By now, the Sword Seed deep within Zhong Ming’s Sea of Consciousness had transformed from a silver-white color to a bluish-silver fruit, its surface covered in ripple-like patterns.

[Sword Seed - Flow of Water]

"Huuuh..."

As the Water Dao Rhyme fused into him, a sense of fullness and completion washed over Zhong Ming, leaving him slightly intoxicated.

He could also feel the Flow of Water strengthening ever so slightly as it was nourished by his Heart Soul, Magical Power, and vital energy.

Right on cue, a notification sound chimed from his attribute panel.

[You have nourished the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water with the Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique. Proficiency in your Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique +131]

[Your Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water is being completed...]

...

Time flew by, and a night quickly passed. Zhong Ming, for his part, had spent the entire night nourishing his Sword Seed.

But when Zhong Ming awoke from his cultivation the next morning, he wore a look of resignation.

"I guess there’s no such thing as a free lunch after all."

From his experiments the previous night, Zhong Ming discovered that his Sword Seed could indeed nourish his Dao Rhyme. However, even with the aid of Heaven Rewards Diligence, the rate of completion was still a bit slow.

After an entire night, the completion progress on his Flow of Water Dao Rhyme had only increased by 0.1%.

’0.1% in a day means only 3% in a month... No, wait, nourishing the Sword Seed can be done day and night, so that’s 0.2% per day. That’s 6% a month, and 72% a year... That’s actually pretty fast.’

Taking a year to complete the majority of the Dao Rhyme - Flow of Water... If this opportunity fell to an ordinary Cultivator, they would be ecstatic.

Not to mention, Zhong Ming could also consume Magical Power, Divine Soul Power, or his vital energy to accelerate the nourishment process.

Not that he would, of course.

’To me, Dao Rhyme is important, but my cultivation level is even more so.’

...

’Oh well. In any case, this is a good thing.’

Now that he knew the Sword Seed in his Sea of Consciousness could complete a Dao Rhyme, Zhong Ming wanted to place the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme inside it to be nourished by his Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique.

’I need to at least get the completion of the Dao Rhyme Dragon Flood to 33%. By then, its only drawback compared to a true Dao Rhyme will be slightly weaker power. It won’t be like now, where I have to rely on luck just to trigger it.’

But then, Zhong Ming got stuck.

He wanted to use the Sword Seed to complete the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme so he could trigger it at will in the future.

However, the prerequisite for completing the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme was getting it into the Sword Seed, and to do that, he had to activate it first.

But the very reason he wanted to complete it was that he couldn’t activate it in the first place...

’What a vicious cycle...’

Frustrated, Zhong Ming could only try various methods to activate the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme.

’I just need to activate it once!’

It was a good plan, but reality proved otherwise. Despite his focused efforts over three whole days, he failed. During that time, his cultivation level had even broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Cultivation, thanks to the constant operation of the Longxi Breathing Technique and his unrestrained use of medicinal pills. Yet, he hadn’t managed to trigger the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme even once.

’So, a casually planted willow can grow into a forest, but a carefully tended flower refuses to bloom? What is this?’

After realizing this method wasn’t working, Zhong Ming finally decided to rely on external help.

’Yun Ya!’

Four days after his Longxi Sword-Drawing Technique had successfully advanced, Yi Yunya returned to the Golden Jade Tower alone.

"Well now, Seventh Sister, what brings you here today? Aren’t you going to stay by your dear crush’s side?"

Yi Yunya had just stepped back into the Golden Jade Tower when she heard a voice.

She turned her head and, just as she expected, saw that it was her fourth sister, Yi Yunyan.

Beside her stood other prominent disciples of the Yi Family.

At that moment, they were all sizing her up.

Of course, Yi Yunya knew exactly why.

Competition in the Golden Jade Tower was fierce, and her ’jade-shattering’ act had been like dropping a depth charge beneath waters already swirling with undercurrents.

The act itself had been unthinkable, and at the time, Yi Yunya had bet nearly everything she had.

And this had drawn everyone’s attention to her.

Now, all the prominent Yi Family disciples with a chance at the deacon position knew that if Yi Yunya’s gambit failed, it would mean little.

But if she succeeded—if she truly managed to win the support of a peerless prodigy—then it would be very difficult for anyone else in the Golden Jade Tower to compete with her.

That was why everyone in the Golden Jade Tower had flocked over to size her up the moment she arrived. With the end-of-month assessment so close, they wanted to see if she would be flustered!

Unfortunately for them, to their disappointment, Yi Yunya remained perfectly calm under their collective gaze.

In fact, she was almost too serene.

This sight made Yi Yunyan scoff internally. ’She’s just putting on an act.’

Muttering to herself, she put on a dazzling smile and said, "You have time to visit now, little sister. Does this mean you’re confident about the end-of-month assessment?"

She was still probing. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But just as Yi Yunyan—convinced that Yi Yunya was merely putting up a brave front—spoke out to test her, Yi Yunya’s next sentence stunned everyone on the scene.

It even drew out the Vice Tower Lord of the Golden Jade Tower, Yi Qing.

Glancing around at the crowd, Yi Yunya ignored Yi Yunyan’s probing question and instead offered an elegant, unhurried smile. "You’ve all gathered here because you’re worried I’ll be competing with you for the vacant deacon position at the end of the month, aren’t you?"

"Uh..."

Before the many Yi Family disciples could figure out how to respond, Yi Yunya’s voice rang out again:

"I have some good news for you all. I won’t be taking that position. And as for the end-of-month assessment, my Senior Brother has no interest in participating."