Chapter 577 - 328: Swordsman Chen Qingzhou
Chapter 577: Chapter 328: Swordsman Chen Qingzhou
Chen Yi naturally did not know Xiao Jinghong’s movements. But he knew that within two or three days, Xiao Jinghong would inevitably return.
The reason was simple. Liu Hong’s hair had turned white overnight, and he no longer involved himself in government affairs; he was already like a grasshopper in late autumn—he wouldn’t be jumping around for much longer. Zhu Hao’s situation was much the same. Furthermore, the Capital Prefecture was closer to Guangyuan County. If the Imperial Court sent people to Shu State, their first stop would definitely be Guangyuan. Once the dust settled in Guangyuan, Xiao Jinghong would return to Shu State to oversee the Xiao Family and prevent Liu Hong from launching a counterattack.
The only thing Chen Yi wasn’t sure about was who would get the credit for bringing down Zhu Hao.
"I figure there’s a higher possibility that my elder brother Chen Yunfan will take the top credit.
"After all, Madam is now the Commander-in-Chief of the Dingyuan Army. She can’t be promoted any further and will, at most, receive some dispensable rewards."
Chen Yi saw through it all clearly, so he An Xined and went about his own business.
During the day, he played chess, played the zither, painted, fished, and read books. At night, he cultivated the Four Symbols Skill and various Martial Arts Techniques. His gains were not small. Although the Four Symbols Skill he cultivated was merely an Earth-rank Technique, with the enhancement of the Perfection Realm Martial Arts·Body, his Cultivation progress was still not slow. However, after his Cultivation reached the Fourth Grade Realm, it was no longer a simple accumulation of True Essence, but also involved the "God"—the enhancement of the Four Symbols Divine Position at his Forehead Acupoint.
The time required for a breakthrough exceeded that of the past. It took him about half a month to elevate by a minor realm. Whether he was satisfied or not, Chen Yi didn’t think too much about it. He just needed to put in more effort while Xiao Jinghong was away.
Fortunately, his Technique Cultivation was not constrained by his Cultivation Technique. It could be described as advancing a thousand miles in a single day.
The Big Spear Pile Skill, Black Tortoise Concealment Technique, and Four Symbols Skill were all cultivated to Perfection. After completely absorbing the Spear Dao Profound Mysteries of the Perfection Realm, the Celestial Tier Dragon-Falling Spear Spear Technique had also been cultivated to the Perfect Level. Although the Mountain Shattering Fist had reached the Celestial Tier, it was limited by his Great Success Fist Dao and had not progressed further, remaining at the Mastery Level. The Celestial Tier Hundred Flowers Palm, Wandering Dragon and Phoenix, Meteor Butterfly Step, Brocade Spring Saber Technique, and others were the same.
Among the Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting and Medicine Dao, only the Chess Dao remained, requiring him to find time to play chess and absorb its Profound Mysteries. Calculating carefully, aside from reading, cultivating the Four Symbols Skill, and fishing every day, the hours Chen Yi spent on Techniques were not considered much.
Late at night, inside the Purple Bamboo Forest.
After Chen Yi finished cultivating various Techniques and didn’t encounter any Opportunity for an epiphany, he checked the light screen:
[Opportunity: 346]
Chen Yi glanced at the remaining Opportunity and revealed a thoughtful expression.
"Now that both my Martial Arts and Techniques have reached a point where they can progress no further, it’s time to cultivate another Technique."
For anyone else, biting off more than one could chew was a universal truth. But Chen Yi was different. With Opportunity by his side, the path of "more skills do not weigh one down" was more suitable for him. Especially when it came to Martial Arts. The more Techniques he cultivated and the profounder his Realm, not only could he achieve comprehensive mastery by understanding one thing, but it could also make his Dao Realm even deeper.
Once his Cultivation broke through to the Upper Three Grades, he could use "God" to steal more of Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Mechanism to enhance the power of his Techniques. It just so happened that Chen Yi currently had another Technique suitable for Cultivation on hand: the Celestial Flower Flying Sword Technique.
"Swordsmanship, Sword Dao...
"Madam is known for her ’Spear and Sword Dual Mastery.’ This will actually complement her husband quite well."
Chen Yi chuckled a couple of times, then waved his hand to cut down a section of Purple Bamboo, and began cultivating the Celestial Flower Flying Sword Technique.
After practicing a set of moves, a notification appeared.
[Studying Swordsmanship·Celestial Flying Flower (Profound Tier) successful, Level: Initial Insight]
[Martial Arts·Sword: pre-entry-level 0/1 (points can be added)]
Without much hesitation, Chen Yi continued to consume Opportunity to elevate his Sword Dao to Great Success. As the Profound Mysteries flooded his mind, he also took the chance to elevate his Zither Dao to the Great Success Realm. At this point, all of his Technique Dao Realms had reached Great Success and above.
Chen Yi didn’t pay attention to the Zither Dao; he only roughly browsed through the Sword Dao Profound Mysteries before continuing to cultivate his Swordsmanship by the moonlight.
Half an hour, an hour...
In less than two hours, he had cultivated the Celestial Flower Flying Sword Technique to the Mastery Level. It couldn’t be described as anything but fast.
Chen Yi let out a light breath, his eyes falling on the pond not far away, and the Purple Bamboo in his hand slightly trembled. A phantom shadow slashed across ten zhang, and a faint Sword Qi bloomed, sinking into the pond water.
SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH...
Golden Carps, startled, leaped out of the water, staring at Chen Yi with wide fish eyes before splashing back into the pond one by one.
How should that look be described? It was roughly like the look in Chen Yi’s eyes when he was previously abducted by Liu Jing—as if looking at an idiot.
"..."
Chen Yi instantly shattered the Purple Bamboo in his hand, muttering words about roasting, stewing, and braising them sooner or later, and turned to head back to the wooden building.
Before he even reached his wing room, a chilling wind suddenly began to howl. There was a faint RUMBLE in the night sky.
Chen Yi stopped in his tracks, looked up, and slightly raised his eyebrows. "It’s going to rain."
As if in response to his words, a thunderbolt tore through the night, illuminating his figure. Bean-sized raindrops subsequently fell.
Before long, a PATTER of raindrops resounded throughout the courtyard. Those Golden Carps also joined in the fun, occasionally leaping out of the water to spit water in Chen Yi’s direction. Chen Yi just pretended not to see them, standing under the eaves to watch the night rain for a while. The yellowed lanterns fluttered in the wind, their shadows tangling with one another. Amidst the clamor, a sense of tranquility could be seen.
Just as he was lost in thought, a line of large golden characters floated past Chen Yi’s eyes:
[Daily Intelligence·Profound-rank Middle Grade: 9:00 PM, West Market tailor shop. Hidden Guard General, Lady Tiger, Simurgh Phoenix, and others exchange intelligence. A small amount of Opportunity can be obtained.]
Chen Yi glanced at it, retracted his Heart Spirit, turned around to return to his wing room, and continued to cultivate the Four Symbols Skill.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the White Tiger Guard should be about to make their move..."
...
It had been a while since it last rained in Shu State. When it suddenly started, the rain was torrential, and the temperature sharply dropped a few degrees along with it.
With every Autumn Rain comes a chill. The commoners in the city all changed into autumn clothing, and some with weak and cold constitutions even put on winter clothes.
Xiaodie was naturally no exception.