Moonlight spilled over the ruins, the air thick with the stench of blood among the shattered walls.

The caravan guards silently tended to their wounds, cleaned up the aftermath, collected the bodies of their comrades, and took inventory of the damaged goods. The atmosphere was solemn.

Fang Han stood before the collapsed inn, his Cloud Splitting Sword sheathed, his green robes swaying gently in the night wind.

His gaze swept across the devastated inn, finally settling on Lan Yuexin.

She was speaking softly with Chen Qiong, making arrangements.

Though her face was pale and her hair slightly disheveled, her gaze remained steady. She issued commands with a calm certainty, revealing a remarkable resilience.

"Miss Yuexin."

Fang Han stepped forward, his voice even.

"We shouldn’t linger. The attackers have retreated, but there’s no guarantee they won’t return."

"You’re right, Young Master Fang Han. We owe our survival to you. Without your help, I fear neither I nor the caravan would have escaped. Words are not enough to express my gratitude. Please, allow me to offer you a bow."

Lan Yuexin turned, her bright eyes filled with both lingering fear and sincere gratitude.

’Thank goodness I forged this connection with him back in Jinhuang City,’ she thought. ’Otherwise, I fear I would have been doomed tonight.’

With that, she prepared to bow.

"There’s no need for such ceremony. Since I came across this situation, I couldn’t simply stand by and watch. If you don’t mind, Miss Yuexin, I can escort you all the way to Jinhuang City."

Fang Han gestured for her to stop.

’If I don’t escort her, she’ll have a hard time making it back to Jinhuang City alive.’

’In for a penny, in for a pound. Since I’ve already intervened, I might as well see it through and ensure her safety.’

’Otherwise, my earlier efforts would have been for nothing.’

"You’re willing to escort us, Young Master Fang Han? I couldn’t ask for more! But... won’t this delay your own travels?"

A flicker of surprise and relief flashed in Lan Yuexin’s eyes.

"It’s no trouble. I have no particular destination at the moment."

Fang Han said calmly.

’The matter with Gong Xing and the Gong Family is settled,’ he thought. ’I don’t have anything urgent to attend to, so I might as well escort Lan Yuexin back to Jinhuang City. This way, both she and the Hundred Treasures Pavilion will owe me a favor.’

’And the Hundred Treasures Pavilion will surely be more diligent in their search for the Howling Moon Spirit Deer Antlers.’

After compensating the inn’s Shopkeeper with a hefty sum, the caravan abandoned its most heavily damaged wagons, consolidated the important cargo, and set off once more under the protection of the surviving guards.

With a Celestial Pride True Inheritor like Fang Han traveling with them, the group’s atmosphere visibly relaxed. The guards now looked at him with a mixture of awe and gratitude.

The rest of the journey was surprisingly peaceful.

Perhaps the attackers had suffered heavy losses, or perhaps Fang Han’s presence served as a deterrent. In any case, they encountered no further trouble before the towering silhouette of Jinhuang City’s walls appeared on the horizon.

The convoy passed through the city gates without incident and returned to the Jinhuang City branch of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

"Young Master Fang Han, thank you for your hard work on the road. Without you, this journey would never have been so smooth. Please, you must allow me to play the part of a proper host and hold a banquet in your honor to express my gratitude."

The carriage came to a stop in the rear courtyard of the branch office. Lan Yuexin disembarked gracefully and turned to Fang Han, a faint smile of relief on her face.

"Well..."

Fang Han hesitated.

’The bottleneck for the *Nine Swords of Sky Splitting* is within reach,’ he mused. ’A breakthrough could happen any day now. I need a quiet, undisturbed place to focus on my insights.’

’Being in Jinhuang City under the care of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion is obviously better than being out in the wilderness or in some noisy inn.’

He nodded in agreement.

"In that case, I’ll have to impose on you, Miss Yuexin. I’ve recently had some insights regarding my Swordsmanship and need a quiet place for my Cultivation."

"You’re too kind, Young Master. We have a private courtyard in the back garden of the Pavilion. It’s serene and peaceful, completely undisturbed. It’s the perfect place for quiet cultivation. I’ll have it arranged immediately."

Lan Yuexin smiled radiantly.

She gave the order, and soon a Maid was leading Fang Han to an exquisite courtyard behind the branch office.

The courtyard was immense and exquisitely designed, with rockeries, flowing water, and swaying bamboo shadows. It featured a main hall and several side rooms with elegant furnishings—truly an ideal place for secluded cultivation.

After settling in, Fang Han rarely stepped outside.

Aside from his daily routine of cultivating his Inner Qi and Body Technique, he devoted the majority of his time to practicing the *Nine Swords of Sky Splitting*.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Within the courtyard, the glint of his sword at times flowed like a gentle breeze, intricate and seamless, and at others, it struck like a sudden clap of thunder, incomparably sharp.

He was completely immersed in the Transformations of his Sword Techniques, experiencing the formless nature of the "wind" and the ultimate sharpness of "Sky Splitting," trying to grasp that profound, elusive moment of insight.

However, breaking through in a top-level Martial Art was far more difficult than he had anticipated.

The difficulty spiked dramatically when trying to break through from Mastery to Great Success, far more so than his previous breakthrough from Minor Achievement to Mastery.

He had originally thought that with the amplification from his 128-fold Swordsmanship Talent, further enhanced by the Sword-shaped Grass, breaking through to the Great Success Realm would be a natural process, taking three to five days at most.

But as he actually practiced, Fang Han truly understood just how profound the barrier was.

Every time he felt he was on the verge of touching that barrier, ready to shatter it in one go, he sensed he was missing some crucial final element.

His ability to channel and condense "Momentum" seemed to be separated by a thin veil; he could see it, but he couldn’t grasp its true essence.

As he executed his Sword Techniques, he remained just shy of that qualitative leap.

Time slipped by. Sunrises and sunsets came and went, and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

「On the afternoon of the tenth day.」

In the courtyard, Fang Han stood with his sword in hand. He didn’t immediately begin practicing his Sword Techniques. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused, allowing his Divine Sense to perceive the most subtle changes in the surrounding air currents.

The wind carried the fresh scent of bamboo leaves, the faint din of the distant marketplace, and, above all, the omnipresent freedom and rhythm that belonged to the "wind" itself.

Suddenly, he felt a stirring in his heart as a profound, almost mystical, realization dawned on him.

Like a bolt of lightning streaking through darkness, it instantly illuminated the path forward.

’Sky Splitting isn’t just about ultimate focus and penetration, nor is it about blindly pursuing raw, overbearing power. Within that fierceness, there must also be a measure of gentleness.’

’A light breeze can slip through any crack. Sometimes, gentleness can be more effective than brute force.’

It was as if a clap of thunder exploded in his mind.

At this thought, everything became clear to Fang Han.

He slowly opened his eyes, a brilliant light gleaming within their depths. He thrust the Flowing Cloud Sword forward in a seemingly casual motion.

FWOOSH—

This thrust made none of the whistling sounds of his previous practice; instead, it was unnervingly silent.

But where the sword’s tip pointed, the air seemed to part before an invisible force.

A clearly visible, transparent ripple emanated outwards, spreading like a wave on water.

At the edge of the ripple, light itself seemed to distort, radiating a heart-stopping sharpness, as if space itself were about to be torn asunder by the blow.

’*Nine Swords of Sky Splitting*, Great Success!’

Fang Han withdrew his sword and stood tall, savoring the unprecedentedly intimate connection he now felt with the world’s Wind Momentum.

The "Wind Momentum" he could now command was different from when he had broken through from Minor Achievement to Mastery.

It hadn’t just increased by ten percent, but a full twenty percent—soaring from fifty percent to seventy percent!

The increase in power far surpassed the jump from Minor Achievement to Mastery. It wasn’t a mere several-fold enhancement, but a terrifying leap of more than tenfold.

’If I were to face that masked man again,’ he thought, ’I’m confident I could cut him down, even while holding back some of my true strength.’

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

The crisp sound of applause came from behind him.

Fang Han turned to see Lan Yuexin standing at the courtyard gate. He hadn’t noticed her arrival.

She wore a water-blue gown, a smile on her face, and her eyes shone with undisguised amazement and admiration.

"Young Master Fang Han, congratulations on your great advancement in Swordsmanship."

Lan Yuexin approached slowly, her voice gentle.

"Although my own Cultivation is shallow, my work as a merchant has allowed me to witness many of the prodigies from the Celestial Pride List in action."

"With your current strength, Young Master, I daresay you’ve already far surpassed your ranking on the list."

This was no mere flattery.

The Hundred Treasures Pavilion had an extensive intelligence network, so she had a general idea of the strength of the top geniuses on the Celestial Pride List.

The phenomenon triggered by Fang Han’s last strike, along with that feeling that it could slice through the very void, convinced her that the strength of this Qingxuan Sect True Inheritor had already surpassed his rank.

His rate of growth was simply unheard of.

’My judgment was correct,’ she thought. ’The goodwill I built with him in Jinhuang City and my subsequent investments were the right move.’

"You flatter me, Miss Yuexin. I was merely fortunate enough to have a moment of insight."

Fang Han replied calmly.

He had sensed her arrival long ago but had been at the critical juncture of his breakthrough and couldn’t spare the attention to greet her.

As the two were exchanging pleasantries, a clear, high-pitched cry of an eagle suddenly echoed from the sky.

Fang Han looked up to see a magnificent, gray-feathered Mail Eagle circling above the courtyard.

From its talons and beak, he recognized it as one of the Mail Eagles the Qingxuan Sect used exclusively for urgent communications.

Fang Han’s expression changed.

’For the Sect to use a Mail Eagle instead of a standard courier means something urgent must have happened.’

SKREEE—

Not daring to delay, he immediately took a small eagle whistle from his robes and blew into it.

The whistle’s call was unique. The Mail Eagle in the air pinpointed the source, tucked in its wings, and dove like an arrow to land precisely on Fang Han’s outstretched left arm.

Fang Han deftly untied the small bamboo tube attached to the eagle’s leg, pulled out the rolled paper inside, and quickly unfolded it.

As his eyes scanned the writing on the paper, Fang Han’s expression, which had relaxed slightly after his breakthrough, instantly turned grave. His brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.