Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Back at home, Luo Feng sat cross-legged on top of his bed and recalled the important moments during the tournament. Among them, there was his fight against Li Heshan and also the fight between Ji Wuyue and Li Yuanhao.
Image after image drifted into his mind, and Luo Feng had taken his time to analyze each of them. Luo Feng had learned plenty from these images, and it had greatly benefited him.
Woosh!
Suddenly, Luo Feng leaped up from his bed and went directly towards his courtyard. After taking his Tiger Essence Saber out, he began practicing his Heavy Mountain Blade Techniques.
He made a wide slash with the Tiger Essence Saber, unleashing an intimidating aura whilst launching heavy gusts that shook the nearby trees.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh…
Luo Feng closed his eyes, and his attacks began to pick up speed. In the end, Luo Feng’s figure was completely swallowed by a storm of blade attacks.
In that instant, Luo Feng felt as if he had become a towering mountain, and everything else in the world had become insignificant!
A weird sensation surged from the tip of his saber and traveled through his body. From that moment onward, he felt as if he was one with his blade, and as a result, the strength of his Heavy Mountain Blade Technique was amplified.
Two hours later, Luo Feng flung his eyes open and slashed randomly again.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
Although there were constant flashes of his blade, the resulting noises were faint. By the time Luo Feng had finally stopped, an area with a radius of ten feet around him was left with nothing but the gashes from his attacks.
There an excited look was contained within his eyes.
Back in the Roaming King Tournament, Luo Feng had felt a weird sensation whenever he performed his Heavy Mountain Blade Techniques.
Whenever he attacked, he felt as if the techniques themselves had been imprinted within his soul, to the extent that the techniques had become part of his body.
After recalling the events during the tournament earlier, he had managed to get a hold of the sensation.
As a result, the Heavy Mountain Blade Technique had completely integrated with his body and was now an extension of himself.
“Right now, any attack I unleash, even random ones, would have the strength which is equal to the Complete State of the Heavy Mountain Blade Technique. I wonder what kind of state I’ve reached.” Luo Feng mused.
There was a total of four states to every martial art, namely the Rudimentary State, the Minor Success State, the Success State, and the Complete State.
However, it was clear that Luo Feng’s Heavy Mountain Blade Technique had already surpassed the Complete State. It had reached a level that was beyond what was thought possible.
While shaking his head, Luo Feng returned his gaze to the Tiger Essence Saber in his hand.
“The Heavy Mountain Blade Technique is a Fundamental Class martial art, so even though I’ve already honed it to a high state, its power is still limited.”
Back when he crossed swords with Li Heshan, Luo Feng could sense how big a difference there was between his Heavy Mountain Blade Technique and Li Heshan’s Wind-chasing Sword Technique.
After all, although his blade technique’s level was beyond Li Heshan’s sword techniques, Li Heshan was still able to firmly suppress Luo Feng.
This was not just due to the difference in their Meridian Cycle Boundaries, as the levels of their martial arts had also played a part.
After giving it some thought, Luo Feng decided to pick a new blade technique from the Martial Arts Hall the next day.
…
After a full night’s rest, Luo Feng made his way over to the Martial Arts Hall the first thing in the morning.
“It’s you!”
The moment Luo Feng entered the Martial Arts Hall, he was immediately identified by the middle-aged mentor in charge of the Martial Arts Hall.
Even though there were hundreds of students making their way in and out of the Martial Arts Hall daily, the mentor was still able to identify Luo Feng. Luo Feng found this odd but he still mustered a polite reply, “Morning, mentor.”
The middle-aged mentor nodded his head and gave Luo Feng a look of praise. With a smile, he continued, “Just call me Uncle Li. I really didn’t think that you’d be able to cultivate the Soaring Dragon Steps. You have a bright future waiting ahead of you!”
With a smile, Luo Feng handed over the Purple Sun Order.
“Hmm? A Purple Sun Order, huh.”
Uncle Li’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the token, and after receiving it, he asked, “Even after all my years of serving this institution, seeing a Silver Moon Class student obtaining first place in the Roaming King Tournament is still a first for me. So, you want to head up to the third floor?”
“Yes.” Luo Feng nodded.
“Follow me, then.”
Uncle Li brought Luo Feng to the Martial Arts Hall’s third floor.
Although the second floor of the Martial Arts Hall had contained hundreds of racks and at least a thousand types of manuals, the third floor was relatively empty in comparison. For as far as the eye could see, there were only a few dozen manuals to be spotted.
The moment Luo Feng set foot onto the third floor, he instantly felt an overwhelming pressure surging towards him. He turned his head to the source of the pressure, and he was surprised to see that it was emanated by a young, graceful lass in red clothes.
Upon picking up on the duo’s voices, the young lady in red turned around. Her gaze had landed on Uncle Li’s Purple Sun Order, and in response, her eyes lit up as she shot a glance at Luo Feng, saying, “So, you’re Luo Feng of the Silver Moon Class?”
Luo Feng nodded his head without saying a single word. His eyes were trained on the lady in red, and he appeared to be deep in thought.
The young lady had appeared to be around the same age as himself. Adorning her oval face was a pair of huge, watery eyes, and on the sides of her head, twin tails could be seen. Although she looked extremely cute, Luo Feng did not dare to underestimate his abilities.
The feeling that she had imposed onto him was not all that different from Li Yuanhao!
Sensing the tenseness on Luo Feng’s face, the lady in red grinned, exposing her faint dimples. “You’re rather interesting. The name’s Zi Yuan. I can’t wait to meet you again!”
With that, Zi Yuan grabbed a manual and left the third floor.
“Uncle Li, who’s she?”
Luo Feng furrowed his brows as he looked in the direction where Zi Yuan had left.
“Hoho, have you ever heard of the Four Rising Stars?” Uncle Li asked.
‘The Four Rising Stars…’
Luo Feng nodded, “Yes, they’re the four youngest experts within the four institutions of the Flowing Cloud Ridge.”
“Not bad. Well, Zi Yuan’s part of the Four Rising Stars, and she’s ranked the fourth among them. Also, she’s the director’s daughter, but I don’t blame you for not recognizing her since she mostly spends her time cultivating outside of the institution.”
“I see.” Luo Feng nodded with much enthusiasm in his eyes.
Although Zi Yuan was around the same age, she was already part of the Four Rising Stars. This had imposed a great sense of pressure on him.
“Hmm… That’s weird, Lady Zi Yuan is usually immersed in her cultivation, so she rarely pays any attention to other matters. However, she recognized you earlier…” Uncle Li muttered.
Luo Feng grinned without saying a word. After all, there was still a huge gap between his abilities compared to those who were among the Four Rising Stars.
He then took a tour around the entire floor and went through each of the manuals.
Just as Bing Ruolan had stated, the Purple Sun Institution did not contain many blade techniques. Among the dozens of Yellow Rank Supreme Class martial arts present, it contained almost twenty manuals on sword techniques, but when it came to the others, especially the blade techniques, there were only a total of three manuals.
“Yellow Rank Supreme Class technique, Circular Moon Blade Technique.”
“Yellow Rank Supreme Class technique, Rushing Wind Blade Technique.”
“Yellow Rank Supreme Class technique, Heaven-crushing Blade Technique.”
Luo Feng looked over the three blade techniques and he was at a loss at what to pick.
“Eh, you want to cultivate a blade technique?”
Uncle Li took a glance at the three manuals that Luo Feng had picked and nodded.
“I guess it makes sense. With the Soaring Dragon Steps being what it is, you wouldn’t need to cultivate any other Light Body Techniques for the time being. As for your Heavy Mountain Technique, while it’s clear that you’ve already cultivated it to the Complete State, it’s still a rudimentary technique in the end, which means that its power is limited. As such, I’m sure your abilities will greatly improve if you were to acquire a high level blade technique.”
“Uncle Li, out of these three techniques, which one suits me best?” Luo Feng turned to look at Uncle Li and asked with a wry smile.
The manuals’ front page had only contained simple explanations, and as such, it was hard to determine their qualities. Since Uncle Li was in charge of the Martial Arts Hall, Luo Feng was certain that he knew these techniques well.
‘Hah, the youngling has entrusted me with the decision-making!’
Uncle Li inspected Luo Feng, and with a smile, he answered, “Alright then. On behalf of that girl, Ji Wuyue, I’ll help you out.”
“My mentor?” Luo Feng flinched.
“Hoho, I was the mentor of Silver Moon Class too in the past, and Ji Wuyue was my student,” Uncle Li answered with a smile.
Luo Feng nodded. He had not expected for there to be more than meets the eye. It had finally made sense to him why Uncle Li had treated him much better than any other mentors.
“All three of these blade techniques are quite powerful. When used, the Circular Moon Blade Technique will unleash strikes in the shape of a full moon, and it will slice everything near you. It is a defensive blade technique, which makes it hard to be used in conjunction with your Soaring Dragon Steps. As such, this blade technique does not suit you. Now, in regards to the Rushing Wind Blade Technique, it is a technique that focuses on speed. Each of its attacks are like a torrential downpour, and it is unique in the sense that it focuses solely on penetrative power. When used together with the Soaring Dragon Steps, endless possibilities await. As for the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique…”
Uncle Li paused. After taking a glance at the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique in Luo Feng’s hands, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, “The Heaven-crushing Blade Technique is a technique that focuses on concentrating your vitality and releasing it in one go. It has insane burst potential.”
Luo Feng nodded, and his eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm.
His decision had been correct as Uncle Li was indeed familiar with all the different techniques. With Uncle Li’s help, Luo Feng was able to cut straight to the chase.
“Uncle Li, which of the two is stronger, the Rushing Wind Blade Technique, or the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique?”
Luo Feng asked the question on his mind directly.
“In terms of raw power, the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique is undoubtedly the strongest. However, I’d suggest taking up the Rushing Wind Blade Technique instead.” Uncle Li took another glance at the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique before answering.
“Why’s that?”
Uncle Li furrowed his brows and answered, “In terms of power, the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique is in the upper class of the Yellow Rank martial arts, and it’s extremely close to the strength of Black Rank martial arts. However, in order to cultivate this technique, the martial artist must have a strong apprehension as its cultivation technique is quite odd. Some might even call its cultivation technique dangerous!”
“Hmm? Define odd.” Luo Feng’s interest was piqued.
“There are a total of six levels to the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique. The first three levels aren’t that big of a deal, but the final three levels are a whole different matter. In order to cultivate the final three levels, you would only have one choice.”
Uncle Li lifted his head, and with a cold look in his eyes, he continued, “Kill! The stronger the person you kill, and the more people you kill, your abilities would advance even quicker!”
Whew…
Luo Feng heaved a sigh and licked his lips with excitement.
It was the first time he had ever heard of the need to kill to cultivate a technique.
After giving it some thought, Luo Feng made his decision and stated, “I’ll choose the Heaven-crushing Technique, then!”
As mentioned by Uncle Li, the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique was a technique that surpassed the average Yellow Rank Supreme Class martial arts. Moreover, Uncle Li had also mentioned that it was close in strength to the Black Class martial arts.
Each technique was classified into four different ranks, namely the Sky, Earth, Black, and Yellow Ranks. The higher ranked one technique was, the greater it benefited the martial artist.
Moreover, the Yellow Rank Supreme Class techniques were already priceless gems by themselves, and as such, it was unreasonable to hope for Black Rank techniques.
“That Duanmu Yu possesses a Supreme Class martial art of his own. In order to surpass him within a short period of time, I must choose the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique.”
Upon thinking back to what he had been through, Luo Feng was even more certain in choosing the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique. After all, he had already successfully cultivated the Soaring Dragon Steps, so he believed that he would be able to cultivate Heaven-crushing Blade Technique as well.
Sensing that Luo Feng’s heart was already set in stone, Uncle Li nodded and said, “One of the selling points of the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique is that once you cultivate it to the fourth level, you are able to form a blade aura that can slice through gold or stone. It is unparalleled within its rank. Moreover, once you cultivate it to the fifth level, your blade aura can reach over several hundred feet long and harm others through spatial attacks!”
‘Spatial attacks!’
Luo Feng was stunned by what he had heard.
After all, even Li Yuanhao who was of the Essence Boundary could not carry out spatial attacks, and only those like the director, Zi Hongyuan, who was of the Heaven Boundary and possessed deep knowledge and immense vitality, was able to use spatial attacks!
Despite this, just by cultivating the Heaven-crushing Blade Technique to the fifth level, Luo Feng would then be able to use spatial attacks before he had even reached the Ninth Meridian Cycle Boundary! It was basically unheard of!
Uncle Li took a quick glance at the stairs before carefully whispering, “Luo Feng, word of advice. If you want to stand a chance against Li Yuanhao, you must at least cultivate the Heaven-crushing Sword to the fifth level.”
“Why’s that?” Luo Feng asked in a puzzled tone.
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