Qin Zilong finally grasped the core of the relic. The sword was not merely a parasite that drained its master’s Qi. The weapon possessed its own unique and complex circulatory path. As long as he insisted on forcing control through brute strength, the sword would continue to rebel and destroy him from within. But the moment he humbled himself and followed its natural flow…The sword ceased to be a burden and transformed into a true extension of his own body.Zilong smiled faintly—a smile full of confidence in the midst of deadly encirclement. “In that case, let’s try again.”A three-eyed leopard-shaped Demon Beast lunged fiercely from the side, aiming for his neck.Zilong stepped casually. His body tilted a few centimeters to the left with elegant ease. The monster’s lethal claws merely sliced through empty air right in front of his chest. The black sword moved in perfect harmony with the momentum of his fluid turn.SRAAAK!Fresh blood sprayed into the air. The leopard staggered, losi

Zilong still stood upright amid the destruction. Yet his knees had almost completely lost their strength. With the last remnants of his power, he drove the black sword into the ground to support his swaying body.“This sword art…” Zilong regulated his ragged breathing, gripping the hilt tightly. “…is truly still too terrifying for me to control completely.”He stared at his right palm, which trembled violently and was covered in blood. If the previous battle had lasted even ten seconds longer, he would have collapsed and become easy prey for the monsters.He slowly raised his head.The ancient stone door still stood firm and silent behind him, holding mysteries yet to be unraveled.“I did not come to the Spirit Mist Forest just to throw my life away in a pointless fight,” he said softly.Zilong wiped the remaining blood from his lips with the back of his hand, then stepped back toward the stone door.The moment the blade of his black sword approached the door’s surface—DUM!The blade

Zilong stood up and clapped his hands together. “This thing is not merely an ordinary storage ring for dead items.” He looked down at the black ring that fit snugly on the ring finger of his right hand.“This is a complete small world.” Zilong carefully stroked the surface of the ring. “And it seems I have not even scratched the surface of all the secrets it holds.”He had no intention of wasting time forcing open every secret of the ring right now. An artifact of this high level was clearly impossible to fully comprehend in a short time.For the moment, what he had already discovered was more than enough to meet all his most urgent needs.A safe sanctuary.Abundant extra time and a golden opportunity to leap higher.Zilong channeled a small remnant of Qi into the ring on his finger. A thin black light suddenly enveloped his entire body. In the blink of an eye, his vision shifted, and he had returned to the ancient stone chamber in the real world.BOOM!The moment his consciousness re

Inside the dimensional space of the ring, time seemed to lose its meaning. There was no bird song, no howling of Demon Beasts, nor any forest wind carrying the scent of blood and wet earth. The only sound was Qin Zilong’s breathing, which gradually began to steady.He sat cross-legged upon a flat stretch of ground surrounded by faint white Heaven and Earth Qi. In this place, the spiritual energy felt so pure that it left almost no impurities behind. Yet Zilong’s body was still far from well.His black robe was torn in several places. Dried blood clung to the corner of his mouth, while his right arm was covered in red lines from being forced to channel the power of the black sword he had not yet fully mastered. Zilong lowered his head, then his fingers moved slowly.Pain immediately spread from his palm all the way to the base of his shoulder. Zilong furrowed his brow deeply.That sword… he thought bitterly.He remained silent for a moment. Memories of the life-and-death battle earlier

News of Qin Zilong’s return spread quickly all the way to the residences of the elders. Not long after, Zilong already stood upright inside the main hall of the sect.The Great Elder, Gu Yan, Shen Luo, and Bai He were already there to receive him. The moment the hall doors opened and Zilong stepped inside, several pairs of eyes immediately fixed sharply upon him.The Great Elder observed the young man from head to toe. “You returned faster than we expected.”“The two-month time limit is almost up,” Zilong answered in a calm tone. “I have no reason to linger there any longer.”The Great Elder nodded slowly. “How is your cultivation?”Zilong smiled faintly. “It has improved a little.”Several elders in the room exchanged glances upon hearing such an overly simple answer. Yet none of them dared to underestimate those words. The Great Elder did not even attempt to examine Zilong’s cultivation level with his spiritual senses; he already understood full well that if Qin Zilong wished to con