Chapter 43: Sword-Hiding Gourd, a Head Full of White Hair

After getting dressed, Ning Jiang’s gaze fell upon the nearby Molten Jade Ore.

The deposit of Molten Jade Ore here wasn’t very large. He had completely consumed all of it to cultivate his Great Sun Glazed Golden Body, and even then, he had only reached the Entry-Level Realm, not even Minor Achievement.

This Body Refining Technique was powerful, but advancing to each new level was incredibly difficult.

’It’s a shame. If I could reach Minor Achievement, I’d be able to kill Innate Realm experts with my bare hands.’

Pushing his regret aside, Ning Jiang retrieved a gourd from his Storage Ring.

The gourd was entirely cyan and covered in a web of fine cracks, giving it an incredibly ancient appearance.

In addition, its surface was marked with stripes shaped like longswords.

This was the item he had acquired at the Treasure Auction. Wei Yanran had mocked him, calling him a fool for spending one hundred fifty thousand Primordial Stones on a Pill Formula. Little did she know, his true objective had been this gourd all along.

It was an Innate Spiritual Treasure!

To understand Innate Spiritual Treasures, one must first understand Spiritual Artifacts.

Spiritual Artifacts were a tier above Treasure Artifacts.

Only Spirit Realm Powerhouses could wield Spiritual Artifacts.

Both Treasure Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts were forged by Artifact Refiners, but forging a Spiritual Artifact was over a hundred times more difficult than forging a Treasure Artifact.

But Innate Spiritual Treasures were different. They were birthed by the heavens and the earth themselves!

A treasure born of nature—that is an Innate Spiritual Treasure!

The greatest difference between Innate Spiritual Treasures and Spiritual Artifacts was that Innate Spiritual Treasures had the potential to grow.

Like Martial Artists, Innate Spiritual Treasures could be improved through certain methods.

Unlike ordinary Spiritual Artifacts, whose grades were fixed—a Low Grade would always be a Low Grade, and a Middle Grade would always be a Middle Grade.

A Low-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, however, could be upgraded to Middle Grade, Upper Grade, or even Top Grade.

Furthermore, each Innate Spiritual Treasure was born at a different grade.

Some weaker Innate Spiritual Treasures were only Low Grade when they first came into being.

Other Innate Spiritual Treasures were immensely powerful from the moment of their birth, even possessing an Artifact Spirit, and would incite countless powerhouses to fight over them.

As for an Innate Supreme Treasure, even a Venerable would be tempted.

Ning Jiang had identified the gourd in his hand as an Innate Spiritual Treasure because of the sword-like patterns on its surface.

Others might not have recognized them, but as a former Venerable, he knew with certainty that these were Innate Sword Patterns.

’This artifact must have been through a great battle. It’s severely damaged and has lost all its spirituality. It’s practically worthless now.’

’With my skills, I can repair it. But restoring an Innate Spiritual Treasure requires Spirit Stones, and Spirit Stones can only be found in Spirit Veins.’

’Finding a Spirit Vein is unrealistic for me right now. There is, however, a forbidden technique I can use, but it will cost me dearly.’

The method Ning Jiang had in mind was to sacrifice his own lifespan, converting it into a surge of life force to re-invigorate the gourd.

As it was now, the gourd had no spirituality; it was effectively dead. To revive it, he had to bring it back to life, like a withered tree blooming in spring, its vitality renewed.

A moment later, Ning Jiang smiled with calm acceptance.

’To achieve great things, how can one be afraid to make a sacrifice?’

’One who is afraid to risk themself for a great cause, or one who forgets their life for petty gain—neither is a true hero.’

Ning Jiang had always been a decisive person. Once his mind was made up, he would not hesitate or hold back.

He held the gourd in his left hand and bit open the tip of his right forefinger. The finger, slender as jade, began to draw runes on the gourd’s surface.

Blood-ink wove across the gourd’s surface, forming mysterious and unfathomable runes. Each stroke was imbued with a vast, mighty, and otherworldly power.

He used his blood as ink to inscribe the runes.

His blood had no metallic tang; instead, it carried a faint, pleasant fragrance.

This, of course, was a result of his Body Refining.

If Ning Jiang’s Great Sun Glazed Golden Body were to reach the Great Success stage, his blood would turn to gold, and his entire body would emit a constant, sweet fragrance.

Soon, the entire surface of the cyan gourd was covered in crimson runes.

Ning Jiang’s face was a little pale, but this was only the first step.

The next part was the most critical.

His expression grew solemn as he began to chant.

The sounds that issued from his lips formed a mysterious incantation. Each syllable was so bizarre that any other Martial Artist would have been completely unable to comprehend what he was saying.

It was an ancient language from a bygone era. In the present age, those who could understand it were few and far between.

His voice was slow, and he paused after each word. With every sound he uttered, he could clearly feel a fraction of his lifespan drain away.

Yet his expression remained unconcerned, his gaze detached.

By the time he had chanted one hundred and eight words of the incantation, a third of Ning Jiang’s hair had turned snow-white.

This was a consequence of his rapidly diminishing lifespan.

It was just as when a Martial Artist entered old age; as their youth faded, their black hair would turn white.

After more than two hundred words, the majority of Ning Jiang’s hair had turned white.

His voice grew heavier than before, and each syllable he uttered felt as if it carried the weight of a mountain.

Yet, he did not stop, continuing to chant with each word perfectly clear.

He continued until the three hundred and sixtieth word!

Finally, Ning Jiang’s voice fell silent.

Immediately after, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of Heart Blood.

This was his Heart Blood.

The droplet of Heart Blood, no bigger than a fingernail, condensed into a sphere that shone a brilliant, dazzling gold.

This was because the Heart Blood contained a vast amount of Ning Jiang’s lifespan, which had transformed it from red to gold.

The golden Heart Blood glowed like a miniature sun, and from within it, the incantation Ning Jiang had just recited echoed, suffusing it with an air of profound mystery.

An immense life force radiated from it.

"Go!"

As Ning Jiang directed it, the ball of Heart Blood landed on the gourd.

Instantly, all the crimson runes on the gourd seemed to come alive, squirming across its surface like countless blood-red tadpoles.

The crimson runes gradually seeped into the gourd, slowly vanishing from its surface.

At the same time, the web of fine cracks on the gourd healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

The process lasted for about ten breaths.

「Ten breaths later.」

The gourd’s surface was now free of any cracks, and a faint, barely perceptible life force began to rise from it.

’It’s done.’

A smile touched the corners of Ning Jiang’s lips. By using the forbidden technique and sacrificing his own lifespan, he had successfully repaired the Innate Spiritual Treasure.

’After this sacrifice, I’m afraid I only have a few months of my lifespan left.’

Ning Jiang’s voice was calm, though all of his long, black hair had now turned white.

A Postnatal Realm Martial Artist typically had a lifespan of about one hundred and fifty years. To repair this Innate Spiritual Treasure, Ning Jiang had exhausted over a century’s worth of his own life, leaving himself with only a few short months.

He wasn’t concerned, however. As long as he broke through to the Innate Realm, his lifespan would increase to two hundred years.

If he reached the Spirit Realm, it would extend to five hundred years.

Reaching the Innate Realm within a few months might be impossible for an ordinary person, but for Ning Jiang, it would be a simple matter.

’Unfortunately, without any Spiritual Qi, it won’t be able to display its full power even though it’s repaired,’ Ning Jiang thought with a hint of regret.

Spiritual Qi was a higher form of energy than Primordial Qi.

Generally, Spiritual Qi could only be found where Spirit Veins existed.

An Innate Spiritual Treasure needed to absorb Spiritual Qi to unleash its power, just as a person needs to eat to have strength.

’I’ll have to settle for the next best thing and use Primordial Qi instead of Spiritual Qi.’

With no Spiritual Qi available, Ning Jiang had no choice but to have the gourd absorb Primordial Qi.

Of course, this was like forcing a carnivore to eat grass. An Innate Spiritual Treasure fueled by Primordial Qi couldn’t unleash even a tenth of its full power.

Ning Jiang took out all the Primordial Stones he had.

He originally had fifty thousand Primordial Stones. He had consumed five thousand of them in one go when breaking through to the Postnatal Realm, leaving him with a little over forty thousand.

Grasping the gourd, Ning Jiang channeled a bit of power into it.

Instantly, a powerful suction force surged from the gourd’s opening.

Torrents of Primordial Qi were drawn out of the Primordial Stones, forming a tornado that funneled into the gourd’s opening.

VWOOSH...

The gourd was like a bottomless pit, insatiably and ferociously absorbing the Primordial Qi.

A full hour passed before the commotion finally ceased.

The forty thousand-plus Primordial Stones had been completely drained of their Primordial Qi.

Without sparing a thought for the hard-earned Primordial Stones, Ning Jiang quickly inspected the gourd.

’Four strands of Sword Aura!’

A moment later, a look of surprise crossed Ning Jiang’s face. Within the gourd, four strands of cyan Sword Aura had been formed.

’The power of a single strand of Sword Aura is enough to kill an Innate Early Stage expert,’ Ning Jiang concluded after a moment of assessment.

’It has Innate Sword Patterns on the outside and forms Sword Auras on the inside after absorbing Primordial Qi... I’ll call you the Sword-Hiding Gourd.’

Ning Jiang had named the gourd. This Sword-Hiding Gourd would serve as his trump card, capable of producing miraculous results at a critical moment.

The only drawback was his inability to find Spiritual Qi for the gourd to absorb. Otherwise, the Sword Auras it formed would likely be powerful enough to kill even a Spirit Realm Powerhouse.

’The Cyan Cloud Country is too barren. There’s only Primordial Qi in the air here.’

’It’s nothing like a hundred thousand years ago, when the world was rich with Spiritual Qi. Back then, I could sense its presence even in the most desolate lands.’

’What happened to the Great Thousand Realms in the last hundred thousand years?’

’Has anyone achieved the rank of Emperor in this age?’

’Who among my old acquaintances is still alive?’

’The Celestial Road... did they manage to defend it?’

At this thought, Ning Jiang shook his head.

’With my current Cultivation, it’s still too early to think about these things. But one day, I will return to the peak.’

With that, Ning Jiang took one last look at the lava pool, his eyes narrowing as if trying to pierce through the molten rock.

’Once my Great Sun Glazed Golden Body reaches Great Success, I’ll go down there and find out exactly what lies at the bottom.’

After his Cultivation reached the Postnatal Realm, he had keenly sensed a strange aura deep beneath the lava pool.

Unfortunately, with his current Cultivation, he was not yet strong enough to enter the lava and withstand its terrifying heat.

Mentally marking the location, Ning Jiang withdrew his gaze and walked away without a backward glance.

Half a month ago, he had been severely injured, his Cultivation only at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer.

Half a month later, he was completely transformed. Not only had his Cultivation risen to the Postnatal Early Stage, but his Great Sun Glazed Golden Body had also reached the Entry Level.

His power had undergone a world-altering transformation.

"Chen Wu, are you still around?!" As he emerged from underground, Ning Jiang’s gaze was as sharp as a blade, radiating a chilling aura.