Ten Directions Sword Master

After walking a hundred paces, the smoke thickened, and visibility was reduced to ten paces.

"If an opponent with keen eyesight were to be hiding in the fog, it would be a great disadvantage... It's a pity that I've only mastered the Great Heat technique; this environment is perfect for the Summer Sword Technique."

Despite Lu Li's confident words to Nan Henshui, the four Confucian academies are bound together by fate and they will not secretly take action.

In reality, I was extremely cautious. The higher one's cultivation level, the stronger one becomes not only in direct combat but also in adaptability to extreme environments.

The wonders brought by enlightenment are only minor. After refining the spirit, one can draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Such power, which is almost like magic, is no different from that of a god to the ignorant people in the countryside.

With the cicada's song in hand, I gently flutter my wings, and my confidence soars.

"There are two Foundation Establishment cultivators at Yuelu, one at Shigu, and two at Yingtian... If we consider them all as opponents, there are five Foundation Establishment level enemies in the secret realm. Fortunately, everyone is scattered. The unease I felt before entering was just a passing thought, without any evidence. Even the possibility that Jiang Linhai might be hostile to me is just speculation."

Having traversed more than ten times, wandering through three completely different Compass Worlds, Lu Li's perception of danger surpasses that of most people.

This can save your life in many situations; it's better to have a false alarm than to get stuck in a quagmire and regret it later.

According to the map drawn by the academy's predecessors, the Crimson Fire Secret Realm is long and narrow from north to south. The narrowest part in the north is less than 100 feet, while the widest part in the south is more than 20 miles.

Ten disciples were randomly teleported there, and it would be quite difficult for them not to meet within seven days.

Pushing open a copper door, the temperature above it was already scalding hot to the touch.

Swish!

A flash of cold light rushed over, but Lu Li seemed to have anticipated it. He took a step back at just the right moment, and before he could react, a sword had already been unleashed.

Snapped!

Two three-pronged forks braced against the sword, but it only blocked the blade, then swung away lightly, swaying back and forth as if it had no weight.

With a turn, he appeared behind her in a bizarre manner and attacked again from an angle that would be impossible for an ordinary person to use.

There are no set moves to speak of; it's all about speed and strangeness.

"The power of someone just entering the Foundation Establishment stage is not difficult to deal with..."

Lu Li seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He flipped his wrist, and the cicadas chirped and swayed. He used stillness to control movement when he could hardly exert any force, remaining calm and unperturbed during the Beginning of Autumn.

After a few crisp clashes, the figure let out a strange cry, curled up into a ball, and leaped down from a high place.

The three-pronged fork unleashed a series of afterimages, its power surging like a raging storm.

Lu Li was focused, wielding his sword at will, the autumn equinox's golden energy severing cause and effect.

There was no collision. The chirping of cicadas pierced through the gaps. Behind the three-pronged fork was a fire fox about half a person's height, wearing a loose Taoist robe.

The sword, heavy with dew and starlight, instantly cleaved through space.

Then came the Golden Sky Breaking the Mountain, its speed and precision so great that the fire fox spirit couldn't react in time.

When he tried to use his demonic power to take flight again and use magic to injure his enemy, he found that his chest had been pierced by a long sword, and his demonic power was rapidly dissipating.

With a scream, it transformed into countless red threads that scattered into the pavilion, and the fire fox vanished.

"It's not recorded in the booklet, and it doesn't know any moves. It only attacks based on its own cultivation level. It seems to be a spirit that hasn't encountered many disciples from the Four Academies."

Having the realm but lacking the corresponding strength, Lu Li could easily win once he adapted to the Fire Fox's agile and unpredictable attack methods.

However, the fact that he resolved the issue so quickly shows that his strength has improved significantly compared to before.

The Autumn Sword Technique can be executed with ease, transforming into one of its sword strikes at any time without any abruptness.

"But what if they just bump into someone who's at the Foundation Establishment level? What are Nan Henshui and Song Yuming going to do? They can only look for dilapidated and empty buildings and try to avoid spirits as much as possible..."

Not every building is protected by a transformed spirit. Some have had their restrictions damaged over time, while others have been killed by predecessors, and it takes a long time for them to be re-formed.

In short, to gain anything in the Crimson Fire Secret Realm, besides strength, luck and patience are equally important.

Not everyone is like Lu Li, who rushes in excitedly upon seeing a transformed spirit, aiming to hone their sword intent.

Unless one's strength is significantly superior, it's not worth winning a major battle even if one is injured.

After that, they could only search a small area and dared not venture into the depths where more treasures might be hidden.

"The fact that he hasn't sparred with the disciples much means there's a high chance there are some good treasures in the pavilion."

Lu Li's eyes lit up, and he rummaged through boxes and cabinets, dismantling everything that could be moved.

Finally, when they reached a smooth diamond-like rock, there was movement.

One by one, golden characters emerged, increasing in number and gleaming with a divine light. These characters, numbering about four or five hundred, formed a complete mental cultivation method.

"The Glazed Flame Body Tempering Technique is divided into five levels, and can be cultivated all the way to the peak of Spirit Refinement... It is a body tempering technique, and also has some Buddhist elements."

Without time to examine it closely, he took out the paper and ink pad he had prepared earlier from his chest, spread it evenly, and quickly made a print.

Writing it down is easy, but who knows if there are any mysteries in the handwriting of this technique? Making a rubbing is the safest way.

A technique that can lead directly to the perfection of the Spirit Refinement stage is already quite good. The only martial art in Bailu Academy that can condense the Dharma Body is the Zhouliu Liuxu Heart Method.

Unfortunately, it's a body-strengthening technique, which is too energy-consuming. It requires years of tempering the body and refining the bones, which doesn't align with my own path.

However, submitting it to the academy should earn you a considerable number of academic credits.

Once the rubbing was complete and the mark dried, the gold lettering on the diamond disappeared, and it returned to being an ordinary landscape stone.

"A successful campaign, a good omen!"

After confirming that there was no place left unexplored in the pavilion, Lu Li chose an open direction and continued forward.

Flames occasionally erupted from the cracked ground, preventing them from moving too fast and risking being burned alive by the lava and becoming a laughingstock.

His good luck seemed to have run out on the first day. In the next two days, he first encountered a lean old man who was actually a fire crow, and then he was able to achieve the perfect cultivation of Qi.

Two swords pierced it, sending it back to rest, but the pavilion was now empty.

In another long corridor, they encountered the spirit of the Tailfire Tiger mentioned in the notes of their predecessors. It was a strong, tall, and valiant man with several horizontal lines on his face.

This person actually learned the Misty Rain and Xiaoxiang Sword Technique from Shigu Academy. I wonder how many disciples from Shigu Academy came to train him, and he has nurtured it to fully capture the essence of the gentle waves of the Xiang River.

The eight-foot-tall man wielded his longsword with graceful and agile movements, like a misty ink painting.

Moreover, his cultivation level had reached the limit of the Crimson Fire Secret Realm, the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

Lu Li fought with great difficulty. The Fire Tiger Sword was like a giant brushstroke, sweeping across the battlefield, and sometimes it turned into Orange Isle Snow, leaving no trace on the ground.

Its immense advantage in cultivation level allowed it to relentlessly unleash the deadly moves of the Misty Rain Sword, as if a teacher from the Stone Drum Academy were truly sparring with it.

After enduring a hundred moves, Lu Li finally found a chance to win.

These weapons, formed from the essence of demonic energy, are far inferior to the Cicada's Cry. After being struck dozens of times, they become pitted and need to be reassembled, which takes two or three breaths.

Another issue is that Wei Huohu's Misty Rain Sword is incomplete.

Ultimately, it was learned from the disciples of Shigu Academy. No matter how miraculous the restrictions of the Crimson Fire Secret Realm are, it is impossible to deduce the entire sword technique from just a few moves learned.

At first, I didn't realize it, but after a hundred moves, I found that some of Tailfire Tiger's sword moves were extremely disjointed, and he could only force a transition with a killing move, and then I understood.

In Lu Li's eyes, a flaw in swordsmanship was more serious than losing a leg.

After ten moves, its head flew into the sky, revealing its true form as a three-zhang-long (approximately 10 meters) fierce tiger, which then turned into sparks and disappeared.

Even against such a formidable opponent, they gained nothing in the corridor.