The slaughter was thoroughly exhilarating. As she broke out of the stone forest, a stone stele beneath a pine tree immediately displayed: Zhao Chun, Mid Qi Refining Stage, half a quarter-hour! The disciples resting nearby were instantly astonished.
They looked at the female cultivator before them, saw that her aura was calm and her complexion normal, then turned back to look at the clear words "half a quarter-hour" on the stele. They secretly thought, what kind of strange person is this, and she looks so unfamiliar. Zhao Chun, however, furrowed her brow.
After the sixth layer of Qi Refining, she was able to achieve half a quarter-hour. If she wanted to break through again, she would probably have to put more effort into the Snake-Form Step. As a thought stirred, another idea floated into her mind.
It would be difficult to improve her speed significantly in the near future, so why not focus on perfecting her swordsmanship? This was another viable method. The Threefold Stone Forest, aside from Forest Piercing, also had a path of slaughter.
Zhao Chun could use the allotted time to hone her enemy-slaying techniques. Returning to the small pavilion, she once again handed over Essence Stones, only this time she instructed Tu An, "Select the path of slaughter."
Seeing that her score was half a quarter-hour, the same as last time, Tu An knew she had likely reached her limit and wanted to try a different method of cultivation. He readily noted it down and told Zhao Chun to head east of the Forest Piercing entrance.
It turned out that the entrances for these two different training formats were also different. Compared to the Forest Piercing method, there were far fewer people at the path of slaughter. After a moment's thought, it was clear that the latter, focused on attack and slaughter, was bound to be more dangerous.
Forest Piercing was already an obstacle, and the number of disciples injured within it was countless. To rush into the path of slaughter without preparation would surely result in a wretched defeat. The sect was likely aware of the dangers of this method.
Although they set a time limit of one incense stick, they also placed small formations within the stone forest. If one felt they could not hold on, they could exit through a small formation, but their score would be voided, and the twenty Essence Stones would not be returned. This was Zhao Chun's first time choosing this method.
She was quite cautious before entering the stone forest, mobilizing the spiritual qi throughout her body to put herself in a state of attack. The moment she entered the forest, a black shadow flashed before her eyes, and she immediately rushed forward to slash at it. The shadow monkey only gave her half a breath's time before attacking again.
When one was cut down, a pair would come. When a pair was cut down, three or four would pounce forward! Zhao Chun's sword light sparkled, and upon striking a shadow monkey's body, it would immediately burst apart.
The more she killed, the more shadow monkeys attacked. Zhao Chun had to protect herself while also brandishing her sword to kill. This required both nimble movement and the power to break through the enemy.
She did not know how many she had slain, nor did she distract herself by counting. She only knew that after killing the common shadow monkeys, several strange shadow monkeys suddenly appeared. Their forms were more solid, and their speed and strength were even greater.
If she struck the bodies of these shadow monkeys, she could not kill them. She had to cut off their heads to finish them completely. Once the common shadow monkeys were all killed, the strange shadow monkeys became more and more numerous.
Zhao Chun focused her mind, ensuring the edge of her sword landed on their necks, which consumed even more of her mental energy. When the incense stick had burned out, Zhao Chun was transported out of the stone forest. She still maintained her sword-wielding posture, her five senses clear and bright, on guard against her surroundings.
There was also an old pine tree here, and the stele beneath it showed: Zhao Chun, Mid Qi Refining Stage, three hundred and eighteen! She returned her sword to its sheath and calmed her spiritual qi. This path of slaughter was indeed much more difficult.
The shadow monkeys that appeared later had strength and speed absolutely comparable to a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator. They even knew enemy engagement techniques like flanking, side-striking, and luring, making them extremely troublesome. However, it was precisely this difficulty that gave Zhao Chun a greater sense of combat.
During the fight just now, she had used all her sword techniques, making it even more exhilarating than Forest Piercing! This way, she could cultivate the Way of the Sword. Zhao Chun was a person from a small world.
Being new to the cultivation world, there were many things she did not know. Thus, she had read through many books to fill in the gaps in her knowledge. Among cultivators, aside from alchemists, artifact refiners, and talisman cultivators, there was another type of existence known as a sword cultivator.
The cultivation method of this type of cultivator was no different from an ordinary person's, but they focused solely on the sword. Over time, a Great Dao was actually born, called the Way of the Sword. The sword was the master of slaughter, so sword cultivators were naturally far superior to others in the art of attacking enemies.
The Metal-Fire spiritual roots in Zhao Chun's body were extremely rampant. Following the path of the Way of the Sword was a perfect fit. Furthermore, the concept of a sword cultivator specializing in one path, free from distractions, and pursuing the pinnacle of the Great Dao, stirred her heart greatly.
Zhao Chun's cultivation was not for power, wealth, or external objects, nor was it for the path of longevity. She only wanted to go to the Heaven-Piercing Path and break through her own limits. The Way of the Sword was the path she had chosen.
All other arts were auxiliary. Only the sword in her hand was the smooth, open road to the heavens.
"I have practiced swordsmanship since I was in the small world. After coming to this world to cultivate, my sharp sword produced light. As early as when I first broke through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining, I had already entered the Sword Light Realm. This shows that this path is very suitable for me."
There were five realms for a sword cultivator: Sword Light, Sword Radiance, Sword Qi, Sword Aura, and Sword Intent. Zhao Chun had naturally produced sword light during her cultivation and entered the first realm. If others were to find out about this, they would surely sigh in admiration at her outstanding aptitude for the Way of the Sword.
An ordinary sword cultivator would temper their sword body during the Qi Refining stage to break into the Sword Light Realm. During the Foundation Establishment stage, the light would condense at the tip of the sword, and Sword Radiance would begin to form. Take Qiu Jianying, for example.
She cultivated the sword and only achieved the third realm of Sword Qi after breaking into the Core Formation stage, which was already enough to cause a sensation at the Hundred Sects Assembly.
As for those who could produce Sword Radiance during the Qi Refining stage and then cultivate Sword Qi during the Foundation Establishment stage, they were Innate Sword Cultivators, a rare sight even in the Drifting Clouds World. The five realms of Sword Qi became more difficult the further one progressed, but Zhao Chun was fearless.
With a heart devoted to the sword, she could break through all barriers and point directly to the Great Dao.
"After the Sword Light Realm is the Sword Radiance Realm. The light condenses to a single point, creating a sharp edge..."
Zhao Chun thought to herself, "If Sword Light is the sharpness of the sword, then Sword Radiance is the direction of the sword. It is not power, but... precision!" That perfectly suited the path of slaughter!
The strange shadow monkeys could only be killed by decapitation, which required the cultivator to attack their vital points. Zhao Chun pursed her lips. Not only would she limit her killing spot, but she would also go for even finer detail.
While others aimed for the head, she would only attack the space between the shadow monkey's eyebrows, achieving the ultimate in precision! Returning to the small pavilion, Zhao Chun directly handed over a hundred Essence Stones. Tu An knew that she was about to bury her head in arduous practice again.
Having already witnessed this madness of hers for several months, he did not find it very strange. Others who saw this, however, were slightly surprised. Having restricted her attack point, Zhao Chun only managed to kill about a hundred in her second attempt.
She was not anxious, however, and just entered again and again. Once her attempts were used up, she would go to the small pavilion and pay several hundred Essence Stones at once, causing those around her to stare in shock. On the sixth attempt, she tied her first score, reaching three hundred and twenty.
On the ninth attempt, Zhao Chun killed five hundred! ... On the seventeenth attempt, she broke through a thousand! ... On the forty-fifth attempt, three thousand eight hundred and fifty-five!
Zhao Chun had become a famous eccentric at the Threefold Stone Forest, not interacting with others and immersing herself in cultivation from morning till night every day. What was even more terrifying was that on the path of slaughter ranking for the Mid Qi Refining Stage, the lowest position was one thousand six hundred and twenty.
Zhao Chun had long since surpassed it, and with a score of three thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, she had climbed directly to the sixty-third position! Zhao Chun was aware of all this but had no time to pay it any mind. Her sword light was solidifying, all of it gathering towards the tip of her sword.
It was the crucial moment of breaking through to the next realm, so how could she have the spare effort to be distracted? Time flew by like a white steed flashing past a crack. She had already spent a whole month at the Threefold Stone Forest.
The strange shadow monkeys could no longer trap her, and an even more formidable type appeared, the Red-Tailed Shadow Monkey, no weaker than a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator! Finally, at the moment she directly struck the spot between a Red-Tailed Shadow Monkey's eyebrows, the sword light instantly flowed, and a great radiance flashed from the tip of the sword!
At the sixth layer of Qi Refining, Zhao Chun broke through to the second realm of the Way of the Sword—Sword Radiance! And this time, she had actually killed seven thousand three hundred, ranking nineteenth.
This placed her in the top twenty of the path of slaughter for the Mid Qi Refining Stage in the entire two-thousand-year history of the True Spirit Sect!
(End of this chapter)