30 Enlightened!

"I am actually able to sense your presence?" Zhou Yan said in a surprised tone.

"Yes indeed, brother Zhou Yan. Within your body is the Blade's Essence of Infinity. Besides, I am now your main sword. As long as your soul is powerful enough, you will have no problem sensing my presence," Lil' Frost explained.

It was only at this moment that Zhou Yan finally understood how Feng Lingqing was able to understand everything that had happened after talking to Silver Frost.

To own a Blade specter this unique, it seemed to record every event that had happened within the confines of a newly created Blade's Realm as an astoundingly easy task.

At this very moment,he felt a strong surge of emotions. A single sword… a single sword of life actually had its own personalized sentience!

"Since you are my temporary main sword, why do you address me as brother Zhou Yan and not master?" Zhou Yan finally spoke his curious mind.

"That is all because, in the entirety of my lifespan, the only master I have is Master Feng Lingqing."

"Besides, I truly love you from the bottom of my heart, and after noticing how much you enjoyed being called brother Zhou Yan by Gu Xi, it's only natural for me to... address you as such. Do you like it?" Lil' Frost explained. 

Her expression was slightly nervous when she spoke.

Zhou Yan absolutely adored her after staring at such a gorgeous sight .

"Ah, it seems that is the reason. Of course, I love being addressed as 'brother Zhou Yan' by you. I also very much like my Blade's Specter's little sister as well," Zhou Yan said in a compassionate tone.

At this very moment, he stopped perceiving a sword as an object. Instead, he now saw it as a sentient lifeform and grew to respect its life.

"Brother Zhou Yan, you're the best!" Lil' Frost was ecstatic as the blade's body danced around the room and cheered merrily. Its call sounded as charming as a nightingale.

'Such charming cheers, could this possibly be the cries of a blade?' Zhou Yan was utterly perplexed.

…

"Brother Zhou Yan, I don't know what this 'Blade's Menace' is, but as a Blade's Specter, I can unleash the Blade's Menace. Brother Zhou Yan, you may try to feel its power."

"Alright then, go ahead and try. I would love to feel the power of the Blade's Menace."

Zhou Yan nodded as he focused his mind. Although the Blade's Menace was sealed within the carving, when he was being hunted by the Lady of the Snow-Jaded Palace and her people, the instant he unleashed the sealed Blade's Menace, he could not sense a thing.

The only thing that was left behind were the three Blade's Specter that was sealed within Sorrow's Breaker. When the Lady of the Snow-Jaded Palace repaired the blade, everything else was completely erased.

…

Hence, even till this very day, he had never experienced what the Blade's Menace felt like. Not to mention, he never came close to the opportunity of manifesting a Blade's Specter of his own. 

Therefore, he was extremely excited.

After receiving his orders, Lil' Frost proceeded to focus her mind while standing beside Zhou Yan. After doing so, both her eyes sprung open, revealing her huge eyes, then two blinding rays of light as bright as the sun was unleashed.

Instantly, both rays of Blade's light shot directly into Zhou Yan as fast as lightning. Before he could even react, he felt the aftershock reverberating throughout his entire body, causing him to instantly cough out puddles of blood!

He felt that the piercing impact of the two rays of Blade's Light was enough to obliterate his soul.

A massive omen of death could be felt coming from within from the depths of his heart!

However, with his unbending will he suppressed these intense and morbid feelings of soul destruction and the feelings of death. Then, he took a deep breath as he struggled to sit down.

"Ah... Brother Zhou Yan... you… are you alright…" Lil' Frost was horrified as Zhou Yan's soul had been shred to pieces.

Suddenly, Zhou Yan was unable to sense Lil' Frost's presence. The instant he was about to crumble, he was able to sense the panic from Lil' Frost's voice.

Zhou Yan cracked a bitter smile since this naive child had only unleashed one-tenth of her Blade's Menace, and just from that alone, it almost killed him.

This... this was beyond his imagination.

Zhou Yan finally understood why he felt immense pressure whenever he was faced with terrifyingly powerful foes. That was the pressure from the raw Blade's Menace!

This Blade's Menace was genuinely terrifying!

While he reflected upon everything, he took out some Spirit Crystals and prepared himself to recover from the injuries he sustained. However, at this moment a flash of light could be seen coming out from a void and Feng Lingqing flew out and appeared beside Zhou Yan. "Are you alright, Zhou Yan? Silver Frost went a little too far as she only has the mind of a seven or eight-year-old child. You'll need to be careful, alright?" Feng Lingqing said frantically.

Feng Lingqing, who rushed out in an agitated state let out a huge sigh of relief after noticing that Zhou Yan's life was not in danger.

However, since she had rushed out in such a hurry, she had streaks of blood running down the sides of her mouth. Zhou Yan knew that she had forced herself out in a state of utmost urgency.

He felt a slightly warm feeling in his heart. He said remorsefully , "I've been careless, all I wanted was to awaken my Blade's Menace earlier. I didn't expect this Blade's Menace to be this potent and powerful. Sigh, I was indeed careless."

Zhou Yan chuckled bitterly.

"Don't you do that next time, alright. The truth about awakening one's Blade's Menace is to condense your own will into a sharp blade, and through that, you will be able to give form to your Blade's Menace.

"Another thing to take note of is that even by doing so, this is only the most basic form of Blade's Menace. True Blade's Menace stems from the soul, and morphing the soul into the form of a blade is the key to the power of the Blade's Menace!

"Thus, to put things into simpler terms, the Blade's Menace is simply the soul's blade and the ferocity of one's will."

"The ferocity of one's soul morphed into the form of a Blade is the true meaning of Blade's Menace?" Zhou Yan was enlightened, as it seemed that his combat prowess had massively increased after painfully mastering the Form of The Dragon. Hence, everything that was difficult to understand became extremely simple to him.

"You... understood it…?"

Feng Lingqing was stunned.

"Indeed. I understood every bit of it," Zhou Yan replied while nodding his head.

Zhou Yan knew that he had seemingly broken the laws of nature.

"It seems to me that you are not far from awakening the basic form of Blade's Menace now. If it's possible for you, work harder and strive to morph your soul into the form of a blade before the age of sixteen!"

Feng Lingqing was stunned because this natural gift was literally breaking the laws of nature!

After she was done speaking, she turned around and got ready to disappear.

At this very moment, Zhou Yan was unsure where his sudden rush of strength came from. He grabbed onto Feng Lingqing's arm and with a slight tug he pulled her into his loving arms.

"This time, I've made you worry, and indirectly caused you to injure your body even more. Let me heal you now."

While Zhou Yan was hugging her, he gently patted her back.

Although his actions were bold, she never resisted him.

"Sigh, you are indeed your father's son, as the chip of the old block. Like your father, you are a living, breathing, lustful man!"

She sighed. However, it felt slightly flirtatious and frustrated. From the tone of her voice, it sounded a little oddly submissive.

"Well, if that's the case, why don't you marry this lustful man then," Zhou Yan teased while ignoring her complicated emotions.

Both Feng Lingqing's cheeks blushed slightly. She said, "Marry you... in the future, I'm worried you wouldn't say the same thing... I'll be attending to my wounds now. This debacle interrupted my healing state, so I will be hibernating for a little longer."

The tone of her voice sounded slightly conflicted when she was tempted to struggle out of Zhou Yan's embrace. Before she did so, she tiptoed and kissed Zhou Yan on his forehead. After doing so, her body shattered like fragments of glass then it dispersed into a cloud of messy Blade's Essence and finally entered Silver Frost's body.

'She knows way too many secrets. However, she refused to share even the slightest with me...' Zhou Yan sighed as he thought to himself.

He felt an empty feeling of loneliness from within his heart.

However, this feeling only lasted a mere moment because the temptation of awakening his Blade's Menace massively eclipsed his own feelings. Hence, he carefully recalled everything Feng Lingqing had told him then repeatedly thought about that violent and potent explosion of Blade's Menace from Silver Frost.

Whenever he felt his body and mind become exhausted, he would shift his focus to study every detail of the Manuscripts of Clear Waters Heaven's Blade, then the 'Introductory Blade's Formation' and 'Introduction to Revitalizing Blade' which were three distinct manuscripts. He did so to expand his knowledge.

During this entire process, it seemed that Zhou Yan completely forgot the passage of time.

…

He had no clue how much time had passed. Zhou Yan felt a thick layer of dust around his body, and finally, he snapped out of the enlightened state he was in and slowly opened his eyes.

It seemed that under this state of pure enlightenment within the realm he was in, he had seemingly reached his limits. If he had not made an effort to deliberately suppress his progress within this realm, he would have ascended to the first rank within the realm of the Blade's Essence way earlier.

However, it seemed that he had remained in the third rank within the realm of the Blade's Cardinal. He had not ascended yet.

The instant he opened his eyes, there was a hint of Blade's Menace forming within his eyes.

Within those bright pupils, it was as if two rays of Blade's specter had just been born and was dancing in his eyes. However, this state was unstable.

"Sigh, it seems that I am still unable to unleash the same potency as Lil' Frost's Blade's Menace, and it's merely the unstable condensed shape within my eyes... Although I have fully understood what the Blade's Menace is, the process of condensing and giving it shape would require a really long time…"

Zhou Yan was sure he fully understood the true meaning of the Blade's Menace. However, it was only after he had been enlightened that he knew how to shape his Blade's Menace. It would be uncertain how long it would take to accomplish this task!

At the very least, he was able to collect and focus his Blade's Menace in his eyes. However, he was only able to maintain it for a brief moment. This process was not as smooth as he hoped for. It seemed the act of focusing and giving his Blade's Menace shape would be exceedingly out of his reach…

'Being enlightened is major progress, I should take it one step at a time…'

He sighed and was displeased of his result. However, he knew he had done everything he could…

The moment he stood up, there was a mark of where he once sat because there was a thin layer of dust around that spot.

'Did I really… take that long?'

Zhou Yan panicked. If a month had passed, he would have been in deep trouble!

"Brother Zhou Yan, you've been in confinement for a week now. Both sisters Chan Er and Lin Er, have been waiting for you outside for six days and six nights now. Father said that some slight movements were coming from where you are, but can you come out now?"

Gu Xi's voice could be heard coming from outside the hidden chamber's door.

If he was still training, he would have been affected by those sounds. However, now that he was ready to get out, he was able to clearly hear those sounds.

'Oh, thank goodness... it's only a week.'

Zhou Yan let out a sigh of relief and replied in a cheerful tone, "Yes, I am now ready to get out. Sisters Chaner, Liner, and Lil' Xi, you guys can come in."