Lin Xuan was meditating in his cave when he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. His face instantly turned pale, and his eyes filled with shock.
“What’s going on? Why did the Fate Chain suddenly break?!”
“I spent 100,000 destiny points to buy that item. How can it be undone just like that? You think saying the connection was severed is enough to brush me off?”
“Really? As long as I find that useless trash and bind it again, it’ll work?”
“As long as he isn’t more than one major realm above me, the success rate can reach 95%?”
“Then there’s no problem. That trash Jiang Han, even if you give him another ten years, he won’t reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.”
“I’ll trust you one last time. If it fails again, I’ll file a complaint.”
“No need to chase him. He can’t escape. The master and senior sisters he cares about most are all here. A monk may flee, but the temple remains. I don’t believe he won’t come back.”
“Without a sect backing him, he’s just at the Qi Refining Realm. At most he’ll survive outside for ten or fifteen days. I’ll wait for him to come back and beg me.”
…
Today was the day the five great sects recruited disciples. After several days of rest, Jiang Han’s injuries had fully healed.
After refining that trace of innate divine lightning, his cultivation advanced smoothly, breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm without the slightest obstacle.
At the moment of breakthrough, the shackle above his head shattered completely with a series of cracking sounds.
After ten years, Jiang Han once again felt the vibrant spiritual energy of heaven and earth. His entire body felt indescribably refreshed.
According to his memories from his previous life, he had only reached the Foundation Establishment Realm thirty years later, after Lin Xuan had formed his Golden Core.
Back then, Lin Xuan had been full of pride and spirit. Master and senior sisters doted on him endlessly. He was arrogant beyond measure.
It was also then that Lin Xuan began to reveal his fangs. He humiliated Jiang Han even more recklessly, joined forces with the senior sisters to exclude and torment him.
He frequently seized Jiang Han’s opportunities and lashed out at him to vent his anger. The moment Jiang Han dared to resist, the senior sisters would immediately suppress him.
The torment of both mind and body nearly broke Jiang Han and even pushed him to the brink of developing a heart demon.
But now, Lin Xuan was only at the thirteenth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, while Jiang Han had already broken through. The restraints were gone. Lin Xuan could no longer threaten him.
The despair and pain Lin Xuan brought him in his previous life would be repaid a hundredfold in this one!
Jiang Han calmed his thoughts, stepped out of his temporary cave dwelling, and rode his flying sword straight into the sky.
Each of the five great sects had its own focus. The one most suitable for Jiang Han was the fifth-ranked sect, Purple Firmament Sword Sect.
Jiang Han possessed a mutated lightning spiritual root and was born with a natural sword bone. His compatibility with the Purple Firmament Sword Art was extremely high. He was born to be a sword cultivator.
The Purple Firmament Sword Art was a ninth-grade Heaven-tier technique. Compared to the first-grade Yellow-tier Qi Refining Art he was currently cultivating, it was superior by countless times and far better suited to his lightning attribute.
Once he cultivated the Purple Firmament Sword Art, his cultivation speed would increase by at least fivefold.
His original cultivation speed had already been faster than ordinary cultivators. After refining the innate divine lightning, his absorption speed of lightning spiritual power had increased by another fifty percent.
Furthermore, behind Purple Firmament Sword Sect lay a forbidden thunder pool. If he could cultivate there, at his speed, he would form his Golden Core within ten years at most.
After reaching the Golden Core Realm, he would finally have some ability to protect himself in the cultivation world. Then, according to his memories, he could enter various secret realms to gather resources.
With vast resources, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm in a hundred years and the Divine Transformation Realm in three hundred years was not impossible.
By then, he would have the capital for revenge.
Moreover, lightning spiritual power inherently had an advantage against evil cultivators like Lin Xuan. As a sword cultivator invincible within the same realm, his destructive power would be terrifying.
With the overwhelming killing power of a lightning sword cultivator, he wanted to see what Lin Xuan would use to block him.
Jiang Han’s place of healing was not far from Purple Firmament Sword Sect. After flying for half a day, he arrived at the mountain gate.
The entry procedure was simple. When purple lightning surged from the spirit-testing jade monument and shot into the sky, the Golden Core Realm deacon elder in charge of recruitment nearly fell off his seat.
After confirming it once more, Jiang Han was immediately given special treatment.
Skipping all standard procedures, and under countless complex and jealous gazes, he was taken directly to the main hall.
“A mutated lightning spiritual root?!” Sect Master Lei Qingchuan stared at Jiang Han in disbelief.
It was not that he doubted it, but lightning spiritual roots were extremely rare. Purple Firmament Sword Sect had not heard of one in at least 2,000 years.
A lightning spiritual root cultivator practicing the Purple Firmament Sword Art, as long as he did not die young, would certainly reach the Divine Transformation Realm. It was even possible to reach the peak of Divine Transformation and survive the tribulation to ascend.
For a sect currently lacking strong successors, a future Divine Transformation cultivator was nothing short of a lifeline.
“It’s absolutely true, Sect Master,” the deacon elder said excitedly. He had discovered this lightning spiritual root genius. The sect master’s reward would surely be generous.
“It was tested twice. The spirit-testing jade monument confirmed it is indeed a mutated lightning spiritual root.”
Lei Qingchuan placed his right hand on Jiang Han’s shoulder and circulated his spiritual power. He immediately understood.
“Good, good, good! It truly is a mutated lightning spiritual root.”
“This is… a natural sword bone!!”
“Hahahahaha! Heaven is helping me!”
Lei Qingchuan laughed wildly, the more he looked at Jiang Han, the more satisfied he became.
With a mutated lightning spiritual root, at the Spirit Abyss Secret Realm opening in three months, Purple Firmament Sword Sect would surely wash away its humiliation and end its seven hundred years of bottom rankings.
Ordinary spiritual roots could practice the Purple Firmament Sword Art and wield lightning through flying swords, but their cultivation speed and power would be far inferior, only about thirty percent of that of a lightning spiritual root.
With a natural sword bone on top of that, this was a once-in-a-thousand-years sword cultivator genius.
Sword cultivators were invincible within the same realm. Combined with the terrifying killing power of a mutated lightning spiritual root, killing across realms was normal.
If Jiang Han advanced to the Divine Transformation Realm, he would become the most destructive cultivator in the entire cultivation world, safeguarding Purple Firmament Sword Sect for at least 3,000 years.
“Jiang Han, are you willing to enter my lineage and become a direct disciple of Purple Firmament Sword Sect?” Lei Qingchuan asked urgently.
The sect’s fortune had been poor in recent years. Only a few of his own disciples were decent. The rest were mediocre, and the middle tier was weak.
Jiang Han’s arrival was life-saving.
He had already decided that if Jiang Han refused, he would do whatever it took to persuade him to stay.
“This disciple is willing,” Jiang Han replied calmly. This had been his plan all along.
“Hahaha! Good! Good! Good!” Lei Qingchuan was overjoyed. “From this day forward, you are my seventh direct disciple.”
“Your senior sisters are not here. The situation is urgent, so we won’t wait. We’ll hold the apprenticeship ceremony first. You can meet them when they return.”
Afraid Jiang Han might change his mind, he quickly ordered the deacon elder to prepare the ceremony and inform the other elders.
Another elder hurriedly spoke, “Sect Master, please reconsider. Our sect is currently weak. If this nephew’s talent is exposed, the other four great sects may make trouble. We are not afraid, but it will cause unnecessary complications.”
“Better to keep it low-key. After the Spirit Abyss Secret Realm ends, we can announce it.”
Lei Qingchuan pondered. Such a genius would certainly attract trouble if revealed too soon. Keeping Jiang Han’s cultivation hidden could also catch others off guard in the secret realm.
He nodded. “Very well. It may be a slight grievance to Xiao Han.”
“Xiao Han, rest assured. In the future, I will hold the grandest apprenticeship ceremony for you.”
The sincerity in Lei Qingchuan’s eyes was genuine. Jiang Han’s heart trembled slightly. So this was what it felt like to be valued.
He had humbled himself before Ji Yuchan and the others yet never received even a trace of kindness.
And here, upon just arriving at Purple Firmament Sword Sect, he was treated sincerely.
It was not that he was unlikable. It was simply that they despised him.
Suppressing the emotion in his heart, Jiang Han bowed and said, “I will follow Master’s arrangements.”
Lei Qingchuan grew even more satisfied. Soon after, elders arrived, including Nascent Soul and even Divine Transformation experts.
The ceremony was simple. Jiang Han offered tea to Lei Qingchuan. After the tea was accepted, the apprenticeship was sealed.
Lei Qingchuan personally handed him a Heaven-tier eighth-grade flying sword, the Thunderbolt Sword, crackling with purple lightning and immense power.
Elders gasped in shock at the generosity.
Soon, other elders began offering gifts: a Heaven-tier flying shuttle, Heaven-tier boots, Heaven-tier armor, high-grade pills, and even 1 million top-grade spirit stones for spending money.
Jiang Han was deeply moved. Never in Heavenly Dominion Sect had he received such treatment.
After everything was settled, he returned to his newly assigned cave dwelling. At its center was a spiritual spring about 10 meters wide.
He looked around with emotion. “As expected of a cave dwelling second only to the sect master’s. The spiritual energy here is hundreds of times richer than that broken cave I once lived in.”
He took out the Purple Firmament Sword Art. According to his memories, in half a month, the Lightning Spirit Secret Realm would open. Within it was a tricolored lightning spirit that could assist lightning cultivation.
There were even rumors that it could help spiritual power evolve and potentially birth a trace of Annihilation Divine Lightning.
Annihilation Divine Lightning was the lightning of heavenly tribulation, incomparably powerful. Even a single trace could kill ordinary cultivators instantly.
If cultivated to great depths, one strike would summon a sky full of annihilating lightning. Even opponents one major realm higher would have their souls destroyed.
The tricolored lightning spirit was something Jiang Han was determined to obtain.
The Lightning Spirit Secret Realm was opening for the first time. Few knew of it. If he went early and guarded it, his chances of seizing the lightning spirit would be extremely high.
“Everything is ready. Now, I only need to wait for the Lightning Spirit Secret Realm to open.”