Thunder Sword Core

The newly re-formed sword core was clearly far tougher than the first, yet it still could not withstand that terrifying heavenly lightning.

In the next instant, dense cracks appeared across his sword core once more.

Yet guided by his sword intent, the core cracked without shattering and drew itself together again.

But the lightning still had not dissipated.

Like an iron hammer of immense weight, the purple lightning hammered Xu Changxing's sword core again and again.

Through repeated cycles of re-forming and breaking, the sword core grew ever sharper.

After re-forming for who knew how many times, his sword core finally withstood the terrifying lightning.

By then, sword intent and lightning filled Xu Changxing's entire dantian.

At the very center of his dantian, a purple sword core radiating terrifying sword intent floated slowly in the air.

Above the sword core hung a mass of purple thunderclouds that refused to disperse.

The sight was strikingly similar to the place where Li Changge had been reduced to ashes.

"Whew... finally done."

Only then did Xu Changxing finally let out a long breath.

While condensing his golden core just now, he had nearly thought he was going to die.

He had never expected to make it through.

He sank his consciousness into his dantian and gazed at the sword core, whose sword intent seemed ready to burst through his body. The corners of his mouth rose into a broad smile.

He had finally condensed his sword core.

Judging by the power it radiated, this was no ordinary sword core.

He even felt that this sword core, born through a thousand hammerings and a hundred temperings, could easily serve as a flying sword.

The only problem was that the heavenly lightning within the inheritance had followed it inside.

The thunderclouds in his dantian were still ceaselessly tempering his sword core with lightning.

After observing them for a moment, Xu Changxing had a sudden thought and tried to draw upon the lightning in his dantian.

In the next instant, a bolt of lightning appeared at his fingertip.

Crack!

After piercing the thatched cottage's roof, the electric bolt shot straight into the clouds like a lightning sword thrusting skyward, tinting the thin clouds overhead with a faint purple glow.

Xu Changxing had never imagined that a casually released bolt of electricity could possess such power.

His mouth fell slightly open as he murmured:

"I can actually draw upon the lightning in my dantian?

"But I don't have a thunder spiritual root. I... huh? Where's my wood spiritual root!?"

Only then did Xu Changxing suddenly discover that not only had all his mixed spiritual roots been dyed purple, but even his first-grade wood spiritual root had failed to withstand the heavenly lightning's encroachment and completely transformed into a purple thunder spiritual root.

The only difference was that his first-grade wood spiritual root had not entirely vanished. A tiny, almost imperceptible trace of green light remained, struggling to hold on amid the boundless purple radiance.

"This is all that's left of my wood spiritual root?"

With a thought, Xu Changxing hurriedly extended his perception.

Sure enough, in the next instant, he discovered that the wood spiritual energy that had once filled his perception was gone.

In its place was omnipresent thunder-attribute spiritual energy.

To his surprise, he discovered that his perception of thunder-attribute spiritual energy reached nearly a hundred li.

When he tried to absorb this free-floating thunder-attribute spiritual energy, it rushed toward him in a frenzy.

In an instant, a vortex formed from thunder spiritual energy appeared around him.

Replenished by so much thunder-attribute spiritual energy, the thunderclouds in Xu Changxing's dantian began producing more lightning at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing his incredibly tough sword core begin to tremble faintly again, he hurriedly stopped cultivating.

"This... this is far too outrageous.

"What grade is my spiritual root now?"

With his current knowledge, Xu Changxing had no way of assessing his spiritual root's grade.

He only knew that his affinity for spiritual energy was more than ten times what it had been with his first-grade wood spiritual root.

Only then did he suddenly realize that the golden core he had condensed did not seem to consist solely of a sword core.

The miniature thunderclouds above the sword core should also count as part of his golden core.

Could I have actually condensed two golden cores at once?

No, that's not right. There's no clear boundary between the sword core and the thunderclouds. Instead, they're intertwined.

These shouldn't be two golden cores, but one.

But if that's the case, what kind of core have I condensed?

Xu Changxing pondered for a long time, but still could not determine the quality of the golden core he had condensed.

He only knew that its power was extraordinarily terrifying.

While Xu Changxing was lost in thought, someone suddenly knocked on his courtyard gate.

Immediately afterward, a somewhat familiar voice rang out. "Xu Changxing, come out and fight me!"

After a moment's thought, Xu Changxing knew who had come.

The man outside challenging him was none other than Han Mingguan, whom he had defeated in the tournament.

The corner of his mouth twitched. "No time."

Outside the courtyard gate, Han Mingguan, who had been brimming with confidence and ready for another fight with Xu Changxing, froze.

He had never imagined that his enthusiastic challenge would earn him nothing but those two words.

Han Mingguan's eye twitched violently several times, and he shouted:

"Xu Changxing, since you're not in seclusion, why are you avoiding a fight!

"Do you think that I, Han Mingguan, don't even qualify to fight you?"

Inside the cottage, Xu Changxing nodded. "That's right!"

Hearing this, Han Mingguan felt a mouthful of old blood lodge in his chest, leaving him utterly miserable.

He stood there in disarray for quite a while before roaring:

"Xu Changxing!

"There's no grudge between us, so why are you humiliating me like this!

"Today, I..."

Before he could finish, a terrifying surge of sword intent imbued with lightning suddenly poured out of the courtyard.

Then a streak of sword light shot into the sky and vanished into the distance.

The sword intent drove Han Mingguan back dozens of steps before he fell onto his backside.

It took him a long while to recover before he said, lingering fear written across his face:

"Whoa, why was that sword light so terrifying?

"Could Li Changge be here? Is that why he said he had no time to fight me?

"That would... no, that aura just now wasn't Li Changge's!"

At this point, a look of utter astonishment suddenly appeared on Han Mingguan's face.

He abruptly turned to stare toward the horizon where the sword light had already vanished and murmured:

"That was Xu Changxing just now!

"He... he's actually reached core formation!?"

Inside Liu Chenyu's thatched cottage on Flying Stream Peak.

Liu Chenyu was leisurely fiddling with the pills in front of him.

This time, thanks to his third disciple, he had reaped quite a harvest.

Once he refined these medicinal ingredients into pills, he could easily enter seclusion again.

By the time he emerged, he should be able to break through to the core formation late stage.

"Taking in an exceptionally gifted disciple really is a wonderful thing..."

Just as he murmured to himself, his entire body suddenly trembled faintly.

Liu Chenyu's expression changed abruptly. "How can there be such powerful thunder sword intent!

"Who dares behave so brazenly on my Flying Stream Peak!"

Even as he shouted in anger, he released his true essence, attempting to disperse that arrogant thunder sword intent.

To his horror, however wildly his true essence surged, that sword intent remained firmly lodged in his heart.

From dozens of li away, that sword intent had actually pierced his protective true essence.

Liu Chenyu's expression changed abruptly, and he called out:

"Fellow Daoist, please don't act rashly!

"This is the Setting Sun Sect's inner sect. If you... huh?"