Seeking Truth with a Sword

SSSSSS—

Like paper corroding under sulfuric acid, the small strip of gold ingot in Li Ang's hand rapidly dissolved and eroded, becoming riddled with sponge-like cavities and countless holes. Meanwhile, the surface of the countless Mo Si began to glow with a golden luster, flowing towards the parts beneath his skin. Li Ang could feel that the weight of his palm hadn't increased, nor was there any intense pain. At the same time, the Mo Si seemed unsatisfied after absorbing the small gold ingot. On the contrary, as if it had caught the scent of metal, it continued to wriggle and stretch towards the other gold ingots in the wooden box.

"Snap!"

Li Ang drew back his hand, slammed the wooden box shut, and stepped back several paces.

The flame of the oil lamp on the table flickered, reflecting his changeable expression.

The Mo Si swayed in the air for a while before "reluctantly" absorbing all the remaining gold blocks and retracting back under his skin.

"..."

Li Ang stared at his palm. The lines were clear, the life line long, and the blue veins faintly visible. No wounds. No blood.

"I can't let this go unresolved; I must figure out what this Mo Si is."

Taking a deep breath, Li Ang took the wooden box containing the gold ingots and sat down in the living room, once again sorting through the events that led to him acquiring the Mo Si.

First was the time. Around six o'clock yesterday morning, he, Jiao Cheng, and others were in the Sword Immortal Tomb's underground palace when they obtained the stone box. Jiao Cheng opened it and discovered the Mo Si, which then caused the palace to collapse. Everyone fled towards the corridor. All the others, including Jiao Cheng, perished. It was as Li Ang was leaving that he touched the Mo Si inside the stone box, becoming parasitized by it.

Jiao Cheng was the first to open the stone box, yet the Mo Si didn't parasitize him. There are two possibilities: one is that the conditions weren't met, and the other is that the method of contact was incorrect.

Li Ang silently mused, Jiao Cheng was already beyond the age suitable for Cultivation; according to the Academic Palace's texts, his Spirit Veins would have long been closed and stiffened—whereas my Spirit Veins are still active. That could be the difference. The second possibility is the manner of contact. Jiao Cheng merely opened the stone box but didn't touch the Mo Si with his palm. I, on the other hand, made direct contact with the Mo Si using my palm. Of course, it's also possible that both reasons were present—direct contact and activated Spirit Veins.

Li Ang raised his right hand and pressed his fingers sequentially on the hot glass chimney of the oil lamp. He watched as each finger glowed red under the candlelight, revealing the clear outlines of veins and arteries.

I can barely make out the Mo Si. The diameter of a single strand... extremely fine. It branches out like tree limbs, spreading across the entire finger.

If an ordinary person saw a finger covered in Mo Si and imagined their body riddled with Parasites, they would most likely be screaming in terror by now. But Li Ang, after all, was the man who had personally extracted Medina Dragon Worms for ten consecutive hours. His mind was filled with countless grotesque and thrilling accounts of parasitic infections, so his first response wasn't horror but an attempt to understand and analyze.

My bodily functions seem normal; movement in my limbs and other parts is unaffected.

Li Ang pondered, The information known so far includes:

One, the Mo Si can serve to channel Spiritual Energy and connect Spirit Veins.

Two, the Mo Si has a certain degree of autonomous movement and is virtually indestructible.

Three, the Mo Si usually lies dormant beneath the skin and is attracted by Gold, piercing through the skin to absorb it.

Four, the Mo Si's activity doesn't cause wounds, nor does it draw blood.

Regarding the first point, Li Ang had already discovered upon emerging from the underground palace that when he channeled Spiritual Energy into his Spirit Vein, it flowed unhindered, without any pain.

Previously, I conducted Spirit Vein connection experiments using materials such as Yin Chen Wood and Fine Gold. Without holding any material while channeling Spiritual Energy into the Spirit Vein, the pain level was 1. Holding Dushan Jade Marrow, the pain level was 1.3. Youzhou Yin Chen Wood, 1.2. Fine Gold had the best performance; its pain level was 5.0 when held, but this dropped to 1.5 when it was made into a Head Ring and worn on the head. The greater the reduction in pain from holding the material to wearing it as a Head Ring, the higher its Spiritual Energy conductivity. The Mo Si's pain level was 0.7. This means it greatly compensated for the defects in the broken Spirit Vein, allowing a previously hopeless Skull-interrupted Sword to pursue Cultivation.

Li Ang pressed the center of his brow and thought, Fine Gold has excellent Spiritual Energy conduction efficiency; it's one of the most expensive special materials per gram available at the Chang'an Auction House. Even a Cloud Patrol Realm Cultivator isn't extravagant enough to craft an entire Flying Sword out of a block of Fine Gold. If the Mo Si's Spiritual Energy conduction efficiency is higher than Fine Gold's... it's very likely there are records of it in the Academic Palace's Book Collection Pavilion.

Li Ang closed his eyes and silently recited the Shangqing Linggan Chapter. A moment later, his brow furrowed slightly, and he opened his eyes.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but after the Mo Si absorbed that gold ingot, he felt that the pain caused by activating his Spirit Vein was slightly less than before.

Could absorbing metals enhance the Mo Si's Spiritual Energy conduction efficiency?

Li Ang thought, startled. After pondering for a moment, he stood up, moved a box from the corner of the room, and took out the various materials he had previously commissioned the Duke Yan Mansion to purchase from the Chang'an Auction House.

These included, but were not limited to, wood, Jade, metals, and bones.

Li Ang took a deep breath, put on the crude surgical gloves he had made, then took out the various materials and laid them out neatly on the ground.

He then removed the gloves and tested each material by holding his palm near it, without direct contact.

Lantian Jade, no reaction.

Yin Chen Wood, no reaction.

Crowned pigeon feathers, no reaction.

Pure silver, a slightly stronger reaction; the Mo Si emerged from the surface of his skin, attempting to engulf it, when his hand was about three centimeters away.

Iron, copper, an extremely weak reaction; the Mo Si did not appear on its own after Li Ang's palm touched pure iron and pure copper. It only reluctantly emerged when he channeled his Spiritual Energy.

Mercury, lead, a weak reaction.

Bismuth, the reaction was close to that of silver.

Gold, a strong reaction...

After this series of experiments, Li Ang finally determined that the Mo Si had a relatively strong reaction to metals, especially gold and silver, showing a relatively higher "desire" to engulf them.

Currently, without a proper experimental environment, I cannot extract elements like Fang, Radium, or uranium. I need to wait until conditions are adequate to conduct further experiments.

Li Ang pondered, The next step is to explore whether, after absorbing gold and silver, the Mo Si will enhance its Spiritual Energy conduction efficiency as I expect.

He put all the materials back into the box and packed them away.

He added several large silver ingots to the wooden box containing the gold ingots, went to the adjacent room, fetched a wooden basin of water, and poured basin after basin of clear water into the large wooden bathtub until it was full.

Then Li Ang undressed, carefully lay down in the bathtub, and watched the water overflow due to his body's volume. He opened the wooden box, his palm slightly out of the water, and began to let the Mo Si absorb the gold and silver materials.

When all the gold and silver from the wooden box had been absorbed, the water in the wooden tub didn't overflow any further.

My volume hasn't increased by a hair...