At midnight, beneath the high-hanging moon, on the rooftop.
Zhang Yunlu sat facing the moon, eyes tightly shut. A thin veil of silver seemed to cover her, and a wisp of faint purple qi drifted beside her.
After being beaten black and blue more than a few times, she had finally chosen to cultivate the somewhat troublesome Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method. At sunrise that morning, she had gathered a wisp of purple qi and taken her first step into the method.
At sunrise, the purple qi was at its gentlest, making it the best time to refine it. At noon, the purple qi mingled with the sun's essence and became fiercely volatile; Qi Refining cultivators could hardly make use of it.
By sunset, the purple qi had lost its vibrant vitality and the feeling of new life budding in all things, making it even more useless.
Yet even the purple qi gathered at sunrise contained threads of scorching solar essence. It had to be slowly ground away with spiritual power before the qi could be refined into her delicate eyes.
Zhang Yunlu was using a faster method: drawing upon the true radiance of the moon to wear away the solar essence in the purple qi. This was a secret method passed down through True Monarch Purple Universe's lineage.
Besides allowing her to master the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method more quickly, it could also to some extent simulate the process of drawing upon the sun's essence and moonlight when gathering and refining them later on.
Whoosh~
Inhale~
With each breath Zhang Yunlu took, the wisp of purple qi circling around her grew purer.
"To master it so quickly—she truly belongs in my Supreme Dao Sect." High above, True Monarch Purple Universe watched Zhang Yunlu with undisguised admiration.
Why bother practicing swordsmanship?
Those sword cultivators were not only overbearing, but aside from looking a little cooler, how were they any different from brutish body cultivators? How could they compare with the poise of my fellow spell cultivators, who commanded the universe and wielded the myriad arts at will?
Purple qi swirled in True Monarch Purple Universe's eyes as he watched the wisp of purple qi grow purer.
Cultivating the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method called for a measured pace. Fifteen minutes a day was enough. He had even marked that in the book. At her current rate...
"She'll reach minor mastery in three days."
But the next moment, the true radiance of the moon surged. The moonlight gathered around Zhang Yunlu and solidified into a veil of silver. Her face turned blue, and a layer of frost coated her eyelashes and hair.
Clearly, she thought her progress was too slow and had drawn upon more moonlight.
She's rushing things... We spell cultivators should keep a level head and proceed step by step when cultivating our arts.
Moonlight is bitterly cold. She could hurt herself like this.
Still, she's only gotten her hands on this wondrous method for the first time. A little eagerness to make quick progress isn't entirely...
As True Monarch Purple Universe's thoughts raced, the wisp of purple qi continued to purify, moving several times faster than before.
In just three minutes, the wisp of purple qi had shed all its scorching solar essence. The moonlight veil dissolved, and Zhang Yunlu formed a hand seal with two fingers. The purple qi instantly sank into her eyes.
Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method, minor mastery!
She did it?
She may have been a little reckless, but at least she has the courage to push forward. Besides, what kind of cultivation comes without taking risks? True Monarch Purple Universe nodded slowly.
On the rooftop, Zhang Yunlu slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes had turned completely purple, deep and distant, far beyond what they had been in the bathroom earlier.
During the trial, she had been observing the sword cultivator's phantom. The Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method wasn't as straightforward as swordsmanship, but she could still gain some experience from it.
Whoosh~
She exhaled a mouthful of white, frigid breath. The faint blue tint in her face faded, and the frost on her hair and eyelashes slowly melted.
Shing!
A cold flash burst forth. Her sword light, crystalline as ice, darted like a swimming dragon. Her sword moves were ethereal, yet still carried a vicious edge.
Sure enough, swinging a sword was the most exhilarating!
True Monarch Purple Universe: "..."
After all, this is her family's sword technique. Asking her to give it up outright might be going too far.
Besides, there are spell cultivators who practice a few sword moves as well.
His thoughts in turmoil, True Monarch Purple Universe kept trying to convince himself. Then he suddenly froze, and his face turned horribly grim.
Something was wrong!
Why was a Qi Refining cultivator's spell practice stirring up so many emotions in him? No matter how talented she was, it shouldn't have affected him like this.
Heart demon!
He immediately lost all desire to keep watching, and drifted away as a wisp of purple qi.
Night deepened. In the villa, Chi Jiuyu had already entered the trial and was being put through the wringer.
Faced with a sky full of sword light, crashing down like the Blazing Sun itself, she still hadn't come up with many ways to deal with it.
She had, however, made considerable progress with the Great Void Sword Canon. So even though she couldn't withstand a single sword strike, she still thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Before long, Zhang Yunlu entered the trial too. The Flowing Cloud Sword Technique she'd been taught earlier looked completely different when she used it now.
And the opponent she faced had advanced from minor mastery of the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method to great mastery. Perhaps today she could reach the perfect level?
Xu Xing looked outside and smiled faintly.
The Secret Realm was about to open. Among the prodigies gathered here and the lucky ones who had gained fortuitous opportunities, which side would prove stronger? Who would win and who would lose?
He was looking forward to it.
City Hall, conference room.
The mayor, the mayor's secretary, the principal of Xuanjian City No. 3 Middle School, the head of the Law Enforcement Hall and its two deputy heads—in short, nearly every Spirit Transformation cultivator in Mystic Sword City was there.
They sat in silence, seemingly waiting for something.
Only the elderly-looking deputy head of the Law Enforcement Hall occasionally glanced at the head seated beside him.
The Sword Sect's orders had arrived.
The matter involving Little Martial Uncle Ancestor hadn't happened yet, and they had also taken the Lin Family's cultivation method flaw into account, so they hadn't imposed an overly severe punishment.
They had only ordered that Lin Qiuxian be locked up for five more days.
It was a slap on the wrist, nothing more.
Of course, if that were all there was to it, there'd have been no need to gather so many people.
There was another, more important matter.
With one incident after another in Mystic Sword City, the Sword Sect had sent people over directly.
One was a Void Return elder. The other had just returned from the Starry Sky Battlefield after being promoted beyond Dao Integration. He was also a deputy head of the Sword Sect's Sword Enforcement Hall, famed for his mastery of the killing arts!
And the Sword Enforcement Hall in question wasn't a branch like Mystic Sword City's Law Enforcement Hall. It was the Sect's central hall.
Whoosh~
A breeze swept through the conference room. The faces of the many Spirit Transformation cultivators prickled with pain, and their souls trembled faintly, as if they were being watched by some terrifying presence.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting."
The conference room doors opened, and a middle-aged man walked in. He wore coarse hemp robes, carried a sword on his back, and had a yellow-skinned gourd hanging at his waist. Rugged in appearance, with bright eyes, he looked every bit like an unrestrained wandering swordsman from an ancient cultivation world.
Following behind him was a young man dressed in a Sword Sect elder's uniform. He looked young, but in truth he was an old monster at the Void Return level.
Everyone rose and bowed in unison.
"Greetings, seniors." These were the cultivators who hadn't joined the Sword Sect.
"Greetings, Martial Uncle. Greetings, Little Martial Uncle Ancestor." These were the Sword Sect cultivators.
"We're all cultivators here. There's no need for such formalities." The rugged sword cultivator pressed both hands down, signaling for everyone to sit. "I'm here only to steady the situation, not to do anything that would make you uneasy. You can all rest assured."
"..."
Everyone fell silent. How were they supposed to respond to that?
"May I ask, Little Martial Uncle Ancestor, what should we do about Little Martial Uncle?" asked the elderly-looking deputy head of the Law Enforcement Hall.
"Little Martial Uncle..." The rugged sword cultivator paused. "Little Martial Uncle has things of her own to take care of. Just don't disturb her."
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