Chapter 225: Unifying the World |
Shen Yue thought his patience was more than sufficient, yet after teaching Li Qingqiu again and again, repeating the same process countless times, he still began to feel irritated.
Just as Shen Yue was about to lose his composure, Li Qingqiu suddenly opened his eyes and said, “I finally found the feeling.”
As his words fell, sword energy surged out from his body and quickly condensed beside him into a sword soul. Its entire body was silver, and its figure looked exactly the same as his own.
This sword soul began to autonomously absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Although it was very weak, it had indeed succeeded.
Shen Yue appeared calm on the surface, but inside, monstrous waves were overturning.
How was this possible!
This was his proudest method, something he believed no one else could learn.
In the past, he had thought Li Qingqiu was an unparalleled sword dao genius, but later he realized that Li Qingqiu did not focus on the sword dao at all, and that notion gradually changed.
Now, he suddenly felt that Li Qingqiu’s comprehension of the sword dao was terrifying. Was it possible that this brat did not focus on sword practice simply because he thought the sword dao was too easy?
His status as sect master, coupled with the immortal’s dream he had fabricated himself, had caused many people to overlook his talent.
Thinking of this, Shen Yue’s gaze toward Li Qingqiu became complicated.
Li Qingqiu dismissed the sword soul and forced a smile as he said, “It’s really hard.”
The corner of Shen Yue’s mouth twitched. Hearing this, he truly wanted to strike Li Qingqiu.
“That will be all for today.”
After saying this, Shen Yue stood up. Although his mood was gloomy, he still performed the proper courtesy toward Li Qingqiu.
Li Qingqiu watched his departing back and spoke, “Elder Shen, I really like your sword soul cultivation method. If you create anything similar in the future, you must tell me. I’m very optimistic about you.”
You need to be optimistic about me?
Veins bulged on Shen Yue’s forehead. He waved his hand and left without even turning his head.
Li Qingqiu immediately laughed. He had done it deliberately to provoke Shen Yue. Who told that little old man to act so pretentious earlier.
He did not allow anyone to be more pretentious than himself.
Li Qingqiu stood up and walked toward his cave dwelling. His mood was joyful. The sword soul cultivation method would allow his cultivation speed to increase in the future, which made him look forward to it greatly.
One thing he had said was true: Xu Ning’s cultivation speed had indeed brought him pressure.
As a master, how could he be surpassed by his disciple?
He was also secretly exerting himself.
Speaking of which, Xu Ning truly had pressured the entire sect, yet Li Qingqiu could not find any fault with her diligent attitude. He hoped she would become stronger and stronger.
……
Starting from June, Zhao Zhen and Shen Yue seemed to have opened the curtain on breakthroughs. More and more disciples advanced, and the numbers of those at the sixth and fifth layers of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm kept increasing. In the past, only the number at the fourth layer had grown larger and larger, while growth at the fifth layer had been very slow.
At the beginning of July, Ji Ya broke through to the seventh layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm. His diligent cultivation made everyone realize that there was still such a genius disciple under the sect master’s knee.
The Hundred-Refinement Demonic Body became more and more terrifying as his cultivation realm improved. A hundredfold vital energy exerted a horrifying suppression on those of the same realm.
Ji Ya could even spar with Zhao Zhen, only admitting defeat after persisting for several hundred moves.
In August, the Three Xiao Brothers and Yun Cai successively reached the sixth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm. In the same month, the number of disciples within the sect who had reached the fifth layer exceeded seventy, while those at the fourth layer exceeded three hundred.
The gap between the Clear Sky Sect and the secular martial world grew larger and larger. There were even disciples who obtained the title of number one in a whole province’s martial world down the mountain, yet this disciple was not outstanding within the sect.
The overall increase in the sect’s strength was visible to the naked eye. Everyone could feel it. In such an atmosphere, every single person was full of fighting spirit and felt that time was never enough.
At the end of August, the Tempering Hall completely expelled the Xuanji Sect martial artists rooted in Cangzhou. Zhu Xian also swept across the barbarian forces of Cangzhou and monopolized the province, with no other lords daring to disobey.
For a time, more and more voices appeared under heaven, believing that the Zhu surname would be the next royal surname.
Some lords began to submit to Zhu Xian, and the momentum to unify the world grew increasingly fierce.
Zhang Yuchun reported this matter to Li Qingqiu, which satisfied him.
“This Zhu Xian has done well.”
Li Qingqiu praised him, and these words reached Zhu Xian’s ears a month later, greatly invigorating him.
Zhang Yuchun did not allow immortal cultivation disciples to assist Zhu Xian openly, but secretly provided him with large amounts of money. Coupled with the existence of Li Sifeng and Qin Ye, who swept through the martial world, if Zhu Xian still could not obtain the world, then the problem would lie with himself.
Zhu Xian had long known that the future world would have to listen to the Clear Sky Sect. He had once taken the initiative to visit Zhang Yuchun.
Zhang Yuchun made it clear that the future Son of Heaven must listen to the Clear Sky Sect, but the Clear Sky Sect would not manipulate court politics. The Clear Sky Sect only needed peace under heaven and only required that the court not interfere with the sect’s affairs. He also stated that the Clear Sky Sect’s pursuit was different from that of secular dynasties, which greatly reassured Zhu Xian.
However, Zhang Yuchun was ultimately only a hall master. His guarantee could not completely put Zhu Xian at ease. He had always hoped to meet Li Qingqiu.
Now that he had received Li Qingqiu’s praise, even though it passed through several intermediaries, it still made him excited.
With Li Qingqiu’s support, his imperial throne was secure!
As Zhu Xian occupied Cangzhou and began to govern the people’s livelihood, Li Sifeng followed the Tempering Hall disciples into the Northern Barbarians’ land. They prepared to uproot the Xuanji Sect completely.
The current Li Sifeng had already reached the sixth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm. Although he was no longer considered top-tier within the Clear Sky Sect, in the secular world he was absolutely invincible. With the Emperor Mystic Sword and the Prison Qilin, no one in the Xuanji Sect could withstand him.
With the world close to unification and the sect developing vigorously, all of this made Li Qingqiu’s mood delightful.
His sword soul cultivation method grew more and more proficient, causing the vital energy provided to his main body by the sword soul to increase steadily.
At the beginning of October, Li Qingqiu finally reached the third layer of the Spirit Perception Realm.
Several days later, Jiang Zhaoxia came to find Li Qingqiu and proudly announced that he was preparing to undergo tribulation, hoping that Li Qingqiu would personally guard him.
Li Qingqiu originally did not want to go, but upon second thought, Jiang Zhaoxia did not possess the Heavenly Thunder Spiritual Root and would likely not have it as easy as Xu Ning, so he agreed.
After Jiang Zhaoxia entered the tribulation platform, the news spread rapidly.
The sect was about to give birth to its third person to undergo tribulation, which greatly excited the entire sect.
This time, it was Jiang Zhaoxia undergoing tribulation. Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, Wu Man’er, and Li Sijin all arrived to observe together with Li Qingqiu.
“I wonder when I’ll be able to undergo tribulation,”
Li Sijin sighed. She was only at the fifth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm now. Although she was still young, she clearly felt the distance between herself and her senior brother and third senior brother growing larger and larger.
Li Qingqiu glanced at her and said, “I told you to spend more time cultivating, but you wouldn’t listen. Don’t think that just because your aptitude isn’t good enough you can slack off. Time is a terrifying thing. When you look back, cultivating one hour less each day will create a huge gap.”
“I know, I know, I’ll cultivate properly,” Li Sijin said impatiently, then ran to Li Dongyue’s side and whispered to her.
Li Qingqiu’s gaze followed and landed on Li Dongyue, a gratified smile appearing on his face.
Li Dongyue’s aptitude was also average, but she had always cultivated diligently. She was now at the sixth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, and she was not far from the seventh layer.
“The Vermilion Bird Blood refining method must be obtained.”
Watching the two junior sisters leaning close together, Li Qingqiu made a decision in his heart.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yuchun was chatting with Wu Man’er. Zhang Yuchun’s cultivation was the same as Li Sijin’s, only at the fifth layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, while Wu Man’er was at the seventh layer, ranking third among their seven senior brothers and sisters.
Zhang Yuchun was encouraging Wu Man’er, hoping that he could undergo tribulation as soon as possible.
Wu Man’er could only grin foolishly. His gaze remained fixed on Jiang Zhaoxia.
He was not clever enough, and Li Qingqiu had not let him handle affairs, so his sense of presence within the sect was not high. But that did not mean he had no thoughts at all.
He did not have many schemes. He simply wanted to become a dazzling existence like his third senior brother, to make his senior brothers and sisters proud of him, and then shoulder more responsibilities for the sect.
On the tribulation platform, Jiang Zhaoxia was actually very uneasy. After all, it was his first time undergoing tribulation. However, when he opened his eyes and saw Li Qingqiu and the others on the mountain opposite, his heart became firm again.
With his senior brother present, even if he encountered danger, his senior brother would definitely protect him.
The always-proud Jiang Zhaoxia actually relied greatly on Li Qingqiu deep in his heart, but he never spoke of it.
More and more disciples came to the mountain where Li Qingqiu was, jointly observing Jiang Zhaoxia’s tribulation. Most of those who came were the sect’s geniuses. For them, undergoing tribulation was only a matter of time, and accumulating experience in advance was always beneficial.
Three days later, the heavenly tribulation began.
When the first heavenly lightning struck, Jiang Zhaoxia immediately felt that something was wrong. His vital energy was almost scattered by the strike, forcing him to condense even more vital energy around his body.
Above a forest, Ming Guang of the Heavenly Works Hall stood atop a treetop, stroking his chin. He was pondering whether he should create a kind of formation to help sect disciples undergo tribulation.
Jiang Zhaoxia condensed a shield of vital energy, glowing with blue light, which inspired Ming Guang. It was as if he had grasped something in his mind, yet it was very vague, forcing him to rack his brains.
Things proceeded just as Li Qingqiu had guessed. Jiang Zhaoxia’s breakthrough process was far more difficult than Xu Ning’s.
When the seventh heavenly lightning struck, Jiang Zhaoxia was blasted until blood spurted from his entire body, his robes torn to shreds. This made Li Dongyue and Li Sijin cry out in alarm, instinctively looking toward Li Qingqiu.
Li Qingqiu frowned but did not act. Seeing this, the two women could only turn their gazes back to Jiang Zhaoxia.
Jiang Zhaoxia did not give up. He stood up, gripped his treasured sword, and executed the Immortal Severing Three Swords. One sword clone after another formed from sword energy appeared on the tribulation platform, more than ten in total. When the heavenly lightning struck again, they swung their swords together, dispersing the lightning with sword energy.
There was hope!
Heavenly lightning struck down one bolt after another. By the seventeenth bolt, those sword clones were annihilated by the lightning.
After that, even relying on the Immortal Severing Three Swords, Jiang Zhaoxia continued to accumulate new injuries. His wounds grew increasingly severe, and his vital energy consumption accelerated.
When the twenty-fifth heavenly lightning arrived, Jiang Zhaoxia’s vital energy was completely exhausted. His legs weakened, and he half-knelt on the tribulation platform, gasping for breath, unable to raise his head.
At this moment, he had already become a man of blood. Everyone on the opposite mountain who was watching his tribulation broke out in a cold sweat for him.
So heavenly tribulation was not easy at all!
Thunder roared once more. At this moment, Jiang Zhaoxia felt everything slow down, and his body became heavy.
“Is this my limit?”
The thunder rang in his ears. He could no longer resist and could only accept fate.
However, when the thunder faded, he did not feel even more intense pain. He raised his eyes with difficulty and saw a figure appear before him.
Although he could only see the other person’s lower body, he had already recognized who it was. A smile appeared on his blood-covered face. He no longer forced himself to stand as his body toppled forward. An arm caught him across the chest. Just like in childhood, when he had fallen from the eaves, it had also been this arm that caught him.
Different from childhood, the owner of the arm did not scold him. Instead, he softly said, “Third junior brother, you’ve worked hard. Next, senior brother will bear it for you.”
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