Three months later.
Early morning.
"Three whole months, and your Cicada Cry still hasn't reached Hundred Cicadas Crying in Unison. I am utterly disappointed in you. If you make no further progress next month, I won't test my blade on you anymore."
As Xu Taiping withdrew from the blade domain, the Blade Ghost inside it let out a deeply dissatisfied roar.
"I know, I know. See you next month."
Xu Taiping waved weakly at the Blade Ghost.
This was his fifth month since returning from Yunmeng Marsh, and his fourth time emerging alive from the blade domain.
Just as three months earlier, there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt, and his divine soul was on the verge of collapse.
But compared with two months earlier, his current state could aptly be described as "taking it all in stride."
His relationship with the Blade Ghost had also undergone a subtle change over these three months.
First of all, the Blade Ghost certainly still wanted him dead, but after witnessing Duan Tianya's Demon-Slaying Blade, he now desperately wanted to know its subsequent moves, and so could not bear to let Xu Taiping die.
Wanting to kill Xu Taiping and escape the seal was instinct.
Wanting to witness more moves of the Demon-Slaying Blade was obsession.
Xu Taiping's current situation in the blade domain, practicing his blade while being tortured, was the result of the tug-of-war between the Blade Ghost's instinct and obsession.
As long as I maintain the balance between the two, I can stay alive.
This was the conclusion Xu Taiping had reached over the past few months.
To achieve this, he always held something back whenever he practiced with the Blade Ghost, so he could pique the Blade Ghost's interest the next time he entered the