Sword Refining Art Is Your Future, Little Junior Sister!

Escaping death.

This time, she had truly escaped death!

Su Ling'er had only one thought in her mind.

If she had reacted even a fraction slower just now, she would probably have already lost both legs.

At that moment, Lin Qingfeng's voice rang out again.

Perhaps because she had flattered Gui Xi Sect so aptly, there was less scrutiny in his gaze when he looked at her, and more gentleness.

Su Ling'er forcibly suppressed the trembling in her heart and met his eyes.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"Junior Sister, your remarks about the 'Shedding Sect' just now did hold some truth. They are precisely one of the truths our sect wishes to convey."

Su Ling'er was speechless.

That excuse was something I made up on the spot. How did it become the truth of your sect?

Your sect's truth is a little too flexible, isn't it?

Or... did I accidentally hit the mark?

Lin Qingfeng clasped his hands behind his back and paced two steps before speaking leisurely.

"A cicada sheds its filthy shell and drifts beyond the dust."

"What Gui Xi Sect seeks has always been a path of breaking with the old, establishing the new, and transcending the mundane."

"Yet the Dao has no smooth road."

"To transform, one must bear its weight and endure its pain."

"Junior Sister, I know that seeing the cultivation method of the Sword Refining Art for the first time must have shaken you deeply. But do you know what this art means to Gui Xi Sect?"

Su Ling'er lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze. She could only answer softly,

"...Ling'er is slow-witted."

"No. Your comprehension is extremely high."

"It is merely that you do not yet understand why our sect would employ such thunderous methods to create a technique that appears... so brutal."

"Because there are too many mediocre people in this world, while the heavens are so unfair."

"Junior Sister, forgive my bluntness, but among all the sects under heaven, your natural talent and aptitude can only be considered... among the very worst."

"Without some fortuitous encounter, even if you cultivated diligently all your life, your limit would only be the completion of Qi Refining."

"Foundation Establishment... would be as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Though his words were true, hearing them from this devil still stung Su Ling'er deeply.

What was he trying to say?

"Heaven rewards the diligent is nothing more than an empty phrase meant to comfort the weak."

"If diligence were useful, why would cultivators born with Dao bodies begin life at the very endpoint of our path?"

"If bitter cultivation were effective, why could a superior cultivation technique equal another person's hundred years of effort?"

"We cultivators contend with heaven, contend with earth, and contend with others. In the end, we are contending against our own fate!"

"And the Sword Refining Art is the path that Gui Xi Sect found for every disciple unwilling to remain ordinary and unwilling to believe in fate—a path to defy heaven and change one's destiny!"

Su Ling'er's heart sank deeper and deeper with her Senior Disciple Brother's words.

She did not dare offer the slightest rebuttal, much less reveal any abnormality.

She had only just managed to smooth over the matter of leaving the sect. She did not dare act rashly again and put herself in danger once more.

"Senior Disciple Brother's teachings are right...

It is simply that this art is too shocking. Ling'er's Dao heart is shallow, and for the moment...

I have yet to fully comprehend its true meaning. I need more time to think about it calmly."

"Alas, that is only human."

Lin Qingfeng nodded, apparently having expected her reaction.

Ideological work had to be done slowly.

I need to let her see with her own eyes just how vast the gap is between the Sword Refining Art and ordinary body tempering, so she can finally give up!

He swiftly settled on his next course of action.

"Very well."

"Since you have such doubts, there is little use in talking idly about the great Dao."

"Come with me. I will take you somewhere to have a look."

Lin Qingfeng said no more and turned to lead the way.

Though Su Ling'er felt uneasy, she could only steel herself and follow.

As they gradually moved away from the Artifact Refining Pavilion, the scorching heat in the air slowly faded, and the clamorous voices and hammering sounds receded from her ears.

Before long, a stone hall appeared before them. A plaque bearing the three words "Body Refining Hall" hung above its entrance.

Unlike the blazing bustle of the Artifact Refining Pavilion, this place seemed somewhat deserted.

Only several dozen disciples were scattered throughout the enormous hall.

There were no blazing furnaces or earthshaking roars, only heavy panting and the dull thuds of fists and feet colliding.

Su Ling'er's gaze swept across the hall.

Some were lifting massive stone locks, raising them three inches off the ground before they finally crashed back down with a thud;

some disciples punched wooden training dummies over and over, sending wood chips flying;

others wore heavy black armor as they struggled through the grounds of a gravity formation.

At last, the sight before her made Su Ling'er feel that things were somewhat normal.

Probably.

Aside from the few Senior Disciple Brothers playing tug-of-war and even chess inside the gravity formation, most people did not seem particularly strange.

At the very least, they were keeping their feet on the ground, tempering themselves with sweat and perseverance.

This was the true path of cultivation!

One step at a time, tempering not only the body, but also the Dao heart!

Seeing such an ordinary scene, Su Ling'er unexpectedly felt a strange sense of relief within this Demon Den.

"Junior Sister, do you see?"

Lin Qingfeng's voice sounded beside her ear, seemingly filled with grief and indignation.

Su Ling'er froze. See what?

Isn't this perfectly normal?

What is Senior Disciple Brother trying to pull now?

She turned her head and saw Lin Qingfeng pointing at the sweat-drenched disciples in the hall as he said,

"This is the traditional method of body refining.

Dull, tedious, and painfully inefficient!

Hardly anyone is even willing to cultivate here. They would rather forge iron at the Artifact Refining Pavilion or temper their bodies at the Dao Seeking Ladder than come here."

"If they trained day and night like this for an entire year, they still probably would not compare to Shi Gandang being hammered by his fellow disciples on the forging platform for one hour."

Wait, the Dao Seeking Ladder?

Did I just hear something incredible? Was that the Dao Seeking Ladder—the kind that only exists in great cultivation sects or ancient secret realms?

Su Ling'er had never even seen a Dao Seeking Ladder. She had only heard of one in illustrated storybooks or from storytellers.

Senior Disciple Brother said there was actually a Dao Seeking Ladder here?

Really?

This... this...

And such a legendary structure truly moved the little junior sister's heart.

But before she could think any further, her train of thought was interrupted by her Senior Disciple Brother's next words.

"Of course, their aptitudes are passable. You are different."

"Junior Sister..."

"Do not blame me for speaking unpleasantly."

"Your aptitude is not outstanding."

"I have already put it very tactfully. I hope you understand what I mean."

"If you take this path, I fear you will find it difficult to achieve anything in this life. In the end, you will fade into the masses and turn into a handful of yellow earth."

"But the Sword Refining Art is different!"

"It is a path that defies heaven, created for ordinary people like us!

A domineering method that dares to make the sun and moon shine upon a new world!

Though it is painful and carries risks, it can remake you in the shortest possible time. It is not shackled by Spiritual Root aptitude; what matters most is the will of the one being forged!

It is your future!

And although you possess Pseudo Spiritual Roots of four elements, your metal Spiritual Root can make your body even tougher after cultivating the Sword Refining Art. Perhaps your other Spiritual Roots can even forge a new path for this art.

I sincerely believe that this is... the path best suited to you!"

The Sword Refining Art relied mainly on a player's Will attribute for advancement. The natives were probably the same.

"It is not merely body refinement. It forges the person themself into a... magical artifact!

For example, a cultivator may treat themself as a sword.

Once the Sword Refining Art is cultivated to its ultimate stage, one's own body can become an immortal sword!

One may even transform one's body into a sword!

Even if you cannot become a Sword Immortal, you can still become a peerless immortal sword!"

And I, though unworthy!

Am precisely a sword cultivator!