Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1628 - 860: Restrictions_2

Consequently, Li Yuanba was merely cautioned by various organizations, with no substantial efforts made to target him directly.

Although his opportunities for combat were reduced, the clash against Great Venerable Ming Hai proved immensely beneficial to Li Yuanba. In the subsequent years, free from the burden of specific mandates, he dedicated more time to his cultivation.

This resulted in noticeable progress, as the spiritual power gathered within his Dantian steadily grew.

During the intervals between his training, he discovered an idle pastime.

He began utilizing his 'Chaos Sword Intent' to amplify the sword intent imbued within the fourth-grade energy-converted flying swords of the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak'. This was a technique he stumbled upon while performing ritual maintenance on the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' after his advancement to Great Cultivator.

The 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' long served as his most formidable treasure, having reached the level of a spirit treasure. Among the thousands of energy-converted blades housed within, over two thousand one hundred were fourth-grade, most of which carried the sword intent of previous Great Cultivators.

For a practitioner at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, the intent contained within those two thousand-plus blades provided substantial support.

Yet, following his mastery of the 'Chaos Sword Intent'—and particularly after his promotion to Great Cultivator—the existing sword intent in those blades began to appear insufficient.

When compared to the 'Chaos Sword Intent', the sword intent of those ordinary Great Cultivators possessed only the advantage of volume, being vastly inferior in terms of potency.

The sword intent of a standard Great Cultivator cannot naturally bolster these blades, for such a task requires an identical type of sword intent combined with a deeper comprehension than what is already present.

Much like a blade containing the 'Void Splitting Sword Intent' of a Great Cultivator, it must be refined by a Sword Cultivator who has achieved a more profound grasp of that specific 'Void Splitting Sword Intent'.

Others, even those who have perfected different forms of sword intent, are unable to enhance blades containing the 'Void Splitting Sword Intent' of a Great Cultivator.

Li Yuanba is an exception; the 'Chaos Sword Intent' he mastered integrates the strengths of numerous sword intents into one.

Furthermore, the most formidable sword intents in the Cultivation World derive from the 'Sword Intent Stele', and the 'Chaos Sword Intent' he grasped from that source allows him to encompass the majority of those powerful disciplines.

However, elevating the sword intent of fourth-grade flying swords in the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' is a process requiring considerable time.

Li Yuanba employed his life-bound treasure, the IBMz15, to assist in this endeavor, designing a program to optimize the enhancement process by cross-referencing a vast database of ancient scripts.

He chose to focus exclusively on fourth-grade blades because those of a lower grade would shatter under the pressure of the 'Chaos Sword Intent'.

He faced a similar constraint himself; were it not for the 'Sky-Surging Sword Intent Technique' training his sword body, he would be unable to manifest 'Chaos Sword Intent' physically without the aid of his flying swords.

By infusing a portion of his 'Chaos Sword Intent' into the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak', he manifested a cryptic 'Sword Intent Rule Imprint'—the pinnacle of the 'Sword Intent Rule' he could command.

When a hundred fourth-grade energy-converted flying swords were placed within the 'Sword Intent Rule Imprint', the rest was left to time. Roughly ten days later, the sword intent within those blades would be successfully elevated to the 'Chaos Sword Intent'.

In the near future, once the sword intent within all two thousand-plus fourth-grade blades is completely transformed, the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' will once again stand as his ultimate trump card.

He also petitioned the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion to accept fourth-grade flying swords containing refined sword intent as rewards for alchemy, an item difficult for other sects to procure.

For the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion, however, this was merely a trivial expenditure of time for their Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators.

Consequently, the Pavilion distributed tasks to ensure a steady supply of such weapons, requiring their Sword Cultivators simply to nurture the intent within the fourth-grade blades.

Nevertheless, updating the entire inventory of 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' will take at least a hundred years at his current rate.

Refining the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak' did not impede Li Yuanba’s own cultivation; he only needed to supply the 'Chaos Sword Intent' to form the 'Sword Intent Rule Imprint', after which his involvement was minimal.

"Huh!" One day, while reviewing his assignments through the Identity Jade Disc, Li Yuanba spotted an unexpected entry.

It was a defensive mission tasked with guarding a vital resource point used by Great Cultivators of the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion.

In contrast to other major factions, the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion maintained relatively few resource points for Great Cultivators.

The Pavilion always prioritized seizing resources through martial might rather than cultivating them itself.

Given that the Pavilion was comprised entirely of Sword Cultivators who generally ignored the study of Spirit Plants, they only claimed such sites when they could not be easily looted.

It seems that this time, their resource point held matured materials, inviting challenges from various other factions.

Li Yuanba accepted the defense mission and carefully scrutinized the details.

A cache of Spirit Medicine for Great Cultivators was scheduled to ripen in five days. With at least nine rare plants involved, intelligence reports predicted a surge of at least thirty Great Cultivators converging to contest the site.

"It appears I finally have a battle worth fighting!" Li Yuanba thought to himself with anticipation.

Without delay, he set out immediately, conscious that competitors might attempt to strike before the expected date.

His acceptance of the mission granted his Identity Jade Disc the authority to bypass the sect's Defensive Array.

From nearly five thousand miles away, he utilized 'Divine Eye Observance' to surveil the location.

After analyzing the formation, he invoked 'One Step to Reach', vanishing instantly and reappearing deep within the protective array of the resource site.

"Who goes there?" Two manifestations of Sword Intent locked onto Li Yuanba, accompanied by a sharp warning.

Had the array not identified him as an ally, those intents would have manifested as lethal flying sword strikes.

A shiver of genuine alarm raced through Li Yuanba, his skin crawling as he nearly manifested his late-stage Golden Corpse and readied the 'Ten Thousand Sword Peak'.

The lock-on pressure was intense, for one of the intents was that of a Peak Great Cultivator; the terrifying 'Void Splitting Sword Intent' posed a lethal threat to his current cultivation.

"I must never be so reckless again!" Li Yuanba vowed silently, deciding never to use 'One Step to Reach' to enter an unidentified formation again.

Falling to the blade of one of his own sect's experts would be a truly humiliating end.

"Senior Brother Jian? Why are you here?" Li Yuanba asked, startled to see that the wielder of the Peak 'Void Splitting Sword Intent' was none other than Jian Tianyi.

Had he known this master was present, he would never have felt the need to respond; with none of the expected thirty invaders reaching the peak realm, Jian Tianyi possessed absolute authority on this battlefield.

"Junior Brother Li, what brings you here?" Jian Tianyi questioned, equally taken aback.

Throughout the current Cultivation World, all factions had come to view Li Yuanba as possessing the combat power of a Peak Great Cultivator.

The Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion had inadvertently deployed two Peak-level combatants to defend a single site—truly using a heavy blade to swat a fly.

However, as both had formally accepted the assignment, there was no going back.

The two men exchanged glances and burst into laughter.