In less than fifteen minutes, the Golden Blade Technique had reached the entry level.
Su Yun raised his hand and formed a simple hand seal with his fingers.
Golden spiritual power surged rapidly along the meridians in his arm.
The air trembled faintly.
In front of his palm, tiny golden specks of light gathered at great speed.
They coalesced, compressed, and grew denser.
In the blink of an eye, a golden blade three inches long hovered in midair.
Its edge was sharp and translucent, with cold light flickering along its rim.
Faint golden veins flowed across the blade.
Whirr—
The golden blade quivered slightly, making a faint, piercing sound as it cut through the air.
Su Yun stared at the hovering blade and nodded to himself.
With the spiritual power he had at Qi Refining Stage Two, he could form only one golden blade at most.
Once his cultivation improved and the technique reached perfection,
he could conjure ten blades at once with a single thought, filling the sky with a deadly barrage that covered a wide area.
Its killing power would double.
"Let's test its power."
A sturdy black stone wall stood against the wall of the cultivation room.
The rock was dense, hard, and heavy, specially made for testing the power of spells.
Su Yun's gaze sharpened, and he lightly tapped a finger.
"Go."
The golden blade shot forward in an instant.
It was so fast it left a dazzling streak of gold. Its razor-sharp edge tore through the air with a piercing boom.
Nothing slowed it down.
The blade slammed into the stone wall.
Fragments exploded outward. The sturdy black rock face was as fragile as a sheet of thin paper.
The three-inch blade punched straight through the half-meter-thick wall, unstoppable.
It burst through the rock and kept going, crashing into the flagstone floor below.
A dull explosion rang out. The stones shattered, and the blade smashed a small crater half a foot deep into the ground.
The rim of the crater was charred and rough, with traces of the golden spiritual power's violent aftershock still clinging to it.
Su Yun sprang to his feet, his pupils contracting as he stared at the holes in the wall and floor.
"Holy crap! That's awesome!"
He strode over and touched the smooth hole bored through the wall. His fingertips could still feel the scorching sharpness left behind.
Good heavens!
That casual strike hadn't even drawn on his full spiritual power.
And yet the destructive force was terrifyingly absurd.
Su Yun estimated that under the Thousandfold Amplification, the golden blade's power was absolutely no weaker than a full-power strike from someone at Qi Refining Stage Five!
"That's ridiculous. Just ridiculous."
Su Yun swallowed.
A moment later, he remembered that he still had a top-grade magical artifact in his storage bag.
He drew the long sword with a flick of his wrist.
The blade was slender, its surface gleaming with a faint golden light.
Its edge was keen, and a chill emanated from it.
Fine cloud patterns were carved into the hilt. It felt heavy in his hand, cool to the touch.
He offered a drop of blood to bind it.
Su Yun nicked his fingertip, and a drop of bright red blood fell onto the blade.
Hum—
The sword rang softly. The binding was complete.
Su Yun willed it to move.
The Flowing Light Gold-Vein Sword rose slowly into the air. It hovered and circled around him at a leisurely pace.
Golden light rippled across it, and its ringing was clear and crisp.
Su Yun felt a rush of satisfaction.
"Hahaha, this is seriously cool."
He urged more spiritual power into it. The sword glowed brighter, and its body suddenly grew larger.
It stretched to half his height, heavy and sharp, its whoosh through the air growing abruptly louder.
But only a moment later, Su Yun frowned slightly.
His spiritual power was draining fast, and the energy in his dantian was rapidly dwindling.
At Qi Refining Stage Two, his reserves were ultimately too small.
Just barely controlling the flying sword to hover and change shape was already his limit.
He didn't have enough to ride it through the sky and travel long distances.
Su Yun made a silent calculation.
He would need to reach at least Qi Refining Stage Five.
His meridians would widen, his spiritual power grow denser, and his dantian expand.
Only then would his reserves be enough to sustain flight for a long time.
"No rush."
Su Yun tamped down his anticipation.
He put away the sword, made it shrink, and let it settle in his palm.
The golden light faded from the room, and everything returned to stillness.
The Breath Concealment Art had reached minor mastery.
The Golden Blade Technique had reached the entry level.
The top-grade magical artifact had been bound to him.
In just half a day, his strength had risen by a whole notch.
For the next five days, Su Yun stayed shut inside the cultivation room of Cloud Abode.
Apart from eating and sleeping, he devoted every moment to arduous cultivation.
He paid no attention to the commotion outside, the sect's discussions, or other people's curiosity.
There was only one thing on his mind—cultivation.
The Thousandfold Amplification trait remained in effect at all times. The source of his Heaven's Spirit Root continuously supplied pure spiritual energy, while piles of spirit stones and Body Tempering Pills backed him up.
His cultivation skyrocketed like a rocket.
Day One
He began meditating at dawn and circulated the Golden Spirit Art, frantically absorbing spiritual energy.
The spiritual power in his dantian rapidly filled, while his meridians were widened and nourished again and again.
Before noon, his cultivation broke through its bottleneck and firmly entered Qi Refining Stage Three.
At the same time, with a thousandfold increase in comprehension, the Dark Iron Bone Tempering Art advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching minor mastery.
His bones and sinews grew several times harder, his flesh taut, and his blood and qi vigorous.
The Golden Blade Technique also steadily improved from the entry level. He grew highly proficient, forming blades with greater ease and speed.
Day Two
Su Yun refined spirit stones without pause, spiritual energy surging into his body like a tide.
His Heaven's Spirit Root was utterly free of impurities, transforming spiritual energy without any loss. The Thousandfold Amplification magnified every effect.
By dusk, he had broken through to Qi Refining Stage Four.
The Dark Iron Bone Tempering Art steadily honed his body, and his physical strength continued to soar. Ordinary weapons could barely injure his flesh anymore.
He grew even more proficient with the Golden Blade Technique. He could form two blades at once and control them as he pleased, sending them wherever he pointed.
Day Three
He cast aside every distracting thought and immersed himself completely in cultivation.
As massive amounts of spiritual energy washed through him, the Breath Concealment Art gave him increasingly precise control over his aura, which he could conceal or release at will.
The Golden Spirit Art flowed more smoothly, its cycles unimpeded.
His spiritual power grew denser by the day, firmly consolidating his foundation at Qi Refining Stage Four without a trace of instability.
Day Four
Su Yun swallowed the last batch of Body Tempering Pills. Their medicinal power fully dissolved, tempering his bones, flesh, and blood throughout.
His body and spiritual power surged together, and his foundation became exceptionally solid.
The Dark Iron Bone Tempering Art drew ever closer to perfection. His body was hard as iron, and a single punch could crack stone.
The Breath Concealment Art steadily advanced from minor mastery to the verge of major mastery, masking his aura more and more perfectly.
Day Five
Dawn.
The dense spiritual power in his dantian suddenly contracted, then erupted.
An even stronger force swept through his body. His meridians expanded, and his dantian grew larger.
He broke through the bottleneck with ease!
Qi Refining Stage Five!
At the same time, the Dark Iron Bone Tempering Art reached full mastery, making his body indestructible.
The Golden Blade Technique reached complete perfection. With a single thought, he could summon ten golden blades.
The Breath Concealment Art reached major mastery, and the Golden Spirit Art advanced straight to its third layer.
Five days of seclusion, completed in one seamless push.
Su Yun slowly finished his cultivation and exhaled a mouthful of turbid air.
Golden spiritual power flowed slowly around him, then was forcibly suppressed by the Breath Concealment Art. On the surface, his aura still seemed to be only at Qi Refining Stage One.
He clenched his fists, feeling the surging spiritual power within him, his formidable body, and his vastly increased strength.
His bones, meridians, dantian, and flesh had all improved across the board.
His face split into an unrestrained grin, unable to hide his delight.
In less than a week,
he had gone from an ordinary mortal who couldn't even truss a chicken
to a Qi Refining Stage Five cultivator, hurtling upward the whole way.
The speed was simply absurd.
It felt amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Su Yun was filled with emotion.
The Heaven's Spirit Root really was incredible. There were no bottlenecks, and with the Thousandfold Amplification on top of it,
everything had fallen into place naturally, as smooth as flowing water.
He stood up and stretched mightily, his bones cracking all over.
After five days of intense seclusion, he wasn't tired at all. Instead, he was refreshed and full of energy.
But a practical problem soon presented itself.
His cultivation had advanced at breakneck speed over the past five days, and his spending had been just as staggering.
He had used up every Body Tempering Pill in his storage bag, and all his low-grade spirit stones were gone too.
Personal disciples received a fixed monthly allowance of spirit stones, but he had burned through this month's share in five days.
If he wanted to keep cultivating at high speed, he had to find new resources.
The most direct option was to ask his master for spirit stones and pills.
A glint flashed in Su Yun's eyes.
He couldn't just keep his head down and cultivate.
If he kept hiding his edge, no one would ever know what he was worth.
It was time to step out and show what he could do.
To give the entire Azure Cloud Sect a little shock.
Show off a little, and let his talent shine.
First, it would make the sect's upper ranks value him even more, bringing him greater resources.
Second, revealing a portion of his strength would help him build a fitting image as a peerless prodigy.
He had to strike the right balance between standing out and keeping a low profile.
Show some of his talent in public, then go all out with his cheat in private.
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