The authenticity of this “spiritual force” was questionable since this was, after all, purely Ai Hui’s deduction.
Regardless, the most pressing issue now was to figure out how to make use of it.
It was a pity that his five residences and eight palaces had been destroyed.
Prior to becoming unconscious, Ai Hui had been devastated to see his efforts and dreams ruined. Waking up now, however, his feelings of disappointment had faded substantially, leaving only survival instincts ablaze.
No, the five residences and eight palaces were not completely destroyed. There was one that remained intact—the sky palace, which housed the sword embryo.
He would be thinking of ways to repair the other seven palaces, but that was only if his natal residence had not been destroyed. That was the foundation for the system of five residences and eight palaces as well as the basis for nurturing elemental energy. As long as the foundation was intact, there were ways to fix the rest of the system. But the destruction of his natal residence meant that there was no way of restoring the other seven palaces.
Hang on, the rest of the seven palaces….
A thought formed hazily, and he couldn’t quite make it out.
Seven palaces… seven palaces....
Ai Hui racked his brains before finally realizing what he had been reminded of.
Didn’t the [Big Dipper] require seven palaces?
A sudden surge of inspiration led him to the answer; it was indeed the [Big Dipper]. Having only recently acquired the technique, Ai Hui had yet to carefully examine it. The [Big Dipper] he received was the original version left behind by its creator, containing all of his experiences and a massive amount of information beyond Ai Hui’s comprehension.
He hadn’t thought to use it so soon, originally intending to digest more of the information before taking that final step.
Nobody would rush to utilize an original inheritance. It was a waste of the precious knowledge contained within, and it was also exceedingly dangerous to do so.
Anyone with some semblance of common sense would understand the principle of taking things one step at a time. To receive such tremendous knowledge as a greenhorn was analogous to a traveler dying of thirst throwing himself against enormous waves. Not only would he be unable to quench his thirst, he would end up drowning as well.
But time was a luxury he could no longer afford. He was at the crossroads between life and death.
There was no time to hesitate, nothing further to consider.
Without further deliberation, Ai Hui’s mind delved into the [Big Dipper]. The feeling was akin to piercing the surface of a ball of water.
What came out, however, was not a stream of knowledge but a raging torrent of information. Ai Hui was unable to react in time and became overwhelmed.
He soon fell into a trance-like state.
A flood of specious arguments, paradoxical thoughts, and familiarly unfamiliar feelings engulfed his mind. After what seemed a long period of time, his consciousness emerged from what had been another person’s world and drifted along like a wilted leaf upon a vast ocean.
While his consciousness was exploring the [Big Dipper], the strands of energy flowing through his body were stirred up.
The once peaceful flow began to surge ceaselessly.
While Ai Hui was in a trance-like state, the sword embryo within his sky palace also became active.
Its throbbing slowed in tempo but grew in strength. It pulsed like a bass drum, booming steadily and causing the energy strands within his body to quiver with each beat.
The “spiritual force” began to move from his lungs, completing one Circulatory Cycle Revolution before seeping through his arm and into the Dragonspine Inferno. It then proceeded to flow back into his body.
If Ai Hui was conscious, he would have been shocked to discover that this “spiritual force” circulated through the same route as the elemental energy.
The returning “spiritual force” possessed a sharp flavor and was completely absorbed by the sword embryo.
As the sword embryo grew in size, the sharp beats became even more pronounced.
Once it reached the size of a soybean, the sword embryo halted its expansion but not the absorption of “spiritual force.” On the surface, a faint pattern appeared where the sword embryo was located, and as it continued to absorb the “spiritual force”, the pattern became more distinct and refined, ultimately culminating into the shape of a longsword.
Only after the mark of the longsword appeared did the sword embryo halt the absorption of “spiritual force”. The sharp aura shrouding the sword embryo quickly became more restrained as the sword embryo whirled about within the confines of the space between Ai Hui’s eyebrows until it looked just like an ordinary seed.
The returning “spiritual force” still flowed through the sword embryo, but it appeared to have lost all interest. As the Circulatory Cycle Revolution continued, the outflow of “spiritual force” from the sword embryo was now equal to the “inflow.”
There was an increase in the amount of “spiritual force” entering the Circulatory Cycle Revolution. With each revolution, the “spiritual force” passed through the sky palace as well as the sword embryo.
And each time it passed through the sword embryo, the “spiritual force” became thicker and its razor-sharp flavor enhanced. The Circulatory Cycle Revolution gradually slowed.
After countless revolutions, the “spiritual force” had become as viscous as magma. Imbued with a dense sword intent, the “spiritual force” flowed slowly back into Ai Hui’s lungs. It moved along the inner walls of his lung residence and covered the entire area with a thick layer of “spiritual force.” The constant influx of “spiritual energy” accumulated within and thickened the inner walls.
With each Circulatory Cycle, the thick “spiritual force” passed through the sword embryo and accumulated a stronger sword intent. The thickening layer of “spiritual force” silently transformed Ai Hui’s lungs.
The “spiritual force” seemed to have a naturally nourishing effect for flesh and blood. A portion of it penetrated the inner walls of Ai Hui’s lungs and began to grow with the force of life. Once Ai Hui’s dilapidated lungs were fully saturated with “spiritual force,” they began to steadily rejuvenate.
The sword intent embedded within the “spiritual force” was also absorbed by his lungs.
After its destruction, his lungs had been like bellows riddled with holes, but now that they were repaired, the bellows were once again capable of generating air flow. Ai Hui’s breathing caused his lungs to rhythmically expand and contract, increasing the speed at which the sluggish “spiritual force” was flowing.
His left hand’s palace was repaired at the same slow pace. Soon enough, the palaces in his right hand, left foot, and right foot were also restored to their original states as they similarly absorbed the sword intent.
Unlike the palaces within his four limbs, Ai Hui’s gate, earth, and sea palaces had never been activated. Even so, the potent blood poison had thoroughly spread to every part of his body, bursting into his three unactivated palaces and destroying them as well. The blood poison had evidently done him a huge favor.
The “spiritual force” entered the three palaces in accordance with the Circulatory Cycle Revolution, flowing along the damaged areas and thoroughly coating them.
The gate, sea, and earth palaces were like three damaged reservoirs being patched up by the “spiritual force.” Never would Ai Hui have imagined that his gate, sea, and earth palaces would be activated in this way.
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