The Path of Swords was an endless sight to behold, stretching far away in the distance, beyond what the eyes could see. There were floating swords of varying sizes, scattered about at the sides with a pressuring sword aura flowing from within them, causing the gravity within the pathway to keep growing stronger and stronger at every pace taken further along its course.

Feng Yu felt as if he was walking towards the core of the world. Beads of sweat were rolling off his forehead. With every step taken along the path, there were visible impressions shown on the surface of the solid ground.

"Huff! Huff! The further I go, the stronger it gets, I have to give it my all to keep standing, and I've only just managed to reach the distance of 35 kilometers." Feng Yu complained while looking at the vast stretch of road paved out in front of him.

Feng Yu had currently cleared the requirements for being accepted as a true challenger of the path having crossed the first 10 kilometers. However, due to him not feeling satisfied by having only gained acceptance, he continued to push himself onward in hopes of not only testing his limit but striving to receive the great reward. At his current distance, the gravity pressure in the field was already more than ten times its usual amount. Even crawling in this phase of the trial itself would be considered a rare feat for someone still at Body Training realm.

As the transparent form observed Feng Yu's distant struggling form, a strange light shone within the eye. It muttered to itself, "Hmm, not bad! But, if you want a great surprise, it will take a whole lot more than what you can currently achieve."

∞∞∞

Time couldn't be told inside the path of swords, as everything within this space seemed to remain in a constant state. Feng Yu had already been struggling onwards for about ten days now, and because of moving for so long, his body was already reaching the point of complete exhaustion. However, his struggling proved not to be in vain as he has traveled a distance of 45 kilometers.

In the distant misty region of the path, there was a vague cyan glowing light in the shape of a sword; as if it was taunting his efforts it hovered silently in the distance. Looking closely, many more swords of its kind were also brightly shining, however, due to their scope, they could hardly be seen.

"Huff! Finally! The first checkpoint is visible; If I can make this point, I would have already cleared the first challenge earning a Fundamental Sword Skill. I've already wasted ten days I can't afford to waste any more time here." Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Feng Yu was now feeling a bit more excited than tired. He pushed more energy into his already exhausted body and sped forward struggling to endure the pressure of his surroundings.

After two more days, in front of Feng Yu, the hovering sword glowing in white appeared. Standing before the hovering sword, Feng Yu pondered, "Hmmm, I wonder what kind of Fundamental Sword Skill this sword will give me."

Shortly the mysterious voice could be heard once again "Oh! Not too bad! To make it here with only 12 days of hard work, while you may not have been the best challenger I've seen to take this challenge. Your talent isn't necessarily too far off from those previous challenger's."

"There were others before me? I wonder; who were those individuals? Could they be...?" As Feng Yu heard this, he began to recall the scene of corpses he passed by and became a bit frightened.

Quickly though, he cleared his mind of those thoughts and looked towards the floating sword. He curiously asked, "Senior, which technique would I be receiving for traveling this far."

"Technique? HAHAHA! No little one, one must learn to walk before they try to run, as a beginner of the sword, you can only start by building a firm foundation of Sword Skills."

After speaking, the figure appeared beside the sword and quickly pointed its finger towards Feng Yu. A rush of energy soon flowed from the floating sword and into his body, following which; a vast collection of knowledge about the 'Fundamental Sword Training Methods' was collected within his sea of consciousness in the form of an Ancient Sword Manual. The information of the sword shown in Feng Yu's mind was enough for an average practitioner to get lost in practice for years upon years.

"The Sword Foundation Tactics, such a profound set of fundamental sword moves. No wonder he said I'm not ready for a True Sword Technique. Learning the Way of the Sword is an entirely different world of practice when compared to Normal Martial Skills. I wonder how long it would take to master all of these skills." Feng Yu felt like he had just glanced across a whole new world. He was beginning to wonder if he would be able to grasp all of these essential styles successfully.

"No matter, I decided that starting with 'Black Lightning,' I will travel with the sword to the peak." A firm and hard willed light appeared in his eyes as he thought back to his broken sword.

"Em! Good! It's great that you have not given up after seeing its complexity. Hardship carves the hero. Now then, young sword novice, you can either choose to continue the path of swords Trial or give up and practice before treading the path once again. The next checkpoint is 100 kilometers. If you can reach this distance, you will be considered a true candidate for the Path of Sword Trial for successorship. Remember, you only have three chances, and you are currently on your first chance." Observing the look in Feng Yu's eyes, the figure felt pleased. He quickly advised Feng Yu about his current options.

Thinking about it for a while, Feng Yu decided to continue his first chance to see how far he could make it. He answered, "Senior, I will continue on the path first."

"Good! Let the second phase begin." Waving his hand, the pressure in the area instantly increased by another five-fold.

BANG! Feng Yu crashed to the ground. Both of his arms were held out in front of him while his knees where pressed hard against the floor. He couldn't even set himself up straight much less walk.

"Argh! I didn't think it would increase this much. If I can't even move properly, how will I even stand a chance?" Feng Yu was once again put into a state of peril; he tried his hardest to move only to fumble around on the solid ground giving himself blisters on both his hands and knees.

After struggling for what seemed like forever, he finally managed to lift himself up and sit in the cross-legged position. Feng Yu sighed in relief while clenching his teeth tightly.

"Sigh, it seems that I'll have to rely on my bloodlines prestige. Hopefully, it will be powerful enough to help me get to the end of this phase." Not feeling entirely convinced of his situation, Feng Yu began to stimulate his bloodline according to the guideline.

His blood started to shine as it changed from its original red color and took on a golden red hue. Quickly, his muscles began to bulge and compress tightly gathering even more power. His Aura Pulse also started to pulsate at a higher frequency increasing the essence-energies inside of his body, particularly the Flame Essence which has taken on a more sacred nature.

Noticing a change happening within Feng Yu's body, the figure floating in the void became surprised.

"Well, are you trying to use your bloodline in this challenge? Haha interesting, let's see how far you can make it with it." the figure smiled while observing Feng Yu's transformation.

After a while, Feng Yu's body started to glow as his red hair became a mix of gold and red, his eyes turned golden, and if one were to look underneath his clothing, they would be able to see a series of ancient markings arranged on top of his skin.

BANG! An earth-shaking Flame Essence was released from his entire body that, while not Aura Energy, was so condensed that it seemed similar to Aura Energy. Sensing that the pressure surrounding him drastically reduced, Feng Yu grasped his fist tightly feeling a bit more confident.

"Much Better! I didn't think I would become so powerful when using my bloodline. Hmm, it seems that I can't maintain this state for extended periods at the Body Training realm. I can only last for about 50 minutes at my current stage of cultivation."

Feng Yu soon realized that bloodline awakening had its weakness. No longer pondering about it deeply, he decided to press onwards with the remaining time quickly. He took a step forward and started dashing forwards.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

It was like he transformed into a blur as he made his way to the depths of the Path of Swords, feeling like nothing could stop him.

A smirk appeared on the floating figure’s face as it stared at Feng Yu making his way further along the path.

"Hehe, I wonder what the look on his face will be when he finally realizes!"

Soon, after 40 mins of dashing, Feng Yu had finally managed to reach a distance of 90 kilometers. Currently, however, his entire body was feeling sore despite the powerful physique given to him while using his awakened bloodline form.

Within a few moments it disappeared, and instantly, a wave of exhaustion flowed over him. He quickly forced himself into crossed-legged position bearing the heavy burden of the pressure once more as he glanced towards the shining sword a few more kilometers in front of him.

"Huff! Huff! Almost there, just a little bit further and I... Eh? What's going on? Why does the sword seem as if it's the same distance it previously was before I activated my bloodline's battle form?" While looking in front of him Feng Yu saw that path towards the sword did not get any closer.

"It's as you suspected, as you have used your bloodline, the challenge has not only increased, but it has also increased the pressure that you face. However, in your bloodline state, the next checkpoint distance increased from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers, and the pressure increased by double. Once you recovered from your bloodline state, the path will recover back to the usual distance with the actual distance traversed represented in the ratio of 1:1 instead of 1:2. Like right now, you have only traversed a distance of 53 kilometers out of 100 kilometers," The figure said as it appeared out of nowhere in front of Feng Yu.

"Do you wish to continue?" It said while smiling.

"I will continue to the end!" Feng Yu shouted while reactivating his phoenix form and swiftly rushing to the point once again.

"I'll have you know once you have cleared halfway of the current phase, the pressure will again increase by tenfold."

Hearing no reply and observing Feng Yu's figure once again struggling, the figure showed Feng Yu a glance of respect.

"Interesting! Shall we test your limits once again?"