Chapter Fifty-two: Return to Chaoyang Peak

  Lu Family Martial Arts Hall.

  Lu Qing stood firmly in the center of the hall, his eyes closed, as if he were an ancient tree that had been standing there for a thousand years. His entire demeanor seemed to have merged with this small piece of heaven and earth, without any flaws or weaknesses.

  But the Refining Heart Sword behind Lu Qing began to tremble slightly, and suddenly, Lu Qing's eyes snapped open, two bright purple lights flashed by, the Refining Heart Sword let out a loud whoosh as it instantly left its scabbard, being grasped firmly in Lu Qing's hand. In an instant, Lu Qing's entire aura underwent a heaven-shaking transformation, the primordial energy between heaven and earth seemed to be drawn towards him, his arm rotated once, then suddenly contracted, Lu Qing lowered his head to glance at the Refining Heart by his side, his arm thrust forward in a sudden burst.

  A clear and crisp sword hum sounded, accompanied by a purple electric arc that wrapped around the slender purple electricity, which was as long as a foot. The air seemed to flash with a purple lightning bolt, and six feet away in front of it, on a black iron casting test sword stone that was several inches thick and over a meter high, a footprint that was about an inch deep and a foot long suddenly exploded out, with dense cracks extending outward for several inches around.

  Lu Qing's face showed a satisfied expression, now that he had entered the Sword Guest stage, the Purple Thunder Sword had undergone a metamorphosis, and the purple thunder energy stored within it was even more apparent, almost reaching the point of being visible to the naked eye. In his experience over the past few days, only those who had fully merged with the Power Seed, such as Tai Yun's Fire Sword Aura and Nie Qingtian's Xun Feng Sword Aura, had achieved this level of aura. Moreover, Lu Qing was confident that his Purple Thunder Sword Aura was not inferior to theirs, and in terms of destructive power, it was even more overbearing.

  Until now, the power of the alien sword energy has truly emerged, but Lu Qing is a little confused. Now that he has advanced to the rank of Sword Guest, he must choose a set of profound swordsmanship that meets his requirements in order to make progress. How should he choose?

  According to the fourth layer of the Sun Scripture in his mind, after a Swordsman of the Sword Guest stage chooses a profound sword technique, he practices it with all his might every day until he feels the artistic conception hidden in the sword technique. He then uses this artistic conception to feel the type of power it belongs to and, through the opened Baihui acupoint, draws this power from between heaven and earth into his body, condensing it into a Dan Tian Qi Hai, thereby achieving one of the original powers of Heaven and Earth.

  The key is to choose a profound swordsmanship, and now I have achieved a different kind of sword energy, which belongs to thunder and lightning by nature. If there is a profound swordsmanship that belongs to thunder, it would be fine; otherwise, I can only choose the family-transmitted "Taiyi 36 Hammers" swordsmanship, which seems to carry the power of wind and thunder, but it's also unknown whether it can merge with other powers, which is currently a bit of a headache.

  But soon Lu Qing calmed down again, these things can't be rushed, especially the choice of swordsmanship is a deep and profound matter that will determine his future, not to mention being careless. Lu Qing decided to wait until he returned to Chaoyang Peak to search for it in the second floor of Wu Ge. Moreover, he remembered Zhao Qianye's sword from that day, the clear and powerful lightning power was far from his own pure power, but it was indeed a real thunder attribute.

  Then, Lu Qing continued to practice the sword techniques he had learned one by one. In addition to the foundational sword techniques of Chaoyang Seven Styles and Tengyun Nine Swords, there was also the profound sword technique Xuri Thirteen Swords that Chaoyang Feng had taught him. Perhaps it was because he had been in contact with Seasoned Old Man for three days and had a deep understanding of the subtleties of lightness and heaviness. Lu Qing's comprehension of weightlessness had almost reached its peak, and at this time, when he demonstrated Xuri Thirteen Swords, he even successfully executed the last three ultimate moves. For a moment, the martial arts hall was filled with purple electricity, and the sword energy sometimes gathered into a ball, sometimes scattered into countless tiny sword energies that struck the smooth white stone floor of the martial arts hall, blasting out holes the size of fists.

  Afterwards, the profound swordsmanship he called Taiyi Wind and Thunder Sword was evolved from the 36 strikes of Taiyi. He didn't dare to use his inner energy to execute it, but only used his physical strength to execute it once. Despite this, with his increased physical strength after rebirth, he could only execute up to the sixth move before exhausting his strength. He sat down on the ground in the hall, circulating his inner energy to stimulate his muscles and skin, recovering his strength. A moment later, Lu Qing stood up and left the martial arts hall.

  "I want to enter Jianchi."

  Yan Ruyu's brow furrowed as she listened to Lu Qing's words, and after a long while, she spoke up: "Jianchi is a crucial place for our family, I know you want to enter it to borrow the pure heavenly energy of the land to enhance your sword cultivation, but at present, you still can't go in."

  "Can't get in?" Lu Qing was somewhat puzzled.

  "Now, you can't enter," Yan Ruyu said affirmatively. "There's a prerequisite for entering the Sword Pool, which is that a sword master must come to unlock the Sword Stone, otherwise, one will be injured by the counterattacking sword energy inside the Sword Pool. This is an ancestral sword array restriction. If it were in the past, there wouldn't be any problem, but now, there's no way."

  When Lu Qing heard Yan Ruyi's gradually lowering voice, he obviously knew what she was thinking of and what she meant. However, he didn't say much either, for nostalgia wouldn't decrease in the slightest just because of comfort.

  However, his idea of borrowing the Family Sword Pool to improve his cultivation has failed. He can only enter the Sect's Sword Pool in half a year. Lu Qing secretly thought to himself that there was no place for him to advance at home anymore, and temporarily, family matters were being taken care of by his mother and Yi Lao, so it wasn't necessary for him to intervene. It was time for him to return to Yangyang Peak.

  "Are you leaving?" Obviously, as a mother, Yan Ruyi immediately sensed the thoughts in Lu Qing's heart and asked.

  He nodded and said, "Although I've made such progress now, the sword path will become increasingly difficult later on, and the difficulty of improvement will also increase greatly. If I didn't have these numerous encounters, even with more diligent practice, I wouldn't have achieved this so quickly. Moreover, there are many other talented individuals on each peak who are also making progress, so at any time, I must not slack off."

  She stood up and walked to Lu Qing's side. Lu Qing, who was now over six feet tall, was more than half a head taller than Yan Ruyi. She stretched out her hand and gently stroked her son's face. Yan Ruyi's eyes gradually calmed down as she said, "No matter what, Mother will always support you, and the entire Lu family will always support you."

  Three days later, Lu Qing finally set off. He stayed at home for another three days, calming his mind and thoughts before finally stepping onto the mountain path of Chaoyang Peak. He no longer rode the black blood horse, as he believed that walking on foot was also a form of cultivation. This was because he remembered reading an ancient manuscript called "The Cultivation of the Mind", whose author remained anonymous, but which had taught Lu Qing many principles. Now, whether it was his cultivation or state of mind, he had undergone great changes and had come to understand many of the true meanings in the book.

  It also mentions that reading ten thousand volumes of books, traveling ten thousand miles, refining worldly relationships and observing the vast world.

  It now appears that it is consistent with the daily practice of swordsmanship, and even surpasses it in terms of realm.

  Lu Qing walked at a moderate pace, neither slow nor hurried. With each step, he sank his mind into a state of emptiness, free from thoughts and distractions. His gaze occasionally fell upon the surrounding trees, grass, strange rocks, insects, and birds, stirring slight movements in his heart. As winter's chill intensified, the sky finally released its snowflakes, gently falling onto Lu Qing's body. Despite the cold, he didn't brush them off, instead allowing them to settle on him. By the time he traversed the rocky forest and stepped onto the mountain path leading to Chaoyang Peak, his entire being had almost merged with the surrounding snowfall. As snow fell with each step, Lu Qing's mind grew increasingly tranquil. Unbeknownst to him, his Soul Refining Technique broke through to the second stage of Spiritual Realm, expanding his divine sense to envelop a distance of fifty yards in all directions.

  But Lu Qing's mind at this moment did not fluctuate in the slightest, neither sad nor happy. In his view, everything now is a natural occurrence, and only his physical body has gone through all of this.

  And the fourth layer of the Sun Scripture also started running unconsciously at this moment, the infinite yuan energy between heaven and earth poured into Lu Qing's body at a speed nearly ten times that of usual days, then was absorbed and transformed into purple electric sword yuan to fill up the still empty dantian qihai.

  When arriving at Chaoyang Palace, it was already late afternoon. The remaining sunset glow fell on the thick snow-covered ground, casting a layer of warm orange light, as if the entire sunset had turned into the earth, radiating warmth and brilliance.

  At this moment, Lu Qing's breakthrough to the Sword Guest's mental state had completely stabilized and condensed, and he vaguely felt a sense of connection to the surrounding world, as if he should go recognize them. His heart was filled with an inexplicable expectation.

  At the current state of Lu Qing's mental realm, it was no longer easy for anyone to influence and shake him. At this moment, Lu Qing's face was as pale as jade, revealing a crystal clear meaning that could rival the best silk fabrics. The whole person was filled with a kind of quiet peace and tranquility, his temperament as stable as a high mountain. Every gesture he made was full of an irresistible charm that made people want to get close to him.

  This is also a great harvest for Lu Qing. Others may use their experiences, emotions and worldly affairs to break through their original heart and open the hundred-meeting acupoint, but he has used his perseverance in the face of life and death to first break through life and death, and then use life and death to break through his original heart. This is not just a higher level in terms of realm.

  Rushing to the new person chart, urgently seeking recommendation votes and collections, hoping everyone will generously assist, let Ten Steps truly take ten steps to kill one person, a thousand miles without leaving a trail, killing all the way to the top ten!