"Given your current situation, there is still one path," the woman in yellow said after a moment of silence, nodding slightly.
"Senior..." Li Xuan's eyes lit up as he looked at the woman in yellow, his unspoken meaning clear.
"You can't become a Spirit Master, but you can choose to become a Sword Cultivator. Furthermore, the Master was an incredibly powerful Sword Cultivator. If you want the Master's legacy, what else would you cultivate but the sword path? Hmm, your dantian is ruined, and I happen to have fused the Master's sword techniques into a method that doesn't require a dantian to cultivate... Could it be that this is why the Master left me here?" the woman in yellow said with a smile, then murmured to herself as if realizing something, her voice growing softer.
"Sword Cultivator? Like those who can wield swords to fly through the sky and take an enemy general's head from a thousand miles away?" Li Xuan's face shone with excitement. These were legends!
"Mm, that's part of it. Are you willing to learn?" the woman in yellow asked, glancing at Li Xuan with a peculiar expression before nodding.
"This junior is willing!" Li Xuan immediately agreed. To wield a sword and roam the world, the mere thought was exhilarating.
The woman in yellow nodded slightly. "Mm, my method uses the sword as a dantian. The higher the sword's rank, the better your dantian will be. Furthermore, from now on, you won't need to absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth to improve like a Spirit Master. You only need to find spirit swords to devour. Once you achieve minor success, you will have a Sword Body. You will be immune to spirit swords below the rank of the sword in your dantian. With a single command, myriad swords will submit!"
Immunity to spirit swords' power!
Li Xuan's blood boiled with excitement, and his gaze toward the woman in yellow was filled with urgency.
"I'll let you in on a secret. If you can absorb the golden sword on the outermost stone coffin into your body in the future, there will likely be no one in this world, besides the Master, who can be your opponent," the woman in yellow said with a smile.
Li Xuan gave a wry smile. That golden sword was enormous, and according to the woman in yellow, these swords were used to suppress terrifying existences. The stone coffin was so large, one could imagine the immense power of the beings suppressed within. Greed was natural for humans, but one also had to act within their capabilities.
"There are no shortcuts in this world. This junior will take things one step at a time," Li Xuan said earnestly.
The woman in yellow nodded, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes. "What did you think of the golden sword on the stone coffin you saw earlier?"
"It can suppress an unparalleled expert, so it must be very powerful," Li Xuan replied after some thought.
The woman in yellow nodded. "Since you think it's good, that will be your first sword."
Li Xuan was stunned and quickly said, "Senior, isn't that sword suppressing the expert within the stone coffin? If we take it, won't that person be released?"
The woman in yellow waved her hand dismissively. "With me here, she won't be able to cause much trouble. Mm, actually, she has a decent temperament and isn't one to kill indiscriminately."
As the woman in yellow finished speaking, she waved her hand, and Li Xuan's vision blurred. He suddenly found himself and the woman in yellow standing before the stone coffin. Li Xuan's pupils contracted slightly; the woman in yellow's methods were truly heaven-defying.
*Whoosh!*
As Li Xuan watched, the woman in yellow beckoned, and the golden sword embedded in the stone coffin rose, then floated before Li Xuan. To Li Xuan's surprise, the stone coffin showed no reaction after the golden sword was removed.
"Alright, sit down cross-legged," the woman in yellow said to Li Xuan.
"Okay." Li Xuan immediately sat down cross-legged. Since the woman in yellow wasn't worried, he didn't need to worry about the stone coffin. After all, if the sky fell, there would be taller people to hold it up.
"This sword is called Qing Xiao. It has suppressed the stone coffin for tens of thousands of years, and its spiritual power is now nearly depleted. With your Body Tempering realm physique, you can barely withstand it. Focus your mind, and I will teach you the cultivation incantation," the woman in yellow said. Li Xuan took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
Seeing this, the woman in yellow pointed a finger, and a stream of spiritual light shot into Li Xuan's forehead, disappearing.
"To use the body as a sword, to use the sword as a dantian, to have the dantian devour all swords under heaven, to use all swords under heaven to nourish the body, endlessly, in a cycle..."
A few breaths later, the woman in yellow flicked her finger. The golden sword flashed with golden light and transformed into a beam of sword energy that shot directly into Li Xuan's dantian.
*Boom!*
"Ah!"
As the golden sword entered his body, Li Xuan cried out in pain. An incredibly sharp sword qi coursed through his entire body, feeling like he was being sliced by a thousand blades. In mere moments, Li Xuan's clothes were soaked. His once handsome features were contorted into a hideous grimace.
"Focus your mind, and circulate the sword qi within you according to the incantation I taught you!"
The woman in yellow's voice echoed in Li Xuan's mind. Enduring the immense pain, Li Xuan quickly circulated the incantation.
Time passed gradually. After an hour, the expression on Li Xuan's face slowly calmed down. Seeing this, the woman in yellow's expression also relaxed, and she murmured in a barely audible voice, "Glad he held on. It seems this method can indeed succeed."
"You're using him as an experimental subject. Aren't you afraid he'll die?" At that moment, a slender figure slowly appeared beside the woman in yellow. Her gaze also fell upon Li Xuan.
"If he dies, I'll just personally find a successor for the Master. Yi Qin, among the few individuals suppressed on this level, I find you the most agreeable. What do you think of this boy?" the woman in yellow shrugged indifferently and looked at the other woman.
"His character is decent enough, but in my world, he's just average," Yi Qin pouted, then her eyes twinkled as she looked at the woman in yellow. "After he succeeds, you'll be leaving, won't you?"
"You're truly smart; you figured it out," the woman in yellow withdrew her gaze, a slight smile gracing her lips. "He opened the Prison Seal, which means he is indeed the one chosen by the Master. Yi Qin, shall we make a deal?"
"A deal? I know what you're thinking, but he's not qualified yet," Yi Qin shook her head.
"What if I offer one of my Master's sword techniques?" the woman in yellow said with a slight smile.
Yi Qin's pupils constricted sharply. After glancing at the woman in yellow, she said directly, "Deal! But I can only look after him for one year. After a year, I will leave."
The woman in yellow shook her head. "A hundred years."
Yi Qin shook her head. "Ten years, at most."
The woman in yellow smiled. "Deal."
"You... you intended for me to look after him for ten years from the start?" Yi Qin was taken aback, clearly not expecting the woman in yellow to agree so readily. At this point, Yi Qin could no longer doubt the woman in yellow's intentions.
The woman in yellow smiled and nodded, then her gaze shifted to Li Xuan as she slowly said, "With ten years, if he still can't grow strong enough to stand on his own, wouldn't it be a waste of the Master's regard?"
"How strong is your Master, really?" A complex expression flashed in Yi Qin's eyes. That person had suppressed her with a single sword in the past, and the memory still filled her with dread.
The woman in yellow smiled. "Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is invincible."