Having said that, Yuwen Xing could not help but sigh in admiration. "Not only is this man's cultivation talent rarely seen in this world, his willpower and courage are equally scarce in this day and age.
"Those seventeen puppets possess formidable strength, and ordinary cultivators avoid them like the plague. Yet this Zhang Haobo does the exact opposite, using them to hone his sword.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. If this man doesn't perish in the days to come, his path toward the Great Dao will surely be promising!"
Li Fan chimed in, "Fellow Daoist Yuwen speaks with absolute truth!"
For a long while, no further message came from the other side. Evidently, Yuwen Xing had gone off to spread word of this to others.
"The twenty-four Sea-Calming Swords can normally only be condensed at the Foundation Establishment stage, yet Zhang Haobo actually condensed them not long after entering Qi Condensation.
"Is he exceptionally suited for this cultivation method? Or is there some other reason? Interesting..."
His curiosity piqued, Li Fan set off immediately, intending to head to Master Tianyang's cave abode to see for himself.
Master Tianyang's cave abode was located in the western waters of the Congyun Sea, inside a dormant undersea volcano.
Ever since the volcano previously erupted and Master Tianyang's cave abode emerged into the world, the undersea fire veins in this vicinity had grown increasingly active.
Along the way, Li Fan occasionally spotted Qi Condensation cultivators traveling in groups of two or three.
Their faces were flushed with excitement, and their conversation never strayed far from Zhang Haobo, who was currently honing his sword.
From the sound of their chatter, Zhang Haobo could now hold out against those seventeen mechanism puppets for roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Taking advantage of Zhang Haobo drawing the puppets' fire, many people secretly slipped into the cave abode in an attempt to seek opportunities.
Yet the time to drink a cup of tea was far too short. Before they could discover anything, Zhang Haobo's strength would fail him, and he would withdraw from the cave abode.
Those who sneaked inside were then treated as outlets for the increasingly enraged puppets' fury, dying gruesome deaths one after another.
Even so, word had it that through this continual sword-testing, Zhang Haobo was making rapid progress.
Perhaps before long, he would break through to the middle Qi Condensation stage.
When that time came, his strength would undoubtedly take a great leap, allowing him to tie down the puppets for even longer.
Bystanders would naturally be able to fish in troubled waters and enter the cave abode to explore opportunities.
As for Zhang Haobo, he seemed utterly unbothered by such behavior and voiced no displeasure whatsoever.
He merely repeated the same monotonous cycle of resting, testing his sword, and resting again.
Consequently, more and more cultivators harbored opportunistic thoughts.
Naturally, there were also those purely stunned by Zhang Haobo's feat of fighting seventeen puppets alone, coming here just to catch a glimpse of his brilliance.
Before long, Li Fan arrived at the sea area where Master Tianyang's cave abode was situated.
Due to the active earth fire, the water temperature here was noticeably higher than elsewhere.
Numerous dead fish floated on the surface of the sea, and that was already after the area had been cleared once.
Fortunately, Li Fan had come prepared. After activating both a Form-Concealing Talisman and a Fire-Bathing Talisman, he dove into the sea.
The deeper he descended, the higher the water temperature grew.
As he neared the seabed, the seawater was already close to boiling.
Inside an undersea volcanic crater, searing magma continually surged forth accompanied by billowing white steam.
Upon encountering the seawater, the magma rapidly cooled, forming black rock that accumulated and spread outward.
Quite a few cultivators had gathered around the crater.
They paid no heed to the boiling seawater, nor did they care about the bizarre spectacle of the erupting undersea volcano.
Their attention was entirely focused on Zhang Haobo, who sat cross-legged with closed eyes not far away.
As Li Fan drew closer, hushed discussions drifted into his ears.
"His first fight after reaching the middle Qi Condensation stage—how come he didn't seem to last much longer than before?"
"What do you know? Didn't you see the force of his moves was about the same as in the early Qi Condensation stage? He's clearly still adjusting and getting used to his newly broken-through power."
"Indeed. I bet he can definitely hold out for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea this time!"
...
Amid the chatter of the crowd, Zhang Haobo opened his eyes and abruptly rose to his feet.
His face calm as an ancient well, he charged into the crater.
The spectators watching the commotion did not follow him in.
Instead, a water curtain lit up in the center, displaying the scene within the cave abode.
Those seventeen puppets were evidently not merely inanimate objects.
After Zhang Haobo's repeated provocations, they had long anticipated his return and were already lying in wait at the cave abode's entrance.
The moment he entered, they launched an immediate assault.
Zhang Haobo remained calm and unhurried. Twenty-four azure water swords lined up beside him to form a protective perimeter, parrying each of the puppets' attacks.
Meanwhile, his figure bounded forward, weaving continuously through the gaps between the puppets.
In the blink of an eye, he broke through their blockade and reached the perimeter outside their encirclement.
He then leaped into the air, suspending himself midflight.
"Eh? What is he trying to do?"
"He's not just defending? Is he taking the offensive to defend himself?"
Amid the crowd's exclamations, Zhang Haobo gazed down at the puppets below, his eyes sharp as lightning, and formed a hand seal with both hands.
In an instant, the speed of those twenty-four water swords abruptly multiplied several times over.
Like a torrential downpour, they pelted the mechanism puppets furiously.
The water swords danced endlessly like spirits, generating countless afterimages. At first glance, blue shadows crisscrossed across the area, making it seem as if hundreds or even thousands of water swords had appeared simultaneously.
The bodies of the mechanism puppets were exceptionally hard. Even when the water swords bombarded them, they failed to leave behind even faint white marks, only causing their movements to hitch slightly.
Yet just as they recovered from that slight pause, the next barrage of water swords arrived right on its heels.
Consequently, their movements fell into rigidity once more.
The onslaught of water swords flowed unceasingly like a roaring waterfall, forcing these mechanism puppets into an unrelenting posture of mere defense.
Zhang Haobo had actually suppressed all seventeen puppets with his strength alone!
Outside the cave abode, the cultivators witnessing this scene were entirely dumbfounded, their hearts surging with turmoil.
"Is this Zhang Haobo really only in the middle Qi Condensation stage? What cultivation method is he practicing? So powerful!"
"Word has it he's only been cultivating for just over a year! He's truly a heaven-sent genius!"
"Fellow Daoists, charge! I see those puppets have been beaten so badly they can't even lift their heads! This is the perfect opportunity for us to explore the cave abode for lucky encounters!"
From among the crowd, someone suddenly spoke up to incite the rest.
The words sounded reasonable enough, and everyone began itching to act.
Just then, a rather stoutly built man shook his head and said, "I think otherwise. While Fellow Daoist Zhang's move is undeniably terrifying, it must be extremely draining on his origin qi and difficult to sustain. I'm afraid he won't even last as long this time as he did before."
The crowd froze at his words, and after a moment's contemplation, they all nodded slowly.
Li Fan, however, stared at Zhang Haobo in the water curtain, his brow furrowed slightly.
Li Fan naturally recognized the move Zhang Haobo had just employed—it was a lethal strike from the Sea-Calming Divine Sword.
Water Dragon's Chant.
The swords danced like dragons, sweeping freely in every direction. It had a wide attack radius, a rapid rate of thrusts, and formidable lethality.
It was truly of extraordinary might.
However, it required an enormous expenditure of spiritual energy, something typically executable only at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Earlier, though Baili Chen was also in the middle Qi Condensation stage and cultivated the complete version of the Sea-Calming Divine Sword, even he could not execute this move.
What puzzled Li Fan was that while Zhang Haobo's talent far surpassed Baili Chen's, he was still, after all, only in the middle Qi Condensation stage.
This single technique of Water Dragon's Chant was destined not to last long.
Yet looking at Zhang Haobo now, he wore an expression of complete confidence, seemingly not the least bit worried about running out of spiritual energy.
Why was that?
Chapter 101