“Other than swordsmanship, the most crucial elements are your heart technique, step technique, and Light-body Technique,” the Saint said. “You still have a lot to learn.”

　　“Then, when will I be allowed to leave the mountain?” Chu Li asked.

　　The Saint replied, “You may leave once you’ve cultivated all of these.”

　　Chu Li scratched his head. “Then, when will I be able to complete my cultivation?”

　　“That depends on your comprehension,” the Saint replied. “Since you’ve cultivated Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture, you shouldn’t take long. The Great Light Scripture also has the effect of helping you attain wisdom, so it should take about a year.”

　　“A year…” Chu Li nodded.

　　The Saint added, “Ruolan will guide you.”

　　“Miss Ruolan…” Chu Li instantly beamed with joy.

　　The Saint calmly said, “Now, you will learn the heart technique. Go inside.”

　　Chu Li went into the cottage and sat on the bed.

　　The Saint stood in front of the bed and stretched out her delicate right index finger before gently touching his forehead.

　　A glowing silhouette suddenly appeared in the void of his mind. Its face was indiscernible, so he could only see its meridians.

　　As this silhouette floated in the air, a red line traveled back and forth through its meridians. Its movement was as fast and agile as a swimming fish.

　　Chu Li could not help but fix his eyes on this red line.

　　The red line was extremely complex. The meridians it traveled through were as narrow and winding as a sheep’s intestines while the path it followed was circuitous and tortuous. The path it took to complete one circulatory cycle through the meridians was five to six times longer than that of the usual circulatory cycle.

　　Realistically, this heart technique could not be cultivated by most, and could only be imparted via the current means. If she had tried to verbally teach him how to cultivate it, it would take him ages to complete his cultivation.

　　A moment later, the silhouette in his mind began to move, and the red line continued to circulate through the figure as it began moving forward.

　　Chu Li quickly memorized what he saw. He immediately realized that this was a step technique.

　　Later, there was a sword technique that contained only eight sword forms. Nonetheless, each sword form was very complex, so the silhouette took quite a long time to go through the entire technique.

　　The biggest characteristic of this sword technique was its complexity.

　　This heart technique was almost as complicated as the one he had cultivated as well. When faced with such an intricate sword and heart technique, most people would cower away in fear.

　　The final martial art skill was the Divine Light Fist.

　　Since he had cultivated the Divine Light Fist, it saved him a lot of trouble.

　　Chu Li could not help letting out a bitter laugh. These four martial arts required top-notch intelligence. He truly could not understand why the Saint had decided to transmit these to him since they did not seem to be compatible with Zhao Dahe’s character.

　　The Saint withdrew her index finger and calmly looked at him. “Zhao Dahe, these four martial arts are the most impressive martial arts of the Great Light Scripture. They may normally be hard to cultivate, but they shouldn’t be a problem for you!”

　　Chu Li nodded helplessly. “Understood.”

　　The Saint continued, “The sword technique is the Divine Light Sword Technique. I’ve only transmitted eight forms to you. Once you’ve mastered them, you’ll continue to cultivate the rest. The step technique is called Time Steps, which can greatly increase your speed. The heart technique is the Divine Light Technique while the fist technique is the Divine Light Fist.”

　　Chu Li nodded again.

　　The Saint went on, “If you have any questions, you can ask Ruolan. If there’s anything Ruolan can’t answer, I’ll drop by once a month.”

　　“Understood. Thank you, my Saint.” Chu Li gave a fist salute.

　　The Saint waved a hand in dismissal and then vanished.

　　As soon as she had disappeared, Li Ruolan came gliding over.

　　Over the following days, Chu Li concentrated on his cultivation at the top of the Small Light Peak.

　　Although the Saint had told him that Li Ruolan would accompany him, she only appeared twice a day in place of the previous old man dressed in grey to deliver his meals.

　　Every time she came to deliver his meals, she would practice with him for a little while and give him some advice before he began eating. Around fifteen minutes later, she would leave with the lunchbox.

　　She would speak harshly every time she saw him, as though she was afraid Chu Li would get too close to her.

　　Truthfully speaking, Chu Li did not wish to get any closer to her either. His love at first sight for Li Ruolan was a mere pretense. He was not really attracted to her in that way, although Li Ruolan was indeed charming and lovely.

　　Similarly, Li Ruolan had no romantic interest in him when he took the form of Zhao Dahe. Despite the fact that Zhao Dahe was a gifted genius who was capable of cultivating at shocking speeds, she remained unmoved and saw him only as a platonic friend.

　　Furthermore, she was afraid that Zhao Dahe might fall for her, which is why she deliberately treated him indifferently.

　　Similarly, Chu Li no longer tried to get close to her and merely treated her courteously henceforth.

　　…

　　A month flew by in the blink of an eye. It was only when Chu Li saw the Saint reappear that he realized that a month had already passed.

　　Throughout the past month, he had been so devoted to his cultivation that he had all but neglected sleep and food. Thus, he had achieved rapid advancement in the Divine Light Technique.

　　He had been using the Life and Death Scripture to speed up his cultivation since he was not afraid that the Saint might notice anything peculiar about his rapid improvement. He had already demonstrated that he was a genius at cultivation when he entered the Grandmaster’s Boundary within such a short amount of time. Therefore, it would not seem odd for him to advance so quickly in his cultivation of the Divine Light Technique as well.

　　Meanwhile, given that Time Steps and the Imminent Skyline had certain similarities, he had managed to cultivate it rapidly too.

　　He had also gotten the knack of the Divine Light Sword Technique.

　　Since he had been very accomplished in cultivating sword and knife techniques all this while, he was able to learn it very easily and smoothly.

　　“My Saint.” He gave a fist salute while smiling.

　　The Saint, Sun Mingyue, noticed his pale complexion and dull eyes before knitting her eyebrows together.

　　“Have you gotten injured?” She briefly scanned Chu Li.

　　Unfortunately, the Mind Illumination Scripture was useless on him since he had cultivated Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture, which could block the effects of the Mind Illumination Scripture. Thus, she could only use her eyes to examine him physically and could not peek directly into his mind.

　　Chu Li grinned and shook his head.

　　Li Ruolan was standing to one side as she explained, “He has been overly focused on his cultivation to the point of neglecting sleep and food. That’s why he has become so exhausted.”

　　“The path of cultivation is a long process. It’s not something you can accomplish on a whim!” Sun Mingyue shook her head. “You should understand that.”

　　Chu Li smiled. “I wish to leave the mountain sooner.”

　　“Okay, let’s check your progress then.” Sun Mingyue nodded. “Use the sword technique first. Do your best!”

　　“I won’t hold back then!” Chu Li unsheathed his sword.

　　He was wielding a common Emerald Tipped Sword as he readied his form.

　　He had been rather curious about Sun Mingyue’s cultivation level, so this was a good opportunity to gauge her skills.

　　“Tsh!” His Emerald Tipped Sword turned into a flash of light as it launched at Sun Mingyue at incredible speeds.

　　“Ding…” The Emerald Tipped Sword suddenly stopped and quivered while emitting a clear ring.

　　Sun Mingyue lightly flicked his blade with her index finger. Her delicate-looking finger felt harder than rock as it hit the long sword, almost sending it flying out of Chu Li’s hand.

　　A massive force surged toward him from the sword; it felt so boundless and mighty that he was almost overwhelmed.

　　“Again!” Sun Mingyue said.

　　As Chu Li gritted his teeth and activated the full power of Divine Light Technique. His blade seemed to become slightly brighter before turning into a stream of light and appearing in front of Sun Mingyue’s throat again an instant later.

　　“Ding…” The Emerald Tipped Sword quivered as it rang loudly and flew out of Chu Li’s right hand.

　　It was as if Sun Mingyue’s finger had already been there in anticipation of his attack, and with a mere flick of her finger, the sword had been sent flying out of his grip.

　　Then, as Sun Mingyue stretched out her arm, the long sword flew into her hand as though it had grown wings like a swallow.

　　“Get ready!” Sun Mingyue said.

　　Her sword flashed about and came at him from all directions, giving him no chance to dodge her attacks.

　　Chu Li was left with no choice but to launch a Divine Light Fist.

　　“Tsh!” The tip of the sword pierced through his Divine Light Fist and arrived at Chu Li’s throat.

　　However, Chu Li stepped sideways and appeared two meters away, thus avoiding the blade.

　　“Not bad!” Sun Mingyue put the sword away and nodded. With a flick of her wrist, the long sword flew toward Chu Li so quickly that he could not react in time.

　　“Ding…” The sword reentered the scabbard hanging on his waist.

　　Chu Li could not help but marvel at this. Sun Mingyue was definitely a master of hidden weapons.