Tier 3 Martial Soul

"One hundred and three Body Tempering Pills in all."

Back at the Young Master's Residence, Qin Hao counted his spoils, his eyes lighting up.

Liu Ruojie had contributed the most with twelve Body Tempering Pills, followed by Chen Jiang with ten. The rest had come from Chen Linshan and several other Liu disciples.

Together with Qin Hao's own fifty-eight, that made one hundred and three Body Tempering Pills!

For any faction in Tianshui City, that many Body Tempering Pills would be a fortune!

"These pills should be enough to push my Martial Soul to Tier 3!"

Qin Hao laughed, then found himself growing impatient.

What excited him even more was the possibility that, once his Martial Soul reached Tier 3, he might be able to enter the sword tower's second floor.

Ever since obtaining the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art on the first floor, he had tried countless times to reach the second. But an invisible force seemed to block him, and every attempt had failed.

"If the first floor held an ancient cultivation art like the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art, what could be on the second?"

And the sword tower had nine floors in all.

Qin Hao pushed the thought aside, opened a crystal bottle, took out a Body Tempering Pill, and swallowed it.

He activated the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art!

At the same time, his golden sword Martial Soul slowly appeared before his chest!

Hum!

In just one breath, he refined the pill. Without pausing, Qin Hao took out another.

Five pills.

Ten pills!

Fifty-eight pills!

When Qin Hao refined the sixty-third pill, the golden sword before him suddenly shook violently. Dazzling golden light burst from it, filling the room as though the blazing sun hung overhead.

The light even pierced through the room and shone outside the Young Master's Residence.

But in an instant, the golden light withdrew, and the sword fell still.

His golden sword Martial Soul had grown several centimeters, bringing it a little closer to a full meter in length.

"Tier 3 Martial Soul! I did it!"

Qin Hao was overjoyed.

After refining a full one hundred and sixty-three Body Tempering Pills, his Martial Soul had finally advanced to Tier 3!

With a Tier 2 Martial Soul and the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art, he could already absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at remarkable speed.

How fast would he be with a Tier 3 Martial Soul?

Qin Hao took a deep breath. Rather than try cultivating at once, he refined all the remaining Body Tempering Pills.

This time, however, even after he refined every last pill, his Martial Soul barely changed.

Qin Hao stared, dumbfounded. "Advancing from Tier 2 to Tier 3 took one hundred and sixty-three Body Tempering Pills—eight times as many as advancing from Tier 1 to Tier 2. Going from Tier 3 to Tier 4 might take a thousand."

He shook his head and put it out of his mind. The pills required would only increase as his Martial Soul advanced, but he was not worried.

By then, he would be stronger and have more ways to obtain pills.

"Now, let's see whether I can enter the second floor."

Anticipation flashed in Qin Hao's eyes. With a shift of his will, he vanished into thin air.

Qin Hao appeared in a hazy space.

As always, an immense sword tower stood between heaven and earth, as though it had been there since time immemorial.

The four characters spelling Supreme Sword Tower blazed with golden light that reached for miles!

"Where did this Supreme Sword Tower come from?" Qin Hao had entered the tower's space many times, yet the sight still left him awestruck.

Qin Hao entered the sword tower.

Hum~

It felt like passing through a film of water. After a faint tremor, Qin Hao found himself on the first floor.

It was a circular room several kilometers across.

Its smooth, white walls gave off a faint glow that lit the entire room.

A stone platform stood at its center.

That was where Qin Hao had obtained the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art.

Not far from the platform, a flight of stairs led to the second floor!

Qin Hao had explored the first floor many times. He did not linger, heading straight for the second.

The staircase had exactly ninety-nine steps. At the top, Qin Hao could see a barrier like a curtain of water across the entrance to the second floor.

"What is this barrier? The harder I push, the more force it sends back—several times as much!"

Qin Hao pondered it. He had searched through numerous ancient texts, but not one mentioned a barrier like this.

Hum!

Qin Hao reached out and lightly touched the watery barrier.

A faint ripple spread from his palm, like a pebble dropped into still water.

Then a chill traveled up his hand, as though he had touched a block of ice!

"I still can't get in." Qin Hao was disappointed. Is it because I'm not strong enough? Perhaps I need to reach the Meridian Opening Realm before I can enter the second floor?

Just as he was thinking, without warning—

Boom!!!

A thunderous crash erupted from within the second floor!

It rang like a bell that could shake heaven and shatter earth. Standing at the entrance, Qin Hao felt the tower sway.

After that single crash, though, the second floor fell silent again.

"What..."

Qin Hao was stunned. What kind of power could shake the sword tower?

And what exactly was on the second floor?

His expression shifted several times. After a moment's thought, he left the watery barrier alone and slowly retreated to the first floor.

"The tower placed that watery barrier at the entrance to the second floor, and I can't pass through it. I'm probably not strong enough yet. Besides, judging by that crash, something terrifying may be up there. With my current strength, getting in would only be courting death."

Qin Hao knew his limits.

And the harder it was to enter the second floor, the more valuable its contents had to be!

So rather than feeling disappointed, Qin Hao looked forward to it even more.

The sword tower could wait. His immediate priority was the Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament!

Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament. Liu Ruoxue. The Liu. Just wait!

After leaving the Supreme Sword Tower, Qin Hao took his iron sword into the courtyard and began to practice.

He had barely grasped Form One of the Firmament Phantom Sword, Shadowless, and was still far from mastering it.

Swish, swish, swish!

Qin Hao thrust his sword again and again. In an instant, six sword shadows appeared.

After executing the move, he stopped instead of continuing to drill. He considered where he had gone wrong, then resumed his practice.

The afternoon passed quickly. That night, Qin Hao sat cross-legged and circulated the Great Dao Spirit-Seizing Art, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to raise his cultivation.

With his Martial Soul at Tier 3, he absorbed that energy faster and faster.

Day after day passed. In the blink of an eye, more than two months were gone.

The Qin, Young Master's Residence.

In the courtyard, Qin Hao stood proudly with his sword in hand, his gaze sharp and his whole bearing charged with an unstoppable resolve.

"Shadowless!"

Qin Hao lunged forward. The iron sword in his hand seemed to become countless blades, sword shadows appearing in perfect unison. In an instant, they crowded the space before him.

The shadows stirred a fierce wind that swept fallen leaves off the ground. Then the blades shredded every leaf.

"Phantom Sword!"

Form Two of the Firmament Phantom Sword: Phantom Sword!

The instant he finished the first move, Qin Hao shifted into the second.

This time, the force he gave off was stronger and sharper!

A figure appeared at the courtyard gate. It was Liu Wei.

He caught every detail of Qin Hao's sword practice, and his eyes widened.

"What? He's mastered Form One of the Firmament Phantom Sword! How long has it been?"

"Wait!"

"What he's using now... Could it be... Form Two, Phantom Sword?"

"That can't be! Qin Hao has mastered the second form too?"