Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 214 Appreciation
The crimson flames transformed into a wondrous Vermilion Bird, burning fiercely, and an ethereal figure appeared and disappeared within the flames.

As the flames intensified, the ethereal figure became increasingly solid, taking on a crimson hue...

The Heavenly Destiny Sword rippled like water in the crimson figure's hand.

The profound spiritual transformation brought about by the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra also triggered a spiritual resonance between Gao Wu and Song Mingyue.

Through a mysterious and ineffable connection, Song Mingyue's Xuanming Heavenly Serpent Divine Form danced in the depths of the void. Gao Wu vaguely sensed that the distance between them was not far.

However, communication was impossible at this moment. The immense and pure divine light of the Blazing Fire continuously tempered his soul and refined the Heavenly Fate Sword. The Xuanming Heavenly Serpent of Song Mingyue deep in the void was also changing accordingly...

Suddenly, flames shot into the sky and exploded with a bang, leaving behind a crimson Yin spirit, as red as blood and as fiery as fire, and a four-foot Heavenly Fate Sword. The spiritual resonance between Gao Wu and Song Mingyue was also severed.

Gao Wu opened his eyes. He had no timekeeping device or cell phone on him, but he knew it was a little past noon.

This meditation and refining process took a little over four hours, but thankfully everything went smoothly.

After the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra was upgraded, it successfully removed the mark of destruction left by the Wild Light, solving his biggest problem.

Once he recovered, Gao Wu felt refreshed and indescribably comfortable and happy.

He didn't rush to read the Book of Boundless Merit, but instead drew the Sword of Destiny first.

Through the upgrade of the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra, he refined the Hidden Eye and the Heavenly Fate Sword together.

This idea proved to be very correct, at least in that the Hidden Eye was completely refined. The Destiny Sword's weight, size, and appearance remained unchanged.

Only through the Yin Spirit can Gao Wu sense the profound changes within the Heavenly Fate Sword.

The fusion of the Hidden Eye has enhanced the power level of the Destiny Sword. Originally a peak level six divine weapon, it should now have reached level seven.

For martial artists, there is a clear distinction between level six and level seven. For divine weapons, the distinction is mainly made based on factors such as material, craftsmanship, and energy level.

The most important criterion is the source energy level; a weapon that can withstand, operate, and enhance level seven source energy is a level seven divine weapon.

His martial arts source power level was naturally far inferior, but he could sense that the Heavenly Fate Sword had significantly improved his source power level.

The Heavenly Fate Sword was already at the peak of level six, and upgrading its source energy level would definitely advance it to level seven!

In reality, the improvement of the sword's energy level is not very meaningful to him. Even if he were to unleash his source power to the limit, he would not be able to reach the upper limit of the Destiny Sword.

The Heavenly Fate Sword's latest upgrade features a subtle change: the sword's aura is now more concentrated from the outside in, making it impossible for others to directly determine its rank.

There's another change... which is quite interesting. Gao Wu's Yin Spirit and the Heavenly Fate Sword are one, and through the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra, they are completely fused together. Naturally, he can know all the subtle changes in the Heavenly Fate Sword.

As his spiritual power shifted, the Destiny Sword in his hand quickly became as transparent as water. He casually swung it, leaving a transparent sword mark in the air, yet it made almost no sound.

The incorporation of the Hidden Eye gives the Destiny Sword a more subtle and hidden transformation, and even the sound of the sword cutting through the air is minimized due to the sword's characteristics.

However, as long as the sword is imbued with changes in source energy, it cannot escape the mental perception of martial artists of the same level.

Gao Wu tried using his Yin Spirit to activate it. The Yin Spirit held the differentiated Heavenly Fate Sword. The Yin Spirit was formless, invisible, and intangible, while the Heavenly Fate Sword was as clear as water and extremely secretive.

The Heavenly Fate Sword is not truly invisible; it is like transparent glass in water. Without activating its source power, even a powerful martial artist would find it difficult to detect.

In this way, the Yin spirit wielding the sword wouldn't be so awkward; no one would see a sword floating erratically in the sky. Now, nothing can be seen at all...

Subtle maneuvers are useful, but not that useful. They might allow you to launch a sneak attack against a martial artist of the same level, but against a stronger martial artist, there's absolutely no chance of a sneak attack.

Gao Wu didn't really think much of other martial artists of the same level. He considered himself invincible among them if he didn't resort to sneak attacks.

Chu Shenxiu is stronger than him because Chu Shenxiu has cultivated for a longer time, has a higher level of source energy, and is slightly better in martial arts, but that's about it.

From today onwards, as long as Chu Shenxiu doesn't make any leaps in progress, he can steadily suppress his opponent.

Gao Wu opened the Book of Boundless Merit and saw that his mental attribute had increased to 25 points, which meant that his mental strength had increased more than sevenfold.

Based on his experience, a martial arts master's mental strength is around 22 to 23 points. Converted to a standard mental strength value, that's about 30,000. This is also the generally accepted standard for a martial arts master.

In the past, when he faced martial arts masters, he would enhance his mental strength through swift and powerful attacks, so that he could be on par with, or even surpass, Hikaru Haruno and others in terms of mental strength.

Now, without needing to activate divine incantations, his mental power already surpasses that of martial arts masters, even reaching the level of martial arts grandmasters. Even the Swift Thunder Transformation and the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation cannot enhance his mental power.

Song Mingyue had emphasized to Gao Wu many times that the key to mastering source power is spiritual power.

Martial artists temper their spirit through martial arts secrets; the so-called fist intent and sword intent are unique ways of operating spiritual power.

Only by constantly refining their spiritual power through the divine will of martial arts can a martial artist's spiritual power become stronger and stronger.

Only when a martial artist's spiritual strength reaches a certain level can they master stronger source power and advance to a higher level.

Gao Wu is different from other martial artists. He enhances his spiritual power through divine incantations, and then uses that power to refine his martial arts will and hone his source power.

While others trained hard to reach their level, he advanced directly, so his martial arts level was one level lower than that of other experts of the same rank.

Fortunately, strong spiritual power is the foundation, and no matter how it comes about, the power of condensed sword intent will also increase accordingly.

It's just that the sword intent isn't pure; it needs time to be refined and purified.

With the Heavenly Dragon Secret Sword taught by the Sword Saint, honing one's sword intent shouldn't be difficult. It shouldn't take more than a few days to reach the minor mastery stage!

The upgrade of the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra undoubtedly enhances the Yin Spirit the most. It should now be able to withstand direct sunlight, various forms of particle radiation, and the impact of a martial artist's martial arts intent.

The reason why Yin spirits always attack from behind is mainly because they can be interfered with by the powerful divine will of martial artists.

The most obvious change in a Yin Spirit at the Perfected Realm is its increased strength. The Yin Spirit can also activate the other three divine incantations for enhancement, and with its increased speed and unpredictable movements, its combat power is now much stronger than that of its physical body.

Gao Wu felt that this upgrade was very successful. Although the Qilin Divine Hero Curse was good, he could only save it for the next upgrade.

This time, the divine spell upgrade sensed Xiao Song's presence, and it seems her spiritual power also increased... What a clever little devil who knows how to seize opportunities...

Gao Wu suddenly thought of Song Mingyue. He hadn't seen her for several days and hadn't had any spiritual connection with her. He was starting to miss Comrade Song a little.

Just through spiritual resonance, he felt that Xiao Song wasn't that far away...

This was only a vague feeling and could not pinpoint Song Mingyue's exact location. The changes during the upgrade of the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra were mysterious, and there was no direct communication between the two parties.

Gao Wu didn't pay much attention. It was probably because Hai Wuji was following behind him with Xiao Song. He was a personal disciple, so how could the old man really just abandon him?
Of course, he never entrusted his safety to the old man. On the ever-changing battlefield, he could be killed in a single move. The Martial Saint wasn't a god; he couldn't possibly appear at his critical moment.

The old man came along more likely to fulfill his promise and help him suppress all the high-level experts.

There are no unspoken rules; it's just a tacit understanding between people.

Ordinary people, when driven to rage, are capable of killing; let alone these top-tier experts. If the old man could make all these powerful figures obey orders with just a few words, he wouldn't have needed to send him here to cause trouble…

Realizing that the old man was right behind him, Gao Wu felt more confident.

The Scorpion Cult has committed countless evils; they'd kill anyone who had no merit. Now, they can't leave even more.

To the north, there is also a foreign law enforcement team, numbering over two hundred. A level-five expert is also stationed there.

Gao Wuyin moved and left the archives room, flying towards the camp dozens of kilometers away.

Before long, the Yin spirit returned. The round trip covered about seventy or eighty kilometers. The Yin spirit, flying under the sunlight, was still very stable, having probably only consumed about thirty percent of its spiritual power.

Gao Wu silently recited the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra a hundred times to adjust his Yin Spirit state to its best before picking up his sword and getting up.

Stepping out of the room, Gao Wu unleashed the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Spell, casually pointing a finger. The millions of paper documents piled up in the archives instantly melted into black smoke, and even the wooden bookshelves carbonized almost simultaneously. Various metal parts also melted and vaporized in the crimson flames.

The Vermilion Bird Divine Light Mantra at its perfect state unleashed a burst of intense heat that turned everything in the archives room to ashes.

The intense heat dissipated rapidly in the air, and only then did the charred house frame begin to burn fiercely...

When Gao Wu was slaying the alien race in the underground temple, he noticed the archives room. It was enclosed and secure enough.

Even more ingenious is that the statues in the three-tiered temple emit a strange force field that interferes with any corresponding changes in divine power. Hiding here allows one to avoid long-range divine spell searches.

Before leaving, Gao Wu naturally didn't hold back and destroyed the archives room first. These paper archives couldn't possibly have many copies, so once they were destroyed, they were destroyed.

Finally, Gao Wu went to the third underground level and slashed the statue with a single sword strike. His Blazing Vermilion Bird Divine Light Curse melted half of the iron statue, completely destroying the divine power imprint left inside.

Inside the temple, some alien races were also handling the aftermath; encountering Gao Wu would certainly mean certain death.

With 25 points of mental strength, a high-level martial artist could directly use condensed sword intent to kill a low-level martial artist if they wanted, but this would consume too much energy and was unnecessary.

Gao Wu destroyed the underground temple, then found a motorcycle and headed straight for the alien law enforcement team's camp.

Once you leave the Meixinzhai urban area, the road becomes a one-meter-wide dirt road, and you have to cross undulating hills, which is very difficult to travel.

For distances of tens of kilometers, only a motorcycle is a suitable mode of transportation.

The campsite was built in the middle of a grove of trees, consisting of simple prefabricated houses that looked quite rudimentary. A wire fence surrounded the perimeter, presumably to keep wild animals out.

Gao Wu's arrival immediately alerted the alien warriors in the camp. Before Gao Wu could even catch his breath, a barrage of gunfire erupted, smashing the motorcycle to pieces.

Although Gao Wu's cultivation had greatly improved, he dared not be careless at this moment. He activated the Crimson Flame Flying Dragon Armor to protect his entire body before riding his sword directly into the camp.

His spiritual power surged, allowing him to refine and sharpen his sword energy. With the Crimson Dragon Armor enhancing his 20 points of agility, his speed could be increased by another 50%.

This made him incredibly fast, so fast that even ordinary samurai holding guns couldn't react in time.

The alien warriors carrying assault rifles realized something was wrong. A sharp sword flashed and sliced ​​through the air, splitting the four alien warriors in two simultaneously...

The other alien warriors were terrified, but the dark red figure wielding the sword moved swiftly, leaving a trail of flashing sword light in its wake. No alien warrior could withstand Gao Wu's sword strike.

It wasn't until the appearance of Jia Sanlang, a fifth-level alien race member, that Gao Wu received a sword strike, only to have his neck severed and his head cut off by Gao Wu's second strike.

It wasn't that Jia Sanlang was incompetent; it was that Gao Wu was extremely wary of level 5 martial artists. He directly activated the White Tiger Divine Weapon Incantation and the Vermilion Bird Divine Light Incantation. With the two incantations activated simultaneously and the speed of the Flying Dragon Sword, he instantly killed this level 5 alien expert.

With their strongest expert dead, the remaining alien race had no means of resistance. Their speed was far inferior to Gao Wu's, so whether they resisted or fled, they couldn't dodge his sword.

In less than two minutes, Gao Wu was the only living person left in the camp.

Gao Wu glanced at the Book of Boundless Merit, which added 30 million merits. This proved that these guys had countless lives on their hands and deserved to die!
There are still Kitano An and Tanaka Shun left. I wonder how much merit they can accumulate?
Gao Wu suddenly sensed something and looked up to see two dark figures flying through the sky, rapidly approaching the camp...

"They can fly?" Gao Wu was slightly surprised, but then felt relieved. The two guys were carrying jetpacks and triangular gliders.

Although the two were wearing black armor, their auras clearly identified them as Kitano An and Tanaka Shun.

Gao Wu was genuinely surprised that two level-five priests dared to come looking for him, and that they arrived far too quickly.

"Wait, there are still experts..."

Gao Wu turned his gaze and saw a girl in white gracefully crossing the camp fence, arriving in front of him in the blink of an eye.

The girl in white had beautiful features and bright, pure eyes. She stood on the green grass, holding a long sword at her waist, exuding a noble and pure air, untouched by worldly dust.

Gao Wu used his Yin Spirit to observe and discovered that the girl's acupoints were brilliantly shaped like a seven-pointed star, indicating that her source power was far superior to his own.

Her form and spirit were harmoniously unified through the long sword at her waist, showcasing the pure and profound skill of a martial arts master. Surprisingly, the girl lacked the sinister black aura commonly seen in followers of demons.

If they had met elsewhere, Gao Wu wouldn't have recognized the other party as a follower of the Demon God. He felt a sense of unease; another formidable expert!
The girl in white bowed slightly to Gao Wu and said softly, "My name is Tianyecao. May I ask how you are addressed?"

Gao Wu frowned slightly. Tianyecao, he had heard of this name before. The number one young master on Dongwei Island, he was already a martial arts master at the age of eighteen.

Within Dongwei Island, Tianyecao's fame is ten or even a hundred times greater than his and Chu Shenxiu's combined.

Dongwei Island doesn't care about the alliance at all, and he's practically unknown here...

At this point, Gao Wu had nothing to hide and said, "I am Gao Wu from Beizhou."

"So you are the King of Youth, I've heard so much about you." A strange light appeared in Tianyecao's bright eyes. Ordinary people on Dongwei Island might not know Gao Wu, but he was very famous in the circle of experts.

Amano Kusa was really a bit surprised. It was really strange that such a promising genius would go on an adventure to Meixinzhai.

Amano Kusa didn't ask Gao Wu why she did this. She said solemnly, "It is an honor to meet you, sir. I have come in haste and have nothing to offer you. I only have a Water Moon Sword that I have honed and tempered for ten years. Please, sir, appreciate it..."

Gao Wu chuckled. "That little vixen is all talk and no action. Let's fight, what's with the 'appreciation'?" He gripped his sword hilt and said in a deep voice, "I'm just about to experience the power of Dongwei Island's number one expert. Please!"

(Please give me a monthly ticket~)

(End of this chapter)