Soon, they reached the Nature Arts Hall. This was where the Dark Hall of the Decimo Dao Palace stored their vast collection of earth and sky saint battle arts. The base requirement to become a Dark Hall warrior was to be a saint. Any disciple of the dao palace had to reach the Saint stage before thirty to become one of the warriors, any of whom would be able to easily outmatch a Grand-Orient guardian.
It wasn’t long before they reached the last section of the Nature Arts Hall. Through a large entrance was an underground cavern with a flight of stairs leading down. Tianming escorted Weisheng Yunxi into the darkness below.
"Tianming, this battle art is called the Invincible Sword Body. It’s something our forebears obtained from the Tomb of the Ancients," Weisheng Yunxi said.
"Invincible Sword Body? How is it cultivated?" He had learned much about the tomb today and was rather curious about it. It seemed that most of the Theocracy’s top treasures had come from within.
"This battle art requires a unique training method. You don't have to meditate and deliberate over it. Instead, just tap into the sword ki pool and use Invincible Sword Ki to nourish your body, turning it slowly into an Invincible Sword Body by infusing the ki into every part of your blood and flesh.
"If you succeed, you’ll be able to release Invincible Sword Ki and draw it back as you please. Let your body be the host of the ki and truly master it. It’ll also be a huge boost to your physical capabilities. That's why it's classified as a rare body-refining battle art.
"The more Invincible Sword Ki you're able to store, the more power you'll be able to unleash. The battle art is broken down into four levels, namely, Ten-Demise Sword, Hundred-Demise Sword, Thousand-Demise Sword, and Myriad-Demise Sword.
"At Ten-Demise Sword, you'll be able to let out ten strands of Invincible Sword Ki. It follows that at Myriad-Demise Sword, you'll be able to unleash tens of thousands of sword ki in an instant. Not to mention, you can infuse Invincible Sword Ki into your Shenxiao Sword Art to elevate it to a whole new level. As long as you can use Myriad-Demise Sword with the fourth strike of the Shenxiao Sword Art, that strike will be on par with an empyrean saint battle art. In fact, it'll be stronger than most of them," she explained.
"Does such a mystical battle art really exist?"
"You're still young, so you don't know much yet. There’s all kinds of battle arts. The Flameyellow Continent has a history that stretches too far back, and many mystical things have been created. There’s so many of them that nobody truly knows the number. The Invincible Sword Body is only one such example. Tianming, you have to view the world with endless curiosity. Don't let yourself be limited by the boundaries of your imagination."
"Alright. But, Palace Lord, what’s a sword ki pool and Invincible Sword Ki?"
"The sword ki pool is a vessel forged from saint spirit ore. Invincible Sword Ki, on the other hand, is a special spirit hazard. There’s wind, fire, water, lightning, earth, ice, and other types. These spirit hazards exist in the form of sword ki, but there aren't many of them. Sword ki spirit hazards each have tens of saintly heavenly patterns and were harvested over the span of thousands of years by our seniors. Many of our forebears have trained in the Invincible Sword Body, but most were only able to reach the Ten-Demise Sword level. In other words, they couldn’t absorb more than ten strands of Invincible Sword Ki. As a result, not much of the sword ki has been consumed throughout the generations, and it began piling up. Now, we have about twenty thousand strands of Invincible Sword Ki.
"Tianming, this technique doesn't rely on talent, but willpower. Don't be too optimistic about it. Don't think too much about it even if you fail. It's nothing more than a matter of compatibility. Also, you're free to pick any sky saint battle arts as well."
"Understood!"
"Just give it a try. Assimilate the first strand of Invincible Sword Ki, that’ll show how suited you are for the battle art. After all, you have the strongest physique I've seen so far. It feels like you're a lifebound beast," she said as she gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You have some firm muscles, young man."
Light could be seen emanating from below them. Before Tianming even approached, he could feel the sharpness of Invincible Sword Ki from the sword ki pool. The closer he got, the more prickly his skin felt.
Soon, he saw the sword ki pool in full glory. They were currently underground, and not a single window was in sight. The pool lay beyond a thick door, filled with an incredibly colorful water. The sword kis caused a brushing sound as they swooped around. Some even scratched against the walls of the pool, creating a screech that irked most listeners.
Tianming stepped forward for a better look and saw more than twenty thousand strands of Invincible Sword Ki. They were spirit hazards of all sorts of types with unique shapes, ranging from the elements, to the blazing sun, and even the stars. All of these spirit hazards existed in the form of sword ki, incredibly sharp and fierce.
Additionally, all of them had many saintly heavenly patterns, with the more exceptional ones having up to sixty. Fifty saintly heavenly patterns was enough for a material to be used to forge saintly beastial arms. He saw quite a lot of fire, lightning, wind, water, earth, and metal sword ki. The fire ones were so hot that they could easily burn anyone nearby to death, if the pool wasn't keeping them safely within.
The sword ki pool shook audibly, as if the twenty thousand beasts were trying to burst out of it. Some of the sword kis clashed against each other, as if they were fighting.
"After thousands of years, these are all that's left. If you're capable enough to absorb all of them, you'll be able to reach the Myriad-Demise Sword level. The water, earth, lightning, and fire Invincible Sword Ki within number more than fifteen thousand. I suggest you try working on those four types first, as your lifebound beasts correspond to their elements. It should make it easier for you.
"Tianming, if you can achieve what Li Shenxiao did, this will all be yours. Don't worry about what others think, either. Jiang An, and many other Ancient Theocrats, have attempted the same without any success." It was obvious that not even she could do it either.
"Fire-type sword ki spirit hazards, huh..." Tianming saw how chaotic they were inside the pool. The color of the fire spirit hazards clearly differentiated them from the rest of the chaotic bunch.
I have an Aeternal Infernal Body, so I should have strong resistance toward fire-type abilities and spirit hazards. Same goes for lightning, ice and water, and mountain and earth. Would that make it easier for me to cultivate? he thought.
Turning back, he asked, "Palace Lord, how many strands of sword ki did the founding ancestor manage to assimilate?"
"More than nine hundred strands; close to a thousand. In fact, if you reach Hundred-Demise Sword, it can be considered a success. After all, assimilating Invincible Sword Ki is really difficult. It's a matter of fusing it with your physical body, and that feels rather unpleasant."
In other words, the remaining twenty thousand strands of sword ki was more than enough. Tianming wasn’t that ambitious, and reckoned it would already be rather decent if he could master the Ten-Demise Sword level. Though, he had a feeling that his Aeternal Infernal Body, Genesis Chaos Body, and Primordial Terraqua Body would come in really useful for this purpose.
"How do I give it a try?"
"I'll lead one strand of Invincible Sword Ki out. Execute the battle art according to my demonstration to test how much your body can take. Which type would you pick?"
"The fire one then."
"Alright."
Not long after, Weisheng Yunxi drew out the smallest strand of fire sword ki with only fifteen saintly heavenly patterns.
"This is Coldfire Sword Ki. It’s among the least hot of the fire-type sword ki. However, it should be far stronger than most flames. Be prepared," she said as she manipulated the sword ki.
"I'm ready. Is there anything I need to do, Palace Lord?"
"No, just work hard on screaming in agony," she said with a smirk.
She had him sit down and stood behind him. "The buttocks have the most amount of flesh, so the damage you'll suffer in the event of losing control is minimal. Should I start guiding it in here?" she asked.
"Alright." But before she could start, something occurred to him. "Umm... Palace Lord, can I change to another part?"
"What's wrong?"
"I'm worried my blissful life will be affected if you mess up."
"You sure have an interesting imagination, despite your young age." She didn't know how to react to him.
In the end, she changed the target to his arm. Not the black arm, of course, as it would be hard to test his compatibility given how tough it was. Invincible Sword Ki worked to reforge the whole body, so concentrating them on his black arm wouldn't help much.
"I'm going to begin."
"Alright."
Weisheng Yunxi guided the Coldfire Sword Ki with a strand of saint ki and pressed it against Tianming's right arm. He felt how truly vast and deep the amount of saint ki she had was. As expected of someone who had cultivated for more than two centuries. If his saint ki was akin to a small pond, hers was an ocean. This was the difference between an empyrean saint and a second-level earth saint.
The sword ki tore through his skin and burrowed into his body. Even though he had been ready for it, it still caused him to wince. While he didn't cry out from the burn, the feeling of being torn through felt like being pierced by a sword.
This is just the weakest sword ki, and I'm totally resistant to the effects of the fire. Yet it feels so painful just from the tearing alone.
He gasped from the pain. It was no wonder most people only managed to assimilate ten, at most, especially considering others probably endured far more pain than he was. After all, they had to suffer from the burns as well.
Even so, Tianming was able to resist in front of this senior. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead. He looked down and saw the Coldfire Sword Ki tearing through his body. Even with Weisheng Yunxi suppressing it, it didn't prevent the damage from the painful tears.
I can't embarrass myself! He endured using willpower alone. All of a sudden, a white glow shone around the parts where his flesh was torn.
"The Prime Tower took effect after all. Li Shenxiao relied on its recovery properties to endure up to a thousand assimilations." It seemed like the palace lord had brought him here knowing that he had the Prime Tower from the start. However, she wasn't able to tell that Tianming excelled far more in terms of his resistance to fire, lightning, and the other elemental aspects of the spirit hazards.
"Even though you can recover slowly, it's still going to be painful. You'll feel better if you yell from the pain," she gently said.
"I can deal with it." He closed his eyes and focused his attention on other things, like Ling'er's slender waist and thighs for example. It truly worked wonders.