On the other side, after Yun Shu went back to the Valley of Crime, he immediately visited the steles. Su Lingwen was a bit surprised when she saw him coming back.
"I thought you were refining pills," she said. "Why are you here so soon?"
"I'll explain to you later," Yun Shu said briefly and stopped in front of one of the steles.
He opened his golden pupils and saw the messy cuts and strokes again. However, instead of trying to find the hiding patterns this time, Yun Shu lifted his ugly sword and yelled at the stele, "Get out!"
Instantly, those messy cuts and strokes turned into an overwhelming flood of sword intent and enveloped Yun Shu within.
Su Lingwen was shocked. She had no idea that the stele could work like this.
At this time, Yun Shu was totally immersed in the abundance of sword intent. He closed his eyes and felt the currents flowing around him.
Su Lingwen could also sense the change. Even Old Du and He, who were on duty at the entrance of the valley, felt the raging intent!
"This is…" Old Du immediately realized what that was.
"We'll go and check out the situation!" The look on Old He's face suddenly changed. He quickly darted for the stele square.
When Old He and Du approached the square, they saw Yun Shu standing in the middle of the raging tornado.
"It's him! What did he do?" Old Du was amazed.
"Should we report this?" asked Old He in a low voice.
"Don't rush. Maybe this isn't gonna work," said Old Du cautiously.
Indeed, no one had ever managed to do so in the valley before. Besides, Yun Shu was, nevertheless, new here. Knowing Yun Shu was a genius, Old Du still could not be certain about it.
After a while, with the ugly sword in his hand, Yun Shu finally opened his eyes. At that instant, the aura exuding from his body suddenly changed, and it started pulling the sword intent closer to him. When it touched his body, it was immediately set alight.
Yun Shu was burning the sword power! Su Lingwen was totally shocked.
"Intake!" Yun Shu said in a deep roar. The flood of flame was instantly absorbed into his body, and everything quieted down as a result.
"Out!" Yun Shu roared again and lifted his sword into the air.
Bang!
The stele made a deafening noise. The next moment, a beam of light covered in fire surged and lit up the sky.
Yun Shu had just cracked the second stele left by the sect's founder!
"You saw it?!" Old He could not be more excited.
"Of course! I'm telling the master!" Old Du turned around and made a mad dash for the entrance of the valley.
Su Lingwen could not believe her eyes. After a while of silence, she finally asked, "How… How did you do this?"
Yun Shu put aside the sword and inhaled deeply. He smiled and answered, "An incident just inspired me. It reminded me of some kind of possibility. That was just an attempt, but it worked!"
The incident Yun Shu was talking about was the projection of the heavy sword above the little chick's head.
"What possibility?" Su Lingwen hurriedly asked. After all, she had spent so much time reading the steles.
"We believed that the sword intent was fixed, so we were trying to detect the patterns hiding among the strokes," said Yun Shu.
"Isn't that correct? We learned how to cleave the killing wind using this method." Su Lingwen frowned.
"It was correct in the first stage. But the sword intent on the stele is actually divided into two parts," Yun Shu explained.
"Two parts?" Su Lingwen didn't understand.
She had never caught the second part of the sword intent despite the fact that she had spent so much time comprehending the steles.
"The first part of the sword intent is basic, and both of us have learned it. It's correct that we must stick to it and practice hard." Yun Shu nodded and paused for a second.
And then he continued, "But we can't just follow it when we enter stage two. We have to create things on our own based on the first stage."
"Create things? Like how?" Su Lingwen was still confused.
Yun Shu grinned. "When the founder engraved the stele, every single stroke was left with his sword intent. However, we can still directly utilize it. We have to create our own sword intent by drawing forth the founder's and make it fit our own attribute."
Su Lingwen nodded. "I see. Fire is the most powerful attribute in your Spirit Qi. Thus, your sword intent was covered in flame."
"Exactly!"
"You are so smart that you can even think of this…" Su Lingwen finally admitted Yun Shu's talent.
Yun Shu smiled. "A friend reminded me."
Yun Shu was talking about the little chick.
To get Yun Shu's Life Flame, the little chick pushed itself hard to conjure the projection of the heavy sword. However, because of its lack of strength, it couldn't turn the heavy sword into its own weapon and almost hurt him.
But this had also inspired Yun Shu.
He understood that the power of a martial skill or sword intent could never be fully exercised unless it truly belonged to him. Therefore, he had to turn the sword intent hiding in the stele into his own power.
"I lost to you." Su Lingwen slightly shook her head.
Saying so, Su Lingwen didn't feel jealous or resentful at all. In her eyes, Yun Shu was not a stranger anymore. In fact, in the sect, he was her closest friend. His improvements also cheered her up.
"There is no win or loss between us. You can also use this method to cultivate!"
"Me?" Su Lingwen hesitated.
"If you can learn the sword intent, we'll leave this place together!" Yun Shu said to her seriously.
"Leave this place? Where will we go?" asked Su Lingwen. She had been living in this valley for so many years. When the chance of departure finally arrived, she started feeling helpless and confused, like a lost child.
Yun Shu smiled. "If you're worried, stay with me."
"Then… Deal!" Su Lingwen looked at Yun Shu, and finally, a radiant smile bloomed on her face.