After I left the sect, the entire sect knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

Chapter 18: Comprehension? I'm pretty awesome.

The Red Enchantress puffed out her cheeks, her short hands on her hips, making a "cooing" sound.

The spirit sword couldn't understand its meaning, but it generously said, "Never mind, I forgive your rudeness just now. Why would I hold a grudge against a rabbit?"

These words enraged the Crimson Demon even more. However, its cultivation was not yet complete, and it could not speak. In terms of fighting, even its master was no match for this sword. Since it could not defeat its master, it deduced that it could not defeat this sword either.

Even when it was furious, it could only hold it in. It was so angry that it made a hissing sound unlike a cat's, and then it actually fell asleep from anger.

Five days later.

Lin Yan slowly opened her eyes, her face filled with the joy of successfully breaking through to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment. Even with her messy hair, she couldn't hide her refined and otherworldly aura.

She used her magic to instantly restore her dusty robes to their pristine state, and her disheveled hair returned to its former smoothness and neatness.

"Coo coo," the red enchantress made a sound.

In her mind, it translated to "I'm hungry~"

She took out two mysterious herbs and placed them on the stone platform. The Red Enchantress didn't bother to eat the tender ones first and started munching on the nearest leaves.

"Chew, chew, chew, so delicious!" the Crimson Demon exclaimed. It had no seeds, so it couldn't plant the Mystic Grass, and it couldn't disturb its master's cultivation, so it had been starving for many days. Today, its master finally opened his eyes and fed it.

No, it needs to eat more. What if its owner goes into deep meditation again and doesn't open its eyes for half a month? Then it will go hungry too.

Chew, chew, chew...

The two black grass plants each have eight long, thick leaves. It chews two leaves at a time, and its chewing speed is extremely fast.

Lin Yan's consciousness entered her storage bag to check the quantity of Xuan Grass and Crimson Spirit Fruit. At the rate the Crimson Enchantress was eating, they wouldn't last many more meals.

Among the inheritance her father left her, there weren't many spiritual plants, not a single one with healing effects, and even the few spiritual plants he left behind couldn't be eaten by the Red Enchantress.

Even if it could eat, given its picky eating habits, it would probably rather starve to death than eat any spiritual plants other than Xuancao and Chilingguo. She needs to cultivate to the Golden Core stage as soon as possible, break the restriction, and take the Red Enchantress out.

Just as the spirit sword was about to bring up the contract, the red demon spoke first, its short hands cupping its face in a pitiful manner.

The spirit sword couldn't understand the rabbit's language, but it knew that the fat rabbit was definitely being affectionate again. It guessed correctly; after the rabbit put on this pitiful act, the female cultivator frowned and reluctantly took out two more mystical herbs.

Sure enough, she's just trying to get food by begging the cultivators. What a spineless fat rabbit!

Lin Yan placed the mystic grass on the stone platform, sighed, and said, "Little rabbit, there's very little mystic grass left. Eat it sparingly..."

The red demon's ears twitched, but she pretended not to hear and continued chewing.

Seeing it like this, she recalled the Red Enchantress's appetite that day. After devouring five Mystic Herbs, it still managed to eat a Crimson Spirit Fruit. Such a small body, yet such a huge appetite…

Fine, she'd better focus on her cultivation and break through to the Golden Core stage as soon as possible. Then, taking the Crimson Demon with her, she wouldn't have to worry about finding the Mystic Herb and the Crimson Spirit Fruit. Besides, herbivorous demons have a good sense of spiritual plants, so taking it along would make the search much more efficient.

She then took out a Crimson Spirit Fruit and placed it over. Upon seeing this, the Crimson Demon eagerly pushed the Crimson Spirit Fruit in front of her and ate it even more happily.

Just as she was about to continue her meditation, the spirit sword flew over and stopped her. "Hmph, female cultivator! I defeated you and showed you my abilities. Now, can we form a contract?"

She shrugged and said, "I've seen it, you are indeed skilled. But I don't use a sword."

Lingjian said urgently, "I can teach you swordsmanship!"

"But I need to cultivate, I don't have time."

"You can take some time to learn swordsmanship. Female cultivator, you'll regret missing out on me!"

She sighed softly, "Fine, since you've begged me so much, I'll learn." She then feigned reluctance, as if it wasn't her own desire to learn, but rather that he insisted on teaching her.

Upon hearing this, the spirit sword urged her to quickly conclude the contract. Only after the contract was completed did it breathe a sigh of relief. Soon, it realized something was amiss. As a top-grade magic weapon, it was always cultivators who begged it; now, it was the one begging someone else to conclude a contract?
Before it could think too much, its new master spoke up: "Come on, I'm ready to learn swordsmanship."

Just as Lingjian was about to teach her, she suddenly realized and said, "It seems that there is a sword cultivation technique among the inheritance my father left me." After saying that, she took out the sword technique from her storage bag.

It is the Treading Heaven Sword Technique, created by the master himself. Back when the master had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, he used this sword technique to fight a sword cultivator from the Returning Sword Sect one-on-one and returned victorious.

She raised an eyebrow slightly, a sly glint in her eyes. "How about I figure it out on my own first, and then ask you for help if I don't understand something?"

"Alright then." The spirit sword flew arrogantly back onto the stone platform. It muttered to itself: Hmph! Master's self-created sword technique is exquisite and unparalleled. I'd like to see how much you can comprehend without my guidance!
Lin Yan slowly opened the manual and used her divine sense to scan it. The words in the manual seemed to come alive and entered her mind, automatically forming stick figures.

The stick figure demonstrated sword techniques move by move, its movements fluid, as if a sword master had separated his divine consciousness and transformed into a stick figure to instruct her.

Is this an alternative online teaching method?
Of course, the stick figure didn't perform the entire swordplay manual; it only demonstrated the very beginning. She closed the manual, and the stick figure disappeared from her mind.

Her adopted father was truly wonderful, leaving her such a profound sword technique manual. She felt a pang of guilt now, realizing she hadn't kowtowed to him enough back then.

It's a pity that her father's body was directly contaminated, leaving not a trace of ashes. Otherwise, she could have erected a cenotaph for him, sweeping and paying respects during the Qingming Festival to show her filial piety.

Lin Yan placed the manual on the stone platform and opened it. Taking advantage of the spirit sword's inattention, she picked it up and drew it from its sheath. The words in the book once again entered her mind, coalescing into a stick figure dancing with a sword.

She followed the stick figure's movements, striving to make every move perfect.

Lingjian was astonished: Had she studied swordsmanship before? Why was her swordplay so standard? Her movements were swift and powerful, her attacks and defenses were decisive and clean, unlike some disciples whose swordplay was weak and feeble. If it weren't for the spiritual energy and the sword itself, they wouldn't even be able to inflict damage.

After practicing the moves a few times, Lin Yan was able to master them and perform the sword techniques she had just learned without having to follow the stick figure.

She closed the manual, put it back into her storage bag, and placed the spirit sword back in its sheath on the stone platform.

Then, she took out a jade flute from her storage bag and said to the spirit sword, "Come, let's spar, without using spiritual energy!"

Real-world application is the best way to test what you've learned. She couldn't wait to see how well she had learned.

"Why? Once you're outside, other cultivators won't agree with you not to use spiritual energy."

(End of this chapter)