Inside the exclusive room.
Crystals of Souls (Large) appeared in eight of Suxiao's hands.
Suxiao obtained these eight Crystals of Souls (large) after countless hardships, including fighting Lanjue, participating in large-scale wars, guarding the Twilight Palace, and experiencing numerous life-and-death situations.
Fortunately, all of this was worthwhile. With the Crystals of Souls (large), he could expedite the advancement of his swordsmanship. Within the brutal Reincarnation Paradise, his training couldn't keep up with the pace of battles. Thus, he could only use the Crystals of Souls to enhance his skills, opting for a faster and more stable approach.
902,480 Paradise coins, 8 Crystals of Souls (large). These resources allowed Suxiao to advance his sword master to level 8.
"Advance Sword Master to Level 31 (Passive). It requires the consumption of 100,000 Paradise coins plus 1 Crystal of Souls (large). Proceed?"]
"Advance eight levels consecutively."
As soon as Suxiao finished speaking, the eight Crystals of Souls (large) in his hands burst open, turning into numerous sparkling and translucent fragments.
The consumption of Paradise coins rapidly depleted until it stopped at 800,000 points. The 900,000 Paradise coins he had just acquired were instantly reduced to just over 100,000.
The fragmented Crystals of Souls formed radiant silver light chains, rushing straight into Suxiao's mind.
With a loud bang, Suxiao's vision plunged into darkness. This wasn't the first time he had experienced this; when advancing his swordsmanship, this situation would occur if he attempted to progress several levels at once.
Darkness. Endless darkness.
Suddenly, a ray of light flickered in the darkness.
Clang!
A blade flashed, and seeing this blade, Suxiao's consciousness felt dazed. It was a powerful strike as if it could cleave through space, time, and darkness.
The darkness lasted for an unknown duration. Finally, Suxiao felt his existence. Floating beside him were vast amounts of sparkling silver fragments—the remnants of the Crystals of Souls (large).
After swirling around Suxiao for a while, the fragments of Crystals of Souls drifted towards the darkness before him.
The darkness was illuminated by the faint light emitted from the fragments, and through this dim light, Suxiao vaguely saw an ancient tree.
The tree appeared somewhat withered, with numerous sword marks on its thick trunk. Suxiao tried hard to examine these sword marks, but they remained blurred no matter how he focused his gaze.
The fragments of the Crystals of Souls floated near the ancient tree, gradually forming eight human-shaped silhouettes.
Standing under the ancient tree, these eight silhouettes manifested blades in their hands, starting to practice swordsmanship.
Suxiao's spirit had unknowingly connected with these eight silhouettes, which the Crystals of Souls framed, while the Paradise coins were the cost of moulding them.
As the eight silhouettes practised swordsmanship under the ancient tree, Suxiao's physical and mental states rapidly absorbed knowledge of swordsmanship. It seemed these silhouettes were him; they were like his avatars or entities existing on a higher dimensional level than avatars.
Suxiao couldn't help but think that if he could maintain these eight avatars, his swordsmanship improvement would be swift.
However, this was utterly impossible. These "avatars" would only exist for a short time. As the price, he paid eight Crystals of Souls (Large) and 800,000 Paradise coins.
Moreover, that ancient tree in the darkness was the key to rapid advancement in swordsmanship, and the environment around it contributed to the enhancement of swordsmanship. Both were indispensable.
Not long after, one of the silhouettes under the ancient tree gradually dissipated, triggering a chain reaction as the remaining seven silhouettes also began to dissipate rapidly.
Suxiao's eyes suddenly opened. The dark space vanished, the ancient tree with myriad sword marks disappeared, and he sat on the bed in his exclusive room. Bubu Wang hid in the corner of the room, intimidated by the several times Suxiao reinforced his swordsmanship, leaving a considerable shadow on him.
Bubu Wang's eyes seemed somewhat aggrieved as if saying, "I'm upset. I've already planned 20 strategies to wreck the house."
As the level of swordsmanship continued to increase, the phenomena that occurred during Suxiao's advancement became more intense. Initially, he could improve his swordsmanship after a brief daze, but now he could see various scenes vividly—a qualitative change.
Suxiao grabbed the Zhanlong Flash on his legs, unsheathing a small section.
Clang!
A blade about five meters in diameter shot out from the edge at an invisible high speed, slicing through the wall.
"Not good."
The blade flew into the opposite room, followed by the sounds of heavy objects toppling over.
This particular wall of the exclusive room had been reinforced by Suxiao using 500 Paradise coins to experiment with his swordsmanship. Strength: it could easily withstand a direct bombardment from large missiles; its power is comparable to the Twilight Palace walls, even slightly stronger.
However, Suxiao could cleave through this wall with a casual sword strike after advancing their swordsmanship by eight levels. What was more important was that the Zhanlong Flash hadn't fully unsheathed when it released the blade, something he had never been able to do before.
The numerous advantages gained from advancing swordsmanship by eight levels were substantial but had drawbacks.
Advancing swordsmanship too quickly vaguely exceeded Suxiao's 'comprehension' of swordsmanship.
As for what 'comprehension' was, Suxiao couldn't explain. He only knew that his understanding of swordsmanship would increase every time he meditated.
This comprehension had always been balanced with his level of swordsmanship, even vaguely surpassing it. However, after this significant advancement in swordsmanship, that feeling disappeared. There were no direct negative consequences, but Suxiao didn't like this sensation.
Suxiao secretly decided that until his comprehension and swordsmanship reached equilibrium again, he wouldn't drastically advance his swordsmanship, especially not the advancement to level 40. That was a qualitative change, and he vaguely speculated that if he could maintain a balance between comprehension and swordsmanship, the abilities that appeared at level 40 would significantly improve.
Although the enhancements in the Reincarnation Paradise had no side effects, Suxiao had a habit. He would only advance his primary combat abilities a second time once he was thoroughly familiar with those abilities.
Entering a spacious room, Suxiao drew out the Zhanlong Flash at his waist, beginning his sword practice—chopping, hacking, and thrusting. He practised only the basic techniques. Despite their simplicity, the most potent techniques were derived from these basic ones. Stability and rapid advancement in swordsmanship required a stable foundation.