over a region had been given special powers by the imperial government to deal with demons. The control of both political and military powers made these officials have a lot more authority.

The destruction of families was trivial.

"It depends on the three letters." Qin Yun thought to himself. "The hopes of me turning the tables will partly be through my flying sword and partly the three letters!"

Just like yesterday, Qin Yun walked through the streets aimlessly.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he heart began racing.

Through his Intrinsic Flying Sword, he sensed a tiny circle engraving on a willow tree about a thousand feet away.

"Someone from Little Marquis Lord’s side has come?" Qin Yun was excited. This was a signal he had written in the letter.

He immediately walked over.

Beside the willow tree was a tavern, Eastcoming Guest Tavern. There were a few customers eating breakfast on the first level of the tavern.

When Qin Yun walked towards the tavern, a middle-aged man who was having soy milk and buns looked over. His eyes lit up and immediately finished the soy milk in his bowl. He walked over and sent a voice transmission. "Young Master Li You sent me here."

"Little Marquis Lord?" Qin Yun responded with a voice transmission.

Li You’s nickname had been Marquis Genius. Among the cultivators in the northern borders, he initially kept a low profile. With his young age and seemingly naivety, Qin Yun and company called him Little Monkey. They took good care of him on the battlefield but after all the perilous encounters, Marquis Genius rapidly matured. Later on, it was discovered that Marquis Genius had many talisman treasures. Many companions had been saved by the treasures he used. With all the experience and training, Marquis Genius’s Dharma spells also became more adept, allowing his strength to greatly increase.

Gradually, people began calling him Lord, which resulted in his nickname of Little Marquis Lord.

Little Marquis Lord was one of the backbones of the squad from the past. Qin Yun was responsible for frontal assaults and defense. At critical junctures, he would lead the escape. Little Marquis Lord had all sorts of Dao talisman and Dharma spells, so his strength was in no way inferior to Qin Yun’s. However, he was very impressed by Qin Yun. "With a simple mortal weapon, you are already this powerful. Lunatic Yun, you make me, a person who cultivates in so many Dharma spells and possesses numerous Dao talismans, ashamed."

"You can always lead the charge with a blade or sword in hand."

"No, I’m afraid."

All of these were still fresh in his mind.

"Let’s talk upstairs," said the middle-aged man.

The duo walked up the wooden staircase and quickly entered a guest room.

Inside the guest room were tables and chairs.

The middle-aged man closed the door and said with a smile, "My name is Ge Wei. Last night, after receiving the instructions from Sixth Young Master, I immediately embarked and flew here overnight. I reached Grand Dominance about an hour ago. I thought I would have to wait a day or two here, and have even gotten a room. I was sitting downstairs to have my meal when you came."

"Daoist Ge Wei, you flew here overnight?" Qin Yun immediately bowed. "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

"There’s no need for that. If you want to thank anyone, thank Sixth Young Master." Ge Wei took out a box and placed it on the table. "This is the item he entrusted me to deliver."

Qin Yun went forward and opened it.

Inside the box was a stone. It was translucent and there was a green watery mist constantly in flux. It was truly an ethereal item.

"Fluttering Water Immortal Stone." Qin Yun looked delighted as he closed the box. Immediately, he took out two thick stacks of banknotes from his Cosmic Bag. "Here is a million taels of silver worth."

The middle-aged man took out a portion of one stack and placed it aside before keeping the rest. He said with a smile, "Sixth Young Master has instructed me to only take eight hundred thousand. I am not to take an additional tael."

Qin Yun was taken aback before he nodded slightly.

He knew Little Marquis Lord’s character as well. Since he was taking only eight hundred thousand, it meant that he had only paid eight hundred thousand for the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone!

"Alright." Qin Yun nodded. There was no need to gripe over such matters with a brother that he had experienced life and death with.

"I won’t be staying. I still need to return to report on the completion of the mission," said Ge Wei.

Qin Yun immediately led him down the building.

...

Moments later.

In a room where Qin Yun resided in.

The morning sunlight filtered through the paper windows and illuminated the room inside, as well as the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone.

"Fluttering Water Immortal Stone," Qin Yun looked at the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone. "Back when Yi Xiao left, I thought I could cultivate in peace and it would be sufficient to step into the Connate realm by February. I felt that there was plenty of time but now, with Father suffering in County Governor Manor, it rends my heart. I find my cultivation just too slow."

"Thankfully, Little Marquis Lord found a Fluttering Water Immortal Stone for me, saving me several months of arduous cultivation time. However, I’m wasting a Fluttering Water Immortal Stone just to save a few months of time. Even a prince would not need to go that far."

A Fluttering Water Immortal Stone was not used in this manner! Its most popular use was to ensure a robust foundation for children!

It could save an expert at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refinement realm about a year but if it was used on children that began refining their Qi, it could save them several years! With the saying ’failing to pass the gate of immortality before twenty, despair forever’, if one could save several years through the use of a Fluttering Water Immortal Stone, such as reaching the ninth stage of the Qi Refinement at the age of eleven or twelve, there would naturally be a high chance of knocking open the gate of immortality.

A Fluttering Water Immortal Stone would drain away a large family like the Hong family of almost all its wealth! Even if it were used to fortify a child’s foundation, typical family clans could not afford to use it. Thankfully, Qin Yun had killed Water God and obtained the money that Water God had accumulated for two centuries.

"According to my original estimates, it would have taken me two or three months to step into the Connate realm."

"I hope that with this Fluttering Water Immortal Stone, it would help me reach the Connate realm in one go before it is completely depleted." Qin Yun sat cross-legged on the bed and took a deep breath. With a wave of his hand, the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone flew into his palm.

Qin Yun immediately controlled the immortal energy contained within the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone to enter his body. When it entered his body, he felt a refreshing coldness. Passing through his meridians, they naturally nourished his meridians, allowing them to rapidly grow and widen, filling them with more vibrancy.

"Phew~" After the immortal energy entered his dantian, it nourished the entire dantian, making it slowly grow so as to contain even more Quintessential Essence.

In fact, normal Qi refinement cultivation was to naturally transform one’s dantian! Just like a person’s growth, it took time and could not be rushed! It was the same with the transformation of the dantian and meridians! However, there were always fantastic items in the world such as the thousand-year-old Ice Jade Fruit that could rejuvenate a person and even extend their lives by twenty years.

The Fluttering Water Immortal Stone could also make one’s dantian and meridians experience astounding changes and rapidly grow. It saved about a year of hard work at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refinement realm.

"Hu! Hu! Hu!"

His body constantly absorbed the immortal energy.

Green watery mist could be seen with the naked eye in the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone. Bit by bit, it was reducing.

Of course, the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone could only reduce the time it took for the preparations for a breakthrough. The true overcoming of bottlenecks such as knocking open the gate of immortality, the entering of the Connate realm from the Postnatal realm, or the nurturing of a soul? The Fluttering Water Immortal Stone could not provide any help to such things! It could only reduce the preparatory period.

...

"Where’s Brother? Why isn’t he eating?" At noon, Qin An asked.

"Your brother said that he will enter seclusive cultivation. Don’t disturb him," said Changlan.

Qin An was a little worried. "Isn’t it a little rushed to enter seclusive cultivation at such a critical juncture? Cultivation needs to be done in an orderly fashion and cannot be rushed or one’s foundations might be weak, leading to the danger of a Qi deviation."

Changlan said with a frown, "Alright, your brother is a cultivator. Would he know less than you? Let’s just not hinder or cause trouble for him."

"Alright." Qin An looked at the room. "I wish everything will go smoothly for Brother’s seclusive cultivation."

...

Qin Yun’s seclusion lasted from morning to afternoon, and into the evening, all the way into the deep night.

Late at night.

When the amount of green watery mist in the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone had about twenty to thirty percent remaining, Qin Yun opened his eyes. With a thought, he sent the Fluttering Water Immortal Stone flying from his hand and landed it inside a box beside him.

"My dantian has reached a perfected state, so has my twelfth stage of Qi Refinement." Qin Yun’s eyes lit up as he was filled with anticipation. "Next, it’s time to step into the Connate realm."

Many cultivators were left stuck at the perfected twelfth stage of Qi Refinement and never to break through.

It was extremely demanding on one’s control of Quintessential Essence to condense the False Core for the entering of the Connate realm.

However, Qin Yun’s soul was so strong that it had attained the state of Heaven Man Unity. He also grasped the implications of the Heavenly Dao so he was naturally confident of taking that step.

Qin Yun gently exhaled and closed his eyes.

"Boom!"

His dantian was raging like a tempestuous sea as massive amounts of Quintessential Essence gushed to form a massive vortex. It covered the entire dantian and reached an apex.

"Condense!"

At that moment, all his psyche was augmented in the Quintessential Essence in his dantian. With his Sword Immortal Legacy as the foundation, and the Misty Rain Sword Intent as its soul, he controlled all the Quintessential Essence. Gradually, large amounts of Quintessential Essence began condensing into sword Qi within his dantian. As it contained Misty Rain Sword Intent, every sword Qi was extraordinary in quality. It was soft but sharp. As the millions of sword Qi interfaced with each other within his body, they constantly swirled within the vortex like an Yin-Yang symbol.

In the middle of the swirl, a light dot gradually came to birth.