The figure dispersed again, unleashing various moves as if to extract the sword technique most suited for Ling Xiao from the stone tablet.
After a quarter of an hour, the figure merged once more.
"Second move—Melting Water!"
Sweat had already started to seep out from Ling Xiao’s forehead. Even with his soul power as strong as it was, he still felt it was extremely taxing.
It seemed that Ling Xiaotian’s so-called limitation of one shichen wasn’t nonsense after all.
The figure on the stone tablet dispersed once more, its moves becoming even more ethereal and mysterious.
It appeared that delving deeper into this mystic art only made it more difficult.
Ling Xiao gritted his teeth, cast aside the distractions of his mind, forgot the pain and discomfort in his body, and strived to focus his spirit entirely on comprehending the mystic art.
"Third move—Ice Condensation!"
Another different sword move, though both originated from the same stone tablet, their attacks were entirely distinct.
It looked like there was truth to the saying.
In the eyes of a thousand people, there are a thousand different Transcendent Martial Arts moves.
Transcendent Martial Arts have only the core of the mystic art, with the moves entirely dependent on self-creation; thus, even with the same mystic art, the moves comprehended are completely different.
There are even ranks among them.
Comprehending the third move proved to be much more difficult than the second because one needed to delve much deeper into the fragmented Chapters of the Transcendent Martial Arts mystic art, requiring the consumption of even more soul power.
And the fourth move would be of an even higher difficulty.
Ling Xiao exhaled deeply.
Even at the moment of the Ling Family’s life or death, even when faced with the attacks of numerous Martial Masters, he had persevered.
What was this bit of suffering in comparison?
He roughly estimated the time; by the time he had comprehended the third move, half a shichen had already passed.
The fourth move would probably take even longer.
An adage went: "Sharpening your axe will not delay the work of chopping wood."
Instead of continuing to comprehend, he spent some time activating the Snow Lotus Qi Technique and the Soul Condensation Art to recover his physical and soul power.
By this time, many disciples had already been carried out to rest due to excessive mental exhaustion.
Only a dozen or so people, including Ling Xiao, Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, Ling Shuang, Ling Zhan, and Ling Wuheng, remained on the Book Pavilion Fourth Floor.
Seeing this situation, Ling Xiaotian and the three Supreme Elders couldn’t help but furrow their brows.
The shorter the time spent on contemplation, the lower the likelihood of receiving insight.
Back then, Ling Chen and Ling Feifan couldn’t hold on for less than a shichen, and they didn’t know whether anyone today could persist for one shichen.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and only six people remained.
Ling Xiao had restored his physical and soul power to their peak state and finally refocused his energy on the stone tablet.
The state of Soul Entry was initiated once again.
"Fourth move—Ice Heart."
Amazingly, comprehending the fourth move took even less time than the third.
However, Ling Xiao thought about it and then made peace with it.
When comprehending the third move, he had already exhausted too much soul and physical power, naturally making it slower.
The comprehension of the fourth move, on the other hand, started from a peak state, so it was normal for it to require less time.
With that in mind, he decided to attempt to comprehend the fifth move.
Ling Xiao didn’t want to waste even a moment and immediately began to comprehend the fifth move.
By now, the time until one shichen was growing ever nearer.
Among the six people, Ling Shuang and Ling Zhan reluctantly opened their eyes and chose to leave.
Although they also gained some insight, it was about the same level as Ling Chen and Ling Feifan, just superficial.
After a while, a terrifying aura began to spread throughout the Book Pavilion Fourth Floor.
Ling Wuheng opened his eyes, his face showing excitement.
He had been stuck at the peak of Martial Meridian Sixth Layer for over a decade and now, he had suddenly broken through!
He had been promoted to a Martial Master!
A Martial Artist at the Seventh Layer of Martial Veins!
Although what he had comprehended from the fragment of the Transcendent Martial Arts wasn’t much, the fact that he could advance was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
At this point, only three people remained on the Book Pavilion Fourth Floor—Ling Xiao, Ling Yihang, and Ling Yixue.
Ling Yihang stood up excitedly.
After spending nearly a shichen, he had finally comprehended a move from the stone tablet. In his view, it was just a single move but it was far more terrifying than all the Martial Arts he had practiced before.
He glanced at Ling Yixue and Ling Xiao, with a touch of admiration.
Those who could persevere were truly formidable.
Ling Yixue’s hair was still the color of snow, and it had not returned to normal even after the battle had ended.
But that wasn’t the worst part. After the battle, the Ling Family’s physicians had examined Ling Yixue’s condition.
They had come to a conclusion that evoked a sigh—it was heartbreaking.
Because of the overconsumption of her body’s potential, Ling Yixue had less than three years to live. Not only that, each month she would suffer from excruciating headaches due to the oppressive soul power in her mind.
That pain was worse than death.
The price was too great, and it was believed that Ling Yixue had known this beforehand, yet she did not hesitate to forcibly break the seal in her mind to save Ling Xiao.
Of course, the good news was that if Ling Yixue’s cultivation level could advance to the Transcendent Realm, she could possibly recover the lost life force.
But that was easier said than done.
Another way was to find spiritual elixirs that could prolong life, but such things were treasured by all martial artists—not only were they expensive, they were also hard to find, nearly as challenging as advancing one’s cultivation.
When Ling Xiao heard this news, he did not cry or show sadness; he only said one thing—
"I will take responsibility for Senior Yi Xue’s future!"
Why was he so desperate to increase his strength?
He wanted to leave Tianfeng City to seek out larger cities where he could find medicine that could prolong life and alleviate Ling Yixue’s pain.
Just as Ling Yihang was preparing to leave the Book Pavilion Fourth Floor, he saw that Ling Yixue had also slowly opened her eyes.
She had comprehended even more than Ling Yihang, but alas, it was only three moves.
Ling Yixue smiled faintly, looked at Ling Xiao, and spoke softly, "Junior Brother truly has an exceptional talent. I hope he can fully grasp the mystic art of the fragment. The stone tablets here must all contain Fifth Level mystic arts; the most one can comprehend should be five moves."
Ling Xiao’s breathing grew rapid and his chest heaved increasingly fast.
Sweat dripped down from his forehead, falling to the ground like rain, not an exaggeration in the slightest.
Only a little bit of time remained.
The Dragon Saliva Fragrance used to gauge time in the incense burner was almost burnt out.
Once the incense burned out completely, time would end, and Ling Xiao, even if not awakened, would have to be called to wake up.
"He can do it, right?" Supreme Elder Ling Yin asked nervously.
As a Supreme Elder who once had very little regard for Ling Xiao, Elder Ling Yin was now almost as concerned for Ling Xiao as he was for his own grandson, Ling Feifan.
After all, one cannot be without conscience.
It can be said that if it weren’t for Ling Xiao’s unimaginable wisdom and ability to defeat Fei Mu and Fei Yun, even the arrival of the Divine Sword would have been too late.
Before that, the Ling Family would have been annihilated.
"He will make it because he is Ling Xiao!"
Now, Ling Xiaotian was also full of confidence in Ling Xiao.
"Fifth Move—Ice and Snow Storm!"
In the end, all the remaining afterimages converged together.
The Fifth Move—comprehended successfully.
And at that moment, in Ling Xiao’s vision, there seemed to be an endless ice and snow storm.
This terrifying ice and snow storm almost completely froze his soul, bringing the ultimate final test.