Love Letter

From the first to the third floor, Jiang Yun once again took out the book he had been reading earlier, the one about the power and meaning of sword intent. There was not a trace of drowsiness in him.

Opening the book, Jiang Yun found the markings he had left during his previous readings and continued to focus his attention on the pages.

The fifth layer of sword intent, reaching the pinnacle. At this stage, sword intent was no longer merely a means of attack for sword practitioners. It gradually merged with the practitioner's mind and body. Typically, those who reached the fifth layer of sword intent would gradually forget all other forms of martial arts and specialize solely in sword intent.

Only those sincerely dedicated to the practice of the sword could grasp the true essence of sword intent. Once practitioners forgot their prior martial arts, they could gradually elevate their sword intent from the mastery of the fifth layer to the extraordinary sixth layer.

The sword intent of the sixth layer transcended worldly martial arts, breaking down to rebuild. Through the way of the sword, it connected to the path of the heavens. Practitioners at this realm possessed terrifying attacking capabilities. Every movement and gesture could shatter mountains and split rocks. They emanated tremendous fluctuations of sword intent, influencing everything in their path.

The seventh layer of sword intent, reaching a state of mastery, was roughly equivalent to a martial artist in the Heavenly Martial Realm. Moving thousands of miles in an instant, the sword intent even evolved into a domain, a domain so formidable that it not only affected the practitioner's attributes but also weakened the attributes of enemies. This was the frightening aspect of martial artists in the Heavenly Martial Realm.

As Jiang Yun read this, he yearned for the power of sword intent. He wondered when he, a martial artist from his past life, would possess such great strength. To him, it felt like a character from a mythical story.

Unfortunately, descriptions of the later layers of sword intent were scarce. The author briefly mentioned them without the same level of detail as the earlier layers. Nonetheless, this was already quite valuable, and Jiang Yun wasn't one to be dissatisfied.

After finishing the book, Jiang Yun's heart was stirred. The might of sword intent left a deep impression on him, providing him with a general understanding. This book had cleared the fog on his path, allowing him to see his direction clearly.

Closing the book, Jiang Yun glanced at the night sky, which had grown very dark. Yet, due to his excitement, sleep remained elusive.

Jiang Yun focused his mind and followed the instructions in the book. He began cultivating the power of the sword within his dantian. Following the principles of the Green Sun Sword Technique, the sword's power circulated throughout his body. Every time it passed through his sea of consciousness, he noticed the color of the sword's power deepening slightly.

Though these changes were extremely subtle, they were undeniably present. They helped Jiang Yun confirm that he was cultivating in the direction outlined in the book.

Time flew by swiftly during Jiang Yun's days in the library. Except for preparing three meals a day for the Old Man Qing Shi, he spent his remaining time on the third floor—reading and practicing. Each day was a repetition of these activities—tedious and monotonous, yet Jiang Yun was deeply engrossed.

Two months passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, Jiang Yun not only encountered numerous books on sword intent on the third floor but also received guidance from Old Man Qing Shi.

Each piece of advice from Old Man Qing Shi felt like a sudden enlightenment. Gradually, Jiang Yun's gratitude towards him deepened. However, the old man disliked sentimentalism. Whenever Jiang Yun attempted to express his gratitude, the old man would interrupt with a few words.

Jiang Yun had no choice but to express his gratitude through his meals, pouring more thought into the food each day to show his appreciation.

During these two months, Jiang Yun not only advanced the Nine Li Divine Technique to the third level of the eighth layer but also reached the pinnacle of the second layer in sword intent. The sword's power had already begun to exhibit a faint golden hue.

These changes led to substantial improvements in various attributes of Jiang Yun's own being—speed, strength, and heightened consciousness.

According to Old Man Qing Shi, Jiang Yun's current attributes would grant him the power to contend even with a martial artist at the True Martial Realm. As long as he could withstand the pressure of a True Martial Realm martial artist's aura, facing them head-on, Jiang Yun might not necessarily be defeated.

During these times, Jiang Yun also had his own insights. True Martial Realm martial artists had an advantage beyond their deeper reservoirs of spiritual energy—they possessed a formidable aura of suppression. This was the true strength of True Martial Realm martial artists.

However, when it came to the manifestation of actual attacking power, Jiang Yun's moderately developed sword intent might not necessarily belong to a True Martial Realm martial artist. After all, sword intent had always been a source of fear for martial artists due to its attacking capabilities.

Within two months, Jiang Yun had finished reading the books on sword intent available on the third floor of the library. Although most of the content had been consumed rapidly, it deepened his understanding of sword intent.

After these two months, Jiang Yun once again encountered a bottleneck. Both his cultivation of the Nine Li Divine Technique and his sword's power reached bottlenecks simultaneously. Jiang Yun had a faint feeling that, given the right opportunity, he could break through to the True Martial Realm at any moment.

However, this opportunity wasn't easily found. Even during the last month in the library, Jiang Yun's cultivation remained at the 9th layer of the Yuan Martial Realm, and his sword intent was stuck at the 2nd layer.

"Smack."

While cleaning the second floor of the library, Jiang Yun accidentally knocked a book off the shelf. He picked up the book from the ground, lightly dusted it off, and as he intended to return it to its original position, a piece of paper that had been tucked between the pages fell out.

Jiang Yun bent down to retrieve the paper again, curious about its content. To his surprise, the first name he saw in the letter was a familiar one.

Qu Buping.

This was the common name of Old Man Qing Shi, a name Jiang Yun had only learned a month ago from the old man himself. Unexpectedly, here he was, holding a letter addressed to Old Man Qing Shi.

The handwriting on the letter was delicate and elegant, clearly that of a woman. After Jiang Yun read its contents with curiosity, a broad smile appeared on his face. He carefully folded the letter and tucked it into his pocket.

"Hmph, who would have thought this old man had someone admiring him."

Placing the book back in its original position, Jiang Yun proceeded to thoroughly clean the second floor. Once he was done, he descended the stairs and headed straight for Qu Buping's place.

As he neared Qu Buping, Jiang Yun circled around him once, assessing him from head to toe. Then, with a teasing tone, he said, "Old man, who would've thought you were a charismatic figure in your youth. It's hard to believe."

Qu Buping was momentarily baffled, his brow furrowing. "What do you mean?"

Muttering to himself, Jiang Yun commented, "Look at you now, always looking so listless every day. It's hard to imagine that people used to admire you in your younger days."

"Admire me?"

Qu Buping, the perplexed monk, couldn't fathom why Jiang Yun would say such a thing.