My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 533: Getting One Step Closer

A few moments later, Yuan completed his enlightenment and slowly emerged from his daze, opening his eyes.

«Your understanding of the sword has increased significantly.»

"Still nothing… I can't see anything unusual about the stone tablet." Yuan felt disappointed once again. Even after experiencing enlightenment, he wasn't able to discern anything extraordinary.

Yuan then spent a few more hours staring at the stone tablet, hoping to enter another state of enlightenment that might allow him to see something he hadn't noticed before.

"Miss Fang Xiaoyan mentioned that this stone tablet and the area around it were filled with Sword Aura. Now that I've experienced enlightenment and my understanding of the sword has slightly increased, I should be able to sense the Sword Aura."

With this thought, Yuan closed his eyes again and took a deep breath before activating his Divine Sense, covering the entire area with it. He could see every single detail of the surroundings—even the tiny hairs on an ant's body.

Yet, he still could not see the Sword Aura. While he couldn't 'see' it, he sensed an unfamiliar aura around the training ground. It was the same feeling as before, but more concentrated and denser. It seemed the enlightenment process had indeed opened a new path for him and sharpened his senses.

"Is this the Sword Aura I'm sensing? I can feel it, but I can't see it… How profound! No wonder it takes thousands of years to become a true sword master… It all makes sense now," Yuan mumbled, deep in thought.

He continued to sense the Sword Aura around the area, trying to understand its principles as long as he could keep his Divine Sense active. Every moment mattered, and he was determined not to waste a single second. Yuan was resolved to understand the Sword Aura and become a true sword master himself.

When he could no longer use his Divine Sense due to exhaustion, he immediately began cultivating to restore his spiritual energy. He repeated this process multiple times; each time he exhausted his energy, he would cultivate to recover.

As soon as his spiritual energy was restored, Yuan would use his Divine Sense to inspect the Sword Aura around the area. The more he examined this invisible but palpable aura, the more he felt he understood it—or at least he hoped so.

Time passed, from sunrise to sunset and back to sunrise again. Yuan studied the Sword Aura with fascination, feeling as if he were beginning to understand it, almost like he had fallen in love with its mystery.

To him, the Sword Aura was like an untouchable beauty—the more he observed it, the more he wanted to understand and grasp it. In other words, he was mesmerized by its very existence.

—

"Sister Mireya, you just need to concentrate on stabilizing yourself on the flying sword first. Once you've done that, then you can try to move forward," Xi Meili advised Mireya, who was learning how to fly using a flying sword.

However, Mireya kept losing her balance and falling off the sword. She had already fallen numerous times, and her buttocks were starting to feel sore from repeatedly hitting the ground so hard. Despite this, she was still determined not to give up.

She continued to try her best, failing multiple times as she struggled to balance herself on the sword. Nearly an hour later, she finally succeeded. Mireya stood atop the flying sword with a triumphant look on her face.

"I-I finally… did it! I finally managed to balance on the sword!"

Mireya began to celebrate her achievement. Seeing this, Anna and Grace chuckled softly. They found her current antics both childish and amusing, but also endearing.

Unfortunately, Mireya's moment of happiness didn't last long. As she continued to celebrate, she suddenly lost her balance again and landed hard on the ground.

"Ouch! I failed again! It's so hard to keep my balance on this flying sword! This is much harder than I thought it would be…" Mireya grumbled, frustrated by her repeated failures.

"Don't worry, Mireya, you did really well. You managed to stay balanced on the sword for a long time. If you don't give up, you'll be able to fly freely into the sky in just a few more hours," Anna said with a soft smile, encouraging Mireya to keep trying no matter what.

Once Mireya learned how to fly on a sword, it would be much easier for them to search for the others. It would save them a great deal of time and keep them safe from being ambushed by beasts in the forest.

After hours of practice, Mireya finally succeeded. Not only did she maintain her balance on the sword for a long time without losing control, but she was now also able to move forward with ease.

"I-I did it! I finally managed to fly without falling off the sword! This is incredible!" Mireya exclaimed with excitement, circling the area while riding her flying sword.

"Congratulations, Mireya! Now you can fly freely in the sky, like a bird!" Anna shouted with a smile, feeling genuinely happy for her daughter-in-law.

"Thanks, Mother-in-law! Flying feels amazing, it's so much fun!" Mireya replied from the sky, her face lit up with a huge grin as she enjoyed herself to the fullest.

"You should get more familiar with flying on the sword. Once you're comfortable, we'll go and find the others," Anna advised.

"I understand. Don't worry, I'll be an expert in no time."

Mireya then spent the next few hours honing her skills, performing various maneuvers and dodging trees as she sped through the forest at incredible speeds.

Moments later, Anna, Grace, and Mireya took to the sky on their flying swords, while Xi Meili followed without using one. As a Spirit Grandmaster, she could freely manifest her Qi outside her body, allowing her to fly and surround herself with her Qi.

"What?! Xi Meili, you can fly without a sword?! That's incredible!" Mireya exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Once you reach a certain stage in cultivation, you can manifest your Qi outside your body, allowing you to do many things, including flying without a sword," Xi Meili explained with a proud smile.

"I see… Then I can fly without using a sword once I reach the Spirit Grandmaster realm. I'm looking forward to that day!"

"That goes for us too, you know," Anna added with a smile.

With renewed determination, the group flew toward the western part of the secret realm, hoping to find Yuan and the others.

Meanwhile, Lily found herself surrounded by a large number of monsters. Most of them had the cultivation level of a fifth-level Spirit Warrior, with the strongest among them reaching the peak level of a Spirit Warrior.

"This will be quite fun…" Lily murmured with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

She tightened her grip on her sword as the eyes of the monsters glowed with a fierce killing intent. They charged at her with their jaws wide open, ready to tear her apart.

"Come at me, you bunch of weaklings! I'll slaughter you all!" Lily roared, unleashing her cultivation energy as she dashed forward to meet the incoming beasts.

"Frozen Moon Blade…" Lily whispered as she charged toward the monsters.

Her sword was immediately enveloped in a chilling aura, causing the grass beneath her to freeze. With a sudden burst of speed, her figure vanished, only to reappear right next to the monsters.

The sudden shift startled the monsters, creating an opening for Lily. Without wasting a moment, she began to cut them down one after another. With each swing of her sword, one or two monsters would fall.

Even the slightest touch of her blade caused the monsters' bodies to freeze solid, turning them into ice statues. Moments later, they would shatter into dust particles, leaving no trace of blood behind.

"Oh, some of them left monster cores behind, but only five? Is this some kind of joke?" Lily muttered, quickly picking up the sparkling, crystal-like stones from the ground, surprised by how few there were.

Lily had slain over fifty monsters, yet only five monster cores had been dropped. "One core for every ten kills… that's just too low," she muttered, clearly frustrated by the meager reward.

"There's no point in getting angry about it now," she sighed, flicking her sword with expert precision to clean every drop of blood from its blade. "I should find my two mothers, my brother, and my sisters as soon as possible."

Without further delay, Lily tossed her sword into the air, jumped onto it, and began to soar above the forest. She extended her Divine Sense, searching for Yuan and the others.

"Lily! We're here! This way!"

As she flew, she suddenly heard Emma's familiar voice from below. Glancing down, she saw Emma standing beside Valeria. Lily quickly descended and hugged Emma tightly, expressing her joy at their reunion.

A couple of minutes later, Valeria looked at Lily and asked, "Did you notice anything from above? Have you figured out where Yuan and the others could be?"

"No, not yet. I've been searching for hours, but I haven't found any clues. I think they're also looking for us right now," Lily responded, shaking her head slightly. She then added, "By the way, congratulations on becoming a Spirit Master, Valeria."

"Thank you. Actually, I got lucky—my cultivation speed skyrocketed after arriving here," Valeria replied humbly, smiling.

After chatting for a while, Lily said, "Let's keep searching. We can't waste time here… I'm worried about everyone."

"I'm worried too, especially about Yuan… I wonder where he is," Emma murmured, her voice tinged with concern.

Shortly after, Lily guided Valeria onto her flying sword, standing behind her to control it, while Emma followed closely behind on her own sword.

A couple of hours later, they spotted Rose and Leah in the distance, locked in combat with a group of beasts—Horned Bulls. The beasts, seventeen in total, had surrounded them from all directions.

Before Emma, Lily, and Valeria could reach them, Rose wielded her golden spear with a swift, powerful motion, killing all the beasts in an instant. Leah stood dumbfounded, watching the scene unfold.

"Sister Emma, Lily, Valeria! Over here!" Rose shouted excitedly when she noticed them approaching.