Chapter 61 eye rolls

But now things were different, her Heart Meridian was as vast as the sea and as expansive as the starry sky, which meant her potential had increased a hundred or even a thousandfold, ensuring that her future accomplishments would far exceed her previous life. She certainly knew that this change was entirely due to the meridian clearing and marrow washing performed by the Star Illusion Thousand Machine.

The only problem was that the capacity of her current Heart Meridian was too large, and with the current speed of Cultivation, even with the Cultivation Technique obtained from the Star Illusion Thousand Machine, the speed of Condensing Energy was still limited, describing the level upgrade as at a snail’s pace was not an exaggeration.

Indeed, blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, Mu Hanyan was starting to feel a headache coming on.

She had now guessed that she must be facing some crisis, which caused her parents to try every means to protect her, even willing to sacrifice their lives for her. She didn’t want the tragedy to repeat, but she also didn’t believe that the abilities of a Sixth-tier Swordsman were enough to protect herself—at least, the black-clothed assassin last time had been four ranks higher, and who knows if there were more formidable enemies lurking in the dark during this period.

"Energy Movement!" Just when Mu Hanyan was at her wits’ end, she noticed a flash of light on the Star Illusion Thousand Machine, and two words caught her eye.

Mu Hanyan quickly collected her Mental State and activated the Cultivation Technique.

A mysterious force surged from the Star Illusion Thousand Machine into her Heart Meridian, incredibly gentle yet enveloping everything. The scattered Heavenly Heart Energy in the sea of her Mental State, previously drifting apart, was guided by that force to one place, continuously condensing.

Do not underestimate these scattered Heavenly Heart Energies; many of them were the result of Mu Hanyan’s hard Cultivation over more than ten years, and their condensation was still substantial.

Mu Hanyan clearly felt her strength improving, Swordsman Sixth Rank Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, Peak...

With her strength increasing, in the center of her starry Heart Meridian, a star began to shine brighter, and a nearby star that was originally dim began to emit faint silvery light.

It was evident that once she advanced to a Seventh-Order Swordsman, this star would also light up completely.

The star flickered dimly, never fully brightening, and Mu Hanyan’s strength remained at the Peak of the Sixth-tier Swordsman, unable to advance to the Seventh Rank.

"Come on, give it a little more effort," Mu Hanyan said a bit anxiously, obviously referring to the Star Phase Compass in front of her.

The Star Plate flashed again, displaying two circles each with a black dot in the middle.

"What is this character?" Mu Hanyan stared for a while before realizing it wasn’t a character at all, but rather a drawing of a pair of eyes—only it was drawn so abstractly, or rather... so ugly, that she didn’t recognize it right away.

How dare it roll its eyes at me! And do it so unsightly! Mu Hanyan’s eyes widened as she rolled her eyes back, in an eye-to-eye standoff.

The Star Plate rolled its eyes again and then vanished, clearly uninterested in continuing the interaction.

"What should I do now?" asked Mu Hanyan.

The Star Plate remained unresponsive, evidently completely ignoring her now.

"Please, I’m on the verge of reaching the Seventh Rank, give me another push, help me advance," Mu Hanyan continued to urge.

Still, the Star Plate gave no response.

Mu Hanyan scratched her head and, seeing that the Star Illusion Thousand Machine no longer paid her any attention without the intention of assisting further, she had to give up on the thought of advancing to Seventh-Order Swordsman in one go, and her mood finally calmed down.