Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

Chapter 134 Tempering of Sword Intent

Xia Dong, carrying Pei Hongling, transformed into two elusive afterimages and silently sneaked back to the Eagle Wolf Guard's temporary encampment.

As soon as Xia Dong stepped into the camp, he noticed that the atmosphere had become extremely oppressive. The terrifying fluctuation that tore through the sky in the distance had obviously also affected this place, and many low-ranking guards were gathered in twos and threes, whispering and discussing something with panicked expressions.

Xia Dong walked straight to the central command tent. As soon as he lifted the tent flap, he saw Zhao Ting pacing back and forth inside the tent with his hands behind his back, like an ant on a hot pan.

"Brother," Xia Dong called out, his expression calm as he asked, "Do you know what exactly happened just now?"

Hearing Xia Dong's voice, Zhao Ting felt a surge of relief and quickly came forward, shaking his head with a bitter expression: "I don't know! But judging from that direction, something big must have happened at the Sword Cultivation Secret Realm. Brother, look at that scene just now, it seemed like the sky was split in half. That was quite a commotion; it was probably at least a Golden Core stage expert fighting!"

Zhao Ting looked worried.

The two spent half a day in the tent discussing the map and deducing various possibilities, but ultimately they couldn't come to a conclusion due to a lack of information. However, after only half a day, the situation made it impossible for them to continue to wait and see.

A paper crane, formed from special spiritual energy, landed directly on Zhao Ting's desk. Zhao Ting opened the secret letter and his expression immediately turned extremely grim.

This military order from above was extremely harsh in its wording. It not only rejected their request to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements, but also ordered all the stagnant Eagle Wolf Guard units to immediately break camp and rush to the Sword Cultivation Secret Realm!

Zhao Ting knew that such a stern tone meant that a high-ranking person had spoken.

He had no choice but to consult with Xia Dong again for a solution.

"The higher-ups have taken drastic measures; there's no way to back down now." Zhao Ting handed the secret letter to Xia Dong and sighed.

Xia Dong quickly scanned the secret letter, pondered for a moment, then gently placed the letter on the table and sighed softly, "It's hard to disobey orders. Since there's no way to avoid it, then I might as well go."

Zhao Ting asked, "So, is our marching speed fast or slow?"

Xia Dong pondered for a moment: "Let's proceed as normal. We won't stand out, nor will we give anyone ammunition to criticize us. But this time, we need to be a little more careful than before. Send the scouts further away and keep the formation tight."

Zhao Ting stared at the intricate and rugged terrain on the map, his brow furrowed. After careful consideration, he suggested, "Brother, some sections of these Ten Thousand Mountains are really too difficult to traverse. Not only will they slow us down, but they're also easy targets for ambushes in dangerous spots. How about this: when we reach those difficult sections, those of us with higher cultivation levels can expend some of our magic power to fly the brothers directly there. How does that sound? This way, we can speed things up and avoid ground ambushes."

After hearing this, Xia Dong shook his head: "No."

He analyzed to Zhao Ting, "Brother, if we are walking in the dense forest, with the canopy and rocks as cover, even if we encounter an ambush, we will have room to maneuver. If the enemy ambushes us close by, my spiritual sense can detect it in advance. If my spiritual sense cannot give us a warning in advance, then no matter how we deal with such an opponent, it will be in vain."

But if we fly in the air with a large force, we'll be like sitting ducks. We're too big a target, and there's no cover in the air. If the enemy makes a move, we'll have nowhere to hide.

Xia Dong paused at this point. Actually, he had a deeper consideration in mind.

If he were alone, with his mastery of wind manipulation, he could still move freely and flexibly in the air.

However, Zhao Ting was no match for him; his magical power was not particularly profound. As for Pei Hongling, she could only protect herself and was unable to safeguard the overall situation.

"Besides that, this godforsaken place has another deadly danger," Xia Dong continued, his tone cautious, "that is, rampant miasma."

"If we fly too high for safety, there is a fierce and unparalleled gale in the sky, which could tear apart our protective aura if we are not careful; if we fly too low, there is a poisonous miasma that never dissipates throughout these Hundred Thousand Mountains."

Those poisonous miasmas are extremely malevolent; once inhaled, they can easily disrupt the flow of magical power. If, while leading my brothers in the sky, my magical power falters and I fall from mid-air, that's no small matter—it's either death or serious injury.

"Actually, this is still considered good."

"Many ancient and perilous places are hidden within the Ten Thousand Mountains. If one accidentally stumbles upon such a desolate place from the air," one's magical power will be completely drained in an instant, rendering even talismans unusable—that would be truly tragic.

"Brother, you're right. I didn't think things through, and I almost made a big mistake!" Zhao Ting nodded repeatedly. "Let others fly however they want; we should stay grounded and play it safe!"

Once the two had reached an agreement, they immediately ordered the entire army to break camp.

This time, the Eagle Wolf Guard maintained a tight and disciplined formation, advancing step by step towards the Sword Cultivator Secret Realm at the most standard normal marching speed.

Xia Dong's spiritual sense was constantly expanding, and he dared not slacken in the slightest. Pei Hongling also dutifully patrolled the edge of the group to keep watch.

However, the journey over the next few days took everyone by surprise.

They originally thought that the journey would be fraught with danger and that they would be ambushed by the Wusheng Cult or the Barbarian Witch Clan. But to their surprise, they did not encounter a single enemy until they had completely emerged from the miasma.

The entire Ten Thousand Mountains seemed to suddenly fall silent. The evil spirits and heretics hiding in the shadows seemed to have vanished into thin air. The eerie silence made Zhao Ting and the others feel uneasy.

But in any case, it's always a good thing that we didn't encounter any battles.

Several days later, as the view ahead suddenly opened up, an ancient, desolate aura mixed with an extremely faint yet chilling sword intent rushed towards them.

Xia Dong and Zhao Ting led their team and finally arrived at their mission's destination—the Sword Cultivator's Secret Realm—without any major incidents.

In the heart of a vast valley basin, a massive makeshift camp had sprung up. Banners of various colors fluttered in the wind, clearly indicating that the Eagle Wolf Guard, who had moved faster, had arrived here first.

At the deepest part of the basin, there is a huge spatial rift that is tens of feet long, which is the entrance to the Sword Cultivation Secret Realm.

Around the rift, the numerous magic arrays set up by the Great You Dynasty flickered with spiritual light, like chains tightly sealing off the entrance.

However, even with the suppression of the great formation, Xia Dong could still clearly feel a terrifying aura that made his hair stand on end as soon as he got close.

"Such sharp sword energy—"

Xia Dong narrowed his eyes slightly. With his early Foundation Establishment stage divine sense, he could "see" the invisible sword energy emanating from the gaps in the formation.

Just standing at a distance, the sharp aura that seemed capable of directly annihilating one's soul sent chills down one's spine.

After settling his men in, Zhao Ting immediately grabbed the documents and military orders and rushed to the central command tent to report.

About an hour later, Zhao Ting hurriedly returned to his tent.

"Brother, you'd never guess what that commotion we just saw on the road was all about!" Zhao Ting's voice was filled with undisguised horror.

"Brother, have you found out the details?" Xia Dong's expression shifted, and he gestured for him to sit down and explain in detail.

"We've found out! The whole camp is buzzing with the news!" Zhao Ting described the shocking scene he'd heard from his colleagues, still shaken. "It's Ximen Yu, the mid-grade Golden Core Vice Leader of the Wusheng Sect, and a Witch Core stage ancestor from the Barbarian Witch Clan! These two old bastards wanted to take advantage of our weakened formation and break into the secret realm!"

"And what happened? The moment they stepped inside, a sword aura erupted from the depths of the secret realm! It was a remnant sword aura left behind by a great sword cultivator of the Shangqing Shenxiao Dao from the ancient times, thousands upon thousands of years ago!" Zhao Ting gestured with his hands, his voice trembling. "This mere sword aura left behind by a dead man almost killed those two Golden Core Realm experts on the spot! It even shattered their magic weapons, leaving them severely injured and bleeding profusely, fleeing like stray dogs!"

Upon hearing these words, Xia Dong remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was in turmoil.

A great swordsman who had been dead for thousands of years could severely injure two mid-grade Golden Core cultivators with just a wisp of residual sword energy.

Xia Dong took a deep breath, gaining a more profound and intuitive understanding of the martial arts ceiling of this cultivation world and the foundation of the Great You Dynasty.

It should be understood that this sword cultivator secret realm is merely a useless secret realm that the imperial court has put forward in order to lure and kill evil cultivators. It is a "soon-to-be-obsolete" secret realm!

If an abandoned secret realm can hold such an astonishing killing move, it's unimaginable how many terrifying trump cards, enough to suppress all sects in the world, are still held in the hands of those who truly control the fate of the Great You Dynasty, such as the Tongxuan Division and the old emperor.

No wonder the Great You Dynasty has been suppressing all the major immortal sects so much in recent years that they can hardly breathe.

However, since the secret realm is ultimately an inanimate object, if it hadn't been set up as a trap to lure the enemy in, these two Golden Core experts wouldn't have been so unlucky.

Ultimately, high-level cultivators possess top-notch survival skills. They often find themselves unable to kill a snake, and instead suffer harm from it.

The imperial court was indeed quite wary of these people.

"There's one more thing, brother. We made the right move this time," Zhao Ting patted his chest, continuing with a look of relief. "When I was reporting to the central command tent just now, I saw the urgent order from above. It's a death order: if any Eagle Wolf Guard unit hasn't arrived by tonight, their respective commanderies will be severely punished! At best, they'll be demoted and have their salaries reduced; at worst, the commanders and centurions will be arrested and questioned!"

At this point, Zhao Ting couldn't help but sigh, "Luckily, we were honest and didn't dawdle on the way. At least we didn't drag our feet and made it on time."

Xia Dong nodded in deep agreement.

Just as the two were talking, a muffled and chilling bugle call suddenly came from outside the tent.

Immediately afterwards, a deep and powerful voice, imbued with magical energy, resounded throughout the entire valley camp: "All garrisons, listen to my command!"

Half an hour later, gather the elites at the Transcendent Realm and late-stage Qi Refining Realm at the entrance of the secret realm!

Zhao Ting was taken aback, then his expression turned serious: "The higher-ups are about to make a move. I heard that this time they're sending us directly into the Sword Cultivator Secret Realm for trials."

Sure enough, when Xia Dong and Zhao Ting arrived at the plaza in front of the entrance to the secret realm, the Eagle Wolf Guard Commander, who was in charge of coordinating the area, made no attempt to conceal the truth about the mission and revealed it to everyone.

"The Sword Cultivation Secret Realm is about to dissipate, containing the unparalleled sword intent legacy left behind by an ancient great swordsman!" The Suppressor stood on the high platform, his cold gaze sweeping across the entire area. "As long as one can withstand the baptism of the sword intent, one can obtain this astonishing opportunity and rise to the top in one step! But I must also make this clear beforehand—"

The garrison commander's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a bloody cruelty: "The sword intent within is incomparably domineering. Once inside, if one's will is not strong enough to withstand it, at best one's mind will collapse and one will become an idiot, at worst one's spirit will shatter and one's body will perish on the spot! Those who desire this opportunity must risk their lives!"

Upon hearing the garrison commander's unreserved announcement, a commotion immediately broke out among the crowd. Many cultivators and martial artists turned pale upon hearing about the dire consequences and began to back down.

Standing in the crowd, Xia Dong secretly wondered if this seemingly cruel announcement was actually the first "test" to enter the secret realm.

Sword cultivators value unwavering sharpness and unyielding spirit.

If one doesn't even have the courage to face life and death and risk one's life for a chance, how could one possibly inherit such domineering and unparalleled sword intent?

Great determination and perseverance are the tickets to enter this door.

At the same time, Xia Dong gained a clearer understanding of the court's operating logic.

The imperial court did not completely neglect these lowly "oxen and horses."

Normally, the imperial court would support them with salaries and martial arts training. In places like Nanyue Province, they would even tacitly allow them to "passively avoid war" in order to preserve their strength.

But that's normal times.

When the time is right, the court will not hesitate to tear off its mask of gentleness and use these "expendable resources" that have been accumulated for so long without any mercy.

However, a generous reward will surely attract brave men.

Despite the garrison commander's description of the dire consequences, the immense temptation of "rising to the top in one step" always tempted some to risk their lives.

After a brief silence, a dozen or so daring cultivators and martial artists emerged from the crowd.

Some gritted their teeth, others were filled with fanaticism, and under the indifferent gaze of the pacification envoy, they plunged headlong into the dark spatial rift.

However, harsh reality soon dealt everyone a heavy blow.

Not long after, a bloodcurdling scream came from the rift in the secret realm.

Immediately afterwards, several figures stumbled out of the entrance. These people had no external injuries, but their eyes were bloodshot and their pupils were dilated.

As soon as they came out, they rolled around on the ground like madmen, waving their hands wildly and letting out illogical roars like wild beasts. Clearly, their minds had been completely destroyed by the domineering sword intent.

This is not bad.

Several extremely unlucky individuals were dragged out by those behind them. Their eyes bulged out, unfocused, and drool dripped from their mouths; they lay limp on the ground like marionettes.

In the secret realm, their minds were completely annihilated by the violent sword intent, leaving them without even the right to go mad, only a warm, empty shell remaining.

This horrific scene sent chills down the spines of the onlookers.

Xia Dong secretly observed each of the losers who emerged from the secret realm.

He soon discovered an extremely important pattern.

Those whose consciousness was directly obliterated by the sword intent and turned into empty shells were mostly Xuanmen cultivators who specialized in magic power and had weak physical bodies; while those who came out insane but still retained some of their minds were basically martial artists who had made achievements in martial arts and honed a powerful "martial intent".

He even saw a high-level cultivator on the platform make a move, casting a "Heart-Cleansing Mantra" that emitted a soft, clear light, and striking the foreheads of those few insane martial artists.

Under the soothing light, the originally frenzied martial artist gradually calmed down, the madness in his eyes faded, and he barely regained his senses.

Although he was pale and listless, he managed to save his life and preserve some of his foundation.

"I see----"

Xia Dong silently made some plans in his mind.

This sword intent tests not the depth of one's magical power, but the tenacity of one's will.

In terms of martial arts intent, he is now at the peak of the Transcendent Realm, and has even touched the threshold of the "True Intent Realm". His martial arts intent has already materialized. In terms of spiritual cultivation, he has crossed the chasm between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment ahead of schedule, reaching the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Moreover, his spiritual consciousness has been tempered to be extremely resilient.

With his spiritual foundation far surpassing that of his peers, the worst outcome would be that he would briefly fall into madness after being released, requiring someone above to use a calming spell to save his mind.

But Xia Dong was confident that he most likely wouldn't need anyone to save him.

With these dozens of bloody examples before our eyes—some going insane, some becoming crippled—the terrifying scenes that struck straight to the soul completely shattered the wishful thinking of the vast majority of people.

The square was deathly silent.

Faced with that spatial rift, which resembled the gaping maw of a ferocious beast ready to devour its prey, for a moment, very few members of the vast Eagle Wolf Guard camp dared to take another step forward.

Just as the entire arena fell silent and no one dared to step forward, a tall and imposing figure stepped out from the crowd and calmly walked toward the dark spatial rift.

"Xueyi, are you crazy?" Zhao Ting reacted quickly, grabbing Xia Dong's arm tightly and saying urgently, "Didn't you see what happened to those people? Even if your martial arts will is strong, there's no need to take such a risk!"

Xia Dong stopped and turned to look at Zhao Ting, whose face was full of anxiety. He smiled slightly and patted the back of Zhao Ting's hand: "Brother, don't worry, I never do anything I'm not sure of. I have to try this opportunity."

Zhao Ting could only helplessly release his grip and pat Xia Dong's shoulder heavily: "Fine! Since you've made up your mind, as your older brother, I can only support you. Be very careful; if you can't handle it, back out immediately. As long as you're alive, you can always try again!"

Xia Dong nodded, turned around, and strode into the spatial rift.

His action caused a huge uproar, instantly triggering a violent commotion and shock in the once-silent square.

"Who is that? They actually dare to go in and die?"

"Are you blind? That's Xia Baihu from Pingyang County! Xia Yidao, who swept all his way to victory in our Eagle Wolf Guard's internal martial arts competition a while ago!"

"So it was him! No wonder he had such courage!"

Xia Dong had indeed risen to prominence among the Eagle Wolf Guards in several southern provinces.

The title "Xia Yidao" (meaning "Xia the One-Cut") was earned through countless strokes of his sword; it was not an empty name.

Upon seeing him enter the formation, the cultivators and martial artists on the periphery, who had been terrified, immediately became lively again, and some even took the opportunity to...

Betting odds were set up at the edge of the square, with people betting on whether Xia Dong could successfully inherit the sword intent.

The betting pool was enormous, and the spirit stones wagered quickly piled up into a small mountain.

Zhao Ting looked at the bustling betting area, gritted his teeth, walked over, and slammed a heavy storage bag full of spirit stones onto the area marked "No".

His colleagues around him were stunned: "Lord Zhao, aren't you Xia Yidao's sworn brother? Why are you betting on him to lose?"

With red eyes, Zhao Ting cursed, "What do you know! I'm keeping a backup plan! If something happens to my brother inside and he suffers a mental or physical injury, these spirit stones I won will be a consolation prize for him."

Those around were speechless for a moment.

Meanwhile, Pei Hongling, who had been silent all along, stepped forward and unhesitatingly placed all the spirit stones she had on the character "能" (meaning "ability").

If Xia Dong were still outside right now, seeing this mountain of spirit stones at the gambling table, he would probably be green with envy.

After all, he knew he could play it this way, so he had to place a heavy bet on himself and make a fortune.

Unfortunately, the gambling only started after he went in.

The moment Xia Dong passed through the spatial rift, he felt a dizzying sensation. When his feet touched solid ground again, the scene before him...

I couldn't help but gasp.

Inside this secret realm lies a desolate, boundless sword tomb!

The sky was a depressing, deathly gray, devoid of sun, moon, and stars, with only visible streaks of chaotic sword energy raging across the heavens like aurora borealis.

The ground beneath our feet was dark red, as if soaked in dried blood of gods and demons, and the air was filled with a strong, pungent smell of rust and the decay of time.

What's most chilling is that as far as the eye can see, there are countless swords, thousands upon thousands!

Heavy swords as wide as doors, soft swords as thin as cicada wings, ancient swords covered in verdigris, broken swords in two—they are like a strange and twisted steel jungle, randomly stuck upside down on the dark red wasteland.

Each sword emanated a different degree of lamentation and resentment.

The spiritual energy in the secret realm was so dense that it was almost dripping with water, and even formed wisps of white mist in the low-lying areas.

But Xia Dong only took one breath and felt as if countless tiny steel needles had been swallowed into his lungs, causing excruciating pain.

The spiritual energy here has long been completely assimilated and polluted by the domineering sword intent of that ancient sword cultivator!

Such sharp spiritual energy cannot be absorbed and refined by ordinary cultivators. Forcibly inhaling it will only gradually destroy their meridians!

"What a terrifying sword intent domain—" Xia Dong suppressed the discomfort in his lungs, reduced his breathing to a minimum, and simultaneously activated the Vajra King Technique.

Because the Vajra King Technique requires the use of spiritual energy to temper the physical body, it makes one extremely tolerant of such spiritual energy.

As he looked around, the swords resembled a vast ocean, each radiating a sharp, powerful aura.

Xia Dong frowned slightly and carefully released his divine sense, which had reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment, out of his body, spreading it forward.

The moment his consciousness left his body, Xia Dong's face turned deathly pale.

May he be torn to pieces!

This was Xia Dong's only feeling at that moment.

Within this Sword Tomb space, the omnipresent, invisible sword energy is like a giant meat grinder.

The moment his divine sense reached out, it was frantically cut, torn apart, and strangled by countless fine and sharp sword energies!

The excruciating pain that cuts directly to the depths of the soul is enough to completely break a mentally sound person in an instant.

Xia Dong grunted and immediately forced himself to focus his mind, compressing his consciousness within three feet of his body to protect his clear mind.

Fortunately, his spiritual power was incredibly resilient, and Xia Dong gritted his teeth and withstood the potentially fatal wave of pain.

"Even my initial Foundation Establishment stage consciousness is being tortured like a thousand cuts here—" Xia Dong gasped for breath, a look of shock flashing across his face.

No wonder none of the people who came in earlier were able to last.

Under such all-pervasive and terrifying sword intent, those with weak consciousness will be instantly reduced to empty shells; even those with a strong martial will will suffer mental breakdown and madness under such torture.

"Never mind, who knows how to obtain the sword intent inheritance? I'll temper my martial intent first." Xia Dong began tempering his martial intent without hesitation, attempting to break through to the "True Intent Realm".

If we can successfully break through, this trip won't be in vain!

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