Lingtai Square-Inch Mountain.
[Meditation Room].
Ji Yuan sat cross-legged at the center of the quiet chamber.
He had spent a full month here calming his mind.
During that month, he had not circulated his cultivation technique, studied sword arts, or even deliberately thought about anything.
He had simply sat and let each surging emotion rise from the depths of his heart, held it before his eyes until he saw it clearly, then set it down.
Before breaking through, a sword cultivator had to guard against stray thoughts above all else.
If those thoughts remained, his Sword Qi would be impure.
If his Sword Qi was impure, a breakthrough could fail at best and drive him into cultivation deviation at worst.
That was why sword cultivators of old often spent a great deal of time "polishing the heart" before a breakthrough.
They polished their minds smooth as a sword's edge, leaving not a speck of dust upon them.
After a month of it, Ji Yuan felt he had polished his mind enough.
So he went to the [Dao Comprehension Chamber] on the fifth floor.
Ji Yuan sat cross-legged on the stone platform, rested his hands loosely on his knees, and closed his eyes.
The principal technique of his cultivation was his own creation, "Sword Nine."
Sword Three, "Starpoint," gathered power into a core, its concentrated edge shining like a star.
Sword Four, "Body in Fire," birthed a Nascent Soul amid flames, sustaining life without end.
That sword was not an attack, but a means of healing and recovery. It used the power of fire to stir vitality, allowing both body and Nascent Soul to recover quickly even from grave injuries.
It was this sword that had let him snatch his life back from certain death several times.
Yet that was precisely