Jiang Liang stayed at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well just like that.
Every day, he practiced Qi Refinement and Sword Nourishment, then learned new sword techniques from Sword Mother.
When Dugu Yan saw him practicing with his sword, she thought little of it.
In her eyes, battles between Soul Masters were battles of soul power and Soul Skills.
Why practice those useless sword techniques instead of concentrating on cultivating soul power and mastering Soul Skills?
But Jiang Liang ended up teaching her a harsh lesson.
Jiang Liang used only his martial soul, not his Soul Rings.
Within three strikes, he had her scrambling, unable even to put up a proper defense.
His sword was simply too fast.
And every strike precisely sealed off her retreat, stabbing straight at her weaknesses and leaving her not the slightest opening to fight back.
Jiang Liang raised his brows smugly. "Well? Still think these sword techniques are useless?"
"Hmph! You're just a little faster! What's so great about that?"
Dugu Yan remained stubborn and refused to admit defeat. "Remember this, you little brat! Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—fortunes change! Don't look down on a girl just because she's poor!"
Jiang Liang nodded in agreement. "Right! Don't look down on a poor young girl, don't look down on a poor married woman, don't look down on a poor old woman—and respect the dead."
"You... you..." Dugu Yan was so angry she could not speak. All she could do was glare at him bitterly.
This little brat said it was love at first sight before!
And now he won't give me even a scrap of dignity! He's driving me mad!
Dugu Yan stamped her foot hard, then turned and ran off to seek comfort from Dugu Bo.
Watching her flee in defeat, Jiang Liang could not help bursting into laughter.
Sword Mother shook her head helplessly and said gently, "If you really like that girl, stop finding new ways to tease her all the time."
Jiang Liang replied with a grin, "Fairy Sister, you don't understand. As the saying goes, hitting is affection, scolding is love, and when love reaches its peak, you give them a kick."
"Besides, practicing Qi Refining and Sword Cultivation every day is so boring. Having someone to bicker with now and then is fun."
Sword Mother did not know whether to laugh or cry. She stretched out a slender, jade-white finger and lightly poked his forehead.
"You and your bellyful of twisted logic."
Jiang Liang chuckled. "Fairy Sister, I'm actually quite a serious person."
"I've never seen you act serious." Sword Mother tapped the tip of his nose with playful reproach. "All right, time to discuss something important."
As she spoke, her expression grew serious too. "Your swordplay was certainly fast enough just now, but the same old problem remains: not enough killing intent."
"So, besides Qi Refinement and Sword Nourishment, you can go outside and find Soul Beasts to cultivate your killing intent."
"All right, I understand!" Jiang Liang shed his frivolous manner and nodded earnestly.
And so, from that day onward, his daily routine included fighting Soul Beasts outside in addition to Qi Refinement and Sword Nourishment.
At first, he struggled to beat them.
After all, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well lay in the heart of Sunset Forest.
The Soul Beasts prowling nearby were all at the ten-thousand-year level, and there were even top-tier Soul Beasts like the Man Faced Demon Spider.
How could Jiang Liang possibly match them at his current strength?
Every time he went out, he came back covered in wounds.
Dugu Bo watched, shaking his head and sighing again and again.
That senior was far too ruthless.
The little bastard might have a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, but he was still only a Soul Grandmaster. How could he possibly compare with those ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts?
Dugu Yan was even more distressed by the sight. She even brought her close friend Ye Lingling over from Heaven Dou City to heal Jiang Liang.
Hmph! She was only afraid Jiang Liang would drop dead here and bring bad luck.
She absolutely wasn't concerned about him!
And just like that, as time passed, Jiang Liang's swordsmanship advanced by leaps and bounds through those deadly battles.
In just one month, he not only cultivated his own killing intent but also learned to wield Sword Force with complete ease, and his level reached twenty-six.
When facing ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts, he was no longer as helpless as before.
Sometimes, he could even use the terrain to kill them.
Sword Mother witnessed all his progress and nodded with satisfaction.
He had Sword Force, he had killing intent, and he had enough Sword Qi.
She had also noticed that the connection between Jiang Liang and the Cold Moon Sword was growing deeper and deeper.
She had originally thought he would need at least three or four months to reach this stage.
To her surprise, he had done it in just one.
It was time to teach him how to control his sword.
When Jiang Liang learned that Sword Mother would finally teach him sword control, he was beside himself with excitement.
Seeing his face flush with excitement, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling could not understand why sword techniques fascinated him so much.
But Jiang Liang smiled and shook his head. "Woman, you don't understand."
"Sword control is the romance of sword cultivation!"
"For the strong, riding a sword through the air and taking someone's head from a thousand miles away are everyday affairs."
"They can even give Sword Qi physical form, condensing countless flying swords. The so-called Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Origin is just that."
The two girls listened in a daze.
Could sword control really do all that?
So, when Jiang Liang began learning sword control from Sword Mother, the two girls curiously dragged Dugu Bo over to watch.
Sword control was actually quite simple.
Once a sword cultivator established a connection with their lifebound flying sword through Sword Nourishment, they could use the Sword Qi in their qi sea to control it.
This was the first realm of sword control: Qi-Controlled Sword.
Sword Mother gently ruffled Jiang Liang's hair and said with a soft smile, "Xiao Liang, now activate the Sword Qi in your qi sea."
"As I taught you, guide the qi through your meridians and resonate with your lifebound flying sword. Let the sword follow your will and move with your heart."
Jiang Liang nodded firmly and slowly closed his eyes. Sinking his awareness into his qi sea, he drew out a strand of pure Sword Qi and let it flow slowly through his meridians.
The strand of Sword Qi slowly seeped from his fingertips. At Sword Mother's prompting, he carefully wound it around the Cold Moon Sword.
The moment it touched the Sword Qi, a hum rang out.
The blade immediately trembled with a ringing note, a faint, cold gleam lighting up as it gradually resonated with his Sword Qi!
"Steady your mind. Don't rush to control it. First, feel the resonance between you and the sword," Sword Mother gently advised from beside him.
Jiang Liang nodded lightly at her words and adjusted the circulation of his Sword Qi little by little.
The next moment, the Cold Moon Sword shuddered slightly, slowly rose from the ground, and hovered in midair, though it still wobbled somewhat unsteadily.
As time passed, the flying sword gradually steadied in the air.
It began turning with his thoughts, moving slowly, and finally even circling around him.
Though its movements were still a little clumsy, they marked Jiang Liang's first step into Qi-Controlled Sword!
"Fairy Sister, I did it, didn't I?" Jiang Liang opened his eyes and lifted his small face toward Sword Mother, brimming with anticipation.
"Yes, you did." Sword Mother gently ruffled his hair.
Meanwhile, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling stood frozen as they watched from a distance.
His martial soul...
His martial soul had actually flown up on its own!
Heavens, was this really something a Soul Master could do?
"Grandpa Dugu, you're a Titled Douluo, and you've seen so much. Are there Soul Masters on the continent who can do that?" Ye Lingling asked Dugu Bo curiously.
Dugu Bo shook his head helplessly. "Never mind Titled Douluos—there's no one on the entire Douluo Continent who controls their martial soul like that!"
"Even Sword Douluo Chen Xin couldn't do that without using a Soul Skill—controlling his martial soul with soul power alone."
Dugu Yan exclaimed in shock, "Does that mean this little brat is even more powerful than His Eminence Sword Douluo?"
"It's not the little bastard. It's that senior..." Dugu Bo gazed at Sword Mother with wonder.
First came the mysterious Golden Core Meditation Method, then the powerful sword techniques, and now this Object Control Technique.
Anything this senior brought out would be enough to cause a sensation across the continent.
Dugu Bo even suspected that she might be a powerhouse from ancient times.
Watching Jiang Liang having the time of his life controlling his sword, Dugu Bo thought that with such a powerful figure helping him, the little bastard was bound to achieve great things.
As that thought crossed his mind, he suddenly turned to look at his granddaughter.
The little bastard seems quite fond of Yanyan. Perhaps... I should give the boat a push with the current?
That way, even after I'm gone, someone will still be able to protect Yanyan.
Before you continue