Da Xuan Martial Saint

The Demon-Slaying Office's Silent Chamber underground.

In the empty Qian Heaven room, a series of clapping sounds resounded.

Chen Mu and Meng Danyun were standing just a few feet apart, constantly colliding in a flurry of finger and palm strikes. Whether it was the Sword Finger thrust by Chen Mu or the Palm Finger counterstrike by Meng Danyun, each was accompanied by strands of solidified Wind Blades.

Though it was merely a clash between fingers and palms, the sounds of crackling burst forth continuously until Chen Mu's right hand took the form of a blade, striking down at Meng Danyun. The edge of his palm twisted up a strong wind, solidifying into a visible Wind Blade, making the Palm Blade strike almost like a real blade descending.

Meng Danyun's slender right palm likewise formed a Palm Blade and moved upwards to meet Chen Mu's hand blade. The two palms didn't collide, but instead came to a stop about an inch apart from each other. Yet the edges of their palm blades clashed intensely, resulting in an explosion akin to the sound of actual swords colliding, before suddenly bursting apart.

After this strike, Chen Mu did not attack again.

Meng Danyun also stood still, seemingly in a trance as she looked at Chen Mu before finally shaking her head and saying, "With your level of enlightenment and talent, you really should be cultivating at the Seven Profound Sect. It would be more appropriate to descend the mountain for trials only after you've reached the second step of Artistic Conception and entered the Five Viscera Realm."

As a true inheritance disciple of the Seven Profound Sect, Meng Danyun had reached an Artistic Conception at twenty-three and stepped into the Five Viscera Realm at twenty-seven, a talent that could be called a prodigy among the young generation of Yu State. Yet even she was astonished by the height of Chen Mu's enlightenment.

In just two months,

Chen Mu's Xun Wind Artistic Conception had advanced nearly a whole step from its initial stage, almost catching up with her!

Now, when the two of them crossed hands solely using the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, Chen Mu could match her blow for blow and even avoid defeat in a short time. His shocking rate of progress far exceeded her own past rate.

She had taken at least a year to develop her Xun Wind Artistic Conception from its nascent stage to where Chen Mu was now, whereas Chen Mu had only spent about two months. She practically had nothing left to teach him.

"I'm still somewhat lacking compared to Sister Meng,"

Chen Mu rubbed the edge of his palm and replied with a humble smile.

It was not flattery. Over the past two months, he had advanced his understanding of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception using the experience he had accumulated. Although he had taken a big step forward, he had not yet reached the same extent as Meng Danyun, who was one strand away from the second step.

To go from initially mastering an Artistic Conception to stepping into the second phase required two breakthroughs: the first could only cover more than half the distance, while the second would allow crossing the threshold entirely.

"You surpassing me is just a matter of time,"

Meng Danyun shook her head and said, "With your level of enlightenment, in another month or two at most, your understanding of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception will not be inferior to mine, and if you could contemplate it within the Sect for a year or two, you would certainly step into the second phase."

With Chen Mu's level of talent, there weren't many in the entire Seven Profound Sect who could compare to him. Additionally, Chen Mu had also made good progress in his Body Tempering Method.

Some disciples with high enlightenment but poor physical constitution progressed slowly in Body Refining, and even with the Sect's resources helping them to advance beyond the Bone Tempering Realm, they still did so strugglingly, often halting at the Five Viscera Realm.

True geniuses—those who could become true inheritors of a Sect—must have both enlightenment and talent. For example, her stepping into the Five Viscera Realm at twenty-seven was actually somewhat slow. A true inheritor from the Great Profound Peak had grasped the Artistic Conception at twenty-two and entered the Five Viscera Realm at twenty-four.

Younger than her by three years, his strength far exceeded hers.

Still, he was defeated by Heavenly Sword Sect's Zuo Qianqiu.

It could be said,

Even among prodigies, there were still significant differences, differences that were visibly vast.

In Meng Danyun's view, Chen Mu definitely possessed a level of talent one tier higher than her own. Being stuck in a small place like Yu County to develop on his own was truly a waste of his potential; she wondered what the Sect's yearly disciple selection officers were even doing.

"By the way, Sister, I have some questions about stepping into the Five Viscera Realm,"

Chen Mu didn't dwell on the matter of whether it would take two months or two years as mentioned by Meng Danyun and instead, shifted the topic to ask about the path of cultivation beyond the Five Viscera Realm.

At present, he was only a step away from reaching the limit of Bone Tempering, a matter of a couple of days. As for the Xun Wind Artistic Conception... he was also just a bit of experience away.

While he could continue to practice with Kan Water for the Artistic Conception, stepping into the Five Viscera Realm was something he had only a basic understanding of from books and the teachings of Yu Jiujiang.

Although Yu Jiujiang was in the Five Viscera Realm and very experienced, when it came down to certain unique aspects, he was probably not as knowledgeable as a true inheritance disciple like Meng Danyun.

After all, Yu Jiujiang had only reached the Five Viscera Realm and no further, while disciples like Meng Danyun were expected to at least step into the Six Viscera Realm and might even have a chance to reach higher levels.

"The Five Viscera Realm, huh..."

Meng Danyun thought for a moment and said, "There's really no key point, well, try not to rely on Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that can solidify Inner Breath and establish circulation in the Five Viscera. Although they make it easier to step into the Five Viscera Realm, they will also consume your inherent potential, making it hard to advance to the Six Viscera Realm later on."

Chen Mu had already heard this from Yu Jiujiang—in fact, the Yu Family also had some Spiritual Objects that could help break through into the Five Viscera Realm, leftover from when Yu Jiujiang was young. He advised Chen Mu to try breaking into the Five Viscera Realm on his own without relying on external aids if he managed to reach Bone Tempering Perfection before the age of thirty.