Chapter 1756: Breakthrough of the Mysterious Blade to Ancient Saint

Zhang Xuan stopped.

"How is it?"

Sword Saints Xing and Meng both looked over, full of curiosity. They knew their son had a student who was a Witchcraft Soul Master and also the clan leader of the Jiang family. Such a person would undoubtedly be very skilled in the path of the soul, but they were unsure of the exact realm he could reach, and they were extremely curious.

"Well," Zhang Xuan scratched his head, feeling awkward. "This painting world is too small; my soul threads have already touched its edge."

Even though the painting world was a space sealed by Master Teacher Kong using powerful means, it was still just a folded dimension. It couldn't be as boundless as the Master Teacher Continent; its total diameter was less than a million kilometers. Therefore, experimenting here couldn't push him to his limits. However, one thing was certain: in terms of soul power, he was already comparable to an ancient saint. Of course, this comparison was only in "quantity"; there was still a significant gap in "quality." At most, he could ensure he wouldn't be killed by an ancient saint's soul attack, but directly confronting such a powerful figure was definitely beyond his current capabilities.

"Even if the painting world is small, being able to spread to its edge indicates an extremely powerful soul realm," Sword Saint Xing exclaimed. "As long as you refine your state of mind and cultivation as well, breaking through this realm is inevitable."

His son's talent was truly astonishing. Others, even at the Great Perfection of the Immortal Realm, still had a long way to go with their souls, but he, at merely the peak of the Golden Body Realm, was already sufficient. It was foreseeable that the Ancient Saint realm, which was difficult for others to break through, might not be as challenging for him as other realms.

"Actually, increasing soul power is quite simple," Zhang Xuan said. "I have a soul cultivation technique here; you two can practice it." With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Xuan produced a manual on soul cultivation. Having comprehended the true meaning of the soul and mastered Witchcraft Souls, Zhang Xuan had long developed his own system for understanding the soul. The technique he gave them was tailored to the Zhang clan's physique and had no connection to the Jiang family's techniques, so it wouldn't count as revealing family secrets.

"This technique has an immense effect on increasing soul power," Sword Saint Xing said, his voice full of excitement after reading the manual. "If practiced diligently, barring any unforeseen circumstances, your soul realm could expand by a million kilometers within a month!"

"Yes, I hope you two elders successfully reach the Ancient Saint realm soon," Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.

"Reaching Ancient Saint?"

Sword Saint Xing shook his head. "An increase in soul power doesn't mean one can break through to Ancient Saint. There's also the state of mind, comprehension of techniques, understanding of heaven and earth, and one's own accumulation. In short, Ancient Saint is extremely difficult. While this technique is very effective, it can only increase my chances by about ten percent."

"Only ten percent?" Zhang Xuan was surprised.

"Indeed," Sword Saint Xing nodded, explaining, "Ancient Saints change their destiny and transcend the Heavenly Dao. This step is no less significant than a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate; one's very essence of life completely transforms, and even meridians change. It's certainly not easy to succeed." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the entire painting shaking continuously, and masses of spiritual energy rapidly converged in one direction. Immediately after, a powerful force shot straight into the sky, seemingly splitting the world in half.

"This is a breakthrough to Ancient Saint!"

His eyes widened, and Sword Saint Xing felt his mind almost explode; he was on the verge of going crazy. He had just finished saying that breaking through this realm was extremely difficult, and now someone was doing it. Who could it be? He quickly looked towards the center of the converging spiritual energy and saw a long, somewhat sinister-looking blade quietly suspended in the air, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy and Ancient Saint power from the surroundings. Its power grew increasingly mighty and vast. It was like rivers merging into an ocean, growing so rapidly that the aura within the blade couldn't be contained and surged ceaselessly.

"This is your weapon?"

Sword Saint Xing swallowed, unable to resist asking.

Zhang Xuan nodded, even he was a little surprised. The one breaking through at this moment was indeed the Sinister Xuan Blade.

After driving away the Hundred Schools of Philosophers earlier, it hadn't returned to the storage ring but had followed him into this Four Seasons Painting. The Xuan Blade was originally a half-step Ancient Saint-level divine weapon. Combined with having devoured the blood and souls of 110,000 Spirit Tribe soldiers, and having absorbed the souls of the many Spirit Tribesmen just slain, its accumulation was already sufficient; it only needed the final push. Now, with the abundant Ancient Saint power in the painting, it actually succeeded in one go, smoothly reaching this realm.

The vast spiritual energy swept through like a hurricane, the ground shook violently, and the entire painting world seemed unable to bear it, on the verge of collapse.

"The spiritual energy here isn't enough for its advancement," Sword Saint Xing's pupils contracted. "If this continues, I'm afraid the painting world will be directly destroyed!"

Normal cultivators preparing to break through to Ancient Saint would prepare countless resources, so they wouldn't run out of power halfway through. The Sinister Xuan Blade was just a weapon; even Zhang Xuan hadn't expected it to break through at this moment and hadn't prepared in advance. On the Master Teacher Continent, there would be ample spiritual energy to sustain it, but this was only a painting, and its foundation wasn't very stable. It was already shaking and could collapse at any moment. After finally finding Ancient Saint power to facilitate the breakthrough, wouldn't it all be for naught if the painting were damaged?

"Xuan Blade, swallow this!" Knowing there was no time to delay, Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow and flicked his finger sharply. A drop of blood flew straight towards it, emitting an extremely pure power. It was from the Old Fiend Yu who had been injured earlier. The Zhang family ancestor had collected the blood and given it to him. At this moment, if asked what contained the most spiritual energy, it was definitely this, nothing else.

As soon as the Xuan Blade touched the blood, it drank it all like a thirsty fiend, but it seemed the spiritual energy was still insufficient. Zhang Xuan continued to flick out blood. Four more drops in succession. After absorbing these five drops, the Sinister Xuan Blade finally stopped throbbing. A magnificent and invincible aura diffused from it, tearing through space, as if it intended to burst out of the painting world.

The painting space tore open with cracks, and then a dark cloud covered it—the Ancient Saint Tribulation, which only appeared when breaking through to Ancient Saint. Under normal circumstances, a folded dimension couldn't attract a lightning tribulation, but breaking through to Ancient Saint was simply too powerful; the painting world could no longer conceal it. Thunder and heavenly fire descended from the sky, falling onto the Xuan Blade. There was still some unabsorbed blood on it, and under the enhancement of these two forces, it completely merged into the blade, leaving trails of blood-like patterns. Forged by heavenly fire and lightning, the blade became even more sinister and captivating.

After an unknown period, the dark clouds dissipated. The Xuan Blade quietly floated in the air, and with a gentle slash, it cut through the painting space as if it were tofu.

"It's reached Ancient Saint, haha!" The spirit within the Sinister Xuan Blade let out a burst of laughter. Then, its form flickered, appearing before Zhang Xuan, and it immediately knelt down. "Master!"