In the blink of an eye, over two months had passed.
Deep within a secluded cave in the Xiyou Mountains, a towering, blue-furred demon bear, its back adorned with bony armor, leaned weakly against the cave wall, its mouth stained with blood, eyes dull and lifeless.
Beneath its massive paws, a dark-skinned youth with a red headband tightly grasped a short sword glowing with a crimson light, its tip piercing into the bear's chest at an angle.
The youth's clothes were torn, and his cheeks were marked with several bloodstains. His appearance was somewhat pitiful, yet his expression was resolute, his eyes sparkling with bright determination.
This youth was none other than Tang Jian.
Tiny blue lights began to gather on the demon bear's surface, gradually forming a deep blue specter of its soul. Then, with a flash, the light transformed into a wisp of smoke and surged into the short sword.
Tang Jian felt a sudden heat in his palm, followed by a warm current flowing into his body.
He immediately released his grip on the sword hilt and sat cross-legged.
In his dantian, a golden flame, now visibly larger, swiftly ignited the incoming demon soul, causing it to burn intensely.
It then transformed into pure magical power, filling his entire dantian.
A sense of fullness and expansion arose, and a soft sound emitted from within his dantian.
Tang Jian's eyes snapped open, first flashing with delight but quickly turning to worry.
"Eighth level..." Tang Jian muttered to himself.
He hadn't expected that in just two short months, relying solely on hunting demon beasts and absorbing their souls, his magical power would increase so rapidly, now reaching the eighth level of the Qi Refining stage.
Tang Jian wondered to himself, could it be that there were truly no bottlenecks when the mystical fire absorbed demon souls?
Over this period, he had noticed that as his cultivation level rose, the mystical fire's absorption of demon souls only required higher levels of demon beasts, with no other obstacles.
As long as the absorbed demon souls were strong or numerous enough, and the converted magical power accumulated to a certain extent, he could smoothly advance in his cultivation.
It seemed there were no limitations.
However, this only increased Tang Jian's unease.
He felt that his mystical fire couldn't be so incredibly powerful, and there was likely a huge bottleneck awaiting him in the future that he couldn't bypass.
Yet, giving up this method now was impossible.
Bearing the grudge of his family's annihilation, he urgently needed to enhance his cultivation so that he could return to the Great Jin Empire as soon as possible and personally reclaim everything he had lost.
After sitting cross-legged for a while, Tang Jian put aside his troubled thoughts, stood up, reached out, and grasped the magical sword still embedded in the demon bear's chest. He yanked it outward with force.
A "crack" sounded!
The short sword that had accompanied him for many days snapped from the tip, and the demon bear's corpse, pulled by this force, collapsed forward.
Tang Jian's gaze swept over and saw the broken blade lodged firmly in the bear's bony armor.
Over the past two months, he had been continuously battling demon beasts, and there had been no time to maintain or repair this magical sword.
When facing this demon bear, comparable to the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage, it finally couldn't endure and broke.
"With my mid-grade magical sword accompanying you to the grave, you've died a worthy death. Speaking of which, it's time to return to the sword shop..." Tang Jian let out a bitter smile, bent down, and placed the broken sword beside the demon bear.
Due to the inscribed symbols, the broken magical sword could still be repaired but couldn't be reforged. The difficulty of repairing it was no less than reforging, so Tang Jian chose to abandon it.
Turning to a corner of the cave wall, Tang Jian bent down and picked up several bulging packs.
After opening and checking them, he found that the piece of golden-veined dark iron and several fist-sized chunks of red copper ore crystals were still there.
He tied them up again, secured them to his back, and strode towards the cave exit.
...
A few days later.
A black carriage, moving at a brisk pace, halted outside the gates of the Yan Sword Shop.
Tang Jian, returning dusty and weary, lifted the curtain and leaned out of the carriage.
After settling the fare with the elderly driver, he hopped off the carriage.
Arriving at the entrance of the sword shop, Tang Jian didn't immediately enter. Instead, he adjusted his clothing, tightened the package behind him, and then stepped inside.
Upon entering the two-story building, his eyebrows couldn't help but slightly raise.
It was noon, supposedly the busiest time for the sword shop, yet the store was empty, with few customers in sight.
Several of the shop assistants also appeared lethargic and spiritless. Upon seeing Tang Jian's return, they merely greeted him and then gathered together, whispering quietly.
Doubts began to fill Tang Jian's mind. He bypassed the screen wall and headed towards the main hall with a gabled roof.
Passing by the eight sword-making rooms, he noticed that only three were in operation, with the sound of hammering emanating from them. The others were simply closed, devoid of any noise.
After passing through the arched doorway and walking over a hundred steps, he just entered the courtyard of the main hall when two figures approached him.
One of them was tall with fiery red hair—it was Yao Bin.
The other was petite with two pigtails, her appearance delicate and charming. It was Xiao Dingdang.
"Tang Jian, you're back?" Upon seeing Tang Jian, Xiao Dingdang immediately called out and jogged over to greet him.
Tang Jian smiled and nodded at her.
Seeing this, Yao Bin's face, which had been filled with smiles, suddenly darkened.
"Where have you been for the past two months? Do you think the sword shop is your private residence, coming and going as you please?" Yao Bin's eyes filled with anger as he shouted.
"Master Chen Guang is in retreat, and there's nothing much to do at the sword pavilion, so I took a leave from Miss and went out," Tang Jian replied, his expression unchanged, neither humble nor arrogant.
"Yao Bin, why are you so angry? I knew about Tang Jian's leave, and Miss approved it too," Xiao Dingdang said, somewhat dissatisfied.
"But..."
Yao Bin's face grew even more furious, wanting to say something more, but Xiao Dingdang interrupted him.
"You still need to buy medicinal pills for Master Chen Guang, so hurry up and go," Xiao Dingdang looked at him and said.
Yao Bin hesitated for a moment, then said, "You said you'd go with me..."
"Oh, I still have something to discuss with Tang Jian. Sorry about that," Xiao Dingdang put her hands together in front of her, making an apologetic gesture.
"Alright, fine..."
Yao Bin, meeting with a soft rebuff, had no choice but to turn around helplessly and walk towards the front courtyard of the sword shop.
After he left, the apologetic look on Xiao Dingdang's face disappeared, replaced by a smile.
Watching this scene, Tang Jian sighed inwardly and surprisingly began to feel some sympathy for Yao Bin.
"Tang Jian, don't take it to heart. The sword shop has encountered some issues recently, and he's not in a good mood," Xiao Dingdang noticed Tang Jian's thoughtful expression and hurriedly said, thinking he was still mindful of what happened earlier.
"You mentioned going to buy medicinal pills for Master Chen Guang. What's going on?" Tang Jian asked.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Dingdang hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's not a secret anymore, so I'll tell you. A few days ago, Master Chen Guang attempted to forge a high-grade magical sword. During the enchantment and activation process, he suffered a backlash and was severely injured."