Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

Within Xia Jin's sea of ​​consciousness,

The Eastern Emperor Bell was slowly rotating.

Below the Eastern Emperor Bell, four stone swords floated silently.

They stopped struggling and resisting, like tamed wild beasts, obediently cowering under the oppressive power of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

However, Xia Jin could clearly sense that the terrifying sword intent contained within the four stone swords had not disappeared; it had only been suppressed.

Without the suppression of the Eastern Emperor Bell, it could have erupted at any moment.

Xia Jin's soul stared intently at the four stone swords, a hint of solemnity flashing in her eyes.

"Let's give it a try and see if we can be accepted by these four stone swords."

He took a deep breath, and his divine sense cautiously extended a wisp of his divine consciousness toward the nearest stone sword.

That stone sword was the very one that had almost killed him before.

However, when his divine sense touched the sword...

A fierce and unparalleled sword intent suddenly erupted from the stone sword, like an ancient ferocious beast awakened, rushing madly towards Xia Jin's soul.

Xia Jin's expression changed, and she hurriedly tried to withdraw her divine sense.

But the backlash from that sword intent was too fast; it rushed into his soul almost instantly through his consciousness.

"puff!!"

Outside, Xia Jin, who was sitting cross-legged beside the stone platform, suddenly opened her eyes and spat out a mouthful of blood.

His face darkened.

"Such terrifying sword intent... Just a touch almost severely injured my soul!"

He had assumed that with the Eastern Emperor Bell suppressing them, the four stone swords would behave themselves. But as it turned out, he was far too naive.

Even if those four replicas of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords were just replicas, they were not something a mere half-step Great Power like him could easily touch.

"Again!"

Xia Jin gritted her teeth and closed her eyes again.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, after his soul had been re-adjusted, his gaze became even more resolute.

This time, he didn't touch the stone sword directly, but instead looked at the Eastern Emperor Bell above his head.

"Big brother, can you help me?" Xia Jin's soul gave Donghuang Zhong a bitter smile.

However, Donghuang Zhong did not react at all.

Xia Jin's lips twitched.

Alright, it seems this old man isn't planning on helping.

He took a deep breath and extended his divine sense again.

This time, he became even more cautious, his divine sense flowing like a gentle stream, gradually approaching the stone sword.

Ten zhang... five zhang!

Three feet... one foot!

When his consciousness touched the sword again.

Another terrifying sword intent erupted.

But this time Xia Jin was prepared. She quickly withdrew her divine sense and narrowly avoided the backlash of the sword intent.

"call!!"

He exhaled a long breath of stale air.

Although he wasn't injured this time, the terrifying sword intent still left him with lingering fear.

"We can't force it... we have to take it slowly."

Xia Jin adjusted her breathing and extended her divine sense again.

And so it went, once, twice, three times.

Each time, he would let his consciousness linger a little longer, slowly adapting to the impact of that sword intent.

From being instantly knocked back at the beginning, to later being able to hold on for one or two breaths.

Xia Jin didn't know how many times she had tried.

All he knew was that time became blurred in his perception, and all that remained in his mind was the confrontation between him and the four stone swords.

I don't know how much time passed.

Xia Jin's consciousness was finally able to linger on that stone sword for more than ten breaths.

Although he felt a sharp pain in his soul every time he withdrew his consciousness, it was a huge improvement compared to the first time when his soul was almost shattered.

"You've finally made some progress, keep going!"

Xia Jin gritted her teeth, preparing to extend her divine sense again.

suddenly,

"Thump!!!"

A deep bell tolled in his mind.

Donghuang Zhong seemed to have had enough and finally reacted.

A golden light descended from the bell and enveloped the four stone swords.

The sharp sword intent emanating from the four stone swords seemed to be greatly suppressed at this moment, and they all retracted back into the sword bodies.

"Boss, you've finally made your move. Otherwise, I wouldn't know whether to give up or not!!"

Xia Jin's face instantly lit up with joy.

With the help of the Eastern Emperor Bell, Xia Jin's consciousness lingered on the stone swords for longer and longer periods. After an unknown amount of time, he felt a faint connection forming between himself and the four stone swords.

The connection was very weak and could be extinguished at any moment, but it gave Xia Jin unparalleled confidence.

"This time it'll definitely succeed!!"

Xia Jin looked up at Donghuang Zhong, her eyes filled with surprise.

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Xia Jin bowed solemnly to the Eastern Emperor Bell, then took a deep breath and continued to try to activate that faint connection.

Sure enough, as Xia Jin's divine sense lingered for longer and longer, the stone sword trembled slightly.

With just a slight tremor, a glint of light flashed in Xia Jin's eyes.

"It moved! It moved!!!"

Unfortunately, Xia Jin seemed to have been too optimistic; the stone sword only trembled slightly. Xia Jin couldn't move it even an inch.

"This is way too difficult!"

Xia Jin frowned and rubbed her temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

However, he quickly put these distracting thoughts aside. After all, these four stone swords were imitations of the Four Swords of Zhuxian, but even as imitations, they were still top-tier spiritual treasures. With his cultivation level of half-step Great Power, being able to touch them was already considered extremely lucky.

"Take your time, no rush. I have plenty of time. I refuse to believe I can't subdue these mere imitations of the Four Swords of Zhuxian!!"

Xia Jin comforted herself with a word, and then continued to immerse herself in trying out the four stone swords.

Time passes day by day.

Three days... five days... ten days

Half a month has passed.

Xia Jin was finally able to move the stone sword he had "tamed" by an inch.

Although it's only an inch, it's already a huge step forward.

Another half month passed.

A month passed by in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Xia Jin sat cross-legged beside the stone platform, her gaze fixed on the stone sword floating in front of her.

Within a month, he was able to summon one of the stone swords from his sea of ​​consciousness.

Although it was merely summoned, and the stone sword was completely beyond his control, it simply hovered straight in front of him, like a silly wooden stake.

But at least he accomplished the "summoning" step.

"Sigh! Although it took a lot of time, the first step is often the hardest. With this experience, establishing a connection with the other three stone swords should be able to shorten the time by more than half."

A smile appeared on Xia Jin's face as she reached out and grasped the hilt of the stone sword.

The moment he touched the sword, he felt an immense pressure emanating from it. The pressure was so great that it felt like it would break his arm.

"It's too heavy!" Xia Jin gritted her teeth, veins bulging on her forehead.

The weight of this stone sword was like that of a small mountain. Even with his cultivation level of a half-step great power and his powerful body that had been tempered many times, he could only barely lift it; to even think about swinging it was out of the question.

Let alone using it in battle.

"Does it really have to wait until the Great Power Realm?"

Xia Jin sighed helplessly.

He retrieved the stone sword into his mind, then closed his eyes and continued his experiment.

He knew that these things couldn't be rushed. Besides, the four stone swords were already within his sea of ​​consciousness, suppressed by the Eastern Emperor Bell; they couldn't escape. Once his cultivation was sufficient, he would naturally be able to gradually master them.

"Enough, enough. Haste makes waste. I have plenty of time, no rush."

Two more months have passed.

On this day, Xia Jin sat cross-legged in the center of the fifth floor of the Sword Pavilion, surrounded by four stone swords.

They slowly rotated around Xia Jin, like four satellites orbiting a planet.

Although the progress is still slow, this is Xia Jin's biggest achievement in the past three months.

"change!"

Xia Jin gave a low shout.

The four stone swords spun a little faster.

But it was only a tiny bit faster.

"stop!"

The four stone swords immediately stopped, hovering straight in mid-air.

Xia Jin's lips twitched slightly.

"That's settled then!! At least to outsiders, I can be considered to have gained the approval of these four stone swords!"

He was somewhat helpless, perhaps it really was due to his cultivation level. Being a half-step Great Power sounded impressive, but it was far from enough to fully control these four stone swords!

"Top-tier powerhouse!! I'm afraid we'll have to wait for the system's next mission to reach that threshold."

Xia Jin stood up, and the four stone swords automatically flew back into his sea of ​​consciousness.

He walked to the window on the fifth floor of the Sword Pavilion, opened the window, looked at the scenery of the Glazed Sword Sect outside, and took a deep breath.

It's been three months.

He has been on the fifth floor of the Sword Pavilion for three whole months.