Inside the underground chamber.
Lin Chen sat cross-legged, the Sword Casket open before him. The broken Azure Scar Sword lay quietly inside.
His eyes were closed, but his consciousness had long since sunk into the broken blade. Countless sword shadows appeared and vanished in his mind.
If anyone had been watching, they would have been shocked to see the air within three feet of Lin Chen faintly twisting.
It was not a fluctuation of True Essence, but the influence of formless Sword Intent.
He sat motionless through the night.
Only at dawn the next day did Lin Chen slowly awaken from his state of sudden insight.
The instant he opened his eyes, a glimmer of sword light seemed to flash deep within them, then vanished without a trace.
Lin Chen looked down at the broken sword in the Sword Casket.
The faint azure glow that had flowed across its blade was gone, along with the aura that had made so many spirit swords tremble in resonance.
"The Dao resonance it carried is gone, so naturally, it has returned to the ordinary."
"But helping me reach 30% Sword Intent was an honor for this broken sword."
Within Lin Chen's sea of consciousness, the transparent sword of will that radiated boundless sharpness had grown far more solid than before.
"With 30% Sword Intent, I need only turn my thoughts and release its pressure to strike fear into weaker demonic beasts. They'll have no choice but to prostrate themselves and beg for mercy."
A faint smile touched Lin Chen's lips.
He was still a hundred and eight thousand miles from those peerless powerhouses whose cultivation could pierce heaven and earth.
But he had taken another step along the path toward the pinnacle of martial arts.
"Even if the warriors entering the Cloud Dream