As it was situated right beside that second-tier spirit stone vein, with tens of thousands of Celestial Army soldiers and several Innate Realm experts waiting nearby,, despite having gained the martial prowess of , a Martial Ancestor at the fifth pulse of the Earth Wheel, and , an Innate Peak expert comparable to a Martial Ancestor, felt no fear, yet he was disinclined to invite unnecessary trouble. After a quick packing, he departed swiftly.

With driving, the Cloud-Flipping Carriage turned as he directed, veering south toward the Cloud Continent, speeding along at full throttle.

naturally took lodging atop the carriage. , who had initially followed him inside the cabin, suddenly became shy about something and also scrambled up to the roof, joining her uncle, .

Thus, found himself alone, claiming the entire carriage. He first took out the medicine bottle that had fallen from the sky and opened it. Inside, there were astonishingly over a hundred crimson medicinal pills. sniffed them, then rubbed a bit of the powder and tentatively tasted a tiny portion in his mouth. Only then did a look of realization dawn in his eyes.

“It’s the Primordial Body Cleansing Elixir from Five Absolutes Villa! How stingy. For the fifth Holy Land of the Cloud Realm, I expected at least three to five Human Extreme Pills.”

He pursed his lips in disdain, yet a flicker of joy crossed ’s gaze. The utility of the medicine mattered more than its grade.

It was likely that the Villa Master had vaguely sensed the presence of the Thunder Roc Essence within his body, which prompted him to offer this item.

For an ordinary person, this elixir would be utterly useless. But for , it could aid him in purifying his body daily, accelerating the fusion of that Innate Vital Energy.

Next, with a casual gesture, he retrieved the spirit sword as well. Since the Primordial Body Cleansing Elixir was bestowed by , this sword must have come from ’s hand.

It shared the design of the Thunder Fang Sword. The moment he grasped it, ’s eyes brightened. The runes carved upon it were ordinary, and the materials used might not all be of the finest quality. However, when poured a wisp of World-Shaking True Strength into it, he immediately perceived a distinct difference.

The internal spirit conduits were remarkably smooth, allowing the true qi to flow within without the slightest obstruction.

And the lightning sparks erupting from the blade were a full three times stronger than those from his previous Thunder Fang Sword!

“It’s actually a second-tier spirit armament! A truly fine sword; I wonder which master smith forged it?”

The spirit array etched within was clearly simple, yet the ingenious combination of those talismans had elevated this spirit armament to the upper grade of the second tier, nearly reaching the third.

Spirit artifacts were divided into nine tiers, corresponding to spirit beasts. In fact, for first to third-tier spirit weapons, the might of the inscribed spirit arrays precisely matched the innate divine abilities of spirit beasts of the same tier. However, in the hands of a powerful cultivator, the displayed power naturally differed from that of an ordinary spirit beast.

then looked at the hilt, where three small seal script characters were clearly inscribed: ‘Forming Sword Master.’

“Forming Sword Master? So it was forged by this ancient artifact refiner. That means the rumor that the Fairy of Supreme Origin once obtained artifacts from the armory of some dynasty during the ancient Desolate Cloud Era is likely true.”

sighed deeply. That immortal maiden’s fortune was truly second only to the Divine Emperor’s. If one delved deeper into her life’s accomplishments, almost everything proceeded smoothly, and any occasional hardship could be easily overcome. In terms of sheer luck, she could be called the foremost person in history.

In later generations, whenever a sword forged by a master sword craftsman appeared, it commanded a price increase of ten or a hundred times, being regarded as a priceless treasure.

Even in this era, it must have been incredibly valuable.

, however, harbored no sentimentality; he replaced his original sidearm with absolute straightforwardness.

Spirit swords were fundamentally made for use. If that Forming Sword Master knew that their creation would one day be treated as a mere toy to be observed, they would likely weep buckets of tears in sorrow.

Yet, these two peak Spirit Martial Venerables of the Cloud Realm were truly uncommonly frugal.

The items they presented were actually inferior to what gave him upon parting. The vials and jars she presented were worth at least five times the combined value of this sword and the bottle of Primordial Body Cleansing Elixir.

Despite the suspicion of being kept and living off a woman, which drew scorn from and the three Innate experts in Black Mountain City for quite some time, still felt happy and content.

“Next up is this item!”

After swapping swords, ’s expression gradually turned grave. In his hand appeared three black, strawberry-like fruit kernels. In addition to these, there were all the fallen petals of the Dark Epiphyllum.

If one judged by artifact tier, the Dark Epiphyllum Fruit was far inferior to the Thunder Roc Egg. But in the eyes of a Spirit Master, the value of the Dark Epiphyllum Fruit was not much less than the latter.

However, he had only heard about its function; very few Spirit Masters ever obtained the Dark Epiphyllum Fruit. The ancient texts were often vague, never detailing the method of use. Since he had not received any orthodox Spirit Master inheritance, he was completely in the dark.

Normally, for spirit fruits of this kind, whether poisonous or not, swallowing them was the best approach—just as was about to open his mouth, an image suddenly flashed through his mind, recalling the moment he absorbed the Thunder Roc Essence.

“My Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation Art could completely absorb the innate imprint of the Thunder Roc Egg; perhaps it can be used here too. Or perhaps this cultivation technique, which devours the essence of heaven and earth to supplement one's own deficiencies, was always meant for this purpose...”

fell into deep contemplation, pondering for a long time. Then, he decisively abandoned the idea of eating it and held one Dark Epiphyllum Fruit in his palm.

“Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation, ingest for me!”

A sharp gleam erupted from his eyes. As activated his true strength to begin absorption, a thin black thread snaked upwards along the meridians of his arm. In a moment, it began to diverge: one part surged toward his Dantian, while the other went straight to the Divine Firmament Acupoint on his forehead.

This dark vital essence was not only incredibly dense but also supremely pure. Upon entering the primordial soul, it stained his Soul Sea vortex with a layer of inky black.

As the absorption neared its end, his arm suddenly swelled and contracted, accompanied by a loud boom in his mind and a cacophony of chaotic sounds in his ears. The whirling Soul Sea rotated rapidly, and the twelve Heavenly Talismans surrounding it flickered with brilliance.

shook his head, quietly waiting for the change to subside. As soon as the sharp pain in his skull lessened, he immediately entered meditation once more. Then, atop his Soul Sea, a pure black flower appeared, still tightly budded.

At first glance, it seemed like a replica of the Dark Epiphyllum, but upon closer inspection, he realized a distinct difference.

The entire flower was constructed from countless spirit runes and talismans.

“The Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation Art can truly devour the origin of life—”

froze completely, unable to recover his senses for a long time. Perhaps those who created secret arts based on the Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation Scripture in his previous life, including himself, had walked a crooked path.

Perhaps only now had he opened a door to the true function of this formidable technique.

He was immensely astonished: why would such a heaven-defying divine ability circulate within a virtual illusion? Had those hundreds of Celestial experts from the great sects and factions failed to perceive its profound mystery?

Taking a deep breath, gradually calmed his mind and focused on observing the Epiphyllum. It was undoubtedly an Innate Talisman.

At this moment, it had formed a structure resembling a Heavenly Talisman Spirit Restriction above his Soul Sea.

However, the stem of this flower connected directly to the deepest core of the Soul Sea.

Like the other twelve Heavenly Talisman seeds, it intermittently drew upon the soul power within the Soul Sea. But instead of using it to strengthen himself, it remained tightly wrapped within the bud.

’s eyes brightened, and he absorbed the other two Dark Epiphyllum Fruits using the Primordial Ingestion technique, causing two more dark Epiphyllums to manifest in the center of his Soul Sea.

He meditated quietly. After nurturing the three dark Epiphyllums for nearly an hour each, with a mere thought, the Black Wave Sword beside him soared into the air, shooting out of the window like an arrow towards a massive boulder a hundred feet away.

“Instantaneous Splendor, Threefold Wave!”

As the sword art was activated, the first Epiphyllum in ’s Soul Sea burst open abruptly. The soul energy infused into his Black Wave Sword suddenly surged. Three continuous strikes followed one another, each stronger than the last, slamming into the stone and kicking up countless shards. As the black sword shadow swept past, the massive boulder, nearly a meter thick and requiring several men to embrace, was cleaved by a single strike from his Black Wave Sword. Then, it swiftly rotated and returned before .

“With the aid of this Epiphyllum, the soul power I imbue in the Black Wave Sword instantly increased its might by half a percent! It truly is a marvel; the texts were not exaggerating. It’s no wonder Spirit Masters regard it as a supreme treasure. However, I cannot rely on it for long.”

The Dark Epiphyllum was said to possess ever-increasing explosive power the longer it was nurtured, seemingly without limit.

In his previous life, there was a legend of a Soul Manifestation Realm Spirit Master slaying a Returning Yang Realm Spirit Master in a single strike, aided by this flower.

By storing soul power within the bud and nurturing it for over twenty years, that cultivator directly bypassed two cultivation levels to kill a Returning Yang expert who had condensed seven True Talismans, shaking the entire Cloud Continent.

This item was one of the few unorthodox methods in Spirit Master techniques that could aid in cross-realm challenges. One could imagine the reverence Spirit Masters held for it.

Although it didn’t significantly increase one’s soul power, it was still regarded as a rare treasure.

Naturally, this item was not without restrictions. After its eruption, it faded like a fleeting epiphyllum, lasting only three breaths at most.

In other words, if ’s cultivation remained stagnant, even after twenty years of nurturing, the maximum power he could unleash would only equal that of a peak Returning Yang Spirit Master, and only for nine breaths.

was more focused on the future. Once he ascended to the Sun Roaming realm, the power of these three Epiphyllums alone would allow him to face an ordinary Body Sculpting Spirit Master in a fight to the death—for a single breath!

“Those Spirit Masters likely only obtained the Innate Talismans within the Epiphyllum. By absorbing them with the Heaven Swallowing Primordial Transformation Art, I directly acquired their life source imprints. I wonder what changes these three Dark Epiphyllums will bring?”

After observing carefully for another half day, finding no further differences, could only shake his head and temporarily set the flowers aside. Within his Soul Sea, he concentrated fully on condensing talismans.

Since the battle with that day, had spent over twenty consecutive days condensing True Talismans within his Soul Sea; now it was time to reap the rewards.