Spirit Martial Realm, Tenth Level-Breaking Through to the Profound Martial Realm!

Before anyone knew it, four or five years had passed since the fall of Black Dragon Stronghold.

With the bandit threat gone, Kaiyang City and its surrounding towns and villages enjoyed a peace they had not known in years.

As for the Black Iron Ore Vein, the Lin Family and the Li Family each held half as agreed. Mining proceeded in an orderly fashion, and the Refined Black Iron they produced supplied not only the city's forges but also caravans bound for neighboring cities, bringing back large quantities of Spirit Stones and cultivation resources.

Kaiyang City also lay close to the Vast Mountains, so martial artists often passed through to replenish their supplies before plunging into those lush, treacherous peaks.

All this made Kaiyang City more prosperous by the day.

But no one knew that this balance was about to break, and Kaiyang City was on the brink of upheaval.

Deep in the bamboo grove, the autumn wind blew bleakly.

Yellowed bamboo leaves rustled down, carpeting the forest path.

Lin Chen sat in the bamboo pavilion, watching the autumn leaves fall while he considered the details of his coming breakthrough.

His Qi Sea had expanded to its limit. Spiritual power surged through it like an endless tide.

The tenth level of the Spirit Martial Realm.

The pinnacle of martial arts in Kaiyang City.

Lin Chen had reached it.

Now, with one final leap into the Profound Martial Realm, he would become Kaiyang City's undisputed strongest martial artist!

No one else would come close.

"Body Tempering Realm martial artists strengthen their bodies, tempering their muscles, bones, and blood to lay the foundation for martial arts."

"Spirit Martial Realm martial artists open a Qi Sea in their dantian. From then on, they can refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into spiritual power."

"To enter the Profound Martial Realm, they must liquefy that spiritual power and form potent True Essence."

"Then their souls grow stronger and their spiritual perception surges. They can sense changes in heaven and earth and comprehend Martial Dao True Intent..."

Recalling the ancient texts' description of Profound Martial Realm martial artists, Lin Chen understood how to break through.

He would use his spiritual perception as a guide and his Sword Intent as a furnace, feeding the spiritual power in his Qi Sea into it and tempering it until it changed from gas to liquid. That would mark the first formation of True Essence.

The process was fraught with danger.

It required not only exceptional control over one's spiritual power but also absolute concentration.

If anything went wrong midway, the spiritual power would run wild.

At best, the breakthrough would fail and leave the martial artist badly injured. At worst, it would damage the Qi Sea and cripple their martial foundation.

But Lin Chen was different.

His Sword Intent arose naturally. It was not something he expended, nor did it require spiritual power to sustain. It was the manifestation of his attainment.

If he wished, the furnace forged from his Sword Intent could remain in place indefinitely. He needed only a little mental effort to maintain it, rather than constantly tend to it as other martial artists would.

Breaking through to the Profound Martial Realm would therefore pose no great difficulty for him.

By Lin Chen's estimate, however, converting all the vast spiritual power he had accumulated at the tenth level of the Spirit Martial Realm into True Essence would take at least two or three months, and perhaps as long as half a year.

That was why he was resting now, gathering his strength before entering a long seclusion.

Once the breakthrough began, he would have to see it through in one go. He could not stop halfway.

"Rustle..."

As Lin Chen pondered, footsteps sounded on the bamboo path, drawing closer.

He looked up and saw his father, Lin Hai, approaching the pavilion with a slight frown, as though something had troubled him.

"Father, what's wrong?"

Lin Chen rose to greet him.

Lin Hai entered the pavilion and sat on the stone stool opposite him. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "We've had a disagreement with the Li Family."

"Oh? About what?"

Lin Chen asked.

"They sent someone over the day before yesterday to propose expanding operations at the Black Iron Ore Vein."

"They said demand for Black Iron Ore in the surrounding cities is strong, and expanding production could double our profits."

"What did you tell them, Father?"

Lin Hai shook his head. "The vein's operations have stabilized over the past few years. Expanding now carries considerable risk. At the very least, we need reliable buyers first."

Lin Chen nodded slightly.

Neither side was wrong.

The Li Family simply wanted to seize the opportunity and make a fortune, while the Lin Family considered the risk too great.

Even two people could have different priorities.

With two factions jointly controlling the vein, disagreements of all kinds were bound to arise over time.

At that thought, Lin Chen smiled faintly.

"Don't let it trouble you, Father. Give it a little more time..."

He looked toward the swaying bamboo beyond the pavilion. His gaze was distant, and his voice calm but firm.

"Whether it's ownership of the vein, control of Kaiyang City, or the Li Family... none of it will be a problem."

Lin Hai looked at Lin Chen. The certainty in his words, and the edge beneath them, made his heart jolt. He sensed what his son meant.

After a long moment, Lin Hai slowly exhaled, a gratified smile appearing on his face.

"Good. I understand. Focus on your breakthrough. I'll handle everything at home."

Father and son chatted a while longer before Lin Hai rose and left, no longer disturbing Lin Chen.

The autumn wind rose again, scattering bamboo leaves.

Two days later, in the Lin Family's underground chamber.

Lin Chen sat cross-legged on a cushion at the center of the chamber, eyes gently closed, his breathing slow and steady.

He had brought himself to peak condition.

Body, energy, and spirit were all at their fullest. His mind was as clear and still as a mirror.

Lin Chen glanced at the panel. It showed his chance of breaking through to the Profound Martial Realm at a full one hundred percent!

Let's begin.

With that silent thought, Lin Chen closed his eyes and sank his awareness fully into his dantian.

Through his inner sight, he saw its vast expanse. Spiritual power billowed and churned like clouds and mist, filling the entire space, with the Qi Sea at its center.

A furnace of Sword Intent...

Lin Chen willed it into being.

In an instant, sharp, pure Sword Intent rose from his dantian and took shape above it.

It formed an intangible furnace with three legs and two handles, ancient and solid in appearance. Faint sword patterns flowed across its body, while a fierce fire burned within without fading.

Next, draw the spiritual power into the furnace.

At another thought from Lin Chen, a wisp of pale-green spiritual power stirred and drifted into the furnace like smoke.

Boom!

The flames surged and engulfed the wisp.

Under their heat, the spiritual power steadily shrank, growing ever more crystalline.

The process was slow and arduous.

For a full day and night, Lin Chen controlled the Sword Intent furnace, refining that single wisp of spiritual power.

At last, a soft sound rang out.

"Drip."

It sounded like a falling raindrop, echoing through his dantian.

At the bottom of the Sword Intent furnace, a drop of green liquid slowly formed, then fell into the center of the Qi Sea.

The drop was only the size of a grain of rice, clear and faintly green. Yet the energy pulsing from it far surpassed the dense spiritual power around it.

The first drop of liquid True Essence had formed!

Joy rose in Lin Chen's heart.

The first step was always the hardest. With that first drop made, what followed went much more smoothly.

The Sword Intent furnace slowly turned, drawing spiritual power from the Qi Sea, refining and purifying it into new liquid True Essence. Drop after drop fell and gathered together.

The process was slow but steady, like water wearing through stone. Lin Chen lost himself in it, forgetting the passage of time.