With the shattering of the Blood Essence Crystal and the depletion of the Sacred Wood Essence, Mu Jinyu finally stopped cultivating.
"Whew..."
Mu Jinyu opened his eyes, exhaling a long breath. His eyes sparkled with a gleam of joy.
In just eleven days, he had advanced from the First Layer of the Fanxu Realm to the Peak of the Third Layer. Such a cultivation speed was truly astonishing.
However, the resources consumed were also enormous.
Ordinary people could not afford such a terrifying expenditure.
Mu Jinyu stood up with a smile, casually undoing the restrictions around him, and then flew towards the Sect Master Hall.
While flying, Mu Jinyu saw the Heavenly Sword Mountain Range below looking peaceful, knowing that the Blood Sword Sect had not yet noticed the changes in the Blood Essence Pool, his heart felt at ease.
At this time, he was already at the Peak of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm. If he truly faced the Great Elder of the Blood Sword Sect and used the "True Dragon Art," he wouldn't be afraid.
However, the longer he could delay, stabilizing his realm further would naturally increase his chances of winning. He certainly hoped the Blood Sword Sect wouldn't notice the changes in the Blood Essence Pool for half a year.
In that case, by then, he should be stable at the Fourth Layer of the Fanxu Realm, and he would be even less afraid of the Blood Sword Sect.
Of course, that was just wishful thinking and not realistic. The Blood Sword Sect would never take that long to notice something wrong with the Blood Essence Pool.
Very soon, Mu Jinyu arrived at the Sect Master Hall.
Xie Chenkun was sitting in a study room, sipping tea and chatting with the Great Elder. On the surface, they appeared calm, but if one looked closely, there was a hint of worry hidden deep in their eyes.
More than twenty days had passed since the Four Sects Martial Meeting, and it had been eleven days since Mu Jinyu took the Blood Essence Crystal back to the Heavenly Sword Faction. During this time, the Heavenly Sword Faction had already obtained the first batch of cultivation resources from the Yan Kingdom, far surpassing the other three sects.
But due to the Blood Essence Crystal being a ticking time bomb, they were finding it hard to feel joyful about these resources. Instead, they were increasingly worried, always fearing that the Blood Sword Sect might suddenly come knocking.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
At this moment, a knocking sound echoed.
"Hmm?! Who is it!"
Hearing the knocking, both Xie Chenkun and the Great Elder's expressions changed slightly.
With their strength, having someone arrive outside this study room in the Sect Master Hall without noticing was alarming. If the visitor had malicious intentions, wouldn't they be at a disadvantage or even gravely injured?
But who could it be?
The Great Elder of the Blood Sword Sect?!
At this moment, Mu Jinyu spoke, "Sect Leader, it's me, your disciple."
Hearing Mu Jinyu's voice, the originally tense Xie Chenkun and the Great Elder relaxed immediately and smiled, "Jinyu, you've exited seclusion?"
After speaking, Xie Chenkun waved his hand, releasing the restrictions on the study, and the door opened automatically.
Outside the door stood a young man in white, with long black hair that reached his waist and back. He was handsome with an extraordinary temperament, looking at them with a smile.
It was Mu Jinyu, who had just exited seclusion.
Xie Chenkun initially smiled at Mu Jinyu, but upon discerning Mu Jinyu's cultivation level, his smile froze, and his expression immediately changed, filled with disbelief.
"You... you've reached the Peak of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm already?!"
"How did you progress so quickly?!"
The Great Elder beside him also gasped, stunned in place.
His own cultivation was only at the Peak of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm, yet he was the first among the Heavenly Sword Faction.
Unexpectedly, a few months ago, the young junior who was only at the Fourth Layer of the Divine Transformation Realm had caught up to him in such a short time. How extraordinary was this?
"I'm lucky to have accomplished the mission. This disciple is now at the Peak of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm."
Witnessing their shock, Mu Jinyu didn't grow overly proud or lose himself. He bowed respectfully to them and said modestly.
"Good, good, good..."
Xie Chenkun regained his composure, suppressing the shocking waves in his heart, and then smiled with gratification and praise.
"As expected, the Wood Spirit Root faces no boundary limitations; as long as there are sufficient resources, cultivation will continue to improve. It's truly enviable."
Saying this, Xie Chenkun suddenly seemed puzzled and asked, "But wait... it's only been eleven days. Even if you're not constrained by boundaries, you shouldn't have refined the Blood Essence Crystal so quickly?"
He initially thought that after Mu Jinyu ended his retreat, he might have reached the mid or late First Layer of the Fanxu Realm and come to inquire about the Blood Sword Sect's situation.
But who would have known that in eleven days, he not only reached the Second Layer of the Fanxu Realm but directly advanced to the Peak of the Third Layer, close to the Fourth Layer. How could this not be unbelievable?
Hearing Xie Chenkun's question, Mu Jinyu certainly couldn't reveal the matter of the mystical little tree in his Sea of Consciousness assisting him in refining the Blood Essence Crystal, so he smiled and said, "Perhaps the cultivation technique I practice tends towards the blood essence attribute, making the refining process much easier."
"Oh, I see..."
Upon hearing this, Xie Chenkun pretended to realize suddenly, nodding.
But in his heart, he knew this couldn't be the real reason. There had to be some secret method involved, but he didn't want to pry further.
So, he changed the topic, "Since you've cultivated to the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm, the Blood Essence Crystal should have been fully refined, right?"
"Yes," Mu Jinyu nodded.
"Well, it doesn't matter. Since you're at the Peak of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm, even if the Blood Sword Sect discovers that you've taken the Blood Essence Crystal, we won't fear them!"
Xie Chenkun clapped and said.
After speaking, he pondered for a moment and added, "However, since there is time, you can further increase your strength to be more assured when the time comes..."
Mu Jinyu, hearing Xie Chenkun's suggestion, initially thought he planned to allocate the resources obtained from the Four Sects Martial Meeting to further his cultivation and shook his head, saying:
"Sect Leader, those resources should be left to the junior disciples who need them. I've taken the Blood Essence Crystal but haven't shared it with the Heavenly Sword Faction, causing the sect to share the risk, so I already feel quite guilty."
Hearing Mu Jinyu's words, Xie Chenkun was momentarily stunned, then laughed:
"My suggestion wasn't to continue giving you resources to push to the Fourth Layer of the Fanxu Realm. After all, though you have no boundary bottleneck, allowing continuous strengthening, you haven't yet adapted to the power of the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm. If you continue to elevate, control over your power will be increasingly difficult. So my suggestion is for you to go to the Scripture Pavilion and select some techniques and divine skills to learn!"
"This way, you can increase your combat power while also becoming familiar with the strength of your Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm."
"Moreover, the techniques and supernatural powers you've been using are still at the Yellow Grade and Profound Rank. At this stage, continuing to use such techniques is inappropriate."
Mu Jinyu, hearing this, also found it reasonable. Back when he was in the Outer Gate and Inner Gate of the Heavenly Sword Faction, he felt the "Great Freedom Heavenly Wood Sword Qi" was still handy. But during the Four Sects Martial Meeting, it had already become unusable.
Now being at the Third Layer of the Fanxu Realm, this divine skill was almost entirely useless, and it was indeed time for him to learn a few new divine skills.