Clang!
In the dream, Xu Ming gripped a butcher’s knife and barely blocked the butcher’s heavy strike. The impact sent Xu Ming staggering back ten meters.
Before he could steady himself, the butcher’s long blade came slashing down toward him again. Xu Ming rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike, and immediately counterattacked, aiming his butcher’s knife at the butcher’s neck. The butcher stepped back just in time, dodging the blow.
Xu Ming seized the opportunity and pressed forward.
At that moment, Xu Ming felt a mysterious, indescribable sensation stirring within him. It was as though he had grasped something crucial. A flash of insight struck his mind—he had suddenly comprehended the essence of the butcher’s knife technique.
Leaping into the air, Xu Ming swung the knife down in a powerful arc.
This strike seemed ordinary, just a simple downward chop. But in truth, the blade concealed its sharpness, and the spiritual energy within was compressed to its utmost. It was a strike that could cut through anything with unparalleled precision.
Now, Xu Ming finally understood what the butcher had meant earlier. Once this technique was mastered, it could indeed slice through anything—be it human, demon, dragon, or even a god.
Clang!
This time, it was the butcher’s turn to raise his blade to block.But Xu Ming’s butcher’s knife sliced through the blade as if it were tofu, effortlessly continuing its arc to cut through the butcher entirely.
“Well done. Kid, you’re much smarter than my first apprentice. Why couldn’t that idiot learn as quickly as you?”
The butcher chuckled before his figure dissipated into thin air, leaving only his voice echoing in the void.
The butcher’s knife in Xu Ming’s hand vanished as well. Bowing deeply toward where the butcher had disappeared, Xu Ming said, “Thank you, senior, for imparting your knowledge.”
After the butcher left, a third figure appeared.
The newcomer was a wiry man who looked as thin as a monkey. Xu Ming remembered his name—The Thief.
“I’ve got a movement technique called Divine Step Technique. It’s my bread and butter. If you can master it today, that’s your own skill,” the thief said with a sly grin.
Xu Ming bowed. “May I ask, senior, how do you wish to test me?”
By now, Xu Ming had a sense of what was happening.
Though he still didn’t fully understand what their ultimate goal was, it was clear they were all here to pass down their techniques to him. Likely, Jiang Xue was experiencing the same thing elsewhere.
However, the process of imparting these techniques was… unusual. Each one of them insisted on testing him in their own peculiar way. The test was always directly tied to the technique they were teaching. If Xu Ming succeeded, he would fully grasp the technique. If he failed, the price would undoubtedly be his life.
“It’s simple,” the thief said. “We’ll race. If you can catch up to me within the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, you win. If you can’t…” The thief gave a sly smile. “I don’t think I need to spell out what happens then, do I?”
“I understand,” Xu Ming nodded, his brows furrowed.
“Good. Then let’s begin. Try to keep up, kid. Don’t make me waste my time.”
As soon as the thief finished speaking, he vanished into thin air. Xu Ming immediately followed.
When Xu Ming took to the skies, even he was startled.
Just like before, he had somehow instinctively learned the thief’s technique.
Xu Ming quickly realized that the thief’s Divine Step Technique was extraordinarily elusive and absurdly fast, allowing him to weave through any terrain effortlessly.
This was undoubtedly a immortal-grade movement technique—something the thief had likely kept as his most guarded secret.
Whether it was the Tranquil Heart Mantra, the butcher’s Pig-Slaughtering Blade Technique, or this Divine Step Technique, every single one of these techniques was exceptional.
They weren’t just teaching Xu Ming random skills. They were giving him everything they had, revealing the very core of their expertise.
Logically speaking, obtaining the ultimate techniques of fifteen powerful cultivators would be an event of overwhelming joy for any cultivator.
Yet, Xu Ming felt little excitement in his heart.
First, whether he could successfully learn all fifteen techniques was already a massive question mark. Missing even one would spell his death.
Second, the better the techniques these people gave him, the higher the risks of what they expected him to accomplish in return.
They clearly wanted him to help free them, but whatever method they had in mind was likely a path of near-certain death.
After all, Xu Ming didn’t believe for a second that these people were paragons of virtue.
Still, he knew he had no room to contemplate such matters now. His only focus could be on mastering the techniques they had passed down.
As Xu Ming and Xu Xue’nuo continued their relentless training within their dream realms, the atmosphere in the cave grew heavier.
The fourteen people, excluding the old man, all wore grim expressions.
None of them had expected the Sect Master of the Tianxuan Sect to arrive so quickly.
If it had been during their prime, this so-called sect master wouldn’t have even been worth considering. At the very least, they could have stopped him from interfering with their plans.
But now, their spiritual power was sealed, and after all these years, they had barely managed to gather two wisps of spiritual energy, both of which had been sent into the consciousness of the two juniors as vessels.
If the Tianxuan Sect’s sect master discovered these two juniors, they would undoubtedly be killed.
And if that happened, any hope of escape for the group would vanish completely.
“How are those two kids progressing?” the old man asked the others.
“They’re both incredibly talented,” the thief replied. “It’s already my turn to test them. Honestly, I’m starting to want to take them as disciples and pass on my legacy.”
Zhou Wanfeng smiled faintly. “Perhaps heaven hasn’t abandoned us yet. These two may very well be the ones sent by the Dao itself to save us. Of course, that’s assuming they manage to master the old man’s sword technique in the end.”
The hunter shook his head. “At the very least, they’ll need to survive long enough to reach that point. Right now, that Tianxuan Sect master is heading straight for us. What are we supposed to do to stop him?”
The old man chuckled. “You worthless fools—what could you possibly do? Leave it to me.”
As he finished speaking, a violent wind of sword energy erupted from the old man’s body, surging upward toward the cave ceiling like a storm.
At the same time, Xia He, the Sect Master of the Tianxuan Sect, had already arrived at the entrance to the central cave of Sanshi Peak.
As soon as Xia He stepped inside, his eyes fell upon the corpse of the Tigerfang Beast sprawled on the ground, a gaping hole punched through its chest.
His brows furrowed deeply.
This Tigerfang Beast had been placed here as a guard specifically by him. Its strength was formidable, capable of killing even Golden Core cultivators and battling Golden Body warriors.
Yet now, it lay dead.
“Useless trash!”
Xia He kicked the beast’s corpse aside and swiftly flew into the cave.
But just as he reached the halfway point, a whirlwind of sword energy, like tens of thousands of flying blades, roared toward him, intent on piercing him through.
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