Holy Maiden, wait a minute. Why are you asking me to cultivate again?

The sun rises in the east, its golden light breaking the dawn.

Song Zhao sat cross-legged on a blue stone at the foot of the mountain, with the snow-white flying sword "Heyi" lying across his knees.

He closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, and formed the Taiyin Seal, which the Taiyin Demon Clan used to nourish their swords, with both hands. Then, the seal suddenly changed, transforming from the original Taiyin Seal into the Taiyang Yin Seal.

The Taiyin Overlord Sword was originally a method of cultivation at midnight, using moonlight to nourish the sword and seeking yin within yin.

However, Song Zhao took a different approach, reversing the cultivation method to try and see if he could nourish his sword with yang essence and seek the yang within yang.

"You brat, are you out of your mind? How dare you act so recklessly?" The witch saw through Song Zhao's intentions and shouted, "This is the royal family's cultivation method, passed down for ten thousand years. You've only looked at it for one night, and you think you can modify it?"

"You're overestimating yourself."

"I have seen the owner of the Heavenly Demon Pearl killed by a female cultivator, and I have also seen people die from being drained of their life force, and people killed by their enemies. But I have never seen someone die from practicing their own cultivation. Today I am going to have my eyes opened."

Ignoring the witch's words, Song Zhao recklessly reversed the flow of the Taiyin Sword Nourishment Technique!

Suddenly, the Great Sun Essence, high in the sky above Song Zhao's world, seemed like a sleeping beast that had smelled blood, bursting forth with dazzling golden light!

The flying sword trembled slightly in the dazzling golden light, as if sensing the sun's immense power, emitting a faint hum.

"it works!"

Song Zhao smiled knowingly and slowly circulated the yang energy within his body throughout his body.

The yang energy traveled upwards along the meridians, combining with the yang essence of the great sun surging into his body, instantly engulfing his entire body.

He grunted, veins bulging on his forehead, but his hand remained firmly on the sword hilt. The essence of the great sun flowed into the sword through his palm.

The flying sword "Harmony" suddenly lit up—half of it was as white as ice, and the other half was as golden as flame. The two forces clashed fiercely on the blade, producing a piercing metallic tremor.

"Heyi" was originally a Yin-attribute natal flying sword, and now that it has been tempered with the essence of the sun, it will only become more and more refined!

As the yang essence was continuously poured in, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the sword.

However, those cracks did not actually spread, but instead re-intertwined deep within the blade, forming gold and white patterns that made the blade body tighter and more resilient.

The witch's eyes widened in astonishment, and she pondered, "This technique can be used like this?"

"Could it be that the old man possesses a natural sword seed that I haven't noticed?"

"That doesn't make sense..."

At the same time, not all of the Great Sun's Yang Essence was poured into the sword.

Song Zhao discovered that a small amount of the sun's yang essence was circulating along his meridians, continuously circulating through the microcosmic and macrocosmic orbits.

"Heh, reversing cultivation techniques is one thing, but daring to use the essence of the sun to temper your body is another. I'll burn you to ashes in a moment!" The witch found it incomprehensible.

Successfully refining the sword technique is already one in ten thousand, and she had never heard of a Qi Refining cultivator using the essence of the sun to cultivate.

The Great Sun Essence is extremely dangerous for cultivators who have not yet formed a Golden Core. Once their soul is burned, without the guidance of their divine consciousness, their bodies will quickly be reduced to ashes.

But to the witch's surprise, it seemed that Song Zhao was about to succeed.

Wherever the yang essence passes, the meridians feel as if they have been rolled by molten iron, and the burning pain penetrates straight to the bone marrow.

But after the pain subsided, a warm force surged from deep within Song Zhao's bones, like withered trees blossoming in spring, with new life faintly emerging between his muscles and bones.

Golden flames appeared on his skin, and a faint glow emanated from beneath it, like jade soaked in sunlight.

The witch's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Damn it, they weren't burned to death?"

"Could he really be a peerless genius?"

Half an hour later, as the sun rose higher, Song Zhao stopped nurturing his sword.

The flying sword "Heyi" on her lap had returned to its original color, but there was an extremely fine gold line on the blade, and its overall size was visibly smaller.

Is this good or bad?

Song Zhao reached for the flying sword, but found that when he was three inches away from the sword, there was a thin layer of sunlight-like sword light in a place he couldn't see.

"If I rashly try to take it, I'm afraid there will be bloodshed."

He tried to control the flying sword and clearly felt that he needed more spiritual energy, and at the same time, the power of the flying sword also increased slightly.

"That's a good thing!"

"Moreover, my physical body seems to have reached a new level. Is this the Great Sun Body Tempering?"

"I remember that the Nine Yin Nine Yang Manual also has a method for tempering the body with the Great Sun, but that requires waiting until the fourth level of the Dao Body, or after refining the Golden Core..."

"By the way, senior, was that the Great Sun Body Tempering just now?"

The witch ignored him, already bewildered by Song Zhao's bizarre actions.

If she could live again, she would also want to cultivate according to Song Zhao's methods.

During the day, everyone in the Tianwu Sect continued to live in peace.

The servants continued to do their dirty and tiring work, the disciples cultivated and meditated, and each peak and hall kept to their duties. Nothing major happened.

As night fell, everyone became alert.

The shadow of the deaths of two disciples of the Grand Elder still hangs over everyone's hearts these past two days.

The sect elders had already taken up their posts as the sun was setting, their divine senses covering almost every area without any blind spots.

Following his instructions from the previous night, Song Zhao went alone to the wilderness.

He was within Cui Yu's spiritual sense range and was not afraid of being ambushed by the cultivators of the Innate Demonic Sect.

At midnight, the moonlight was clear and bright, falling generously on the earth as if a layer of frost had formed.

Inside the Grand Elder's palace.

Zhou Zhaoxi and two other disciples stayed together, and they were all within Cui Yu's consciousness.

"Junior brothers, I need to pee."

The two students exchanged a glance, fearing something might happen to the other: "Why don't we go with you?"

Zhou Zhaoxi laughed and said, "No need, no need, it's just a quick pee, I'll be back soon."

"Besides, the outhouse isn't far, only a few dozen steps away."

He has not yet established his foundation, nor has he practiced abstinence from grains; he still needs to consume human food.

Moreover, many cultivators, even after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, crave worldly delicacies and do not practice abstinence from grains.

"Alright." The two disciples also felt there was no major problem. After all, there were many arrays in the palace. Could the demonic cultivators possibly enter the palace and then kill people?

Zhou Zhaoxi walked into the outhouse, about to relieve himself, when he suddenly felt an itch between his eyebrows, as if celestial music was playing in the darkness.

He listened intently and felt his mind become clear. He heard fairies playing the flute and jade maidens playing the zither, creating beautiful music all around him.

"This is?"

Zhou Zhaoxi gradually lost the urge to urinate, became more and more engrossed, felt refreshed, and a hearty smile appeared on his face.

He pretended to be asleep, and in a daze, a series of realizations arose in his mind. There was a path leading to the Foundation Establishment stage before him!

"This is an opportunity to establish your foundation!"

Zhou Zhaoxi left the outhouse with a smile, overjoyed, and flew away in one direction on the wind.

"Zhou Zhaoxi, where are you going?" Cui Yu's divine sense questioned.

Zhou Zhaoxi immediately stopped and bowed deeply, saying, "Elder, just now this disciple seemed to have an opportunity for enlightenment, which should be within or outside the sect."

Cui Yu became wary: "Your aptitude is not high, and you don't possess any Daoist magic or immortal body. Where did you get this fortuitous enlightenment?"

"Retreat back to the palace immediately!"

Zhou Zhaoxi, however, didn't take it to heart and instead scoffed, "Elder, don't look down on people!"

"Could it be that in the elders' eyes, their disciples are nothing more than rotten wood?"

"Or is the elder trying to block my opportunity so that it can be given to someone else?"

"Is it going to be given to Song Zhao?"

After saying that, Zhou Zhaoxi snorted coldly, rode the wind, and left Cui Yu's spiritual sense range.

Cui Yu was very anxious, but if she moved, the other disciples within her divine sense range would be unprotected. She had no choice but to send a telepathic message to Song Zhao:

"Song Zhao, Zhou Zhaoxi seems to have been struck by demonic magic, about twelve miles to the southwest. Go and provide support immediately!"