"Bloody Sword Strike!"

A red arc of light swept through the forest and directly beheaded the three meters tall ape without alerting it.

When Yuan noticed how the Qi consumption had increased ten folds with a single mastery level increase, his jaw dropped from shock. Wouldn't his Heaven Splitting Sword Strike require one million Qi to activate at mastery level 2 at this rate?

"Fellow Daoist Yuan is really… incomprehensible…" Mo Zhou trembled in shock as he watches Yuan slay high-level monsters with ease – all in a single strike. "Even that high-level Spirit Apprentice Bull Ape was slain in a single strike…"

Ever since they met and decided to visit the Flying Sword Sect, Yuan would hunt down every monster in their path, collecting a few more monster cores.

"Eleven so far, huh…" Yuan counted the number of monster cores he had, and the dozen of glistening monster cores in Yuan's grasp dumbfounded Mo Zhou to the core, who thought he was in an auction house.

"So many monster cores!"

Mo Zhou exclaimed loudly. Monster cores are all valuable resources that greatly assist cultivators with their cultivation, and they are greatly desired by cultivators from all levels. And because they can only be acquired through high-level monsters, they are considered rare and hard to obtain. But now in front of his eyes, there are a dozen of them all gathered on one man's palm.

"You consider this many? It won't even fill the gap between my teeth if I eat them all…" Yuan sighed.

"What?"

Mo Zhou couldn't comprehend the meaning behind his words, but he had a premonition that he would regret it if he knew, so he decided to ignore it.

–

"We have been running into a lot of high-level monsters, haven't we? That was already the sixth one…" Mo Zhou pondered as another high-level monster falls to the ground with its head detached from its neck.

"You really like beheading things…"

"It's efficient and easy, after all." Yuan smiled casually: "Tch. No monster core from this one…"

"Easy, huh…"

Mo Zhou inwardly compared Yuan with the Chosen in his sect. Would they be able to say such words so casually? Would they also be able to behead high-level monsters with such ease? Most likely not.

A thought suddenly appeared in Mo Zhou's head: "Since he is a rogue cultivator… then there is a chance I can rope him into joining our Flying Sword Sect…?"

If the Flying Sword Sect accepted a genius like him into their ranks, they will surely be overjoyed. Hell, they may even consider him a candidate as a future patriarch!

"Say, Daoist Yuan… have you ever considered joining a sect?" he decided to ask him.

Yuan thought about it for a moment and shook his head: "I did not know of the existence of these so-called 'Sects' until today, so no, I have never thought about it."

"Then… would you be interested in joining my Flying Sword Sect? I am sure the sect will welcome you with wide arms."

"..."

While Yuan pondered, Xiao Hua decided to open her mouth and speak: "Brother Yuan, there is no need for you to join a sect; it will only hinder your growth. Xiao Hua believes that Brother Yuan will grow stronger much faster when together with Xiao Hua as a rogue cultivator."

Mo Zhou's mouth dropped when he heard Xiao Hua's words. Because she has been silent, he didn't really pay much attention to her. He wondered about their relationship.

"If I ever join a sect, it'd only be for fun," said Yuan. "However, it is still too early for me to join any sect, so I will have to refuse that offer for now."

"Is that so…"

While Mo Zhou was dispirited due to Yuan refusing his offer, he understood that there was still hope for him to join the Flying Sword Sect in the future. "Then, if you ever feel like joining a sect, please come to my Flying Sword Sect."

"I'll keep that in mind."

–

After walking for a few more hours, the group finally arrived at a vast valley surrounded by high mountains.

"This is the Flying Sword Sect?" Yuan was mesmerized by the scene of the thousand swords hovering in the air above the valley, looking as though there was a roof made of swords covering the valley.

"That's the Thousand Swords Formation; it is a Heaven-ranked battle formation. If activated, they will all attack at once, like a rain of arrows. Though, it has been over 100 years since it was last activated." Mo Zhou wanted to leave a deep impression on Yuan with the sect's power, hoping it would increase the chances of him join the sect.

Mo Zhou's words and the magnificent scene indeed left a deep impression within Yuan, who has never seen anything like this before. As for Xiao Hua, she only glanced at it for a second before looking away.

"Please wait here for a moment while I go ask for permission to give you a tour around as a guest."

"Un."