CHAPTER 76 RETURN

"Darren, why are you standing still? Be quick and pick the spiritual herbs," Elsa urged Darren as she

noticed him lost in thought.

"Oh, okay," Darren said dazedly, snapping out of it.

Time flew by. After two hours, his Space Ring was filled with superior spiritual herbs.

"I think that's enough for now, Elsa. My Space Ring is full."

"Oh, what a pity! I wish I could move the Starry Tower away," Elsa said regretfully.

"I have more than one hundred thousand superior spiritual herbs in my Space Ring. They're enough to owns this text.

serve us for several years, Elsa! Don't be so greedy. Ha-ha." Darren burst into laughter, his eyes

twinkling.

"You are right." Elsa nodded and turned around to ask him, "Darren, did you look at me just now?"

Darren was surprised by Elsa's intuitiveness. But for some reason, he didn't feel embarrassed or guilty.

Instead, he replied quickly, "I wasn't expecting that you could feel it."

"Gee, you…" Darren's reply shocked Elsa. She said with a smile, "I… I thought you would deny it."

"Why would I do that? You're beautiful. I like looking at you. My appreciation for you is not something to

be ashamed of." Darren appeared very composed. After telling her how he was feeling, he turned back

and walked towards the staircase leading to the far sky that was filled with stars. It was the entrance to

the second floor.

Elsa's heart was beating fast. Vague happiness bloomed in her heart, like a bud that had been waiting

to appear.

When she came back to reality, she saw Darren going up the staircase and so trotted along behind

him.

The second floor of the Starry Tower was like a storage room of martial skills. Hundreds of bookshelves

stood in the room on which there were books about martial arts skills.

Randomly, Darren picked a scroll up.

"Perception Blade Skill. I wasn't expecting it is an extraordinary blade skill!"

Darren read several of its lines and soon ascertained that it was unsuitable for him, so he kept

searching.

After several minutes, he found it was strange that all the scrolls he browsed through were for blade

skills. Before he could tell Elsa his discovery, she beat him to it. "Darren, there are at least ten

thousand top martial skills, but all of them are blade skills."

"Yes. It's the same case over here!" Darren nodded.

He wondered why all the martial skills on this floor were blade skills.

"Darren, I think that extremely powerful elder left these intentionally. They must be for you! You have

condensed sword core and your sword intent has achieved. What you need now is blade intent.

Haven't you realized that?" Elsa said, coming up with a viable reason.

"Elsa, that's smart! I'm guessing you're probably right," Darren said. He admired her sharp mind.

"Of course I am. I'm smarter than you. Humph." The expression on her face was rather endearing. It

had an irresistible charm to Darren. He could feel his heart beating fast.

"Ahem." Darren cleared his throat and said, "It plausibly means I need to find a suitable blade skill and

condense blade intent to make preparations for merging sword intent and blade intent."

Having realized this, he began a search.

After spending more than half a day looking for a suitable blade skill, he finally found one that satisfied

him.

"Spectral Chop, this blade skill is superior to an extraordinary martial skill! It's a supernatural martial

skill.

This blade skill includes six stages and six moves. After I finish practicing, I could condense the

preliminary blade intent. In the outside world, this will be priceless! It will be of equal value to the Talent-

upgrading Elixir."

Martial skills could be divided into six levels: ordinary martial skill, medium martial skill, superior martial

skill, extraordinary martial skill, supernatural martial skill and legendary martial skill.

The supernatural martial skill was a rare sight out in the world.

"In the bronze coffin, I happened to acquire a legendary martial skill, Nine Changes of the Demon. But I

haven't mastered the second change completely. My talent for practicing martial arts is Earth Degree

now. So this supernatural martial skill is the most suitable for me. In half a year, I'll definitely grasp it

completely." Darren was wild with joy. If he could cultivate blade intent, there was a definite chance he

would become even more powerful!

He was finally at ease after finding the blade skill. Now, he began to feel curious about the upper floors.

He released his spiritual sense carefully, trying to sense what was above him.

"Hum? I feel a streak of familiar aura from the upper floors. It seems like something is calling me."

But a moment later, his spiritual sensing was blocked and was forcefully pushed back by something!

The sudden attack almost made him suffer a serious injury. He pulled his spiritual sense back and

didn't dare to do it again. He knew that he would be allowed to go upstairs when it was the right time.

There was no need to risk getting hurt now.

With this, Darren put away the martial skill and went back to the first floor with Elsa. Now that the

Space Ring was full, they decided to absorb some superior spiritual herbs and improve their cultivation

base.

They sat with crossed legs and picked some superior spiritual herbs. Elsa practiced intensively to

absorb the herbs while Darren assimilated the herbs to get spiritual energy.

Time flew by. One month passed quickly.

"Ha-ha! I am now at the ninth stage of the Spirit Realm. The speed of my improvement has been

enhanced by the numerous superior spiritual herbs. In the outside world, it would have taken at least

half a year for me to make such progress, with my talent at level nine of the Black Degree." Elsa

opened her eyes, beaming with happiness.

Right after her, Darren also opened his eyes.

"Darren, which stage have you reached?" Elsa asked as she saw Darren awake as well.

"The eighth stage of the Spirit Realm," he replied.

"Gee, why did you have less improvement than I did? That shouldn't be the case," Elsa said, puzzled.

"Do you forget my situation? I can't break through to the Mysterious Realm, so I have to limit myself.

For the sake of safety, I have to keep my cultivation at the eighth stage of the Spirit Realm.

"Oh, you are right. It slipped my mind. Oh, Darren, I discovered that I can now fight with a Mysterious

Realm cultivator if I use sword intent! You must be more powerful than me."

Elsa only needed a chance to reach the Mysterious Realm. If she used sword intent, she would indeed

be able to fight with a Mysterious Realm cultivator. But it would be extremely difficult for her to kill a

strong cultivator at the Mysterious Realm unless she acquired a sword skill superior to the

extraordinary martial skill.

Thomas, Elsa's father, was at the ninth stage of the Mysterious Realm. But even he only understood

very little sword intent.

"I don't know my power now. I will know once it's tested by enemies. Ha-ha!" Darren stood up and

added, "It's about time for us to go out."

"Okay." Elsa nodded. Once they projected this thought, Mathew's avatar teleported them out.

"Sir, We are leaving.

What should we do?" Darren asked as he saw Mathew's avatar walking toward them with a tender

smile.

"Don't worry. You passed five tests. The inhibition of the Black Cliff of Sword Intent has been released,

so I can send you back to where you came."

After answering Darren's question, he turned to Elsa and said in a solemn voice, "Young lady, don't

forget my request." He turned once more to Darren and said, "If you want to merge blade intent and

sword intent, you must go to the Raksa Sea. The way to that place and the things you need are all

written in this scroll. You can read it after you leave. I won't delay you any longer. Go."

"Mr. Xiao, I am sad to bid you goodbye. If we have the ability to do it, Darren and I will definitely

accomplish it. After that, we will come back to see you." Although Elsa had known the avatar of this

elder for only a short time, she felt incredibly morose about parting ways with him.

"You must go now. Children, work hard. Remember. And I have to warn you, on the way to become

more powerful, you will meet lots of strong cultivators. Always keep this in mind--don't simply reveal

your cultivation base and don't bully others. Carelessness may lead to irreversible damage. Do you

promise to remember this?"

"I will remember your kind words." Mathew's words made sense to Darren. He would not attack unless

he was attacked; if he was attacked, he would certainly fight back. That was his principle.

Mathew's avatar nodded and waved his hand to motivate the array and teleport them out of the Black

Cliff of Sword Intent. In his eyes gleamed pools of sadness.

When the two young cultivators opened their eyes, they found they returned to the place where Jerome

chased them.

Here, they saw the deep pit made by Jerome's fierce arrow.

"It's time to get revenge on Jerome," Darren said firmly.

"I won't let that bastard go easily. Darren, let me handle him, alright?" Elsa offered. She was confident

with her cultivation base.

"Let's talk about it when we see him. Oh Elsa, what did Mr. Xiao ask us to do?" Darren said.

"It's a long story. Let's talk about it while we go hunt him down."

They headed towards the Ilmen Sect. They travelled at speeds as fast as thoroughbred horses, but to

them it merely felt like a stroll.