Chapter 86 – The Sword Seed Bears Fruit

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Jin So-myeong, who was observing the Sword Seed, Limitless, flicked his finger.

Clang!

A Sword Qi so vivid that anyone who saw it would have mistaken it for a real blade flew out.

The moment the slash resembling moonlight touched the golden flower bud.

It dissolved like smoke and was sucked in like a whirlwind.

It was the first time he gave it Sword Qi after reaching the Golden Core stage, and indeed, the reaction was different.

“Is it that delicious?”

Limitless’s silver leaves flapped without rest.

The fierce movement, enough to make whooshing wind sounds, expressed its satisfaction.

This kind of reaction was something it had only shown when he gave it Supreme Great Ability beads, but now it was this happy just eating Sword Qi.

‘Will it be fully grown in two or three months?’

The flower bud had almost completely opened. Soon, a flower would bloom and fruit would also be borne.

If he poured an immense amount of 100,000 Supreme Great Ability beads here, it could grow even faster.

“If you wait just a little, I will give you something more delicious.”

He left the spot, promising a month later when his Supreme Great Ability would be fully recovered.

Going to the training ground he created himself in the Secret Realm of the Mind, he took out the dharma treasures.

A dark-colored millstone, and a bracelet with three-colored gems.

These two dharma treasures were treasures obtained by fighting Hyeok Cheon-ung, who was a False Core cultivator.

‘Did they call it the Black Binding Wheel?’

First, he injected dharma power into the dark-colored millstone, and the usage method and functions surfaced in his mind.

‘Its rank is Rank 3 low-grade. It is a dharma treasure focused on binding and sealing…’

The moment he threw the Black Binding Wheel, into which dharma power was injected, into the air.

Grrrk!

The millstone rotated while making a rough sound, then spewed cobweb-shaped energy in all directions.

The range was a 100-meter radius. Its speed was also quite fast. It was to the point of being hard to avoid unless one used the Lightning Escape Art.

He tested how strong the binding ability was, and even Jin So-myeong, who possessed a robust body, found it not easy to move his hands and feet.

Because the cobwebs tightly wrapped around his body hindered his movement, it felt as if his speed had slowed by about twenty percent.

If speed slowed by 20% in a split-second duel, it was fatal.

‘It is not bad…’

The moment Jin So-myeong, who was repeatedly clenching and opening his fists, pulled up his vital energy.

Clack!

The energy compressing his whole body shattered to pieces.

Although it was a fairly useful function, its power was somewhat disappointing. It seemed it would not work even if the opponent was only in the mid Golden Core stage.

‘Tsk.’

Jin So-myeong, who was smacking his lips, paused.

Because he found useful information while examining the sealing aspect, which was another function of this dharma treasure.

‘It can be used when transplanting spiritual crops?’

Some sensitive spiritual herbs die the moment they are pulled from the ground. Therefore, transplanting them was not easy.

However, if he had the Black Binding Wheel, it was of very great help when transplanting spiritual crops of Rank 3 or lower.

In the first place, this was the primary use of the Black Binding Wheel. It was not a combat-use dharma treasure.

‘It is good. Now, if I find a rare spiritual herb, it will be convenient to transplant it into the Secret Realm of the Mind.’

Next in turn was the gem-studded bracelet.

Looking at the gems where brown, blue, and green were exquisitely blended, he injected dharma power.

‘Three-Color Spiritual Ring .’

It could cause tsunamis or landslides, but this ability was somewhat of a white elephant.

Although it was good to be able to sweep away a wide area reaching several kilometers in a single shot, the dharma power consumption was too high.

Its power was also ambiguous. It was excessive for Foundation Establishment and not threatening to Golden Core.

‘Is this also a dharma treasure for raising spiritual crops?’

The Three-Color Spiritual Ring had the ability to absorb spiritual Qi on its own and convert it into three types of energy: wood , water , and earth , which was a very useful function when raising spiritual herbs.

‘I think they said that if one has this kind of dharma treasure, it becomes convenient when raising spiritual herbs.’

He took out a jade slip stored in his sub-space.

He scanned the Rank 3 spiritual crop art, the Green Wood Spirit-Creating Art, once again from beginning to end.

Jin So-myeong, who was concentrating, shined his eyes. It was because a single sentence in the jade slip caught his attention.

[To install the Moistening Earth to Form Wood Formation , one must use a spiritual object of heaven and earth that generates the three energies of wood, water, and earth as the core instrument.]

The most important thing when raising spiritual herbs was to periodically give appropriate nutrients.

It must not be excessive, nor must it be lacking.

Giving precisely the amount of nutrients needed by the spiritual crop was the basis of spiritual crop art.

Although it was an easy task if it were easy, it was a work that required a considerable amount of hands-on labor.

The Moistening Earth to Form Wood Formation was a formation designed to resolve this inconvenience; once installed, nutrients were automatically injected into the spiritual crops within the range.

Unless it was a special spiritual herb, most grew well with just the three energies of wood, water, and earth, so he had to worry less.

Also, the Moistening Earth to Form Wood Formation had a special effect.

It was that the rank of the soil within the formation’s range rose as time passed.

‘A virtuous cycle structure where soil becomes better as one grows plants, and good spiritual herbs grow from high-quality soil…’

The required conditions were a stable spiritual vein environment and a dharma treasure with special functions like the Three-Color Spiritual Ring.

Although they were conditions difficult to achieve in this sea where the spiritual vein was unstable, Jin So-myeong already had both.

‘It is a formation perfect to install in the Secret Realm of the Mind.’

Since the soil in the secret realm would gradually become better, there was no reason not to install it.

While reading the formation installation method meticulously, he tried registering the Rank 3 spiritual crop art, the Green Wood Spirit-Creating Art, in the proficiency system first.

‘It works?’

【Spells】

Wind Control Art (Mastery 1,000 / 300,000)

…

Wind Transformation Body Force (Beginner 13 / 200,000)

Green Wood Spirit-Creating Art (Beginner 1 / 100,000)

The registration cost was a mere 1 Supreme Great Ability bead. It was as good as nothing.

Although it was good that the cost was cheap, there were absolutely no new scriptures or knowledge surfacing in his head either.

Because in the first place, spiritual crop art was closer to an academic study.

Merely entering the beginner stage had no particular meaning. Only by accumulating proficiency and mastering it through experience could one be said to have truly learned it.

‘Mmm… It does not feel suitable to be in spells.’

Pondering for a moment, he consumed a bit of Supreme Great Ability.

He created a new category instead of spells.

【Crafts】

Rank 3 Spiritual Crop Art (Beginner 1 / 100,000)

Although only the format displayed on the status window had changed, it looked much better.

By the way, the proficiency required from the beginner stage was 100,000.

It meant that to raise it to mastery, more than a million Supreme Great Ability beads would be consumed.

‘Let us learn it directly first. I must see how fast the proficiency rises.’

He infused his Divine Sense into the Green Wood Spirit-Creating Art jade slip.

Reading it thoroughly from beginning to end slowly, he learned the knowledge necessary to raise spiritual crops.

*

One month later.

Jin So-myeong, who was learning the Green Wood Spirit-Creating Art to install the Moistening Earth to Form Wood Formation, broke into a cold sweat.

‘Installing the formation is not easy…’

Although it was just following exactly the installation method explained in detail in the jade slip, it was so complicated that it took a whole month.

He failed five times but eventually succeeded.

Looking at the completed Moistening Earth to Form Wood Formation in front of his eyes, he felt proud.

Centered on the Three-Color Spiritual Ring dharma treasure floating in the air, about fifty flags formed a circle like a fence.

Inside the formation, faint talisman characters flew around like a swarm of bees, continuously circulating and carrying spiritual Qi between the Three-Color Spiritual Ring, the ground, and the spiritual herbs.

‘Good. This much is enough.’

He liked it.

He did not know if it was just his imagination, but he felt the spiritual herbs planted close together had become greener.

Nodding his head, he headed to the center of the spiritual herb field.

‘It is time to use the Supreme Great Ability.’

While installing the formation and learning the spiritual crop art, a month had passed before long.

It meant that 100,000 Supreme Great Ability beads had completely recovered.

The moment he arrived at the center of the spiritual herb field.

He saw the Sword Seed, Limitless, situated in the place with the thickest spiritual Qi.

“Have you been well?”

The silver leaves shook gently as if in response.

Gazing at the golden flower bud that was just about to bloom wide open, he focused his mind.

‘I hope you become a good sword.’

He made a wish containing many meanings in a short sentence.

What is a good sword?

Opinions might differ for each person, but Jin So-myeong thought a sharp and sturdy sword was a good sword.

On top of this, if it could protect its owner and lead growth, it was the best.

Toward Limitless, which might become a companion to share his long cultivation with, he poured an immense amount of 100,000 Supreme Great Ability beads…

Instantly.

The golden flower bud trembled violently, then began to bloom wide open as if fast-forwarding time.

‘A dandelion?’

Its appearance was similar enough to bring to mind a plant from Earth. However, it was different in that each and every one of the hundreds of petals was golden.

Just when he was watching with a nervous heart.

The lively golden petals withered in an instant and fell to the ground.

‘Uh…?’

His embarrassment was brief. A fruit began to form at the spot where the flower had bloomed.

He did not know if a Sword Seed was originally like this or if it was because he had poured as many as 100,000 Supreme Great Ability beads, but the growth was incredibly fast.

A short time of less than a minute.

The fruit resembling downy fluff grew as big as a fist and then fell with a plop.

Simultaneously with that.

The stem, leaves, and even the dry petals that had fallen earlier all turned like smoke and were absorbed by the fruit.

Staring blankly at the fruit—no, the fluff—floating in the air, he muttered.

“Limitless?”

The fluff blended with gold and silver flew around whoosh-whoosh.

It was like an excited puppy running around its owner.

It was bewildering.

‘This is a sword?’

For that, it was too round.

He was worried to the point of wondering if he had fed it too much food—no, Sword Qi.

He did not know how to react. Just when he was blinking his two eyes.

Golden-silver hazes like afterimages fluttered in the place where the sphere passed, but looking closely, it was all Sword Qi!

“Stop for a moment.”

Stopping Limitless, which was circling around the vicinity, he observed it in detail.

“Heh.”

Seeing it now, the sphere he had thought was mere fluff was a lump condensed with hundreds of thousands of minute Sword Qi.

If this Sword Qi was released at once, the surrounding dozens of li would be devastated.

Unlike its soft-looking appearance, it was a fellow with ferocious power.

Admiration came out naturally. Now he looked forward to seeing how powerful a strength Limitless would show.

‘But how do I use it?’

Its appearance was too different from an ordinary sword. In the end, the fellow was a round sphere.

While observing it this way and that, he infused dharma power and Divine Sense, and a faint will was transmitted.

“You want a sword?”

Exiting the Secret Realm of the Mind, he brought the Five Elements Sword he usually wore on his waist by placing it in his sub-space.

The moment he held out the Five Elements Sword toward Limitless, the fellow seeped into the sword.

Hummm!

Along with the sword cry, the sharpness flowing from the Five Elements Sword was instantly amplified.

It instantly leaped over the Rank 2 highest-grade level and reached the Rank 3 dharma treasure grade.

Click.

Grabbing it as if possessed, the cold feeling unique to a chunk of iron cleared his head.

“…A famous sword.”

Gazing at the sharpness formed on the blade, he took out the wolf Demon King’s claw from his sub-space.

This claw was the hardest thing among the objects he possessed.

The moment he swung the sword as a test.

Slice!

The claw, which he could not even scratch in the past, was split at once.

The power of the Sword Qi had become easily twice as strong!

“Awesome.”

Since then.

Jin So-myeong spent a long time swinging the sword to find out the abilities possessed by Limitless.

First was sharpness enhancement.

Limitless had a function to amplify the sharpness of Sword Qi. The degree to which it became stronger was roughly twofold.

Although this alone was good, because Limitless was plant-born, it could also grow on its own.

Swords, minerals, and so on. It was possible to raise its rank by absorbing all kinds of spiritual objects of heaven and earth.

It was also this ability that allowed it to seep into the Five Elements Sword.

As time passed, Limitless would completely absorb the Five Elements Sword and make it its own.

‘Once completely digested, it can imitate the appearance and abilities of that dharma treasure…’

Although there was a restriction that the absorption efficiency fell if it was not a spiritual object related to sharpness, it was an immense ability.

In the far future, Limitless might be able to use the abilities of thousands or tens of thousands of swords in their entirety.

He felt that pouring in an immense amount of Supreme Great Ability beads was worthwhile.

At this level, it was truly not inferior to be made his Natal Magic Treasure.

‘Still, I should try using it in actual combat.’

Having a good weapon made his hands itch, but he endured.

After becoming familiar with the new sword and the Wind Transformation Body Force for a month, he stepped out of his cave dwelling once his Supreme Great Ability had completely recovered.

It was to hunt a Demon King, also to test the power of the Limitless Sword.