A month later, Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy clearly visible within them.
The third turn of the Nine Revolutions of the Demonic God. After a month's time, Li Xuan had finally managed to endure it. As Yi Qin had stated before, as long as Li Xuan could withstand the third turn of the Nine Revolutions of the Demonic God, he could then begin to cultivate the Sword Control Art.
Effort pays off!
Throughout this past month, Li Xuan had been tempering his soul's strength under the Nine Revolutions of the Demonic God. It could be said that apart from the short periods of rest when he was overly exhausted, the only other thing he consumed was the Five Grains Pill. Although Li Xuan was now a powerful cultivator at the Martial King realm, he still needed to eat. And the Five Grains Pill was a common item for Spirit Masters.
Sword Control Art. Li Xuan calmed his mind and with a single thought, a divine sense instantly spread out in all directions. At this moment, Li Xuan's face was filled with joy. Although his eyes were closed, through his divine sense, he could clearly see everything within a radius of several dozen li. This was Li Xuan's first time employing his divine sense, and he found it rather amusing. He then urged his divine sense to spread even further. Li Xuan wanted to know how vast the first level of the Town Prison was.
Hiss!
A few breaths later, Li Xuan suddenly felt a tearing pain deep within his soul. He immediately withdrew his divine sense, his face turning extremely pale.
"Your soul's strength is currently insufficient for you to project your divine sense over such a long distance. Fortunately, you withdrew it quickly; otherwise, if your soul were torn, you'd be as good as dead." Just then, Yi Qin appeared beside Li Xuan and spoke.
"It was my carelessness, Senior." Li Xuan responded with a wry smile. It turned out Yi Qin had noticed this problem long ago. Of course, Li Xuan didn't resent Yi Qin for not informing him in advance. After all, many things could only be truly understood through personal experience.
"Never mind. For you to have passed the third turn in such a short period, apart from your daily diligent practice, your innate foundation is also quite good. Rest for now. Once you've adjusted, then practice the Sword Control Art." Yi Qin nodded slightly and vanished as soon as she finished speaking.
Li Xuan immediately calmed his mind and began to recuperate, feeling a sense of unease. If there were any lingering side effects, it would be a major problem.
A quarter of an hour later, Li Xuan exhaled a breath of turbid air, a hint of relief in his eyes. While recuperating, Li Xuan had carefully examined his body internally and found no abnormalities. As for his divine sense, Li Xuan had also tentatively tested it once, and there were no issues.
Upon thinking about how many Spirit Masters had mentors who guided them and explained precautions in advance, Li Xuan felt a touch of helplessness. His situation was akin to a blind man feeling an elephant, exploring on his own, and the previous incident was a vivid example. He harbored a trace of resentment towards his master, whom he had never met. However, Li Xuan soon let go of it. At least he still had Senior Yi Qin. Moreover, without the Town Prison Ring, how could he have experienced the use of divine sense?
"My heart was too narrow-minded." Li Xuan chuckled and shook his head. Then, with a thought, a low-grade spirit sword floated in front of him.
As his divine sense poured out, Li Xuan controlled it to maneuver the spirit sword.
However, soon after, the spirit sword fell before it had flown three meters, as Li Xuan's control faltered and his divine sense dispersed.
Seeing this, Li Xuan beckoned and recalled the spirit sword. He then used his divine sense to practice again.
Once, twice, thrice...
Without exception, every attempt by Li Xuan to control the spirit sword with his divine sense ended in failure.
"Is my method wrong?" Li Xuan stopped. If he had failed a few times, Li Xuan could have accepted it, but he had already attempted it nearly a hundred times over several days and still failed. There had to be a problem.
Li Xuan fell into contemplation, meticulously recalling each operation, his eyes growing increasingly perplexed. This thought process continued for two days, during which he was completely oblivious even to Yi Qin's appearance.
"That's it. I've been thinking of using my divine sense to propel the spirit sword, but I overlooked that divine sense itself is an ethereal existence. To use something insubstantial to control something substantial, while not impossible, is likely beyond my current strength."
"Divine sense, in essence, is similar to my second pair of eyes. Sword Control with divine sense also requires the support of spiritual energy. Only by integrating spiritual energy and divine sense into one can it be executed correctly."
"As the mind wills, divine sense moves, and the spirit sword follows. This is the correct way of sword control."
"So, I was going in the wrong direction from the very beginning."
Li Xuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. He then recalled the scene from before when he had willed his sword and it directly slashed out. In a way, that was also a form of sword control. However, that type of sword control was basic, as the target was too close to Li Xuan.
And now, with divine sense, this could be considered sword control that could strike an enemy's head from a thousand li away.
"Go!"
As Li Xuan thought this, he stood up and with a thought, his divine sense had already locked onto the void several li away, and a sword shot out.
Under the correction and guidance of his divine sense, the spirit sword struck the target precisely.
Seeing this, Li Xuan smiled.
"This fellow, he's actually comprehended the Sword Control Art to this extent. Hmm, but speaking of which, as his divine sense grows stronger in the future, launching a sword strike will indeed have an element of surprise."
"But why do I feel like this kid is turning the path of a sword cultivator into an assassination style?"
Feng Zhao Ge's voice echoed from within the stone coffin, followed by a sigh of helplessness as he fell silent.
The stronger the divine sense, the farther it could be projected. Of course, sword control also required sufficient spiritual energy. Otherwise, if the spirit sword ran out of power halfway and fell, the attack would naturally fail. Li Xuan's lips curved slightly as he thought about it. For others, improving the strength of their divine sense might be difficult. But for him, it was far from simple.
"Nine Revolutions of the Demonic God, fourth turn!"
Li Xuan's mind moved, and he directly activated the incantation of the Nine Revolutions of the Demonic God.
The next moment, a massive stone mill slowly materialized. A suction force surged, and Li Xuan felt his soul being stripped from his body and pulled into the stone mill.
"Ah!"
A few breaths later, a scream rang out.
"Damn, this fourth turn is ten times stronger than the third turn!" Li Xuan gasped and quickly began to recuperate. A quarter of an hour later, Li Xuan took a deep breath and once again began to circulate the incantation.
However, this time, Li Xuan entered the stone mill with extreme caution. As the tearing sensation from deep within his soul arose, Li Xuan calmed his mind and persevered.
Time gradually passed, and in the blink of an eye, another half month had gone by.
Bang!
At this moment, a violent tremor struck, instantly startling Li Xuan awake. The next moment, Li Xuan, with his eyes open, found himself back in his room.
"This is... someone is attacking the Cloud Ship!" As soon as Li Xuan returned to his room, he saw that the surroundings were already covered in cracks. The defensive barrier had long since been destroyed. Seeing this, Li Xuan's mind moved, and he appeared on the deck of the ship.
Upon looking, Li Xuan frowned. Around the Treasure Pavilion's Cloud Ship, there were three other Cloud Ships. On each of these Cloud Ships, a flag with a crescent saber was planted.
"It's... it's the Black Saber Cloud Pirates!"