Chapter 28: Tempered Steel, The Birth of the Spiritual Barrier

Deep within the Valley of the Sunken Sword, a naturally formed, narrow stone grotto had become a temporary refuge.

The entrance was cleverly concealed by several scattered boulders, allowing only a faint glimmer of light to seep through, illuminating the slowly drifting motes of dust in the air.

Bai Yueqing sat cross-legged at the innermost spot. With a touch of her fingertips upon her storage pouch, three fragmented shards appeared in her palm.

They remained icy and heavy to the touch, their surfaces sheathed in a mysterious shade of black that seemed to absorb all light in the dimness.

Only with careful perception could one sense the resilient and pure energy hidden within.

Ye Ming immediately grew lively, unable to suppress his eagerness.

"I can't wait to taste this 'main course' and see what it's like!"

Bai Yueqing could distinctly feel the subtle tremor emanating from the sword in her hand.

She did not act immediately but first checked the concealment at the grotto's entrance with meticulous care.

Next she concentrated, attuning her senses to the world outside, confirming that no unusual aura drew near.

She cautioned calmly, "Though this place is fairly hidden, if there's any disturbance while you absorb the shards, it could still bring trouble."

A wisp of spiritual energy flowed from her fingertips, rapidly carving a few simple yet practical seals into the stone walls—barriers to disrupt the fluctuations of spiritual force.

"I know, I know, I'll keep it in check," Ye Ming replied readily, though his thoughts were already fixated on the three shards.

"Still, with treasures like these, it's impossible not to cause a stir."

"Let's move quickly—devour them and make our escape!"

Bai Yueqing said no more. She pressed a shard, narrow and sharp as a sword's tip, lightly against the spine of the sword, which was swathed in gray cloth.

At the moment of contact, the fragment did not disintegrate into ash as lesser materials had before; instead, it suddenly erupted with a forceful resistance!

A wave of sharp, icy energy carrying an ancient, defiant will crashed violently against the sword.

Ye Ming's blade shuddered intensely, and from beneath the gray cloth burst forth a surge of blue-black light, interwoven with traces of the crimson glow lingering from the recently absorbed Earthfire Essence.

Two forces battled furiously upon the field of his blade.

"Hah, so it's putting up a fight!" Far from pained, Ye Ming was exhilarated, as if meeting a worthy adversary.

"Not a gentle one, are you? Want to resist? Watch as I refine you!"

The process of devouring became exceptionally arduous.

The metallic essence within the shard was fiercely stubborn, each trace requiring Ye Ming to expend vast reserves of spiritual energy to forcibly strip, subdue, and assimilate it.

The sword's glow flickered erratically, its temperature soaring and plunging, and its surface tensed as if subjected to invisible, titanic hammer blows.

Bai Yueqing’s grip remained unshakable as stone. Through their symbiotic bond, she could clearly sense the pressure and depletion Ye Ming was enduring.

The feral energy from the shard continued to surge and retaliate, striving to break free of its bonds.

She immediately poured her own pure spiritual power into the sword, lending Ye Ming her strength.

Buoyed by this support, Ye Ming’s spirit soared.

"Good, just in time! Now to strike at its roots!"

Ye Ming gathered all his spiritual essence, shaping it like a smith’s hammer, and struck again and again at the stubborn core.

The struggle was slow and fierce.

Only after the time it takes an incense stick to burn did the resistance of the sword-tip shard gradually weaken, finally crumbling entirely.

It then transformed into a torrent of pure, condensed dark energy, fully merging into the blade.

"Whew... first one done." Ye Ming’s fatigue was apparent, but satisfaction shone brighter.

"This is truly top-grade stuff, though tough to handle... Feels like my very body’s been hammered over and over."

Bai Yueqing could clearly sense the sword’s weight increase ever so slightly in her hand, its texture growing more compact and dense.

Without hesitation, she pressed the second shard—curved like a scythe—onto the blade.

With the experience of the first, Ye Ming was a little more adept this time, but the process was no less taxing.

This shard’s energy differed subtly from the first: sharper, more cunning, with a tearing force, and it too relentlessly battered him.

Ye Ming had to adjust the frequency of his spiritual essence, proceeding with care.

Bai Yueqing continued to channel her energy, sweat beading finely on her brow.

Such exertion far surpassed even a prolonged battle.

She marveled inwardly—just what origin did these three fragments have, to contain such domineering, untamable power?

When the second shard was finally absorbed, the sword’s glow stabilized markedly.

It now gleamed with a restrained blue-black sheen, the crimson light withdrawn, exuding a sense of weight and refinement forged through a thousand tempers.

The pattern along the spine grew even more distinct and profound.

"The last one!"

The third, irregular fragment was pressed to the blade.

This time, the resistance seemed weaker—not from any lack of energy, but because Ye Ming’s sword body, having been tempered twice, was now stronger, more capable of withstanding and suppressing such energies.

At last, as the final wisp of dusky energy merged into the sword, the three fragments vanished without a trace.

In an instant, all light, tremors, and distant sounds ceased completely.

The grotto fell into uncanny silence; even the drifting dust seemed to freeze in midair.

The sword in Bai Yueqing’s grip grew preternaturally calm.

Beneath the gray cloth, it seemed utterly void of spiritual presence, its faint glow now imperceptible.

Yet this stillness lasted but a breath.

In the next heartbeat, an indescribable aura of sharpness surged skyward from the sheath!

It was not a leakage of power, but an intangible might born of true transformation!

A clear, resonant sword cry rang out from beneath the gray cloth, piercing through the crude seals, echoing endlessly within the confined grotto.

The cloth covering the sword fluttered as if caught in a wind, unraveling and dissolving into countless fragments that danced like butterflies before settling to the ground, revealing the blade beneath.

The longsword now gleamed with a deep, restrained luster, its material having utterly transcended the realm of common iron.

A translucent screen suddenly appeared, announcing the sword’s quality had advanced to [Refined Steel of a Hundred Tempers]!

The blade’s lines were fluid and flawless, as though shaped by a master smith’s thousand strikes, without the slightest imperfection.

The spine’s motif had become a tangible streak of dark gold, running through the blade like a dragon's back, with a subtle radiance flowing within.

A sense of weight, density, and unparalleled sharpness naturally emanated from it, seizing the heart and soul.

"It’s done! Ha! At last, it’s done!"

Ye Ming seemed to have shed some ancient seal, erupting with joy and newfound confidence, reborn.

"Exhilarating—truly exhilarating! Now this is more like it!"

"Feels like my body’s forged from iron—so much sturdier than before!"

Bai Yueqing gazed upon the transformed sword in her hand, her fingertips gliding over its surface, marveling at the resilience now contained within.

Compared to before, the difference was as great as heaven and earth.

Just then, a clear thought pierced her mind, accompanied by a simple method of invocation.

[Spiritual Veil]: With a single thought, the sword’s spiritual energy can be summoned to form an invisible barrier before the wielder, automatically blocking a single attack no stronger than the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

Usable three times per day.

Simultaneously, a surge of energy far purer and more immense than any prior stormed from the hilt into Bai Yueqing’s body.

Her cultivation, driven by this force, stabilized completely at the pinnacle of the sixth layer of Qi Refinement.

She was now but a step away from breaking through the final barrier, her meridians and dantian expanded and reinforced—an endless boon.

She slowly swung the sword; as its edge traced the air, it left an almost invisible ripple, meeting the air with minimal resistance and a razor’s edge.

"Well?" Ye Ming asked, brimming with pride. "How about it now? The look, the feel—impressive, isn’t it?"

"From now on, when there’s a fight, just charge forward. I’ll take care of anything that’s just a scratch!"

But even as Ye Ming finished speaking, Bai Yueqing suddenly looked up, her gaze sharp as a blade fixed upon the grotto entrance.

In the instant the sword was completed, that resonant cry had not been entirely contained.

A faint remnant of its echo seemed to have leaked from this hidden cavern.

At that moment, a presence—subtle, yet tinged with probing intent—slipped silently through the gap in the boulders, sweeping inward with spiritual perception!