Chapter 441 - 438: Wind God Step: Entry Level
Chapter 441: Chapter 438: Wind God Step: Entry Level
The moon rose, and the night deepened.
Fang Han never stopped.
He practiced the Wind God Step over and over again, moving from awkwardness to fluidity, from stumbling to coherence.
Only when the night was at its deepest did he finally stop, standing in the courtyard and panting lightly.
Fine beads of sweat dotted his forehead, but his eyes were astonishingly bright.
’This is much smoother than when I first started cultivating the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique.’
Fang Han murmured to himself.
This was not surprising.
When he first cultivated the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique, although he had the Perfection of the Nine Swords of Sky Splitting as a foundation, he hadn’t yet grasped the Wind Realm. The leap from "Momentum" to "Realm" was a qualitative one, and that was the hardest step.
But now, cultivating the Wind God Step, he had long since comprehended the Wind Realm. All that remained was to use the Wind Realm to aid his understanding of the Body Technique.
Although it still required time and effort, it was nowhere near as difficult as starting from scratch.
’Half a month at most.’
Fang Han estimated in his mind.
With his current Body Technique Talent, assisted by the Wind Realm, he could reach the Entry Level of the Wind God Step in half a month at most.
It might not even take half a month—less time than it took to reach the Entry Level of the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique.
He turned and walked back toward the house.
...
In the days that followed, aside from his unwavering daily routine of Inner Qi Cultivation, Swordsmanship practice, and Body Hardening training, Fang Han devoted all his time to cultivating the Wind God Step.
Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times—
His figure flickered back and forth across the courtyard.
At first, his movements still bore traces of deliberate effort. His foot placement was occasionally off, and the circulation of his Inner Qi would sometimes stagnate.
But gradually, that sense of deliberation began to fade.
His steps grew more precise, his Inner Qi flowed more smoothly, and his form became more natural.
He was like a piece of uncut jade being polished repeatedly. With every practice session, the Body Technique became more harmonious and fluid in his hands.
Through this daily training, the Wind Realm and the methods of the Wind God Step continued to grind against one another, eventually fusing.
He no longer needed to consciously think, ’How should my Inner Qi circulate?’ or ’How should this step trigger the Wind Realm?’
Those things had gradually become bodily instincts, integrated into his every move.
「On the third day.」
His figure could already flicker more than ten times in a row across the courtyard without any noticeable lag.
Though he was far from the Realm of being "like the wind, like a shadow," he already possessed a certain graceful quality.
「On the fifth day.」
His speed had nearly doubled from when he started.
The sound of the wind he generated while moving was also much quieter than before.
「On the tenth day.」
He stood in the courtyard, his eyes closed in concentration.
The Heart Method of the Wind God Step flowed slowly through his mind.
The incantations, the Step Technique, the key points of Inner Qi circulation—he knew them all by heart, as naturally as breathing.
He opened his eyes.
SWOOSH!
His figure moved.
This movement was completely different from before.
There was no deliberate gathering of power, no awkward transitions.
He was like a gust of wind, sweeping out naturally.
In the courtyard, the green-robed figure transformed into a barely perceptible streak of light, shuttling rapidly between the bamboo grove and the courtyard walls.
His speed was astonishing, yet, bizarrely, he made almost no sound.
It was as if he wasn’t moving at all, but had merged with the wind, becoming a part of it.
His turns were seamless, his movements silent.
His figure grew faster and more erratic, and the feeling of "merging with the wind" became increasingly intense.
And at that moment—
HUMMM...
It was as if some invisible door had been opened.
In an instant, his understanding of the Wind God Step underwent a qualitative leap.
The Transformations that had once required conscious control were now his to command, executed with effortless ease.
He now realized that the speed he once thought was his limit could, in fact, be surpassed.
The Wind Realm and this Body Technique merged completely at that moment, with no barrier between them.
His speed suddenly skyrocketed.
It was so fast that even he was a little surprised.
This speed was several times faster than when he used the Perfection-level Wind and Cloud Escape.
The courtyard walls, the bamboo grove, the Quiet Chamber—everything receded in a blur beside him, becoming hazy bands of color.
’"Wind God Step, Entry Level."’
Fang Han came to a sudden halt, standing in the middle of the courtyard. His green robe was perfectly still, and his aura was as calm as water.
He stood with his hands behind his back, a faint smile touching his lips.
It had only taken ten days to reach the Entry Level of the Wind God Step. Just as he had predicted, it was far less time than it had taken to reach the Entry Level of the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique.
...
「Late in the afternoon, among the mountains.」
A Qingxuan Sect transport team of several dozen people was moving slowly along a secluded mountain path.
Eight horse-drawn carriages, heavily laden with medicinal herbs and Artifact Refining materials needed by the Sect, carved deep ruts into the road.
The leader was a middle-aged woman in a plain cyan Elder Robe. Her face was gaunt, and her expression held the competence and vigilance born from years of travel.
She was Elder Yang Rui, the one overseeing this transport mission.
Suddenly—
SWISH! SWISH!
From the dense woods on both sides, the sharp sound of something cutting through the air erupted as dozens of poison-tipped crossbow bolts rained down!
"Ambush! Form up!"
Yang Rui roared. The longsword at her waist was instantly unsheathed, blurring into a flash of cyan light that pulverized all the crossbow bolts aimed at her and the nearby Steward Disciples.
But she was too late to save the disciples and stewards who were farther away. Several of them were hit and fell to the ground, their wounds quickly turning a dark purple.
"Careful, it’s poisoned!"
Yang Rui’s expression changed drastically as her sharp gaze swept toward the source of the arrows.
"Heh heh, Elder Yang, not bad awareness. A pity... you’re too late."
Amidst sinister laughter, two black-robed figures walked out from the woods.
Both men appeared to be in their fifties. One was pale-faced and clean-shaven, his eyes sinister, and he held a pair of short spears that glinted with a blue light.
The other was short and stocky, with a brutish face and a Thick-Backed Ghost Head Saber strapped to his back.
Both were Elders of the Netherworld Pavilion. The pale-faced one was known as Han Ling, "the Vulture," and the saber-wielder was Tu Hong, "Mountain-Smasher."
"Han Ling, Tu Hong!"
Yang Rui’s pupils contracted, and her heart sank.
Both of her opponents were at the Third Grade. She would have difficulty defeating even one of them, let alone both. Her prospects today looked grim.
"Kill them. Leave no one alive."
Han Ling waved his hand coldly.
Dozens of elite Netherworld Pavilion disciples swarmed out of the woods, pouncing on the disorganized Qingxuan Sect team.
"Abandon the cargo! Scatter and flee!"
Yang Rui gritted her teeth. The light from her sword flared as she took the initiative to charge Han Ling and Tu Hong, attempting to buy her disciples a chance to survive.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The dense sound of metal on metal exploded.
Yang Rui’s Swordsmanship was light and swift, but under the combined assault of Han Ling’s strange and vicious short spears and Tu Hong’s powerful, heavy saber strikes, she was instantly put on the defensive.
After just a few moves, her left shoulder was gashed open by a short spear, and a numbing, itching sensation immediately followed.
’Poison!’
She hurriedly used her Inner Qi to resist the poison’s invasion, causing her Sword Momentum to falter for a moment.
Tu Hong seized the opening. His Ghost Head Saber whistled shrilly as it slashed at her waist.
She twisted with all her might to dodge, but the blade still grazed her side, sending a spray of blood into the air.
PFFT!
She staggered back, her face ashen, her Inner Qi in disarray.
A glance from the corner of her eye revealed that her disciples had been all but wiped out under the siege of the Netherworld Pavilion members. Only two managed to break through the encirclement, but they were soon swallowed by the black-robed figures chasing them.
"Flee!"
Yang Rui hesitated no longer. She took a palm strike from Han Ling head-on, using the force to propel herself backward in retreat.
"Trying to run?"
Tu Hong grinned savagely but didn’t rush to pursue.
Han Ling glanced at the eight carriages full of goods, then at the direction Yang Rui had fled, and said quickly:
"Elder Tu, you pursue and kill her. I’ll escort this batch of supplies and head back first. We shouldn’t linger here; Qingxuan Sect reinforcements might arrive soon."
"Don’t worry, she won’t get away."
Tu Hong licked his lips, then shot forward like a cheetah, chasing into the dense forest where Yang Rui had disappeared.
Han Ling, meanwhile, ordered his subordinates to quickly clear the battlefield. They hastily buried the bodies of the Qingxuan Sect disciples and drove the supply-laden carriages away at high speed in the opposite direction.
...
「In the early morning, a thin mist veiled Qingxuan Mountain like a light gauze. The flying eaves of the mountain’s halls were faintly visible through the fog.」
The occasional chirp of a bird from the woods only served to accentuate the mountain’s tranquility.
In the Quiet Chamber of Courtyard Thirty-five.
Green smoke curled up from the Sandalwood Incense Burner, its faint fragrance mingling with the cool morning air, creating a calming atmosphere.
Fang Han sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes lightly closed, his aura as placid as still water.
He poured a longan-sized, lustrously colored Elixir from the Jade Bottle and put it in his mouth.
The Elixir melted instantly, turning into a gentle stream of Medicinal Power that slid down his throat and into his stomach, then spread throughout his body.
This was a Yunling Pill.
Its Medicinal Power was stronger than a True Spirit Pill’s but weaker than an Earth Spirit Pill’s, putting it somewhere between the two.
A single pill cost one hundred Contribution Points. Consuming one per day meant that the cost of Yunling Pills alone was a full three thousand Contribution Points per month.
For an ordinary disciple, this was an unbearable expense.
But for Fang Han, it was nothing.
As number one on the overall rankings, his monthly reward was thirty-five thousand Contribution Points. A mere three thousand was less than a tenth of that.
’"Cyan Profound Technique."’
Fang Han focused his mind, and the cyan-gold Inner Qi within him began to circulate slowly.
The Medicinal Power of the Yunling Pill flowed through his meridians, where it was continuously absorbed and refined by his Inner Qi. It was transformed into wisps of pure, cyan-gold Inner Qi that flowed into his Qi Sea before being channeled toward his Yintang acupoint.
After reaching the Third Grade, the refinement of his Inner Qi was far beyond what it had been at the Fourth Grade.
Every sliver of Inner Qi required several times more Medicinal Power to condense than before.
But with the 256x Root Bone Talent Amplification, his Cultivation speed was still astonishing.
The Inner Qi surged through his meridians like rivers flowing into the sea. Each circulation brought a subtle but solid increase in his power.
Time passed silently.
Within the Quiet Chamber, the only sounds were Fang Han’s long, steady breaths and the faint, almost inaudible hum of his Inner Qi circulating.
「Two hours later.」
Fang Han slowly ceased his practice and opened his eyes. A faint cyan glint of Essence flashed within them before disappearing.
He gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, sensing the increasingly full well of Inner Qi in his Yintang acupoint.
It had been over two months since he had broken through to the Third Grade.
Throughout these two months, he had never slacked in his daily training, even while on missions. His accumulation of Inner Qi had never ceased.
At this moment, the Inner Qi in his Yintang acupoint was misty and abundant, more than ninety percent full.
’Soon.’
Fang Han murmured to himself, a faint smile on his lips.
In a few more days at most, his Yintang acupoint would be completely filled with Inner Qi. Then, he could attempt to break through to the Middle Stage of Third Grade.
He stood up, stretching his slightly sore limbs, and pushed open the door to the Quiet Chamber.
The morning light washed over him, carrying the unique warmth and brightness of early summer.
The bamboo grove in the courtyard was a lush, vibrant green, rustling in the gentle breeze as a few leaves spiraled to the ground.
Fang Han crossed the courtyard and entered the side hall.
Qiu Lan was busy in the hall with two other Maids. Seeing him enter, she quickly bowed in greeting. "Senior Brother, breakfast is ready."
Fang Han nodded slightly and sat down at the table.
Several exquisite side dishes and a bowl of steaming Blood Rice were neatly arranged.
The dishes were light, but the ingredients were precious and prepared with great care.
He picked up his chopsticks and began to eat slowly.
Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, followed by the voice of an attendant:
"Senior Brother Fang, a disciple from the Sect Leader’s Hall is here to see you. He says it’s urgent."