In the vast, encompassing darkness of the living quarters, a sliver of silvery moonlight pierced through the gap in the bamboo roof above like a celestial blade.

Dust motes danced lazily in its ethereal beam, which seemed to deliberately seek out and illuminate the bluish faint Qi enveloping Ji Wuye's cross-legged form.

The wooden floorboards beneath him creaked softly with each subtle shift of his weight. His long white hair spilled around him like a ghostly halo, each strand catching and fracturing the moonlight into countless tiny prisms.

The chaotic Qi surrounding his body resembled a shimmering, ever-shifting membrane that cast strange, fluid shadows on the floors.

It flickered and pulsed with an almost musical rhythm, the colors alternating between cool blue like mountain springs and verdant green like young bamboo shoots in a mesmerizing dance that filled the air with an electric tension.

On the other hand, Ji Wuye's features were drawn tight with concentration, a single bead of sweat trailing down his temple despite the night's gentle breeze.

His crimson pupils contracted to pinpricks, burning with an intensity that seemed to pierce through the very essence of the jian balanced across his palms.

From his Upper Dantian emanated that steady, rhythmic thumping and ringing - the sound reminiscent of a distant heartbeat merged with wind chimes.

His Elemental Seed, that tiny verdant sapling, pulsed in time with his own heartbeat as it channeled streams of Wood Qi that felt like liquid sunlight flowing through his meridians.

One deep, controlled breath that stirred the very air around him...

Two breaths, each exhale carrying the faint scent of mountain herbs...

Fifty measured exhalations, marking time like a meditation bell...

Five hundred metronomic cycles later, his muscles cramping slightly from prolonged stillness...

Yet despite his efforts, the blade remained stubbornly unchanged save for its cloak of bluish Qi that mirrored his own. The metal seemed to actively resist the verdant energy he attempted to imprint upon it, like oil refusing to mix with water.

No telltale swirls of green wrapped around its razor edge, no subtle thrum of vitality.

Still, the tiny sapling deep within his Upper Dantian persisted, its humming whisper reminiscent of wind through spring leaves as it tirelessly channeled energy beneath the surface of his consciousness.

"It's really hard, as they say," Ji Wuye murmured at last, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he released a soft exhalation.

The enveloping aura of Qi began to dissolve like morning mist, tiny motes of blue and green light scattering into the darkness. Though he could continue since there was still an abundance of Qi in his Dantians, it just felt…

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'It feels like it wouldn't work without knowing the root cause,' he mused softly to himself. It was a complete waste of time

Thus, he began to recall the content of the Heavenly Dragon Fusion Gongfa and compare it with the usual method of the Kunlun Inner Art for forming a Sword Aura.

'Based on the Kunlun Inner Art to form a Sword Aura, this phase is called The Elemental Eruption,' Ji Wuye's thoughts echoed in the stillness.

The term referred to that critical moment when elemental resonance within the Three Dantians achieved perfect harmony - a spiritual crescendo that would burst forth like a dam breaking, forcibly embedding one's elemental essence into waiting steel.

'Which mean, the outburst is the key,' he muttered, frustration etching deep lines around his eyes and mouth. His jaw clenched as he straightened his spine, shoulder blades pulling back as he gathered his resolve for another attempt.

The bluish Qi enveloping him responded to his iron will, its previously smooth flow becoming turbulent and unpredictable. The aura flickered like storm-tossed waves, azure and emerald hues bleeding into each other in a dizzying display that cast ever-shifting shadows across the wooden floors.

His Upper Dantian's rhythmic thumping intensified to a thunderous tempo that seemed to shake his very bones, reverberating through his chest like war drums calling ancient armies to battle.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he observed the chaotic energies, his crimson eyes reflecting the dance of colors until he finally released a breath that seemed to carry the weight of mountains. "This is not an outburst."

Shaking his head, Ji Wuye shifted back to the content of the Heavenly Dragon Fusion Gongfa. "This phase, or final phase, is called Weapon Bonding."

Unlike the Kunlun aggressive approach of forcing an elemental eruption, this method advocated for patience - a gradual saturation of the blade with newly incorporated elemental Qi, like morning dew slowly seeping into thirsty soil.

'But the downside is time,' Ji Wuye breathed. There were no shortcut ; it was just like the usual process of channeling Qi into the jian or flowing it through the meridians, which necessitated continuous effort.

Based on the Heavenly Dragon Fusion Gongfa, this Weapon Bonding phase could stretch across days or even months of consistent practice.

Yet it offered a significant advantage over the Kunlun approach - one need not repeatedly struggle through the preliminary steps to achieve that volatile elemental eruption.

"Should I be grateful, then?" Ji Wuye's wry question hung in the air as he gradually released his hold on the swirling energies.

The flickering aurora of blue-green Qi dissipated like morning mist, leaving only the pale moonlight to illuminate his features. His gaze drifted upward through the gap in the roof tiles, where the waning moon hung like a half-lidded eye in the velvet sky.

Despite the long road ahead, a subtle smile played across his lips as he reclined, the wooden floor creaking softly beneath him as he laced his fingers behind his head.

The jian lay beside him, "Well, it's not a complete failure, at least."

Initially, Ji Wuye's intent had been modest - to simply sense and accumulate that 'resonance', taking those first tentative steps along the path before him.

Yet his achievements had far outpaced such humble goals; the Elemental Seed now formed within his Upper Dantian was testament to that, its verdant essence propelling him unexpectedly to this final, crucial phase.

Still, a restless dissatisfaction gnawed at him like a hungry ghost, his tactical mind endlessly parsing potential shortcuts through the lengthy imprinting process that lay ahead.

As these thoughts churned like autumn leaves in a whirlwind, his mind inevitably circled back to that catalytic moment when the Qi training skill was triggered. "Is that the only key?" he sighed, physically shaking his head as if to scatter the persistent thought.

The motion sent his white hair swaying like pale reeds in a midnight breeze. Yet like a lodestone drawing iron, his focus kept returning to those circumstances.

At that time, when the Qi Training skill was triggered, it was because he tried to refine or gather the Wood Qi in...

"Lower Dantian..." The words escaped his lips like steam rising from hot springs as he abruptly straightened, his body instinctively flowing into the familiar meditation posture.

Immediately, Ji Wuye began channeling his Qi - but this time, rather than focusing solely on his Upper Dantian, he drew simultaneously from all three Dantians, like a musician playing a three-stringed harmony.

The response was immediate - a familiar azure radiance blooming around him like frost forming on glass. But as the combined torrent of Qi surged forth from the three Dantians, that pale glow rapidly intensified into something far more substantial.

The undulating aura coalesced into a matrix of hardened, pulsating spheres that encased him in a scintillating azure shell.

RING!

THUMP!

The sound exploded from his Upper Dantian with the force of a temple bell, the verdant sapling within unleashing a sonic barrage that shook him to his core.

His entire frame convulsed violently, muscles spasming in sympathetic resonance with that thunderous clarion call as if his very bones had become tuning forks.

RING!

THUMP!

The second wave hit even harder, the sound reverberating through his body like a physical force. Sweat poured from his temples in gleaming rivulets, catching the moonlight like liquid silver as his features contorted in concentration.

His eyes opened, and then narrowed to burning crimson slits, fixed upon the jian with an intensity that seemed to bore into the very essence of the metal clutched in his trembling grip.

The warring Qi enveloping him—cool azure and verdant emerald—flickered intensely, their flicker accelerating with each resonant pulse until the colors blurred and bled together.

Then, in less time than it takes a heart to beat, the entire aura transmuted into a brilliant, pure green.

RING!

Suddenly...