Buzz!

A surge of information flooded his mind.

Just as the young man had said, these were indeed very basic methods.

They were even quite similar to techniques in the Path of the Spirit, not difficult to understand.

Spiritual Thought Condenser meant exactly what its name implied.

Spiritual intention transforms, condensing into a Divine Weapon.

This part was simple—the challenge was making it truly resemble a Divine Weapon, able to possess great might and withstand repeated infusions of power without dissipating!

As for the method of transformation, that was somewhat more complicated.

But Xu Yang soon grasped it; the foundation remained spiritual intention, changing through various Divine Techniques!

Yes, not only to demonstrate power, but also to transform Divine Techniques!

Spiritual intention is ever-changing, but in truth, it manifests as Divine Techniques and Martial Dao Will—all fairly fixed in essence.

To be able to transform through myriad Divine Techniques—now, that is no easy task.

Furthermore, Xu Yang quickly realized that this was not the only difficulty.

Because each subsequent level of assessment would require the young man to provide a challenge.

If the challenge given did not align with the ancient tool he had condensed, what then?

"The method of transformation is a bit troublesome."

Xue Ming was the first to speak, furrowing his brow. "At first glance, it doesn’t seem all that different from transformations in the Path of the Spirit, but for that very reason, it isn’t so simple; our spiritual intention is rooted in the spiritual path, but here, the Immortal Path is dominant!"

"This record describes the Immortal Path’s changes as boundless and unconstrained, not at all limited to the essence of spiritual intention!"

Xu Yang was taken aback, and his expression darkened at once.

This seemed to be yet another difficulty!

Suddenly, a thought struck him: "Senior, could this be a key for the spiritual path to ascend onto the Immortal Path?"

"In the leap of spiritual intention to reach the Immortal Realm, it naturally ceases to be mere spiritual intention and becomes immortal intention; only by understanding this can one truly step onto the Immortal Path!"

Xue Ming and Shi Hu were both stunned, then fell deep into thought.

After a long while, Xue Ming murmured, "That does make sense!"

"But then, how do we change our spiritual intention?"

Abandon everything and start anew?

No one dared to make such a gamble!

"Back then, those immortal soldiers likely already understood these principles!"

"Their cultivation was far more perfected than ours!"

Xu Yang sighed deeply.

There was no living person of the Immortal Path here—all that had been manifested was nothing but a re-enactment of what once transpired.

If you sought instruction, no one would answer!

But those immortal soldiers back then were different.

They came from worlds at the level of the Immortal Path.

Even if they didn’t know profound arts, they surely grasped some basic means to step into the Immortal Path!

"It seems we can only rely on ourselves."

Shi Hu took a deep breath, fixing his gaze on Xu Yang. "If you have any insights, be sure to let me know!"

He admitted to himself that he was not as strong as Xu Yang, nor did he believe his comprehension would surpass Xu Yang’s.

Xu Yang nodded resolutely.

If he made any progress, he wouldn’t keep it to himself!

Xu Yang sat cross-legged on the ground and began to study in earnest.

Half an hour passed.

He narrowed his eyes and spread out his spiritual intention.

Buzz!

His spiritual intention turned into a tangible chain out of thin air.

This spiritual intention was formed with Heaven Locking intent as its foundation.

"A chain..."

Xu Yang frowned slightly. Perhaps transforming into a chain was the best choice.

Yet he felt something was not quite right.

His strength lay most in the blade.

Spiritual intention was ever-changing... Xu Yang’s mind stirred, and his spiritual intention transformed, gradually becoming a pitch-black long blade.

After a period of tempering, it looked indistinguishable from a real spiritual blade.

However, Xu Yang did not believe that a casually refined spiritual blade could withstand the impact of power at the immortal soldier level without dispersing.

According to the method of condensing spiritual intention, this step was not difficult at all—anyone could do it.

The key was in repeated tempering!

This idea crossed his mind, and Xu Yang temporarily set aside his worries about change. The spiritual blade vanished before his eyes, merging into the divine cauldron within his body.

Swish!

The spiritual blade appeared at the edge of the Tripod of Heaven and Earth.

Boom!

At once, the Heaven and Earth Divine Chain manifested.

"Since the spiritual blade is an extension of spiritual intention, fusing with this divine chain poses no issue at all!"

This was one of his immense advantages as well.

As for relentless tempering, Xu Yang quickly formed a plan.

There was no better means than the shock of ancient Evil Qi within the world itself.

Of course, if not for these special measures—

Conventional means could use the will as a hammer, continuously tempering it.

Or even using Minghuo, Divine Techniques, and other methods to temper the weapon formed by spiritual intention.

Xu Yang cleared his mind of distractions, fully channeling the Heaven and Earth Divine Chain. At the same time, he shook heaven and earth, triggering the ancient Evil Qi to spill forth.

Boom!

Waves of Evil Qi surged, slamming first into the spiritual blade.

In an instant, the spiritual blade rang and quaked violently, trembling without end, even showing signs of collapsing.

At this, Xu Yang secretly exclaimed, ’As expected!’

Without relentless tempering, the spiritual blade would not withstand such onslaughts.

He steadied his mind, hastily maintaining the spiritual blade with all his strength.

At the same time, he used the might of Heaven Locking intent to madly bind it!

At a certain moment—

A Heaven and Earth Divine Chain was drawn over and fused into the spiritual blade!

Clang!

The spiritual blade rang sharply, divine light radiating outward.

In an instant, it became several degrees more solid!

Time passed quietly.

Xu Yang continued to devour the divine chains and withstand the onslaught of ancient Evil Qi without pause.

Xue Ming and Shi Hu were equally busy.

One was a top elite from Divine Firmament, the other an heiress of a premier force; both possessed exceptional inheritances and methods.

Each had their own ways of forging!

Three days, approaching swiftly.

In that moment—

Xu Yang gathered in his spiritual intention, ceasing his shaking of heaven and earth.

He gazed at the gradually calming world, where all the divine chains along the edges went from turbulence back to their pristine state.

Each divine chain climbed the boundaries of heaven and earth like a giant python.

Tightly connected, yet clear and distinct!

Gazing upon this sight, Xu Yang was momentarily dazzled; deep within, a spark of inspiration flickered, yet it was hard to grasp.

"Xu Yang!"

A low voice roused him from his trance.

Xu Yang returned to himself, slowly opening his eyes.

Shi Hu asked suspiciously, "Nothing went wrong, did it? The Immortal has already appeared."

"No, I just drifted off for a moment."

Xu Yang shook his head slightly, suppressing the strange feeling within, and looked up—the young man had already appeared, though he hadn’t noticed when.

"First-level assessment."

"This Immortal Artifact will unleash the power of a grade-two immortal soldier. As long as you withstand the impact, you will pass!"

The youth flicked his finger—an Immortal Sword three feet long appeared out of nowhere, shining with five-colored radiance, crystalline and dazzling, truly extraordinary!

Even the aura it exuded left the three of them trembling inside.

The true power of this Immortal Artifact utterly surpassed the immortal soldier level.

The three exchanged glances, each preparing themselves.

Shi Hu spoke first: "I’ll go first."

He licked his lips and stepped forward.

Swoosh!

Golden light blazed, as a pair of gauntlets materialized from nothingness.

This was his Spiritual Thought Condenser!

The surface of the gauntlets was covered with mysterious spirit patterns, emitting a savage, primordial aura.

At least on the surface, one could not tell at all that these gauntlets were illusory.

Shi Hu was visibly tense, swallowing nervously again and again.

Though he had some confidence, he could not be sure of himself.

The gauntlets floated in the air.

The Immortal Sword suddenly let out a ’clang’!

Swoosh!

The five-colored Immortal Sword spun and slashed down from above, its tip pointing straight down like a thunderbolt.

Xu Yang only caught the flash of immortal light out of the corner of his eye before a deafening roar exploded in his ears.

Boom!

The gauntlets shuddered, the intricate spirit patterns nearly splitting apart, and were knocked to the ground by the sword’s blow.

But they did not break.

"Passed!"

At the youth’s words, Shi Hu let out a sigh of relief, carefully picking up his gauntlets and stepping back.

"Luckily, the first test’s impact is only at initial Divine Firmament level. No big problem!" Shi Hu winked at Xu Yang and Xue Ming as he spoke.

Xu Yang and Xue Ming both relaxed at once.

Although Xue Ming’s cultivation was higher, the assault wouldn’t be that much more overwhelming.

Immediately, Xue Ming stepped forward.

His ancient spiritual artifact was a blood-red feathered sword!

Strictly speaking, it was more like a pair of wings formed by countless refined feathers!

Crimson and monstrous, blood aura surging to the heavens!

At its very appearance, the White Jade Plaza seemed to lose much of its sacredness.