Chapter 88: Test for core disciple

After stepping into the advanced intent of 2nd level, Long Tao finally took a breath of relief and decided to take a bit of rest. Due to the advancement, his intent was able to ward off the pressure from the surroundings and Long Tao could use the Avatars to replenish his QI reserves. Long Tao quite depressed. Just the materialization of a single type of sword manifest was already so difficult. Long Tao had to climb the whole mountain using a single concept of sword usage, the swiftness, and only after so much workload, he manifests a single sword manifest. The mountain would no longer work for him as it did before and hence he was to realize and materialize the other types of sword intents on his own. This is what depressed him the most. Even after having so many avatars, he just had too much on his plate. But he didn't give up. He recuperated and recovered to his peak condition.

Some time passed and Long Tao managed to recover most of his lost Qi. He was now ready to climb back up. He manifested his sword intent and began to proceed. The path was easy as of now. Long Tao started to pit himself against all the sword wills present so that his ability to use sword manifest gets more refined. The unpolished diamond started to gain luster steadily. At first, Long Tao had to take multiple breaks, the QI utilization to keep up the manifest was so unregulated, that it back-fired sometimes. but as he continued to climb up the stairs his manifest not only got more solid, the wastage of energy got lesser and lesser. Finally, he was able to control his manifest properly. It was time to pick up the game.

The next stage he wanted to clear was a steep hill, that was very difficult to climb. He wanted to regulate and automate his manifest. This was something that required training and continuous experiments in real life. Long Tao stopped at the point and began to practice his sword arts. The arts he considered to practice this time were mostly swift swords. These arts concentrated on the user's speed and reaction time. Long Tao practiced while maintaining the shape of his manifest. This job was even more tedious than the sword intent training. He Qi expenditure increased exponentially. What Long Tao wanted to achieve was very simple. He wanted to turn the sword art into a reflex action of his. It was muscle memory training. This stage was very difficult to achieve, but he persisted anyway. If he wanted to rise up in this world, he couldn't bear to give up on obstacles like these. Long Tao continued his pursuit of perfection, which finally ended in him being utterly exhausted multiple times.

He started to alternate his approach. He practiced for a part of the time, while on the other hand got practical experience while pitting himself against the sword intents on the mountain. He continued his climb after this event. Long Tao could feel himself getting more and more powerful. With every step he took, his sword intent and energy got a boost upwards. Long Tao could finally see the peak. He continued his climb. The last few sword wills and intent were heinous. Each one of them was more ferocious than the last. Long Tao continued to fight. The muscle memory training was finally showing its results. Involuntary senses were at its peak. Long Tao finally reached the last step, with a small flat ground in front.

There was a single sword present. It was carved into the ground and stood there alone. At first, Long Tao didn't feel anything, but as he took a step forward to land on this ground, a tyrannical force acted down on him. He felt like his whole body was about to be cut. The intent and aura around were simply like small swords. They pinched and stabbed his skin. He couldn't even bear to stand. He fell down. He started to regulate his body's defense system, and gain some immunity to this. Slowly, he started to cope up with the sword qi here. Just who did this sword belonged to. He slowly rose up. Each step he decided to take, making it more difficult to bear. He used up all his capabilities. Finally, using all his body and intent and QI cultivation he managed to get in front of the sword, put his hands on it, and infused his aura into it. The instant he did that. The aura vanished.

"Congratulation to the new disciple for being able to get to the top of the sword mountain. From now on you are an official inner disciple of the Heaven Cleaver sect. Gaining the top possible score and mark in the exam makes you eligible to test for the last phase, the test of inheritance/ core disciple of the controller of this subsidiary house. Would you like to proceed?". Long Tao readily agreed. Why would he miss a chance to get his hands on an inheritance? He had already benefited a lot, but his real aim was to take control of this treasure so that he could gain unlimited access to the blood pool. He could use it until he reaches the Qi king level. He was instantly transported to the next location. This was another dimension with the same type of arrangement as Li Wen got her prize from. The stele had an art imprinted on it. "The art in front of you is the creation of the master of this subsidiary. If you want to become the inheritor and the controller of this subsidiary, you have to pass the last test. You are hereby given 3 days to learn the art in front of you and gain as much comprehension as you could. The real test would begin after 3 days."

Li Wen was already transported out of the dimension. Before being transported she was informed that she qualifies to be an internal disciple of the Heaven Cleaver sect. Getting out she didn't see Long Tao anywhere. All her team members were within the garden. "How far did you guys go?". All of the members lay their heads down. Most of them were wiped out in the first test itself. Only one could make it to the sword mountain and was then wiped-out the moment he took the first step onto the mountain. He managed to rank third and got a Qi king weapon from the voice. This could still be considered to have made a fortune. He managed to gain a Qi King weapon of supreme quality that suited his arts. "Has anyone seen a boy coming out of the region?". The members nodded in denial. "So, he is still inside. I suppose he is the one who got the inheritance. We are going to wait here till he comes out. I won't let anyone snatch an inheritance like that from me. I will kill that boy and take the treasure for myself.".

Just as the eh group settled down; they heard another voice." You are going to do no such thing sister.". The whole team turned around. Even Li Wen was surprised on hearing this voice. She was too familiar to miss the person. After all, it was her brother by blood. The Black devil church had many prodigies within its rank, ultimately being hailed as one of the top evil powers. Within the hordes of genius, there are a pair of siblings who are quite famous for their talent. The sister of course is Li Wen. She had a premium high-grade blood lien with unseen martial talent. But there was someone whose talent didn't falter even a little bit to her. It was her brother Li Xuanfa. Among other things, he was also a Qi general level practitioner and one of the generals of the black devil church. But the most interesting thing was that he was the one who ordered Li Wen to come here in the first place. The reason as that he too was the inheritor and the master of one of the sword palaces of the Heaven Cleaver sect.

The whole squad bowed to Li Xuanfa. Li wen turned around and bowed in respect. "What does elder brother mean from that?". Li Xuanfa looked at his sister, although her achievement was quite good, she could be rather stubborn sometimes." If the guy you are talking about managed to get his hands on the inheritance. I would be happy to not only greet a fellow disciple of the heaven Cleaver sect but would like to invite him into the Black devil church. ". Li Wen was taken back. "why would you do that? He took something that was mine.". Li Xuanfa laughed' It was not your property. You lost to him twice, both in strength and talent. If he could take the inheritance for himself, he would be more than able to wipe this group of yours out. So, don't push your luck. I wouldn't interfere, except to save you. Also, he would be your senior brother from Heaven Cleaver sect from now on. Show some respect"