Song Yan sat cross-legged inside the cave, his ten fingers tightly clasped, and a faint white glow emanating from his body.

Spiritual Qi gathered around his body, transforming into a sharp spiritual light within him.

"Whoosh—"

Song Yan took a deep breath and, without further hesitation, activated his Spiritual Qi. In an instant, he severed the three Spiritual Roots in his Dantian, plunging them deep into its core.

"Cough..."

He grunted, his internal Qi and blood in disarray, and tiny beads of blood slowly began to seep from his entire skin.

Veins on both arms bulged, and blood flowed profusely.

His black hair gradually began to turn yellow and withered.

His life force was severely damaged, and he was on the brink of death!

A sound like shattering porcelain came from his Dantian, and the remaining Spiritual Qi transformed into white mist, gushing out and dissipating from his seven orifices.

Song Yan slowly opened his eyes; his once gentle gaze was now dim and Gray, dull as common iron.

His Dao Foundation was completely destroyed!

Strangely, the sharp Spiritual Qi used to sever his Spiritual Roots did not dissipate; it remained embedded deep within his Dantian.

Song Yan formed a peculiar sword incantation, and spiritual light burst from his fingertips. The remaining Spiritual Qi tore open a mustard seed-sized rift in his empty Qi Sea Dantian.

Intense pain surged like a tide.

Song Yan gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain conscious.

If he were to faint now, and this Spiritual Qi in his Dantian were to dissipate... then all his efforts would truly be in vain, and he would have no hope of Cultivation in this life.

This rift initially resembled a sword mark, and as it breathed, it devoured all the essence blood and Spiritual Qi from his Dantian Qi Sea.

It gradually formed a green leaf-shaped space, slightly wider than a sword mark.

This was the initial appearance of the Zhen Dao Sword Mansion.

Song Yan bit the tip of his tongue, drawing out a wisp of essence blood.

The essence blood condensed into a round bead, trembling as it hung within the Dantian Sword Mansion.

The previously scattered Spiritual Qi suddenly surged back, even drawing in the Spiritual Qi from the surrounding mountains, forming a palm-sized Qi vortex above Song Yan’s head.

"Buzz—"

After an unknown period, a soft hum echoed from within his Dantian.

Only then did the Spiritual Qi vortex stop.

Upon internal inspection, within his Dantian Qi Sea, a golden thin shell the size of a bodhi seed quietly hung within the Zhen Dao Sword Mansion.

Song Yan’s heart filled with joy, yet he did not slacken.

"One more step."

A Qi Nourishing Pill, prepared beforehand, was swallowed into his stomach. Threads of Spiritual Qi were absorbed into the golden thin shell.

However, the Spiritual Qi was depleted in just a few breaths.

"It’s not enough..."

For this Sword Dao Seed, the Spiritual Qi from the Qi Nourishing Pill was simply too slow.

He had no choice but to take out a Huang Ya Pill and consume it, while simultaneously holding two Spirit Stones in his hands.

The pure and surging Qi Sea Spiritual Qi and the Spiritual Qi absorbed from the Spirit Stones converged above the Zhen Dao Sword Mansion, gradually pouring into the golden thin shell.

The intricate and profound patterns along the edge of the thin shell now slowly lit up.

The entire Sword Dao Seed began to gradually contract; the thin shell seed, originally the size of a bodhi seed, now slowly shrunk to the size of a lotus seed.

Song Yan took another Huang Ya Pill. The Spiritual Qi within his Qi Sea violently churned, like a vortex, being absorbed into the golden lotus seed.

In just a few breaths, his internal Spiritual Qi was already less than one-tenth of its original amount.

Fortunately, at this moment, there was finally a change.

Around the original lotus seed, peculiar sword-shaped Spiritual Qi slowly unfurled like cicada wings, forming a unique lotus seed shape.

Thus, the establishment of the Mansion and the planting of the Sword were finally completed.

Song Yan opened his eyes, feeling as if in a dream... May 19th, the sky was clear and bright.

Xiao He was sitting not far from Song Yan’s temporary Immortal Cave, weaving something with straw rope in her hands.

This craft of weaving straw ropes was taught to her by her grandfather. Song Yan wasn’t interested, but she loved it.

Those messy straw ropes, combined and intertwined, eventually formed such an exquisite, orderly item.

When Xiao He first saw it, she was deeply attracted by this ingenious human craft.

So, during the time when Yan Yan wasn’t by her side, she would weave them every day to amuse herself. Unfortunately, her straw rope weaving skills never reached the level of her grandfather’s.

"Oh dear, that’s not right..."

She would pick it up from time to time, examine it carefully, but seemed dissatisfied, kneading and altering it.

"Good!"

She placed this strange object woven from grass leaves on the open ground.

Beside it, various strange and oddly shaped straw rope "products" were neatly arranged.

This was the eighth one.

After arranging them, Xiao He began to seriously and carefully examine these items, starting from the first, muttering to herself.

"Day one, nothing happened! The food was a little field mouse."

"Day two, there was a big cloud in the sky, like Grandpa’s medicine basket!"

"No field mouse..."

"Day three..."

Xiao He wanted to tell Yan Yan everything that had happened each day since he came out of seclusion.

But she had a bad memory.

In the past, there were always many interesting things, but by the time Yan Yan came to play with her, she had already forgotten them.

She had cried many times because of this.

She was also worried that Yan Yan would be gone for many, many days again, like before.

So she came up with a good idea: weave a straw rope every day, so when she saw it, she wouldn’t forget.

"Day six... huh? What was this again..."

"What was it again..."

Oh no, Xiao He forgot what this straw rope she wove was about!

It was only two days ago!

"Think carefully, think carefully..."

"What was it again..."

Xiao He’s little face flushed with anxiety.

A familiar voice came from above and behind her: "It looks like a little frog."

"Ah! Yes! It’s a little frog!"

Xiao He’s eyes lit up. She then realized someone was behind her, turned around, and saw Song Yan smiling at her.

She immediately felt a little embarrassed. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Hehe... On the fifth day, I met a little frog."

"Where’s the little frog?"

"Ah—"

Xiao He opened her small mouth, pointed, and then rubbed her little tummy: "I ate it."

"..."

Song Yan was both amused and pained.

This child was so single-minded; when he told her to guard the cave entrance, she truly didn’t budge an inch.

"Yan Yan, are your injuries healed?"

Song Yan nodded: "More or less."

Xiao He sniffed, sensing that a large portion of Yan Yan’s Spiritual Qi was gone.

But it didn’t matter; as long as he was okay.

This time, Yan Yan was away from her for such a short time!

Xiao He transformed into a snake and slipped into his sleeve.

"...Don’t you want these straw ropes?"

"No, I don’t!"

Song Yan examined the straw ropes on the ground for a while longer, then, with interest, put them into his qiankun bag.

"What a waste."

"What’s there to waste? There are still five hundred forty-two little straw ropes in the cave on Xiao Gu Mountain..."

"Have you woven that many..."

"Of course!"

...Establishing the Mansion and planting the Sword took a full three days.

However, re-Cultivating to Qi Refining First Realm only took five days.

Song Yan had his own considerations for re-Cultivation.

He still didn’t know where this place was. The journey back to the Sect from here would likely be long, and without basic Spiritual Qi circulation, he feared that encountering some Loose Cultivators who block roads would lead to his demise.

Moreover, most Cultivators whose Realm falls due to severe injury would retain some of their strength; if their Spiritual Qi were completely gone, it would seem false.

Additionally, his original Spiritual Roots had disappeared, replaced by that golden lotus seed pulsating with Sword Qi.

His Cultivation Technique was still the original Qi Condensation Scroll. A rough assessment indicated that the speed of absorbing Spiritual Qi seemed slightly slower than before.

However, the Spiritual Qi he Cultivated was more condensed. Under the gentle hum of the lotus seed, threads of Spiritual Qi gradually transformed into a part of the Sword Qi surrounding the lotus seed.

Furthermore, this Sword Dao Seed could be refined and strengthened.

The general outline mentioned that supreme spiritual items, the true meaning of the Dao of the Sword, and Natal Flying Swords could all enhance the grade of the Sword Dao Seed.

"Whoosh—"

Taking a deep breath.

Song Yan stepped out of this deep mountain.