Mu Hanyan almost stumbled and fell to the ground. It seemed that living a life of obscurity might be preferable to infamy. Mu Hanyan glared at Mu Cheng, who responded with a sly, ingratiating smile, and edged closer.
"I was just joking, you know?" Mu Cheng said, scratching his head with a fawning grin.
"That’s some low bar for humor," Mu Hanyan retorted, unamused.
Mu Cheng chuckled slyly, continuing to fawn as he followed Mu Hanyan to the inn.
Returning to the inn, it was already late, and each of them went to their respective rooms to rest.
As usual, after Mu Hanyan finished her nightly rituals, she sat down cross-legged to cultivate.
On this journey, with the advancement of the Heavenly Heart Technique, she had refined a part of the Heavenly Star Power left in her Heart Meridian by Mu Tianlie. Her strength had effortlessly crossed the threshold of an Early Stage Tenth Rank Great Swordsman and reached the Middle Stage.
Everything happened so fast, so effortlessly, that Mu Hanyan didn’t even feel much of a surprise.
After reaching the Middle Stage of Great Swordsman, Mu Hanyan distinctly felt that to continue increasing her strength, she would need even more substantial Qi. It seemed that she had been overly optimistic before; relying solely on herself, reaching the Sword Master Realm before the age of sixteen seemed rather difficult.
However, with Mu Tianlie’s Heavenly Star Power, she was not at all worried.
Inside her Star Vein, the nebula formed by the concentration of the Heavenly Star Power had shrunk considerably. However, its solidity exceeded the past by tens or hundreds of times. If Mu Hanyan had not gained strength, even with the advancement of the Heavenly Heart Technique, she would not be able to absorb and refine the power.
By this estimate, the power at the center of the nebula could be a hundred times stronger than it is now, enough to help her ascend to the Sword Master Realm.
Mu Hanyan took a deep breath and began to refine the Heavenly Star Power with the cultivation technique.
Her body shook violently, and it felt as if a giant hammer had struck her chest, even tasting a faint hint of blood in her mouth. Her strength was increasing, but so was the Heavenly Star Power. Each refining process was a severe challenge, each more dangerous than the last.
Mu Hanyan concentrated her Mental State, casting aside all distractions, and enduring the violent shaking of her internal organs and the excruciating pain in her meridians that felt nearly torn apart as she refined the increasingly violent Heavenly Star Power.
Unknowingly, time passed, and when Mu Hanyan opened her eyes again, it was midnight. Stopping her cultivation, she realized her body was soaked with sweat, and there was a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.
"If it keeps up , I guess I really need to start eating pig legs every day like Qu the Godman," Mu Hanyan thought, wiping away the blood from her lips with a wry smile and feeling tired.
Despite the hardships, her progress in cultivation was truly impressive. Mu Hanyan could clearly feel her strength had enhanced significantly, inching closer to the Late Stage of a Tenth Rank Great Swordsman. Newest update provided by NovєlFіre.net
After freshening up and changing into clean clothes, Mu Hanyan felt much more refreshed. The moment she lay down on the bed, a heavy drowsiness washed over her like a tidal wave.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Star Illusion Thousand Machine’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind: "Don’t sleep yet, someone is coming."
It had been over twenty days since she last heard its voice, and Mu Hanyan was slightly startled.
Concentrating her mind and listening intently, Mu Hanyan couldn’t detect the slightest noise.
"Huh, strange, why does it feel so familiar?" Star Illusion Thousand Machine’s voice rang out again.
"What’s familiar?" Mu Hanyan asked inwardly, puzzled.
"Why is it so familiar, why can’t I remember?" Star Illusion Thousand Machine’s voice sounded troubled, like someone agonizing over a thought but unable to find the answer.