On Cold Moon Peak, the spiritual energy was so dense it had almost become tangible, flowing slowly among the emerald bamboo.
The scorch marks left by the lightning tribulation a month earlier had long since vanished, replaced by fresh growths of tender bamboo even greener and more lush than before.
In a secluded chamber deep inside the Bamboo Hut, Lin Shisan sat cross-legged.
A pale golden halo enveloped him, as though he wore a thin layer of spirit silk.
The Evil-Exorcising Sword lay across his knees, the crimson-gold light on its blade slowly resonating with the spiritual glow covering his body.
For the past month, Feng Xian'er had brought him a large bowl of Deer Whip Soup every day, without fail.
Bai Youyou had prepared spirit cuisine for him in ever-changing varieties, while Zi Yuner had broken down the intricacies of the Dragon Breath Art into the finest detail, explaining them to him sentence by sentence. Bai Ziyin had even issued a handwritten order as sect master to requisition the oldest spirit materials with the purest medicinal properties from the entire Danyang Sect's stores.
With this three-pronged approach, it would have been hard not to advance.
At that moment, the Taiji Wheel in Lin Shisan's dantian was spinning in an exceptionally regular rhythm.
Black and white spiritual power intertwined across its surface into a flowing Taiji diagram, while the golden halo around its rim grew stronger and brighter.
The Hornless Dragon True Spirit coiled at the center of the Taiji Wheel, its scales opening and closing as it breathed in and out spiritual power so dense it had almost condensed into liquid.
From the four claws it had possessed a month earlier, it had grown a fifth.
Although the fifth claw was still only a tiny protrusion and had yet