Breakthrough

Lin Hao had only taken a few steps when a sudden, sharp pain stabbed through his heart. He dropped to one knee, clutching his chest as beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead. He could no longer maintain his Sword Lord state, and slowly returned to his original appearance.

He checked his body and gave a bitter smile. That last strike had apparently drained every last bit of Spiritual Power inside him. His vision began to blur. Before he passed out, he only felt himself fall into a warm embrace.

"Lin Hao! Lin Hao!" Jiang Weiwei could no longer hold back. Tears poured from her eyes like a burst dam.

"Weiwei, let's check Lin Hao's condition first," Su Xiaorui reminded her softly.

Jiang Weiwei stopped crying and gently laid Lin Hao on the ground. Ignoring her exhaustion, she suddenly glowed with green light. Her Martial Art, Withered Wood Meets Spring, activated, and Lin Hao was enveloped in a green glow. In just a short while, most of his external injuries had healed. Seeing this, Jiang Weiwei continued pouring in Spiritual Power, but she had little left herself. A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.

"Weiwei, you can't!" Su Xiaorui hurried to stop her, but Jiang Weiwei ignored her and continued to wring out the last shred of her Spiritual Power.

"Lin Hao, I won't let anything happen to you."

But things didn't go as she wished. Jiang Weiwei's Spiritual Power was nearly exhausted, and she couldn't possibly heal Lin Hao. Seeing this, Su Xiaorui hurriedly stopped her. "You can't use your Martial Art anymore, or you'll damage your foundation."

"I..." Jiang Weiwei had just started to speak when a wave of dizziness swept over her. Then she, too, passed out.

Just then, a fiery-red figure streaked through the sky, bearing an irresistible aura. She stopped above Su Xiaorui and the others, then descended beside her. The newcomer was Jiang Hanhan, Commander-in-Chief of Vermilion Bird Fortress.

Looking at the Fierce Beast corpses scattered across the ground and the craters of all sizes, Jiang Hanhan fell silent. The battle was over, and she had arrived too late. She walked over to the Three-headed Earth Demon Mastiff's corpse and studied it for a while, her brows drawing together slightly. "Could someone have gotten here before me?"

Then Jiang Hanhan went to Su Xiaorui and explained why she had come. Su Xiaorui exchanged a glance with the other instructors, then recounted what had happened—but left Lin Hao out of it. She only said that a mysterious expert had instantly killed the Platinum rank Three-headed Earth Demon Mastiff before leaving. Jiang Hanhan didn't doubt them. From her observations, the attack that had killed the mastiff was powerful enough to match a Diamond-rank Expert. Afterward, Jiang Hanhan escorted everyone back to Vermilion Bird Fortress.

As soon as they returned to the Fortress, Jiang Hanhan reported everything to her superiors. When Jiang Tianhai heard that his daughter and Lin Hao had both fallen unconscious, he grew quite worried. But Jiang Hanhan told him that their Spiritual Power was merely depleted and their injuries weren't serious, so he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Three days later, Lin Hao slowly opened his eyes. He was lying in his own dorm room. He tried to sit up, only to find that he could move nothing but his eyes and mouth. The rest of his body had no feeling at all.

Shit, don't tell me I've been amputated from the neck down. He checked his body and found that it was still there, which finally put him at ease. Then Lin Hao examined his insides: his Spiritual Power was depleted, and he had several cracked bones.

He felt utterly bitter. It seemed that the power of Sword Lord required a vast reserve of Spiritual Power to sustain it. Without enough, he would end up just like this, struck back by Sword Lord. His cracked bones were also caused by his lack of Spiritual Power; the Sword Qi had shaken them apart.

Ugh, looks like I'll be laid up for a while. Lin Hao stared at the ceiling, thoroughly depressed.

Just then, the door suddenly opened. A girl in a white dress walked into Lin Hao's room, carrying a washbasin. When she saw that he was awake, she was overjoyed. She set the basin down and immediately threw herself onto him.

"Lin Hao, you're finally awake!"

The girl was crying so hard she looked like a pear blossom in the rain, and didn't even notice how contorted Lin Hao's face was.

Just then, Su Xiaorui heard the commotion and hurried into Lin Hao's room. The moment she entered, she saw Jiang Weiwei clinging to Lin Hao and sobbing, while his expression was even more dramatic—his features were drawn together like he was at an emergency muster.

"Damn it, Weiwei, could you get off me first? You're killing me here."

Only then did Jiang Weiwei notice his expression, and she quickly climbed off him. Su Xiaorui stood in the doorway, watching them with an amused expression.

When Jiang Weiwei noticed someone at the door, her tear-reddened face flushed even redder.

Su Xiaorui walked to Lin Hao's bedside, looking at him with a teasing smile. "Little brother Lin Hao, you're awake! You have no idea—you've been unconscious for three days. My Weiwei hasn't even shut her eyes once during that whole time. She's been taking care of you nonstop. I'm so jealous. You have no idea—every day, my Weiwei fed you water and food, and even helped you change your..." Her voice dissolved into muffled sounds.

Jiang Weiwei no longer had time to blush. She clapped a hand over Su Xiaorui's mouth. Lin Hao wasn't in the mood to banter with Su Xiaorui. He looked gratefully at Jiang Weiwei. "Thank you."

That simple thank-you warmed Jiang Weiwei's heart. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're awake."

A week later, with Jiang Weiwei and Su Xiaorui's attentive care, Lin Hao finally recovered. The moment he was well, he threw himself into cultivation. He went straight into seclusion, as his body needed the nourishment of Spiritual Energy. He headed to the cultivation chamber on the basement level of his dorm, held a Silver-grade beast core in his hand, and began to cultivate. A vast surge of Spiritual Energy poured into Lin Hao's body. His body drank it in like a parched man in the desert stumbling upon water. At the same time, the black Sword Box inside him slowly opened and absorbed the incoming Spiritual Energy as well. In less than an hour, Lin Hao had absorbed an entire Silver-grade beast core. Astonished by how quickly he absorbed Spiritual Energy, Lin Hao finally understood that the black Sword Box had been stealing some of the Spiritual Power he took in.

"Ha! I refuse to believe it. Let's see just how big your appetite is." Lin Hao began absorbing Spiritual Energy at a furious pace. In just one day, he absorbed ten Silver-grade beast cores. His body filled with energy, and at last, the Sword Box stopped competing with him for Spiritual Energy.

"Phew, I'm finally back at full strength." Lin Hao thought to himself. "Then I'll break through in one go." He took out a Gold-grade beast core and began cultivating.

Just like that, five days passed.

At dusk on the fifth day, a muffled boom came from the basement of Lin Hao's dorm. Lin Hao slowly opened his eyes. He stood up and stretched with satisfaction.

"I've finally broken through to Bronze High-rank!"

That's right: Bronze High-rank. Fighting a Platinum rank Fierce Beast had taught Lin Hao a great deal. That was what allowed him to break through two minor realms in one go.

"System, open Character Attribute Panel."

"Host: Lin Hao"

"Talent: Dual SSS-rank"

"Ability: Asura Annihilation Divine Thunder (Unique)"

"Martial Artist Profession: Sword Lord (Unique)"

"Level: Bronze High-rank Martial Artist, Bronze High-rank Ability User"

"Strength: 1900 points"

"Agility: 1700 points"

"Constitution: 1700 points"

"Spirit: 2100 points"

Lin Hao burst into laughter as he looked over his stats. With his current attributes, he could go toe-to-toe with a Platinum rank Fierce Beast even without activating Sword Lord.