’It recovered ahead of schedule?’
Looking at the yellow Sword Stele, now as smooth as a mirror, Lin Yan felt his lip twitch. ’Did I overdo it? Did I force the Sword Stele to reboot?’
But what delighted Lin Yan even more was the increase in his Sword Gang’s power.
With two Sword Pills now fueling his Sword Intents, their power had increased by a full thirty percent.
Don’t underestimate that thirty percent. Sometimes, it’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
It might not seem like much at first, but once one’s strength reaches the peak of a given Realm, that thirty-percent boost in power is enough to crush any opponent at the same level.
His gaze swept over the three Sword Steles, finally settling on the pitch-black Rank A stele in the distance.
’Time to start the test.’
A few moments later, Lin Yan stood before the black Sword Stele. There was no need to test himself on the silver one. Even Shen Guyun, who hadn’t managed to gather ten Perfect Level Sword Intents, had still achieved Rank A. With two Sword Pills and ten Sword Intents of his own, Lin Yan saw no reason why he couldn’t do the same.
There was only a single, half-inch-deep sword mark on the black Sword Stele, but it still stood out against the pure black surface.
He took a deep breath and activated his Sword Pills. A total of ten Perfect Level Sword Intents—including Heavy Mountain and Sky Splitting—erupted from him at once.
The dark blade of the Abyssal Sword filled with light. A silvery-white Sword Gang flowed like water along its edge, and within it, one could faintly discern a nearly imperceptible, transparent ripple.
No probing, no holding back.
This was his strongest strike yet.
BOOM!
The Sword Gang struck the black Sword Stele. There was no crisp clang of metal on stone, only a deep, muffled HUMMM.
The Sword Stele trembled violently, its surface erupting in a dazzling black light that clashed, tore at, and fused with the Sword Gang.
A sword mark slowly appeared on the stele face, getting deeper and deeper—half an inch, one inch, one and a half inches, two inches...
The sword mark was still deepening.
Anticipation filled Lin Yan’s eyes. ’Middle Rank A, or Upper Rank A?’
However, just as the mark was about to reach a depth of three inches, something unexpected happened.
The black Sword Stele suddenly erupted with a blinding light. It wasn’t a light from the surface, but one that shone from deep within the stone, as if from another world entirely.
The light was so brilliant that Lin Yan had to squint.
At that moment, an unprecedented dread seized his heart.
"To have condensed ten Perfect Sword Intents without an Innate Sword Heart... You attempt to steal the Sword Fruit through an unorthodox path. For this, you shall be slain!"
The voice that came was like a clap of thunder, yet also like the deep toll of an ancient bell, carrying with it an air of irrefutable judgment.
The next moment, Lin Yan’s pupils constricted, and he immediately fell back. His Perception screamed at him, warning of a fatal danger closing in.
However, he was still a step too late.
A crack appeared on the Sword Stele’s surface, and a bolt of Sword Qi shot out from within.
The Sword Qi had no color, no shape, not even a trajectory. But it existed, so real that it felt as though everything between heaven and earth had to yield to it. It carried an aura that transcended all else.
For the first time, in the face of this Sword Qi, Lin Yan felt his own insignificance.
Before this Sword Qi, he was an ant gazing at the heavens, a speck of dust before the stars. He could not even muster the will to resist.
The Sword Qi struck, passing directly through Lin Yan’s body.
No wound, no blood. Lin Yan didn’t even feel any pain.
However, on the two Sword Pills within his Dantian, a web of fine cracks appeared simultaneously.
This strike was not aimed at the physical body, but at the Divine Soul, at the Sword Pills.
Silent and unseen, it struck a fatal blow.
The cracks spread from the surface of the Sword Pills, reaching deep within. Before Lin Yan could even react, excruciating pain erupted from the depths of his Divine Soul.
It wasn’t physical pain, but a deeper agony, as if his very soul were being ripped apart.
The agony caused his vision to go black. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and staggered backward, his back slamming hard against the stone wall.
The cracks on the Sword Pills in his Dantian grew larger and more numerous, threatening to shatter them completely at any moment.
Suddenly!
The Martial Arts Tree in his mind moved.
Not the swaying of branches, not the trembling of leaves.
This time, it was the roots.
From the very base of the Martial Arts Tree, the roots that burrowed deep into the void suddenly shot out. They pierced the intangible barrier between his mind and his Dantian, appearing within the Dantian itself.
Like an octopus’s tentacles, several roots wrapped tightly around the two crumbling Sword Pills.
The roots were soft yet resilient. They enveloped the Sword Pills in layers, and the cracks stopped spreading under their grasp.
A warm energy seeped from the roots and into the fissures of the Sword Pills, beginning the process of mending the cracks.
The entity within the Sword Stele’s crack seemed to sense something. The ethereal voice spoke again, this time with a faint trace of surprise.
"Hm?"
A single, casual word, yet it struck Lin Yan’s Divine Soul like a sledgehammer. His face grew even paler, and more blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
But the roots of the Martial Arts Tree remained motionless, still wrapped tightly around the Sword Pills, continuously infusing them with warmth.
After the casual-sounding word, another bolt of Sword Qi slashed out from the crack.
This time, the Sword Qi struck at his Divine Soul.
The roots enveloping the two Sword Pills were ground to dust and vanished. Lin Yan’s face turned pale once more.
The Martial Arts Tree in his mind seemed to realize that its roots alone couldn’t stop this Sword Qi. The trunk began to tremble violently. With this tremor, Lin Yan felt a power, vast and incredible, surge from the ground beneath him, rushing up from the soles of his feet and into his Dantian.

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