One month of body tempering, one month of bone forging, ten days of blood coagulation, and twenty days spent breaking ten sets of shackles.
Xu Xian reached the great ascension of body refining and broke through to the qi refining stage. When he woke from meditation that night, he exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
"Phew!"
He smiled brightly. "I finally made it!"
Three months of body refining and enduring endless hardship had finally paid off. One moment of breakthrough had cleared all his frustrations.
He produced his jade tablet and linked his divine sense to it. Inside the dao jade, his cultivation level updated automatically.
Xu Xian: Current Realm - qi refining stage.
In the Wendao Sword Sect, the three realms of body refining, qi refining, and foundation establishment were merely the basics. As long as those chosen didn't meet an early demise, they were almost guaranteed to reach foundation establishment.
Core formation was considered average, while nascent soul was merely a passing grade.
Therefore, below core formation, the stages were simple: body refining was body refining, qi refining was qi refining, and foundation establishment was foundation establishment. There were no divisions into early, middle, or late stages.
"Finally, I can suffer a little less from now on."
The qi refining stage focused on the cultivation of 'Qi.' Unlike the self-tempering of body refining, qi refining relied on comprehension—understanding mental methods, sensing the laws, and drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to nourish the body and develop a sea of qi.
At the very least, Xu Xian no longer had to go out and endure the wind and scorching sun every day.
Furthermore, in the qi refining stage, he could convert a portion of spiritual energy into vitality, meaning he could afford to eat less.
Faintly catching a foul stench, he looked down and saw his skin covered in black, sludge-like impurities. In the middle of the night, Xu Xian headed out to a nearby stream to bathe, much to the misfortune of the local fish and shrimp.
The next morning, Xu Xian left his courtyard and randomly caught a disciple of Zhijian Peak.
"Little grand-nephew, I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself. Want it?"
"What are your orders, Grand-Uncle?"
"Take me to the Dao Pavilion on Sword Inquiry Peak."
"What are you going there for?"
Xu Xian replied indifferently, "If you won't take me, forget it. I'll find someone else."
"Wait, don't! Grand-Uncle, I'll take you, I'll take you!"
The young disciple summoned a long sword and flew Xu Xian straight toward the main peak. Before long, they arrived in front of the Dao Pavilion.
"Grand-Uncle, we have arrived."
"Thank you for the hard work."
"Should I wait for you?"
"No need. You can head back."
"Understood, Grand-Uncle."
The Dao Pavilion served as the Wendao Sword Sect's repository of techniques. It housed all the sect's cultivation methods, secret manuals, divine abilities, and techniques, as well as ancient formations and alchemical texts.
Every disciple of the Wendao Sword Sect was granted one opportunity to enter the pavilion upon breaking through to the qi refining stage, allowing them to choose any mental method for their cultivation.
Of course, if one felt that was not enough, they could later exchange merit points for additional entries.
Though it was early morning, many disciples were already seen entering and exiting the pavilion.
Xu Xian's arrival immediately drew frequent glances. Those nearby actively cleared a path, not forgetting to clasp their hands and bow in greeting.
Whispers filled the air.
"Look, that's the Little Grand-Uncle..."
"Why is he here?"
"Isn't it obvious? The Little Grand-Uncle must have reached qi refining and come to pick a manual."
"Hmm... Reaching qi refining in three months. As expected of the Little Grand-Uncle, he’s truly fierce."
"Well, he has a sword spirit root. Did you think that was a joke? He spent four years in sudden enlightenment before the sword stele; he must have obtained a great opportunity."
"He usually stays low-profile, but I didn't expect him to be this outstanding."
Walking to the front of the pavilion, the disciple in charge of registration was exceptionally respectful and took the initiative to greet him.
"This disciple greets the Little Grand-Uncle."
Xu Xian maintained a dignified posture and took out his dao jade, handing it over.
"This venerable one wishes to enter the pavilion for a look. Register me."
"Of course, Grand-Uncle. Please wait a moment."
The disciple worked quickly, soon returning the dao jade along with a Pavilion Guide into Xu Xian's hands. He didn't forget to remind him: "Little Grand-Uncle, this is your Pavilion Guide. The Dao Pavilion has six floors in total. With this guide, you can stay inside for three hours. Once the time is up, you will be forcibly ejected by the laws within. During this period, you may select one technique to duplicate."
Xu Xian nodded slightly, giving him an appreciative look.
"Good work. Keep it up, I see great things in your future."
"Understood!"
Stowing the guide, Xu Xian walked straight into the pavilion. He understood the rules; he had inquired about them before coming.
The philosophy of the Wendao Sword Sect was simple: opportunities were placed before you, and you took them based on your own ability.
Whether it was choosing techniques in the Dao Pavilion or seeking an immortal sword in the Sword Mound, everything came down to 'fate.' Everyone was equal before opportunity, and the relative fairness was no lie.
If Xu Xian weren't the Sword Ancestor's youngest disciple, he might not have believed it. He would have speculated that this was just a facade maintained by the higher-ups while they secretly used the back door.
But he was the real deal. And he truly had no special privileges.
At most, the disciples in the mountains respected him, but that was something he had traded his lack of a salary for. Where else would you find a sect's patriarch or the Sect Master's only junior brother living like him, where even finding a meal was a struggle?
Complaints aside, Xu Xian couldn't find any real fault with how the Wendao Sword Sect was run.
In the cultivation novels of his past life, he had read about scheming women, green teas, and overbearing disciples who mocked people to their faces and stabbed them in the back. That kind of 'cultivation bullying' simply didn't exist in the Wendao Sword Sect.
You want to show off and slap faces in the Wendao Sword Sect? Impossible. There was no chance. The Law Enforcement Hall would make you rethink your entire existence.
One had to admit that although they only recruited disciples once every five years and took in fewer than a hundred at a time, the quality was incredibly high. The Three Inquiries of Nature, in particular, directly filtered out anyone with a twisted heart.
It could be said that the Wendao Sword Sect was so righteous it was almost eerie for Fanzhou.
No wonder the great families and even the royalty of Fanzhou were willing to bypass closer options and squeeze their heads just to get their juniors into the Wendao Sword Sect.
Unfortunately, there were no back doors. Even specially invited disciples had to pass the three trials: Spirit Inquiry, Heart Inquiry, and Sword Inquiry.
Whether royalty or nobility, if you weren't a genius and a person of good character, you could not enter the Wendao Sword Sect.
Xu Xian had heard of a royal prince who, after entering the sect, refused to return home to inherit the throne, wanting only to slay demons and defend the Dao. He had made his father so angry the king was forced to 'start a new save file' by training a younger child.
As soon as Xu Xian stepped through the doors of the Dao Pavilion, he felt a power that did not belong to him descend, sealing his divine sense.
The Pavilion Guide in his hand emitted a golden light, shielding him within its glow. This was the immortal restriction left behind by the Sword Ancestor.
Anyone who entered the pavilion would have their spiritual consciousness sealed.
What greeted his eyes were crisscrossing bookshelves laden with mental methods and secret manuals, stacked layer upon layer in a dense, overwhelming display.
What did 'fate' mean here? It meant that anyone entering the Dao Pavilion could only pick based on the title of the technique. You could not open them. Once you touched a book, it counted as your choice, and the Pavilion Guide would automatically record it.
However, in Wen Qingxue's words, when it came to cultivation techniques, one shouldn't care about strength, but about what was most suitable. You might not be able to handle a high-grade technique, while a low-grade one practiced to the limit could yield unexpected results.
Xu Xian didn't have much of a preference. Shuer had told him that once he reached foundation establishment, he could practice the Sword Tower Divine Manual he obtained from the sword stele.
For now, this was just a transition.
He had planned to pick one at random, but he hadn't expected the rows and rows of manuals to be covered in floating descriptions.
[Nirvana Sword Song • high-tier earth grade]
[Essentials of Alchemy • low-tier mysterious grade]
[Slaughter Formation • low-tier earth grade]
[Dragon-Seeking Manual • mid-tier earth grade...]
Xu Xian was stunned. He hadn't expected the restrictions here to be unable to block the Pupil of Insight shared by Shuer.
The corners of the youth's mouth curled upward as a trace of cunning flashed in his eyes.
"Heh heh, then don't blame me."
Xu Xian swept through the first floor, then the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth... After a full circuit, he returned to the third floor. He reached out and took a manual from the shelf, squinting with a smile.
"It's you. Green Lotus Sword Song, the only immortal grade sword technique in the Dao Pavilion..."
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