Tempering the Spirit

Night fell once again, and Uchiha Shūichi reappeared in that eerie sphere of light.

The moment he returned to the space, he immediately grabbed the Ice Crystal Pendant and hung it around his neck, along with the brocade bearing the Ice Heart Art, which he tucked against his chest.

Then he slowly reached out, pressing one hand onto the hilt of the Blazing Kirin Sword. The next second, a terrifying evil aura surged into his body, carrying a scorching heat, and the roar of the Fire Kirin echoed in his mind.

Last time, though Uchiha Shūichi hadn't fully resisted the Blazing Kirin Sword's mental invasion, he had still managed to hold his own for a short while. In theory, with the Ice Crystal Pendant now in hand and the Ice Heart Art cultivated, he should be able to last even longer.

In reality, however, his Mental Space barely held out this time before crumbling. It was a steady retreat until he released his grip, and only then did the wild, arrogant Fire Kirin in his mind slowly lose its vitality.

This time was different from last. Uchiha Shūichi had swapped his eyes. Without the boost of the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo, his mental defense power plummeted. The newly learned Ice Heart Art and the Ice Crystal Pendant couldn't compensate for the loss of Kotoamatsukami.

As a pure illusion-type Mangekyo, even among all Mangekyo, Kotoamatsukami offered the strongest mental defense boost.

To put it bluntly, even if Uchiha Shūichi's Three Tomoe boosted his mental defense by three to five times, it still wouldn't match Kotoamatsukami.

And that was only because his own Three Tomoe was more compatible with him; otherwise, the gap would be even larger.

In fact, based on Orochimaru's research and Uchiha Shūichi's own estimates, the difference between a genuine Three Tomoe and a Mangekyo was nearly tenfold!

Because Uchiha Shūichi's Three Tomoe had already reached a certain peak, and he couldn't fully unleash the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo, the gap was only three to five times.

If he had an ordinary Three Tomoe Sharingan, he'd probably have been ignited by the sword's demonic energy the moment he touched it, falling into qi deviation and dying like that unlucky fool.

Now, though it still collapsed on contact, at least he had time to let go and didn't immediately fall into qi deviation.

Of course, Uchiha Shūichi dared to do this because he had some confidence—Chakra, an energy directly refined from a mix of Mental Power and physical energy, was completely different from internal energy cultivation. It didn't follow meridians or cycles, so there was no such thing as qi deviation.

Even if the Chakra inside him turned into a chaotic mess, the harm was far less than with internal energy cultivation. That was the real reason Uchiha Shūichi dared to touch the Blazing Kirin Sword.

As for why he took such a risk, knowing he couldn't subdue the sword...

Uchiha Shūichi closed his eyes slightly, quietly circulating the Ice Heart Art. The anger, hatred, bloodlust, fear—all kinds of Negative Emotion stirred up by the Blazing Kirin Sword's demonic energy—were gradually absorbed by his eyes. Faintly, his pupil power began to increase bit by bit.

After a moment, Uchiha Shūichi opened his eyes with a smile. He could feel that even the Negative Emotion provoked by the Blazing Kirin Sword helped his Sharingan evolve.

Emotional coldness didn't matter; the demonic energy in the Blazing Kirin Sword didn't care about that. It could still trigger a massive outburst of Negative Emotion in his heart.

Though the effect was weaker than real emotions, Uchiha Shūichi's foundation was solid. With enough repetitions, he would eventually unlock the Mangekyo.

Moreover, the Negative Emotion stirred by the Blazing Kirin Sword's demonic energy wouldn't raise the emotional shock threshold. In fact, as he gained deeper control over the sword, the Negative Emotion it provoked would only grow stronger and more intense.

Given the sword's power, Uchiha Shūichi didn't need to worry about not reaching the threshold for unlocking his Mangekyo. He only had to worry about whether the demonic sword would overwhelm his mind and turn him into a madman.

That was where the Ice Heart Art came in handy. Though it collapsed instantly when resisting the Blazing Kirin Sword's demonic energy, it was still very effective at calming the residual Negative Emotion in his heart.

And struggling against such high-intensity demonic energy was also a way to hone the Ice Heart Art and strengthen his Mental Power. Uchiha Shūichi could feel that just by touching the Blazing Kirin Sword and briefly resisting its demonic energy, his Ice Heart Art had advanced rapidly—equivalent to several days of cultivation.

Morning sunlight streamed into the room. Uchiha Shūichi slowly opened his eyes. In his blood-red irises, three tomoe spun continuously, as if trying to change, but eventually settled down.

"My head hurts..."

Rubbing his forehead, Uchiha Shūichi couldn't help muttering. In just one night, he had resisted the Blazing Kirin Sword's evil aura dozens of times. Even with the Ice Heart Art's help, he had still accumulated a fair amount of Negative Emotion.

Just as a massive mental shock could unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan while also turning an Uchiha into a lunatic, an accumulation of Negative Emotion could permanently alter a person's personality.

In the original Fung Wan story, Duan Lang had completely fallen to the dark path because of the Blazing Kirin Sword. But that didn't mean abandoning the sword would make him instantly reform.

While Duan Lang's own personality played a role, it also showed that the Blazing Kirin Sword could permanently change a person's character.

"I can't get so obsessed with training next time. I need to use the Ice Heart Art to fully dissolve all Negative Emotion before using the Blazing Kirin Sword to temper my mind again."

Shaking his head, Uchiha Shūichi sensed the Negative Emotion in his mind. Though it hadn't yet reached the point of affecting his personality, it would take at least three to five days to fully digest.

If he kept using the Blazing Kirin Sword to stimulate his emotions before that, he might cross a certain threshold, undergo a drastic personality change, or even be seduced by the demonic sword's power and become a sword slave.

"But... that's enough. This single session has brought me significant progress. At this rate, even accounting for rest time, I'll unlock the Mangekyo in at most a year or two."

Feeling his Mental Power had increased by about ten percent, Uchiha Shūichi was full of confidence. Once he unlocked his Mangekyo, he might even be able to use Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo to unlock the Eternal Eye.

With that kind of power, even if he couldn't defeat the Otsutsuki Clan, he could at least control the situation and completely stop the Moon Eye Plan.