Chapter 627 - 622: Weakness
Chapter 627: Chapter 622: Weakness
Fang Han stood still in the center of the wilderness.
Sunlight spilled from the sky, stretching his shadow long. He took a deep breath.
Within his body, the dark green Inner Qi of the Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture began to surge and circulate.
The vast Inner Qi of the Late Stage of Second Grade circulated without reservation, roaring and surging through his meridians like a great river.
His physical strength of three hundred thousand catties was mobilized simultaneously, his bones and sinews humming in unison.
His right hand gripped the hilt of the Cloud Splitting Sword.
KLANG—
The sword sang like a dragon’s cry, clear and melodious, instantly spreading across the entire wilderness.
His Wind Sword Intent erupted without reservation.
This time, the intensity of his Wind Sword Intent far surpassed any previous attempt.
A pale cyan brilliance suddenly flared up on the body of the sword.
The light was so condensed it seemed solid, carrying a terrifying sharpness that felt as if it could tear through anything.
Under the illumination of this brilliance, the air around the blade silently split open, forming fine, pitch-black fissures.
It was as if space itself was trembling slightly under the edge of this sword.
Fang Han poured all of his power—his Inner Qi, physical strength, and Wind Sword Intent—into the Cloud Splitting Sword.
Then, he executed the Void Wind God Sword and swung down.
SWOOSH—!
This strike had no fancy Transformations, just a simple downward slash.
But the moment the blade fell—
A terrifyingly powerful, pale cyan Sword Qi shot out from its edge.
The Sword Qi was a hundred feet long, condensed as if it were solid, and appeared as a nearly transparent, pale cyan color.
At the edges of the Sword Qi, the air was torn open into pitch-black fissures.
The fissures lingered, emitting a low, sharp whine, as if space itself was groaning in agony under the sword’s power.
Wherever the Sword Qi passed—
—the ground silently split open.
The chasm was as smooth as a mirror and bottomlessly deep. It stretched out from Fang Han’s feet, extending straight into the distance.
Everything in its path, whether it was dirt, rubble, weeds, or even the house-sized boulders scattered across the wilderness—
—was split down the middle, the severed surfaces as smooth as a mirror.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no deafening roar.
Only that single, supremely condensed Sword Qi, silently tearing through and severing everything.
The Sword Qi continued onward, until—
—it was hundreds of yards away.
Only then did the pale cyan Sword Qi gradually fade, finally dissipating in the sunlight.
Where the Sword Qi vanished, the fissure in the ground came to an abrupt end.
From Fang Han’s feet to the fissure’s end, a straight chasm hundreds of yards long lay across the wilderness like a gruesome scar.
The surfaces of the severed boulders were so smooth they could reflect a person’s image.
A few startled birds flew over the chasm, but they couldn’t withstand the lingering Sword Intent. They silently split in two and fell into the fissure’s depths without making a sound.
Fang Han sheathed his sword and stood tall, a hint of pleasant surprise flashing in his eyes as he gazed at the terrifying, hundreds-of-yards-long fissure.
"About fifteen times stronger."
He muttered to himself, his voice echoing softly in the quiet wilderness.
From the destructive power of that strike, he could roughly gauge the increase in his maximum combat strength.
Compared to when he had reached Perfection in the Sky-Splitting Sword Technique, his maximum combat strength had increased by about fifteen times after reaching the Entry Level of the Void Wind God Sword.
Fifteen times.
His combat strength was already at the peak of the Third Breakthrough Martial Artist level. Now, it was fifteen times greater.
This meant his current combat strength had surpassed the limits of a Third Breakthrough Martial Artist, fast approaching the Grandmaster Realm.
Qin Yuan, Lin Qingyin, Chu Jinghong—the maximum combat strength of those three top-level prodigies, who had left him far behind at the Martial Arts Assembly, was only at this level.
’If I’d had this kind of strength at the Martial Arts Assembly...’
Fang Han gently clenched his fist, his gaze falling upon the fissure that was hundreds of yards long.
If he had already reached the Entry Level of the Void Wind God Sword during the Martial Arts Assembly, he would never have been defeated so easily by Qin Yuan’s heaven-shaking strike.
Even if he still lost in the end, it would not have been such a miserable defeat.
He sheathed his sword and stood with his hands clasped behind his back in the wilderness.
A light breeze blew past, kicking up dust from the ground.
The hundreds-of-yards-long fissure cast a deep shadow under the sun, like a medal carved into the earth.
"However..."
After a long moment, the pleasant surprise on Fang Han’s face slowly faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.
Executing that last sword strike had consumed nearly one-fiftieth of his Inner Qi.
It didn’t sound like much, but a quick calculation made his heart sink slightly.
One-fiftieth.
In other words, with his current Cultivation at the Late Stage of Second Grade, he could only execute about fifty such strikes at most.
In a real battle, the consumption of Inner Qi also had to account for using Body Techniques and reinforcing his defenses. The number of Sword Techniques he could actually use for offense was probably only around thirty or forty.
’Only enough for a few dozen moves!’
"The more powerful the technique, the greater the consumption of Inner Qi..."
Fang Han muttered to himself, his brow furrowing even more tightly.
The strength for a few dozen moves was naturally more than enough to deal with opponents with a large gap in combat power.
He could crush them in a few strikes, never needing all of them.
But if he encountered an opponent on the same level, such as Qin Yuan or Chu Jinghong, whose combat strength also surpassed the Third Breakthrough and approached the Grandmaster level...
...a mere few dozen moves would make it impossible to win.
Once his Inner Qi was exhausted, he would be a sitting duck.
’My Inner Qi Cultivation is already severely limiting my true strength!’
Fang Han slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air and withdrew his gaze from the fissure.
No matter how strong his Swordsmanship was, without sufficient Cultivation to support it, it was like a tree without roots or a river without a source—ultimately unsustainable.
His current situation was like a Divine Weapon that could cut through iron like mud, but was fitted with a wooden handle as thin as a strand of hair.
Although it could harm the enemy, it could also break at any moment.
From this perspective, choosing the Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture, a Middle Grade Inner Power technique that could speed up his Inner Qi Cultivation, instead of the Middle Grade Mental Realm Body Technique he urgently needed, was undoubtedly the right choice.
Inner Qi was now his greatest limitation!
"My training needs to focus on Inner Qi from now on."
Fang Han muttered to himself, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.
Although the breakthrough in his Swordsmanship brought him joy, it also made him more keenly aware of his shortcomings.
His Cultivation at the Late Stage of Second Grade had become his most severe bottleneck.
He needed a higher Cultivation, a more abundant supply of Inner Qi, to truly unleash that fifteen-fold increase in combat strength.
Fang Han turned and walked toward the Qingxuan Sect.
Behind him, the hundreds-of-yards-long fissure stretched silently under the sun, like a measuring mark carved into the earth.
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn after his departure, several whooshing sounds came from the southeast.
Four Martial Artists who happened to be nearby were alarmed by the terrifying disturbance and cautiously approached the wilderness.
The leader was a burly man of about forty, with a Cultivation at the Late Stage of Fourth Grade.
Following him were three companions, all of whose Cultivation levels were around the Fourth Grade.
"Brother Zhou, what do you think that commotion was...?"
A tall, skinny man asked in a hushed voice, his gaze warily scanning their surroundings.
The burly man, surnamed Zhou, didn’t answer, merely continuing forward with a solemn expression.
Suddenly—
—his steps came to an abrupt halt.
The three behind him couldn’t stop in time and nearly crashed into his back.
Just as they were about to ask what was wrong, their gazes went past his shoulder to what lay ahead, and the words caught in their throats.
There in the wilderness, a fissure hundreds of yards long lay across the land.
It stretched straight into the distance, like a gruesome scar carved by an invisible giant blade.
Wherever the fissure passed, the house-sized boulders scattered across the wilderness were all split down the middle.
The severed surfaces were as smooth as a mirror, glinting with a cold light under the sun.
"Th-This... What is this?!"
The tall, skinny man cried out in shock, his face instantly turning deathly pale.
The man surnamed Zhou swallowed hard, his gaze following the fissure into the distance, his heart pounding more with every second.
He was a Late-Fourth Grade Martial Artist and believed that with his full strength, he could cut a fissure tens of feet long in the ground.
But the fissure before them was hundreds of yards long, and its edges were so smooth and clean it was as if what had been cut was not hard earth and rock, but a soft piece of tofu.
What made his heart palpitate even more was the faint, lingering sharpness in the air.
The sharpness was extremely faint, yet it made his skin break out in fine bumps, as if countless invisible needles were gently pricking him all over.
"Even if this wasn’t done by a Grandmaster, it was left by an expert extremely close to the Grandmaster Realm!"
The man surnamed Zhou’s voice was hoarse and dry, filled with irrepressible horror.
"A Grandmaster?!"
The three behind him all sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.
"Let’s go, now!"
Without any more hesitation, the man surnamed Zhou turned and fled, his pace several times faster than when he had arrived.
The other three snapped out of their daze and scrambled to follow.
The figures of the four men quickly disappeared into the mountain forest, not daring to even glance back.
...
「Qingxuan Sect, Courtyard No. 35.」
It was afternoon by the time Fang Han returned to his courtyard.
After lunch and a short rest, he went to his Quiet Chamber.
Wisps of green smoke curled up from the Sandalwood Incense Burner. Its faint fragrance mingled with the warm afternoon air, circulating slowly in the Quiet Chamber.
Fang Han sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He didn’t begin his Cultivation immediately, but instead reviewed and reorganized his future training plan in his mind.
"Swordsmanship, Body Technique, Horizontal Training, Inner Power, and Secret Techniques."
Fang Han muttered to himself, quickly weighing his priorities.
In terms of Body Technique, his Wind God Step had already reached Perfection, with no room for further advancement. Until he obtained a High Grade Body Technique, there was no need to invest more time in it.
As for Swordsmanship, the power of his Void Wind God Sword was already immense, so much so that his Inner Qi could barely keep up. This was also not the most pressing matter.
Regarding Horizontal Training, his Xuanwu True Skill was still at the Minor Achievement Realm. There was still a way to go before the next Realm, so he just needed to continue practicing it step-by-step.
For Secret Techniques, Netherworld Guide and Ghost Shadow were ultimately just support skills. Given his current situation, he could pause his Cultivation of these two techniques.
’And Inner Power...’
A look of resolve flashed in Fang Han’s eyes.
Inner Qi Cultivation was the absolute foundation.
No matter how strong his Swordsmanship, without enough Cultivation to support it, it was like a tree without roots or a river without a source.
"From this day forward, I will spend two hours a day cultivating the Void Wind God Sword, two hours on the Xuanwu True Skill, and all remaining time will be devoted to cultivating the Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture."
Having made up his mind, Fang Han no longer hesitated. He took a Jade Bottle from his Storage Ring, uncorked it, and tipped two Earth Spirit Pills into his mouth.
The Elixirs dissolved the moment they entered his mouth, and a gentle yet vast Medicinal Power spread through his abdomen before surging to his limbs and bones.
WHOOSH—
He closed his eyes, and the Cyan Wood Antitoxic Scripture began to circulate slowly.
The dark green Inner Qi surged through his meridians like a mighty river, capturing and refining every trace of the Earth Spirit Pills’ Medicinal Power.
It was converted into wisps of pure Inner Qi, which then merged into his meridians and flowed toward the Baihui Acupoint, which was not yet filled.
Under the 512-times Root Bone Talent Amplification, the growth rate of his Inner Qi reached an inconceivable level.
With every Circulation of the Heavens, his Inner Qi showed a remarkably significant increase.