Ling Xiao’s choice to remain in the outer sect, maintaining his position as the top outer disciple, granted him resources far exceeding those of many low-ranking inner disciples.
Though the outer sect seemed like the Yuehua Sect’s lowest hall, it had its pride and wanted to prove itself.
With a gem like Ling Xiao, how could they not nurture him fully?
If he could defeat inner sect disciples, the outer sect’s hall masters and elders would feel vindicated.
Sometimes, sect rivalries were that simple—driven by pride or face.
Plus, completing the Moon Advent Festival’s tower-climbing ceremony as an outer disciple would earn him an extra reward.
After weighing his options, Ling Xiao saw no need to rush to the inner sect. Staying put was ideal, allowing him to build strength.
This way, even if he faced suppression from figures like Hei Suo, he’d have the power to resist.
The outer sect was an opportunity, a shield, and a treasure trove.
“Do you have sword martial souls?” Ling Xiao asked calmly.
“Yes, but I doubt you can afford them!”
The stall owner, irked by Ling Xiao’s composure, felt slighted.
As an inner sect disciple—albeit a low-ranking one—he considered himself far superior to an outer disciple.
“Oh? How many spirit stones?”
Ling Xiao remained unruffled.
Arguing with such a person was pointless.
“Ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Got that?”
The owner sneered, as if looking at a beggar.
He knew outer disciples’ poverty; ten thousand low-grade spirit stones were unthinkable.
Of course, he couldn’t afford it either—he was just manning the stall for an elder.
Martial souls had fixed prices, with fluctuations not exceeding a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
A complete transparent martial soul was standard at ten thousand.
Buying a soul wasn’t too costly; the real expense was the implantation surgery.
That required high-grade spirit stones—a fortune.
“Two sword martial souls. Here’s twenty thousand low-grade spirit stones.”
Through recent alchemy, Ling Xiao had earned plenty of low-grade spirit stones.
Add to that the five thousand from Wan Ben’s mansion and thirty thousand from the Sword King Sect disciples’ storage rings, and he had over fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
He also had about a hundred mid-grade and ten high-grade spirit stones, but those were too precious to use carelessly.
“You—how do you have so many spirit stones?!”
The stall owner nearly collapsed, gaping in shock.
“Is that a problem?” Ling Xiao asked coolly.
“No problem!”
The owner gritted his teeth, greed flashing in his eyes.
He realized he’d underestimated the perks of being outer sect first, especially since Ling Xiao was an alchemy prodigy.
“If I get the chance, hmph!” he thought darkly.
Taking the two sword martial souls, Ling Xiao leaned in and whispered, “A word of advice: don’t get any crooked ideas. I killed Xu Ying and Wang Feng, and I can kill you too.”
The owner’s face went ashen.
He remembered the uproar over Xu Ying and Wang Feng’s deaths, which had pitted Demonic Flame Heavenly Venerable against Guanghan Heavenly Venerable and Yang Danlin, forcing the Enforcement Hall to mediate.
In terms of cultivation, he was only slightly stronger than those two.
Being threatened by an outer disciple stung, but he valued his life.
“Heh, thanks for the sword martial souls, senior brother. See you!”
Ling Xiao flashed a grin, taking the souls back to his cave dwelling.
His first task was crafting sword soul clones.
The process was clearly outlined in <Shadow Sword Art>.
Crafting a sword soul clone required three steps.
He’d completed the first: acquiring two sword martial souls.
The second was crafting an “Soul-Attachment Array Stone.”
The soul-attachment array was a basic formation, one Ling Xiao knew well. He also had array stones.
Others might need help, but not him.
Though his array skills weren’t advanced, at his level, he was second to none.
In basic arrays and their crafting, he’d surpassed his master, Yuan Zun.
Whether he outstripped others, he couldn’t say.
The Mysterious Realm was vast, with many unseen talents. Assuming he was the best would be foolish.
After completing the second step, the final one remained.
It required a martial soul clone.
This made sense: without understanding martial soul clones, crafting sword soul clones was impossible.
They were fundamentally the same.
The method was clear: place the soul-attachment array on a “sword” and condense it into a sword soul clone.
The sword could be ordinary, a treasure, or even a higher-grade spirit weapon.
The better the sword’s quality, the stronger the clone.
Ling Xiao had thirty-six Tiangang Flying Swords (fine-grade treasures), the Ice Dragon Sword (precious-grade treasure), and the Snowfall Sword (fine-grade treasure).
Since the soul-attachment array didn’t hinder a sword’s use as a weapon and could grant it sentience, allowing autonomous attacks under the martial artist’s command, Ling Xiao decided to use the Tiangang Flying Swords.
Imagine the enemy’s shock when a flying sword suddenly changed in unpredictable ways.
Unwittingly, Ling Xiao pioneered a new feat, giving swords—previously controlled only by soul force or true essence—self-awareness.
Others had tried and failed, limited by various conditions.
Ling Xiao succeeded where they couldn’t.
Condensing the sword soul clones was simpler than expected.
Likely because he already had martial soul clones.
In the Mysterious Realm, few had martial soul clones, most at the Grotto-Heaven Realm or above.
Someone like Ling Xiao, with clones since the Martial Vein Realm and an intimate understanding of them, was rare—perhaps only the Human King had achieved this in a hundred thousand years.
Success!
The sword soul clones were far more tangible and defined than regular clones.
With physical form and souls, they could even perform independent tasks at Ling Xiao’s command.
