"Junior Sister truly is a natural genius." Zhu Yinxi couldn't help but sigh, his eyes filled with admiration and relief, without a trace of jealousy.
With such talent, one could only look forward to her future achievements.
Duan Xianxing leaned in with a grin and patted Li Nanzhu on the shoulder. "I told you, our Junior Sister is a natural talent for swordplay! Look at how smoothly that spiritual energy converts. It's only been how long since she entered the sect, and she's already made this much progress? This speed seems even faster than Second Senior Brother's back in the day."
Zhu Yinxi pushed Duan Xianxing away with a light flick of his jade flute. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked warmly, "Junior Sister, you've only been cultivating for a few months and shouldn't have studied spiritual energy characteristic conversion in depth yet. To be able to master it so quickly... is there some trick to it?"
The moment he said it, he realized the question was somewhat abrupt. However, if he could gain even a little inspiration, he might be able to break through his current bottleneck.
Li Nanzhu shook her head. "Actually, I'm not very sure myself. Just now, after Second Senior Brother said those things, I thought I'd give it a try. I didn't expect to succeed in converting it directly. I'm sorry, Second Senior Brother."
Seeing Li Nanzhu's apologetic expression, Zhu Yinxi felt a bit disappointed but also relieved. He tapped his palm with his flute and said, "You don't need to blame yourself, Junior Sister. This is undoubtedly due to your natural talent. It was I who was too impatient."
In truth, Li Nanzhu had a vague feeling that this was related to the various attribute conversions she used when creating the Eight Principles of Yong attacks. Since these were her trump cards, she wouldn't reveal them easily and naturally couldn't speak of them.
"However," Zhu Yinxi changed the subject, "since Junior Sister has shown talent in this area, you can go to the Sword Pavilion in Qingyun City when you have time to buy a suitable spirit sword. That way, you'll have a proper weapon to use when practicing."
Li Nanzhu was in no hurry. Since she hadn't mastered much yet, the wooden sword Seventh Senior Brother made for her was sufficient. Moreover, she still wanted to check the auction house for a more suitable spirit sword; it wouldn't be too late to buy one once she had completely mastered the Five Elements Sword Scripture.
She didn't want to buy one only to be constantly distracted by it before she was ready. If she went into battle with a spirit sword she couldn't use properly, it might even drag her down. Hearing this, the two men agreed.
Wanting to continue consolidating her cultivation, Li Nanzhu spent her days practicing swordplay and her nights drawing talismans. Another busy month passed in this manner.
During this time, she received a reply from First Senior Brother. He said the Sect Master had assigned him a mission that would take about six months to complete and told her to focus on her cultivation.
Li Nanzhu also gave a brief account of her recent situation within the sect. However, she hesitated regarding the forbidden area and ultimately didn't mention it, planning to explain it in person when she saw First Senior Brother again.
Mu Wenyan was somewhat surprised to learn that Li Nanzhu had started practicing the sword, but he was very supportive. Regarding the issue of her spirit sword, he mentioned that he would buy a suitable one to give her as a reward for her cultivation if he encountered one outside. The condition was that she had to fully master the Five Elements Sword Scripture by the time he returned.
This was not difficult for Li Nanzhu, and she readily agreed.
During this month of practice, Li Nanzhu's mastery of the sword became increasingly proficient. She increased her basic training from one hour to two. Sometimes she would rise before dawn to practice, which gave Duan Xianxing a fright when he saw her once. Later, even Zhu Yinxi tried to persuade her not to work so hard and to relax properly.
Li Nanzhu knew in her heart that sword practice relied on day-after-day repetition. From the moment she first touched the Five Elements Sword Scripture and found it difficult to comprehend, she knew she wasn't a genius-type player, nor was she exceptionally clever. If she wanted to walk the path of a sword cultivator, she had to rely on hard work.
Even if she learned the sword moves, if her understanding wasn't deep enough and she couldn't hold the sword steady, she would be useless against a true sword cultivator who practiced diligently year after year, no matter how much cleverness she had.
She wanted to become a true sword cultivator so that no matter what predicament she faced, she could escape on her own rather than waiting for others to rescue her.
She also hadn't forgotten that she would have to face the heroine, Cang Dongqing, in the future. The other girl was truly a cheater. And then there was First Senior Brother—if he couldn't break through his fate, then everything would depend on her.
Li Nanzhu didn't realize that her mindset had already changed imperceptibly.
...
Another month passed.
Through her constant daily practice, Li Nanzhu's cultivation became more solid and consolidated. Although her current level remained at level seven of Qi Condensation, she could feel the solidity of the spiritual energy flowing through her meridians. It was almost time to break through to Qi Condensation Great Perfection.
Taking out her communication jade slip, Li Nanzhu tapped it with her fingertip to send word to her two senior brothers that she was entering seclusion for a breakthrough. She then closed her courtyard gates tightly before taking out the jade marrow pill.
The jade marrow pill dissolved the moment it entered her mouth, turning into a stream of extremely pure spiritual energy that flowed directly into her dantian. The speed of the spiritual energy surge startled her. No wonder Feng Yi hadn't allowed her to take the pill so soon. Without those two months of consolidation, this massive surge of energy would likely have damaged her meridians.
She didn't have the heart to dwell on it. Holding her breath and focusing her mind, she operated her cultivation technique, using her mental power to guide the energy through cycle after cycle within her body.
Each wash of spiritual energy felt like countless fine needles traveling through her meridians. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the dense, agonizing pain, but she couldn't relax for a second. Her mind was completely immersed in the circulation of energy.
The wood and water spiritual roots within her dantian seemed to sense the restless energy within their master. Pure healing power began to gather from the dantian to alleviate her pain.
Is this Wood Vitality and the Xuanze Two-Polarity Sutra?
Li Nanzhu subconsciously activated Wood Vitality. The vitality she had accumulated during previous cultivation sessions flowed into her meridians along with the technique. However, for some reason, when the power filled with life force entered her meridians and collided with the pill's energy, the pain in her meridians actually intensified.
Li Nanzhu didn't know how contorted and pained her expression was. The only thing she could do was continue to operate Wood Vitality. If she gave up now, given the current state of things, the two forces would surely clash violently within her dantian, leaving her with nothing but a shattered dantian and destroyed cultivation.
She couldn't accept such an outcome. She could only endure the intense full-body pain. Her mind went blank, and she felt close to fainting, almost wishing she could just die.
Yet her mental power kept her constantly conscious. She could only remain awake through the agonizing pain. She couldn't die yet; she had said she would save her senior brother.
But why did it hurt so much? It hurt... it hurt so much...
One day, two days, three days...
She didn't know exactly how much time had passed, but that unbearable pain suddenly began to fade slowly. The faint barrier to her cultivation now felt as fragile as a bubble, breaking at a single touch.
A feeling of unprecedented fullness swept through her entire body. The flow of spiritual energy was no longer stagnant. She slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Qi Condensation Great Perfection—she had succeeded!
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