Blood Burning

Pure Yang Main Peak.

It stood at the center of the six peaks.

It was also the largest peak on Shouyang Mountain.

The six halls-General Affairs, Merit Transmission, Law Enforcement, Sword-Wielding, Merit Administration, and Pure Yang-were all located there.

In theory, the Library Pavilion fell under the jurisdiction of the Merit Transmission Hall and counted as its subordinate unit, but because of its special nature, the hall master often served concurrently as pavilion master.

For Qin Lian's appointment, Hall Master Shangguan Bowen personally accompanied him to the Library Pavilion.

An elder of the Merit Transmission Hall, three stewards, and ten disciples responsible for the daily sweeping and organizing were already waiting there.

At a word from Shangguan Bowen, all fourteen stepped forward and bowed together. "Greetings, Pavilion Master."

Shangguan Bowen turned to Qin Lian and said, "For a sect elder, the Library Pavilion's accommodations are rather shabby. I've allocated the courtyard behind it to the pavilion. We'll make a few renovations and assign another elder and several service disciples to help you handle miscellaneous matters, Grandmaster Qin."

"Miscellaneous matters..."

Qin Lian could not help recalling the young girl named Qin Lingzhi.

She had kept his daily life in impeccable order.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Qin Lian did not refuse Shangguan Bowen's kindness.

Originally, the Library Pavilion had occupied two mu of land, consisting of a main building and two side buildings. The main building had four stories, while the side buildings had only three.

The main building housed the sect's many cultivation methods and sword techniques for disciples to consult.

The left side building served as living quarters for the pavilion's personnel, while the right housed texts on skills such as pill refining and artifact forging.

Opening up access to a courtyard now made the Library Pavilion considerably more spacious.

The courtyard was not particularly luxurious, with a three-story main building and wings on either side, totaling just over a thousand square meters of floor space.

However, the fifty or sixty meters originally separating the courtyard from the Library Pavilion were being renovated into a martial practice ground.

Qin Lian was quite satisfied with these arrangements.

With Wei Yang, a fourth-grade expert, watching over the Qin family, and people appointed by the sect master taking full responsibility for the Taibai Sword Sect, I only need to lend my name as a Heaven Ranking grandmaster. There's no need to toil in person. At last, I can cultivate in peace.

His spirits were light.

Moreover, having left the Qin family and moved into the Library Pavilion, he no longer had to worry about acquaintances one day discovering his secret of "transmigration and rebirth."

After spending six months or a year in the Library Pavilion, changes in his personality and way of doing things would be perfectly normal.

It would be best to temper Divine Intent as soon as possible. Many people undergo changes in temperament while seeking Divine Intent. Even if those close to the original owner notice something unusual about me, they'll attribute it to condensing Divine Intent...

Qin Lian pondered.

But tempering Divine Intent...

He concentrated and meditated on the golden light in his mind.

[Pure Yang Qi Refining Art (major mastery 84/100), Vertical and Horizontal Art (major mastery 68/100), Blood-Burning Sword Art (major mastery 92/100), Nine Heavens Sword Forms (major mastery 61/100), Great Void Visualization Diagram (not initiated 22/100), Great Void Sword Qi (not initiated 35/100)]

The Great Void Visualization Diagram is a method for seeking Divine Intent. By visualizing the unseen void and drawing upon the boundless Great Void's vastness and grandeur to temper the mind, one eventually transcends heaven and earth and condenses Divine Intent!

Cultivating Divine Intent emphasized insight rather than practice.

There was even the question of compatibility with one's temperament.

With high compatibility, once someone crossed the threshold, a moment of inspired understanding could give them hope of tempering Divine Intent.

If it did not suit their temperament, not only might they fail to cultivate Divine Intent even after mastering the visualization, they could also suffer distorted consciousness, a fractured mind, and madness.

The Pure Yang Sword Sect had no shortage of elders who could explain the Great Void Visualization Diagram with perfect fluency, yet remained agonizingly stuck at the third grade themselves.

Blood Demon Zuo Qiudao had most likely also descended into madness because his visualization method was insufficiently compatible with his temperament.

Progress with the Great Void Visualization Diagram has been a little slow lately, but this is a Second Grade Divine Intent method I obtained from the sect after becoming a true disciple of Cloudmist Peak. I shouldn't change it lightly. I'll wait and see... Besides, my main focus lately has been the Blood-Burning Sword Art. I should reach perfection in this sword art within the next few days.

He immediately began diligently practicing the Blood-Burning Sword Art in the courtyard.

When he grew tired, he took pills and sat in meditation to refine qi.

His position as pavilion master was only a title. The Merit Transmission elder and several stewards handled matters large and small, leaving him more than enough free time for diligent study and hard practice.

Time passed in a flash, until only one day remained before the succession ceremony.

That afternoon, after finishing another round of sword practice, Qin Lian suddenly sensed something, and the blood and qi within him began surging violently.

His blood energy and true qi merged like a blazing fire, releasing terrifying explosive power that almost tore his meridians apart.

"It's done!"

Qin Lian focused his mind, suppressing the fierce, restless burning of his heart's blood.

He visualized the golden light and soon sensed a message feeding back to him...

[Blood burning perfected, blood and qi become flame, burning the heart like fire, tracing back to the origin, recovering what was lost and filling what was missing, trait activated-blood burning.]

"Blood burning?"

Recalling the accounts concerning the "Blood-Burning Curse" that Shangguan Bowen had specially sent him some time ago, Qin Lian could not help feeling slightly surprised.

"So it really is the Blood-Burning Curse."

The Blood-Burning Curse.

It was a Daoist art of the Fire Spirit Lineage.

Controlling blood and Blood Burning, it was wondrous to the extreme.

But because he did not possess a fire spirit Dao body himself, what emerged was only the blood burning trait, not a genuine Fire Spirit spell. Its many wonders could only affect himself, not be applied to others.

Of course, precisely because it was a trait rather than a spell, he could activate it even without magical power.

And compared with before he reached perfection, he could now activate the blood burning trait at will and control it as he pleased.

"It really is like an innate spell or an intrinsic divine ability now."

A hint of joy appeared in Qin Lian's eyes.

He was happy both that his conjecture had been confirmed and that he finally possessed a powerful killing move.

With my earlier swiftness trait, supplemented by this explosive burst of blood burning, I now have ninety percent confidence in defeating an ordinary third-grade grandmaster. As for those third-grade experts on the Heaven Ranking... who will bring down the deer remains to be seen.

He let out a slight breath.

Only now was he qualified to call himself a competent Heaven Ranking grandmaster.

Of course, he had merely reached the passing line.

Even odds in a life-and-death struggle...

That was still far from meeting his own safety standard for making the Heaven Ranking.

Next, I'll improve the Pure Yang Qi Refining Art. Once I perfect this core method, I should be confident of Weave Astral Qi into Armor. Besides, as a qi-refining method superior to the Five Elements Fist and the Five Elements Qi Refining Method, it should grant more than a point or two of improvement to my Root Bone upon perfection.

For the moment, Qin Lian could not spare any thought for rest. He diligently cultivated his true qi while also practicing the Nine Heavens Sword Forms.

The next day.

Cloudmist Peak's succession ceremony took place as scheduled.

With Cloudmist Peak having produced a grandmaster in Qin Lian, this succession ceremony was noticeably grander in scale.

Not only had all six peaks and six halls sent figures of at least chief true disciple standing, even Li Wangxu, the sect master of the Pure Yang Sword Sect, attended as a guest to witness the proceedings.

Once the formalities were complete and the disciples had bowed to Liu Xu in acknowledgment of their new peak master, Li Wangxu, Shangguan Bowen, and Sun-Viewing Peak Master Yan Chixia, among others, smiled and cupped their hands toward Yuan Tianhe. "Elder Yuan can finally enjoy a life of ease."

"A life of ease indeed."

Yuan Tianhe smiled and returned their salute. "Sorry for troubling you all to make the trip today."

After exchanging pleasantries with Yuan Tianhe for a while, Li Wangxu approached Qin Lian.

Accompanying him was Lu Jianping, master of the Sword-Wielding Hall.

"Grandmaster Qin, I had Hall Master Lu specifically contact three people in the sect who are interested in going to Mount Tai Prefecture. Each has spent many years consolidating his third-grade cultivation. Take a look and choose one to serve as deputy sect master of the Taibai Sword Sect and oversee matters on your behalf."

Li Wangxu spoke.

Behind Lu Jianping, three men in their thirties or forties, all with third-grade cultivation, cupped their hands toward Qin Lian. "Grandmaster Qin."

Before thirty-five, most would remain in the sect and make one last push, hoping to cultivate Divine Intent and break through to the second grade.

But after thirty-five...

Their blood and qi gradually declined.

These third-grade elders would head out to various places to fight for a future and establish a foundation for themselves and their families.

Nor would the Grandmaster Heaven Ranking list experts who only reached the third grade after thirty-five.

Qin Lian returned their salute, then turned to Li Wangxu. "All three elders are experts of our sect. Anyone willing to shoulder this heavy responsibility is showing his trust in me. I leave it entirely to you to decide who is best suited to serve as deputy sect master."

Seeing Qin Lian entrust even the selection of his deputy sect master to him, Li Wangxu smiled.

His gaze swept over the men and settled on a burly man. "Among these elders, Xu Hailong is only twenty-seven, with his blood and qi in their prime. He has also perfected the Nine Heavens Sword Forms and once exchanged a hundred moves with Hall Master Lu without either gaining the upper hand. Were he a few years younger and to make a name for himself in the martial world, he might well make the Grandmaster Heaven Ranking. How about making him your deputy sect master?"

"As you say, Sect Master."

As Qin Lian spoke, he cupped his hands toward Xu Hailong. "Sorry for troubling you with the Taibai Sword Sect's affairs, Sect Master Xu."

"Thank you for your trust, Sect Master. Please cultivate with peace of mind and leave the matters at Taibai Mine Mountain to me. Within two years, I will give you a Mount Tai Prefecture that belongs to our Taibai Sword Sect."

Xu Hailong hurriedly returned the salute and made his solemn promise.