The long sword, composed completely of vital energy, felt like a real one when Austin held it in his
hand.
The only difference was the mutable shapes which it could assume. Made of pure vital energy, it could
morph into any blade shape. When Austin channeled more of his vital energy into the long sword, it
would lengthen and widen. It was a formidable weapon indeed.
Theoretically, with enough vital energy, it could even become as colossal as a giant, as long as a
cultivator possessed enough vital energy.
What impressed Austin most, was that he found he had become so connected through his vital energy
with this long sword. He felt like the long sword was an extension of his own arm, and he wielded it with
great facility. Clearly, he had completely mastered the use of this magnificent weapon.
He observed the long sword in his hand for a moment, and then he channeled more of his vital energy
into it.
Bang!
In an instantaneous bright flash, the blade of the long sword flamed with golden light as if it had been
ignited.
This was another feature of the aggressive character of Flame Swordsmanship. The golden flame was
fueled by the best vital energy. The power of the golden flame was incredibly vigorous. As long as the
flame impacted with a target, that target would catch fire and begin burning until he or she was burnt to
ashes.
After a momentary study of the unwavering light, Austin smiled with satisfaction. He knew that he had
succeeded in transmitting his vital energy into the long sword, the first step of Flame Swordsmanship.
And the next step was to create a Spiritual Sword Aura in his Soul Sea. Only with the Spiritual Sword
Aura could Flame Swordsmanship reveal its true power and force.
With his careful studies on how to cultivate Flame Swordsmanship and Spiritual Sword Aura in mind,
Austin assumed a cross-legged seat on the floor. He emptied his mind and concentrated all of his
attention on his Soul Sea where he began to refine the Spiritual Sword Aura.
The Spiritual Sword Aura was a sword-shaped aura within his Soul Sea. It asked a cultivator to
concentrate all of the sword's intent or sword potential on his or her cultivation base in swordsmanship.
In other words, the Spiritual Sword Aura was the concentration of the sword's intent or sword potential
into a sword-shaped aura in the Soul Sea.
After one day...
Two days...
Three days... Longer still...
Five days later, Austin, who was still in a deep meditative state where he sat cross-legged on the floor,
finally opened his eyes all of a sudden.
In a seemingly instantaneous burst, the sweeping of the sword's intent, carrying an imperious air,
flowed into Austin's Soul Sea like tidal waters.
The sword's intent, without the influence of any vital energy, was as pure as the very origin of
swordsmanship.
Looking inside himself with his spiritual sense, Austin saw a sword shape made of a dazzling white light
in his Soul Sea. This was the Spiritual Sword Aura. The high concentration of his sword potential made
this Spiritual Sword Aura visible. It was pure, but aggressive, glowing with the dazzling light of
murderous resolution.
Austin had finally succeeded in cultivating the Spiritual Sword Aura.
However, he discovered that the Spiritual Sword Aura in his Soul Sea was only as large as a finger!
"Ha-ha! Good for you! I reckon that you have succeeded in your cultivation of the first step of Flame
Swordsmanship.
It only took you five or six days to make such a remarkable progress. I've got to say that this kind of
surprises me.
Ha-ha! You have won more of my confidence in you now, kid.
Oh! But I remember that Angus had sent you his Scorching Evil Fire.
Have you tried to channel the energy of Scorching Evil Fire into your vital energy long sword when you
practice the Flame Swordsmanship? You can try to do so next time. If your vital energy is ignited by the
Scorching Evil Fire, the power owned by the flame of vital energy will be beyond your imagination.
All right!
That is all the good fortune you can gain from the third circle of the Mysterious Nether World.
It's time for you to leave now.
You can return for more training with me when your cultivation base has reached the Basic Sacred
Realm.
The third circle of the Mysterious Nether World will, however, remain closed from now on. None of the
young cultivators, seeking treasures or improvement in the Mysterious Nether World, will have access
to the third circle," the Flame Emperor said.
"But sir, there is the age limit restricting who can enter the Mysterious Nether World. If I should exceed
the age limit when I reach the Basic Sacred Realm, I'm afraid that I would then not be allowed to enter
the Mysterious Nether World," Austin said as this sudden thought occurred to him.
"Ha-ha! All right, kid! To be honest, such a rule would fail to work on you, if you had reached the Basic
Sacred Realm. You can then open any entrances of the Mysterious Nether World whenever you want.
So, you don't have to worry about that," the Flame Emperor answered, giggling.
"I've got it!"
Austin nodded in understanding and smiled happily.
"And sir, another reason why I came here was to find the soul-recovering fruit.
Could you please give me some insights about where to find it?"
Austin pleaded sincerely.
"You want to know where to find the soul-recovering fruit? Well!
The Mysterious Nether World is actually a separated space from the outside world, because it has
been closed for decades. What's more, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is richer here than in
the outside world.
So countless of nature's gifts, which you can only find here, have spread throughout the Mysterious
Nether World, including the soul-recovering fruit you seek.
And as to where it is... here you are!"
As the Flame Emperor finished speaking, he channeled the information into Austin's Soul Sea. After
glancing at it, Austin found that it was the specific location where the soul-recovering fruit could be
found.
"But I've got to tell you this, kid. The soul-recovering fruit is guarded by a tenth-grade diabolic beast, an
ancient evil ape. Such a diabolic beast is as strong as a cultivator of the Imperial Realm.
The ancient evil ape already has a big advantage over you in terms of cultivation base, and you've only
just entered the medium stage of Sky Realm. It will not be easy for you to conquer that diabolic beast
and get the soul-recovering fruit from it. What's worse, you might accidentally be killed in the fight.
Well, since I have already shown you where the soul-recovering fruit is, I might as well tell you how to
subdue the ancient evil ape," the Flame Emperor said.
Then he channeled another piece of information into Austin's Soul Sea.
The information was about the Beast-subduing Skill, and explained how this could be used to subdue a
diabolic beast. Once it worked, any diabolic beasts within level ten could be subdued.
'Unbelievable!
This skill can actually subdue any diabolic beasts within level ten, '
Austin could not help but marvel as his mind ran wild with joy.
'If this information about the Beast-subduing Skill is correct, does that mean that I can subdue any
diabolic beasts within level ten I meet?' This thought excited Austin. Immediately, he studied the
information in his Soul Sea.
After a short while, he already had a rough idea of the Beast-subduing Skill's properties.
Actually, the way that the Beast-subduing Skill worked was to set up a mystical array of spiritual sense.
Once the array made its way into the brain of a diabolic beast, the array would succeed in restraining
the target's beast soul. Then the target would be one hundred percent under control.
"So that's how it works!" Austin sighed in sudden realization. This skill was kind of similar to the way in
which he had subdued Violet.
But he had set up a direct surprise attack on Violet's beast soul. As a result of his victory then and
Violet's extreme weakness, he had forced Violet to give up her dominion over her beast soul. Then he
had left his spiritual sign on Violet, taking her under control.
It was obvious that the Beast-subduing Skill was better and more reliable than his own primitive
method.
"All right! Go for the ancient evil ape then, my boy! The history of such an ancient diabolic beast is
time-honored. You'd better treat the ancient evil ape well after you have subdued it. If it ever broke
through the limits of its species one day, its power would burst forth in a huge improvement. It would
then become too strong to be destroyed," the Flame Emperor said with a smile.
Although Austin was reluctant to leave, he also knew that this was not the place for him to stay. After
he made a deep bow to the Flame Emperor, he followed the directions the Flame Emperor had shown
him and walked towards a place next to the meadow.
There was an invisible and illusory door there which was easily overlooked.
The second he stepped through the door, he felt that everything around him began spinning. The
churning feeling told him that he was being transferred somewhere else.
After a moment, the dizzying sensation disappeared. Austin felt he was standing on firm ground again.
When he looked around, he found that he had returned to the ten-square-meter room on the third floor
of the Emperor Library.
As his eyes swept around, he noticed that the picture hanging on the wall had disappeared. This
confirmed what the Flame Emperor had said. He had decided to close the third circle from now on.
According to the Flame Emperor, there was a piece of his soul in Austin's Soul Sea. So the Flame
Emperor could sense Austin whenever he came here next time. And the Flame Emperor would then
transfer Austin to the third circle.
After making up his mind, he left the third floor.
When he found nobody on the second and first floors, he suddenly remembered that he had been on
the third floor for five or six days. The royal members and the young cultivators of the Ghost Sect might
have left already during the passing days.
As Austin walked out of the gate of the palace, he entered the spacious square. He stood in the square
and checked the specific location of the soul-recovering fruit in his Soul Sea. After he had read through
the information about its whereabouts, he knew the right direction to follow.
Immediately, Austin decided to activate the bodily movement skill, but he suddenly became grim-faced
and stopped his activation of the skill before he could move away.
Austin sneered. His spiritual sense of the area around him told him that there were two people in the
northeast of the square, hiding behind a towering tree with an extremely thick trunk. He could even
hear what they were discussing from afar.
"Look! Is that Austin?"
"Yes! He is Austin! Fire off the signal flare to inform Mr. Tolkien immediately!"
They were subordinates of the royal members. After Bruce, Graham, and the three cultivators of the
Ghost Sect were expelled from the third floor, they had tried everything they could to break into the
small room. But all of their efforts had proven in vain.
Plus, everyone in the group of five knew that Austin was not in the room and had transferred far away
to somewhere else.
So they had left the Emperor Library in dejection and decided to go to find other treasures around the
rest of Mysterious Nether World.
Bruce and Graham, however, had ordered two of their subordinates to guard the square, in case Austin
reappeared and needed to be disciplined.
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