Sword Intent Breakthrough

Li Gan looked at the kneeling Steward Xu, then glanced at Hall Master Xu in the distance.

This Hall Master Xu was a perceptive man and did not come over.

"Speak, what is it?"

Li Gan said.

"Young Master. The Master said that if you have time, you can go back and visit."

Steward Xu said hurriedly.

"Understood. Anything else?"

Li Gan's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.

"Young Master, this is something the Master asked me to bring to you."

Steward Xu hurriedly took a small wooden box from the parcel he was carrying, which had a lacquered seal on it.

"I'll keep the item. You may go back."

Li Gan took the small wooden box.

"Yes, Young Master."

Steward Xu said hurriedly.

Being able to see the Young Master this time was already an extraordinary surprise for him.

It meant that the Young Master did not truly intend to completely sever ties with the family.

After Steward Xu left, Li Gan returned to his room and put the wooden box away without even opening it.

The box likely contained nothing more than gold notes or the like.

He had no use for them right now.

The reason he had seen Steward Xu was that he had come to an understanding.

Since he was using the identity of his predecessor, he would inevitably have to bear all the karmic relationships that came with it.

As for the predecessor's family, he would just let things take their natural course.

A few days later.

Li Gan had just finished his cultivation when Chen Yong came running to the bell tower in high spirits.

"Brother Gan, I've opened my ren meridian and cultivated internal qi."

He said excitedly.

"Hmm, not bad."

Li Gan was not surprised.

He had seen that Chen Yong was at a critical point in his cultivation, which was why he had given him the blood vitality pill.

After all, Chen Yong's sword piercing fist had already reached great success.

However, wanting to go a step further and reach perfection was extremely difficult—almost impossible.

Many menial disciples who eventually managed to enter the ranks were often able to train their sword piercing fist to great success.

But as for reaching perfection? There were almost none.

His master, Zhou Buping, had guarded Yanmen Valley for decades before finally encountering Li Gan.

While training the sword piercing fist to great success was difficult, it was still possible with enough hard work, perseverance, and decent comprehension.

But perfection could not be achieved through diligence alone.

It required exceptionally high comprehension.

Following this, Li Gan gave Chen Yong some pointers on his cultivation after entering the ranks.

Because he lacked an internal cultivation technique, Chen Yong could still only practice the sword piercing fist, and the subsequent growth of his internal qi would be very slow.

Without the permission of his master, Zhou Buping, Li Gan could not pass on internal cultivation techniques to Chen Yong privately.

What's more, the Divine Sword Sect strictly prohibited the private dissemination of internal cultivation techniques.

Especially to those who were not official disciples.

There was only one way for Chen Yong to obtain an internal cultivation technique: he had to become an inner disciple.

A few days later, the Chore Hall held its combat ranking list.

Chen Yong emerged like a dark horse, putting on an outstanding performance on the combat ranking list.

In the previous ranking, he had been nothing more than a straggler.

But this time, he displayed astonishing strength, defeating one strong opponent after another, and ultimately topped the combat ranking list, shocking the tens of thousands of menial disciples in the entire Chore Hall.

"This Chen Yong, he really has good luck."

After seeing the performance of this dark horse, Chen Yong, Hall Master Xu of the Chore Hall remarked with great emotion.

He had seen this menial disciple at Chenzhong Terrace some time ago, and he shared a close relationship with that inner disciple, Senior Brother Li.

With such a thick thigh to hug, Chen Yong had a very high chance of securing the top spot on the combat ranking list for the next two years.

After all, Chen Yong had an inner disciple with an extraordinary background backing him. That alone was enough to crush all the other menial disciples.

"Old Xu, what's Chen Yong's deal? He seemed pretty average before, didn't he?"

Another vice hall master asked curiously.

"He has connections to the one up there."

Hall Master Xu looked toward the direction of Chenzhong Terrace and chuckled in a low voice.

The vice hall master felt a jolt in his heart; he naturally knew who Old Xu was talking about.

As soon as the combat ranking list concluded, Chen Yong hurried up the mountain.

"First place?"

Li Gan looked at Chen Yong, who was stuttering so much from excitement that he couldn't get a word out.

"Uh, Brother Gan, how did you know?"

Chen Yong asked.

"You were guided by me and my master. If you couldn't even take first place on the combat ranking list, then you would be a bit too useless."

Li Gan chuckled lightly.

He was very clear about the situation in the Chore Hall.

Few had backgrounds; most were either struggling wretches or people with a bit of money and connections who weren't quite enough to get into a major sect like the Divine Sword Sect.

If they really had a major background, they wouldn't be here working as menial disciples.

Chen Yong scratched his head.

He wasn't stupid.

He knew how lucky he was to receive guidance from Li Gan and the old man.

Moreover, he had also sponged off countless medicinal meals of meat porridge here.

"Work hard on your cultivation and strive to maintain the first place on the combat ranking list for three consecutive years," Li Gan said.

Chen Yong nodded, his heart filled with motivation.

Cultivating on the mountain, time passes quickly.

The scorching summer heat.

The bell tower was stiflingly hot.

Mainly because the bell tower faced the setting sun.

With Li Gan's current cultivation level, coupled with his immaculate sword body, he was essentially impervious to cold and heat.

Mao hour.

The sky had yet to brighten.

Because there was not a breath of wind, the air remained permeated with a dry, sweltering heat.

Dong~

Accompanied by a clear, resonant bell toll, the tranquility of the Divine Sword Sect was broken.

Li Gan released the striker, assumed a stance, and began to practice the immaculate sword body.

As his internal qi reversed its flow, it dissolved into surging blood energy, merging into his body and strengthening his physical form over and over again.

Once he finished one cycle of the immaculate sword body, Li Gan let out a long breath. This sensation of body tempering was truly exhilarating.

He could feel every cell in his body cheering and leaping with joy.

Next, Li Gan began to practice the heartless sword technique, using it to contemplate his martial intent.

As he practiced, Suddenly, Li Gan's consciousness felt as if it were drifting out of his body, allowing him to clearly sense the space in every direction around him, even including himself.

In just a fleeting moment, a powerful sense of weightlessness descended, and the out-of-body sensation in his spirit vanished.

But when he closed his eyes, he sensed that deep within his mind, beside the shadow of the chen bell, a strange sword shadow had appeared.

This sword shadow circled the shadow of the chen bell.

When his thoughts connected with this sword shadow, with a boom, his consciousness seemed to break through a barrier, shedding its constraints and expanding to sense the surroundings.

Is this a formed martial intent?

Li Gan muttered to himself.

As far as he knew, once martial intent took form, it would undergo a qualitative change, gaining the ability to inflict damage on a spiritual level.

The martial intent of the virtual image realm only had the effect of interference and intimidation.

Suddenly, his consciousness stirred, and the sound of the Chen bell rang out. The sword shadow trembled slightly, erupting with astonishing radiance.

In an instant, a startling sword intent was released from the center of Li Gan's brow.

This formidable sword intent actually stirred the origin energy of heaven and earth.

A tangible sword qi condensed before him, gathering without dissipating, hovering right before his eyes.

"I didn't expect sword intent at the illusion level to already possess substantial offensive effects."

Li Gan clicked his tongue in wonder.

Although the power of this sword qi was not particularly strong—far inferior to an attack utilizing internal qi—the true might of sword intent lay in its inherent mental-level assault.

If I integrate this sword intent into my sword techniques, I could produce a double-strike effect.

Li Gan thought to himself.

He immediately summoned the system interface to check the latest information.

Host: Li Gan.

Cultivation: Postnatal Realm (Ninth Layer 99/100).

Sacrificial Vessel: Chen bell (Dharma 1403/10000).

Martial Arts: Sword piercing fist (Perfected), Heartless sword art (Perfected), Immaculate sword body (Great Success 42/100).

Martial Intent: Heartless sword intent (Illusion 1/100).

Secret Techniques: Myriad transformation sword qi, Blood burning technique.

Sure enough, the Heartless sword intent had stepped into the illusion level.

This went to show that the comprehension of sword intent was not strictly tied to one's cultivation level.

If anyone knew that Li Gan had already raised his sword intent to the illusion level before even becoming a Xiantian expert, there was no telling how shocked they would be.

And all of this was thanks to the sacrificial vessel, the Chen bell.