Ling Xu remained indifferent at the news of Lu Wenjie's breaking through, after all he was already strong enough to beat someone who was in the seventh stage of Qi Refining so he wasn't a real problem to him.
"It is true that he has recently advanced to the sixth stage but he still is an outer disciple and I don't believe that he has the guts to kills a fellow disciple while on a mission." With a face that showed confidence in what he said, Sun Qinglan seemed to be convinced as she calmed down.
"You may be right brother Xu." Still, she showed a firm look as if she couldn't brush off the idea of something happening as she continued. "But you should prepare just in case, we are going on a mission and even if he doesn't do anything there are many dangers in the wild."
This preoccupation was very normal since the sect was located in the middle of the Profound Roots Mountain Range and there were several dangerous beasts roaming in the middle of the mountain.
Even when he went on the previous mission with Xie Jian, he had encountered in their path a few beasts. But since they were all below the fifth stage of Qi Refining they didn't pose a threat to the group, having someone who was on the sixth stage dealing with them without a problem.
The reason why they were barely in fourth stage or even less was because they had descended quite a lot on their path to find the snake since it laid in the outer most part of the mountain range, trying to heal itself in a place were it wouldn't be in danger of encountering another strong beast on the same level or even higher.
Ling Xu nodded to Sun Qinglan, showing that he understood and would prepare against any possible danger.
"Since I've already shared what I wanted to say, I'll take my leave now. There are still a few days left before going on the mission and I'll do my best to break through to the fourth stage." She stood up from her sit and left the Dinning Hall, planning to increase her strength so she would be of greater help when they went on the mission.
A few minutes later, the plate was empty as he devoured the meat from the beast that the sect provided to the outer disciples. This beast meat came from the ones that the unofficial disciples who guarded the border of the sect's array hunted.
Although the menial workers sustained the sect's basic necessities through their daily tasks, they couldn't complain or object as they also received their own benefits. And once they entered the Qi Refining Realm and became an outer disciple themselves they would be able to enjoy the same privileges.
The only people that weren't capable of entering the outer sect were those that didn't work hard enough or that their talent was mediocre, but the sect wouldn't care about such people since they would soon leave the sect and they wouldn't provide any real help to it.
The reason behind it was that if the disciples weren't strong enough they wouldn't provide any real help towards the sect, so the sect used the menial worker status as a screening process and once they entered the Qi Refining Realm they would become official disciples and start getting more benefits from it.
Staying with those that had the potential to enter the following realm and discarding those that couldn't do so was a basic thing, after all it didn't do charity and it needed strong disciples who would one day become the pillars of the sect.
Ling Xu managed to observe all of this when he realized that part of the beasts that were hunted down by him came to the bellies of the outer disciples free of charge, but he didn't feel bad since he felt that it made sense.
This was something very normal in the previous world and here it would only show more intensified, after all he was currently in the world of cultivation and everyone struggled to reach their goals.
Even himself, although he had just been in the sect for less than two months, he already found someone who tried to kill him at night. Ling Xu couldn't imagine how much harder it would be for those that weren't protected by a sect or a strong background.
Returning to his room, he continued advancing in his cultivation through his profound breathing that not only helped him refine his acupoints but also strengthened his body after reaching perfection in the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique.
In this way, Ling Xu continued with his training routine as the end of the week came and he was in the middle of the night.
Being in the dark forest, he went at this late hour since he felt the path between his eyes open once again and he wanted to use the energy of enlightenment as the following day he would go on a mission with Lu Wenjie and he still felt the need to increase his strength.
Although he was very confident that he could defeat him, Ling Xu was careful and thought about the possibility of him bringing in external help since to do this mission they needed a group of five.
Having another two people in the group that he didn't even know their cultivation levels was very dangerous, so he wanted to increase his strength as high as possible before tomorrow. In case that he would need to fight against Lu Wenjie and the other two since he would need to have a move that was strong enough to defeat in one strike someone in the higher stages of Qi Refining.
Although Ling Xu had previously beaten Xie Jian while in the first stage, he hadn't managed to gravely injure him. This time, he needed to have a sword move that would kill his opponent without giving them a chance to continue fighting.
He moved through the obscure forest until he reached his normal spot as he started displaying his great success mastery in the Flowing Stream Sword technique.
Moving naturally without any impediment, Ling Xu's sword danced through the night, each movement relentless and precise. With every swing, his speed increased, the strength of each strike building upon the last as it could be felt already the pressure in the sword increasing.
A stream of energy formed in the blade of the sword, strengthening its power to another level. As his sword passed through a few plants and trees, it cut through like it was a piece of paper without decreasing his momentum in the slightest.
This dangerous dance with the sword continued for an hour until Ling Xu's reserves of qi were almost dried up. The stream of energy consumed a lot of his formless qi but after advancing to the next stage he still had more than enough to use it a few times.
Although he only condensed it once, since it wasn't used in one strike but he kept it in the sword, the expenditure of energy had completely used the qi that was contained in his dantian.
As the last remaining qi in his body was about to come out and go to the sword, the path between his eyes opened and a gentle energy entered. Swimming through his whole body like a fish entering an ocean after living in a pond its whole life, Ling Xu felt the fatigue from his body been washed away in an instant.
What followed next was his mind entering a state of clarity as his body started moving on its own, using the most natural path in the sword technique.
With every passing breath, you could see the stream of energy in his sword become stronger as it was condensing more and more.
This process continued for an entire incense stick of time as the energy in his sword had reached a new height. The stream was formed and was shining with an intense light of destruction and the qi in his body was constantly recovering, helping him maintain the form all this time since the use of qi was even higher than before.
It seemed that the effect from the enlightenment was about to end since the golden energy was thinning out when a sudden change occurred.
Boom!
A great movement occurred in the sword as the destructive light that came from the stream of energy started to dim. The light that shone and lit the forest continued decreasing for several minutes.
This happened until only Ling Xu's figure could be differentiated through the light that was previously flying out of the sword. Now, what remained in the sword was a condensed stream made out of his formless qi with all the light inside.
Boom!
Another movement occurred but this one was even stronger than before as the stream of energy seemed to be undergoing some kind of change.
After a few breaths, a new stream of energy was condensed in the sword, but this time it was very different.
Ling Xu's formless qi circulated through his meridians, seeping into his acupoints, organs and muscles while slowly refining them every time. Once it reached his hand, it went to the sword as a new stream of energy formed on it.
It felt lifelike, the waves from a real stream moved like currents of water through the sword. The destructive light that previously shone upon the whole forest was now condensed within these waves of energy.
It refracted like the light when it passed through water, forming a beautiful light that couldn't be compared to any other technique used by someone in the Qi Refining Realm.
Returning to the earth, Ling Xu observed the scenery in his sword as if he was looking at a piece of art. He was surprised by what a sword technique could transform to once one reached a sufficient level of mastery.
"Let's see what kind of power my sword now has." His mind moved and his heart followed, his hand slashed pretty fast in a vertical line.
The target was a boulder that spanned several meters high, it already had several sword marks that were done by his training in the last few weeks.
Before the sword even grasped the superficial part of the boulder, the stream of energy that was alive made contact. A pair of inches apart from the sword, the waves from the stream of energy cut through as it passed unimpeded.
Bam!
When Ling Xu let go the energy from the sword, all the energy contained within exploded into the boulder tearing apart anything that was in its path.
After a few seconds, the forest quieted down once again and he could see what had happened to the boulder.
The cut that he made spanned several meters long and it stopped as it became smaller and smaller, since the boulder was massive and he couldn't cut it from one end to the other. The width was between one and two feet long, which made it even more impressive since it made the cut look bigger.
"With this attack I won't need to worry about Lu Wenjie and what he has prepared. The only problem is this inner disciple who he has as a senior brother, but fortunately outer disciples can't get help from disciples from the inner sect."
This is a rule made so outer disciples with a strong background wouldn't enter the inner sect without putting in any effort. Although the Formless Sword Sect was founded three hundred years ago and its history isn't that long, it would never allow mediocre people to have influence in the sect.
So when it came to doing a regular mission, inner disciples couldn't intervene in a mission from the outer sect.
While returning to his room, Ling Xu made a slight movement within his mind and the status panel appeared.
[Name]: Ling Xu
[Realm]: 2nd stage of Qi Refining (48%)
[Cultivation]: Formless Qi Breathing (perfection), Existence Shadow Will (53%)
[Techniques]: Gale Wind (small success 37%), Flowing Stream Sword (perfection), Three Purities Sword (perfection), Blood Thread Transformation (completed)
After three days of training and cultivating to advance to the third stage, he had made some progress as he was already halfway through before he broke through the third stage of Qi Refining. He also had advanced a third of the progress required to reach proficient, in the Gale Wind movement technique.
"I have also surpassed the 50% in the Existence Shadow Will." He felt the shadow golden energy laying dormant within his abdomen and with a single thought it moved instantly from it, covering his body.
This layer of energy was normally imperceptible to the eye unless one focused hard enough to see. But Ling Xu could feel it like it was an extension of his body as it moved with his will.
Feeling the layer of energy covering his body he realized that it was now covering him completely and after focusing he could see its light. Now, it looked a little brighter than before.
He could also tell that from the feeling of protection that it naturally gave him when it covered his body.