Meng Fan shook his head, "I'm not in a hurry."
Although he indeed wanted to return to the Shu Mountain Sword Sect as soon as possible, a few days' delay wouldn't make much difference.
To make himself seem out of place and special just for the sake of returning two or three days earlier was not worth it, completely unnecessary.
"By the way, Master, the mission should be considered successfully completed, right?"
Elder Lin's brows furrowed slightly, his expression somewhat complex.
"The mission is indeed completed, but it can't be called perfect!"
"Why? Is it because of the casualties?"
Seeing Elder Lin's expression, Meng Fan already had a vague guess.
The plan devised by the three sects was supposed to be foolproof.
However, the demons within the Demon Realm turned out to be much stronger than the three sects had anticipated.
The information provided by the scouts previously sent into the Demon Realm was inaccurate.
Due to underestimating the demons, the losses suffered by the three sects in this mission were significant.
"Indeed, the casualties this time are much more severe than expected," Elder Lin said with a sense of helplessness.
"Actually, our Shu Mountain Sword Sect fared relatively well, lucky enough to have chosen the weakest demon force among the three!
The other two demon forces were harboring extremely terrifying boss-level entities.
The Limitless Sword Sect and the Kunlun Sword Sect managed to eliminate those boss-level entities only after suffering over half in casualties!
Therefore, our Shu Mountain Sword Sect suffered the least losses."
Hearing Elder Lin's words, Meng Fan nodded without saying anything.
If there were three forces in power, surely they would be of comparable strength; how could two be strong and one weak?
The force chosen by the Shu Mountain Sword Sect also had a terrifying boss-level entity!
It was just that Meng Fan had single-handedly taken it down, which was why the Shu Mountain Sword Sect didn't suffer many casualties!
The only person who knew about this was Nie Bing, and he had already been obliterated by Meng Fan, reduced to ashes.
Naturally, Meng Fan had no intention of revealing this information.
Even in front of Elder Lin, he wouldn't say a word!
"Our Shu Mountain Sword Sect is indeed lucky," Meng Fan said with a smile.
***
Five days later, when the Demon Realm passage closed, the three sects tallied their numbers.
Alive, they must be seen; dead, their bodies must be found!
It was inevitable that some had perished in the Demon Realm, their bodies never to be found.
The sects planned to send more people into the Demon Realm to search for the "missing."
The inaccurate information previously relayed by the explorers also warranted a thorough investigation.
However, these matters were no longer of concern to Meng Fan; he didn't care about them at all.
He had already set off with Elder Lin on the journey back to the Shu Mountain Sword Sect.
***
Shu Mountain Sword Sect!
When Meng Fan returned to the Sword Pavilion, a faint smile appeared on his face, a sense of relief washing over him.
Unconsciously, Meng Fan had come to regard the Sword Pavilion as his home.
Although he could swagger around in the Demon Realm, where those with higher cultivation levels couldn't defeat him,
He didn't like the Demon Realm.
Because in the Demon Realm, cultivation was sealed, and he couldn't even practice cultivation.
Over the past month, there had been no progress in Meng Fan's cultivation level!
Compared to being a local tyrant in a corner of the world, Meng Fan enjoyed the thrill of increasing his cultivation level more.
Cultivation!
Strength!
Becoming stronger!
That was the true path…
Now back at the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, back at the Sword Pavilion, Meng Fan could finally resume his frenzied mode of increasing his cultivation level!
Killing demons in the Demon Realm was indeed thrilling.
But compared to the pleasure of advancing one's cultivation realm, it was still lacking!
After returning to the Sword Pavilion, Meng Fan greeted Senior Disciple Luo and exchanged pleasantries for a long time.
***
Night.
Meng Fan returned to his room and began to cultivate.
In the past few days at Ghost Moon Valley, although he could cultivate, there were too many prying eyes, so Meng Fan didn't reveal his uniqueness.
Now, he took out the jade bottle given by Liu Yanping.
A lotus flower appeared in Meng Fan's hand.
Xiao Qing immediately wriggled out of Meng Fan's pocket, eyes wide with longing, and even a trace of drool seeping from the corner of its mouth.
Saliva!
Meng Fan turned a blind eye, feeling that this little creature was deliberately putting on this act, so he remained unmoved.
"Stop looking, this is mine, you get none!" Meng Fan said with a heart of stone.
Xiao Qing immediately wilted on the ground, looking utterly disheartened.
Meng Fan plucked a petal and swallowed it without chewing, straight down his throat.
Moments later, a surge of pure spiritual essence spread throughout his body.
He immediately began to practice the Pure Yang Thunder Cultivation Scripture.
The lotus petal was just as Meng Fan had imagined, an extremely precious treasure.
After consuming a single petal, the speed of cultivating the Pure Yang Thunder Cultivation Scripture was ridiculously fast, even faster than a rocket.
Even the Essence of the Sword couldn't compare to this petal!
Meng Fan felt that this one petal was worth as much as the essence he had previously gained from the Demon Locking Sword.
Without sleep, Meng Fan cultivated like a madman!
As dawn approached, Meng Fan, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed, opened his eyes.
"Congratulations, Master, for breaking through to the seventh layer of the True Martial Realm," the phantom of Hong Qi floated out from the Hong Qi Sword and said to Meng Fan.
Xiao Qing looked curiously at Hong Qi, its little eyes full of confusion.
This was the first time it had seen Hong Qi!
A "person" coming out of a sword was a shocking sight for a little demon like Xiao Qing who hadn't seen much of the world.
Every time Meng Fan made a breakthrough, Hong Qi would emerge from the Hong Qi Sword to congratulate him, which had become a kind of ritual.
"Seventh layer of the True Martial Realm is nothing to mention," Meng Fan said, shaking his head calmly.
This calmness wasn't feigned.
For the current Meng Fan, whether it was the seventh, eighth, or ninth layer of the True Martial Realm, it didn't mean much.
His foundation in the Sword Technique was too terrifying, overshadowing his cultivation level.
Whether it was the seventh or ninth layer of the True Martial Realm, it didn't add much to Meng Fan's combat strength!
No help for it, he was too strong.
His Sword Technique was too powerful!
His realm and cultivation level had become secondary.
It was like a child with a gun would definitely have more attack power than an adult with a slingshot.
However, once he reached the Heavenly Origin Realm, the impact would be significant, and Meng Fan would undergo a qualitative change.
Glancing at the lightening sky, Meng Fan decided not to continue cultivating for the moment.
He couldn't consume another lotus petal in the short term.
Because he had only successfully absorbed half of the previous petal's essence, with nearly half of the spiritual power still hidden in his body, requiring slow refinement and absorption.
Only after absorbing all these scattered spiritual energies could he consume the second petal.
Meng Fan estimated that this process would take at least half a month!
***
The next morning, Meng Fan, as usual, went to the second floor of the Sword Pavilion.
"You lad, you've just returned and already broken through to the seventh layer of the True Martial Realm?" Elder Lin said with a wry smile upon seeing Meng Fan.
To be honest, having seen such occurrences often, Elder Lin was no longer surprised.
He frequently had to convince himself not to see this disciple as someone with a Mixed Spiritual Root.
If he considered him as having a Heavenly Spiritual Root, there would be no shock.
If that still wasn't enough, he could just think of him as having a Divine Spiritual Root!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan