Zhang Haobo opened his eyes, and the sword intent swimming through the air abruptly returned to his dantian.
As the sharpness in his gaze slowly faded, his entire being transformed, appearing utterly ordinary and harmless.
Li Fan couldn't help but marvel inwardly as he observed Zhang Haobo's transformation. To achieve such complete concealment of his aura at the Foundation Establishment realm was truly remarkable.
After lingering at the seabed for a moment to familiarize himself with his new Foundation Establishment-level power, Zhang Haobo immediately shot up to the sea's surface.
Without a moment's pause, he began practicing the Sea-Calming Sword Art.
One after another, blue water swords materialized, dancing in the air. Under Zhang Haobo's control, blue light crisscrossed, and water dragons soared.
Li Fan keenly noticed that the sword techniques of Zhang Haobo's Sea-Calming Sword Art had undergone noticeable changes after he’d established his Dao Foundation with that unknown sword intent.
If the Sea-Calming Sword Art was once majestic and righteous, now, empowered by that mysterious sword intent, its overwhelming power concealed a mad, vicious killing intent beneath the surface.
Moreover, Li Fan had a faint sense that Zhang Haobo was still holding back. A torrential baleful energy remained suppressed within him, unreleased.
If this energy originating from that black sword hilt were to erupt, the power of the Sea-Calming Sword Art would likely multiply instantly.
Zhang Haobo practiced the Sea-Calming Sword Art tirelessly over the deserted stretch of sea. Whether sunrise, moonfall, wind, or rain, nothing interrupted his training.
Tiny points of blue light gathered from all across the sea. Here in the Congyun Sea, which was practically his home turf, Zhang Haobo didn’t need to worry about spiritual qi depletion at all, allowing him to practice without restraint.
Thus, although his cultivation remained at the early-stage Foundation Establishment realm, his actual combat prowess advanced rapidly.
The most obvious external sign of this was the number of water swords Zhang Haobo could create, which skyrocketed over the days from thirty-six to seventy-two, and finally to one hundred and eight!
In just over a month, Zhang Haobo, who had just stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm, achieved a large degree of mastery in the Sea-Calming Sword Art!
While external factors played a part, no one could deny that Zhang Haobo’s talent was truly terrifying.
One hundred and eight Sea-Calming Swords were unleashed simultaneously, and Water Dragon's Roar filled the sky.
To Li Fan’s eyes, this spectacle already surpassed what Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, who were both at the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm, had displayed back then.
And this was before Zhang Haobo activated his Foundation Establishment Curio.
Witnessing Zhang Haobo’s rapid progress, Li Fan couldn’t help but feel a stir of anticipation.
What will you do next? The Sea-Calming Sword Art I gave you only goes up to the Foundation Establishment realm. Surely you can’t derive the Golden Core realm portion on your own? Li Fan was skeptical.
In this cultivation world, it was possible to create techniques by oneself. But that wasn’t something one could accomplish with talent alone. It required an immensely profound understanding of techniques as a foundation; only then could one innovate and derive new cultivation methods.
It could be said that only true masters were capable of such feats, and the cultivation world revered those who could derive new techniques as technique weaver masters.
They held an exalted status, far surpassing that of masters in artifact forging, alchemy, talisman-crafting, and array formation. In any organization, they inevitably held crucial positions and were revered by all.
There were even technique weaver grandmasters with extraordinary skill and transcendent understanding of techniques who could privately customize cultivation methods for practitioners. Their status could be said to rival that of Dao Unity Immortal Venerables.
As for Zhang Haobo, though his talent was indeed remarkable, he had only cultivated one technique so far: the Sea-Calming Sword Art.
The possibility that he could successfully derive the Golden Core portion of the Sea-Calming Sword Art technique existed, but the odds were exceedingly low.
Li Fan now found himself somewhat anticipating what Zhang Haobo would do next.
For now, however, Zhang Haobo was still in the early-stage Foundation Establishment realm and didn’t need to worry about the issue of techniques.
Like the finest instructor, he repeatedly demonstrated every move of the Sea-Calming Sword Art before Li Fan in meticulous detail, patient and thorough beyond measure.
Li Fan devoted most of his focus to learning and comprehending his movements. The remainder of his attention, however, returned to the Tianxuan Mirror.
The saying that time held no meaning in cultivation was indeed true.
As Li Fan and Zhang Haobo practiced, the years slipped by unnoticed.
It was now Anchor Year 16.
The great upheaval of Crimson Flame scorching the seas was drawing ever closer.
Li Fan started to inquire about major events that had occurred over the past two years.
Due to the influence of the Eternal Heavenly Venerable, although only two years had passed, records of many events had likely already been lost.
But afterward, Li Fan met with cultivators like Yuwen Xing, and through persistent questioning, managed to reconstruct some events from scattered clues.
Li Fan returned to the Tianxuan Mirror and meticulously compiled and recorded these findings.
He knew that, soon enough, he would gradually forget them through no conscious effort of his own. But it didn’t matter. He would remember these events once more in the next life.
As Li Fan studied the records, several entries particularly captured his interest.
In Anchor Year 14, not long after he and Zhang Haobo were deep in contemplation, a significant event seemed to have occurred in the northwestern waters of the Congyun Sea, near the border of Yongliang Province and Jiushan Province.
The price of a local specialty, the Gilded Flying Fish, skyrocketed fiftyfold in a short period.
This surge lasted only seven days before rapidly declining. And all surviving buyers had no memory of what had happened or why they had purchased the Gilded Flying Fish.
That was the first.
The second intriguing event took place in Anchor Year 15.
A meteor streaked across the sky, illuminating the night. Its landing place remained unknown. Every cultivator who witnessed this meteor felt an inexplicable sense of dread and foreboding. Some attempted to locate where the meteor had fallen, but no one seemed able to find it.
The third event had occurred quite recently.
The rumor mentioned by Jiao Xiuyuan, that two other grotto-heavens existed near the wood attribute spiritual qi grotto-heaven, had been confirmed.
However, the reality was even more astonishing than the rumors. Because there weren’t just two hidden grotto-heavens, but four.
Five grotto-heavens, each corresponding to metal, wood, water, fire, and earth attributes, subtly formed an array, functioning as a cohesive whole.
The discovery of these five elements grotto-heavens was utterly staggering.
It even attracted the covetous gaze of the Five Elders Council.
A battle erupted near the grotto-heavens, and in the end, the Myriad Immortals Alliance repelled the Five Elders Council at the cost of a Spirit Transformation powerhouse’s life.
Later, to avoid further conflict and to protect these five elements grotto-heavens, the Myriad Immortals Alliance expended tremendous resources to relocate the entire array to a place deep within their territory, near Tianyu Province.
Li Fan burned every detail of this information into his mind. These were vital channels he could profit from in his next life.