Watch out! Something's wrong with this guard.

"What are the conditions?" Lu Yunshi asked hurriedly.

"Your swordsmanship must be approved by me," Shangguan Yue said.

Lu Yunshi remained silent for a while after hearing this, then slowly nodded. "Then thank you very much for your gift, Sister Shangguan."

"Haha, looks very confident. Well, I'll wait and see. Now let me see your current skills." With that, Shangguan Yue stepped aside, waiting for Lu Yunshi to begin swinging his sword.

Lu Yunshi sighed inwardly, stood still for a moment, and then swung his sword in an instant, the blade cutting through the air with agility and grace.

Each swing of the sword carried an extraordinary and fierce aura, and the blade seemed to resonate with the cold ice and snow, like a black dragon surging.

When he looked at Lu Yun again, his eyes were sharp and cold, his gaze constantly following the movement of the sword.

"Don't just swing the sword according to your own will. You must coordinate with the sword and also pay attention to the coldness of the world." Watching Lu Yunshi's smooth sword swing, Shangguan Yue's eyes widened slightly, feeling somewhat surprised.

In terms of 'form', Lu Yunshi can be said to have already surpassed the beginner level, but it seems that only three months have passed since she taught Lu Yunshi this sword technique.

Suddenly, Shangguan Yue's voice came from the side. Upon hearing this, Lu Yunshi's movements suddenly stopped, but the next second, Lu Yunshi's movements became even faster. His body kept flashing, as if he had also turned into a sword.

However, as he swung his sword, the heavy snowflakes falling from the sky began to settle on the blade, and the biting cold seemed to be perfectly absorbed by the sword, turning into a bone-chilling icy essence.

This time, Lu Yunshi made no attempt to hide anything. Although it was a sword technique that he couldn't fully utilize, it was undeniably powerful.

Therefore, Lu Yunshi needs to reveal all that he has learned in order to receive guidance from Shangguan Yue.

Unbeknownst to him, the snow around Lu Yunshi began to sway with his movements, and the icy aura grew thicker and stronger.

Lu Yunshi could even feel the joy that the long sword in his hand conveyed to him.

Even this sword suits him perfectly.

Looking at Lu Yunshi at this moment, Shangguan Yue couldn't help but whisper.

It is only natural that people would choose swords, but swords will also choose people.

Undoubtedly, this sword acknowledged Lu Yunshi's abilities as its master and was willing to exert its power to help him. This is how the sword and the man complement each other.

Suddenly, Shangguan Yue's gaze sharpened as she noticed that Lu Yunshi's movements began to falter. Without hesitation, she stepped forward and interrupted Lu Yunshi, who was engrossed in wielding his sword.

Lu Yunshi was gently slapped to the ground by Shangguan Yue, and the snow that had been flowing around him because of his movement also fell at the same time.

Lu Yunshi, who was interrupted, did not complain at all; on the contrary, he breathed a sigh of relief.

After catching his breath, Lu Yunshi looked up at Shangguan Yue and asked, with a seeking mindset.

"Hmph, I don't know why, even though I felt I could continue and knew what to do, the more I did it, the more difficult it became to move. It was as if the cold air was harming me. In the end, even though I wanted to break free, I couldn't do it at all."

Lu Yunshi had a bad feeling that if his condition continued, he would eventually give up.

Upon hearing the question, Shangguan Yue pulled Lu Yunshi up from the snow and put a pill into his mouth, then helped him refine it.

Soon, Lu Yunshi felt a warm sensation flowing into his body, and the chill that had lingered within him seemed to dissipate, and his complexion became rosy.

"Don't worry, it's not because you're practicing poorly, on the contrary, it's because you're practicing so well, which is a good thing," Shangguan Yue said to Lu Yunshi in a comforting tone.

"Can something go wrong if you practice too well?" Lu Yunshi looked at the other person in confusion.

"Of course not, it's just that your body can't handle it yet." Shangguan Yue thought for a moment and then explained to him. "Although this sword technique is only in form without the help of spiritual energy, and can only exert one-thousandth of its power, if you can comprehend a little bit of the meaning of ice and combine it with it, even without spiritual energy, you can use the cold energy guided by 'intention' to increase the damage."

"However, you were just at the edge of comprehending the coldness. Normally, at first, the coldness between heaven and earth would be attracted by your 'intention'. But after reaching a higher level, you would passively absorb the coldness that you attracted. Finally, you would actively absorb the coldness, evolve the coldness, and then integrate the coldness into your 'intention' and unleash it with the sword as the medium."

"And you were just in the second stage, or even close to entering the third stage..."

“But my body can’t withstand the damage caused by these two stages. To put it simply, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, right?” Lu Yunshi said, having already understood what the other party meant.

Shangguan Yue nodded. "That's right. Although I said before that it would be best if you could grasp some of the 'meaning,' I didn't expect you to actually do it. Your comprehension seems to be even better than I imagined, which is a good thing."

"It's a pity that I interrupted you this time, but everything in excess is bad. You've gained experience today, and you'll be much faster in the future."

After she finished speaking, Shangguan Yue saw that Lu Yunshi looked deep in thought, so she asked him a question.

"Is there anything else you don't understand?"

“Yes.” Lu Yunshi nodded and said, “Since the damage is mainly based on cold energy, is the cold energy generated by the comprehension of ‘intention’ different from the cold energy I generate with spiritual energy? Is the former stronger?”

"Well...theoretically speaking, no."

As Shangguan Yue spoke, she took the sword from Lu Yun's hand and swung it twice rapidly, creating two sword marks on the ground almost simultaneously.

"These are two sword strikes I unleashed, using exactly the same amount of cold energy. Do you think the former is more powerful?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Yunshi stepped forward to take a look, then shook his head, unable to see anything different.

"In terms of the damage caused, the two are almost equal, and neither is ridiculously stronger, but the strength of 'intention' is not measured by the amount of damage caused."

"What is that?" Lu Yunshi asked.

Shangguan Yue smiled gently, her gaze deep, as if she were reminiscing about something.

"Human beings have their limits. Even though we cultivators are constantly breaking through those limits, there are still limits after you break through them. But your will... well... it's very mysterious. In the words of you young people these days, it's rather idealistic."

"The 'intention' you comprehend will coexist with heaven and earth. When you use 'intention' to exert your power, heaven and earth will become your helpers. And heaven and earth are so vast. When your 'intention' is equal to heaven, as long as 'intention' is extinguished, power will never cease."

"In other words, the lower limits of the two are similar, but the upper limits are vastly different. If you comprehend the 'intention' to a profound degree, it can allow you to unleash power beyond your limits in battle without harming yourself."

After saying that, Shangguan Yue seemed to have thought of something and asked, "I heard that the assessment for elementary students is about to begin again. You should be coming up this time, right?"

Lu Yunshi, who was deep in thought, snapped out of it and nodded quickly.

"That's right, it's time to come up. I'm currently preparing for a breakthrough."

"Do you need any help?" Shangguan Yue asked.

"No need, Sister Shangguan has already helped me a lot." Lu Yunshi shook his head, declining the other party's kindness.

"Really? It's very difficult for Ziyun Root to be fully digested with the ability of a mid-stage Body Tempering cultivator. If you take it slowly, you probably won't make it to the assessment. Are you sure you don't need any help?" Shangguan Yue stared at Lu Yunshi with a half-smile, making his eyebrows twitch.

How could Shangguan Yue possibly know that I possess the Purple Cloud Root?

"Don't misunderstand. As an alchemist, I'm very sensitive to the smell of medicine. You should change your clothes." Shangguan Yue waved her hand, giving a casual explanation, and then added.

"If you want to break through, go back and prepare. In a few days, I'll take you somewhere where you can apply this sword technique in battle, train your sense of smell for spiritual herbs, and help you break through. I can help you refine pills for this breakthrough, but you'll have to gather the herbs yourself."

After a pause, Shangguan Yue continued, "Yun Shi, the Emperor Ice Sword Technique has chosen you; you cannot let it down."