The Breakthrough of Sword Intent

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

Hall Master Xu was a man who knew how to read the room. He hadn't come over.

"Speak. What is it?"

Li Gan asked.

"Young Master, the master said that if you have time, you may come home for a visit."

Steward Xu hurriedly replied.

"I know. Anything else?"

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

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

Steward Xu hurriedly took a small wooden box from his bundle. A lacquered seal had been affixed to it.

"I'll keep it. You may go back."

Li Gan took the wooden box.

"Yes, Young Master."

Steward Xu replied hurriedly.

Just being able to see the young master this time had already left him overjoyed.

It meant the young master wasn't truly severing all ties with his family.

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

It was surely filled with gold notes or something of the sort.

He had no use for them right now.

As for why he had agreed to see Steward Xu, he had thought it through.

Since he had taken on his predecessor's identity, he couldn't avoid bearing all the ties and consequences that came with it.

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

A few days later.

Li Gan had just finished cultivating when Chen Yong came running excitedly to the Bell Tower.

Brother Gan, I've opened my Ren Meridian and cultivated Internal Qi!"

He spoke excitedly.

"Mm, not bad."

Li Gan wasn't 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 had already reached Great Accomplishment in Sword Piercing Fist.

But advancing further and reaching Perfection was far too difficult—almost impossible.

Among the many Menial Disciples, those who managed to reach the ranks of cultivators could often train Sword Piercing Fist to Great Accomplishment.

But almost none of them could perfect it.

Master Zhou Buping had guarded Yanmen Valley for decades before finally meeting Li Gan.

Although reaching Great Accomplishment in Sword Piercing Fist was difficult, it was still possible with enough effort, perseverance, and at least decent comprehension.

But Perfection wasn't something hard work and diligence could achieve.

It required exceptional comprehension.

Li Gan then guided Chen Yong in his cultivation after reaching the ranks of cultivators.

Since he didn't have an Internal Cultivation Technique, Chen Yong could only continue practicing Sword Piercing Fist, and his Internal Qi would improve very slowly from then on.

Without his master Zhou Buping's permission, Li Gan couldn't secretly teach Chen Yong an Internal Cultivation Technique.

What's more, privately teaching Internal Cultivation Techniques was strictly forbidden within the Divine Sword Sect.

This was especially true for those who weren't Official Disciples.

There was only one way for Chen Yong to obtain an Internal Cultivation Technique: become an Inner Disciple.

A few days later, the Chore Hall held its Combat Ranking List competition.

Chen Yong burst onto the scene like a dark horse, delivering a stunning performance on the Combat Ranking List.

In the previous competition, he had barely scraped by at the bottom.

But this time, he displayed astonishing strength, defeating one formidable opponent after another before ultimately claiming first place on the Combat Ranking List and stunning the more than ten thousand Menial Disciples in the entire Chore Hall.

"Chen Yong sure is lucky."

After seeing Chen Yong's dark-horse performance, Hall Master Xu of the Chore Hall couldn't help but marvel.

A while ago, he had seen this Menial Disciple at Chenzhong Terrace, and he had seemed to have a close relationship with Senior Brother Li, that Inner Disciple.

With such a powerful backer, Chen Yong had a good chance of claiming first place on the Combat Ranking List for the next two years.

After all, Chen Yong had the support of an Inner Disciple with an extraordinary background. That alone was enough to crush every other Menial Disciple.

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

Another vice hall master asked curiously.

"He's connected to the person up there."

Hall Master Xu looked toward Chenzhong Terrace and chuckled under his breath.

The vice hall master's heart tightened. He naturally knew who Old Xu meant.

As soon as the Combat Ranking List competition ended, Chen Yong hurried up the mountain.

"First place?"

Li Gan looked at Chen Yong, who was so excited he could barely get the words out.

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

Chen Yong asked.

"You were taught by me and my master. If you can't even take first place on the Combat Ranking List, you'd be pretty useless."

Li Gan chuckled.

He knew the Chore Hall's situation well.

Few of them had any backing. Most were poor wretches, or had a little money and a few connections but still weren't qualified to join a major sect like the Divine Sword Sect.

If they had truly powerful backgrounds, they wouldn't have come to be 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 master.

Besides, he had also eaten Medicinal Meat Porridge here more times than he could count.

"Work hard at your cultivation. Try to hold on to first place on the Combat Ranking List for three consecutive years."

Li Gan said.

Chen Yong nodded, his heart brimming with motivation.

Time flew by during cultivation on the mountain.

The height of summer had arrived.

The Bell Tower was stiflingly hot.

The main reason was that the Bell Tower faced the afternoon sun.

With Li Gan's current Cultivation Base and his Immaculate Sword Body, he was basically impervious to cold and heat.

At the mao hour.

It wasn't light yet.

There wasn't a breath of wind, and the air still carried a sweltering heat.

Boom~

A clear, resonant bell rang out, shattering the stillness of the Divine Sword Sect.

Li Gan released the Striking Pole, assumed his stance, and began cultivating the Immaculate Sword Body.

As his Internal Qi flowed in reverse, it melted into surging Blood Qi and poured into his body, strengthening his flesh again and again.

Once he finished a cycle of the Immaculate Sword Body, Li Gan let out a long breath. The sensation of body tempering was simply too exhilarating.

He could feel every cell in his body cheering.

Then Li Gan began cultivating the Heartless Sword Technique, using it to comprehend Sword Intent.

As he practiced—

All at once, Li Gan's consciousness wavered, and he felt as if his spirit had left his body. He could clearly sense the space all around him, even himself.

In the span of an instant, an intense feeling of weightlessness came over him. Then the sensation of his spirit leaving his body vanished.

But when he closed his eyes, he sensed that deep in his mind, beside the Shadow of the Chen Bell, a strange sword shadow had appeared.

The sword shadow circled the Shadow of the Chen Bell.

The moment he connected his thoughts to the sword shadow, a boom rang out. His consciousness seemed to break through a barrier, cast off its restraints, and spread outward, sensing everything around him.

"Is this formed Sword Intent?"

Li Gan murmured to himself.

As far as he knew, once Sword Intent took shape, it underwent a qualitative transformation and gained the ability to inflict spiritual attacks.

Martial Intent at the Virtual Image stage could only interfere with and intimidate others.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind, and the Chen Bell rang. The sword shadow trembled slightly, erupting with astonishing light.

In an instant, a startling Sword Intent burst from between Li Gan's brows.

This powerful Sword Intent actually stirred Heaven and Earth Origin Qi.

A tangible blade of Sword Qi condensed before him. It gathered without dispersing and hovered right before his eyes.

"I never expected Sword Intent at the Illusory Image stage to already have tangible offensive power."

Li Gan clicked his tongue in wonder.

Although this blade of Sword Qi wasn't particularly powerful, far weaker than an attack powered by Internal Qi, the true might of Sword Intent lay in its spiritual attack.

"If I merge Sword Intent into my sword techniques, I can strike on two levels at once."

Li Gan thought to himself.

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

Host: Li Gan.

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

Sacrificial Tool: Chen Bell (Magic 1403/10000).

Martial Arts: Sword Piercing Fist (Perfection), Heartless Sword Art (Perfection), Immaculate Sword Body (Great Accomplishment 42/100).

Martial Intent: Heartless Sword Intent (Illusory Image 1/100).

Secret Techniques: Myriad Transformation Sword Qi, Blood Burning Technique.

As expected, Heartless Sword Intent had reached the Illusory Image stage.

This showed that comprehending Sword Intent had little to do with one's Cultivation Base.

If anyone knew that Li Gan had already raised his Sword Intent to the Illusory Image stage before even reaching the Xiantian Realm, they would be stunned beyond words.

And all of this was thanks to the Sacrificial Tool, the Chen Bell.