Chapter 132: The second form of the Great Sun Blazing Slash: Blazing Slash!

With their departure,

the tension that had reached its peak in the hall dissipated along with them.

Those fence-sitters who had remained neutral immediately shifted with the wind, rising one after another to show Roko incredibly enthusiastic smiles.

"Baron Roko, you are young and promising; you are truly a model for our Xin Feng Province!"

"We have long found those fellows like Borton an eyesore, throwing their weight around all day just because they have someone backing them!"

"In the future, we hope to grow closer to Vanguard Valley and develop together!"

A diplomatic crisis was resolved just like that.

Roko not only lost no interests, but instead used this opportunity to further consolidate his allies, divide his enemies, and establish an unshakable status in the Xin Feng Province.

That night.

Scout Captain Bake brought a new piece of intelligence.

"Master, it has been verified."

"That Viscount Wilson has been in very close contact recently with a new stronghold established by the Temple of Light in the Xin Feng Province."

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"It is said that his son has already been sent into the Temple's Penitent Order for training."

A flash of realization crossed Roko's eyes.

So that was it.

No wonder they dared to jump out so blatantly to target him.

It turned out they had found a new backer.

Records stated that an ancestor of the Raymond Family had once used a perfected 【Blazing Slash】 to melt through the dragon scales of an adult dragon—scales capable of resisting forbidden spells—with a single strike.

Roko's fingers tapped rhythmically against the tabletop, producing a steady sound.

"Very well."

"I was just wondering where to start in order to integrate the power of the entire Xin Feng Province."

"Now, they have delivered the opportunity to my doorstep themselves."

A cold smile curled the corners of his mouth.

A greater storm was quietly brewing.

And this time, he would no longer be passively defending.

He was going to take the initiative.

Having sent away those noble envoys, each harboring their own ulterior motives, Vanguard Valley finally ushered in a rare period of peace.

Under Martina's coordination, the post-war reconstruction work was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

Order in the territory was recovering bit by bit.

As for Roko, he devoted most of his time to cultivation.

Promoting to Bronze Peak had given his strength a qualitative leap.

But he knew very well that this was far from enough.

The Adjudicators of the Temple of Light, the princes in the Royal Capital eyeing him like tigers, and the vipers lurking in the shadows like the Scorpion Society—

every single one was a lethal threat.

To protect everything he had in this chaotic game of chess and survive to the end,

he had to possess even greater power.

Inside the training grounds.

Roko stood quietly, holding his longsword.

Sunlight spilled onto him through the skylight at the top of the training grounds, casting a long shadow of his tall, straight figure.

In his mind, the description of the second form of the 【Great Sun Blazing Slash】 from the family records emerged.

【Blazing Slash】.

If the first form, 【Flame Slash】, was about turning Battle Qi into external flames, pursuing large-scale burning and destruction,

then this second form pursued extreme "compression" and "penetration."

It required the cultivator to compress a massive amount of flame Battle Qi onto a single point on the blade.

This formed a terrifying energy whose nature had fundamentally changed, like a miniature sun core.

Once released, this energy could instantly erupt with unparalleled high temperature and penetrating power.

It would melt anything and pierce through anything.

According to the records in the ancient texts, the ancestor of the Raymond family once used the Perfect Realm 【Blazing Slash】 to melt through the dragon scales of an adult dragon—scales capable of resisting forbidden spells—with a single sword strike.

The terror of its power was evident.

"Hoo—"

Roko took a deep breath, clearing all distracting thoughts from his mind.

He slowly raised the longsword in his hand, the tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

The 【Flame Griffin Breathing Method】 within his body began to operate at high speed.

Within his dantian, the surging Battle Qi—which had fused three types of power and reached Bronze Peak—rushed madly toward his right arm like a tiger released from its cage.

He attempted to compress this massive energy according to the method recorded in the texts.

However, the next second,

his face turned deathly pale.

The Battle Qi that had just surged into his right arm was like a wild horse without a bridle, completely uncontrollable.

His meridians, which were as tough as steel, felt waves of stinging pain under the impact of this power.

He wanted to compress it, but found that the ferocity of this power far exceeded his imagination.

It was like trying to pinch an exploding sun with his bare hands.

"Pfft!"

A wisp of golden flame uncontrollably shot out from his blade.

The compression had failed.

A layer of fine sweat beads seeped out on Roko's forehead.

Just the first attempt had made him feel immense pressure.

The requirements of 【Blazing Slash】 regarding the volume of Battle Qi, control, and flame purity were simply too high.

So high that it far exceeded the scope of what a Bronze Rank Knight could bear.

"Again!"

There was no retreat in Roko's eyes; instead, an even more vigorous fighting spirit burned.

The more difficult it was, the more it stimulated his competitive spirit.

Once again, he mobilized the Battle Qi in his body.

This time, he slowed down, no longer attempting to compress a large amount of Battle Qi all at once.

Instead, he cautiously guided a small wisp of Battle Qi to make the attempt.

This time, the situation was slightly better.

Under his full control, that small wisp of Battle Qi began to slowly condense toward the tip of the sword.

At the tip of the sword, the air began to distort slightly, and the temperature climbed sharply.

However, just when he thought he was about to succeed,

that Battle Qi, compressed to its limit, suddenly became extremely unstable.

It was like a balloon blown to its limit, ready to explode at any moment.

"Not good!"

Roko was startled and immediately wanted to disperse this power.

But it was already too late.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound.

That out-of-control Battle Qi exploded violently at the tip of his sword.

A powerful backlash force traveled along the blade and back into his arm.

"Ugh!"

Roko let out a muffled groan, his entire body stumbling back several steps uncontrollably.

His right hand holding the sword went numb, and the web between his thumb and index finger was even shaken until a bloody gash appeared.

He looked down to see a charred pit the size of a washbasin on the bluestone floor three steps in front of him.

Traces of melting remained on the edges of the pit.

This was merely a wisp of power that had leaked out after the compression failed.

A flash of horror crossed Roko's eyes; he finally understood why the family records specifically noted that one could only formally begin practicing this move after reaching the realm of a Silver Rank Knight.

The strength of Bronze Rank meridians and the purity of Battle Qi simply could not support this level of energy condensation.

The only outcome of forced cultivation would be Battle Qi backlash and shattered meridians.

Several consecutive failures forced Roko to stop.

He stood in the center of the training grounds, brow furrowed, lost in thought.

Did he really have to wait until he promoted to Silver Rank to practice it?

No.

He couldn't wait that long.

Neither the Temple of Light nor those enemies in the Royal Capital would give him that much time.

He had to master a trump card capable of truly threatening Silver Rank powerhouses as soon as possible.

And 【Blazing Slash】 was his only choice at the moment.

Trying to force it definitely wouldn't work.

He had to find another way.

His gaze swept slowly across the training grounds.

Finally, his sight settled on the training dummy made of refined steel in the corner, which he used to test weapon power.

On the dummy's chest was a small, smooth, transparent hole.

That was the mark left by the dark red pillar of fire that Tain had spewed while in an out-of-control state.

Wait...

Tain?

A flash of inspiration struck Roko's mind.

He remembered that strange scene when he was in seclusion breaking through.

Tain's dark red flame was actually able to harmonize his flame Battle Qi and the power of Holy Light.

Could it also act as a "stabilizer"?

And—

Roko thought of another thing.

"First Saint's Tear."

The core of that holy relic was an array capable of purifying energy.

Since it could purify Holy Light, could it also purify his flame Battle Qi?

A bold, almost whimsical plan gradually took shape in Roko's mind.

If he first used the "First Saint's Tear" to purify his flame Battle Qi,

letting its quality temporarily reach or approach the level of Silver Rank,

and then used the bloodline resonance with Tain to stabilize this energy—which would become even more violent after purification—

and finally performed the compression...

would the possibility of success increase significantly?

Once this thought emerged, it could no longer be suppressed.

Roko's heart couldn't help but beat faster.

He knew this plan was still full of risks.

But he was willing to take the gamble.

He immediately turned and left the training grounds.

A moment later, he returned.

In his left hand, he cradled the "First Saint's Tear," which still emitted a soft holy light.

And on his shoulder lay Tain, the little beast who had just woken up and was still a bit sleepy.

"Little guy, I have to trouble you once more."

Roko rubbed Tain's little head.

Tain squinted comfortably, let out a "chirping" sound, and rubbed its head against Roko's cheek, as if to say it didn't matter.

Roko took a deep breath, adjusting his mind to the best state.

He did not pick up the longsword again.

Instead, he extended his right index finger.

He had to perform a small-dose attempt at his fingertip first.

He closed his eyes, held the "First Saint's Tear" tightly in his left hand, and immersed his Spiritual Power into it to feel that precise energy conversion array.

At the same time, he split a wisp of his mind to establish bloodline resonance with Tain on his shoulder.

Everything was ready.

He cautiously mobilized a wisp of golden flame Battle Qi, only as thick as a hair, from his dantian.

Then, he did not surge this Battle Qi directly to his fingertip.

Instead, he guided it to flow slowly over the surface of the "First Saint's Tear" in his left palm.

At the same time, he operated the 【Flame Griffin Breathing Method】 at full power, simulating the way the array inside the holy relic operated.

A miraculous thing happened again.

Under the guidance of Roko's Battle Qi, the core array of the holy relic was passively activated.

That wisp of golden flame Battle Qi was sucked into the array.

After a brief purification and conversion that felt like it had been tempered a thousand times,

it was fed back out from the array.

Although the total amount of the fed-back flame Battle Qi had decreased by nearly half,

its purity had increased by more than one grade!

The golden Battle Qi, which had originally carried a trace of impurity, now became like the purest melted gold.

Crystal clear and dazzling.

But it was also more violent and harder to control.

Almost the moment this Battle Qi was purified, it showed signs of going out of control.

"Now!"

Roko shouted inwardly.

He immediately triggered the wisp of ancient, dark red flame power within Tain through their bloodline resonance.

That dark red power, like an invisible net, instantly wrapped tightly around the purified golden Battle Qi that was about to go berserk.

The originally violent Battle Qi instantly became docile.

Success!

Roko was overjoyed.

The first and second steps of his plan were perfectly achieved.

Next was the most critical third step.

Compression!

He held his breath, concentrating all his Spiritual Power on the tip of his right index finger.

Then, he guided that purified and stabilized Battle Qi—only as thick as a hair—to slowly converge toward that single point at his fingertip.

This process was incredibly difficult.

Veins bulged on Roko's forehead, and sweat poured down like rain.

His entire right hand was trembling slightly.

Finally.

When that last wisp of Battle Qi also merged into that point at his fingertip,

all light and heat disappeared.

Roko's fingertip became plain and unremarkable, as if nothing had happened.

But Roko knew.

He had succeeded.

At his fingertip, he had condensed a wisp of unstable "Blazing Sword Qi" that, while extremely small, had fundamentally changed in nature.

He slowly raised his right hand.

He lightly pointed that seemingly ordinary index finger toward the training dummy made of refined steel in front of him.

There was no earth-shattering roar.

Nor was there any dazzling light.

Not even a single sound was emitted.

Roko's fingertip lightly touched the refined steel breastplate, which was half a foot thick.

Then, that incredibly sturdy training dummy began to silently annihilate from the chest position.

Yes, annihilate.

Not melting, not vaporizing.

But under an incomprehensible, extreme high temperature, even the most basic structure constituting the material was thoroughly decomposed and turned into nothingness.

A hole the thickness of a finger, with edges so smooth they could reflect a person's image, appeared on the dummy, transparent from front to back.

Roko slowly withdrew his finger.

He looked at his fingertip, then at the hole in the training dummy, his eyes filled with shock. ===== CHAPTER 133 =====