“Jian-er, pay attention to my hand! The ‘Overturning Cauldron’ sword art requires unparalleled control over the fingers! If you want to practice the Quintessence Sword’s Foundation Scroll before you turn 3 years old, grasping the this sword technique is critical!” The reincarnated sword immortal’s mother Chanlong Yue perfectly demonstrated the intricate finger movements with a flourish. After that, she drew a sword from her spatial ring and demonstrated the sword art for her son’s pleasure.

Not a single drop of sweat formed on Chanlong Yue’s exquisite face as her breasts heaved and hips swayed. ‘My father seems to have good taste in women’, as this thought popped up in his mind, Heifeng Jiansui felt somewhat self-conscious for gazing at his mother with improper eyes.

Of course, instead of gazing at a sword art that he created as a part of the first layer of his Quintessence Sword codex which was useful to only mortals, he might as well gaze at a beauty. ‘The Emperor of the Black Phoenix Empire, my father, has a harem of 8 concubines, not counting the maids and Imperial servants. After I am declared as the crown prince, it will be an interesting experience, gathering women for my personal harem…”

In his previous life as Sheng Jiansui, he had never fallen in love with a woman. While he did enjoy some one-night-stands with beauties and engaged in dual-cultivation with a Saintesses and Holy Daughters of peak sects, he was simply indulging in the pleasures of the flesh. With his heart set on the Dao, how could he pay attention to matters like love?

But now with his old experiences and new body, he would still be able to climb to the apex even if he spent 16 hours a day whoring away. It was the foundation stage in his cultivation, so he couldn’t rush his cultivation with pills and resources. As for meditation, Heifeng Jiansui had been truly spoiled by the millennia spent in the Daocore. Any insight worth his attention would require him to sit in closed-door meditation for at least half-a-thousand years!

Just then, his mother spoke: “Jian-er, did you observe my stances and movements? Why don’t you demonstrate the ‘Overturning Cauldron’ stance to me?”

Drawing the few inches long bamboo sword from the mini-sheath on his hip, Heifeng Jiansui looked like a 4 year old playfighting. In reality, he was only a month old. When a month-old ordinary human would have been completely helpless in a fight, a Black Phoenix clansman had enough strength to battle an adult human.

In a blink of an eye, the light sword flashed in a complicated curve. Heifeng Jiansui didn’t need conscious thought to use a sword technique created by himself.

“Perfect! It seems that you truly share some fate with Sheng Jiansui, since your comprehension of his magnum opus sword codex, Quintessence Sword defies the heavens! You must understand, even some gifted swordmen have trained in the first layer for decades and yet have failed to master it! At this rate, you might actually master this sword art in a year, let alone 3 years!” In excitement, Chanlong Yue picked up her son and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Heifeng Jiansui wiped off his cheek before asking, “Why is it so important for me to master the first layer within 3 years?” In this one month, Chanlong Yue had emphasized that mastering the sword art in 3 years was of vital importance.

“You must know that mastering the First Layer of the Quintessence Sword codex grants perfect control over the body’s muscles and the ability to easily enter a meditative state. If you can use these techniques during the awakening of the battle spirit, the battle spirit will certainly strengthen!” Seeing Heifeng Jiansui’s quizzical expression on hearing the word ‘battle spirit’, Chanlong Yue expounded:

“A battle spirit is a spiritual ability that can be awakened by strengthening the mind to a certain degree. However, direct descendants of our Black Phoenix Clan can awaken it at the age of 3. The ability depends on the mentality, cultivation path and talent of the cultivator.”

To demonstrate, she flicked a finger causing a small earthen spear to form midair. “This is a highly weakened version of my battle-spirit, Limitless Golden Mountain. From the name, you can guess that unleashing its full might here would be unwise.” She demonstrated a few simple tricks with the spear.

‘A battle spirit… Something like this never existed in the world before the Calamity… I suppose I should call it the Primordial Era now. So what Nineorigin said was true: the path of cultivation has changed…’ Heifeng Jiansui pondered about battle spirits as he observed Chanlong Yue doing tricks.

+++

After practicing his sword arts until his stamina was exhausted, Chanlong Yue declared an end to the day’s practice. As a reward for his diligent work, Heifeng Jiansui enjoyed deliciously cooked Fire-elemental beast meat for lunch.

In truth, Chanlong Yue had arranged for most of Heifeng Jiansui’s food to be cooked from Fire or Earth elemental beasts. Until a week after his birth when he could not touch solid foods, she even arranged beast milk for him!

After lunch, Heifeng Jiansui decided to meditate over his bloodline. He had nearly fused the phoenix breathing technique into his biorhythm, increasing his bloodline density by a noticeable margin. Twice a day when the density of chaotic energy was the highest, Heifeng Jiansui would tap into his bloodline memories. It had eventually turned into a daily routine!

+++

During the great battle against the Dark Phoenix, at the cost of countless casualties, the sect managed to cut off the wings of the immortal bird. The elites of the sect were quick to declare it a victory due to the spoils of war, even though there were ridiculous losses in terms of cultivators and the fact that they failed to kill the murderer.

Without any wings, the phoenix could only stare desolately at the sky. It cultivated as usual, but its wings no longer existed. While the bird would quickly recover if it found a rare herb or spirit stones, there were too few of them in the forest where he descended. With the loss of its wings, it no longer had confidence in battling mightier beasts and stealing away such treasures from them. Thus, the sight of a wingless bird hopping in despair became a common sight in a certain forest.

One day, the bird suddenly found a rare spirit flower in a bush. Unfortunately, there was a girl picking it. Swooping and snatching the flower, the phoenix immediately swallowed it. As it felt the restorative power fill its wings, it crowed in delight.

Suddenly, the crow heard the sound of a tinkling, beautiful laughter. Looking down on the earth, it was the girl from whom he had stolen the flower from! Sensing the phoenix’s gaze, the girl gestured for the bird to come down. Mystified, it gently landed on the girl’s shoulder…

+++

The bloodline memory suddenly ended, signifying the end of Heifeng Jiansui’s meditation. For the past month, he made sure to meditate on the bloodline twice a day. However, the memories were mostly fragmentary and vague. However, they seemed to grow clearer everyday.

After some research, he realized the reason for this phenomenon. In truth, the black phoenix breathing technique was refining his mind and body to have a closer resemblance to the phoenix, allowing him greater access to the bird’s bloodline memories. If he mastered the breathing technique and completely fused it within himself, his spirit would be highly strengthened. It might even awaken his mysterious battle spirit!

Within his mind, a plan to quickly accelerate the cultivation of the breathing technique began to form in his mind…

+++

“Are you sure? While I have mastered the foundations of alchemy, equipment refining and formation arrays and am certainly capable of teaching you, learning them now won’t be too useful. At the most, you will only be able to train your technical skill by rigorously drilling the foundations. Also, it will be extremely exhausting to you. Even your sister Xingmei is only focusing on training her combat arts and isn’t paying attention to such auxiliary techniques.” Chanlong Yue cautioned her son from the risk of pursuing a path that would lead to failure. He had suddenly asked her to train him in the three main auxiliary arts: alchemy, equipment refining and formation arrays!

“Emperor-Father said that only Mortal-rank weapons are allowed in the duel, unless I have forged them myself. While it is unlikely, I might end up having some supernatural talent, allowing me to quickly forge Earth-ranked items. If such a miracle occurs, defeating Xingmei won’t be impossible.”

“…That is certainly true. Okay, if you insist on it, I will train you in the auxiliary arts.” She wanted to reprimand her son on his final words, that defeating Xingmei was impossible in other circumstances, but bit her tongue.

“My son, I will begin with a simple introduction. All refined equipment, alchemical pills, formations and other items are rated in six ranks: Common, Mortal, Earth, Heaven, Immortal and Eternal. (Refined equipment of a certain rank are divided into sub tiers of low, mid, high and top grade.) The six ranks denote the six great ranks of cultivation in the Primordial Era. Even though the ranks of cultivation have changed, the ranks of items have been left as-is… in remembrance of the Primordial Era.” While waving her hands, Chanlong Yue avidly explained the auxiliary arts as Heifeng Jiansui listened.

“An alchemist who can refine low-grade Mortal rank pills is a low-grade Mortal Rank alchemist. A blacksmith who can refine high-grade Earth Rank weapons is a high-grade Earth Rank refiner! Thus the rank of an auxiliary master is defined by the highest rank item he can refine successfully. The current you can only refine equipment of Common Rank. If you awaken your battle spirit, the rank will jump to Mortal!”

“If you remember, an allowance of 1,00,000 Elemental Jades is given to you. While materials for refining are usually very costly, the cost for Common grade raw materials is quite low, amounting to an Elemental Jade for 10,000 units. Nobody really cares about those resources in the first place, so you can pick them up for free.”

“For now, come with me to the Refining Hall. Now that I have run you through the theoretical portion, let me instruct you practically!” As Chanlong Yue and her son walked to the Refining Hall, she mentally revised her lesson in her heart. The auxiliary arts would be a path to survival for her son, so she could not afford to be non-attentive while teaching.

+++

From that day onwards, an impossibly strict regimen began. In addition to his sword training, Heifeng Jiansui practiced equipment refining, alchemy and setting down formation arrays. All the while, he would use the breathing technique which transformed him mind and body into his ancestor, the Black Phoenix. He would meditate on his bloodline memories twice a day, observing and emulating the legendary bird’s breath, getting closer and closer to the original breath of the phoenix.

In truth, his understanding of refinement was high enough that he could refine Eternal rank equipment at his peak. But his current challenge was refining Common rank equipment. Even so, with his 1 month old body, the originally simple challenge rose in difficulty by a large amount.

In the beginning, Heifeng Jiansui would fail in refining a lot, due to his small figure and lesser stamina. However, his determination and persistence slowly increased his chances of success. Step by step, the equipment grade rose. From failures to low grade to mid grade, his skill rapidly rose.

Chanlong Yue was astounded by his rapid growth. It might have been understandable if his equipment refining skill rose, but his skill in alchemy and formation arrays rose side by side! She couldn’t help but think, perhaps her son’s gamble had paid off… perhaps he truly possessed a supernatural skill in auxiliary arts!

11 months passed by like this and our reincarnator spent had nearly spent a year in the new world. There was a week left for his birthday to arrive. Heifeng Jiansui’s hard work was still unknown, concealed by his mother. However, his physique had grown in strength and endurance, along with his appetite… this fact couldn’t be concealed.

However, who was he the son of? This boy had the strength and appearance of a 4 year old at the age of 1 month, why wouldn’t he be stronger and taller after an entire year? Thus, this matter was glossed over.

+++

The sounds of hammers resounded in a private refining room. Heifeng Jiansui had spent a year grasping the auxiliary arts. A few days ago, he accidentally forged a top-grade Common Rank blade. Since that day, he had been crazily training his forging arts, aiming to reproduce the miracle.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

As the sound of the finishing touches being applied rang out, Heifeng Jiansui gave a dissatisfied look at the yet unforged blade. “High grade again…”

Just then, a strange sensation filled his heart. For some reason, it felt as if a layer of film coating his eyes was removed. His surroundings seemed to grow more colorful. A feeling came over him, as if there was a door between his eyebrows, and he could open it with a single thought.

Heifeng Jiansui suddenly realized that he was infinitely close to awakening his battle spirit!