Breaking Through to the Xiantian Realm

Ye Ling's gaze fell upon the remaining thirty rubbings of sword techniques in the corner of the room.

She wanted to personally verify just how fast her cultivation speed would be after mastering One Layer of Sword Force.

Picking one up at random, she got her answer the moment she started.

With the enhancement of One Layer of Sword Force and the grand momentum of heaven and earth accompanying her, her comprehension of sword moves became incredibly thorough. Her cultivation speed skyrocketed several times over; sword techniques that used to take days to polish could now be thoroughly mastered down to their foundations in mere moments.

She went on to comprehend all the remaining rubbings. In just ten days, all thirty sword techniques reached Great Perfection.

By now, all eighty high-tier sword techniques were thoroughly integrated into her heart. The myriad sword principles complemented one another, making her foundation deep beyond measure.

Over the past few months, she had never intentionally gone into closed-door meditation to absorb spiritual energy.

Yet, the daily practice of sword techniques was itself a process of tempering her body. Her spiritual energy grew naturally under the consumption of each sword swing and the nourishment of the grand momentum of heaven and earth.

The spiritual energy in her body grew increasingly abundant, bringing her a giant step closer to the Xiantian Realm.

At dawn the next day, Ye Ling packed up the fifty rubbings of Yellow-grade high-tier sword techniques and personally returned them to the Library.

Her goal of achieving One Layer of Sword Force was fully accomplished, and she no longer planned to expend her mental energy on studying more sword techniques to polish her Sword Force.

The most urgent matter before her now was to step into the Xiantian Realm.

Once she successfully broke through to the Xiantian Realm, two of her goals could be resolved at once.

First, she would be able to unseal the body-tempering cultivation method gifted to her by the senior item spirit and see all its mysteries clearly.

Second, the top-tier martial arts treasured by the twelve main lineages of the Qinglan Sword Sect would be completely opened to her, allowing her to read and practice them at will.

At this thought, Ye Ling no longer had any hesitation or delay, her heart filled with anticipation.

She immediately returned to her small bamboo house, sat cross-legged, and devoted herself entirely to accumulating spiritual energy and charging toward the Xiantian Realm.

Ever since she made up her mind to charge into the Xiantian Realm, Ye Ling completely calmed her mind, entering seclusion to accumulate spiritual energy.

For a whole month, she ignored all external matters and did not study any sword techniques, only quietly meditating and breathing.

Thanks to the deep foundation laid by the eighty perfected Yellow-grade high-tier sword techniques, combined with the enhancement of One Layer of Sword Force and the day-and-night nourishment of her body by the grand momentum of heaven and earth, the spiritual energy in her body had long since accumulated to an extremely abundant level—majestic, pure, and without a trace of instability. She faced no bottlenecks or obstacles throughout the entire process, fully accumulating what she needed.

The time was fully ripe.

In an instant, the spiritual energy in the bamboo house violently surged, and the vast spiritual energy of heaven and earth frantically converged from all directions.

With the bamboo courtyard as the center, ripples of spiritual energy steadily expanded outward.

One mile, two miles... When an ordinary martial artist broke through to the Xiantian Realm, the range of their spiritual energy absorption was at most this much, which was normal.

Three miles, four miles—this was already the level of a minor genius in the world.

Five miles, six miles—this was a level that only geniuses nurtured with great care by various sects could reach.

At seven miles, smiles gradually appeared in the eyes of Leng Zhiwei, Su Qinghan, and Wen Ningshuang, who were secretly protecting her from high in the sky.

Eight miles. A level like this could only be achieved by recognized geniuses.

Everyone grew increasingly delighted. Judging by the current momentum, Ye Ling would definitely be able to match the nine-mile limit established by Senior Su Qingyue in the past.

The torrent of spiritual energy surged endlessly, and the range skyrocketed again, reaching nine miles directly.

Nine was the ultimate number of heaven and earth. In the entire Qingyun Kingdom over thousands of years, only Su Qingyue had drawn in nine miles of spiritual energy when breaking through to the Xiantian Realm. She was the universally recognized benchmark of a peerless genius, one whom no one could replicate.

Yet, just when everyone thought the anomaly had peaked, the torrent of spiritual energy did not stop. It silently expanded outward once more.

Nine miles and one foot, nine and a half miles!

At this moment, the expressions of the people high in the sky changed drastically, their joy instantly turning into extreme alarm.

“It's still expanding?”

“Is she going to break through the ultimate limit of heaven and earth?”

Nine was the limit of numbers, the Heavenly Dao's limit for breaking through to the Xiantian Realm. Once a ten-mile anomaly was fully revealed, the news would inevitably attract prying and covetous eyes from all sides.

Leng Zhiwei barked in a low voice, “Quick! Activate the concealing formation!”

The concealing formation was instantly activated, and layers of solid light screens enveloped the entire bamboo forest.

The other Peak Masters simultaneously poured all their strength into the grand formation, working together to seal off all leaking spiritual energy fluctuations.

They forcefully hid the nearly formed ten-mile anomaly at nine miles, concealing this miracle that surpassed the ultimate limit.

The moment the formation stabilized and the anomaly was concealed, Ye Ling's body completely finished its transformation.

Sitting on the futon, she focused her mind, guiding the spiritual energy around her to slowly gather and converge.

The Houtian spiritual energy that had previously been scattered throughout her meridians was now continuously compressed, refined, and purified. Ultimately, it unified completely, slowly taking shape within her dantian.

A clear and long stream of spiritual energy was born, its waters babbling as they circulated inside her dantian in an endless, self-sustaining loop.

The scattered, floating gaseous spiritual energy of a Houtian martial artist completely transformed into a liquid stream of spiritual energy, and the shackles of her cultivation shattered.

What followed was the transformation that female martial artists must go through when breaking through to the Xiantian Realm—Severing the Red Dragon.

An invisible Dao charm washed over her entire body, and the turbid, mundane bloodline within her was completely flushed, severed, and replaced by pure spiritual energy.

Her old, stagnant blood and qi vanished completely. Her body thoroughly cast off its mortal Houtian shell and stepped into the ranks of Xiantian spiritual bodies.

The moment the last trace of turbid blood and qi was washed clean by the spiritual energy, Ye Ling felt her entire body lighten. Layers of black, sticky dirt and impurities constantly seeped from her pores—smelly and dark, densely covering her skin.

This was the wondrous cleansing of marrow and channels of the Xiantian Realm.

With her breakthrough complete, Ye Ling slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was crystal clear, and her mind was refreshed.

Her entire body felt light and transparent, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from her.

She looked down at the filth covering her body, understanding that this was a normal part of the cleansing of marrow and channels. She stood up, walked out of the bamboo house, and bathed in the clear mountain stream.

By the time she was completely clean, her temperament thoroughly transformed, and she stood in the bamboo courtyard once more, the clouds and mist in the sky slowly parted.

Sect Master Leng Zhiwei, First Sword Peak Master Su Qinghan, and Spirit Medicine Peak Master Wen Ningshuang slowly descended to the ground.

Leng Zhiwei smiled gently. “Congratulations on stepping into the Xiantian Realm. Breaking through after only a single month of accumulating spiritual energy... You are only sixteen years old this year, yet you have achieved the Xiantian Realm. This is absolutely unprecedented in the history of the Qingyun Kingdom.”

This period of seclusion happened to cross Ye Ling's birthday, but because she had been entirely focused on breaking through her realm, she hadn't paid any special attention to it.

The Peak Master of the First Sword Peak said softly, “Back then, Su Qingyue was seventeen when she broke through to the Xiantian Realm. You have broken through even earlier than her. Your talent can truly be called peerless throughout history.”

Wen Ningshuang smiled and chimed in, “For our Qinglan Sword Sect to have a junior like you is truly a tremendous blessing.”

Leng Zhiwei then instructed, “You have just broken through to the Xiantian Realm, so your realm and physical body both need time to settle and stabilize. Once you have sorted everything out, you may come to the Sect Master's Hall.”

Ye Ling bowed slightly.

“This disciple understands.”

The Peak Masters and the Sect Master left with smiles, and the bamboo courtyard returned to its quiet serenity.

With no one else in the courtyard, Ye Ling immediately focused her mind, sending her Divine Sense deep into her soul.

The ancient cultivation method imprint that the senior item spirit had left for her long ago was now completely unobstructed.

The restriction that had previously bound her Divine Sense had vanished without a trace following her breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm.

A massive volume of ancient, desolate scriptures flooded into her mind, revealing themselves in their entirety.