The Xiantian Mountain Range is equivalent to the backyard of the Wenxian Sect.
With Lu Qingyun, the inner disciple, leading the way, the mid-level savage beasts encountered occasionally along the way did not cause any harm to the group, and they easily returned to the Wenxian Sect.
"Miss."
"Young Master."
Entering the courtyard, Changli, Gutong, Muyan, Luozhiyan, and others who had been waiting for a long time welcomed them.
Especially seeing Lu Qinghe unharmed, several of them felt relieved.
In their view, the Xiantian Mountain Range was ultimately dangerous for Lu Qinghe.
"Yes." Lu Qingyun nodded and summoned Changli to discuss the mining of the elemental stone veins in the Xiantian Mountain Range.
Mining the inferior elemental stones is not difficult, the difficulty lies in keeping it secret.
Hundreds to thousands of inferior elemental stones, once noticed by someone, will surely lead to complications.
For the next period of time, everything was calm.
In the span of a month, under Lu Qingyun's carefulness, the mining of the inferior elemental stone vein proceeded without a hitch and had already reached the final stages.
During this month, Lu Qinghe, relying on the inferior elemental stones from the vein, successfully elevated his cultivation from the peak of the Fourth Level of Refining Truth to the Fifth Level, without any surprises or disturbances.
After spending ten days to stabilize his cultivation at the Fifth Level, Lu Qinghe resumed his cultivation again.
Under his careful manipulation, the true qi flowed into his bones for tempering and cultivation.
He had been continuously carrying out this process for an entire month.
When the last piece of bone in his mind turned crystal clear under the tempering and nurturing of the true qi, Lu Qinghe's body trembled slightly.
It felt as if his entire body had achieved a certain cycle, resonating slightly across twenty-nine skull bones, fifty-one torso bones, and one hundred and twenty-six limb bones. Under the stimulation of his Thunderous Sound Body Refining Art, they emitted a faint sound, like a pleasant hymn.
"Refining of the bones completed."
A smile appeared on Lu Qinghe's face.
With the more solid true qi than before, he finally tempered all the bones in his body and transcended the bone-refining stage.
Next, it was refining the tendons.
An ancient saying goes, "Refine the tendons by an inch, and you will gain ten years of longevity."
It shows the profoundness of refining the tendons.
Each tendon refined would bring a noticeable response to the body.
With robust tendons and bones, not only the physical body but also the blood flow and the capacity to bear true qi increased significantly, allowing Lu Qinghe to fully erupt with the level of true qi of the Sixth Level of Refining Truth when he reached the Fifth Level.
"Young Master."
When Lu Qinghe was about to attempt refining the liver tendons, a voice came from outside.
It was the Swordswoman Mu Yan.
"Yes?"
Lu Qinghe got up and opened the door.
"Miss asked you to go to the martial arts arena."
"Alright."
Lu Qinghe nodded.
A month ago, he had pointed out the shortcomings in Lu Qingyun's swordsmanship. In this past month, she had started practicing the Heavy Sword Art and understanding the essence of making heavy things seem light. By half a month ago, she had made significant progress.
Now, after another half a month, he wasn't sure if she had begun to grasp this realm.
Following Mu Yan, Lu Qinghe left the room and arrived at the martial arts arena.
In the arena, Lu Qingyun was dressed in sturdy clothing, which perfectly outlined her slender figure. Her smooth long hair danced in the wind as she swung the heavy sword, creating a picturesque scene.
"Qinghe."
Seeing Lu Qinghe arrive, Lu Qingyun put away her sword and gestured to him with a teasing tone, "Let's spar for a couple of moves."
"Alright."
Lu Qinghe didn't hesitate at all because of her cultivation level of the Ninth Level Refining Truth; he agreed straightforwardly.
"Come."
As Lu Qingyun spoke, Caiyun handed over a scabbard that was over a meter long.
Lu Qinghe glanced at the scabbard, then at Caiyun, and asked in surprise, "Has the mining of the elemental stone vein been completed?"
Lu Qingyun nodded, "The yield exceeded our expectations—there are a total of 1084 pieces of inferior elemental stones, including 36 pieces of quality elemental stones."
"That's equivalent to over 1400 pieces of inferior elemental stones."
This number surprised Lu Qinghe.
It was nearly one million four hundred thousand gold, a huge sum.
"You're an exceptionally talented swordsman. Although the Cold Moon Sword is a top choice among mid-tier treasure swords, it is not worthy of your status as a peerless swordsman. I'm presenting this sword to you as a gift."
As she spoke, Lu Qingyun handed the scabbard to Lu Qinghe, "Open it and take a look."
Lu Qinghe received the scabbard, opened it, and a flawless treasure sword appeared before him.
Just by holding the sword, Lu Qinghe was already astonished.
"A top-grade treasure sword!?"
This sword in his hand was not just above average. It surpassed the upper-grade level and had reached the top-grade category.
Lu Qingyun nodded.
"Dust-free, with a firmness of twenty-two points, a sharpness of twenty-six points, a length of four feet one inch, a width of one inch two, and a weight of four pounds four ounces one. The speed of drawing the sword has increased by twenty-nine percent…"
"Twenty-nine percent!"
Lu Qinghe's heart skipped a beat as he listened to Lu Qingyun report this data.
This was already the pinnacle that a top-grade sword could achieve.
Below twenty percent was considered middling to low quality, and below twenty-five percent was considered top grade.
A thirty percent increase would take it out of the category of top-grade swords.
"The Dustless Sword has a solid rating no higher than top grade, and while its sharpness meets the standard for a top-grade sword, it doesn't stand out. The focus is on its increased speed. From observing your swordsmanship, I see that you excel at speed, so I specifically bought this sword for you, believing it will be very helpful."
"More than just helpful."
Lu Qinghe placed the sword box in his hand beside him, and a Snow Eagle swordsman went forward to accept it. Then, the Dustless Sword shook, and in an instant, it produced dazzling sword shadows that even the two Refined Sevenfold Strong Practitioners, Caiyun and Changli, struggled to keep up with.
"So fast!"
"I can only see a blur!"
"Young Master Lu's swordsmanship is fast on its own, and with the Dustless Sword, it's like adding wings to a tiger."
The onlookers, the Snow Eagle swordsmen, all exclaimed in amazement.
Mu Yan, Luo Ziyan, Gu Tong, and others were dizzy from Lu Qinghe's instant changes in swordsmanship.
Too fast.
"Good!"
Lu Qingyun lifted the ordinary heavy sword in her hand slightly and said, "I will fight you with this sword."
Lu Qingyun's Lingyun Technique emphasizes unpredictability and mystery. Even though it's a heavy sword and hasn't been graded, limiting her effectiveness instead of augmenting it, the exchange between the two would be relatively fair.
"Alright."
Lu Qinghe nodded. "Be careful."
"Bring it on."
"Swish!"
Before Lu Qingyun finished speaking, Lu Qinghe had already drawn his sword in an instant.
The Flowing Light Thirteen Swords is a fast sword technique, characterized by its speed.
Lu Qinghe integrated the realm of the Star-Piercing Moon into the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords, making this sword technique even faster by thirty percent. Combined with the twenty-nine percent increase in speed from the Dustless Sword, this sword technique was nearly sixty percent faster than a conventional sword technique.
When Lu Qinghe fully displayed this sword technique, even Changli and Caiyun only saw a brilliant stream of light.
"Cannot block it!"
After weighing the situation, the two arrived at this shocking conclusion.
They couldn't block it. With their cultivation at the Refined Sevenfold level, they lacked the confidence to block Lu Qinghe's attack.
"Good."
Excited, Lu Qingyun shouted, and the heavy sword in her hand exhibited the Splitting Light Shadow Sword Attack, causing her figure to blur and allowing Lu Qinghe's attack to pierce only an illusion.
"Crash!"
However, before her illusion could effectively play out, the collision of metal and iron resounded, and Lu Qingyun's figure was forcibly pushed back.
The next moment, the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords descended once again.
"Boom!"
Qi scattered.
The absolute suppression of the Refined Ninefold Qi Advantage caused Lu Qingyun to force Lu Qinghe to retreat with a single sword.
However, even after the peak point of the Qi eruption, Lu Qinghe struck again, and the sword body tore a gap in Lu Qingyun's Qi.
"The Three Lights Disperse!"
At a critical moment, Lu Qingyun unleashed a killing move with the Splitting Light Shadow Sword Attack, using three sword lights: one destroyed Lu Qinghe's sword technique, the second disrupted his sword technique entirely, and the third sword drove straight forward, almost reaching him.
"Hmm!?"
The blood and qi in Lu Qinghe's body suddenly surged, and his speed seemed to increase incrementally. At the moment when the sword was about to reach him, he retreated explosively.
However, even so, the true qi on the sword's edge still disrupted his entire posture, leaving him wide open.
"Shadow Transformation!"
Seizing the opportunity, Lu Qingyun's sword edged straight forward, and the pressure from the heavy sword carried dense true qi, almost completely suppressing Lu Qinghe.
This was a true qi suppression.
Complete and total true qi suppression.
If Lu Qingyun's and his cultivation levels were not far apart, the initial sword would have been enough to determine the outcome.
The fast sword!
It wasn't just the sword that was fast, but the person wielding it, as well as the instant of life and death. Lu Qinghe's figure trembled, and the blood and qi stimulated by the Thunderous Sound Refinement Art allowed him to resist Lu Qingyun's sword pressure almost clinging to her heavy sword, evading and intertwining their figures.
However, before the two figures could cross paths, Lu Qingyun's figure suddenly paused and she fiercely pushed against Lu Qinghe.
Accompanied by the body fragrance of the young girl and the soft, flowing hair, Lu Qinghe's figure shook violently. In the midst of their exchange, he was actually sent flying by Lu Qingyun in one go.
"Pitter-patter!"
The heavy sword swiftly turned.
Just as Lu Qinghe's figure flew back, Lu Qingyun's heavy sword was firmly poised in front of him.
The wind pressure from the heavy sword and the true qi carried with it caused the hem of Lu Qinghe’s clothes to flutter noisily.
"Hehe! I won!"
Retracting her heavy sword, a beautiful sword flower blossomed as Lu Qingyun's face revealed a pure and brilliant smile.
"This style... is not very ladylike, is it?"
While the two were entangled, Lu Qinghe had also considered relying on the refining of his body through true qi to defeat the enemy. However, given the current non-life-and-death battle and the opponent being only Lu Qingyun, he dismissed that thought. Nonetheless, he still ended up being defeated by this move.
It seemed that seeking an appropriate close combat technique was urgently needed.
"In short, I won, that is a fact."
Nodding, Lu Qinghe stopped debating this topic: "The scattering of the Three Lights, the skill of the Split Light Shadow Swordsmanship, has reached a level where it can be freely controlled and stopped at will. Congratulations, you have truly perfected this sword technique."
"Hehe! This is thanks to your efforts! Otherwise, I wouldn't know how many more years it would take to reach this step."
Lu Qinghe smiled faintly, not elaborating further.
"Although I have perfected the Split Light Shadow Swordsmanship, I still cannot conjure three sword flowers within one second."
"It shows that you still have potential for growth."
Lu Qingyun nodded as if she had realized something.
After a while, she came to her senses and waved her hand: "Alright, regardless of this matter, Qinghe, I will take you to the 'Blue Moon Lake' to broaden your horizons later. For now, let's go to the Destiny Hall to test our strength."