Su Ling'er, Qi Refining Great Perfection!

When Su Ling'er stepped onto the hundredth stair, the world spun.

All the blood and fire, all the warmth and loneliness, faded at that moment, leaving only emptiness before her eyes.

Then, she saw it.

She saw the "fruit" that awaited her after her long journey of seeking immortality and the Great Dao.

She also saw the scene she was most unwilling to face.

She had succeeded.

The Myriad Transformations Return to Origin True Manual had reached perfection, and Spiritual Power surged within her body like a tide.

The Sword Refining Art was also mastered, and with a light tap of her toe, space itself could be torn apart.

The bottleneck that had caused her despair for countless days and nights due to her aptitude and spiritual roots seemed to have long been surpassed.

Just one step away from ascending to immortality!

However, at this moment, there were no auspicious signs from heaven, no golden pathways, and no celestial music.

Her body was constantly being reshaped, reformed.

An unparalleled power surged from the depths of her soul, forcibly twisting and refining her flesh, bones, meridians, and even her very soul...

In the end, she became an immortal sword.

A peerless immortal sword flowing with supreme Dao charm, containing the righteousness of the Righteous Path and the aura of slaughter!

Her consciousness was imprisoned within the cold sword body.

She could not cry out, nor could she move.

The only thing she could sense was the hand holding the sword hilt.

It was Lin Qingfeng's hand!

He held her, walked out of Gui Xi Sect, and struck down those arrogant and powerful enemies.

Wherever the sword light passed, mountains and rivers shattered, and the sun and moon inverted.

He held her, ascended to the peaks of the major sects, and amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, under countless gazes of admiration and awe, he achieved immortal fame.

The world praised the peerless sharpness of this Divine Sword:

"Look! That is Lin Qingfeng's sword!"

"This sword is named 'Selfless.' Legend has it that the sword has a spirit, can choose its master on its own, and can even devour all techniques and turn them to its use!"

But no one knew that within this Divine Sword, hailed as "Selfless," was imprisoned a soul filled with unwillingness and despair.

She had become the strongest sword in his hand.

She had become the most perfect weapon in his hand.

Only, she was no longer Su Ling'er, who could wholeheartedly pursue the path of immortality and long for eternal freedom.

This was not the destination she wanted!

Nor was it the immortal path she sought!

After enduring countless hardships and suffering endless tribulations, embarking on this path with a ten-percent chance of survival, she had ultimately become merely an immortal sword in someone else's hand?!

She could not accept it!

She could not accept the sight of herself in the illusion being wielded casually by Lin Qingfeng!

That man wore a smile of pity for the world, spouting seemingly profound but actually specious principles of heaven and earth.

But all of this made her unwillingness and struggle seem utterly ridiculous.

He had transformed everything about her into the sharpness he used to strike down others.

That power was so immense that even she, the "artifact spirit," trembled before it, so powerful it made her suffocate.

The so-called "path to the Dao" had, from the moment she stepped into the sect, been a dead end leading to becoming a "sword" that he had paved for her.

Seeking immortality, ascending to become an immortal...

This was her sole obsession upon embarking on this path.

Yet, when she had exhausted all her efforts and finally touched the peak of power, what awaited her was not freedom in the world.

But the annihilation of the self.

She would no longer be herself.

But the sharpest tool in that man's hand, a slave to his power.

This was a net meticulously woven just for her.

She could not escape, nor could she evade it.

Agony and conflict tore at her soul.

Had all her enduring humiliation and efforts been for the sole purpose of one day becoming a peerless, ferocious weapon in the hands of that demon?

To pave her immortal path for him, to slaughter all living beings for him?!

"The Righteous Path... longevity..."

"Becoming an immortal..."

These beliefs, which had once supported her through every desperate situation, now transformed into the sharpest mockery, roaring in her mind.

The figure of the Senior Disciple Brother seemed to have become an eternal nightmare, occupying all her senses.

Every step she took, every path she followed, ultimately led to the same destination.

Becoming "the sword in the Senior Disciple Brother's hand."

The light in Su Ling'er's eyes extinguished inch by inch at this moment, her pupils losing focus.

"Becoming an immortal..."

"Becoming an immortal..."

"Becoming an immortal..."

The two words were continuously murmured from her lips.

The Dao heart that had helped her ascend the hundred steps shattered at this moment.

Obsession transformed into an Inner Demon, instantly devouring all her clarity.

At the foot of the Dao Seeking Ladder, everyone watched as the slender figure finally stopped at the hundredth step.

She stopped moving.

No longer advancing, she simply stood there, her eyes vacant, muttering to herself.

"A hundred steps! Our new junior sister reached a hundred steps on her first climb, who would believe it if you told them?"

"Amazing! Unbelievable! Even though her aptitude is terrible, when it comes to climbing the ladder, she's truly strong!"

"It seems she's fallen into an Inner Demon. We'll have to wait for her to recover before she can claim the hundred-step reward."

The crowd chattered amongst themselves, gazing at the figure.

And those disciples from the Artifact Refining Pavilion who also cultivated the Sword Refining Art had eyes that were practically shining with gold.

"See! This is Dao heart! This is willpower! Isn't she born for the Sword Refining Art?!"

"Exactly!"

"Senior Disciple Brother must let junior sister cultivate the Sword Refining Art!"

"With her aptitude, not cultivating it would be a complete waste of such Dao heart and willpower!"

"With this kind of Dao heart and willpower, how can her future Dao path advance if she doesn't cultivate the Sword Refining Art?"

"Junior sister's path isn't about transforming her body into a pill and smelting all things; becoming a peerless immortal sword is her ultimate Great Dao!"

"She absolutely has to cultivate this Sword Refining Art!"

"We have to make her cultivate it, even if we have to tie her up!"

Lin Qingfeng gazed at the figure frozen on the hundredth step, his eyes resolute.

Privately, Lin Qingfeng had already contacted Junior Disciple Brother Zhan in the Sword Mound, telling him to prepare a good show.

He would bring junior sister to the final Sword Mound later to solidify her resolve to cultivate the Sword Refining Art!

Afterward, he enthusiastically discussed future aspirations with the group of disciples:

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

"Once I've mastered Myriad Swords Returning to Origin, with you guys, junior sister, and me working together, and all the special effects and lighting at full blast, we'll definitely be the coolest guys in this world!"

"We're definitely going to show off like this in the future!!!"

However, these words, without missing a single one, reached Su Ling'er's ears as she had just awoken from her Inner Demon state, startling her!

And the moment she regained consciousness!

Hummm--!

The entire Dao Seeking Ladder suddenly erupted in a dazzling radiance. A majestic spiritual energy descended from the heavens, pouring entirely into Su Ling'er's body.

This was the reward for reaching a hundred steps, the Dao Seeking Ladder's gift to her Dao heart!

Rumble--!

The spiritual energy entered her body, completely uncontrollable, washing over every inch of her meridians.

She didn't even have time to think, and the Myriad Transformations Return to Origin True Manual, which Elder Qian had previously bestowed upon her, automatically began circulating in her mind.

She then started to frantically refine this vast amount of spiritual energy.

Her cultivation within her body began to surge at an unbelievable speed!

The disguise of Qi Refining Level 3 was instantly shattered, but no one noticed this subtle change at the moment, as her bottlenecks were being broken one after another at an extremely rapid pace!

Qi Refining Level 5!

Qi Refining Level 7!

Qi Refining Level 10!

And this torrent of Spiritual Power was still scouring away the inferior "Dust Seal" that had condensed when she first joined Qing Xu Temple to cultivate.

Under this scouring, the Dust Seal trembled violently, flickering in and out of existence, its surface dust seeming to have been diluted somewhat.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to Su Ling'er's steadily rising aura.

Finally, under the watch of countless eyes, Su Ling'er's aura climbed all the way up, eventually hitting that invisible barrier.

Qi Refining—Great Perfection!

However, the torrent of Spiritual Power was blocked by this invisible barrier.

The surging Spiritual Power had nowhere to vent and began to split on its own. A small portion quietly nourished her Worry Flower, while another portion flowed into her wooden sword.

After doing all this, the torrent of Spiritual Power slowly dissipated.

Su Ling'er opened her eyes. She felt the abundant power within her body and was stunned.

She... Qi Refining... Great Perfection?!

She reached Great Perfection in Qi Refining just like that?!

After climbing just a few steps?!

In an instant, overwhelming joy washed over her.

The fear and unease previously born from her Inner Demon were somewhat diluted by this surge in cultivation.

She clenched her fists, feeling that unprecedented power.

It was a pity.

Just one step away, and she could reach Foundation Establishment!

But no matter how the Spiritual Power within her body surged, the barrier to Foundation Establishment was like an insurmountable chasm.

This was the constraint of a Pseudo Spiritual Root, the dead end of talent.

Su Ling'er's joy also calmed down.

If my root bone and aptitude weren't so poor, with that vast Spiritual Power just now, perhaps...

I wouldn't even need to prepare the so-called Foundation Establishment Pill and could directly step into Foundation Establishment!

At this moment, she also clearly heard the loud plotting of Senior Disciple Brother and those few Artifact Refining Pavilion disciples below the Dao Seeking Ladder.

"Senior Disciple Brother! She should cultivate the Sword Refining Art!"

"Exactly! If Junior Disciple Sister doesn't suffer some thousand-hammer-and-eight-hundred-blows of hardship, it would be a disservice to her aspiration for the Dao!"

"We can't let such a suitable peerless Divine Sword slip away!"

Su Ling'er: "..."

The joy that had arisen from her sudden surge in cultivation vanished instantly.

The last scene of the illusion uncontrollably reappeared in her mind:

That face with a compassionate smile, that hand reaching out to her, and the world-shaking praise for the person wielding the Divine Sword...

Su Ling'er's mouth twitched involuntarily.

I will never become the immortal sword in your hands!

I will never use my body to achieve the fearsome reputation of you fiends!

Also, you fiends, can you at least be discreet when plotting to harm someone?!

Are you afraid I won't hear you?!