Half a month passed in a flash.
Li Shuang looked at the pile of low-grade treasured swords in her storage bag, a hint of joy appearing between her brows.
Just now.
She had finally completely mastered that unique forging method.
Even without a furnace to drive it, she could complete it independently on her own!
She didn't know what this forging technique was, so Li Shuang herself named it: Rhythm Method.
Using a unique rhythmic pulsation to forge, and through the rhythm, inducing fluctuations in the Dao, thereby reaching the realm of entering the Dao.
The treasured swords forged with this method were significantly more powerful in all aspects than those forged with ordinary methods!
On another note.
The forging during this period also brought Li Shuang an unexpected gain!
Her soul realm had actually grown considerably.
For cultivation to progress, there are two aspects: one is cultivation level, and the other is the soul realm.
For those ten years, Li Shuang's cultivation and soul realm progress had completely halted.
Later, she dispersed her cultivation method and re-cultivated, her cultivation recovering from scratch.
Her soul realm didn't completely dissipate, but it dropped to the level of the Golden Core stage.
After half a month of intense forging, her soul realm had actually returned to the Nascent Soul stage.
This meant that she only needed to raise her cultivation level, and re-entering the Nascent Soul stage would be a natural progression.
It's important to know that the growth of the soul realm is much more difficult than the growth of cultivation.
And for cultivation to grow, the method is very clear: simply absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth.
But what about the growth of the soul realm?
That is much more elusive and hard to define.
Ancient texts once recorded a person who was a mortal one day, but whose soul realm ascended to the Soul Transformation stage the next.
There were also those with supreme spiritual roots whose cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, but whose soul cultivation stagnated, leaving them stuck at the Golden Core stage.
Both of these examples are quite extreme. In the cultivation world, it is generally believed that experiencing the mortal world can help increase the soul realm.
Therefore.
Various major sects would issue all sorts of missions in the disciple hall for disciples to choose from for their trials.
On one hand, this could protect a region and maintain peace in the human world.
On the other hand, it was also a process of tempering the heart in the mundane world.
Currently.
Li Shuang, relying on this Rhythm Method, had actually recovered so much of her soul realm.
If this method were to spread outside, it would surely cause a stir!
However.
This level of the Rhythm Method was only capable of helping Li Shuang's soul realm recover to the Nascent Soul stage; that was its limit.
To further improve, she would still need to experience the mortal world.
With the spiritual energy clusters returned by Ye Zhaozhao, she wouldn't have to worry about spiritual energy until she reached the peak of the Golden Core stage.
Besides.
Her sword techniques had reached a bottleneck.
Her soul realm improvement had also reached a bottleneck.
If she wanted to further enhance her strength...
Li Shuang's expression was calm; it was time to go out for a while!
Li Shuang calmly left the artifact refining room.
She planned to first return to Ruthless Peak to see her master, and then accept a mission to go down the mountain for trials.
This Sword Sect was like a greenhouse. Staying in a greenhouse, while safer, could only cultivate delicate flowers, not soaring eagles!
As soon as Li Shuang returned to Ruthless Peak, she encountered a mechanical bird flapping its wings towards her.
"Save my dog life! Save my dog life!"
The mechanical bird cried out loudly as it flew.
Behind it followed a crowd of onlookers.
"What's going on?" Li Shuang couldn't help but ask.
A Sword Sect disciple chuckled and said, "This should be a puppet made by a Sword Sect disciple. It contains the unique sword qi of the Sword Sect, which is why it didn't trigger the sect's restrictions and flew straight in. Looking at the situation, it seems like some disciple out there is calling for help?"
It sounded like a cry for help, but the bird was oddly shaped, with a crooked beak and a tilted head, constantly shouting for its life, yet its tone inexplicably carried a hint of sarcasm, making it hard to feel tense.
"It should be the mechanical bird of Sui Jin, the third disciple of Ruthless Peak," someone who knew said. "Only Sui Jin could create a bird with such a distorted appearance."
The bird, which was clearly there to ask for help, became enraged the moment it heard someone say it was uncoordinated, and immediately pecked at that disciple!
"Whoa! Calm down, calm down!" The disciple quickly dodged.
"Who are you calling uncoordinated! Who are you calling uncoordinated!" The bird shrieked, chasing after the disciple relentlessly.
Li Shuang: "...???"
Third Senior Brother's... mechanical bird?
She tried to intervene: "Did something happen to Third Senior Brother outside? Don't be angry for now, solving the problem is most important."
The mechanical bird shrieked, continuing to chase the disciple: "Say it! I am the most beautiful bird in the world! Say it! I am the most beautiful bird in the world!"
The disciple, unable to escape, quickly said, "You are the most beautiful bird in the world!"
Only then did the mechanical bird let him go, satisfied. It flapped its wings, about to continue looking for Lin Qingling.
Suddenly.
With a *click*, it shrieked and fell directly to the ground.
Li Shuang: "..."
Yan Xiao stepped forward to examine it: "Senior Sister Li, the spirit stone's energy is depleted."
Li Shuang was momentarily at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Just for one sentence, it completely exhausted its own energy?
This mechanical bird...
It was indeed a bit peculiar.
Li Shuang stepped forward, picked up the mechanical bird, and then went to request an audience with Lin Qingling.
Lin Qingling looked at the now motionless mechanical bird, feeling a bit speechless herself.
She replaced the spirit stone in the mechanical bird.
The bird immediately sprang back to life.
"Save my dog life, save my dog life," the mechanical bird mechanically cried out again.
Lin Qingling patted its head: "Alright, you've arrived. Speak your mind!"
The mechanical bird's eyes reddened slightly, seemingly confirming Lin Qingling's identity.
The next moment.
A wailing sound, like ghosts crying and wolves howling, emanated from within the mechanical bird.
"Master! Help me!!! If I keep messing around, I'm going to be chopped up!!!!"
Lin Qingling's lips twitched. She felt a bit fortunate at that moment.
Good thing!
Good thing this scoundrel wasn't around when Little Shuang joined Ruthless Peak.
Otherwise, she feared Li Shuang would have been scared away on the spot.
"Little Shuang, don't worry, although he's a bit abnormal, most of the time he's just annoying," Lin Qingling said incoherently.
Li Shuang found it somewhat amusing: "Master, let's first hear what trouble Third Senior Brother has encountered."
Lin Qingling suppressed the feeling of embarrassment and continued to listen.
Subsequently.
She revealed an expression that was hard to describe.
Her third disciple...
Was he a bit too crazy?!
Half a year ago.
Sui Jin took a sect mission and went out. The mission was that someone had allegedly discovered traces of a demonic cultivator in a small town, and Sui Jin was sent to investigate.
After he went, he investigated all the way and indeed found traces of demonic activity.
So.
He concealed his strength and infiltrated this demonic organization.
Then he climbed his way up step by step, and now he has become a small leader, with the entire demonic organization in the small town under his control.
Now, the problem arose.
Because of his outstanding work, the higher-ups of the organization were sending someone to commend him!!!
If they met, and his identity was exposed, he would probably be instantly finished!
Only then did Sui Jin urgently seek help from the sect.