18: Chapter 18 Grandmaster Realm, Seventh Level: One Strike Startles the Thunder, One Strike Splits the Clouds

[Congratulations to the Host for extracting the task rewards: Three Blades of the Avici Path (Entry-Level), sixty years of cultivation.]

"System, use twenty years of cultivation to deduce the 'Three Blades of the Avici Path'."

[Instruction confirmed. Consuming twenty years of cultivation, beginning the deduction of 'Three Blades of the Avici Path'...]

In an instant, Xia Jin's mind sank into an illusion filled with chilling Saber Intent.

"In the first year, you obtained the introductory volume of the 'Three Blades of the Avici Path'. To gain sufficient killing intent, you joined the border guards, where you did nothing but kill every day, grinding your blade whenever it dulled."

"In the fifth year, you achieved the 'Ten-Thousand-Man Slayer' feat. With just a glance, you could frighten away Martial Artists of the Acquired Realm. Your comrades in the army privately called you the 'Asura Ghost,' and wherever you went, silence followed."

"In the tenth year, the slaughter at the border could no longer satisfy you. You took up your blade and began challenging various Schools. Within a year, you destroyed sixteen major Schools, and the Three Blades of the Avici Path reached the stage of Minor Achievement. Wherever your blade pointed, blood and gore followed; the Jianghu trembled at the mention of your name."

"In the fifteenth year, all the Martial Forest Schools joined forces, and six Grandmasters took action together, cornering you at the Peak of a cliff. You fought fiercely for three days and nights, eventually burying all six corpses there. The Three Blades of the Avici Path reached Major Achievement. In that battle, the cliff was stained with blood, and the heavens wept for three days."

"In the twentieth year, you sat in meditation by the side of a great river for three months. One day, you suddenly stood up and drew your blade, splitting a mountain and cutting off the flow of the river with a single strike. The Three Blades of the Avici Path reached the Great Perfection Realm."

"Deduction complete..."

Xia Jin slowly opened his eyes, a blood-colored saber light flashing through them. He didn't move; with just a thought, a condensed, invisible Saber Intent shot out from his eyes.

"Screech—!"

In front of the Cold Jade Bed, known for its hardness, the solid ground made of polished Bluestone silently developed a neat crack several meters long and half a foot deep, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

"What a Three Blades of the Avici Path. Even at Entry-Level it is extraordinary, and this Great Perfection Realm is nearly a Divine Ability." Xia Jin's eyes shone brightly, satisfied with the power, but he felt an urge to test it further.

"However, the power of this blade technique is closely related to one's own cultivation. After the remaining forty years of cultivation are used to raise my Realm, I will test the true power of these Three Blades of the Avici Path!"

He did not delay and sank his mind back into the System.

"System, use all the remaining forty years of cultivation to deduce the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'!"

[Instruction confirmed. Consuming forty years of cultivation, beginning the deduction of 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'...]

"In the first year, you used the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra' to reshape your Ren and Du Meridians once again, making them several times tougher than before. Your inner breath surged like a great river, no longer obstructed."

"In the tenth year, you successfully broke through the first layer of the third turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'. Your martial cultivation broke through from the ninth level of the Grandmaster Realm to the first level of the Grandmaster Realm. Your acupoints resonated, drawing the world's Origin Qi into your body, officially stepping into the Peak of mortal martial arts."

"In the twentieth year, you successfully broke through the second layer of the third turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'. Your martial cultivation broke through from the first level of the Great Grandmaster Realm to the third level of the Great Grandmaster Realm. Your True Qi further condensed, showing a slight tendency to liquefy."

"In the thirtieth year, you successfully broke through the third layer of the third turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'. Your martial cultivation broke through from the third level of the Great Grandmaster Realm to the fifth level of the Great Grandmaster Realm. Your internal organs were tempered until they shone brightly, your vitality as boundless as a Vicious Beast."

"In the fortieth year, you successfully broke through the fourth layer of the third turn of the 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra'. Your martial cultivation broke through from the fifth level of the Great Grandmaster Realm to the seventh level of the Great Grandmaster Realm."

[Deduction complete! 'Nine Turns Creation Sutra' has been raised from the ninth layer of the second turn to the fourth layer of the third turn! Host's Realm has been upgraded accordingly!]

In reality, Xia Jin's body, sitting cross-legged on the Cold Jade Bed, trembled slightly as an indescribably terrifying aura erupted from within him!

Great Grandmaster Realm, seventh level!

In a short time, he broke through several barriers in a row, reaching the high stage of the Great Grandmaster Realm! Such progress, if word got out, would be enough to make all the Martial Artists in the entire East Profound Continent despair.

Xia Jin stood up, a feeling of pride that looked down upon the world welling up within him.

"It's time to test my current power," he whispered to himself, looking outside the room.

He reached out and grabbed through the air; a steel long saber on a distant weapon rack unsheathed with a "clang" and instantly landed in his palm.

Xia Jin casually swung the first blade upward.

First blade of the Three Blades of the Avici Path—Severing Karma!

A condensed, nearly transparent Saber Qi shot out from the blade, silent and soundless.

However, in the next moment—

"Boom!!!"

The sturdy roof of the Jin Wang Palace instantly developed a huge crack dozens of meters long and over a zhang wide!

Moonlight and the night wind poured in without hindrance.

The Saber Qi shot straight into the sky after breaking through the roof, causing a muffled thunderous roar in the high clouds of the night sky, as if a hole had been poked through the heavens!

The entire Imperial Palace was instantly alarmed!

Countless guards swarmed out from all directions, looking around in confusion and uncertainty, as if facing a great enemy.

"What was that thunder just now!?" Emperor Xia Yu, the Emperor of Great Xia, suddenly woke up from his dream and hurriedly got up to look out the window, but found nothing.

"Hmm!? Strange, could it be just a normal clap of thunder?" Emperor Xia Yu shook his head with a smile and lay back down.

Xia Jin, who had swung the first blade, was now holding the saber and stepped out, arriving in the open courtyard outside the palace.

He looked up at the bright moon hidden behind thick clouds in the night sky, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Second blade—Severing the Mortal World!

His arm swung, and a dark red saber light shot into the sky, carrying infinite killing intent.

Silently, the thick, sprawling clouds in the sky seemed to be torn apart by an invisible giant hand!

The clouds on both sides of the crack rolled back, and the moonlight in the sky was no longer obstructed, its clear glow spreading and illuminating the entire Imperial Palace as bright as day!

This single strike had directly sliced through the clouds.

"To think it has such power; the strength of this strike has likely surpassed the limits of the Great Grandmaster Realm!" Xia Jin, having swung the second blade, was also taken aback.

However, he did not swing the most terrifying third blade—Abi Path.

It wasn't that he couldn't, but that it wasn't necessary. The power of the first two strikes had already given him a clear understanding of his current strength. He was very satisfied.

"Hahahaha!" Xia Jin sheathed his blade and stood there, laughing toward the sky.

He turned and went back to his room, tossing the long saber back onto the weapon rack.

At this time, Eunuch Wei, who had been woken up by Xia Jin's first strike, saw the second strike and was scared out of his wits, his face as pale as paper.

He had witnessed almost the entire second strike.

Although that strike wasn't aimed at him, just the faint wisp of killing intent that escaped made him feel as if he were being watched by a prehistoric Vicious Beast.

It wasn't until Xia Jin sheathed his blade and laughed that he felt the terrifying pressure recede like a tide. His legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

After a long while, Eunuch Wei finally managed to regain his composure, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Master... just how far has Master's strength reached now? That strike just now... even a Great Grandmaster... a Peak Great Grandmaster... probably, probably couldn't have performed it so effortlessly!!"