Breakthrough, Shadow Demon Again

Su Wenjin was stunned for a moment. "You can even capture them alive?"

Yu Xiu replied, "I can try."

"Alive is best, but dead is no matter. You can decide based on the extent of his demonic corruption." Su Wenjin did not dwell on the topic.

He looked at Yu Xiu, his eyes filled with admiration.

This genius, who had shocked everyone at the Mingjian Hall and received 'Grade A+' ratings across the board, was someone he had personally discovered—and the first to do so.

The greater Yu Xiu's future achievements, the higher his own status at Dragon-Slaying Peak would be.

He smiled. "Do you know why I came to find you at the one-month mark of your arrival at Dragon-Slaying Peak?"

Yu Xiu shook his head.

Su Wenjin said, "Every disciple of Dragon-Slaying Peak has one mandatory law enforcement mission each month. That is the main reason I am here."

He paused. "Of course, you are different. Your talent is peerless, and you have the potential to become a true disciple, so neither the elders nor the protectors have mentioned this to you."

"Perhaps you are not yet aware, but if you lack medicinal pills and have no contribution points to trade for them, you can go directly to the Internal Affairs Hall to take them. No one will make things difficult for you, but they will keep a tab. Once you truly grow, you will have to pay it back."

"Dragon-Slaying Peak can provide you with most of the resources you need in advance. In many places, they will open doors of convenience for you."

This is actually a very good model! Yu Xiu secretly gave Dragon-Slaying Peak a thumbs-up.

The sect invests in advance to help him take off with all its might. Once he truly takes flight, these resources will naturally be nothing in his eyes, and there is not even any interest.

He wouldn't even need to pay it back proactively; once his strength is high enough, a single casual action might bring huge benefits to the sect, or a mere flick of his hand could resolve a major trouble for them.

"The sect does indeed handle this well, but a sword cultivator is like a sword—the edge must be honed constantly. I was also afraid that if you only focused on closed-door cultivation, you would get bored," Su Wenjin said subtly.

In reality, he was thinking that Yu Xiu's sword was bound to be related to slaughter.

After all, back in the Inner Court, he had wiped out Fang Jiming and his nine companions entirely on his very first mission. Who would believe his killing intent wasn't heavy?

Therefore, when the one-month mark arrived, he sought out Yu Xiu to find him a reasonable target for sword-testing.

Otherwise, law enforcement missions for the Sword-in-Chest lineage might not necessarily fall to Yu Xiu; many disciples at Dragon-Slaying Peak wanted to test their swords against fellow disciples of the Sword-in-Chest lineage.

"Of course, there is another reason." Su Wenjin rubbed his hands together. "Thanks to you, I am no longer just the Law Enforcement Hall Master of the Inner Court; I now have jurisdiction over some of the Main Sect disciples as well."

"You know, I don't actually have many powerful experts under my command. This is my first time enforcing the law on Main Sect disciples, so it naturally wouldn't do to just hang up a mission and be done with it. If I can resolve it myself, it is always better. Otherwise, I fear those above might label me as someone who only eats and does nothing!"

So he got a promotion and wants to use my hands to make a name for himself. Yu Xiu smiled. "Many thanks for keeping me in mind, Hall Master Su. Leave this matter to me."

He had long wanted to witness the skills of his fellow disciples in the Sword-in-Chest lineage!

"Do you have time now?" Su Wenjin was not one to drag things out.

Yu Xiu replied, "Wait, let me break through first."

Su Wenjin: "???"

No, he had only been in the Main Sect for a month; what was he going to break through?

Before Su Wenjin could ask again, he saw the aura hidden within Yu Xiu erupt, his momentum surging layer by layer!

Five Viscera second stage, third stage... fifth stage... ninth stage!

Five Viscera perfection!

Boom!

An invisible force seemed to explode, leaving Su Wenjin dumbfounded, his mind feeling as if it had turned into mush!

No...

I mean...

You...

You have reached perfection in the Five Viscera Realm?

The Dragon-Slaying Evil-Purging Sword had been personally taught to Yu Xiu by Su Wenjin. Counting it all up, it had only been a little over a month.

What can one do in a little over a month?

Reaching the second stage from the first stage of the Five Viscera Realm would already be an astonishing speed, but Yu Xiu...

Five Viscera Realm ninth stage, and it was the Great Perfection!

No, that was wrong; he was about to break through the Great Perfection and enter the second of the Four Great Passes: the Five Elements Realm!

Yu Xiu paid no mind to Su Wenjin's disarray, focusing solely on breaking through his realm.

The Five Viscera Realm involves cultivating the five viscera. True Qi breaks through the shackles of the meridians, flowing throughout the entire body and then settling into the five viscera. This is equivalent to gaining five additional Qi Seas while simultaneously using True Qi to nourish the five viscera to an extremely formidable degree.

By making the inside and outside one, the cultivator escapes the situation of having strong skin and bones but fragile internal organs.

The second of the Four Great Passes is different; the second pass is the Five Elements Realm.

It requires vast True Qi to stir the inherent nature of the five viscera.

For example, the heart belongs to fire, so it is the nature of fire; one must use True Qi to stir the fire nature.

Another example: the lungs belong to metal, so one must cultivate the metal nature.

The liver belongs to wood, the spleen to earth, and the kidneys govern water; ultimately, cultivating the five natures is the goal. Most sword cultivators, however, prioritize the metal nature of the lungs to forge supreme, sharp Sword Qi.

In barely a quarter of an hour, the fire nature within Yu Xiu's heart was stirred by his surging true qi, subsequently transforming into fire-natured true qi.

His heart felt as if it had turned into a furnace.

"Eh!"

"The Heart Demon is stirring?!"

Yu Xiu felt a surge of joy, though he could not tell if it was because the fire nature in his heart had made his resolve more tenacious, or for some other reason.

At last, the voice of the Heart Demon he had been longing for echoed within his mind.

"You have toiled in cultivation until now; have you never felt lost, helpless, or adrift? There are those who wish to harm you, those who wish to use you, those filled with jealousy and resentment—none of them can bear to see you thrive!"

"You have suffered too much!"

"Open your mind, and let me walk the path ahead for you!"

The Heart Demon's voice was filled with chaos and seduction.

However, Yu Xiu had already cultivated a Sword Heart, and a second-stage one at that. His heart was like a sword, his thoughts like a sword; such seductive, chaotic notions were seemingly isolated or infinitely weakened before his Sword Heart.

In any case, they were utterly useless.

If he didn't listen carefully, Yu Xiu could barely even hear them.

I have suffered too much?

Which version of me are you even talking about?

Where exactly am I suffering?

You want to walk the path ahead for me?

How dare you even dream of such a sweet deal?

Are you planning to take over the seven thousand six hundred years of lifespan I have left?

Do you want to use my enlightenment stat of over seven thousand five hundred as well?

The moment you show yourself, I'll give you a sword strike.

Yu Xiu remained silent, simply waiting for the Heart Demon to manifest and transform into a Shadow Demon.

"Your will is not firm; you cannot see through the chaos of this mortal world. Very well, I shall help you escape this sea of suffering," the Heart Demon whispered.

The next instant, Yu Xiu felt a surge of mental energy that did not belong to him, pulling away from his being.

This is the feeling! Yu Xiu keenly grasped this momentary shift in mental energy.

He had to memorize this sensation and, by following it, trace exactly how the "Heart Demon" and "Shadow Demon" were born.

As long as he could grasp this point, he was confident he could drag his own Shadow Demon out completely and refine it into an external avatar.

Yet, to his dissatisfaction, the Heart Demon emerged too quickly. Before he could delve any deeper, a figure appeared before him—an entity of evil and coldness, seemingly formed from the very essence of worldly malice!

It was another Yu Xiu, another version of himself.

"Go back and come out again; I won't kill you," Yu Xiu looked calmly at the other self before him, the Shadow Demon!

Shadow Demon: "???"

I've already come out, and you want me to go back in?

Have you ever seen a child shoved back into the womb after being born?

"You have truly lost your way in this sea of mortal suffering; let me replace you," the Shadow Demon said, ignoring Yu Xiu's nonsensical remark.

"Shing!" In the next instant, a sword flash streaked by, and the Shadow Demon before him was split in two, subsequently dissolving into a wisp of green smoke.

Show your head, get killed instantly!