Looking at a large rat cowering in the corner, casting spirit magic, its mouth bleeding fresh blood, and now lying on the ground without any movement, even the spiritual magnetic field emitted by its body was completely wiped out.

It was clearly because of mental backlash that it died.

Lu Ren: "..."

What is this, did you put a counter armor on my spirit?

Very well!

Lu Ren slightly lowered his waist, raised his longsword, and met the gaze of Jade Bamboo with an indifferent face.

Under the starlight in the sky, there was an exceptionally large full moon, several times bigger than in the real world, casting a silvery glow over the entire land.

He was surprised to find that Jade Bamboo seemed to be absorbing this radiance as she moved.

"Now, let me start the prelude of this battle."

Countless sword qi wielding unmatched Qi spread out in all directions, demons near him exploded and scattered into pieces of flesh as they were precisely struck by his sword qi.

The entire ruined temple turned into a purgatory on earth at this moment.

Or perhaps, it was already a purgatory on earth, but Lu Ren just cleaned up some garbage, making the purgatory clearer.

With a forceful push from his thigh, his muscles swelled, filling out even the lantern pant legs which should have been loose.

He lifted his leg and brought it down.

Bang!

The ground exploded with dirt and stones, bricks shattered, the fragments scattering like bullets, severely damaging the surrounding demons, causing them to scream and howl in misery.

With the help of this fierce power, Lu Ren had turned into a gust of wind, the sword light flowing like a swimming dragon, weaving in and out, slicing a demon in half every second.

In less than a minute, over half of the hundred demons had been slain.

The Mountain Lady, Jade Bamboo, couldn't hold back anymore upon witnessing this, her face turning furious as glossy white skin began to grow fur, teeth turning sharp, the previously graceful figure transforming, muscles bulging, bones stretching.

In a blink, she turned into a tiger person equal in height to Lu Ren, covered in dense fur.

"You're courting death!"

She growled low, like a tiger's roar, terrifying the nearby little demons to the point they couldn't move.

Lu Ren seemed unfazed, merely swinging his sword even faster, taking the opportunity to kill a few more.

Though it was just basic swordsmanship, having reached an outstanding level of skill, there was still no end in sight.

The longsword in his hand seemed to come alive, possessing its own will, doing whatever he desired it to do.

The situation seemed to reverse, Jade Bamboo was chasing, while Lu Ren evaded her bright edges, relying on the explosive speed achieved through brute force to hunt the little demons, who were now completely broken and fleeing in all directions.

These demons were nothing good; with the Heart Eye looking at Qi, their magnetic fields were chaotic, clearly using humans as resources had made their breath messy.

Jade Bamboo was extremely fast, her speed climbing another level after her body transformed.

However, whenever she rapidly approached, reaching out to grab Lu Ren, he would evade with a bizarre posture.

It was impossible for a human to do this.

Who could bend their spine backward to nearly touch their ankles?

Let their head retract into their chest cavity?

Such a horrifying maneuver, dare to call oneself human?!

What Jade Bamboo found most unacceptable was that even though his speed wasn't faster than hers, his body technique was extremely elusive, with each part of his body under control.

There was even a time when she clearly had a firm grip on Lu Ren, but his muscles began to wriggle continuously, secreting a lot of sweat, making him slip and slide away in an instant.

The wind follows the tiger, the clouds follow the dragon.

It's not without basis; Jade Bamboo was fast, but because she maintained a human-form state, she couldn't fully perform; her speed was still somewhat lacking.

When the last little demon died under his sword, Lu Ren turned his head to look at Jade Bamboo, who simply gave up the chase.

He flicked the bloodstains off the sword, organizing the system's prompts of basic swordsmanship skill level upgrades flashing through his mind.

Lu Ren, as if nothing happened, looked at Jade Bamboo.

By now, Jade Bamboo had lost her previous laziness, her expression somber filled with caution.

In contrast, Lu Ren, feeling relieved, had a satisfied smile on his cold face.

Jade Bamboo spoke, "How many steps have you taken in Bright Awakening?"

"How many steps?"

Lu Ren suddenly realized that the Supreme Profound Heart Sutra described the Nine Steps of Bright Awakening, and as Subodhi mentioned, it could lead to Path Determination.

These nine steps talk about seeking a path, exploring how to find one's own path, believing in it, and practicing it.

Even though in the Kunlun Exotic Realm cultivation had been divided into two systems, one focusing on the spirit and the other on the body, or even doing both concurrently, progressing both body and spirit.

With innovation, due to the favorable environment in the Kunlun Exotic Realm, concurrent cultivation of body and spirit was more popular.

"The first step, just lighting a lamp to illuminate my inner realm."

There was nothing to hide here; whether it was a Qi Cultivator specializing in spirit or a Bright Awakening Realm martial artist practicing the martial path, all needed to find their starting point and explore from the very origin.

The Inner Realm, the state of meditation, was essentially the same place, just different terms.

Jade Bamboo looked as if Lu Ren was joking.

Lu Ren didn't say much to Jade Bamboo, his state was originally special, his skill realms always reaching perfect comprehension with each promotion.

Plus, the system would imagine due to the names of true skills, thus making it difficult to truly rate his level according to ratings.

Who knows why spiritual dharma aspect was brought into reality with actual application.

Spirit and body being indistinguishable, this was truly the harmonious spiritual light, free from hindrance or perception.

He pointed his sword at Jade Bamboo, slightly moving his wrist, causing the sword to hum and tremble.

"Come, let me see how powerful you really are, O Mountain Monarch."

It's not that Lu Ren didn't want to strike unexpectedly or sneak attack.

The main issue was that he indeed didn't know at which stage his power lay now.

Previously, even in his confrontation with Kong Qiu, the opponent was unclear about the path beyond Bright Awakening. After all, over two thousand years had passed; anything could have happened. He was somewhat eager to know what his power meant in this world.

Jade Bamboo suddenly laughed.

"If that's all your strength is, then prepare to beg for mercy, and let me eat you up swiftly."

As her words fell, Jade Bamboo placed her hands on the ground, the fur on her body growing even more vigorously, the palace dress she wore was shredded by her rapidly expanding body, turning into strips of cloth dispersing, finally transforming into a giant white tiger over three meters tall and ten meters long with glaring eyes.

Fully released, even the magnetic field around the tiger was dramatically affected, causing fluctuations, with threads of arcs flashing around its body.

Its iron tail swung unconsciously, making the air buzz.

For such a fundamental physical transformation, Lu Ren was still in a state of amazement.

From human to this massive tiger, what exactly was the reference for this operation?

Unimaginable.

It's truly a creation of nature.

How was this achieved?

Is energy not needed?

The energy required for such a transformation is astonishing, where does it come from?

Wait a minute.

He remembered the elliptical object the size of a palm he found inside the head of the Pig Demon.

That must be the inner core.

It seems like some kind of solidified energy form, providing a foundation for performing pseudo-magic attacks through derived functional organs, even though there should be a foundation for actualizing divine power techniques.

Why then is it still limited to pseudo-magic attacks, only using derivative functionality organs?

Maybe it's a way to think.

If the way to store solid energy exists within my body and could transmit and be activated, it might lead to new changes for me.

With this path in mind.

If I bring you back to the Huaxia Zoological Park in the form of a performance act where you transform from human to tiger, I could make a fortune just from the ticket sales.

Hearing Lu Ren, Jade Bamboo placed her hands on the ground, the fur on her body became more vigorous, and her palace dress was shredded into strips, finally transforming into a gigantic white tiger over three meters tall, twelve meters in length, with eyes like searchlights and white eyebrows glowing, looking aggressive and fierce.

Lu Ren once again looked at the longsword in his hand. Because of the sound of the system updates, he sensed that his basic swordsmanship skill level had increased once more, realizing the strength of his true skill.

Jade Bamboo was furious, her eyes cold and her demeanor serious, unlike her previous casual elegance.

Yet Lu Ren felt a sense of satisfaction, and a fierce smile appeared on his cold face.

Jade Bamboo spoke: "During your Bright Awakening, how many steps have you taken?"

"How many steps?"

Lu Ren then realized, as described in the Supreme Profound Heart Sutra, the Nine Steps of Bright Awakening, and as Subodhi said afterwards, it could determine the path.

These nine steps speak of finding a path, how to explore the future, find one's own path, and believe and practice in it.

Though the Kunlun Exotic Realm had already consolidated cultivation into two systems, one focused on the spirit, the other on the body, or a dual cultivation of both, progressing in tandem.

With innovation following tradition, due to the favorable environment of the Kunlun Exotic Realm, the simultaneous cultivation of both the body and spirit is more prevalent.

"Just the first step, I've only just lit a lamp to illuminate my inner realm."

There is no need to hide this, whether a Qi Cultivator that focuses on spirit or a Martial Arts Practitioner in the Bright Awakening Realm that specializes in the martial path, both need to find their beginning point and start their exploration from the very source.

According to the system, Inner Realm and Path Determination are essentially the same place, just with different names.

However, Jade Bamboo no longer had the same lazy and free expression as before, now her face was sunken in caution and determination.

Conversely, Lu Ren appeared satisfied, a cold smile spread across his face in relief.

Jade Bamboo spoke up, "In the Bright Awakening, how many steps have you taken?"

"How many steps?"

Lu Ren was enlightened at once, as described in the Supreme Profound Heart Sutra, the Nine Steps of Bright Awakening, after which, as Subodhi said, the Path can be determined.

These nine steps talk about finding the way, exploring how to find one's path, discovering one's way, believing in it, and practicing it.

Although in the Kunlun Exotic Realm, they have already consolidated cultivation knowledge into two systems, one focusing on spirit and the other on body, or practicing both equally, advancing both body and spirit in tandem.

After innovation, due to the favorable environment of the Kunlun Exotic Realm, a balance between body and spirit cultivation became more prevalent.

"Only the first step, I've just lit the lamp, illuminating my inner realm."

This is not something to keep secret, whether it's a Qi Cultivator who specializes in spirit, or a Bright Awakening Realm martial arts practitioner who focuses on the Martial Path, they all need to find their initial location and start exploring from the source.

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