You’ll know with just one try.

After unleashing the third blade technique, the Flame Giant appeared utterly exhausted, leaning on his blade, weakly saying, "How much you can comprehend depends on your own insight." The flames dispersed, and its consciousness returned to its body.

Li Miao was left wanting more.

Burn the heavens. Shatter the void. Annihilation.

To him, these three blade techniques were far more powerful than the two the Butcher had passed on to him. One blade burns the heavens, two blades shatter the void, three blades make the sky collapse and the earth crack. The Mahā General’s blade techniques, perhaps less refined than the Butcher’s in technical artistry, were unparalleled in destructive force—exactly what Li Miao needed at that moment!

His heart thrilled, he took out the damaged General’s battle blade, eager to begin practicing immediately. But just then, the Flame God Token in his hand emitted a circle of hazy yellow light, from which a ball of yellow radiance separated and floated into the air.

“What is this?”

Li Miao wondered, then suddenly realized, “The Divine Power—Celestial Finger!”

As if in response, the yellow light trembled gently, flashed, and shot toward his right hand, burrowing into his right index finger with a soft pop, vanishing from sight.

The Celestial Finger was a divine power of the flesh—meaning, with the mandate of the heavens, one points to the stars! Entry into this divine power was exceedingly difficult; to learn it required decades of insight. Yet the Mahā General had left his own comprehension within the Flame God Token, sparing future inheritors vast amounts of time.

The moment Li Miao’s right index finger touched the yellow light, he felt a peculiar transformation in the bones and flesh of his finger. First came intense pain, as if countless tiny blades were digging and boring into the bone. Then, a wave of supreme comfort washed over him, as though every cell was being gently soothed.

Focusing inward, he discovered that in just a brief span, the structure of his finger bone had changed drastically. His body, purified by genetic primordial energy, was originally flawless, but now intricate grooves had appeared between his finger bones, like the star patterns that emerged when activating the Sacred Star Body—tiny and complex, ultimately forming a profound design, resembling a horn.

“So this is the foundation of a fleshly divine power?”

A flash of understanding dawned in Li Miao’s heart. The Mahā General had directly laid the foundation for his divine power, skipping the arduous entry process. Yet, the Celestial Finger was still “weak,” needing continual strengthening to become a truly formidable trump card.

Cultivating a divine power differed from cultivating mental techniques. The Celestial Finger required absorbing vast quantities of “metal essence”—the primordial power from rare metals or ores—integrating it into the finger bone to fortify those intricate grooves and elevate the realm of the Celestial Finger.

Li Miao looked at his right hand. On the surface, his index finger was no different from the others, but in his perception, the index finger was at least twice as “robust” as the rest. If the other fingers were stone, the index finger was steel—harder and tougher.

“I wonder how powerful the Celestial Finger is. Let me test it.”

Hopeful, he channeled primordial energy into his right hand, activating the invisible profound grooves on his finger bone. For the first time, the grooves, awakened by primordial energy, greedily devoured his power like a vortex, wildly siphoning energy from within.

Within a few breaths, over thirty percent of his primordial energy was absorbed!

At that moment, the intricate grooves beneath his finger bone began to glow.

Li Miao’s right index finger turned a deep yellow, accumulating so much energy it seemed ready to burst.

Instinctively, he pointed forward.

Instantly, a phantom finger, about ten feet long, appeared out of nowhere, radiating a deep yellow hue, stabbing toward a corner of the tomb.

Li Miao felt as if his finger was plunging into soft tofu—the giant phantom finger pierced the hard stone wall without resistance, producing a soft, sandy sound.

The divine power faded, the yellow finger shadow dissipating into nothingness.

On the wall of solid blue stone, a deep finger-shaped recess, a full ten feet deep, had appeared!

No stones fell, no cracks formed, and certainly no explosions.

---

With a single point of the Celestial Finger, a segment of the blue stone wall vanished as if by magic, the opening seamless, showing no sign of chiseling—it was as if the wall had always been that way.

Li Miao gaped in astonishment.

To create a ten-foot-deep hole in the stone wall wasn’t difficult for him, but to do it so effortlessly, as if poking through tofu, was impossible until now.

As the one who wielded the divine power, he knew the Celestial Finger’s destructive potential was far greater than what he’d just witnessed. Even if faced with copper or iron walls, the outcome would be the same!

Yet the divine power’s consumption of primordial energy was staggering. With the foundation just laid, a single use consumed over thirty percent of his power. As the divine power grew stronger, it would require more energy, and if his cultivation couldn’t keep pace, he might not even be able to unleash it.

Without question, this was an extremely powerful divine power, its importance to him rivaling that of the Sacred Star Body!

Gaining such a formidable ability, Li Miao was genuinely delighted, and his confidence in the Mahā General’s three blade techniques grew.

Divine power was for explosive moments; blade techniques were the foundation for everyday survival.

With nothing urgent at hand, he began practicing blade techniques within the tomb.

The Mahā General had mastered the "Way of Flames," and all three blade techniques were fiercely aggressive—especially the third, "Annihilation," which possessed unparalleled destructive force.

Yet learning these techniques was no easy feat. Unlike inheriting a divine power, there were no shortcuts. He had to comprehend them bit by bit, gradually grasping the Mahā General’s momentum and courage.

With the broken blade in hand, Li Miao narrowed his eyes, recalling the Flame Giant’s movements in the realm of consciousness while practicing.

Beyond the three apocalyptic blade techniques, every swing and slash of the Flame Giant held meaning—a process of “blade enlightenment” leading toward mastery.

Li Miao was a warrior, his experiences akin to the Mahā General’s in many ways. Swinging the broken blade, each slash brought him back to the battlefield, facing countless foes with boundless fighting spirit.

The broken blade retained a trace of fiery blade intent, which ignited with his movements. The dim tomb gradually brightened with a red glow.

He infused some primordial energy, his palm growing hot, and the red glow on the blade intensified—tiny flames flickered and died.

After a quarter hour, he felt he had glimpsed the essence of "Burn the Heavens," and so he poured primordial energy into the battle blade, bringing it down in a furious slash.

A burst of red flame shot two yards ahead, lighting the tomb with sparks.

But Li Miao frowned.

“No, the fire is too weak. I haven’t even touched the edge of ‘Burn the Heavens.’”

“Try again!”

He closed his eyes, practiced, accumulated fighting intent.

Then unleashed his power, swinging the blade once more.

Again, flames roared forth, crossing three yards, radiating intense heat.

But still, it failed to achieve the world-consuming momentum of the true "Burn the Heavens" blade technique.

Li Miao pondered, recalling the Flame Giant’s actions in the realm of consciousness.

"That's it!"

His eyes brightened—he remembered that before unleashing the "Burn the Heavens" slash, the Flame Giant had a "dragging blade forward" movement.

The Flame Giant dragged the long blade, took three steps, then struck, unleashing terrifying destruction.

The key lay in the "dragging blade"!

To test it, Li Miao began anew—accumulating fighting intent, letting the broken blade’s fiery aura intensify. Then he halted his motion, dragged the blade behind him, infusing it with continuous primordial energy as he strode forward.

One step. Two steps. Three steps!

With each step, the energy concentrated within the blade doubled. By the third step, the broken blade shone brilliantly!

"Burn... the Heavens!"

Li Miao shouted, lifting the blade for a midair slash. Scorching power transformed into a raging flame dragon that tore through the air!

Boom!

The flame dragon flew twenty yards, crashing into the mountain wall, shattering a swath of blue stone. The searing heat charred three yards of stone black.

The thunderous sound echoed through the tomb, the fire’s power raising the temperature by several degrees.

---

Li Miao gazed at the destruction his blade had wrought, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

The power of "Burn the Heavens" was truly extraordinary!

That slash had consumed ten percent of his primordial energy. Though it required charging up, the destruction rivaled that of the Celestial Finger divine power, which needed three times the energy. Compared to his past attacks relying solely on primordial energy, this was several times stronger!

He sensed that this slash had already exceeded the limits of the Condensation Realm, enough to threaten the lives of Origin Realm cultivators or great demons!

Yet Li Miao did not grow complacent. He knew he was stronger, but compared to true experts, he was still insignificant.

“Let me practice a few more times, to solidify my grasp of the blade technique.”

He murmured, then immersed himself in practice.

Once, twice, thrice...

Flame dragons roared, smashing into the mountain wall. His understanding of the "Burn the Heavens" blade grew clearer.

His primordial energy dwindled, and by the fifth release of the flame dragon, it was utterly depleted.

He had mastered the "Burn the Heavens" blade.

Delighted, Li Miao felt his body weakened from the exhaustion of primordial energy. Only then did he realize he still carried minor injuries from his battle with the Lord of the River—he’d forgotten to heal, absorbed as he was in exploring the Mahā General’s tomb.

The feeling of weakness was unpleasant. He took two healing pills from his microcosmic ring and sat quietly to recover.

Thankfully, the injuries were not severe. With his resilient physique, he healed swiftly.

He remained seated, absorbing the omnipresent cosmic primordial energy to replenish his genetic power. After two hours, he returned to peak condition.

Now, he was only a step away from the mid-level of the Mountain-and-River Tier, having mastered a fleshly divine power and a powerful blade technique, standing at the pinnacle of the Condensation Realm!

Yet his true cultivation was still far from the peak of the Condensation Realm.

Sitting in the empty tomb, Li Miao looked at the Flame God Token and mused, "Should I continue practicing the other two blade techniques passed down by Senior Mahā, or break through my cultivation first?"

Breaking through was no challenge. With his talent, cultivating the "Heart of the Cosmos," a profound creation-level guiding art, he would encounter no bottlenecks before the Star Sea Tier, advancing smoothly to the same realm as the Mystic Realm cultivators.

Yet he was more interested in blade techniques!

With keen enthusiasm, Li Miao stood, picked up the broken blade, and resumed his practice.

The key to "Burn the Heavens" lay in unstoppable momentum.

The key to "Shatter the Void" lay in instantaneous eruption.

The Flame Giant would stomp and leap, striking out with a blade whose explosive force shattered the void into countless cracks, devouring the surrounding flames.

With Li Miao’s current strength, shattering the void was impossible. But if he grasped the essence of the technique, even if his attack lacked the Flame Giant’s dominance, he could at least instantly destroy an opponent’s internal organs and energy channels.

He practiced the blade’s momentum, seeking the essence of "Shatter the Void."

Soon, he faintly captured a sense of "swift ferocity," suddenly stamping his foot and striking the nearby stone platform.

Swish!

The broken blade plunged deep into the stone, leaving only the hilt visible.

Alas, the strike was swift enough, but lacked explosive power, failing to create significant destruction.

Li Miao withdrew the blade, rebuilt his momentum, and tried several more times.

Perhaps his inspiration for the day had been spent on the Celestial Finger and "Burn the Heavens" slash. Repeated attempts failed to grasp the key to "Shatter the Void," always missing something.

No matter his effort, the essence eluded him.

Helpless, he set aside practice of "Shatter the Void" and "Annihilation," focusing instead on cultivation.

He had spent considerable time in this world, supported by such rich cosmic primordial energy. It was time to take a step forward and strengthen his power.

Cultivation was the foundation of everything.

Li Miao put down the broken blade, sat cross-legged, and began the Heart of the Cosmos guiding art.

Cosmic primordial energy gathered, pouring in through thousands of pores, transforming into strands of genetic power, strengthening every cell.

His genetic level had reached the peak of a minor stage. With more primordial energy surging through, he began to advance toward the next.

The process was not difficult—indeed, it was entirely effortless, like water flowing naturally downhill.