Chapter 495: Nine Yang Profound Void Saber

Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan spent some time playing in the mountains; it was already night by the time they returned. Both were exhausted from playing, so they returned to their room and collapsed into a deep sleep.

Because Ximen Kankan had eaten too much, he let out loud farts all night long. Duan Rong wanted to kick him off the bed several times, but thinking about how he had only just come out of the Tower Forest, he finally endured it.

Early the next morning, after washing up, they sat at the small table and began to eat breakfast.

The breakfast was actually wontons and griddle cakes, which made Ximen Kankan's eyes go wide. He asked, "This cook couldn't be from our Xiangu County, could he?"

Duan Rong laughed, "The Inner History Department is responsible for the procurement of supplies for the entire Sect. On Yunfu Peak, you can eat whatever you want!"

Ximen Kankan slurped a wonton and praised, "Luxurious, it's too damn luxurious!"

Duan Rong bit into a crispy, fragrant griddle cake, suddenly looked at Ximen Kankan, and asked, "By the way, Kankan! Have you chosen your cultivation technique?"

Ximen Kankan said, "I have! I came to find you two or three times. The first time I looked for you, you weren't there, so I just went ahead and chose the technique."

Once Ximen Kankan left the Tower Forest, he was a formal Inner Sect Disciple. As long as he completed the procedures at the Inner History Department, he could go to the Scripture Repository to collect a technique for the Qi Refining Realm.

Duan Rong glanced sideways and asked, "What technique did you choose?"

Ximen Kankan gave a silly grin and said, "I spent two days choosing. I picked a saber technique called the Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber. I thought this saber technique looked pretty good; it's full of feints and reality, and it has a lot of hidden force."

"Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber?" Hearing this, Duan Rong mobilized the memories in his Divine Sense. He had also devoured this saber technique.

Very quickly, a flash passed through Duan Rong's eyes, and he had already understood the entire Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber technique thoroughly, as if he had practiced it for over ten years.

Duan Rong gave Ximen Kankan a strange look and said, "This saber technique doesn't suit you. I'll take you to exchange it for another one in a while."

Ximen Kankan was almost choked by the wonton he was slurping. He said quite unconvinced, "Why exchange it? I spent two days picking this technique!" "Besides, how do you know this saber technique doesn't suit me?"

Duan Rong said indifferently while leisurely eating his wontons, "Have you forgotten that I am the Jianghu Know-It-All, well-versed in all the martial arts of the world!"

Ximen Kankan's heart stirred, and he remembered the matter of their assessment for advancing to Outer Sect Disciples. At that time, Duan Rong had indeed displayed an evil ability to be well-versed in many types of martial arts. Otherwise, Shen Mizhi and he would not have been able to pass the Outer Sect Disciple assessment so smoothly.

However, that was a True Qi Realm technique after all, and this was now a Qi Refining Realm technique.

Seeing Ximen Kankan's hesitant appearance, Duan Rong continued, "Remember the Splitting Sky Saber I picked for you? Wasn't it very smooth to practice? Only a suitable technique can achieve twice the result with half the effort; otherwise, you're just making things difficult for yourself."

Ximen Kankan blinked his eyes. The True Qi Realm technique, Splitting Sky Saber, was indeed chosen for him by Duan Rong, and practicing it all the way through had truly suited his temperament. He looked at Duan Rong and asked with a slightly shaky tone, "Is the Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber technique really not suitable for me?"

Duan Rong said, "It's all flashy, superficial stuff. This kind of technique can barely pass for something in the Inner Breath Realm and True Qi Realm. By the Qi Refining Realm, it's just third-rate trash. If the path is wrong, your effort is wasted!"

Seeing that the technique he had spent so much effort carefully selecting was being criticized by Duan Rong as worthless, Ximen Kankan's face turned somewhat sheepish.

But Duan Rong's opinion still held quite a bit of authority in his heart, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Is that technique really that bad?"

Ximen Kankan looked at Duan Rong and said, "After I decided on this Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber, I already registered it at the Inner History Department. Can I still change it for another one?"

Duan Rong laughed, "The Inner History Department is managed by Yunfu Peak. It might be troublesome for others to change it, but for me to change a technique for you, how could that be difficult?"

"Alright then!" Ximen Kankan drank the wonton soup at the bottom of the bowl and said, "Listen to advice, and you'll have a full meal!"

Duan Rong couldn't help but smile upon hearing this; this was the one thing about Ximen Kankan that was best—he was never stubborn.

After the two finished eating, Duan Rong went to the Inner History Department to find the Attendants and requested a new approval slip. Over half a year ago, he still needed Lu Geng to take him to handle things, but now he was already familiar with the ropes. Those Attendants were all clever fellows; on Yunfu Peak, they had long since figured out who was who and how much weight everyone carried. Now, the fawning faces they showed to Duan Rong far exceeded those they had shown to Lu Geng.

Holding the approval slip, Duan Rong took Ximen Kankan to the Scripture Repository.

Ximen Kankan looked at Duan Rong and asked, "The Divine Gate Soft Cloud Saber won't do. Then what technique should I choose?"

Duan Rong opened his mouth and said, "Nine Yang Profound Void Saber!"

Ximen Kankan's eyelids twitched. He looked at Duan Rong with a questioning gaze and said, "You just blurted that out? Nine Yang Profound Void Saber? Why do I feel like you just made that name up on the spot?"

"I said I am well-versed in all the martial arts of the world. What are you still whining about?" As Duan Rong spoke, he walked over to the shelves where the saber techniques were kept, muttering as he walked, "I remember it being around here somewhere!?"

Duan Rong searched for a while but didn't find it. He slapped his forehead and muttered to himself, "I haven't been here for over half a year; perhaps someone moved it somewhere else!"

He turned his head to look at Ximen Kankan, who was wandering around aimlessly, and said, "Picking a technique for you? Or picking one for me? Why are you acting like it has nothing to do with you? You look around here too, right in this vicinity. Nine Yang Profound Void Saber!"

Ximen Kankan gave a casual response and began rummaging around beside him. "Nine Yang Profound Void Saber? Why does the name not sound like a proper technique..."

Ximen Kankan searched for quite a while without seeing any so-called Nine Yang Profound Void Saber. He glanced over and saw that Duan Rong was also searching up and down in the area in front of him. He couldn't help but doubt whether this saber technique even existed.

He looked at Duan Rong and asked, "Hey, I say, could you have remembered it wrong? For example, maybe it's not called Nine Yang Profound Void Saber! Or maybe it's called Nine Yin Void Saber?"

"Get lost! Even if your father remembered it wrong, that..." Duan Rong stopped abruptly here; he had almost said that it was impossible for a Devouring Artifact Spirit to remember incorrectly. "You wouldn't understand even if I told you, hurry up and look!"

Seeing that Duan Rong was very certain, Ximen Kankan continued to search. Sure enough, as he flipped through the items from top to bottom, he actually found a saber manual called Nine Yang Profound Void Saber in the corner at the very bottom of the shelf.

Looking at the old, yellowed, and dust-covered saber manual in his hand, Ximen Kankan was suddenly stunned and said, "There really is such a technique!?"

On the cover, the words "Nine Yang Profound Void Saber," although covered in quite a bit of dust, could still be clearly identified.

Seeing Ximen Kankan standing there in a daze holding a yellowed booklet, Duan Rong leaned over to take a look and laughed, "I didn't lie to you, did I? Let's go now that you've found it."

"Wait!" Ximen Kankan suddenly called out as if waking from a dream.

Duan Rong turned his head and said, "What?"

"I want to take a look at this technique first!"

As Ximen Kankan spoke, he dusted off the booklet in his hand, squatted down, and began to flip through it.

This was, after all, the technique he was going to practice; it was no child's play. Although Duan Rong was adamant, he still needed to see the gist of it to feel at ease.

Duan Rong also understood Ximen Kankan's thoughts, so he waited there composedly. Having nothing to do, he paced to the other side, found a book on the anecdotes of the Sect's past Ancestors among the shelves, and began to read it with great interest.

Duan Rong quickly entered a state similar to flow, reading from the various wonders of the Taiyi Sect's founding Ancestor, Lan Ruoshui, when he founded the Taiyi Sect ten thousand years ago, all the way to the life and strange events of the current Sect Ancestor, Lv Yinlin.

He had already read this book of anecdotes when he was a Registered Disciple, but reading it again now, his understanding of many details was completely different. Duan Rong couldn't help but close the book and ponder; although these things were half-true and half-false, the fact that the Taiyi Sect could become one of the Nine Provinces Eight Sects must be due to its heritage.

The Eight Sects were all survivors of the great waves of time; every single one of the powerhouses who remained was not simple. Although he had now become the personal disciple of a Sect Elder, he still had not come into contact with the true secrets of the Sect.

For instance, outside Shenyun Prefecture, when Ge Rusong and the others were fighting, the treasure they used called the Mani Bead—that unassuming thing was actually able to emit golden light and trap both Chu Qiushan and Zhu He inside for quite some time!

At that time, Duan Rong heard Ge Rusong say that the Mani Bead belonged to that Elder Chu, and it was obtained from the ruins of the Ancient God-Demon Battlefield.

The ruins of the Ancient God-Demon Battlefield!?

This was the first time Duan Rong had heard this term; the materials in the Sect's Scripture Repository had absolutely never mentioned this term.

But Duan Rong knew that this term was clearly very important.

If something like the Mani Bead came from this place, then could it be inferred that there were other treasures similar to the Mani Bead that also originated from there?

Then, where exactly was this ruin of the Ancient God-Demon Battlefield?

Duan Rong was deep in thought, his eyes flickering with a profound gaze, clearly lost in deep contemplation, when suddenly Ximen Kankan called out from behind him: "Let's go!"

Duan Rong's train of thought was interrupted; he turned his head to glance at Ximen Kankan, only to see Ximen Kankan standing behind him, holding that yellowed blade manual.

Duan Rong returned the book of Sect ancestral anecdotes he had been holding to its original place and said with a smile, "How about it? Didn't I tell you this cultivation art would suit you?"

Ximen Kankan stood there, responding with silence.

Silence was tacit agreement.

After flipping through it, he had to admit that although this Nine Yang Profound Void Blade had a strange name, it was indeed a very formidable blade art.

Not only was the blade style devious and right up his alley, but it also possessed nine layers of force that could be stacked upon one another, which the art called Nine Yang Force.

Looking at it this way, its name, Nine Yang Profound Void Blade, was actually quite fitting and certainly not chosen at random.

This blade art could be described as having complex moves and inherent ferocity! Although it was somewhat difficult to practice, once mastered, its power would be extraordinary.

The moment Ximen Kankan roughly understood this blade art, he felt a deep admiration for Duan Rong.

The two then left the Scripture Repository and returned to the pavilion on Yunfu Peak. Ximen Kankan wanted to head toward the staircase, but was grabbed by the collar behind his neck by Duan Rong, who said, "Not back to the room! Come, we're going to cultivate!"

"Cultivate?"

"That's right!" Duan Rong said, "We played for quite a while yesterday. Such good time must not be wasted in vain."

Ximen Kankan was already very familiar with Duan Rong's workaholic style of cultivation. He didn't find these words from Duan Rong strange at all and asked, "Where are we going to cultivate?"

"The Cultivation Secret Chamber!" Duan Rong said with a smile.

Following this, Duan Rong led Ximen Kankan to the back of the pavilion's first-floor Main Hall. When the carved wooden lattice wall suddenly opened, a pitch-black opening was revealed behind it. Ximen Kankan wore a very surprised expression.

Duan Rong led Ximen Kankan into the cave, and after walking through a short, dim tunnel, they arrived at a space.

In the center of that space, a statue of the Immovable Wisdom King, two people tall, stood there. The dim light hit the face of the Immovable Wisdom King, making the statue's face appear flickering and even more ferocious.

There were several stone doors around the space. Duan Rong walked straight to one of the stone doors and used a key to open it.

Ximen Kankan was still standing there, staring blankly at the statue of the Immovable Wisdom King. Duan Rong waved his hand and shouted, "Kankan, come over!"

Only then did Ximen Kankan run into the stone door. Duan Rong twisted the mechanism to close the stone door, and then he took Ximen Kankan on a tour of this Cultivation Secret Chamber.

This quite spacious Cultivation Secret Chamber, divided into several areas and equipped with everything one could need, left Ximen Kankan filled with envy. "Good heavens... This is really great! To have one's own Cultivation Secret Chamber..."

"Alright! Stop sighing!" Duan Rong looked at Ximen Kankan and said, "For these next few days, you will also cultivate here to break through the Qi Refining Realm. Come, you come over first, and I will explain to you some of the critical points to note when breaking through the Qi Refining Realm."

The two sat down on meditation cushions, and Duan Rong used the blade manual Ximen Kankan had just brought back from the Scripture Repository to carefully explain the details of breaking through the Qi Refining Realm to him.

Although Ximen Kankan's way of doing things was somewhat unreliable, he was extremely clever; he could grasp the general idea of everything Duan Rong mentioned.

Duan Rong explained those critical points just once, and Ximen Kankan had basically memorized them all.

After Duan Rong finished speaking, he looked at Ximen Kankan and asked, "Did you understand?"

"Just about," Ximen Kankan said with a smile.

After Ximen Kankan lost weight, sometimes his smile looked even more treacherous than when he was chubby.

Duan Rong said, "Then go explore it yourself. If you encounter problems, solve them on your own."

Ximen Kankan gave an "oh," picked up the meditation cushion from under his bottom and the blade manual from the side table, sat down on the other side of the Secret Chamber, and began to study the matter of breaking through the Qi Refining Realm.

Duan Rong believed that since he had explained it in such detail, Ximen Kankan should be able to break through successfully within these two days.

Seeing Ximen Kankan walk away, he sat cross-legged, turned his focus inward, and probed his dantian with his Divine Sense.

Zhu He had said that there were hidden injuries in his dantian, and his Qi Cyclone Realm cultivation also needed consolidation.

Duan Rong used his Divine Sense to carefully inspect his dantian, yet he still did not discover any hidden injuries within it.

He withdrew his Divine Sense, opened his eyes, and a look of deep contemplation appeared in them.

He did not doubt Zhu He's words at all; there must be hidden injuries within his dantian.

Duan Rong's gaze flickered for a moment, and suddenly, with a flip of his hand, he held a Porcelain Bottle.

He opened the bottle stopper, and with a movement of his Divine Sense, he saw a tiny drop of rich Essence Blood fly out from the Porcelain Bottle, floating before Duan Rong's eyes.

This was one-twentieth of a drop of Essence Blood from a High-Tier Beast. Yesterday, while forming his Qi Cyclone in the Elder Council, Duan Rong had swallowed three drops; now there were seventeen drops left in the Porcelain Bottle.

Duan Rong did not swallow this one-twentieth of a drop of High-Tier Beast Essence Blood into his mouth, but instead moved his Divine Sense again to draw a wisp of blood from that tiny blood drop.

That wisp of blood was as thin as a strand of hair.

That wisp of blood, like fungal hyphae or an earthworm, burrowed into Duan Rong's mouth.

This wisp of blood, stripped from the High-Tier Beast Essence Blood, sank into Duan Rong's dantian. Under the urging of his cultivation art, rich Qi surged out instantly.

In that instant, Duan Rong, sitting cross-legged with his focus turned inward and his Divine Sense probing, clearly saw a few imperceptible cracks appear within his dantian.

Yet, the moment those cracks appeared, they vanished immediately, because that extremely thin, fungal-like wisp of blood had already been consumed, providing only a momentary surge of Qi.

And in that instant, Duan Rong used his Divine Sense to suppress his Qi Cyclone, letting the dantian wall bear the scouring of the surging Qi alone, and he indeed discovered something unusual.

But at this moment, after the surging Qi subsided, Duan Rong scanned the dantian wall with his Divine Sense again, yet he still could not discover any abnormalities at all.

"It really is a hidden injury, it's just that there is still Fire Scale Python bile residue on his dantian wall that can repair the cracks. But this is only a superficial repair."

"That hidden injury has actually been there all along."

No wonder Zhu He told him to consolidate his cultivation; in his current situation, it was indeed not advisable to advance further.

That High-Tier Beast Essence Blood must absolutely not be used again until the hidden injuries on the dantian wall were completely healed.

It seems he can only use the Beast Meat in the Black Jade Pool to slowly consolidate his cultivation...

(End of chapter)