"This is..."
"The Heavenly Spirit, Green Wind?"
Li Fan's mind was greatly shaken.
This green figure was so similar to the Crimson Flame from the previous lifetime! The only difference was the distinct convergence of the principles of wind on this being.
Even through his Vision of Heaven and Earth, the allure of the Heavenly Spirit was overwhelmingly strong, instantly affecting Li Fan's mental state.
From a distance of thousands of miles, Li Fan's observation perspective became distorted. It shifted from Zhang Haobo, the primary subject of observation, to the green figure known as Green Wind.
Inside the Tianxuan Mirror, within Li Fan's sea of consciousness, the Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit suddenly awakened.
It opened its eyes and gazed in the direction where Green Wind was located.
In an instant, the temperature of the Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit dropped, as if it had been doused with icy water. The insatiable desire that had expanded countless times within Li Fan gradually subsided.
His mind turned extremely cold and rational, allowing Li Fan to silently observe the strange scene once again.
After staring at Green Wind for a long time, Li Fan shifted his gaze to the black sword handle.
The ominous aura that shot up into the sky almost materialized into a substantial layer of twisted black substance, covering the surface of the sword handle.
Beneath the handle, you could faintly see a short, broken sword blade.
This black sword handle resembled a living creature as it violently slammed against the green cage.
It occasionally emitted horrifying roars, causing the chaotic green light to tremble.
But no matter how it struggled, it couldn't break free from the green cage.
In this seemingly empty cage, Li Fan faintly sensed the continuous surge of a terrifying green current.
The speed of the current's movement was too fast, beyond the limits of what Li Fan could perceive at that moment.
So, at first glance, it appeared peaceful inside the cage.
But judging from the occasional green light that fell into various places in the Cong Yun Sea, the power of the storm surging within the cage was beyond imagination.
The Green Wind was like a blade, continuously slashing at the sword handle, constantly breaking and destroying the black ominous substance.
This mysterious sword handle, for some unknown reason, was exceptionally fierce.
But under Green Wind's prolonged imprisonment and erosion, it gradually became more and more broken.
"Who could have imagined that the wind disasters raging through the Cong Yun Sea were actually the unintentional side effects of the struggle between the Heavenly Spirit and a sword handle?"
"The power of Dao Integration is indeed terrifying."
"In the last life, the major wind disaster never appeared again. Perhaps it's because this sword handle was completely destroyed? Or..."
"And what exactly is the origin of this sword handle? It's just a damaged hilt, and it can resist the Heavenly Spirit in Dao Integration for so long..."
"If it were in its complete state, how much stronger would it be?"
Various thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind repeatedly.
Afterward, he shifted his gaze back to Zhang Haobo.
"In general, ordinary cultivators can't perceive Dao Integration beings."
"They are hidden in this secret space..."
"Zhang Haobo has extraordinary talent, and he can sense the wind disaster Calamity and roughly detect the location of this space..."
"But with his cultivation in the Qi Condensation stage, there's no way he can break in."
"Unless..."
In Li Fan's field of vision, a layer of clear blue light enveloped Zhang Haobo.
As if unaffected by the Heavenly Spirit's allure, Zhang Haobo didn't even glance at Green Wind's figure. Instead, he focused intently on the cage in its hand.
He observed the struggle between Green Wind and the sword handle within the cage.
Under the cover of the blue light, Green Wind was completely oblivious, as if he ignored Zhang Haobo's presence and allowed him to observe at close range.
Li Fan thought, "Before reaching Dao Integration, conducting such an observation is truly like walking on a razor's edge."
"However, he indeed has something to rely on."
The familiar blue light kept flowing, and Li Fan, like Zhang Haobo, observed the struggle between Green Wind and the sword handle.
"With the flow of destiny, Zhang Haobo's luck continues to grow. Within the Cong Yun Sea, he already has a taste of being a 'Child of Heaven.' Things go his way, and opportunities come naturally."
"Unfortunately..."
"Let's see how his story ends."
"This hidden place would be nearly impossible to discover with my efforts alone, even after several lifetimes of reincarnation. But with Zhang Haobo's immense luck, he can easily find it."
"Within just the Cong Yun Sea, there are countless opportunities. When we look at the entire cultivation world, how many secrets are there truly? Exploring everything alone would be inefficient. However, with all the natural prodigies as my eyes, they can find these treasures for me one by one."
"In the next life, I'll take everything useful..."
"Good."
His thoughts gradually fell silent, and Li Fan concentrated all his attention together with Zhang Haobo.
They were trying to comprehend the battle between the sword and the wind.
Such an opportunity was extremely rare, and Li Fan didn't want to waste it.
Time passed slowly.
For cultivators, a few years of seclusion was considered normal.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Fan was abruptly awakened by the brilliant blue light bursting forth from Zhang Haobo's body.
After a brief flicker, Zhang Haobo suddenly left the mysterious space where Green Wind and the sword handle were located.
Like a shooting star, he fell straight into the deep sea.
The energy swirling around him, Li Fan was very familiar with.
It was a sign that Zhang Haobo was about to break through from the Qi Condensation stage to the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Hmm?" Li Fan found it a bit strange because the Heavenly Treasure that Zhang Haobo was using to imitate the process of Foundation Establishment differed from what he had anticipated.
A clear and crisp sound of a sword rang out.
It was like the first cry of a newborn baby, or the first rays of the morning sun.
The chaotic and uncomprehending willpower began to grow continuously from the moment it was born.
The sound of the sword's roar became clearer and more exhilarating.
"Clang!"
The sword sound reached its sharpest point and suddenly disappeared.
At the same time, within Zhang Haobo's dantian, a vague and ever-changing sword shadow suddenly appeared.
Under the dark sea, the seawater around Zhang Haobo was instantly repelled, leaving a circular area without water.
The sword shadow, like a mischievous and vibrant child, stretched lazily.
Then it surprisingly flew out of Zhang Haobo's dantian, hovering and rotating in the empty area around him.
Li Fan could see clearly that this sword shadow had no physical form. It resembled the Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit in many ways, being a purely conscious existence.
"This is... sword intent?" Li Fan was somewhat shocked.
He hadn't expected that in such a short time, Zhang Haobo would comprehend the sword intent by observing the sword handle.
It's worth noting that although Li Fan had gained some insight into it, he was far from reaching such an exaggerated level.
Li Fan couldn't help but sigh; the difference in people's talents was indeed substantial.
However, Li Fan was also somewhat surprised because Zhang Haobo was using this sword intent as a Heavenly Treasure to establish his Foundation.
It proved the correctness of Master Yin's theory that "everything in the world can be seen as unformed Heavenly Treasures."
If sword intent could be used, then [Truth] could naturally be used as well.
Moreover, the process where Zhang Haobo established his Foundation using sword intent provided Li Fan with plenty of inspiration.
However, establishing a Foundation using [Truth] was much more challenging than using sword intent to establish one. To achieve this goal, Li Fan still had a long way to go.