My Celestial Ascension

«Congratulations! You’ve been awarded the title ‘Sword Master’»

“This is great! I finally learned Sword Aura! Though it’s quite weak, I can improve it over time.” A proud grin appeared on his face as he listened to the system’s notifications ringing inside his head.

And that wasn’t the end of it. A few more notifications from the system sounded in his mind—

«Congratulations! Your ‘Novice Sword Mastery’ has evolved into ‘Advanced Sword Mastery’»

[Sword Aura]

[Mastery Level: 1]

[Description: Allows you to convert your Spiritual Energy into Sword Aura and use it as though it is a real sword. Increases sword damage and sharpness significantly. The effect of the Sword Aura increases with its mastery.]

“This is incredible, and also very versatile! I could even use a stick as a sword by covering it with Sword Aura! This is fantastic!” Yuan exclaimed as he read the description of Sword Aura. The concept of Sword Aura fascinated him.

‘It seems that I have to train harder to increase my mastery of Sword Aura, and what could be better training than using it practically?’ A wide grin appeared on Yuan’s face.

He returned his gaze to the translucent system window floating in front of him and continued reading its contents.

[Advanced Sword Mastery]

[Description: Greatly improves your control with the sword by 35% and increases all damage dealt with swords by 55%. Furthermore, your sword techniques will have more impact and will take less time to activate. No activation is required to use it.]

Yuan was dumbfounded by the content of the system window, especially the ‘Advanced Sword Mastery,’ which significantly increased the effect of his sword techniques.

“With my Advanced Sword Mastery, my Empyreal Severing Sword Strike will be 35% more powerful and will increase the damage by 55%… This is beyond my expectations!” Yuan almost shouted in surprise, realizing the damage would more than double with any sword technique.

“I’ve gained more than I expected. Is this the ‘gift’ the masked figure left for me? Or could it be that there is something else he prepared for me?” Yuan then looked at the stone tablet, which now looked quite ordinary since he had absorbed all the Sword Aura from it.

“This doesn’t look like a gift at all… There must be—” Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes landed on Fang Xiaoyan, who was looking at him with a dazed expression.

He immediately noticed the state she was in: there were scratch marks all over her body, blood seeping from them, and her clothes were quite messy, almost destroyed.

‘Her clothes and those wounds on her body… They look like cuts made by multiple sharp objects, and they seem very fresh.’ Yuan focused his gaze on the cuts and tears on her clothes, which appeared as if someone had used a razor blade to slice them.

‘What the hell happened to her? And how long has she been standing there?’ Yuan wondered inwardly.

“Miss Fang Xiaoyan, how long have you been standing there? And what happened to you? Did someone assault you on your way here?” Yuan asked with a puzzled look on his face, seeing her standing there silently, seemingly in a daze.

“Ah. I’ve been standing here for almost an hour now. When I arrived, you were experiencing enlightenment, so I dared not disturb you and waited for you to finish.” Fang Xiaoyan replied immediately, snapping out of her daze. Her face flushed upon realizing the condition of her clothes.

Her clothes were almost destroyed, barely covering the intimate parts of her body, but she managed to calm herself, understanding that Yuan hadn’t done it on purpose, which tempered her anger somewhat.

“And as for my clothes… you’re the reason they’re like this. You did this to me!” Fang Xiaoyan said, her face red with embarrassment.

“What?! I—I did this?!” Yuan pointed to himself with a dumbfounded expression, utterly shocked by her response.

“That’s right.” She nodded, looking both angry and embarrassed. “More specifically, it was your Sword Aura that did this to me. However, you’re not to blame, as you were unaware of my presence.”

“I’m really sorry for ruining your clothes and injuring you!” Yuan immediately apologized, understanding his mistake. He realized he should have been more careful about his surroundings.

“Though I am currently angry at you for ruining the clothes my mother made for me with so much love, it wasn’t entirely your fault, so I forgive you,” Fang Xiaoyan said with a soft expression and a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Even if you’re saying that, it was my lack of awareness that put you in this situation, so I should do something as an apology.” Yuan quickly retrieved a pill bottle from his system storage and handed it to her.

“This pill bottle contains a single but highly effective healing pill. It will heal all your wounds in just a few seconds,” Yuan explained as Fang Xiaoyan reached out to take the bottle.

“A healing pill? This is quite expensive!” Fang Xiaoyan exclaimed, staring at the pill bottle in her hand with a surprised look.

“Well, take it as a token of apology,” Yuan said with a gentle smile, which made Fang Xiaoyan blush even more.

Fang Xiaoyan quickly opened the pill bottle, took out the pill, and held it on her palm for a moment, smelling its fragrant aroma.

“This is a genuine high-quality healing pill…” she mumbled softly before swallowing the pill.

As soon as she swallowed it, her wounds began to heal, and all the scratches on her body disappeared as if they had never been there.

‘Wow! All my wounds have healed so quickly!’ Fang Xiaoyan was amazed by the pill’s effect.

‘Could he be the person mentioned in the prophecy my family spoke of? That must be the case, or why else would the Lord’s Sword Aura merge with his?’ Fang Xiaoyan looked at Yuan with curiosity, and he felt uneasy under her intense gaze.

‘I need to bring Yuan to my home and let my parents and grandparents meet him. They can confirm his identity and hand over the item the Lord left behind for the destined one.’ After considering this for a moment, Fang Xiaoyan made up her mind.

“What are you thinking about so seriously? Aren’t you happy that your wounds have healed?” Yuan asked, puzzled by her serious expression, wondering if she was still upset with him.

“No, I was just thinking of something else. Don’t worry about it.” Fang Xiaoyan replied quickly, then grabbed his arm and pulled him along. “Let’s go to my house. You must be hungry since you’ve been sitting there for three days straight.”

“What did you just say?! I was there for three whole days?! You must be joking!” Yuan was taken aback, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Fang Xiaoyan shrugged. “Believe it or not, it’s true. Besides, you ruined my clothes. How am I supposed to explain that to my parents?”

“Well, I already apologized for that… Still, it’s hard to believe that three whole days have passed since I arrived at the training ground.” Yuan was still in disbelief, feeling like only a few hours had passed in his mind. He couldn’t help but wonder how his two mothers and his wives were doing.

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to visit your house? Won’t your parents be upset about you bringing a stranger?” Yuan asked awkwardly, feeling a bit reluctant.

However, he was also intrigued. Since Fang Xiaoyan and her family were natives of this secret realm, he could learn much from them.

‘This is a good opportunity for me to gain information about the secret realm. That way, I can find the others as soon as possible,’ Yuan thought to himself with a smile.

“Don’t worry; it’s completely fine. Besides, I need to confirm something that may relate to your being here,” Fang Xiaoyan said calmly, a soft smile on her face.

“Is that so… Let’s go then!” Yuan’s eyes flickered with excitement, thinking that the masked figure might have left something for him with the Fang Family, who had been living here for so long.

After all, the masked figure had told him in the dark space that he had left something for him inside this secret realm, and that Yuan had to find and collect it.

Fang Xiaoyan nodded and said, “It’s only half an hour away from here. Just keep following me and don’t get lost in the woods. There’s a special barrier that keeps our house hidden from others.”

She then turned around and casually stepped into the formation, her figure disappearing instantly. Yuan followed her lead, and his figure vanished from the training ground as well.

“Let’s go this way,” Fang Xiaoyan said quickly once they reappeared outside the old house, leading the way.

Since Fang Xiaoyan mentioned that there was a formation hiding her house, Yuan didn’t linger and promptly followed her.

—

Meanwhile, Anna, Grace, Mireya, and Xi Meili were cultivating under a massive tree, trying to recover their spiritual energy quickly. If they let their spiritual energy recover naturally, it would take days.

“We’ve been searching for more than three days for the others, but we still haven’t managed to find them. We couldn’t even find any trace of them,” Grace mumbled in frustration, sighing as she opened her eyes.

“Indeed. I’m very worried about my darling baby, how he’s doing… Is he even eating well?” Anna nodded with a sad look on her face, wondering where Yuan was and how he was doing.

“I want to hug my hubby as soon as possible and get spoiled by him…” Xi Meili mumbled softly, her expression full of sadness.

Even Mireya was feeling down about being separated from Yuan and Sylvia. Sylvia had been with her for a decade, and without her around, she felt lonely and sad.

A few minutes later, they had all fully recovered their spiritual energy and quickly resumed searching for Yuan and the others, riding their flying swords.

After a few hours, Xi Meili sensed a few familiar auras in the distance. She quickly focused her Divine Sense on them, and sure enough, they belonged to her sisters.

“Mom Anna! Mom Grace! I’ve found Sister Sylvia and the others—they’re over there!” Xi Meili shouted excitedly to Anna and Grace, a look of joy on her face.