In Emei, start by obtaining golden attributes.

Chapter 78 Iron Sheets
As the moment approached, Zhou Zhiruo raised the Heaven-Slaying Sword in her hand and unleashed her swordsmanship, which was as gentle as a spring breeze caressing a willow, seemingly delicate yet concealing a sharp edge.

It already had a hint of willow catkins drifting in the wind.

Although the Heaven-Slaying Sword was a heavy burden in her hands, limiting her speed, it also added a sense of solidity to her swordsmanship.

Gu Shaoan strolled leisurely, lightly raising his Chengxin Sword, instantly neutralizing Zhou Zhiruo's attack.

He then refrained from attacking and waited for Zhou Zhiruo's next move.

During the match, he would often offer pointers.

His guidance precisely addressed the points where Zhou Zhiruo had struggled or lacked power during her previous practice. Often, a simple reminder or a personal demonstration of a subtle power-generating technique would enlighten Zhou Zhiruo, instantly making her swordplay more fluid and agile, resulting in significant progress!

Zhou Zhiruo was immersed in the sudden enlightenment she felt after being enlightened.

She became more and more engrossed in the fight, displaying all the moves she had learned in the Willow Catkin Sword Technique.

When Zhou Zhiruo's strength suddenly subsided and Gu Shaoan was certain that her internal energy had been completely exhausted, Gu Shaoan's eyes flashed like lightning. In that instant, the Chengxin Sword in his hand transformed into a clear bolt of lightning that almost tore through the air, precisely piercing the hilt of the Yitian Sword.

laugh!
In an instant, a very faint, metallic tearing sound rang out! It was completely different from all the previous metallic clanging sounds!

Gu Shaoan's eyes lit up. After piercing the soft iron part of the hilt with the Chengxin Sword, he exerted a little force with his right hand. The powerful force instantly caused the Yitian Sword to leave Zhou Zhiruo's hand and fly to the side like an arrow.

However, in the next instant, Gu Shaoan, who was already prepared, changed his posture and, as he brushed past Zhou Zhiruo's budding chest, his left hand naturally grasped the hilt of the Yitian Sword, and then he carried the long sword behind his back.

"Indeed, Senior Sister's 'Willow Floss Sword Technique' has already grasped the true meaning. I imagine that it won't be long before she reaches the level of 'comprehension and mastery'."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo was overjoyed and smiled at Gu Shaoan, saying, "It's all thanks to my junior brother's guidance these past few days. Otherwise, with my clumsiness, I don't know how long it would have taken me to master the 'Willow Floss Sword Technique' to this extent."

Gu Shaoan shook his head: "Senior sister is intelligent, she just likes to follow the steps, how can she be considered stupid?"

Immediately after giving Zhou Zhiruo a few suggestions regarding the "Willow Catkin Sword Technique," Zhou Zhiruo picked up her wooden sword and walked contentedly towards her bamboo courtyard.

After Zhou Zhiruo left, Gu Shaoan immediately took out the Yitian Sword that he had been carrying on his back.

There was a half-inch sword mark on the soft iron part of the sword hilt.

Looking through the crack, you can see a patch of iron-colored metal inside that is different from the surrounding area.

"The first step has been achieved."

Seeing this, Gu Shaoan, holding the Yitian Sword in one hand and the Chengxin Sword in the other, used his lightness skill to leap into Miejue's courtyard.

"Disciple Gu Shaoan requests an audience with Master."

Meanwhile, inside the room, Miejue sat cross-legged, her vast and pure internal energy slowly and painstakingly tempering the originally fierce and domineering true energy of the "Emei Nine Yang Skill".

As soon as Gu Shaoan's voice entered her ears, the true energy circulating within Miejue's body suddenly stopped.

After opening her eyes, Abbess Miejue showed no displeasure at being disturbed during her cultivation; instead, she flicked her long sleeves.

A burst of energy shot out from his sleeve, pulling open the tightly closed door.

"come in!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Shaoan quickly entered Miejue's house.

When Miejue noticed the solemnity and unease on Gu Shaoan's face, she had a doubt in her heart.

"What happened?"

Gu Shaoan knelt on the ground, placed the Chengxin Sword beside him, and then held up the Yitian Sword with both hands, saying, "This disciple did not intend to damage the Yitian Sword, and I hope Master will punish me."

"The Heaven Sword was damaged?"

Upon hearing what Gu Shaoan said, Miejue was taken aback.

But the next second, the thought that popped into Miejue's mind was "impossible." The Heaven-Slaying Sword was made of special black iron mixed with Western refined gold, and its sharpness and toughness were far beyond that of ordinary weapons.

Let alone Gu Shaoan, even with the skill and strength of Abbess Miejue, it would be difficult to damage the Heaven Sword in the slightest.

Otherwise, why would Abbess Miejue have been searching for the Dragon-Slaying Saber all these years?

However, since it concerned the Heaven-Slaying Sword, Miejue was somewhat anxious.

In a flash, he appeared in front of Gu Shaoan and grabbed the Heaven-Slaying Sword.

The moment Miejue grasped the hilt of the Heaven Sword, she immediately felt something strange in her hand.

Looking down, I saw a cut on the hilt of the Heaven-Slaying Sword.

Judging from its size, it was clearly caused by the tip of Gu Shaoan's Chengxin Sword piercing into it.

"How could this be?"

Upon discovering this, Extinction's astonishment only increased.

"Ok?"

However, upon closer inspection, Miejue suddenly noticed that the color of the gap left at the tip of the sword was different from the surrounding area.

After a moment's thought, Miejue seemed to have an idea and immediately channeled his true energy to draw the Chengxin Sword from the ground into his hand.

With a flick of the wrist, the sword tip once again pierced the gap next to the hilt.

Just like Gu Shaoan before, the sword tip pierced directly into the interior the moment it touched this spot.

"It's soft iron?"

With his extraordinary insight, Miejue immediately discerned that this location was neither hard black iron nor Western refined gold, but rather soft iron with the same color as black iron, but with a completely different material.

"Why did Master and Grandmaster Guo Xiang never mention before that there is a piece of soft iron on the hilt of the Heaven Sword?"

I thought about it.

Extinction raised its sword again to stab other places, only to find that apart from the small piece on the hilt, the rest of the sword was extremely hard. The moment the Clear Heart Sword pierced other places, it was immediately deflected.

After a moment, having confirmed that the rest of the sword hilt was incredibly hard, Miejue's doubts only increased.

The hilt of the Heaven-Slaying Sword is extremely long, almost an inch longer than the other swords.

If there wasn’t enough material during forging, the hilt could have been shortened by half an inch; there was no need to lengthen it and then fill it with soft iron as is done now.

"Unless, there is another deeper meaning behind this forging process."

Thinking of this, Miejue plunged the Yitian Sword directly into the ground, then used the Chengxin Sword to stab around the soft iron of the hilt several times in succession. Then, with a little force, she forcibly scraped off a piece of the soft iron from the hilt.

Upon closer inspection, a golden thread was found protruding from inside.

Extinction raised an eyebrow, reached out and pinched the golden thread, then slowly pulled it outwards.

As more and more gold was pulled out, it eventually brought up a roll of soft iron sheet about half a foot long, as thin as a cicada's wing.

Furthermore, it was pierced with numerous tiny holes using a special tool.

Upon closer inspection, however, one can discover that these small holes are actually a tattered map, with a striking mark made of red cinnabar in one spot.

Looking at what she held in her hands, even though she already had a guess in her mind, Abbess Miejue still couldn't help but tremble slightly with her hands.

"They actually got it?"

(End of this chapter)