Advancement in Sword Technique, One Thunderclap Leads to Meditation

Several days later

After the snow, the sky was a pure, pale blue, with wispy clouds drifting across it like gossamer threads.

The midday sun quietly dappled the windowpane, and the frost that had formed on the windowside the night before was melting away, silently flowing into tiny streams.

The school's elite building, a private martial arts studio

"Whoosh!"

Driven by a powerful force, the blade light shifted and tore through the air, instantly transforming into a network of interwoven blades.

Li Xijun focused intently on the flashing light of the standard longsword in his hand, his heart surging with killing intent.

"Even if you have the trump card of escaping by traveling through different worlds, you can't use it too often. If you use it too many times, you'll inevitably expose your weaknesses."

"In order to escape, I used a nano-protective suit to mimic the electromagnetic pistol, turning it into a black rock and throwing it into the lake. So many days have passed, I wonder if it's still there?"

Li Xijun's mind was still replaying the scenes from that night.

"Although nanotechnology with DNA binding is almost without problems,"

"But the thought of surviving such a life-or-death crisis... I cannot rest until this scoundrel is killed and the Wusheng Dao Temple is destroyed!"

Li Xijun's gaze grew increasingly cold:

"I'm still not strong enough!"

"No matter how calm you were when you escaped, or how skillful and decisive your thoughts and actions were, they were ultimately minor tricks."

"Strength! I still need to improve my strength!"

Li Xijun's killing intent grew stronger, and the longsword in his hand became increasingly versatile.

"Swish! Swish! Swish..............!"

The snow-white blade flashed in seventy-six consecutive variations, appearing like a ball of silver light under the lights of the martial arts room.

The murderous intent in his heart surged even more...

The calmer your mind is.

The more rapidly his swordsmanship improved, the better.

A knife is a weapon, knife skills are techniques for killing, and martial arts is also the way of killing!

One cut after another, one transformation after another,

As Li Xijun focused on his work, his sword swings became faster and faster, with continuous improvement in angle, power, and precision.

Time is passing by little by little...

Until a certain moment,

The perfect transformation of the 108-slash technique was revealed, and the blade light, carrying pure killing intent, suddenly exploded. As a ball of silver light scattered, the changing blade net resembled layers of snow lotus blooming.

Your skill level in "Ten Thousand Blades Return to the Flow" has improved from 75% to 100%.

When Li Xijun followed Su Nianying to practice the complete set of 31,104 variations of the sword technique and mastered the [Ten Thousand Swords Return to Flow], his original [61% proficiency in basic sword techniques] had already been incorporated into it.

This also made Li Xijun's progress in mastering the [Ten Thousand Blades Return to Flow] beginner level extremely fast, until he encountered this opportunity today and completely mastered it.

"I have completely mastered the changes that form the foundation of the entire sword technique."

Looking at the sudden surge in proficiency before him, Li Xijun understood perfectly.

"It seems the first half of the entire sword technique is no longer an obstacle."

"From now on, all you need to do is repeat this process of control over the changes one by one."

"The rest is to master each move of the [Ten Thousand Blades Return to Flow] to break through to the fourth stage of the College Entrance Examination Martial Arts, which is the [Mind, Body, and Weapon Unity].

The improvement in his swordsmanship allowed Li Xijun to relax a little. While sitting down to rest, he looked at his recent gains.

[Your martial arts training system: Refining Realm, increased from 19% to 21%.]

Your mastery level in the Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Technique has increased from 30% to 50%.

Your Qi and Blood level has increased from 8.1 to 8.2.

The flesh and blood of the dragon-like demons brought Li Xijun immense benefits.

The flesh and blood of those cold-water dragons now in the incubator at home...

Enough for him to cultivate all the way to the level of mastery of purification.

Even the progress in the "Azure Dragon Heaven-Reaching Technique" is extremely noticeable with each use.

At present, it seems that reaching 100% mastery is just a matter of time.

Seeing that his martial arts skills on both sides were still improving rapidly, he was satisfied and turned his attention to another problem:

"So, how will you get me into the state of oblivion?"

Li Xijun, who had tried several times in the past few days without success, was still clueless.

After thinking it over for a while, he decided to go and ask Su Nianyi, who had awakened her mental powers, for some ideas.

...........................

"drop!"

Having already recorded her iris, Li Xijun pushed open the door to her private martial arts room.

This drew the attention of the two women who were practicing basic cultivation techniques as usual in the room, as well as the two women who were watching and giving instructions from the side.

"that........."

Li Xijun walked over, about to ask a question.

Su Nianying had already stepped forward and placed his hand in the correct position.

"Just to be on the safe side, let me try first, then let my sister try."

"No need, I trust him."

Su Nianyi also grabbed Li Xijun's other hand and placed it on her.

The sight of someone holding one in each hand made Li Xijun swallow her words.

"Well, let's help others and assist our classmate in his cultivation for a while."

........................

Yoshihisa

"Inner self unaware, outer universe unknown, one in perfect harmony with the Dao, all thoughts vanished?"

Having completed the training on the stimulation of internal organs by the Void Shock, Su Nianyi frowned, pondering the other party's request.

"I've only ever read about people entering this state of complete absorption in books. They were Taoist masters from the old days before the Great Cataclysm."

"Even if you have talent in this area, it will probably take you a long time to read Taoist classics and practice meditation before you can succeed."

Li Xijun also knew this method.

After all, when the cultivators of the three religions nurture their respective "hearts," it is inseparable from the scriptures they read when they first attained enlightenment.

But who could blame him for having the Great Luo Mark on his ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, allowing him to bypass that step and directly open the aperture back then?

If I were to go back and catch up on the lessons now, I don't know how much time it would take.

"How did you awaken your psychic powers and begin projecting them outwards?"

Li Xijun, dissatisfied with the first answer, pressed for further information.

"I..." Su Nianyi recalled the awakening of her spiritual power, "At that time, I only felt a throbbing pain in my ancestral aperture between my eyebrows every day, and I could hardly sleep well day and night. But until one rainy day..."

As the girl gradually drifted into her memories, a noticeable darkness appeared in her purple eyes, as if she were searching for a memory from a particular moment.

"At that moment, I seemed to instinctively run to the backyard of my house to wait for something, until..."

"Lightning strike!" With her dim eyes regaining their light, Su Nianyi said firmly, "I listened to the thunder in the courtyard for a long time until a thunderclap exploded in my 'ear'."

"At that time, I seemed to enter an indescribable silence, and then I fainted. Later, I was in a coma in the hospital for a week. When I woke up, my mental strength suddenly increased a lot, and I instinctively released it outwards."

If Su Nianyi's words were to be heard by those martial artists who have been trapped in the realm of intent for decades, they would probably be distressed for a long time.

Countless people have been desperately seeking to enhance their mental strength in order to break through the external world.

As a result, some people have awakened their mental powers in this bizarre way.

If Li Xijun hadn't had her own special ability, she would probably be quite envious right now.

"That feeling was fleeting, and I was asleep for so long afterward that I didn't pay much attention to it."

Su Nianyi also found it somewhat amazing and looked at the other person, saying:

"Now, when I revisit those memories and images from back then, that state seems to match what you described as 'a state of complete absorption, where one feels nothing and knows nothing,' a state of complete immersion in the world."

"This is it! This is the state I need to enter!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xijun's eyes lit up, and she immediately said:

"In that case, I could try listening to thunder, but I don't know if there have been any thunderstorms recently..."

"Ahem!"

At the same time, Su Nianying, sitting to the side, coughed a few times, raised her arrogant face, and casually said:

"Experts at the Outer Realm can mobilize the power of heaven and earth and control wind, rain, thunder, and lightning."

"Speaking of which, in the Thunder Saint Blade Technique that I learned at the Qingquan Chunhui Palace, there is a move that can summon heavenly thunder and shake the soul."

..........................

at dusk

As the sun set, the remaining afterglow had not yet faded, and a faint orange glow shone through the gray clouds, like a flickering red in the still-warm ashes.

Only a minority of students at No. 7 Middle School have private martial arts classrooms.

The vast majority of liberal arts students and martial arts students went home to practice during the winter break.

This makes the school's back playground, which once accommodated ten football fields, exceptionally quiet at sunset.

The crisp, cold air grew even more biting at this time, so intense that one's breath would rise into white vapor, swirling and dissipating before one's eyes.

Su Nianyi, dressed in purple Hanfu, sat on the stone steps beside the playground.

Li Xijun stood in the middle of the grass on the playground, watching Su Nianying's figure slowly rise and fly into the clouds.

In that remaining crimson light, the other person's figure became somewhat blurry.

But as the opponent began to reveal the aura of a powerful cultivator from the outer realms...

The remaining crimson clouds in the sky seemed to be accelerated instantly, spinning rapidly like a vortex in the sky.

Dark clouds gathered, pressing down on the city, like a curtain hanging over the entire back playground.

Outside this area, however, lies the usual beautiful winter scenery of the setting sun.

As someone who was at the center, Li Xijun could clearly feel this.

The place I am in and the outside world have almost become two different worlds.

"This is the realm of powerful beings who can break through the limitations and control the power of the outer world. If ordinary martial artists or mythical creatures enter this realm, the other party can crush them with just a thought."

Li Xijun was somewhat shocked when she saw it with her own eyes.

In particular, seeing the sky filled with wind and rain, lightning and thunder, a celestial phenomenon resembling a heavenly calamity,

While fear arose from his life and spiritual instincts, a longing also emerged within him.

If he could possess the strength of an outer realm martial artist,

Not to mention the middle-aged Taoist priest from before, he could kick the head of the abbot of Wusheng Taoist Temple like a ball, and even lift the entire Wusheng Taoist Temple and the mountaintop up!

"Get ready. I will precisely control this strike that draws upon the power of thunder, so that it explodes only around you, simultaneously shaking and disturbing your soul."

Su Nianying's voice rang in the other person's ear, carrying a hint of authority and sternness.

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Xijun nodded slightly, "Let's begin."

next moment,

Within Li Xijun's visible field of vision, there was only purple lightning that filled the sky and earth!

The long sword attracted heavenly lightning, which struck down from above. When it reached Li Xijun, it suddenly exploded from the tip of the sword. The thunderous explosion cleared away everything and destroyed everything, as if it had swallowed, annihilated, and dissipated his entire being!

At the moment the thunderclap exploded from the blade's tip, all of Li Xijun's thoughts, consciousness, and ideas were shattered and dissipated.

It was a kind of stillness I had never experienced before.

The body, the soul, and even the universe seem to be left behind, leaving only the "true self".

With the help of this external force, he entered a state of "forgetting himself and the world," and after confirming that it was feasible, he unconsciously experienced emotions such as joy.

The emergence of this emotion caused the original feeling of "forgetting oneself and the world" to vanish instantly like a dream.

Various senses of the soul and body emerged, and when Li Xijun came to his senses, the dark clouds and stormy weather had already dissipated.

Su Nianying and Su Nianying had already come to his side, looking at him somewhat nervously.

Su Nianying, who usually sheathed her long sword, earnestly instructed Li Xijun as he looked over:

"No matter what the outcome, you can't continue like this for a while. No matter how much I suppress it, this strike carries the power of thunder to shock your soul, which will inevitably cause some damage to your soul. If it happens too often, your soul will be damaged beyond repair."

"Don't worry, there's no need to use this sword technique a second time."

With his permanent certificate, Li Xijun can solidify his state the moment he enters the state of "forgetting oneself and the external world," allowing him to enter and maintain this state anytime, anywhere.

The rest is to see what kind of "heart" you will develop after you have seen your "true self".

Thinking of this, Li Xijun, who had been stuck for a long time, couldn't wait to say goodbye to the two women.

After leaving the school gate, I took a taxi directly home. After lighting a stick of incense to calm my mind,

Sitting upright on the bed, I began to re-enter the state of 'forgetting oneself and the world' that I had just been in.

Time passed little by little.

Having entered a state of "sitting in oblivion," Li Xijun had long forgotten everything in the outside world.

In this state, he gradually saw "me" amidst all emptiness, all nothingness, and all non-existence.

When the thought of nurturing one's "true self" arises...

A person's thoughts that they would never reveal to the outside world are revealed.

The questioning that arose at the birth of one's own "heart" then arises:

What kind of "heart" should you have?

The thought that appeared almost occupied his entire mind.

It's like a chain, a bondage, a curse that runs deep into the soul, forever surrounding, forever existing, and forever inescapable.

The question kept echoing and recurring in his mind.

At this time, the cultivators of the three religions would naturally be just as bewildered as Li Xijun was at that moment.

But when faced with this question from the deepest part of one's own heart,

Those who cultivate their spirit from childhood by reading Taoist classics, Buddhist scriptures, and the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics

Perhaps gradually, instinctively, one will find what one wants from the ideas and knowledge one has acquired over the years.

However, Li Xijun, who had not been enlightened by the scriptures of the three religions, did not do so.

He simply went along with this inner questioning.

Memories of my past kept flashing before my eyes.