Memories concluded.
Meng Fan opened his eyes, unable to help but wonder, if he were Zhang Baiyuan, how would he choose?
To accompany Bei Ming to certain death, or to return alone to the Human Realm, living a life of cowardice and survival?
Although reason told Meng Fan that Zhang Baiyuan had done nothing wrong, he still felt that Zhang Baiyuan's future life would be nothing but a cowardly existence.
"If it were me, I wouldn't let such a thing happen!" A flicker of determination shone in Meng Fan's eyes.
Zhang Baiyuan's mistake wasn't about whether he should die with Bei Ming or not.
His mistake was that he wasn't strong enough!
If he had been strong enough, none of this would have happened.
Meng Fan's heart was as firm as a rock; from this memory, he learned one truth: he must become stronger.
This world belongs to the strong.
The weak either die or live a life of cowardice!
Meng Fan took a deep breath and stopped thinking about these messy things.
The experiences of Bei Ming and Zhang Baiyuan in this memory weren't the point.
The point was that Meng Fan learned some of the Demon Realm's sword techniques and cultivation methods, which were mostly common knowledge.
Except for one sword technique.
"Eternal Night"
The Eternal Night Sword Technique!
This technique was extremely peculiar; once the sword was drawn, the enemy's five senses would be affected as if they were plunged into darkness and nothingness.
Unable to see or feel anything.
Under such circumstances, it was easy to kill the enemy with a single strike!
Especially in assassinations, the sudden attack made it difficult for the opponent to defend, leaving them no choice but to succumb.
This sword technique was the strongest among the assassin organization that Bei Ming belonged to, and very few had learned it.
Bei Ming was exceptional enough to have been taught this technique.
"This sword technique is indeed powerful," Meng Fan murmured to himself.
With his extensive knowledge and experience from the Scripture Pavilion's sword scriptures, Meng Fan found the "Eternal Night" to be formidable.
The art of assassination was perfectly integrated into the sword technique.
"The potential is immense; reaching the Sword Soul Realm is not out of the question." Meng Fan drew the Bei Ming Sword.
A surge of Essence of the Sword flowed into Meng Fan's body.
As this essence entered him, his complexion suddenly changed.
"Not good!" He quickly returned the Bei Ming Sword to its rack and sat down cross-legged to regulate his breath.
Hong Qi's phantom emerged from the Hong Qi Sword, looking worriedly at Meng Fan, "Master, what's wrong?"
She could clearly sense that something was amiss with Meng Fan.
And it was obviously caused by the absorption of the Essence of the Sword from the Bei Ming Sword!
But Meng Fan had been absorbing the Essence of the Sword for so long without any issues, so what was different this time?
Meng Fan didn't answer Hong Qi. He was fully focused on dealing with the Essence of the Sword.
The essence from the Bei Ming Sword was different from all the others he had absorbed before.
This essence became extremely violent and crazed upon entering his body, with a strong desire to destroy!
None of the previous essences, not even that of the Demon Locking Sword, had shown any abnormalities.
But this essence from the Bei Ming Sword was problematic.
What was going on?
Meng Fan was baffled, his brows tightly furrowed.
He wanted to expel this essence from his body, but he couldn't.
Normally, once the Essence of the Sword was absorbed, it would obediently stay in the Dantian.
When needed, Meng Fan could use it for cultivation.
From start to finish, Meng Fan had no way to expel the Essence of the Sword from his body.
This made Meng Fan anxious; the rampaging essence inside him could damage his body.
Unable to expel it, he had no choice but to refine it!
Refinement and absorption, to enhance his power, was something he was familiar with.
However, this time, neither the Spirit Wind Profound Art nor the Pure Yang Thunder Cultivation Scripture could refine this essence.
Meng Fan's mind was in turmoil, truly at his wit's end.
He had been absorbing the Essence of the Sword for half a year without any issues; what was happening today?
What was so special about the Bei Ming Sword?
The most significant difference was that the Bei Ming Sword came from the Demon Realm; it was a Sword Weapon of the Demon Realm, not of the Human Realm.
It was a genuine "Demon Sword" !
Meng Fan had a vague understanding that this must be the reason.
There was something wrong with his constitution; the Essence of the Sword from the Bei Ming Sword was probably only absorbable and refinable by those of the Demon Race.
But now that it had entered his body and couldn't be expelled, what was he to do?
Meng Fan was truly panicking.
At this time, seeking help was useless!
Because the Essence of the Sword was so mysterious, others simply couldn't sense it.
Even a powerful figure like Elder Lin had never sensed the Essence of the Sword.
Only he, with his Sword Dao Transcendence, could detect the existence of the Essence of the Sword.
And Hong Qi, being a sword herself, could sense the Essence of the Sword.
That's right, Hong Qi!!!
Meng Fan immediately said to Hong Qi, "Hong Qi, there's a problem with the Essence of the Sword I absorbed this time. Can you feel the essence inside me? Is there any way you can remove this essence from my body?"
Hong Qi also looked anxious but helplessly said, "Master, I can't do anything. Even if the essence from the Hong Qi Sword was absorbed by you, I couldn't influence it, let alone the essence from other swords!"
Unable to rely on Hong Qi, Meng Fan had to depend on himself. He stopped being distracted and began to think hard.
What could he do to access the Essence of the Sword from the Demon Race?
Suddenly, Meng Fan's eyes lit up.
"The Eternal Night Sword Technique"
This technique was Bei Ming's, belonging to the Demon Realm.
No, what he needed now wasn't a sword technique, but a cultivation method!
Meng Fan had also encountered some of the Demon Race's cultivation methods in the memories of the Bei Ming Sword.
But cultivation methods were not sword techniques, and his Sword Dao Transcendence didn't work; he couldn't learn them instantly.
In the end, Meng Fan thought of the most basic and simplest cultivation method that Bei Ming had first learned as a child.
Because this method was for beginners and was the simplest, Meng Fan still had some impression of it.
"Basic Qi Refining Method"
Yes, that was the name, Basic Qi Refining Method.
This was similar to Shu Mountain's "Qi Drawing Technique," which could only be used to cultivate the first strand of True Qi.
After successfully cultivating a strand of True Qi, the Qi Drawing Technique would become useless, and one would need to switch to other cultivation methods.
"I can only try!" Meng Fan, tormented by the essence within, didn't hesitate and immediately began to cultivate the Demon Race's "Basic Qi Refining Method."
The Essence of the Sword naturally had the effect of accelerating cultivation.
Thus, Meng Fan's cultivation of the Demon Race's "Basic Qi Refining Method" still benefited from this boost.
***
An hour later, Meng Fan successfully refined and absorbed this strand of essence.
At the same time, a third type of True Qi appeared in his body, alongside the wind and thunder attributes.
Perhaps it shouldn't be described by any attribute because Meng Fan didn't know what it was.
In the end, Meng Fan decided to simply describe it as demonic energy.
However, the Basic Qi Refining Method's purpose was only to cultivate the first strand of demonic energy and could not continue to force this energy.
If Meng Fan wanted to strengthen the demonic energy in his body, he would need to find a Demon Race cultivation method!
Of course, he could choose to disperse this strand of demonic energy or directly use his thunder attribute True Qi to devour it.
After all, having demonic energy in one's body wasn't a good thing.
Moreover, if others discovered that he was cultivating demonic energy, it might bring misfortune.
"Master, how are you?" Hong Qi's phantom appeared before Meng Fan, looking at him with concern.
"Don't worry, I'm fine!" Meng Fan smiled at Hong Qi.
Having said that, Meng Fan no longer felt like cleaning the swords. Seeing that dawn was approaching, he went back to his room to rest for a while.
He was also hesitating whether to disperse the strand of demonic energy in his body.
To be honest, this was a chance occurrence that allowed him to cultivate demonic energy.
Normally, it is very difficult for humans to cultivate demonic energy.
This opportunity was actually quite rare; if he dispersed the demonic energy, it would not be easy to cultivate it again in the future.
Unless he could encounter another sword from the Demon Realm and absorb the essence from it.
But swords from the Demon Realm rarely fall into the Human Realm; even the entire Sword Pavilion of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect probably only had this one sword from the Demon Realm, the Bei Ming Sword!
After much hesitation, Meng Fan decided to keep the strand of demonic energy and not disperse it.
After all, his main practice was "The Great Way of the Sword" of Primordial, which emphasized inclusiveness of all things, capable of integrating into one.
Demonic energy could naturally be integrated into Primordial.
Meng Fan not only decided not to disperse the demonic energy but also planned to find an opportunity to seek a Demon Race cultivation method to cultivate this strand of demonic energy.
Since it was a means to become stronger, there was no need to be overly cautious.
"I've already gone through most of the scriptures on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, and I haven't seen any Demon Race cultivation methods. I wonder if there will be any on the second floor," Meng Fan felt somewhat helpless.
A righteous sect like the Shu Mountain Sword Sect might not collect Demon Race cultivation methods.
Anyway, Meng Fan could freely enter the first to fourth floors of the Scripture Pavilion, so he would look for it when he had time in the future.
Finding it would be good, but there was no need to force it if he didn't; opportunities would come.
***
The next day, Meng Fan once again came to the Heaven-Connecting Platform at the summit of Shu Mountain.
Although he had no intention of engaging in a Literary Competition with Jiang Poyue, it didn't stop him from watching the competition.
He wouldn't miss any opportunity to study sword techniques.
Watching the Shu Mountain Swordsmanship Competition before, Meng Fan actually had many "fresh" insights into the Sword Dao, insights that he couldn't get from reading sword scriptures in the Scripture Pavilion.
Even for the second form of his "Myriad Swords Returning to One," Meng Fan had some vague enlightenment.
And the first form, "Sword Comes," was also greatly improved.
Most importantly, the more Meng Fan accumulated now, the more he would gain from his next visit to the Sword God Stele!
Next time he went to comprehend the Sword God Stele, Meng Fan could do so for a full day and night.
This was the reward previously given to him by Elder Lin!
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
Recheck: Lotas