Chapter 13 True Meaning of the Sword Dao, Adrian Mercer’s Transformation!

Chapter 13: Chapter 13: True Meaning of the Sword Dao, Adrian Mercer’s Transformation!

After the initial excitement faded, Julian Mercer turned his attention to the mysterious reward obtained from completing the Clan Mission.

Nuwa Visualization Chart!

The moment he summoned the reward, dazzling golden light suddenly filled his entire Sea of Consciousness.

The brilliance was so intense that Julian instinctively narrowed his eyes.

When the golden light finally faded, its true form appeared.

A woman stood proudly between heaven and earth.

She possessed a human upper body and a serpent-like lower body. Brilliant light flowed around her figure, blending naturally with the surrounding world.

She carried an ancient and sacred aura.

There was something profound about her presence that made the soul instinctively want to bow before her.

Julian stared at the figure.

The instant his gaze met hers, his consciousness seemed to sink into another world.

His mind became completely peaceful.

It felt warm and comforting, almost as though he had returned to the safety of a mother’s embrace.

At the same time, Julian could clearly sense his soul slowly being nourished.

A subtle but unmistakable strengthening spread through his Sea of Consciousness.

Dozens of breaths later, Julian finally broke free from that strange state.

He opened his eyes.

The fatigue that had accumulated throughout the day had completely disappeared.

His mind was exceptionally clear.

Even his soul felt more vibrant than before.

A trace of delight appeared in Julian’s eyes.

He had not expected the mysterious reward from achieving a perfect score to be such an extraordinary visualization chart.

A treasure capable of directly nourishing and strengthening the soul.

One had to understand that soul-related cultivation was incredibly difficult.

Apart from certain rare Heavenly Treasures, ordinary cultivators had almost no way to actively strengthen their soul before reaching a sufficiently high realm.

Normally, only powerful cultivators who had reached the Primordial Spirit level could truly touch the deeper mysteries of the soul.

Yet Julian was already beginning to cultivate his soul while still in the Purple Mansion Realm.

That advantage was enormous.

And there was another benefit.

As his soul became stronger, his memory, perception, and Divine Sense would naturally become stronger as well.

More importantly, continuously nourishing his soul beforehand could lay a stronger foundation for his future breakthrough into the Primordial Spirit realm.

When that time came, his chances of successfully forming a Primordial Spirit would undoubtedly be greater.

Julian’s eyes flickered slightly.

This Nuwa Visualization Chart was far more valuable than it appeared on the surface.

After calming his thoughts, Julian turned his attention toward his next reward.

The Wordless Sword Post.

With a thought, a sword post roughly one meter long appeared inside the room.

The instant it appeared, an incomparably sharp Sword Qi erupted.

The surrounding air seemed to tremble.

Julian’s expression changed slightly.

He immediately stabilized his mind and restrained his own Spiritual Power, preventing the sudden burst of Sword Qi from disturbing his consciousness.

Only after the commotion subsided did he carefully examine the sword post.

Just as its name suggested, there were no words written upon its surface.

It was completely blank.

However, there was one thing that immediately caught Julian’s attention.

A sword scar.

A single sword scar had cut across the otherwise empty surface.

Julian stared at it.

The longer he looked, the more astonishing Sword Intent he could sense from that seemingly ordinary mark.

It was as though the sword scar itself contained an entire world of Sword Dao.

If an ordinary Heavenly Origin cultivator were to look directly at it, their mind might be injured by the Sword Intent contained within.

Someone below the Heavenly Origin Realm might suffer severe mental trauma from merely looking at it for too long.

The Sword Qi contained within the sword post was simply too sharp.

Julian’s expression gradually became serious.

He continued staring.

Ten breaths passed.

Then twenty.

Gradually, something began to change.

The scene before his eyes blurred.

The blank sword post disappeared.

In its place was an enormous sea of swords.

Boundless Sword Qi filled his vision.

Countless sword shadows rose and fell like waves, each carrying a different Sword Intent.

Julian’s consciousness was completely immersed within it.

His predecessor had spent years studying the sword.

Because of that foundation, Julian’s understanding of Sword Dao had already surpassed most cultivators of the same generation.

He could even contend with experienced Sword Dao cultivators who had spent decades refining their skills.

Yet standing before this sword scar, Julian still felt an overwhelming sense of insignificance.

The gap was simply too large.

"What level of Sword Dao did the person who left this scar reach?"

Julian could not determine the answer.

But instead of feeling discouraged, his heart burned with excitement.

For years, his Sword Dao cultivation had remained stuck at the Sword Origin Realm.

He had reached a bottleneck.

Perhaps this sword post was precisely the opportunity he needed.

If he could comprehend even a portion of the Sword Intent contained within this scar, perhaps he could break through the Sword Origin Realm and touch the mysterious realm known as the True Meaning of the Sword Dao.

Julian’s eyes became increasingly focused.

He was just about to immerse himself deeper into the sword post when the System’s voice suddenly rang out.

[Ding~ The Rourke Family has been destroyed. The immediate Clan crisis has been resolved. The Clan Development Task has been triggered.]

[Clan Development Task: Develop the Clan over the next twenty-four days and receive a comprehensive evaluation based on the Clan’s overall performance. The higher the evaluation, the more generous the reward.]

[Note: Achieving a perfect score will grant an additional mysterious reward.]

Julian’s attention shifted from the sword post.

He read the System’s notification carefully.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"This task came at the right time."

He had certainly not forgotten what had happened while he was in seclusion.

The Rourke Family had not been the only force taking advantage of the Mercer Family.

The Bellamy Family and Kessler Family had also participated in the division of Mercer territory.

They had seized mineral veins and fields that belonged to the Mercer Family and interfered with its businesses.

Now that the Rourke Family had been destroyed, it was time to settle those accounts.

The Four Great Families?

Julian’s eyes became cold.

That title would soon become meaningless.

From now on, Wexford City only needed one great Clan.

The Mercer Family.

As Julian silently made his decision, the night was becoming increasingly quiet.

But across Wexford City, many people were having a very different night.

After news of the Rourke Family’s destruction spread, the remaining two great families were terrified.

The Bellamy Family and Kessler Family both feared that the Mercer Family would settle old accounts with them next.

At the same time, neither family was willing to surrender the wealth and resources they had accumulated over the years.

They immediately began preparing gifts and drafting plans to formally apologize to the Mercer Family.

That night, many members of the two families tossed and turned in their beds.

Sleep simply would not come.

The balance of power in Wexford City had changed.

And everyone could feel it.

Deep into the night, when the entire Mercer residence had fallen silent, Adrian Mercer finally finished his cultivation for the day.

His body was exhausted.

He returned to his room, collapsed onto the bed, and soon felt a heavy wave of sleepiness wash over him.

His eyelids slowly closed.

Before long, he entered a deep sleep.

Then something unusual happened.

A faint orange-red glow quietly emerged from Adrian’s chest.

At first, it was barely noticeable.

Then it became brighter.

Brighter.

Until the entire room was illuminated by a warm orange-red radiance.

At the same time, tiny flames began emerging from Adrian’s pores.

They gathered around his body and gradually formed numerous miniature vortices.

Those vortices began absorbing the Spiritual Qi in the surrounding environment at an astonishing speed.

The Spiritual Qi rushed toward Adrian.

It entered his body through every pore and flowed through his limbs and bones.

The enormous amount of Spiritual Qi continuously nourished his damaged body.

More importantly, it began repairing the injuries that had once made cultivation impossible.

The process continued throughout the night.

By the time morning arrived, everything had changed.

Adrian’s eyelashes trembled.

His eyes slowly opened.

He was still somewhat drowsy.

But the moment he sensed the enormous changes within his body, all traces of sleepiness vanished.

Adrian’s eyes widened.

"What... is this?"

He immediately sat up.

Then he jumped from the bed and stood there in disbelief.

He carefully examined his body.

The result left him completely stunned.

The fatal flaw that had prevented him from absorbing and storing Spiritual Qi after his Dantian had been shattered...

Was gone.

Completely gone.

"I..."

Adrian’s voice trembled.

"I can absorb Spiritual Qi again?"

He lowered his head.

His hands were trembling uncontrollably.

For years, he had been unable to cultivate.

For years, he had been called useless.

He had once been a promising Inner Disciple of the Aldercrest Order.

Then his Dantian had been destroyed.

Everything he had worked for had collapsed overnight.

And now...

He could cultivate again.

The happiness came so suddenly that Adrian almost wondered whether he was still dreaming.

He stretched out his hand.

Then suddenly pinched his own cheek as hard as he could.

"Hiss!"

Pain immediately spread across his face.

Adrian froze.

He slowly touched his cheek.

"It hurts..."

A smile gradually appeared on his face.

"This isn’t a dream."

His breathing became heavier.

"I can really cultivate again."

For several moments, Adrian simply stood there, overwhelmed by the realization.

Then he quickly calmed himself.

If his Dantian had truly recovered, there had to be a reason.

He immediately began carefully examining his body.

A short while later, Adrian discovered something strange.

His Dantian had indeed recovered.

But that was not all.

The size of his Dantian had actually expanded several times compared with before.

And in one corner of his Dantian...

There was a flame.

An orange-red flame quietly floated there.

Adrian stared at it.

His brows slowly furrowed.

"Why is there a flame inside my body?"

He carefully sensed it.

The strange flame gave him an inexplicable feeling of familiarity.

"I’ve seen this before..."

Adrian tried to recall where that feeling came from.

His thoughts went back several days.

The day he had been expelled from the Aldercrest Order.

He had been walking alone on his journey back to the Mercer Family.

That night, while he was wandering through the wilderness, he had witnessed a strange scene.

A cluster of flames had descended from the heavens.

Before he could react, the flames had entered his body.

At the time, Adrian had been terrified.

But after checking himself, he had found nothing unusual.

He had eventually assumed that the strange event had simply been some inexplicable phenomenon.

Now, looking at the flame inside his Dantian, everything suddenly became clear.

Adrian’s pupils contracted.

"Could it be..."

He stared at the orange-red flame.

"This is the flame from that night?"

His breathing became faster.

"So you’ve been inside me all this time?"

The flame flickered quietly.

Adrian’s expression gradually changed.

He finally understood.

His shattered Dantian had not recovered by chance.

The mysterious flame had been silently hiding within his body all this time.

And now, for some unknown reason, it had finally awakened.

Adrian clenched his fists.

His eyes burned with determination.

The path he thought had been cut off forever...

Had opened once again.