Chapter 67 – Fear Enhancement

The grand hall wasn't particularly large, and there were almost no decorations inside, surrounded by stone walls.

Calling it a hall was more like calling it a secret chamber.

Su Xin stood in the center of the hall, gazing at the stone wall directly in front of him.

On that stone wall, there were carvings of dazzling stars.

The stars were arranged from top to bottom, a total of nine stars.

"Stars?" Su Xin frowned.

The entire hall, apart from these nine stars, had nothing unusual or attention-grabbing.

In other words, the main feature of this Star Hall was these nine stars.

In the center of the hall, there was a meditation mat. Su Xin sat cross-legged on it, took a deep breath, and then focused intently on the nine stars.

Each of the nine stars was exceptionally bright.

Under Su Xin's gaze, these nine stars naturally began to gradually evolve...

As they evolved, the mysteries contained within the stars became increasingly clear.

"This is..."

Su Xin's eyes narrowed. At this moment, in his eyes, there were no stars on the stone wall; it was clearly the nine essences of sword intent he wanted to comprehend.

Each star represented an essence of sword intent, and as the stars evolved, these essences extended step by step, beginning to be analyzed.

It was just like the "Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent Essence" in its analysis of sword intent essence.

However, the "Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent Essence" was recorded in a book, whereas these nine stars were presented in front of Su Xin in the form of evolving images.

Su Xin had already closed his eyes, but his consciousness had completely merged with the nine stars on the stone wall, feeling the evolution of the sword intent essence contained within the stars. Gradually, without him even realizing it, he fell into an incredibly wondrous state.

It was a beautiful, fully immersive state.

Su Xin seemed to be asleep, but his consciousness continued to follow the nine stars, comprehending the essence of sword intent as the stars evolved.

...

It was unclear how much time had passed before Su Xin finally awoke from this incredibly peculiar state.

"Did I just... have an epiphany?" Su Xin's face was filled with astonishment.

That mysterious and wondrous state, where he was completely immersed and oblivious to everything, was indeed the legendary epiphany.

However, his epiphany didn't occur naturally; it seemed to happen under the guidance of some force.

"Is this the unique way of comprehension in the Star Hall? Guiding me into a state similar to an epiphany, merging with these nine stars to feel the evolution and analysis of the sword intent essence contained within them..." Su Xin was filled with shock.

Using special power to guide someone into an almost 'epiphany' state—what an incredible method!

Now that Su Xin had recovered from the 'epiphany' state, he looked again at the nine stars on the stone wall. The last four stars remained profound, but the first five stars were much clearer to him, especially the first three stars, whose sword intent essence he could see clearly and thoroughly.

These three stars, in front of him, no longer held any mystery.

It was as if three young women stood there naked, with no secrets left.

"I've comprehended the essence of the sword intent contained in these three stars?" Su Xin found it hard to believe.

Not only these three stars, but even the fourth and fifth stars were mostly clear to him.

In other words, he had comprehended most of the fourth and fifth sword intent essences as well.

Before entering the Star Hall, he had just comprehended one essence of sword intent.

With just one session of comprehension, he had made such significant progress?

"No wonder it costs a full five thousand fire points to comprehend in the Star Hall once!"

"The price is high, but the help is indeed astonishingly great!"

Su Xin clenched his fists, his eyes filled with joy.

However, despite the joy, he still remembered what Dao Master Jiuchen had said.

The Star Hall could be visited occasionally for comprehension, but one must not rely on it excessively, as excessive reliance would greatly limit future growth.

Previously, Su Xin didn't understand, but now he did.

Using external forces to push someone into an 'epiphany' state can quickly enhance one's strength, but if one always relies on this method to improve, it would create a kind of inertia, making future comprehension very slow, which would indeed be very disadvantageous in the long run.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the joy in his heart, Su Xin got up and left the Star Hall.

Soon, Su Xin arrived at the Trial Tower, paid the fire points, and obtained a separate trial space.

"Set opponent: First level of sword intent comprehension, comprehended one essence of sword intent, using Northern Azure Sword Art, Thunderfire Volume, Mountain-Sea Volume fully mastered, Phantom Volume can use the third style A Thousand Miles in One Line."

Su Xin set up the opponent, which was essentially his previous self.

Soon, a black figure appeared in front of Su Xin, holding a long sword, and attacked directly.

Boom!

The sword light slashed out, carrying the momentum of thunder and fire.

Su Xin could clearly sense the pressure coming at him from all directions. This was his first time facing the Thunderfire Volume sword art.

Yet under this pressure, his body was not hindered at all. Seeing the long sword coming, he simply took a casual step, then the long sword swept out.

The Thunderfire sword momentum instantly collapsed, and the black figure dissipated.

"Defeated!"

"I just casually swung a sword without using full strength, and I defeated him?"

Su Xin could hardly believe it.

He had set the opponent using his pre-Star Hall self as a template, at most lacking his own thought and combat wisdom, but the strength difference wasn't significant.

As a result, he defeated his 'previous self' with just one sword.

In less than a day, just one session in the Star Hall, his strength had undergone a tremendous change.

Previously, he had only comprehended one essence of sword intent, but now he had comprehended three, the difference was indeed vast.

Next...

"Set opponent: Sword intent comprehension reaches the second level, using Northern Azure Sword Art!"

The same black figure appeared in the trial space, quickly using the same Thunderfire Volume sword art against Su Xin.

But this time, the endless momentum of thunder and fire crushed down.

With the air trembling, Su Xin felt his entire body being roasted, unable to move no matter how hard he tried.

Swish!

A sword slashed down, and Su Xin was directly 'killed.'

The black figure dissipated, while Su Xin remained standing there unharmed.

"This is the power of the Thunderfire Volume when sword intent comprehension reaches the second level?" Su Xin marveled, "I've just comprehended three essences of sword intent, far from the second level. Such an opponent is beyond my ability to contend with."

Su Xin began to set up a new opponent.

This time, he set the opponent to the first level of sword intent comprehension, having comprehended four essences of sword intent, and using the "Flying Blood" sword art.

...

Su Xin trained tirelessly in the Trial Tower.

He set up one opponent after another, engaging in fierce battles, and through these battles, his strength continued to improve.

Previously, without any guidance, he relied solely on his own exploration to comprehend a trace of sword intent essence in a short time, reaching the first level of sword intent comprehension and winning the hunting competition.

Now, in Heavenflame Palace, with the "Detailed Explanation of Sword Intent Essence," he had a clear comprehension path for sword intent essence, and after the session in the Star Hall, he had gained a certain understanding of the fourth and fifth essences of sword intent.

Relying on the Trial Tower, he could fight opponents he couldn't encounter before, according to his requirements.

In such a superior environment, his strength improved at an incredibly fast pace.

The speed of this improvement could only be described as 'terrifying.'

Time passed slowly.

In the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

"Alright, today's lesson ends here, everyone can leave."

Dao Master Jiuchen waved his hand, and the dozen or so Heavenflame Palace disciples listening below all stood up and saluted him, Su Xin among them.

Dao Master Jiuchen gave Su Xin a special look, smiling inwardly.

In these two months, he had taught two more classes at the training ground, and unlike before, Su Xin could now fully understand and comprehend what he was saying. After each class, as was customary, he allowed the Heavenflame Palace disciples to ask questions.

Naturally, Su Xin asked a few questions, and during the process, Dao Master Jiuchen noticed Su Xin's significant progress in sword intent essence.

"This kid, after a session in the Star Hall and two months of focused comprehension, must have comprehended at least three, maybe even four essences of sword intent by now," Dao Master Jiuchen smiled.

Like his friend Gaimon, he had high hopes for Su Xin's future growth.

On the training ground, Su Xin walked slowly, still savoring the content Dao Master Jiuchen had just taught.

"As expected of Dao Master Jiuchen, I had many doubts about the application of sword intent essence before, but after listening to one of his classes, although I didn't fully understand, I grasped most of it," Su Xin smiled.

As his comprehension of sword intent improved, his respect for Dao Master Jiuchen grew.

After the class, Su Xin planned to return to the Trial Tower to continue training, but at that moment...

"Haha~~ Duan Yunfeng, in just a few days, your strength has improved significantly, you can now face me head-on for so many moves."

A hearty laugh suddenly came from the training ground ahead.

"Duan Yunfeng?"

Su Xin's expression changed, and he immediately walked forward.

On the training ground, two figures were engaged in a fierce battle, one of them being Duan Yunfeng.

In these two months, the ten talents selected from the previous hunting competition had mostly familiarized themselves with Heavenflame Palace, and with the various resources available, they began to improve their strength.

In two months, these talents made significant progress.

Previously, they didn't dare to compete with the 'veterans,' but as their strength improved, they began to try competing with them.

Of course, in pure strength contests, these newcomers were no match for the 'veterans,' so the 'veterans' changed the rules for betting battles.

They didn't need to win outright; they just needed to last a certain time against the veterans to be considered victorious.

Like now, Duan Yunfeng's battle with the veteran was a bet on whether Duan Yunfeng could last thirty breaths.

And now, it had reached the twenty-fifth breath.

"Twenty-six breaths, twenty-seven breaths..."

"Duan Yunfeng, hang in there!"

Around the battlefield, several new talents, including Xia Mang and Mo Bing, gathered, cheering for Duan Yunfeng while counting the time.

On the battlefield, Duan Yunfeng wielded his blade, doing his best to fend off the attacks of the red-robed man. The red-robed man also used a blade, his blade light suppressing Duan Yunfeng step by step.

But as the battle reached the twenty-eighth breath, the red-robed man showed a barely noticeable sly smile, and his blade speed suddenly doubled.

"What?"

Duan Yunfeng was shocked, unable to defend in time, and the blade light grazed past him, cutting off a few strands of his hair.

"Duan Yunfeng, you've lost again," the red-robed man looked over.

"Jiang Yan, don't get cocky, next time I'll definitely last more than thirty breaths against you," Duan Yunfeng gritted his teeth, unwilling but still paying the fire points he lost in the bet.

"Haha, I'll be waiting," the red-robed man Jiang Yan laughed smugly.

Standing at the edge of the battlefield, Su Xin shook his head.

Duan Yunfeng, Xia Mang, Mo Bing, and the other newcomers didn't see it, thinking Duan Yunfeng was close to victory by lasting twenty-eight breaths against Jiang Yan.

But Su Xin knew that Jiang Yan hadn't used his full strength from the start.

It seemed like Jiang Yan was doing his best to suppress Duan Yunfeng, but it was all for show. Only at the twenty-eighth breath did he truly attack, defeating Duan Yunfeng with one strike.

"This Jiang Yan has definitely comprehended four, nearly five essences of intent, while Duan Yunfeng is still a bit away from the second essence," Su Xin thought to himself.

...