At that moment, Ye Lin sensed another opportunity appearing for Huang Xiao, and couldn't help sighing.
Name: Huang Xiao Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 6 Fate Rank: White Fate Traits: [Heavenly Baleful Lone Star] Destiny: Four months from now, he would be ordered to descend the mountain and exterminate demons. He would die after an Evil Demon drained all the blood from his body. Recent Opportunity: Bored with his dull life, he would descend the mountain the day after tomorrow and head to Tianfeng City in search of excitement. He would then indulge himself at the Wind and Flower Pavilion. On his way back up the mountain the following day, he would discover a dying Qi Refining Level 9 Demon Beast in Moon Reflection Valley and kill it. Inside the beast's corpse, he would find a Mysterious Grade Low Tier medicinal herb, a Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass that it had yet to digest, and keep it as a trump card. [Heavenly Baleful Lone Star]: The closer someone is to you, the more misfortune they'll suffer. Anyone with this Fate Rank is destined to live a life of loneliness.
Looking at Huang Xiao's opportunity, Ye Lin smacked his lips. Huang Xiao's trip down the mountain the day after tomorrow to seek pleasure was fated to happen.
He had stolen Huang Xiao's opportunity, and the unseen workings of fate had compensated him with another one.
What is fated to be yours will be yours; what isn't fated to be yours cannot be forced.
"A Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass? Now that's a treasure."
Though Ye Lin hadn't been in the world of cultivation for long, he had heard of the Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass's reputation. It was a miraculous healing herb that didn't even need to be refined into a pill.
No matter how grievous your injuries, it could drag you back from the brink.
Of course, this miraculous healing herb only worked on cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm.
"It's time to test whether this sword art is genuine."
With that, Ye Lin headed down the mountain. He absolutely couldn't practice the sword art within the Azure Cloud Sect. If he was discovered, the consequences would be unimaginable.
As a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect, practicing another sect's Sect-Suppressing Technique would get him executed if he was found out.
He found an uninhabited spot, took out the Sword Control Art, and began studying it closely. The farther he read, the more astonished he became.
A full hour later, Ye Lin closed the book in his hands, his heart shaken.
"It really is the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Control Art."
Ye Lin murmured to himself. This sword art was undoubtedly Mysterious Grade, and the only Mysterious Grade Sword Control Art was the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sect-Suppressing Technique.
He didn't know how a Foundation Establishment Realm Rogue Cultivator had gotten his hands on the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sect-Suppressing Technique, but none of that mattered now.
After burning the book in his hands, Ye Lin began to practice.
The Sword Control Art had three levels. The first was Sword Control, which allowed one to take an enemy's head from a thousand miles away.
The second was Sword Controlling. At this level, a sword became a part of one's body, obeying one's every whim. Wherever one's thoughts reached, the sword could strike.
The third was Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin. As the name suggested, it allowed one to summon ten thousand swords, but only someone at the Golden Core Realm could master this third level.
That was because whether one was at the Qi Refining Realm or the Foundation Establishment Realm, activating Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin required more spiritual power than they could supply.
"Time to begin."
Ye Lin closed his eyes and carefully recalled the countless sword techniques in his mind as spiritual power surged wildly through his body.
Cultivation was always a tedious process. As Ye Lin carefully restrained himself, two days flew by in the blink of an eye, and soon night fell on the following day.
"Phew. Strike!"
That night, a loud shout suddenly rang through the otherwise silent darkness. In the next instant, a streak of sword light tore through the night.
A towering tree more than ten meters high crashed to the ground. Ye Lin nodded in satisfaction as a Long Sword floated behind him, streams of Sword Qi swirling around it.
"I've now reached the first level. I can control my sword for a short time, but it burns through spiritual energy incredibly fast."
Feeling the spiritual energy in his dantian rapidly dwindling, Ye Lin's face flickered with helplessness.
The Sword Control Art was astonishingly powerful. At his current level, he was absolutely certain he could kill a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator from within ten meters.
"Tomorrow is when Huang Xiao's opportunity appears. After I take it, I'll go into seclusion to cultivate. Zhang Xiao will be out of seclusion in less than a month."
"Once I absorb the Demon Core and three Mid-grade Spirit Stones, I'll definitely break through to Qi Refining Level 7. With all my other methods, I won't have to fear Zhang Xiao."
"I have to raise my cultivation as quickly as possible and become an Inner Sect disciple before the Inner Sect Secret Realm opens. Then I'll be able to go in and search for treasure too."
Ye Lin murmured to himself. The Azure Cloud Sect's dominance over the surrounding ten thousand miles was all thanks to this so-called secret realm.
No one knew what lay inside the secret realm. Presumably, only the Azure Cloud Sect's higher-ups knew, and it opened only once every ten years.
Rumor had it that the Azure Cloud Sect's secret realm was filled with countless treasures, with medicinal herbs and Spirit Fruits scattered everywhere.
That secret realm was something Ye Lin coveted badly.
"There are still about four or five months before the secret realm opens. If I find a good opportunity, I can break through to Qi Refining Level 9. If not, I'll at least reach Qi Refining Level 8."
"Qi Refining Level 8 will be enough."
Ye Lin thought to himself. Qi Refining Level 8 was already the cultivation level of a minority of Inner Sect disciples. With his various other methods, becoming one shouldn't be a problem.
Once he had thought everything through, Ye Lin vanished into the night with a few swift movements and headed for Moon Reflection Valley to seize Huang Xiao's opportunity.
When he reached Moon Reflection Valley, Ye Lin lay down in the grass and watched the open ground ahead. There was no sign of a dying Demon Beast.
After encountering several opportunities before this, Ye Lin had long since gotten the hang of things. He lay still and waited patiently.
About three to five hours later, Ye Lin's spirits suddenly lifted. A gigantic tiger and a massive bear two or three meters tall had appeared ahead.
"Roar!"
The two Qi Refining Level 9 Demon Beasts immediately began fighting in Moon Reflection Valley, and the ground trembled violently.
The massive bear grabbed countless boulders and trees from its surroundings and used them to fend off the giant tiger.
The battle lasted more than ten minutes. Ye Lin watched with his heart in his throat. Neither Demon Beast was one he could withstand in his current state.
After more than ten minutes, the battle ended with the bear on the brink of death.
The tiger roared repeatedly at the bear, whose innards spilled across the ground, then turned and left.
Once the tiger had gone, the dying bear let out an unwilling roar. At last, its head struck the ground, and it fell completely unconscious.
Just then, a golden glow suddenly appeared on the bear's belly.
"A Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass?"
Ye Lin suddenly leapt out of the grass, his hands joined in a sword seal. A flash of sword light streaked past, and the bear's head split in two.
The sharpness of a Yellow-Grade High-Tier Longsword was far beyond what a Qi Refining Realm Demon Beast could withstand.
Ye Lin looked at the bear's belly, reached inside, and grabbed the Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass, pulling the herb out.
"It's intact. It hasn't been refined yet."
Seeing the intact Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass in his hand, Ye Lin was delighted. The one Huang Xiao had obtained according to the panel should have already been half-refined, but the one in his hand was still completely intact.
Not a trace of its medicinal power had been lost.
Ye Lin put the Nine-Death Soul-Returning Grass into his Spatial Ring. Another advantage of the ring was that the items inside never spoiled.
Time stood still in its space. Even if you put a steamed bun inside and took it out a thousand years later, it would look exactly the same as when you put it in.
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