Chapter 59: The Best Cost-Performance
[Jingni—]
[Age: 24]
[Spirit: Jingni Sword]
[Spirit Power: Level 80 (Spirit Douluo)]
[Physique: Titled Douluo (Low-Tier)]
[Mental Force: Titled Douluo (Low-Tier)]
[Domain: Slaughter God Domain]
[Talent: SSS-]
[Affinity: 100 (Undying Loyalty)]
At this moment, Jingni had already fully absorbed that complete set of 99,999-year Spirit Bones. Because she hadn't yet acquired a single spirit ring to break the barrier, her spirit power, which had soared from the bones' immense energy, was now bottlenecked at Level 80, waiting for its first ring.
Simultaneously, Qin Xuan's own spirit power, having consolidated his gains from the City of Slaughter and the past six months of quiet cultivation, had broken through to Level 70.
He had become the first Spirit Saint in the history of the Douluo Continent at 20 years old. This achievement placed him four years ahead of the Holy Maiden, Bibi Dong, and a full ten years earlier than the so-called first genius of the Clear Sky Sect in a hundred years, Tang Hao.
Both of them, in the past six months of absolute seclusion, had completed their refinement, not just of their power, but of their minds, by absorbing the vast ocean of knowledge stored in Spirit Hall's secret library.
A Yan, held securely in Qin Xuan's arms, had an adorable little face that showed an intelligence far beyond her months. Perhaps it was due to a diet of precious Spirit Beast milk and special milk provided by the Elder Palace, or perhaps it was simply from inheriting the excellent, SSS-ranked genes of Jingni and Qin Xuan, but she had developed exceptionally well.
At only three months old, she already had the physique and awareness of a one-year-old child.
Her skin was tender and smooth, like a peeled lychee. Her round, dark eyes—identical to her mother's—stared unblinkingly at the long sword in Jingni's hand. She watched as her mother's new, shimmering Spirit Bone armor materialized and then retracted, her gaze full of curiosity and an innate, powerful closeness to the weapon.
"Nourishing the sword with blood... this Sword Control Technique is indeed miraculous."
The glowing, translucent Spirit Bone armor retracted into her body, its power settling. Jingni let out a soft breath, the powerful aura of her Titled Douluo-level physique receding. She raised her right hand, and the flying sword returned to her grasp; it was the Jingni Sword, now thrumming with a new, profound connection to her.
Little A Yan saw that it was her mother inside the armor and, recognizing her, happily stretched out her two small, short hands, gurgling and asking for a hug.
Qin Xuan smiled, shifting his daughter in his arms. "This Sword Control Technique originated from another World, one where martial arts flourished, even surpassing your original World by quite a bit. So, it's naturally extraordinary."
Ever since obtaining the Unrivaled Sword Casket from the system, Qin Xuan had naturally also gained its usage methods. This included acquiring one of the three great Sword Control Techniques from the 'Youth Song Line' (Shaonian Gexing) World: the Peerless City Sword Control Technique.
[Inorin's Note: Youth Song Line (Shao Nian Ge Xing) is another Chinese animation (donghua) and novel, separate from Douluo Dalu and Legend of Qin. The Unrivaled Sword Casket is a famous item from that series.]
Famous swords have Spirits. By nourishing the sword with one's own blood, a deep, spiritual connection is established between the host and the sword, achieving the effect of controlling the sword with qi, or in this world, with mental force.
However, this normally requires a lengthy, arduous process of cultivation.
The reason Qin Xuan was able to control ten flying swords with such mastery back on the Hell Road was because, in addition to having a solid foundation in swordsmanship and cultivating two complementary, advanced sword techniques from the Ghost Valley, it was mostly due to his powerful, Spirit Douluo-level mental force.
Although his application of it was still raw, its attack power was formidable. It just couldn't achieve true, sustained sword flight... yet.
After leaving the City of Slaughter, Qin Xuan had a sudden idea. He decided to apply this Sword Control Technique to his own Spirit.
He began nourishing his Changming Sword Spirit with his own blood daily. The results, after these six months of focused training in the library, were remarkably good.
Not only did his connection with his Spirit deepen to an unprecedented level, allowing him to use the Hundred Steps Flying Sword and briefly enter a Spirit Avatar-like state even with his Spirit Emperor cultivation, but he could also, finally, fly with his sword.
[Inorin's Note: The text uses the term Haotian True Body (Clear Sky Avatar), implying his sword-fusion mimics the state of a Spirit Avatar, which is the generic term.]
After A Yan was born, Qin Xuan had taught this powerful Sword Control Technique to Jingni, allowing her to rapidly master her own power and her new Spirit Bone set.
Speaking of which... he mused, if he had been able to fly with his sword at the end of the Hell Road, perhaps he wouldn't have had to go through so much trouble building a raft just to cross that damned Blood River.
Hearing Qin Xuan's explanation, Jingni suddenly understood. Although she was curious about what kind of World this 'Youth Song Line' was, she didn't delve deeper. Her focus was on her new family.
Retracting her Spirit into her body, she skillfully took A Yan from Qin Xuan's arms, settling the child on her hip. She then asked the question that had been buried in her heart for a long time.
"Then your Horizontal Sword Technique and Vertical Sword Technique... as well as your internal cultivation method... they must be from the Ghost Valley lineage in my World, right?"
Qin Xuan nodded, a roguish glint in his eye. "To be honest, and not to make you laugh... to some extent, I could say I stole them. From where the contemporary Ghost Valley Master had hidden his most secret manuals."
"Those two contemporary Ghost Valley disciples will probably be furious," Jingni giggled, a sound that was still new and wonderful to Qin Xuan's ears. "An outsider... yet he simultaneously mastered both of their lineage's ultimate sword techniques."
Ever since she had truly opened her heart to Qin Xuan, the cold, delicate, doll-like face of Jingni had seen many more smiles.
She was very, very satisfied with her current life.
She no longer had to worry about the Net Trap organization's relentless vendetta. She no longer had to hide from assassins in the dark. And she had a man who loved her... and a lovely, perfect daughter.
"You really can't argue with you," Qin Xuan said, his voice softening as he watched her. "Let's see... I'll teach you those two sword techniques later. When A Yan grows up, you can teach them to her."
He leaned in, a mischievous, impish smile spreading across his face. "And then, one day, we can let A Yan defeat them, making them even angrier."
He recalled watching the 'Farmhouse' arc in Legend of Qin during his previous life. He remembered the scene where the arrogant, silver-haired Wei Zhuang scornfully mocked the efforts of the protagonists, particularly his disdain for their weaknesses. He also remembered his mocking of Yan Dan's daughter, Gao Yue (A Yan's parallel).
[Inorin's Note: "Farmhouse" is a fan nickname for the "Tian Ze" (Farmhouse) arc of The Legend of Qin (Qin's Moon), which is Season 4 and 5. This arc involves Wei Zhuang and the Ghost Valley lineage heavily.]
In this fanfic, my daughter A Yan is the parallel of Gao Yue from that world... the girl who was helpless and had to be protected, Qin Xuan thought, his smile turning predatory. If one day, my A Yan returns to her original World and meets that arrogant Wei Zhuang again...
That scene, he mused, will definitely be spectacular.
"I really can't argue with you." Jingni smiled gently, sensing the dark, playful turn of his thoughts. Although they hadn't known each other for long, they had slept in the same bed for half a year.
She understood her man's character to some extent.
Although he treated his family with absolute sincerity and fierce protection... as he had said when they first met, he was indeed not a benevolent person to the outside world.
Looking at his mischievous smile, it was highly likely that someone, somewhere, was about to suffer.
But none of that concerned her. She only needed to know that Qin Xuan was her man. As for anything else, no matter what he did, she would support him to the end.
"Let's go." Qin Xuan stretched, his joints popping after sitting for so long. He put his arm around Jingni's shoulder and guided her toward the exit of the third-floor library. "After half a year of inactivity and reading, it's time to get out and stretch our muscles."
Jingni, holding A Yan, walked beside him, her steps light and silent. "Are we going to acquire a spirit ring?"
Qin Xuan nodded. "Yes. Our spirit power has already reached a bottleneck. If we don't acquire a spirit ring, although we can still accumulate spirit power, the speed will be much, much slower compared to after acquiring a new ring."
His gaze was sharp with purpose. "You are a Level 80 Spirit Douluo with no rings. I am a Level 70 Spirit Saint. It's time to fill those empty slots."
"Now that you've absorbed the set of Spirit Bones, your mental force and physique have caught up. You are, essentially, a Titled Douluo in terms of physical endurance."
He began to plan aloud. "Directly absorbing a 100,000-year spirit ring for your first ring might still carry some risk. But a spirit ring starting from 80,000 or 90,000 years... that is already sufficient."
"We will hunt. After you absorb a few 80,000 or 90,000-year spirit rings, and once your body has adapted, then you can withstand a 100,000-year spirit ring. We will absorb 100,000-year rings for your last few."
Jingni said with some hesitation, "Spirit Beasts' physical bodies are far stronger than human Spirit Masters of the same level. Spirit Beasts of that 80,000-year caliber... they should be extremely difficult to kill, right?"
"You don't need to worry about the spirit ring matter," Qin Xuan said confidently. "I will handle it myself. However, before that, we still need to go to one place."
Saying this, Qin Xuan couldn't help but feel a headache. Jingni was his woman and, with her SSS- talent, his most powerful future helper. If possible, Qin Xuan truly wanted to get her nine 100,000-year spirit rings.
After all, according to his plan, they would first go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He would choose a suitable Immortal Herb for Jingni to consume.
Then, he would proceed to help her absorb her spirit rings.
That way, with a Titled Douluo-level physique, Titled Douluo-level mental force, and an Immortal Herb... if she still couldn't absorb a 100,000-year spirit ring as her first, then probably no one in the world could.
As for himself, he would absorb the Stargazer's Lily to enhance his mental force, and use the Inferno Apricot and Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass for the Ice and Fire Refining Body technique.
This would strengthen his physique to its absolute limit. And then, he would absorb the 100,000-year adaptive spirit ring he had obtained when he first recruited Jingni.
But... who said 100,000-year spirit rings were too expensive?
His gaze drifted back to the system store in his mind, and he did the math.
A 100,000-year adaptive spirit ring, whose lifespan could be increased to a maximum of 999,999 years, required a staggering 2,000,000 emotion points.
A fixed-year 100,000-year spirit ring also required 200,000 emotion points. Nine of them for Jingni would be 1.8 million, which he truly couldn't afford right now, not if he also wanted to buy things for himself and his other future wives.
He sighed. None of his own first six spirit rings were even red yet. He could only make do with a few 10,000-year spirit rings whose lifespan could reach a maximum of 99,999 years.
Who said this item was the most cost-effective? he thought, his eyes landing on the adaptive 10,000-year ring. One only costs 100,000 emotion points. That's the best cost-performance for filling out the early slots.
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