"You actually accepted Li Xuan's challenge?" Li Wentian was stunned in the main hall after hearing Li Yong's words. Seeing the latter nod, his expression grew solemn before he spoke, "This child hides a secret. I originally planned to find a suitable opportunity to interrogate him myself. However, since you and that brat are heading to the life-and-death arena, this is considered above board. But Yong'er, you must be careful. This child cannot die. You will cripple him directly. His secret must be dug out. Do you have confidence in this?"
"He's only in the Initial Spirit Realm. Naturally, I have confidence. But Grandpa, what secret does this child hold?" Li Yong asked in confusion.
"Big Brother, you don't know. Grandpa had already crippled his dantian before, but I didn't expect him to recover his strength after coming out of the Ice Pool. Not only did he recover his strength, but he also broke through to the Initial Spirit Realm. If that weren't the case, how could he have bullied me?" Li Xian interjected immediately.
"His dantian was crippled, yet he could still recover his martial cultivation. This has never happened before. It seems this Li Xuan must be hiding a colossal secret, otherwise, how could he have broken through to the Initial Spirit Realm so quickly?" Li Yong's expression turned serious upon hearing this. However, he soon shook his head and chuckled, "Perhaps because of this, Li Xuan challenged me without knowing my strength. In that case, his secret must be unearthed."
"The matter of Li Xuan's dantian being crippled before is not known to outsiders. Xian'er, you must not tell anyone about this." Li Wentian finished speaking and looked at Li Yong, "Yong'er, you should have reached the intermediate stage of the Spirit Soul Realm by now, right?"
"Just one step away, and I can reach the advanced stage of the Spirit Soul Realm." Li Yong nodded proudly. Even among the younger generation of the Li Huo Sect, Li Yong's strength ranked within the top twenty. Furthermore, to reach this stage at his age already qualified him to contend for the Martial Emperor Realm in the future.
"Good, good! Our Li family is about to produce a dragon!" Li Wentian's face lit up with joy. Even Li Wentian himself was only at the advanced stage of the Spirit Soul Realm. Now his grandson had caught up to him.
"Big Brother, you are truly amazing. This time, let's see how arrogant Li Xuan can be!" Upon hearing that Li Yong was already at the intermediate stage of the Spirit Soul Realm, Li Xian also showed an excited expression.
"Second Brother, don't be too indulgent. You are still in the Mortal Embryo Realm. What about your future? You must know that in this world, the strong always reign supreme. After we deal with Li Xuan this time, Big Brother will see if he can help you join the Li Huo Sect when he returns to the sect." Li Yong turned to look at Li Xian.
"Thank you, Big Brother! I will definitely cultivate diligently from now on and strive to reach the Fetal Breath Realm as soon as possible!" Li Xian was overjoyed. The Li Huo Sect was a force no weaker than the Cang Yun Sect.
Prison Suppressing Realm.
Time flew by. Li Xuan and the phantom had been fighting for two days.
From the initial injuries, Li Xuan could only passively defend to reduce the extent of his wounds. On the first day, Li Xuan also tried to learn the phantom's sword techniques to fight. However, the results were unsatisfactory. The phantom almost instantly broke through Li Xuan's attacks and even counterattacked. However, Li Xuan reacted quickly. Since he was going to get hurt no matter what, he might as well try to get hurt less, or even control the extent of his injuries. By the end of the first day, Li Xuan could finally avoid being wounded.
On the morning of the second day, through sparring with the phantom, Li Xuan gradually gained an understanding of swordsmanship. The phantom's swordplay was fast and direct. Li Xuan gradually understood when to draw his sword, when to sheath it, when to advance, and when to retreat. All of this came at the price of Li Xuan's body, which was riddled with wounds.
By evening, Li Xuan began to attack proactively. However, all of Li Xuan's attacks were neutralized by the phantom. It was then that Li Xuan realized how terrifying the phantom's defense was. He couldn't even get within a meter of the phantom. Judging from the phantom's defense, the clarity in Li Xuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
On the third day, morning.
Clang!
Two swords clashed, and both Li Xuan and the phantom stopped. Li Xuan smiled. Such a thorough battle was truly fulfilling.
"To reach this point in two days, you can be considered a qualified sword cultivator. However, the path of a sword cultivator is long, and you have only just begun," Feng Zhao Ge said.
"Junior understands. Thank you for your guidance, Senior." Li Xuan bowed, sheathed his sword, and respectfully paid his respects to the stone coffin. After the two days of sparring, Li Xuan could feel that his speed and strength had improved significantly. All of this was naturally thanks to the guidance of Senior Feng Zhao Ge.
"Hmm, let's stop here. I've thought of a sword technique you can practice. Come find me again when you reach the Spirit Soul Realm and the Bronze Bone Body Realm," Feng Zhao Ge said.
"You need the Spirit Soul Realm and the Bronze Bone Body to cultivate?" Li Xuan was surprised. Li Xuan knew about the Bronze Bone Body Realm. The physical body was divided into Iron Bone, Bronze Bone, Silver Bone, and Gold Bone. A thousand jin of strength was called one elephant, and the Iron Bone Realm possessed the strength of one elephant. Legend had it that the Bronze Bone Realm possessed the strength of four elephants, which was a full four thousand jin of force!
"Hmm, without the cultivation of the Spirit Soul Realm, you cannot wield it. Without the physical body of the Bronze Bone Realm, you cannot withstand it," Feng Zhao Ge replied.
"Uh, Junior will definitely work hard to improve." Li Xuan smiled bitterly upon hearing this, then with a thought, he left the Prison Suppressing Realm.
"What is it?" As soon as Li Xuan returned to reality, he pushed open the door and frowned at a guard standing outside.
"The Great Elder sent me to notify you that there is less than an hour until the challenge time," the guard replied nervously. This person before him had even beaten Young Master Li Xian, so how could the guard dare to be presumptuous?
"Isn't there still time? Are you afraid I'll run away?" Li Xuan snorted upon hearing this, then waved for the guard to leave.
"Wait a moment." As the guard took two steps after turning, Li Xuan's voice suddenly rang out.
"Go back and tell Li Yong something for me." Li Xuan narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Tell him to wash his neck and wait for me."
The guard's body trembled. He then let out a bitter smile, nodded in agreement, and hurried away. This devil, Li Xuan, was too terrifying. The guard found cold sweat breaking out on his back.
"I can't improve my physical body for now, but my cultivation can be improved further." As the guard left, Li Xuan mused for a moment. After two days and two nights of sparring with the phantom, Li Xuan's realm had long been solidified. The bottleneck of the peak Initial Spirit Realm was already showing signs of loosening. With the battle as a foundation, Li Xuan felt more confident about entering the Spirit Soul Realm.
Thus, after closing his door, Li Xuan took out another low-grade spiritual sword.
With one sword, he directly inserted it into his dantian.
Boom!
Spirit Soul Realm, initial stage!
Feeling the pleasant sensation coursing through his body, Li Xuan inserted another sword into his dantian.
This feeling… it felt so good.