Just as Xu Yunfan was idly preparing to ponder the Triple Jiao Sword Qi again, a heavy gasp came from Pei Yan beside him.

Xu Yunfan turned his head to look and saw Pei Yan lying at the edge of the Earth Fire, panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.

Though the veins on his forehead and neck still throbbed, they were clearly much stronger than yesterday.

"How is it?"

Xu Yunfan asked.

The dark purple halo of the pulsating Earth Fire cast shifting light and shadows across half of Pei Yan’s face. He bent a finger to wipe away the dark green, venomous blood from the corner of his mouth, his fingertip plowing five scorched black marks into the rock wall.

The Jiao Poison’s patterns, which had originally clung to his Tiantu Acupoint, had now receded to his Danzhong. Beneath the ulcerated skin, faint golden threads of meridians could be seen slowly regenerating. Freed from the Jiao Poison’s corrosion, the Sword Pavilion’s secret Circulation Sword Bone technique was spontaneously circulating Strength to repair his injuries.

"Forty percent of it is gone."

Pei Yan replied after carefully assessing his internal condition.

Xu Yunfan flicked away the volcanic ash on his hammer’s handle. The Thunder Pattern inlay struck his fingernail, creating a spark that made him raise an eyebrow slightly.

Pei Yan’s expression was energized, and he spoke with a hint of joy, "Brother Xu, if I could take three more breaths of the Qi of Ginseng right now and use the Earth Fire to refine it, I might be able to completely cleanse the Jiao Poison from my body..."

"You think the Qi of Ginseng is some common street food?"

Xu Yunfan suddenly scoffed.

As Pei Yan forced himself to his feet, the joints of his spine made a clanging sound, like a Sword Box opening and closing. His plain robes, soaked with venomous blood, billowed without a breeze, and his eyes shone with a brilliant light.

"Brother Xu, do you know that the single breath of Qi of Ginseng I just took is worth as much as a Divine Weapon from the Sword Pavilion?"

The wrist of the hand Xu Yunfan used to hold his hammer dipped slightly, and the hammerhead pressed a spiderweb of scorched marks onto the ground.

He narrowed his eyes, watching Pei Yan, who was looking more vibrant by the second. Pei Yan even flicked a finger, and a gust of sword wind shot out from his fingertip.

A nearby stalactite hanging from the cavern wall suddenly exploded into dust.

Xu Yunfan was suddenly reminded of a few days ago, when Pei Yan had used "Sword Qi Circulating Through the Three Jiaos" against the Evil Flood Dragon. The sword wind sweeping across the rock wall then had also produced this same effect, grinding bone to powder.

"Brother Pei certainly knows how to make his calculations."

Xu Yunfan’s expression held a trace of a smile, his tone perfectly pleasant. "I wonder, Brother Pei, what are your plans now?"

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s posture—that of a hunter who wouldn’t release his falcon until he saw the rabbit—and his refusal to take the bait, Pei Yan sighed inwardly and completely suppressed the other schemes he had been entertaining.

Pei Yan said directly, "Brother Xu, I still need you to lend me a hand!"

Xu Yunfan raised an eyebrow. The tension in his eyes eased slightly, but he put on a troubled expression.

"Brother Pei, it’s not that I won’t help you. But in this Dharma Decline Era, the Qi of Ginseng is simply too precious. A single breath can cleanse the body and even alter one’s innate aptitude."

’This Qi of Ginseng is truly extraordinary.’

He had been absorbing the Qi of Ginseng for a long time. Although most of it was used to cultivate his Martial Arts, wisps of Spirit Marrow were still subtly and gradually altering his fundamental constitution.

Besides, even if Pei Yan wanted it, Xu Yunfan wouldn’t give it to him easily. His opponent’s strength was considerable; though not his equal, the Divine Armor he wore still made him a troublesome foe.

Furthermore, he only had leverage in this matter because Pei Yan was injured. Once his opponent fully recovered, the initiative to obtain the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique would no longer be in his hands.

"The Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique is divided into three scrolls, nine Chapters, and twenty-eight key principles."

After a long silence, Pei Yan finally spoke. "I can teach you the General Outline, but..."

"No problem. But I want the General Outline for all three scrolls and the incantations for the twenty-eight key principles. You can leave out the rest."

Xu Yunfan’s eyes shone with a brilliant light.

A dull roar echoed from the depths of the Earth Vein, and a pillar of Earth Fire suddenly surged thirty feet into the air, its flames licking high.

"Fine!"

Pei Yan considered it carefully. The Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique was exquisitely profound. Even if one knew the General Outline, without understanding the specific methods for tempering the meridians, the slightest deviation would lead to a disastrous error. A single misstep could cause one’s Qi Force to detonate within their internal organs, turning them into a pile of mush.

’Even if Xu Yunfan gets the General Outline, without the details, the most he can do is reach the entry level. Trying to cultivate it to the Great Perfection Realm would be nothing more than a fool’s dream.’

’Besides, whether he can even reach the stage of Refining the Internal Organs is another question entirely.’

Blood Exchange, Washing Marrow, and Refining the Internal Organs were known as the three great trials. Each was like a mountain to be climbed, and countless people were stuck at one of these passes for their entire lives, never advancing another inch.

Of all the renowned geniuses in the Mortal World, how many had ever managed to reach the other shore?

"The Empty Clarity has three scrolls. The first scroll, *Qi Chong Dou Niu*, governs the Metal of the lungs and its killing aspect."

Pei Yan spoke slowly, simultaneously rising and walking to the stone wall. His wrist bones shifted, his movements like the tip of a sword flicking away snow, and in an instant, a diagram of the internal organs and meridian circulation appeared on the rock face.

"You have already cultivated a thread of Sword Force using the Triple Jiao Sword Nurturing Technique, which can travel within your meridians. Now that the Heaven and Earth Primordial Spiritual Energy is reviving, when you practice the technique, you can guide Spiritual Qi into your Celestial Cover, travel in reverse along the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian for three circulations, and use your Danzhong as a whetstone to grind out a ’sword spine.’"

The route map tracing Pei Yan’s movements was reflected in Xu Yunfan’s pupils as his Attribute Panel suddenly erupted with a stream of azure light.

The twenty-eight intersecting blood-red patterns in his vision automatically disassembled and reassembled, transforming into three hundred and sixty shimmering points of light representing acupoints.

’You are comprehending *Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique, First Scroll*.’

Seeing the notification pop up in his vision, Xu Yunfan remained outwardly impassive. The Great Tendon behind his ear quivered like a zither string as he suppressed the excitement in his heart.

As he was explaining, Pei Yan deliberately skipped over the key principle of "Pleiades Inversion," which required vibrating the perineal acupoint. That single omission was enough to ensure that if an ordinary person were to practice it after reaching the entry level, their Sword Qi would go astray without specific instruction, and they would die from a ruptured anus.

"The second scroll is *Melting Gold and Tempering Fire*."

Pei Yan formed a sword-finger and pointed to the location of his spleen. His Sword Qi swelled within him, and the light of the Earth Fire illuminated the outline of his internal organs in perfect detail. "Use the Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming as a Melting Furnace. Every day at 7:00 AM, you must swallow three mace of Red Golden Sand and use the power of geomagnetism to temper the purity of your Sword Qi."

As time passed, the Jiao Poison slowly began to spread again. Pei Yan couldn’t help but cough up a mouthful of black blood, and his spine, like the ridge of a sword, emitted a groaning clang as if under an immense burden. "The third scroll, *Purple Mansion Thunder Listening*, is the most dangerous. When the Sword Qi enters the brain, you must..."

Four hours later, after Xu Yunfan had gone word by word through the General Outline’s key principles and questioned every doubt he had, a notification suddenly floated into his vision.

’You have learned the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique.’

In the Skill Bar on his Attribute Panel, the words "Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique (Uninitiated)" had appeared. At the same time, a vast amount of information regarding the cultivation principles of the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique suddenly flooded his mind.

A complete version of the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique.

’Just as I thought!’

Xu Yunfan was overjoyed. ’As long as I know the General Outline of the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique, the Attribute Panel can automatically complete the rest!’

Although he couldn’t cultivate it yet, the tempering methods within the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique were still worth studying. All he needed to do now was drive his Strength into his marrow, further condense his Powerful Qi, and step into the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm. Then, he could naturally put the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique on his agenda.

Pei Yan suddenly stopped speaking. Looking at the pensive Xu Yunfan, he said slowly, "I have finished explaining the General Outline for the three scrolls of the Empty Clarity Sword Washing Technique. All that remains are the specific methods for cultivating the joints. Brother Xu, the rest is up to you."

Xu Yunfan agreed immediately.

"Brother Pei, please forgive my impertinence."

(Please allow me to rest today; last month was exhausting. Thank you, everyone. I’ll work hard tomorrow! Thank you all for your support and recognition, I appreciate it!)