163: Chapter 162 Earth Fire

He did not stand up, but slowly raised his right hand to grasp the tiger soul saber hovering beside him.

The moment the saber was in his hand, he perceived it.

The tiger soul saber was also transforming.

The layer of golden luster covering the blade had now become richer and deeper.

What it absorbed was not only the Golden Sharpness True Intent escaping from the sword mark, but also the lingering remnants that overflowed when that Sword Intent surged into his Sea of Consciousness.

This saber, like him, was becoming stronger.

Jiang Hanzhou stood up.

He stood under the Lijian Cliff, in front of the cliff face dyed golden-red by the sunset.

He gripped the saber with his right hand.

Without True Qi, without activating any Cultivation Technique, he simply—swung the saber.

A light swing.

A flash of saber light.

Three zhang away, a red rock over a zhang high silently developed a crack.

The crack ran from the top of the rock to the bottom, straight as a line.

The next moment— "Boom!"

The rock crashed into two halves, fell to both sides, and smashed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The cut was as smooth as a mirror.

Jiang Hanzhou sheathed the saber, looked down at the tiger soul saber in his hand, and remained silent for a long time.

Then, he raised his head and looked at the seventeenth sword mark, which had already dimmed significantly.

One month.

A full month; he had been diligently training here every day, never stopping.

From the excruciating pain of the first day to the integration of the Sword Intent into his body today.

From the initial grasp of one-tenth to the solid and substantial one-and-a-half tenths.

He had done it.

It was not Luck.

It was twenty-nine days of persistence, twenty-nine days of enduring hardship, and twenty-nine days of rain or shine—Heart-Nature.

He took a deep breath, stored the tiger soul saber in his sumeru pouch, and turned to leave—but his footsteps paused.

He looked up at the churning sea of clouds above the Lijian Cliff.

The sunset dyed the sea of clouds golden-red; the clouds surged in layers, like a burning sea of fire.

And in the depths of that sea of fire, a crimson figure stood quietly.

The figure was very faint, so faint it was almost invisible, as if it were just a phantom formed by chance as the clouds surged.

But Jiang Hanzhou saw it.

That figure stood with hands behind his back, his beard and hair all crimson.

It was Master Xue Mu.

Master Xue Mu stood above the sea of clouds, looking down at the young figure beneath the Lijian Cliff.

A month already.

From the first day this brat stepped into the Lijian Cliff, he had been observing in secret.

On the first day, this brat sat under the seventeenth sword mark for three hours; his Divine Sense was pierced to the point of collapse, yet he gritted his teeth and endured it.

He did not step in to help.

Because this was the necessary path.

If he had intervened, this brat would not have been able to integrate that Sword Intent into his body today.

The next day, this brat somehow found an Opportunity, and upon returning to meditate, his Divine Sense contained a hint of the Five Elements circulating.

On the third day, that saber began to stir.

Every day since then had been the same, rain or shine.

Master Xue Mu had lived for over a hundred years and had seen too many Geniuses.

Some had astonishing talent but died of arrogance.

Some had boundless Luck but died of greed.

Some had a resilient Heart-Nature but died of stupidity.

But like Jiang Hanzhou—with talent, with Luck, and with such Heart-Nature—he had not seen many.

No, very few.

So few that they could be counted on one's fingers.

And those people, even the worst among them, were now at the Dragon Elephant Mutual Harmony stage.

The best—Master Xue Mu smiled slightly.

He thought of a person.

A person who had trained with him under the Lijian Cliff back then.

That person was three years older than him, had joined the sect a year earlier, had higher talent, better Luck, and a Heart-Nature—a Heart-Nature that was also more resilient than his.

Back then, that person sat under the Lijian Cliff for three months, meditating on the same sword mark, and finally integrated the Sword Intent from that sword mark into his body, pushing his Golden Sharpness True Intent directly to Perfection.

Later, that person became the Grand Elder of the Dragon Abyss Palace.

Then later, that person went to a certain place and never returned.

Master Xue Mu withdrew his thoughts, his gaze falling once again on the young figure.

At this moment, the youth was standing under the cliff, looking up at the sea of clouds.

He saw him.

Master Xue Mu nodded slightly.

Then, he raised his right hand.

He flicked his index finger lightly.

A faint streak of crimson-gold light shot out from his fingertip, piercing through the layers of clouds and streaking toward the area beneath the Lijian Cliff!

That streak of light was extremely thin, so thin it was almost invisible.

But contained within it was what Master Xue Mu had refined for sixty years—Smelting True Intent.

A type of Fire element True Intent, with "smelting" as the foundation and "refining" as the application, it could melt everything into one furnace and refine it into what one needed.

This streak of Smelting True Intent was not enough to let Jiang Hanzhou comprehend a new True Intent, nor was it enough to raise his cultivation.

But it could help him—stabilize.

It could firmly lock the Sword Intent that had just been introduced into his body and had not yet been thoroughly tamed deep within his Sea of Consciousness.

It could thoroughly solidify the Golden Sharpness True Intent that had just broken through to one-and-a-half tenths and was still slightly floating.

Jiang Hanzhou saw that crimson-gold light.

It came from the depths of the sea of clouds, crossing a thousand zhang of high altitude, like a falling star, shooting toward him.

He did not dodge.

Because he perceived the aura contained within that light—it was Master Xue Mu's aura.

The crimson-gold light stopped abruptly a foot in front of him, suspended in mid-air, burning quietly.

Then, the light dissipated, turning into a cluster of crimson-gold flames the size of a fist.

Within the flames, there was a very faint thought: "Focus your mind, receive it."

Jiang Hanzhou did not hesitate at all.

He closed his eyes, sat cross-legged, and circulated the fourth level mental cultivation method of the Li Huo Golden Body Art.

At that moment, the cluster of crimson-gold flames surged into his body!

It was not burning, not scorching.

But—smelting.

Wherever the flames passed, those fragments of Sword Intent within his body that had just been absorbed and not yet thoroughly tamed were like Ore thrown into a furnace; they were melted one by one, turning into the purest Golden Sharpness True Intent, merging into the golden light deep within his Sea of Consciousness.

The instability and floating feeling caused by breaking through too quickly were thoroughly solidified at this moment.

The golden light in his Sea of Consciousness became more solid and substantial.

One-and-a-half tenths.

It was no longer the one-and-a-half tenths that was slightly floating when he had just broken through, but a thoroughly stable one-and-a-half tenths that he could use freely.

A full stick of incense later.

Jiang Hanzhou opened his eyes.

He raised his head and looked into the depths of the sea of clouds.

That crimson figure had already disappeared.

Only the sea of clouds continued to churn, and the sunset remained like blood.

Jiang Hanzhou remained silent for a long time.

Then, he stood up and bowed solemnly toward the sea of clouds.

"Thank you, Master."

The voice was not loud, but it clearly reached the depths of the sea of clouds.

In the sea of clouds, Master Xue Mu stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile curling on the corners of his lips.

He did not respond.

He simply turned around and walked away, stepping on the clouds.

The crimson figure gradually disappeared into the churning sea of clouds.

Beneath the Lijian Cliff, the sunset gradually faded.

Jiang Hanzhou stood up and took one last look at the seventeenth sword mark, which had already dimmed significantly.

One month.

He had taken too much from here.

Now, it was time to go to the next place.

He turned around and walked along the mountain path toward the Earth Fire Cave.