"Cotton Candy, you're pretty amazing, but can you use my techniques?"
Jian Dan asked with an interested smile.
"I can, but I can only bring out half of your strength. After all, I don't have a Life-bound Sword as powerful as yours."
Cotton Candy still wore Jian Dan's face, speaking honestly.
Jian Dan's eyes flashed. She rotated her wrist, and the second Mò Xī Jiàn appeared in her hand. Then she passed it over.
"Cotton Candy, this is the Life-bound Sword I forged. Give it a try."
Cotton Candy took the Mò Xī Jiàn and spun it through an elegant sword flower, perfectly capturing Jian Dan's style. Then, imitating her tone, she said proudly,
"Zhēnzūn, please offer your guidance!"
A burst of spiritual power flowed straight into the Mò Xī Jiàn. She immediately unleashed Autumn Waters Single Slash. Jian Dan's eyes brightened. Instead of drawing the other Mò Xī Jiàn, she activated her Obsidian Bracelet and met the strike using bare fists.
Autumn Waters Single Slash carried the intent of water, both fierce and gentle, combining absolute softness with unyielding force. Jian Dan shattered the first wave of sword energy with a punch. Immediately after, countless sword strikes rained down, as dense as a storm, wild and unpredictable, demanding full focus to deal with.
She nodded slightly. This sword had potential. A few instant flashes later, every trace of sword energy was crushed.
In the blink of an eye, the open space before the bamboo tower shifted from a raging storm of water swords to absolute calm.
"Oh no, Master, I'm still lacking!"
Cotton Candy held the sword with a defeated look.
"Cotton Candy, you did great. Your strikes were sharp. The form of the sword path is already there, but it lacks true intent. I'm about to enter seclusion. Stay nearby and train sword intent with me."
"Yes, Master!"
Her soft, sticky voice completely destroyed the imposing atmosphere from moments ago.
Jian Dan pressed her lips together to hide a smile. She first explained the essence and artistic intent of sword techniques for the five elements, gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, then stepped into the bamboo tower to begin seclusion.
Inside her sea of consciousness, the Mahayana stage chapter of the Primordial Chaos Art had already unlocked itself the moment her divine sense reached the Mahayana level. She was already familiar with it. Following its method, she initiated a grand circulation of spiritual power, guiding it through every meridian in her body.
Even the tiniest meridians she once overlooked were blasted open and cleared. The twelve main pathways had expanded to their full limit. Two million five hundred thousand tiny blood vessels were completely cleansed and filled with spiritual power. Her entire body had become a vessel storing spiritual power.
Now that she'd reached Mahayana, even without consciously cultivating, the power of all five elements constantly permeated her meridians, circulated through her body, entered her dantian, passed through the Yin Yang Taiji disc for purification, and filled the dual Yin Yang seas.
Once she grew accustomed to the Mahayana level power, Jian Dan immediately switched her cultivation to the Heavenly Demon Art. The Mahayana stage of this art was incredibly domineering, shockingly capable of cultivating demon bloodlines.
She already knew that demon cultivators in the Lingyun Continent were actually human cultivators practicing demon race cultivation methods. They weren't true demons. True demon race bodies, bloodlines, and innate abilities were far stronger.
The Heavenly Demon Art was created by the demon race specifically for humans, whose physiques were weaker. When cultivated to the highest level, a strand of demon blood would be born, strengthening the body immensely.
No wonder the art must be paired with the Ice Crystal Jade Bone Demon Body Art to reach maximum effect. The Heavenly Demon Art was the entry requirement to the Heavenly Demon Palace, but she hadn't handed over the Ice Crystal Jade Bone Demon Body Art. It was her last backup plan.
Now that she understood the significance of cultivating both together, she considered whether to hand over the second technique or not.
Mahayana cultivators also needed to grasp the power of laws. That was why they rarely fell. After fully integrating both dao and demon paths, Jian Dan began practicing the power of laws.
To Mahayana eyes, everything was composed of elemental forces. Plants and trees were wood, rivers and oceans were water, mountains and stones were earth, and so on. Everything in existence followed this rule.
So Mahayana cultivators could borrow the five elements from nature to unleash overwhelming destruction with the simplest spell. That was why they rarely acted. The damage was too massive.
Even when they did act, they held back. For example, Tian Yun Zhēnzhūn's sword strike last time had been perfectly controlled, killing that evil cultivator instantly without any collateral damage. That was the mark of a true expert.
As a chaos spirit root cultivator, Jian Dan possessed all five elements. She could transform into anything, and she could draw power from anything in existence. That meant that at the same stage, she was stronger. In a real fight, she could endure far longer.
She enjoyed the feeling of holding power in her hands. She fully transformed all five elements once, following the cycle of mutual generation, letting them merge until everything condensed into chaotic force before returning to her dantian.
Next came time and space. These two were the hardest to control. Time was the fleeting blossom of a single instant. Space was like a corner of the Immortal Realm or her internal realm, forming a complete ecosystem of its own.
In Jian Dan's understanding, true space meant creating a self-sustaining ecological chain, ensuring endless circulation of the five elements, thus forming stability.
As she manipulated the forces of time and space, the world within the bamboo tower fluctuated wildly. One moment it was lush and blooming, the next dark like late twilight. Plants grew wildly, centuries passing in a blink. Land became sea, sea became desert. The entire Purple Palace trembled in chaos.
Cotton Candy had been practicing sword techniques nearby, but soon sensed something terribly wrong. The ground beneath her feet turned into a lake, and the lake she'd just seen turned into farmland.
If this kept going, the entire space would flip upside down. She immediately shouted through her contract cloud to call her Zhēnzūn.
"Master, Master, please stop the spell, the space is about to collapse!!"