After returning to Heartbreak Cliff.
Jiang Hao began thinking about the Heavenly Joy Pavilion.
He had indeed offended the Heavenly Joy Pavilion by killing Senior Sister Yun Ruo, but that should not have made everyone want him dead.
If everyone wanted to make a move, then most likely, the person in charge of the Heavenly Joy Pavilion had given the order, whether overtly or indirectly.
So under normal circumstances, those who wanted to kill him fell into just two categories.
Those who wanted to curry favor with the pavilion master, and those affected by Senior Sister Yun Ruo's seductive physique.
Either kind was dangerous.
This trip to the Demon Grotto will be extremely dangerous. I need to reach the late stage of foundation establishment as soon as possible. Only then will I have the strength to protect myself.
I have a defensive magical treasure. Now I'm missing an offensive one.
And a powerful offensive Spell Arts.
The Primordial Chaos Heart Scripture had its own Spell Arts, but he had yet to unlock any of them.
His cultivation was still insufficient.
After tending to the Spirit Medicine Garden, Jiang Hao sought out his master, Ku Wuchang.
"Spell Arts?" After hearing why Jiang Hao had come, Ku Wuchang wasted no words.
"What kind do you want to learn?"
"One with great power," Jiang Hao said.
"Do you use a saber?" Ku Wuchang asked.
"I can," Jiang Hao answered at once.
At present, he had not specialized in any particular magical treasure.
He had used both daggers and the Spirit Sword.
But he had merely used them.
"Good. Then I'll teach you Demonic Sound Slash." As he spoke, Ku Wuchang pressed two fingers against Jiang Hao's forehead.
A saber's phantom then appeared in Jiang Hao's mind.
It surged like thunder and raced like a storm.
Then the image vanished.
As Jiang Hao came back to his senses, Ku Wuchang handed him a book.
"Take this back and study it. Your aptitude is decent. You should barely be able to learn it in a little over a month."
"Thank you, Master." Jiang Hao accepted the book, bid him farewell, and left.
On his way out, he happened to see Han Ming entering with the other senior brothers.
"You want to learn an offensive technique? Then I'll teach you Heavenly Thunder Sword. Stay here and study it properly. You may only leave once you've learned it."
Ku Wuchang's stern voice came from inside.
Jiang Hao glanced back, then paid it no further attention and left quickly.
He needed to return and study Demonic Sound Slash.
As for what he had just heard, he did not take it to heart. He was merely one of many inner sect disciples.
Han Ming and the others, however, were true disciples.
Naturally, they received different treatment.
All he could do was marvel at how good true disciples had it.
Back at his residence, Jiang Hao glanced at the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower.
I need to visit White Moon Lake. Leaving this flower here unattended while I'm away might not be a good idea.
He then entered the cultivation room and activated Clear Mind, Pure Heart. In an instant, his mind felt clear and unobstructed.
He could understand and master many things at remarkable speed.
He then opened the book and began studying Demonic Sound Slash.
For seven straight days, Jiang Hao immersed himself in Demonic Sound Slash.
On the eighth day, he rehearsed everything in his mind.
Then he went to the stream, casually picked up a branch, and swung it in an instant.
Rumble!
Demonic sound thundered, its cutting edge laid bare.
A ten-meter-long saber phantom slashed down through the air.
Boom!
The stream exploded, sending sand and stones flying.
The impact resounded.
A long saber scar remained in the ground.
At the sight, Jiang Hao smiled faintly.
"It worked. The power is pretty good. Seven days is a decent amount of time, too."
With his aptitude, he would have needed a little over a month to master Demonic Sound Slash.
But his divine ability, Clear Mind, Pure Heart, enhanced his aptitude. Otherwise, he could never have comprehended it in seven days.
"Now all I need is a saber. I'll save up spirit stones for another month and buy one."
Over those seven days, he had neither crafted nor sold Spirit Talismans.
Apart from the Myriad Sword Talisman Senior Sister Leng Tian had requested, he had sold nothing else.
He had devoted all his time to comprehending Demonic Sound Slash.
So he still had only a little over four hundred spirit stones.
That should have been a large sum, but when it came to preserving his life, he still felt it was not enough.
The best magical treasures for the Foundation Establishment Realm.
A few hundred spirit stones certainly would not suffice.
Yet earning more was somewhat beyond him.
Discarding the branch, Jiang Hao went to the courtyard. Over the past few days, he had discovered something.
The snow lotus produced a bubble every three days. It might contain blood essence, or it might contain cultivation.
It could not compare with the Heavenly Fragrance Dao Flower's two bubbles a day, but it was countless times better than before.
The blue lotus had bloomed as well.
But on its first day in bloom, it had only produced a green bubble. Afterward, it produced only white bubbles.
Still, something was better than nothing.
He could use it as a Spirit Gathering formation.
At that moment, Jiang Hao glanced at his panel.
[Blood essence: 99/100 (Available for cultivation)] [Cultivation: 100/100 (Available for cultivation)]
He was just one point of blood essence short.
By tomorrow at the latest, he would be able to begin his breakthrough.
The Spirit Medicine Garden.
Jiang Hao looked around and spotted a blue bubble that day.
He walked over immediately.
The surrounding bubbles began gathering and merging into him.
[Blood essence +1] [Spirit +1] [Strength +1] [Strength +1] [Strength +1]
Feeling his strength increase, Jiang Hao was rather pleased.
Of course, most importantly, his blood essence was now full.
He could return tonight and raise his cultivation.
After tending to the Spirit Medicine Garden, Jiang Hao instructed the other outer sect disciples to look after it.
It was not merely because he was eager to break through now. More importantly, he would be heading to the Demon Grotto in a little over a month.
Someone else needed to take over here.
When the time came, the inner sect senior brothers and sisters would only need to drop by and go through the motions. The tending would still be left to the outer sect disciples.
That would make mishaps less likely.
He also found time to visit White Moon Lake. He did not see Elder Bai Zhi, but Senior Sister Zhou Chan brought him a message consisting of just four words: "No need to worry."
It seemed they could fish whether he was there or not.
Then he had no need to worry either.
After returning to his residence, Jiang Hao checked his surroundings. Only after confirming that nothing was wrong did he enter the cultivation room and extract his blood essence and cultivation.
He was not certain whether he could reach the late stage of foundation establishment in one go.
But once it was time to break through, he could not put it off.
Vast quantities of blood essence and spiritual energy began flooding Jiang Hao's extraordinary meridians.
Purple qi appeared within his meridians and began guiding them.
It seemed to be going even more smoothly than before.
Before you continue