’In all my years, I’ve never seen such heaven-defying talent for cultivation! This boy truly is something else!’
The silver-haired elder muttered to himself, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Yi Xiaoyao remained in the Copper Cauldron, furiously absorbing the vast Spiritual Power from the Spiritual Liquid.
He had once consumed a Spirit Enhancing Pill. An ordinary person would need at least ten days to fully absorb it, yet Yi Xiaoyao had managed it in only six hours.
This cauldron of Spirit Medicine Liquid refined by the silver-haired elder contained far more medicinal power than a Spirit Enhancing Pill, but the same principle applied.
The silver-haired elder’s prediction that it would take three days to advance a single layer of Cultivation was a gross underestimation of Yi Xiaoyao.
After all, he had no idea just how heaven-defying the Devouring Sword God Technique that Yi Xiaoyao cultivated truly was!
As Yi Xiaoyao’s Cultivation Technique circulated and his Cultivation rose, the Devouring Power grew increasingly tyrannical.
Yi Xiaoyao’s body was like a bottomless black hole, madly devouring the medicinal power and Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Medicine Liquid and rapidly converting it into Spiritual Power that surged into his Vortex Sea of Qi.
’This is too fast! His speed at absorbing Spiritual Power and medicinal energy is simply terrifying! Just what kind of monster is this boy?’
The silver-haired elder was dumbfounded. His mind went blank, finding it impossible to believe the scene unfolding before him.
Inside the cauldron, the Spirit Medicine Liquid was still boiling.
And within Yi Xiaoyao’s Dantian, in his Vortex Sea of Qi, the Dark Spiritual Power was also boiling.
Amidst that roiling, Yi Xiaoyao could feel the potency of his Spiritual Power strengthening at a rapid pace.
Furthermore, Yi Xiaoyao could feel his body undergoing a powerful baptism. It greedily devoured the abundant Spiritual Qi from his surroundings. After being refined by the Devouring Sword God Technique, it transformed into wisps of Dark Spiritual Power that surged into his Qi Sea.
However, a pained expression was now on Yi Xiaoyao’s face.
The Spiritual Qi within the Spiritual Liquid was simply too vast. At his current rate of absorption, the meridians in his body couldn’t withstand the strain.
Yi Xiaoyao felt waves of tearing pain coursing through his meridians. The faster he was Devouring, the more intense the agony became.
"Boy, your method of absorbing Spiritual Qi is too aggressive! If you keep this up, your meridians will be damaged!"
The silver-haired elder had noticed this and spoke up.
"Thank you for the warning, Senior, but this is a pain I can endure."
Yi Xiaoyao gritted his teeth. Despite the torment, he didn’t slow his pace of Devouring Spiritual Qi in the slightest. In fact, he went even faster.
The memory of Jin Lingfeng’s and Tang Ruoxue’s sneering faces, and the thought of the injuries and humiliation Tang Zhong had suffered, gave him no reason to give up.
It was now late into the night. Seeing Yi Xiaoyao’s persistence, the silver-haired elder simply nodded and left to rest.
The night passed slowly. Afterward, a trace of excitement suddenly appeared on Yi Xiaoyao’s face.
’Almost there! I can already feel the bottleneck of the Ninth Realm of Qi Condensation!’
He just needed to break through this bottleneck to advance once more.
The sky outside was bright when the silver-haired elder walked in. Seeing that Yi Xiaoyao was still in Cultivation, his eyes revealed a look of admiration.
Then, he glanced at the Spiritual Liquid in the Copper Cauldron, and a jolt went through his entire body.
’Half the Spiritual Qi in the liquid has already been absorbed! Even I would need several days to accomplish that, yet this boy did it in a single night!’
The silver-haired elder’s breathing grew ragged. Staring at Yi Xiaoyao, he thought, ’By the looks of it, is he about to break through to the Ninth Realm of Qi Condensation?’
Under the elder’s watchful gaze, Yi Xiaoyao let out a low cry. Having finally gathered enough Spiritual Power, he began to charge the bottleneck.
A low hum sounded.
The next moment, Yi Xiaoyao’s face turned pale, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.
’I... I failed to break through? But why?’
Yi Xiaoyao opened his eyes, his face a mask of confusion, only to find the silver-haired elder watching him with a faint smile.
"Boy, you absorb Spiritual Qi so aggressively that even if your meridians aren’t damaged, your Realm becomes unstable. You failed to break through because your Realm is unstable."
Hearing this, Yi Xiaoyao came to a sudden realization.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I must try again!"
With that, he began to accumulate Spiritual Power once more, preparing to charge the bottleneck.
Just then, Yi Xiaoyao felt a hand, rich with potent Spiritual Power, rest on his shoulder. A gentle stream of Spiritual Power then flowed from the palm and merged into his body.
BOOM!
A roar erupted from within Yi Xiaoyao’s Dantian. In the next instant, his aura surged dramatically.
He had successfully broken through the bottleneck, reaching the Ninth Realm of Qi Condensation!
"Thank you for your help, Senior!"
Overjoyed, Yi Xiaoyao stood up from the Copper Cauldron and cupped his fist in thanks to the silver-haired elder.
If the elder hadn’t helped him stabilize his Realm just now, Yi Xiaoyao estimated he would have failed again.
The silver-haired elder waved his hand dismissively. "Although you’ve broken through to the Ninth Realm of Qi Condensation, your Realm is extremely unstable. If you were to continue your Cultivation now, all your efforts would be wasted! You should focus on consolidating your Cultivation instead."
Yi Xiaoyao nodded gravely in agreement. He understood that his Cultivation had progressed far too quickly over the past few days. If he didn’t consolidate it, the instability of his Realm could cause his Cultivation to regress.
Yi Xiaoyao immediately leaped out of the Copper Cauldron, sat down cross-legged, and began to consolidate his Cultivation.
Throughout the entire day, the once-rampant and unstable Spiritual Energy Sea within Yi Xiaoyao’s body finally solidified and stabilized. He only opened his eyes and stood up when night fell.
’Tomorrow is the day Jin Lingfeng comes to the Tang Family. With the time I have left, I’m afraid it’s impossible to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.’
Yi Xiaoyao murmured with a frown.
After a moment, he gave up on continuing his Cultivation and instead took out the High-Grade Yellow Tier Swordsmanship manual that Mei Han had given him.
’Since there isn’t enough time to advance my Cultivation, I’ll just have to learn this Swordsmanship to increase my strength.’
As he opened the Secret Manual, Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes lit up.
This Swordsmanship was called the "Angry Wind Sword Skill." Its techniques and skills were far more profound than those of the Flowing Light Swordsmanship that Yi Xiaoyao had mastered.
Soon, the sound of a sword cutting through the air echoed from within the room as Yi Xiaoyao began practicing the Angry Wind Sword Skill.
The higher the grade of a Swordsmanship, the greater the difficulty in learning it. Yet after just two hours, he had already mastered the Angry Wind Sword Skill to the stage of Great Success!
The Angry Wind Sword Skill not only emphasized speed but also possessed formidable power.
"A High-Grade Yellow Tier Swordsmanship is on a completely different level! Its power is so much greater than the Flowing Light Swordsmanship!" Yi Xiaoyao exclaimed in satisfaction.
Just then, an astonished cry came from outside the room: "Your talent in the Sword Dao is so heaven-defying!"
It turned out the silver-haired elder had been watching Yi Xiaoyao practice his sword from outside the door.
"Senior?" Yi Xiaoyao retracted his sword and walked over to greet him.
The silver-haired elder’s eyes were filled with shock. As if suddenly remembering something, he took out a black Jade Slip and tossed it to Yi Xiaoyao.
Yi Xiaoyao caught the Jade Slip and asked in confusion, "Senior, what is this?"
"Probe the Jade Slip with your soul," the silver-haired elder instructed.
Yi Xiaoyao placed the Jade Slip against his forehead and extended his soul into it.
In an instant, a vast torrent of information flooded his mind.
"Nine Swords of Slaughter!"
"This Swordsmanship has a total of nine techniques. The first technique can reach the power of a Low-Grade Profound Tier Swordsmanship, the second can reach the power of a Mid-Grade Profound Tier Swordsmanship, the Third Technique can reach the power of a High-Grade Profound Tier Swordsmanship... and the ninth technique can reach the power of a High-Grade Celestial Tier Swordsmanship!"
"If this Swordsmanship is mastered to its absolute limit, it can even surpass Celestial Tier Swordsmanship!"
After reading this information, Yi Xiaoyao was completely stunned, frozen on the spot.
One had to understand that Spiritual Skills and Swordsmanship were divided into four grades: Celestial, Earth, Profound, and Yellow. Yet this Nine Swords of Slaughter, upon reaching Great Success in Cultivation, could actually attain the power of the legendary Celestial Tier!
This senior had actually given him something so incredibly precious!