Entering the Third Pass

In the blink of an eye, two days passed.

[Cloud Sway Sword Art First Form: Mastered (Sword Sense +5)]

Comprehension +5

Lifespan +5

[Realm: Ascending Dragon, Second Stage, Qi Circulation, Early Stage (166/500)]

"Two days to master one form of a sword art... By the looks of it..."

In twenty days, he would reach perfection in Qi Circulation, then break through and enter the Qi Sea Realm, the Third Pass of Ascending Dragon.

The value of 94 in comprehension was terrifyingly high, as expected.

No, his comprehension was 99 now.

So from here on, his cultivation speed would only get faster. Perhaps he wouldn't even need twenty days to fully reach perfection in Qi Circulation.

There was also this: a normal Qi-Boosting Pill, which could aid a person's cultivation for five days, lasted Yu Xiu only one day.

That meant the Qi-Boosting Pills weren't wasted on Yu Xiu at all. He absorbed every last bit of their power, with an efficiency far beyond that of others in the same realm.

Thirty Qi-Boosting Pills would be enough for Yu Xiu to complete the entire Qi Circulation Realm.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.

[Cloud Sway Sword Art Tenth Form: Mastered (Sword Sense +5)]

[Flying Rainbow Sword: Mastered (Sword Sense +5)]

[Realm: Ascending Dragon, Second Stage, Qi Circulation, Perfection (Ready to Break Through)]

[Comprehension: 149 (94+55)]

[Lifespan: 16/224 (169+55)]

[Sword Heart: Hidden Edge (1/500)]

149 comprehension, 224 years of life!

Yu Xiu wasn't paying much attention to his cultivation level.

His comprehension was simply too high now. It had broken a hundred and was nearing 150.

Even the Four Great Passes couldn't stop his advance. He might even continue making rapid progress within the Four Great Passes.

He'd mastered the Qi Circulation sword technique, Flying Rainbow Sword, in a single day.

In just over half a month, he'd completed the entire Qi Circulation Realm.

Before this, it had taken him nearly three years just to reach the entry level and the Flawless Realm. Compared to now, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Finally, Yu Xiu turned his attention to the newly appeared "Sword Heart: Hidden Edge."

It was a transformation that came after his Sword Sense surpassed a hundred.

The Qingwei Sword Sect cultivated the Way of the Sword, trained with swords, and studied swords.

Those who reached profound heights in the Way of the Sword became like swords in body, heart, and spirit. Only when all three were united could they form a Sword Heart.

What was a Sword Heart good for?

Those who gained a Sword Heart gained Sword Intent. There was no need to say much about Sword Intent: with it, even a wooden sword could shatter metal and split jade. The deeper the Sword Intent, the greater its power.

Sword Intent manifested outwardly. It was the most direct expression of the Sword Heart.

But the Sword Heart wasn't just about Sword Intent. It was also about the heart and the spirit.

It could clarify the heart and nurture the spirit.

The sword within one's heart could cut through all manner of distracting thoughts and allow one to sense the soul of the sword. From then on, practicing the sword was like having divine assistance, making cultivation twice as effective—or even ten times as effective—as usual.

It could also nurture the spirit within one's Life Palace, strengthening it until it blazed like the sun.

Hidden Edge meant concealing one's sharpness, hiding great skill beneath an unremarkable exterior and keeping one's edge within.

When the sword was drawn, no one could sense a thing. By the time its sharpness burst forth, life and death would already be decided.

And Hidden Edge didn't just conceal the sword's sharpness. It could conceal a person's presence and everything else about them as well.

Yu Xiu had once heard the transmission elder say that a Sword Heart had nothing to do with the height of one's cultivation.

Some people could form a Sword Heart after only a year of cultivation.

Others could cultivate for a hundred years and become experts of the Four Great Passes, yet still fail to form a Sword Heart.

I've formed a Sword Heart! Yu Xiu let out a soft breath.

Even the sword in his hand seemed different, as if it had gained a faint life of its own. His connection to it had deepened, and it seemed on the verge of becoming a part of his body.

He moved the sword lightly, and Sword Intent appeared, its indestructible edge faintly revealed.

So this is Sword Intent!

It's a pity my Sword Heart has only just formed, and my Sword Intent is still too weak.

Yu Xiu wasn't discouraged.

The Sword Heart was above Sword Sense, but it was also built upon it.

Although the panel showed Sword Heart: Hidden Edge 1, the true number was higher.

His Sword Sense had been 85 before. After he mastered all ten forms of Cloud Sway Sword Art as well as Flying Rainbow Sword, it had reached 140.

He'd calculated that about 100 Sword Sense raised his Sword Heart by 1.

In other words, with another 60 Sword Sense, his Sword Heart would increase by 1.

Today, I'll break through the Second Pass of Ascending Dragon and enter the Third Pass, Qi Sea.

Once he entered the Qi Sea Realm, he could join the Inner Court.

After completing the Qi Sea Realm and entering the Life Spring Realm, he wouldn't have to fear Fang Jiming of the Inner Court. He could go out to subdue demons and slay monsters, and he'd never be short on contribution points.

By then, he would master every cultivation method, sword art, and sword technique in the Inner Court's Library Pavilion.

At that point, his comprehension would surely surpass ten thousand, and his lifespan would too.

Time to grow. Grow like crazy!

And once he entered the Main Sect, who could compete with him for the True Disciple position?

But before joining the Inner Court, there were a few people he needed to deal with.

The Third Pass of Ascending Dragon, the Qi Sea!

Yu Xiu silently repeated the words to himself. The internal energy within him flowed through his limbs and bones like ten thousand rivers returning to the sea, finally pouring into his Qi Sea.

In an instant, he reached the Qi Sea Realm, the Third Pass of Ascending Dragon.

There was no bottleneck, and nothing stood in his way. It happened naturally, like water flowing into its proper course!

Heart Demon! Yu Xiu waited quietly.

But nothing happened.

Could this Heart Demon be so cunning that it's waiting to appear when I'm at my most relaxed?

Yu Xiu remained unmoved and didn't let his guard down.

Yet half an hour passed, and still nothing happened.

The atmosphere grew a little awkward.

So the Shadow Demon needs time to gestate, too! Yu Xiu began to understand.

He'd only spent half a month in the Qi Sea Realm, and the Shadow Demon inside him probably hadn't gestated anew yet.

Breaking through too quickly isn't necessarily a good thing.

He'd wasted an opportunity to obtain a spirit item.

Yu Xiu felt a little regretful, but he didn't dwell on it.

He didn't hurry to join the Inner Court. Instead, he went straight down the mountain.

At the foot of Mianzhu Mountain stood a city called Qingwei City.

Though it wasn't the largest city in Yan Province, it existed because of the Qingwei Sword Sect. Many who had come seeking admission to the sect but failed stayed there. The families of disciples also lived there, and disciples often gathered in the city to trade spirit items.

As a result, Qingwei City was quite lively, with no shortage of merchants or Rogue Cultivators.

Not long after Yu Xiu descended the mountain, Yun Mo, a delicate-featured youth, stared wide-eyed from a Bamboo Cottage in the Outer Court. "You're going down the mountain at a time like this? Yu Xiu, oh, Yu Xiu. Looks like entering the Qi Circulation Realm has given you tremendous courage!"

Too bad he'd entered the realm less than a month ago. How much could he have accomplished? Judging from Yu Xiu's earlier pace of cultivation, in just over half a month he could at most have consolidated his early Qi Circulation strength.

The rest of them, by contrast, had spent at least half a year in Qi Circulation, even the one who'd entered most recently. However you looked at it, Yu Xiu couldn't compare.

"Good. There may be patrol disciples in Qingwei City, so we can't kill him there. But it won't be hard to make him pay, damage his foundations, and leave him stuck in early Qi Circulation for good—or even cripple all his cultivation." The gaunt youth Xu Fang's eyes glinted coldly.

Qingwei City, eastern district, on the street.

An old man and a young girl who looked like his granddaughter walked along the street. The old man looked to be over seventy, while the girl was only twelve or thirteen.

"They've caught up after all!" The old man's expression remained calm, but deep in his eyes lurked an inescapable worry and urgency.

"Grandpa Dong, they..." The twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl was frightened and clutched the old man's sleeve.

"This is Qingwei City. They wouldn't dare make trouble here." The old man gently patted her hand to reassure her.

"That thing..." The girl instinctively pressed a hand against the wooden box in her arms.

"The Cui Family gave their lives, every last one of them, to protect it. Even if it costs this old man his life, I'll never hand it over to these beasts!" Killing intent appeared in the old man's eyes.

A few figures followed not far behind the pair, strolling unhurriedly along the street as if they were just passersby. Yet their gazes kept drifting toward the old man and the girl.

Since I'm here, I might as well have a good meal first. Yu Xiu hadn't noticed those few following him, but he knew they would come for him.

So he continued to the eastern district and entered the Eight Treasures Pavilion.