After refining the Jade Bone methods, Lu Fan turned his focus to another unique physique: the Sword Body, possessed by a young swordsman named Chang Jian.
As usual, Lu Fan possessed Chang Jian's clone to begin experimentation. He tried infusing the clone with various types of Qi—Sunfire, thunder, ice, even bone-tempering techniques—but none of it resonated. Every method he applied clashed with the Sword Body's natural rhythm. It was as though the body itself was rejecting anything unrelated to the sword.
"It's like trying to paint on water," Lu Fan muttered.
He forged makeshift sword arrays, simulated sword techniques using constructs, even tried embedding sword-shaped Qi patterns into the meridians—but it all failed. The Sword Body remained dormant.
Lu Fan sat in silence for three days, gazing at the unmoving clone.
"I'm not a sword cultivator," he finally admitted, sighing. "I don't have the materials… or the sword intent required. Perhaps this path is not mine to walk."
For the first time in his experiments, Lu Fan gave up. Chang Jian's clone was dissolved, and the original was instructed to return to cultivate at the base of the mountain on his own.
But Lu Fan didn't stop.
Lu Fan turned his attention to Cao Ren, a young cultivator with the rare Yellow Earth Physique. As always, Lu Fan began his experiment by possessing Cao Ren's clone, immersing his soul into the vessel to fully understand its inner structure.
This physique was strange—stable, heavy, and unmoving like a mountain. Unlike others that reacted violently to Sunfire or elemental Qi, this one absorbed pressure calmly, like soil absorbing rain.
Inspired by his Mini-Sun model, Lu Fan devised a bold plan. Instead of tempering the entire body, he focused on the dantian, the core of cultivation. There, he simulated a collapse field—compressing elemental energy to create an immense gravitational pull.
Within the clone's dantian, a black hole-like structure briefly formed. It lasted only moments, but the effects were extraordinary. Spiritual Qi drawn into this miniature collapse was compressed beyond natural limits, forming a dense, molten core that radiated a gravitational field throughout the clone's body.
It felt like the clone stood at the center of a star while being chained to the earth.
Only the Yellow Earth Physique could withstand this intense pressure. Any ordinary cultivator would have been torn apart by the gravitational pull. But Cao Ren's clone adapted, grounding the core with the body's innate affinity for weight and stability.
Lu Fan called this revolutionary method the Yellow Earth Gravity Art.
"This core doesn't just store energy," Lu Fan murmured, watching the clone's muscles tighten under the weight of its own cultivation. "It compresses it… densifies it… makes it heavier, slower, but overwhelmingly strong."
As the core stabilized, the clone's movements grew precise and unstoppable. A single palm strike could crush boulders, not through explosive power—but through sheer gravitational mass.
The Yellow Earth Gravity Art was unlike any method Lu Fan had ever created. It lacked the brilliance of thunder, the wildness of fire, or the elegance of sword qi. But it had depth. It had weight. It had inevitability.
Though exclusive to Cao Ren for now, Lu Fan believed this technique could eventually birth a new branch of martial cultivation—one that fought not with speed or spirit, but with the silent, crushing power of the earth.
With the experiments completed and the Eye Weapon refined to the Nascent Soul level, Lu Fan finally allowed the original cultivators to return to their own paths. The clones had served their purpose—each one a blueprint of potential, and now that the foundation was solid, the original bodies began cultivation anew, this time with refined direction and unmatched clarity.
At the base of the mountain, under the lingering pressure of Lu Fan's cultivation aura, the unique physiques sat in deep meditation, their minds still echoing with memories from their clone counterparts. Each one of them had gained a unique method tailored to their body:
Bai Wu, bearer of the Nine Yang Body, had already begun cultivating the 361 Acupuncture Sunfire Tempering Method. Flames swirled naturally into his body, guided by the precise sequence of opening his meridians. His aura had begun shifting toward the Nascent Soul level even without pills or external aid.
Bao Yu, with her Nine Yin Body, had entered a serene, icy state. Her cultivation followed the Ice Heart Method, which required absolute tranquility of body and soul. Her presence cooled the surroundings, and moonlight seemed to favor her figure even during the day.
Bo Lian, possessing the Jade Bone Physique, made the most astonishing progress. Her cultivation method—the Spiritual Jade Bone Technique—allowed her to generate a faint spiritual vein within her body. She became a walking cultivation node, and the speed at which her Qi grew shocked even the elders of the sect.
Cao Ren, with his Yellow Earth Physique, was now cultivating the Yellow Earth Gravity Art. Deep within his dantian, a dense core rotated slowly like a miniature star, exerting pressure on his meridians and muscles. With each breath, he absorbed more Qi, compressed and refined by the internal gravitational pull of his dantian.
However, among the cultivators, Chang Jian alone stood still.
His Sword Body had proven resistant to Lu Fan's methods. No matter how the clone was refined, no resonance occurred. Lu Fan lacked sword Qi, sword intent, or sword Dao. He simply wasn't a sword cultivator—and the material requirements for sword-based experimentation were beyond his current resources.
Lu Fan sighed but said nothing more. Some paths required the cultivator to forge ahead alone.
Still, Chang Jian wasn't discouraged. "My path is sharp and narrow," he said quietly, watching the others cultivate. "But I will carve it out myself."
Lu Fan nodded. "That's the heart of a swordsman."
And thus, the mountain base became a convergence of rare physiques and unique cultivation methods. Lu Fan's experiments had birthed a dozen new systems, all rooted in ancient physique theory and fused with modern Qi principles. These disciples, once scattered talents, were now the cornerstone of the Sunfire Sect's elite lineage.
The Awakening of the Eye
After years of relentless experimentation, Lu Fan's attention returned to the artifact he had long set aside—the Eye Weapon, now pulsating with dormant power. It had absorbed every fragment of cultivation poured into the clone experiments, collecting residual energies from bodies that had been pushed, broken, and reforged.
By now, the Eye Weapon housed the essence of dozens of cultivation paths—Sunfire, thunder, ice, jade, gravity, and more. It was no longer just a storage vessel; it was a storm waiting to erupt.
Lu Fan sat cross-legged at the peak of his mountain, the weapon hovering before him like a suspended star. With a flick of his hand, he began channeling his Rainbow Art, the method that allowed him to harmonize every elemental Qi at once.
Each color of elemental Qi flowed into the Eye—red fire, blue water, green wood, silver metal, yellow earth, violet thunder, and even spiritual hues of jade and gravity.
The Eye trembled, resisting at first, but gradually adapted. The chaotic energies clashing within it began to resonate. A balance was forming—delicate, yet unimaginably powerful.
BOOM!
A dark thundercloud suddenly roared across the sky. Cultivators across the region looked up in fear as a new Thunder Calamity formed—not for a person, but for an artifact.
Lu Fan's expression remained calm. "So, it's finally time."
Lightning poured down from the heavens, hammering the floating Eye Weapon. Unlike the tribulation of a person, this storm had no soul to temper—it was pure destructive force, meant to test the vessel's integrity.
But the Eye didn't shatter.
Each strike of lightning was absorbed, refined, and converted. The Rainbow Art pulsed within it, converting raw destruction into structured power. The Eye shone brighter with every bolt, its surface etched with countless runes from each cultivation method it had encountered.
When the final thunderbolt descended, it shattered the mountain peak—but Lu Fan floated unharmed, watching the artifact glow like a miniature sun.
The tribulation passed.
The Eye Weapon had advanced to Level 4, reaching the Nascent Soul level of power.
More than just a tool now, it had become a living treasure, filled with consciousness, will, and limitless potential.
Lu Fan reached out and grasped it.
"It's ready," he whispered. "Now it will serve as the Guardian Weapon of the Sunfire Sect."