"This is how the Master categorizes time for cultivators," the old man explained to Ye Bufan. "The peak of the martial artist realm, the Martial God realm, is equivalent to the Core Formation realm in cultivation. However, without guidance, the chances of a martial artist breaking through to the Martial God realm are minuscule."
Ye Bufan nodded and said, "I could indeed feel it from the previous nine levels. The so-called 'clearing' was actually a form of guidance."
The old man nodded. Ye Bufan got straight to the point.
"Then what is this level for? I see you have already solidified your form." Ye Bufan glanced at the white-haired old man.
"It is still about combat," the old man replied. "For the previous nine levels, facing martial artists, my phantom form was sufficient. After the tenth level, we fight with our true forms."
"I'm a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator fighting against a Core Formation cultivator?" Ye Bufan looked at him in disbelief.
"Of course not. I will suppress my strength to fight you. As long as you meet my requirements. Once you have met my requirements, you can proceed to the next level," the old man said simply. However, Ye Bufan felt that this matter was not as straightforward as it seemed.
"Then let's begin."
The old man asked Ye Bufan if he was ready. After seeing Ye Bufan nod, the old man snapped his fingers, and everything around them shifted. Ye Bufan and the old man instantly appeared on a cliff.
Everything around them now appeared incredibly real.
"Attack me," the old man instructed.
Ye Bufan took a deep breath. His correct understanding was combat experience, and he unexpectedly found a surprise in this ancient tower.
"Rumble—"
Ye Bufan only intended to test summoning the power of lightning, but he was surprised to find that he could actually summon lightning in this space.
"Two Sleeves Green Serpent!" Two bolts of lightning transformed into long swords, and their sword energy slithered towards the old man like snakes.
"Boom!" The sword energy instantly struck the old man. The old man then moved, reaching into the air and producing a broken sword.
"Hum—"
The old man waved his hand, and the sword energy emanating from his sword caused the entire blade to hum and vibrate.
"Break!" The old man shouted sharply. As he swung his sword, Ye Bufan could feel that the old man had suppressed his cultivation to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
This strike put Ye Bufan under pressure. With just this one move, he felt a powerful sword intent, and the sword energy was even sharper than his own.
"Bang—"
The old man effortlessly neutralized Ye Bufan's sword technique, and at the same time, Ye Bufan was sent flying backward by the resulting shockwave.
"Sword Qi Dragon Roll!" While in mid-air, Ye Bufan swung his broken sword and unleashed another technique, "Mountain and River Movement," charging towards the old man.
"Break!"
With a sharp shout from the old man, Ye Bufan's sword move was instantly disintegrated by the old man's single sword strike. This sword strike was unfathomable in Ye Bufan's eyes, profound and filled with a special sword dao charm.
"The so-called Sword Dao has five realms: Sharp Sword Without Intent, Soft Sword Without Form, Heavy Sword Without Edge, Wooden Sword Without Equal, and Swordless Without Technique."
Ye Bufan flipped in mid-air and finally landed by the edge of the cliff. The sword dao realms previously explained by Lin Xiaoyao suddenly echoed in his ears.
"Bufan, why did you choose the way of the sword?"
Ye Bufan's answer at the time was that the sword was the king of all weapons, light, agile, graceful, and elegant, unstoppable.
Lin Xiaoyao had smiled at the time, and for a long time afterward, he had consistently told Ye Bufan that having a sword in one's heart was more important than having one in one's hand.
Ye Bufan had only grasped the superficial aspects, manifesting sword qi and imbuing his moves with sword intent, but he was still a long way from Lin Xiaoyao's concept of having a sword in his heart.
"Sword!"
Doubt resurfaced. Ye Bufan refused to accept defeat and swung his broken sword, attacking the old man once more.
The old man thrust his sword at Ye Bufan from a distance. This strike still possessed the power of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Compared to Ye Bufan's full-powered attack, Ye Bufan found the old man's current strike to be significantly more potent.
Sword technique? What is sword technique?
When Ye Bufan first began learning sword techniques, Lin Xiaoyao had said that the way of sword technique, at the initial stage of mastery, was to strike first; the best defense was offense. At the stage of reaching proficiency, one could "foresee the enemy's moves and strike after them."
The sword's speed, changes, power, lightness, intangibility, and one's own understanding of the sword dao complemented each other. Only when one possessed the sword in their heart, achieving unity between man and sword, where a swordless state surpassed having a sword, and formless techniques surpassed those with form, could one reach the pinnacle of the sword dao.
At this moment, Ye Bufan felt as if he understood, yet he also felt that he didn't.
Time flowed faster in the ancient tower than in the outside world. In the tower, Ye Bufan battled the old man for three consecutive days, while only two hours had passed outside. More and more people gathered below the ancient tower, all paying attention to the situation on the tenth level.
The Tang and Zhao families still believed that their respective great martial saints had entered the tenth level, and they watched the ancient tower with great anticipation.
Just then, two figures appeared below the ancient tower. The elders of the Tang and Zhao families, upon seeing them, couldn't help but change their expressions.
"You, you, you... how did you get out?" the Tang family elder stammered.
The two figures who emerged were none other than Tang Yao and Zhao Ningxuan, the subjects of the two families' disputes.
"Hahahaha, you two argued for so long, only for someone from another family to ascend to the tenth level. How interesting," Nangong Yingli couldn't help but laugh.
"Don't celebrate too early. Even if it's not from our two families, it's even less likely to be from your Nangong family," the Zhao family elder's face changed, and he said to Nangong Yingli with great reluctance.
"My disposition is good; it doesn't matter either way," Nangong Yingli replied.
Although he said so, Nangong Yingli secretly hoped that Nangong Huahao of the Nangong family would be the one to ascend to the tenth level.
Meanwhile, Tang Yao and Zhao Ningxuan, upon learning that someone had entered the tenth level before them, re-entered the ancient tower without a word, both fueled by a competitive spirit and unwilling to be surpassed.
The tenth level of the ancient tower.
Ye Bufan once again launched an attack on the old man.
"Sword!"
The broken sword reappeared in Ye Bufan's hand. Ye Bufan swung it with one hand, feeling the presence of the broken sword.
"Go!"
Ye Bufan suddenly opened his eyes, and the sword qi of the broken sword reached its peak at this moment.
The old man nodded in satisfaction. This time, he had to take Ye Bufan's strike very seriously. He eventually broke through his cultivation limit and used the power of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator to counter it.
As the broken sword approached the old man, it suddenly vanished, much to the old man's surprise.
Immediately after, Ye Bufan, forming a sword seal with his hand, appeared before the old man and pointed towards his chest.
All the energy erupted at this point, and the sword qi even sliced through the old man's clothes, leaving a wound on his body.
"You win," the old man said.
The surroundings shifted, and Ye Bufan returned to the tower. The old man held a scroll in his hand, which had appeared out of nowhere.
"This is the reward for breaking through this level," the old man handed the scroll to Ye Bufan.
"Why didn't I get this in the previous levels?" Ye Bufan asked.
"Do you think the rewards from the previous levels would have been useful to you?"
Upon hearing the old man's words, Ye Bufan chuckled sheepishly.
"This scroll was chosen specifically for you, based on your situation. You will be satisfied."
The old man handed the scroll to Ye Bufan and then vanished from his spot.
"I'll see you on the eleventh level."