The sky was dark, the mountain wind was strong, and the chill was deep.
Elder Yao Ri led Su Hualong and Su Qilai out of Qingfeng Sword Sect. They followed the rugged mountain path and headed towards Qinglan Sword Sect.
Su Hualong did not say a word along the way. His face was gloomy and his eyes were lifeless. He had suffered a heavy blow. Elder Yao Ri glanced at him and was secretly angry.
He valued Su Hualong's talent and wanted to nurture him well. But now, if he could not overcome this obstacle and break through the shadow in his heart, his life would be ruined. On the other hand, if he could break through the shadow in his heart, he would definitely have a new breakthrough and become stronger.
However, he could only rely on himself. The help of external forces was very little.
"Hualong, that Chu Mu's swordsmanship attainment is indeed extraordinary." Elder Yao Ri thought for a while and decided to help him as much as possible. "There are two reasons why you lost. First, you cared too much about gains and losses, which led to your inability to bring out the best of your swordsmanship. Second, your Flowing Fire Swordsmanship is not as powerful as Dacheng's. The power that you could bring out is not even half of what it should be. Moreover, being defeated is nothing to a swordsman. No matter if it's once, twice, or ten times, a true swordsman can only be as straight as a sword after experiencing many defeats, pressing forward courageously. "
Su Hualong's lifeless eyes moved slightly before falling silent again. Elder Yao Ri knew that his words should have had some effect. However, Su Hualong still needed to think things through on his own in order to truly break free from the shadow. That would take some time.
"Elder, I just remembered something." Su Qilai suddenly said, "More than a month ago, when Senior Brother Hualong came to sweep through the outer sect of the Green Edge Sword Sect, he was defeated by Chu Mu. At that time, Chu Mu seemed to be returning from the Hundred Beast Valley. At that time, Senior Brother Li He and the others were in the Hundred Beast Valley. "
"What are you trying to say? Are you trying to say that Li He's death is related to this Chu Mu?" Elder Luminous Sun glanced at Su Qilai, giving him a fright. He hurriedly replied, "Elder … I think … it's possible …"
"Idiot, what's the use of saying it now?" Elder Luminous Sun rebuked angrily, giving Su Qilai a big fright.
"Chu Mu's attainments in swordsmanship are too terrifying. This kind of person cannot be allowed to grow." Elder Yao Ri looked into the distance and narrowed his eyes as if he was deep in thought. He said to himself, "There wasn't a suitable opportunity to make a move just now. Once we return to the Sword Sect, we must make the necessary arrangements. The moment Chu Mu leaves the Green Edge Sword Sect, we must immediately kill him and eliminate any future troubles."
…
"Senior Brother, you're back." Seeing Chu Mu, Li Wei's big eyes fluttered in surprise. She looked very happy. "I've already prepared the dishes."
"Good, thank you for your hard work." Chu Mu smiled and walked up to the second floor. Li Wei hurriedly carried the dishes up to the second floor.
After chatting for a while, Li Wei returned to the first floor. Chu Mu focused on enjoying the food and drinking a small cup of wine. He temporarily forgot about everything else and only used the tip of his tongue to feel the world.
"Little Wei, I plan to go into seclusion for a period of time. It will probably take ten days to half a month. During this time, I'll have to trouble you. Don't let anyone disturb me." Chu Mu said while Li Wei was cleaning up the dishes.
"Yes, Senior Brother." Li Wei immediately replied and looked at Chu Mu curiously. "Senior Brother, are you going to make a breakthrough in your cultivation?"
"Yes." Chu Mu nodded and didn't say much. Although Li Wei was so curious that her heart was like a cat's paw, she still didn't ask. After cleaning up, she went down the stairs.
"Tomorrow, I'll refine the Qi Refining Pill and truly reach the peak of Stage 7. After that, I'll use about five days to consolidate my cultivation and about ten days to make a breakthrough." Chu Mu had a more detailed plan in his heart. "Now, I'll comprehend the sword force."
After returning from the Sword Battle Arena for a month, Chu Mu cultivated to comprehend the sword force.
In Chu Mu's mind, he constantly recalled the pressure of Wenren Yun's aura and the powerful aura of Elder Yao Ri and Elder Lin.
At this moment, Li Wei just happened to walk up to the second floor. Her petite body unconsciously trembled, and she was greatly alarmed. She only felt that, although the Chu Mu in front of her was silently sitting, there was an extremely peculiar and powerful aura emanating from him.
Straight as a sword, sharp as a sword, tenacious as a sword, indomitable as a sword, his figure became infinitely tall!
"Senior Brother Chu, what are you cultivating?" Li Wei couldn't control her body and trembled slightly. Even her hands and feet were weak and she almost knelt down and almost suffocated. Her small face was pale and blue. She quickly retreated down the stairs and stepped back to the first floor. Only then did she gasp for breath and leaned against the wall.
Unknowingly, Chu Mu had already comprehended a little of the sword force.
…
"Qinglan Sword Sect is getting more and more arrogant." The Lingfeng Palm Academy secretly muttered. There was a strange light in their eyes.
"Well, this time, if it weren't for the appearance of Chu Mu, I'm afraid that our three academies would have been swept away. Our reputation would be greatly damaged and it would encourage the arrogance of Qinglan Sword Sect." Elder Lin said in a deep voice. When he talked about Chu Mu, his face was full of satisfaction. Immediately, there was some regret. It was a pity that such a genius couldn't be accepted as a disciple.
"Moreover, Yao Ri, that shameless thing, even brazenly poached Chu Mu and threatened to cultivate Chu Mu into a Qi Transformation Realm expert within five years." Elder Lin thought of this and felt indignant. "Master, in my opinion, we might as well take out a portion of the elixirs and give it to Chu Mu so that Chu Mu's cultivation can improve as soon as possible."
"Although a truly powerful swordsman needs some external help, this kind of external help still has to be earned by oneself." The Lingfeng Palm Academy said calmly. Except for him, no one else knew that Chu Mu had already comprehended the Concept of Wind. No one knew how much importance he attached to Chu Mu.
It was not that the Lingfeng Palm Academy wanted those elixirs. The most important thing was that the Lingfeng Palm Academy hoped that Chu Mu could obtain them through his own ability. This was the path that every excellent swordsman had to go through.
"Yes, Chu Mu's current cultivation is at the late seventh stage. It is said that he has been guarding the arena for a month. There should be one last Qi Refining Pill left. After consuming it, he can reach the peak of the seventh stage." Elder Lin nodded and said, "Next, he should first consolidate his cultivation and then break through to the eighth stage."
"Yes, once he breaks through to the eighth stage, with his attainments in swordsmanship, he will be able to defeat the early ninth stage. He will be able to contend against the middle ninth stage or even the late ninth stage. He will already be qualified to participate in the Qingfeng Sword Battle in a few months." The Lingfeng Palm Academy nodded with a look of anticipation on his face.
"That's right. The three inner courts have never shown their talents in the Qingfeng Sword Battle. This time, it's all up to Chu Mu." Elder Lin's eyes shone with incomparable hope and anticipation.
… ….
In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.
"I have completely consolidated my sword qi cultivation at the peak of the seventh stage. The side effects of consuming the elixir have basically been eliminated. It's time to break through to the eighth stage."
Sitting on the balcony, facing the rising sun, Chu Mu exhaled a mouthful of white air that shot out a few meters like a sword.
On the sixth day … The peak of the seventh stage sword qi circulated through his body and began to rush into a brand new meridian, opening it up bit by bit.
After opening up this meridian, his sword qi cultivation would also be able to break through to the eighth stage.
On the seventh day … A third of the meridian had been opened.
On the eighth day … Half of the meridian had been opened.
On the ninth day … Three fifths of the meridian had been opened.
On the tenth day … On the eleventh day …
Every day, the efficiency of opening up the meridian became lower and lower, and the difficulty became higher and higher.
Chu Mu closed his eyes tightly, focused, and focused. He didn't have any other thoughts in his mind. He could only continuously control the sword qi, attack, disperse, and attack again … This cycle repeated.
Twelfth day … Thirteenth day … Fourteenth day … Fifteenth day …
"There's only a little bit of blockage left. Let's break through this final obstacle in one go." Chu Mu circulated the sword qi three times, and after accumulating the energy, it was like a flood breaking through a mountain, or like a thunderbolt tearing through the sky. Chu Mu could feel that this meridian was faintly aching under the impact of the powerful sword qi.
"Break!" Like a thunderous explosion, Chu Mu only felt an incomparable pain as if his meridians were about to explode. In the next second, he was drowned by a tide-like pleasure. The Sword Aura's transportation speed involuntarily increased, washing over him and letting out the sound of a rolling river.
The eighth stage of sword qi was achieved!