Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 204 Risk
With a flicker of light and shadow, Hai Wuji vanished without a sound. This time, Gao Wu faintly sensed a subtle fluctuation in space.

The feeling is similar to returning from a secret realm to the real world; due to the difference in spatial conditions, both the body and mind can feel something unusual.

The ability to casually transform a spatial region into one's own sacred domain, and to replicate reality almost perfectly, was something Gao Wu would never have believed if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes.

One can only say that a Martial Saint is a Martial Saint! His Saintly Domain alone is enough to make him stand out from all other martial artists.

Gao Wu was very envious of this, but unfortunately, he could hardly even get close to becoming a Martial King in a short time, let alone a Martial Saint.

Moreover, this sacred realm requires spatial talent. I'm afraid even if he becomes a Martial Saint, he will find it difficult to achieve this.

"Something happened?" Song Mingyue asked in a mental transmission. She had clearly sensed something was wrong, but she wasn't sure.

"It's nothing. Hai Gong just came over and gave me some pointers on swordsmanship." Gao Wu gave a brief explanation, but there was no need to go into more detail.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Song Mingyue, but there was really no need to go into detail. Song Mingyue's cultivation path was different from his, and even if he told her about the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword, she wouldn't be able to practice it.

Hai Wuji had specifically instructed him not to reveal his swordsmanship. This wasn't out of fear that Chu Shenxiu would notice anything amiss…

Gao Wu believed that Hai Wuji was at most borrowing from the Divine Dragon Scripture to broaden his thinking, and would never actually steal it.

Besides, a complete and complex cultivation system isn't so easy to steal. Even a Martial Saint couldn't crawl into Chu Shenxiu's mind to see it.

Swordsmanship is a technique of killing and destruction, and it is not suitable for outsiders to see. This is the most fundamental reason.

Once Song Mingyue was sure Gao Wu was alright, she severed the mental connection.

"He didn't even say goodnight, does he not love me anymore..." Gao Wu muttered to himself as he continued to study the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword.

This sword technique contains complex changes in source energy, as well as a more profound and unfathomable sword intent. After pondering it for a long time, Gao Wu decided to go to sleep first.

Such a complex and profound sword technique is different from Zhanbingquan (a martial arts style), and it cannot be learned in a day or two.

The next day, Hai Wuji taught as usual, explaining theory in the morning and guiding everyone in cultivation in the afternoon.

At night, Hai Wuji would seek out Gao Wu alone and open up the Sacred Domain space to instruct Gao Wu on swordsmanship.

Only then could Gao Wu truly feel the difference between a personal disciple and a student! He felt incredibly pleased!
It's just like the secret teachings of Bodhi Patriarch to Sun Wukong in Journey to the West—secret and mysterious, yet very ritualistic, and it also shows the teacher's love for his disciple.

Hai Wuji gave Gao Wu ten days of private tutoring, and Gao Wu only managed to get the basics of the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword...

The Book of Immeasurable Merit is quite accurate in its assessment of skills, which shows how complex and profound the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword is.

The Dragon Sword and Dragon Secret Sword at the Transcendent Realm level disappeared; to be precise, they were merged into the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword.

After learning the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword, Gao Wu discovered that 20 points of innate talent was nothing special, which made him somewhat frustrated.

Even the seemingly weakest, Chao Fengying, should have a root potential of over 20 points. This is because Chao Fengying has made rapid progress recently and has now formed her fourth acupoint.

At her pace, she probably has a chance to advance to Martial Master within three months...

Xiao Song has also made great progress recently. Under Hai Wuji's guidance, she changed her original cultivation method, the Cold Netherworld Serpent Divine Form, to the Profound Netherworld Serpent Divine Form.

By visualizing the changes in the divine form, the interference of death energy decreased, but the power of the cold darkness grew stronger, with more profound changes in Yin and Yang. This greatly enhanced Xiao Song's mental strength.

His swordsmanship was also changed to the Xuanming Heavenly Serpent Sword, and his swordsmanship improved greatly. Compared to a month ago, it was a complete transformation.

As for Chu Shenxiu and Yan Qiushui, Gao Wu wasn't familiar with them and couldn't ascertain their specific situations, but he could tell that both of them had made considerable progress.

Let's leave others aside; Chu Shenxiu is already a martial arts master, the strongest in every aspect of cultivation. The fact that he can improve so rapidly is truly amazing.

In contrast, it seems a bit disappointing that it took him ten days to even begin to grasp a sword technique with a solid foundation.

Hai Wuji was quite satisfied with this: "In ten days you have already grasped the basics and can be considered to have entered the field. Not bad."

Gao Wu asked earnestly, "Master, is my aptitude really considered good?"

"Of course." Hai Wuji nodded without hesitation.

"What other evaluation is there besides 'not bad'?" Gao Wu asked.

"And also very good, good, very good, excellent, super good. Genius, true genius, unparalleled genius... Hey, there are quite a lot..."

Hai Wuji comforted Gao Wu: "This proves that you still have a lot of room for improvement. Keep it up!"

Gao Wu wanted to say something more, but Hai Wuji had already left. Gao Wu drew his Destiny Sword and muttered, "Never underestimate a young man's potential!"

Spurred on by his teacher, Gao Wu really wanted to immediately increase his root ability to 25 points and show his teacher what he was capable of.

The merits are only over 30 million, which is still a long, long way from 100 million.

To improve rapidly in a short period of time, one would need to activate the other two divine spells. Fortunately, the Heavenly Fate Sword's bonus is still present; with the sword in hand, one's swordsmanship level can be forcibly raised by a whole level.

The Heavenly Mandate Sword elevates swordsmanship to a higher level. It's not just useful for fighting; it can also be used for regular sword practice, allowing one to experience higher-level sword techniques and improve their own swordsmanship.

Winter has passed and spring has arrived. In the blink of an eye, it's mid-March. The spring breeze is gentle, the sun is shining brightly, flowers, grasses and trees are blooming, and the vast mountains have also put on a new and tender green coat.

"Bon Voyage."

Gao Wu stood at the gate and waved to Yan Qiushui and Chu Shenxiu. The two of them were going back today. As classmates, Gao Wu brought Xiao Song and Chao Fengying to see them off.

During the three months they spent together, he had almost no private conversations with Yan Qiushui and Chu Shenxiu.

On the training ground, they naturally sparred frequently. Among the five, Chao Fengying was the weakest, and Chu Shenxiu was the strongest; the two, one weak and one strong, often sparred with each other.

The remaining Gao Wu, Song Mingyue, and Yan Qiushui are of similar skill levels, and the three of them sparred quite a bit.

Although they didn't interact much in private, they developed a bond through daily cultivation together. Even Chu Shenxiu had grown fond of his companions.

He had always been the strongest genius since childhood, and when he followed the Dragon King to cultivate, he was almost always alone. Only in these past few months had he had companions to cultivate with every day, which made him feel much more cheerful.

He initially disliked Gao Wu, but after spending time with him, he found Gao Wu to be a really nice person—cheerful, sunny, and enthusiastic, able to take a joke and not pretentious. He'd make a great friend.

"Goodbye." Chu Shenxiu waved to Gao Wu and the others.

"Goodbye, Senior Brother! I'll miss you..." Chao Fengying often cultivated with Chu Shenxiu. Chu Shenxiu was gentle and always very patient with her. She still had deep feelings for Chu Shenxiu.

Chu Shenxiu smiled at Chao Fengying: "Come visit me in Nanzhou whenever you have time."

Yan Qiushui waved her hand but didn't say anything. She had gained a lot in the past few months, but she was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, and although she was polite to people, she kept a distance from them.

After spending several months together, she thought Gao Wu and the others were nice people, but she couldn't say she was particularly close to them. She, on the other hand, found Song Mingyue to be elegant and refined, with a cool and calm demeanor—a very good person. In comparison, Gao Wu seemed a bit too slick…

After Chu Shenxiu and Yan Qiushui left, the training ground became much quieter.

The next day, Gao Wu witnessed Chao Fengying's apprenticeship ceremony.

Seeing Chao Fengying pour tea for Hai Wuji, Gao Wu was happy for Chao Fengying, but also felt that the Sword Saint's disciple seemed to have lost his value...

He quite liked Chao Fengying. She was simple and lively, very sincere to people, and extremely persevering. She seemed to have a better talent for swordsmanship than him.

With Chao Fengying as his junior sister, he won't have to worry about his junior sister being disobedient anymore.

Hai Wuji was in a good mood after taking on another disciple. He said to Gao Wu and Chao Fengying, "I don't have many disciples. After I die, Gao Wu can become the sect leader, and Fengying can inherit my swordsmanship."

Gao Wu smiled apologetically: "Teacher, you are in the prime of your life, why do you say such a thing?"

"Haha, you mean to say that raising a flag is unlucky, right? Why should we care about such things?"

Hai Wuji looked at Gao Wu and said, "It's been three months. What's your decision?"

“This disciple wishes to choose the first path,” Gao Wu said earnestly.

During this period, he mastered the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword and refined two acupoints, greatly improving his cultivation.

However, this progress was still too slow. In just three months, Chao Fengying had actually condensed four acupoints, advancing to the Martial Master level…

Song Mingyue has already condensed four acupoints, bringing the total number of acupoints to ten.

It sounds a bit exaggerated.

In reality, the food they eat every day consists of high-grade ingredients from another world, which is an enormous expense.

With the Martial Saint's in-depth guidance to each individual, the entire cultivation system was reshaped from the very foundation. Condensing a few more acupoints was actually a minor matter.

The key was that it laid the foundation for the five people's spiritual practice and pointed out the path forward. In just three months, it was enough for the five people to benefit immensely.

Of the five, Gao Wu's progress was the slowest. A side-by-side comparison clearly shows that he has the worst aptitude.

If he cultivates step by step in this manner, it will become increasingly difficult, and he will definitely be left behind by Chu Shenxiu and the others.

Even if you don't care about these things, you still have to consider the changes in the overall environment.

“Very good.” Hai Wuji had long expected Gao Wu to make this choice. This kid loves adventure to the core. Having witnessed the genius of Chu Shenxiu and the others, he was unwilling to be subordinate to anyone.

He took out his tablet, tapped on it, and zoomed in on a map: "Tomorrow you will fly to Dongwei Island. It belongs to Dongzhou, but it is isolated overseas."

"In recent years, the evil cult has become rampant. There are also many foreign merchants, pirates, and even many alien races on the island. They collude with some people from Dongzhou to do all sorts of illegal things, making Dongwei Island a mess."

"There are several secret realms on the island, and the situation is somewhat complicated. You don't need to investigate anything; just eliminate these demons and monsters directly."

Gao Wu looked at the enlarged map and felt a chill run down his spine. Dongwei Island was called an island, but its actual land area exceeded 400,000 square kilometers.

The various forces above are intertwined and complex. If a mere martial artist tries to cause trouble, he will attract the retaliation of powerful martial arts practitioners within two days.

He thought the life-or-death ordeal was just a metaphor, but he didn't expect the old man to be serious!
"Master, what if a martial arts grandmaster suddenly appears?" Gao Wu asked in a low voice.

He felt he could put up a fight if he encountered a martial arts master. But a grandmaster of martial arts? That would be certain death...

"The demonic cult on Dongwei Island worships the Scorpion King. Your main task is to deal with these cult followers. The strongest among them is only a level five martial artist, which you can handle."

Hai Wuji said, "I won't follow behind to protect you. However, I will warn the experts not to interfere in this matter."

He patted Gao Wu on the shoulder: "Just go for it with confidence!"

Gao Wu was somewhat skeptical: "Would the experts of the Demonic Sect and the alien races really listen to you?"

Hai Wuji explained, "Experts above level seven cannot act arbitrarily; this is an unspoken agreement. If anyone breaks the rules, I will kill all the relevant experts to avenge you."

"As for other things, nothing in this world is perfect."

Gao Wu remained silent; indeed, that was true. Having chosen the risky path of cultivation, one could not be afraid of death…

(End of this chapter)