,/.

After a single epiphany, the Silent Breath Technique was mastered.

Epiphanies feel great, but once they pass, there is a sense of entering a sage-like state after the thrill.

Su Fan sighed with emotion.

An epiphany is satisfying for a moment... no wonder that mysterious faction went from powerful to declining.

The reason the Silent Breath Technique became a forbidden technique, aside from being quite life-consuming, naturally had to do with its power.

Using the Silent Breath Technique for one day requires the consumption of one year of lifespan!

No one could use it anytime, anywhere.

Su Fan, however, did not care.

He immediately cast the Silent Breath Technique on the spot.

He retracted his strength, making people believe he was still a piece of trash in the Mortal Sword Realm.

After finishing a box of pastries, Su Fan came out of the Forbidden Technique Tomb.

Just as he was preparing to go fishing to satisfy his hunger, he saw Ling Rushuang stepping through the air, carrying a box.

"Senior Sister Ling!"

Ling Rushuang nodded, looked him over a few times, set down the food box in her hand, and picked up the old one at Su Fan's feet.

She turned and left.

Su Fan watched that beautiful back, touched his face, and fell into deep thought.

Carrying Ling Rushuang's food box back to the cave, Su Fan remained cautious. After confirming the food was not poisoned, he entered the Forbidden Technique Tomb again.

"My talent is not far from those geniuses now."

After several talent upgrades, Su Fan asked himself if his current talent was not too far off from those geniuses.

Moreover, his strength had also improved to the late stage of the Mortal Sword Realm.

"However, my strength is still too weak."

"I have already found the forbidden technique to improve my realm; now it is time to cultivate this forbidden technique and raise my cultivation!"

Su Fan arrived in front of a large tomb.

"Forbidden Technique, Tomb of the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder!"

This is a forbidden technique that burns lifespan to transform it into power and improve one's realm.

"Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder!"

Every time you burn your lifespan, you can improve your strength once, like a ladder, climbing up step by step.

It is just that for ordinary cultivators, lifespan is ultimately limited.

Su Fan, however, is an exception; he has infinite lifespan and can squander it recklessly. Therefore, to him, any technique that can improve cultivation through lifespan is an Invincible Art.

"What is buried here is not a forbidden technique; these are all Invincible Arts. My path to invincibility starts right here."

Su Fan sighed with emotion while opening the Tomb of the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder.

He took out the Forbidden Technique Jade Slip.

He pressed the jade slip against his forehead, imprinting the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder technique into his consciousness.

A long while later.

Su Fan placed the Forbidden Technique Jade Slip back into the jade coffin and closed the Forbidden Technique Tomb.

"This Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder actually has restrictions!"

The Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder forbidden technique can certainly burn lifespan to improve cultivation.

However, after each time you burn lifespan to improve your cultivation, you must wait one month before you can burn more to improve again.

Moreover, after reaching the Emperor Sword Realm, the interval for using the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder will become even longer.

The amount of strength gained from burning lifespan is related to one's talent and physique.

The upper limit of each improvement also varies from person to person.

Su Fan's wish to burn 100,000 years of lifespan in one go to improve his strength fell through.

He could only improve once every month.

"But it is still fast enough. Improving once a month, who can compare to me?"

"My talent is still a bit low. I still need to continue improving my talent. If I consume a thousand years of lifespan, my talent should be able to reach a very high level, right?"

Although the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder has restrictions on improving cultivation, they are ultimately not that significant.

Improving once a month was something Su Fan could barely accept.

"Next is to cultivate the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder."

Su Fan sat cross-legged and immediately cast the Heavenly Enlightenment Technique, using an epiphany to master this forbidden technique.

BOOM!

He had entered a state of enlightenment once again.

Insights surged in wave after wave, leaving his entire being feeling incredibly refreshed.

He felt clear-headed and invigorated.

He had no idea how much time had passed.

Su Fan opened his eyes and exhaled, his mind settling into a state of sage-like detachment.

"Sigh, after enough enlightenments, it just feels like this."

Su Fan smacked his lips; enlightenment was not difficult at all.

Moreover, as the number of times he experienced it increased, he would always enter this sage-like state once it was over.

"The Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder has been mastered; it is time to improve my strength."

Su Fan was filled with anticipation.

He could finally break through the Mortal Sword Realm and step into the Profound Sword Realm.

The sword cultivation system of Sword God Mountain was unique in the cultivation world; to break through to the Profound Sword Realm, one needed to condense a Profound Sword.

The Profound Sword contained one's own sword intent; when holding a precious blade, the Profound Sword within the body would fuse with the sword in hand.

It would then continuously nourish the sword in hand, eventually bringing it to the realm of unity.

The sword cultivation system of Sword God Mountain was once hailed as the orthodox path of sword cultivation in the world, so it naturally had its unique aspects.

Every disciple of Sword God Mountain who broke through to the Profound Sword Realm needed to choose a sword that resonated with their own Profound Sword.

When they broke through to the Spirit Sword Realm, they could then draw the sword into their body, allowing the blade to develop a spirit.

Precisely because of this unique cultivation system, disciples of Sword God Mountain were thirty percent stronger than other cultivators at the same level.

In the early stage of the Profound Sword Realm, it was common for them to contend with or even defeat cultivators at the mid-stage of the Profound Realm.

Of course, that was the Sword God Mountain of the past.

Today, Sword God Mountain had long since declined, and even though its unique cultivation system still existed, it was nowhere near what it used to be.

Nowadays, there were very few cultivators at the Spirit Sword Realm in Sword God Mountain who could actually draw their sword into their body and imbue it with a spirit.

Su Fan practiced the techniques of Sword God Mountain, so under normal circumstances, breaking through to the Profound Sword Realm would inevitably result in the condensation of a Profound Sword within his body.

But he was not breaking through normally.

He was breaking through using a forbidden technique.

Theoretically, after his breakthrough, he would not belong to the Profound Sword Realm, but rather the standard Profound Realm of the cultivation world.

This was because he had no Profound Sword within his body.

Su Fan was just about to execute the Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder to break through his realm.

Suddenly, he rubbed his chin and muttered, "I am a disciple of Sword God Mountain, and I practice the forbidden techniques of Sword God Mountain; I must be the orthodox path of sword cultivation."

If he deviated from the realm system of Sword God Mountain, how could he still be called the orthodox path of sword cultivation?

Sword God Mountain might have declined, but it was once the world's orthodox path of sword cultivation, and as the successor to that legacy, he had to be legitimate.

"Let's set a small goal: dominate the sword cultivation world!"

"Become the supreme leader of all sword cultivators in the world!"

Therefore, he had to follow the sword cultivation system of Sword God Mountain.

"I practice a forbidden technique, so how do I condense a Profound Sword? And how do I transform it into a Spirit Sword?"

Su Fan frowned.

"No panic, the Heavenly Enlightenment Technique allows for enlightenment; if I enter a state of enlightenment, perhaps I'll find a way!"

Thinking this, Su Fan didn't hesitate to activate the Heavenly Enlightenment Technique again, entering a state of enlightenment.

After a long while, Su Fan snapped out of his enlightenment and scratched his head; this time, the enlightenment had not yielded a solution.

"Continue!"

He entered the state of enlightenment once more.

As the saying goes, enlightenment is a thrill, and constant enlightenment is a constant thrill.

Every time Su Fan finished his thrill, he would briefly enter a sage-like state, only to immediately continue with another enlightenment to keep the thrill going.

He had no idea how many times he had entered enlightenment.

After burning through tens of thousands of years of his lifespan, Su Fan finally realized the method through enlightenment.

"I really am a genius!"

Su Fan was overjoyed; there was no cultivation problem that enlightenment could not solve.

If one enlightenment wasn't enough, then he would do it ten times, a hundred times...

Having a long lifespan is just that extravagant.

"It's time for a breakthrough!"

Su Fan's eyes gleamed as light surged across his body, as if an annual ring were manifesting.

An illusory ladder reaching toward the heavens appeared before him.

Fate-Defying Heavenly Ladder!