Time flowed like water, silent and unceasing.
Since Xu Xuan had quelled the Lu Household's rebellion at Shiling Fort with thunderous force,
ten cycles of summer and winter had passed in the blink of an eye.
Over those ten years, Xu Xuan had rarely ventured out, spending most of his time cultivating in seclusion deep within Upper Azure Hall in Golden Water City.
The hall doors remained closed, undisturbed by worldly affairs.
Everything outside was managed by the Azure Mystery Sect and the Yan Kingdom's court.
The Sword-Wielding Office's covert agents spread in all directions like an invisible spiderweb, monitoring movements throughout the realm.
They kept every tangled worldly concern outside the hall doors.
Inside the hall,
an oil lamp and ancient scrolls kept him company.
Xu Xuan's mind remained free of distractions.
Over the past ten years, he had devoted himself to assimilating the opportunities he had obtained from the Lu Household ruins.
The murals inscribed with ancient information had all been branded deep within his sea of consciousness.
Whenever he concentrated on visualizing them, he gained new insights.
Although the stone bead that had fused with the mysterious Ancient Mirror appeared dormant, a faint strand of unusual Dao resonance circulated within it, profound beyond words.
Xu Xuan often immersed himself in it, sensing that vast, ancient aura.
Each time, fresh inspiration welled up.
He devoted the vast majority of his attention to organizing and deeply exploring his own Dao Path.
The "Qi-Blood True Fire" and "Profound Nether Water" he had comprehended at that blood sacrifice site long ago,
after ten years of unremitting polishing and tempering,
had finally become flawless, transforming and ascending to develop mysteries unique to Xu Xuan himself.
That Qi-Blood True Fire was no longer merely a manifestation of burning life.
He had also endowed