Who else is worthy of comparison to my disciple Miejue?

Cold sweat was no longer a fine mist, but large drops rolling down, soaking his clothes.

Gu Shao'an gritted his teeth, desperately circulating his inner force.

It was like dropping anchor chain in a stormy sea, desperately holding onto the core of his undisturbed mind.

It was also amidst this intense pain that the changes within Gu Shao'an's body quietly occurred.

Within his dantian, Gu Shao'an's Original Inner Force was continuously strengthening under the nourishment of the medicinal power.

As his origin grew, the amount of inner force in Gu Shao'an's body also surged.

It further refined and devoured the medicinal power within his body.

It took a quarter of an hour, then half an hour, for Gu Shao'an to completely consume the medicinal power of the Bodhi Exquisite Pill.

In its place, waves of vigorous energy flowed through his body.

The most intuitive change was Gu Shao'an's inner force.

If, before, the origin of Gu Shao'an's inner force was no larger than a fingernail.

Then now, this origin of inner force had grown to the size of an apple.

With the significant increase in his inner force origin, Gu Shao'an's inner force transformed from a thin stream of water into a gently flowing stream.

Mobilizing his inner force, Gu Shao'an lightly tapped his foot, and his body rose silently like a bird, then leaped twenty feet away.

He truly embodied the saying "as light as a swallow."

Watching Gu Shao'an adapt and test his own changes in the courtyard, Miejue smiled.

While innate talent was the foundation determining a martial artist's inner force cultivation speed, it wasn't the sole measure.

A martial artist's talent and comprehension complemented each other. Outstanding comprehension could also accelerate the understanding of inner force techniques, making one's power and inner force more refined, and naturally stronger.

Gu Shao'an had just begun cultivating, and the Bodhi Exquisite Pill had solidified his foundation.

Coupled with Gu Shao'an's exceptional comprehension, as long as he maintained his effort, he could cultivate the Emei Nine Yang Skill to a profound level early on and still rank among the prodigies.

As she watched, Miejue suddenly thought of the Heavenly Sword.

And the secret within the Heavenly Sword that she still hadn't unlocked.

"I wonder if the secret within the Heavenly Sword would be of any help to Shao'an? If it contains more advanced martial arts or medicinal substances, with Shao'an leading, Emei might not necessarily fail to become the next Wudang, shaking the world."

Her thoughts drifting, Miejue sighed softly.

Wanting more after achieving something, human hearts are greedy, and when it came to the Emei Sect, even Miejue couldn't escape it.

Putting away her thoughts, Miejue looked at Gu Shao'an again.

But perhaps it was her deep obsession with the Heavenly Sword.

Miejue unconsciously imagined that Gu Shao'an wasn't holding the Chengxin Sword in his hand at this moment, but the Heavenly Sword that was being held in the True Martial Grand Hall of Wudang.

She felt that only the Heavenly Sword, such a divine weapon of Emei, was worthy of her exceptionally talented disciple.

But as she watched, a thought suddenly flashed in Miejue's mind.

As the thought emerged in her mind, Miejue's body suddenly shivered.

As if she had thought of something, her face suddenly showed excitement.

Gu Shao'an was completely unaware of Miejue's change, his attention still focused on the changes in his strength.

A short while later, after some attempts, Gu Shao'an had a general understanding of the changes brought about by his inner force.

It was no exaggeration to say that the increase in inner force had greatly boosted the power of the martial arts he used.

Take the Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon, for example.

When Gu Shao'an used the Three Manifestations of the Divine Dragon previously, although it was agile, he was far from being as light as a swallow as he was now, leaping over twenty feet with a single bound.

Similarly, as his origin grew and his power became more profound, martial arts like Willow Leaf Swordplay and Sunset Swordplay would also greatly increase in power in Gu Shao'an's hands.

Coupled with the enhancement of his muscles and bones, his strength also increased by thirty percent. If Gu Shao'an were to face that one-eyed Third Leader from yesterday again, even if he only used Sunset Swordplay, he could defeat the opponent within five moves at most.

"I've gotten stronger, but my hair is still as thick."

Feeling the changes brought about by the increase in his power, Gu Shao'an couldn't help but show a satisfied smile.

A moment later, after testing several martial arts one by one, Gu Shao'an sheathed his sword and returned to Miejue's side, bowing sincerely and saying, "Thank you, Shifu."

Miejue smiled and straightened Gu Shao'an's body, saying, "Between master and disciple, why be so formal? But your current improvement is ultimately due to external forces, and you must not slacken in the future."

Gu Shao'an nodded, "This disciple will definitely work twice as hard and not let down Shifu's high expectations."

"Good!"

Miejue nodded with a smile, finding Gu Shao'an more and more pleasing to her eyes.

Zhou Zhiruo, looking at the smiling Miejue and recalling the experiences of the past few days, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, saying, "We can finally return to Emei."

However, as soon as Zhou Zhiruo finished speaking, Miejue shook her head and said, "The plan has changed. We are not returning to Emei for now; we are going to Wudang."

"Wudang?"

Let alone Zhou Zhiruo, even Gu Shao'an was stunned when he heard Miejue's words.

Miejue responded with certainty, "That's right, Wudang. To reclaim what rightfully belongs to my Emei."

As she spoke, Miejue turned her head to look in the direction of Wudang.

"Zhang Sanfeng, your power is supreme, and I, Miejue, admit I am not your equal. But looking at your Wudang disciples of the third generation, who among them is worthy of comparison to my disciple?"

As if recalling something, a proud smile involuntarily curved Miejue's lips.

This smile swept away much of the gloom from yesterday's events.

The mountain bandits of Blackwood Mountain had all been exterminated, but there were still many subsequent matters to attend to.

Whether it was notifying the authorities or arranging for the women rescued from the bandit lair, all of it required time.

Throughout the process, Miejue kept Gu Shao'an and Zhou Zhiruo with her, occasionally offering guidance to prevent them from being unsure how to handle similar situations in the future.

Only after these matters were all initially settled did Miejue, Gu Shao'an, and the others set off towards Wudang.

Five days later.

Outside White Dragon Mountain.

Inside the carriage, Gu Shao'an sat cross-legged.

A steady stream of inner force circulated within his body.

As his original inner force grew stronger, the power of the Emei Nine Yang Skill began to manifest.

Whenever Gu Shao'an circulated his inner force, a few wisps of it would linger behind in the meridians after each flow, as if tidying up, smoothing the path.

This allowed Gu Shao'an to extend his daily cultivation time by nearly an hour.

Fortunately, Gu Shao'an had already reached the "Perfected" level in Willow Leaf Swordplay, so he no longer needed to practice it as diligently as before.

Otherwise, Gu Shao'an would have had to postpone his martial arts practice to make time for cultivating his inner force.

This was a problem all martial artists had to face.

From this, Gu Shao'an understood why the Sword and Qi factions of the Mount Hua Sect, which had belonged to Mount Hua decades ago, had developed the conflict between sword and qi.

There was truly not enough time.