"Alright, let’s go. I’ll take you to awaken your spiritual abilities. Kid, put on a good performance. You’re someone I, Li Long, see potential in. I’ll give you the best foundation, but remember, if you fail, no one can save you. Remember, this mission is about the survival of our Great Tang Empire. You all have no right to choose, you only have to comply!"

After Li Long finished speaking, he directly led Ye Luo outside. Ye Luo didn’t know what awakening spiritual abilities entailed, but he understood that here, he had no right to choose!

However, from another perspective, isn’t this also an opportunity?

Since the Border Guard entrusted such an important mission to Ye Luo and others, they must certainly provide training first.

Or rather, conditioning.

These people were temporarily conscripted by the Border Guard; loyalty and the like could only be fostered afterwards. Undoubtedly, those who remain would naturally receive the best treatment, because if there were any grievances during the mission, betrayal would not only spell disaster for the individual but might also bring misfortune to the Border Guard.

Loyalty to the greater good? For the Great Tang Empire? These grand-sounding reasons are only discussed when personal safety is assured. If it involves oneself, even potentially sacrificing life, many people wouldn’t agree.

Isn’t this awakening of spiritual abilities also a form of winning over Ye Luo?

Ye Luo followed behind Li Long and soon arrived at a cave.

This cave looked ordinary from the outside, as if it were just a natural and unremarkable cave behind the city walls.

But only upon entering could one realize that this was a secret military stronghold for the Border Guard.

At the same time, many secrets unknown to the public were hidden within this cave!

The entire cave was fashioned into a military stronghold, reinforced entirely with high-quality Spirit Stones, and equipped with numerous Formations. Clearly, all of this was to make the cave more stable and also accelerate the speed of cultivation within it.

Ye Luo was led by Li Long, walking deeper into the cave. Ye Luo couldn’t even remember how many forks in the path they had passed, but finally, he saw an ancient sacrificial altar!

This altar was deemed strange because it was actually a sculpture!

A sculpture of a General wielding a sword!

The material of the sculpture was special and contained a mysterious strength that made one feel an impulse to submit merely by looking at it!

"Alright, we’ve arrived. Ye Luo, remember, everyone’s result from the awakening ritual is different. What you can gain depends on your luck. Also, no matter what happens next, do not resist. If you resist, all your efforts will be in vain!"

"Stand on it!"

Urged by Li Long, Ye Luo walked towards the altar.

Although Ye Luo still harbored doubts, now was not the time to ask questions.

After Ye Luo stood atop the altar, a group of people clad entirely in black robes emerged, their faces completely obscured by the specially crafted fabric that made it impossible to discern their features.

However, as soon as these people appeared, they immediately got busy. Blocks of Spirit Mother stones were taken out by them and were quickly embedded into a simple Formation.

The Formation was quite rudimentary as its sole purpose was to activate another Formation.

All of a sudden, those Spirit Mother stones shattered, and immediately afterward, beams of light began to gather without dissipating—strange luminance birthed from those Spirit Mother stones, the light of Spiritual Power!

Spirit Mother stones were supposed to dissipate all their vast Spiritual Power immediately upon shattering. However now, the Spiritual Power contained within these Spirit Mother stones transformed into spinning lights of Spiritual Power, showing no signs of vanishing!

As the light of Spiritual Power grew denser and denser, reaching a certain threshold, all of a sudden, all that light charged towards the sculpture!

No, more accurately, towards the stone sword in the hands of the sculpture!

...

"Swoosh!"

A beam of light shot out from the stone sword, heading straight for Ye Luo with murderous intent! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Murderous intention, terrifyingly intense!

In that moment, Ye Luo’s instinct was to defend or even dodge.

But recalling Li Long’s words, Ye Luo hesitated for a brief moment and remained still in his original spot!

Li Long had said, no matter what situation arose, to refrain from acting rashly. Furthermore, considering the border guards around him were showing no signs of abnormality, Ye Luo understood that this murderous intention was probably not aimed at truly killing him!

Ye Luo steadied his mind, knowing he was taking a risk, but he trusted himself and believed that the border guards didn’t go through such great trouble just to kill him now!

"Something’s not right! This murderous intention seems off!"

Ye Luo felt as though he had discovered something and released his Divine Sense to observe the murderous intent!

This action was extremely risky, as a mere slip could lead to his Divine Sense being shattered by the murderous intention, thus severely damaging it.

But Ye Luo went ahead with it anyway!

Indeed, just as Ye Luo had anticipated, the murderous intent did not change at all. As if it could be controlled, it allowed Ye Luo to observe it closely!

Murderous intent can also become an offensive technique?

Murderous intent can be cultivated?

At this moment, Ye Luo’s heart was overwhelmed with shock.

It must be understood that so-called murderous intent is actually just a sensation!

When one harbors the intent to kill towards another, an angry aura emerges, a momentum to utterly annihilate the opponent arises.

However, this is merely a sensation. How could it possibly be cultivated!

For a while, Ye Luo was deeply engrossed in comprehending this murderous intent, repeatedly pondering, continually experimenting, and continuously contemplating.

Suddenly, Ye Luo’s heart stirred, and he came to an enlightening realization!

Yes, murderous intent can indeed be used as a means of attack!

Just like an attack using Divine Sense, this murderous intent was a method all along!

Grasping this, Ye Luo was overjoyed beyond measure!

But the Spirit-Opening was not so simple. The moment Ye Luo grasped the essence of murderous intent, the vast murderous intent vanished into nothingness, transforming into a curious Sword Intent, which then rushed towards Ye Luo’s Sea of Consciousness!

It turned out, the so-called Spirit-Opening ceremony was actually the legacy of the Border Guard!

Although there are various methods to undergo Spirit-Opening, here with the Border Guard, it was an inheritance!

The vast Sword Intent surged into Ye Luo’s Sea of Consciousness, and in just an instant, Ye Luo had fully comprehended the true essence of that Sword Intent!

Spirit-Opening was about imprinting the inheritance directly into Ye Luo’s memory; all Ye Luo had to do was comprehend it!

Everyone grasps the extent of this differently, but Ye Luo fully understood that Sword Intent because he had taken the initial step of comprehending the murderous intent!