(The temperature suddenly dropped by ten degrees. My whole body is shivering, and my two claws are almost frozen. Writing is really a challenge. Fellow brothers, remember to protect yourself from the cold and keep warm. I really envy Chen Zong, he can still go out now.)
In early spring, the coldness seemed to be heavier, but the sunshine was lively and full of vitality. Everything was nourished and grew.
On the branches of a few big trees, clusters of tender green appeared. Under the dew drops, they were verdant. Under the refraction of the light, a figure was reflected, as if a small person was practicing swordsmanship.
"Light-splitting Shadow!"
With a slash of his sword, eight sword-lights pierced through the air like arrows, leaving behind eight clear sword scars.
After practicing Light-splitting Shadow several times, Chen Zong's Qi and blood were exhausted. He ran the second level of Fierce Tiger Skill to recover.
After recovering, he began to practice Light-splitting Shadow.
Light-splitting Swordsmanship was divided into two levels.
The first level was Light-splitting Shadow.
The second level was Light-splitting Shadow.
There was no doubt that the second level was much more powerful than the first.
The first level of Guiding Style had seven movements. The second level of Guiding Style had nine movements. The first seven movements were the same as the first level. The difference was the eighth and ninth movements, which were the essence of Light-splitting Shadow.
To practice the second level, one had to reach the Profound Realm of the second level as the foundation. At first, Chen Zong didn't understand. Now he understood that it was not absolute, but relative.
In the cultivation of martial arts, the higher the realm, the higher the level of understanding of that martial art. The degree of mastery would also increase accordingly. Only after reaching the realm of great mastery would one be able to cultivate the second stage. In fact, it should be said that when one's understanding of Splitting Light and Sweeping Shadow reached the realm of great mastery, one would be able to cultivate Shadowless Splitting.
Of course, in most cases, understanding also meant that one had mastered it. Only in some rare cases, one had to understand it first and then master it later. There was no synchronization.
The difficulty of practicing Light-splitting Shadow was in the eighth and ninth movement.
Perhaps it was because Chen Zong would make adjustments according to his own thoughts while practicing the Scattered Light Fleeting Shadows. The eighth movement was not difficult for him at all, but the ninth movement was a problem.
The purpose of the Guiding Style was to guide the Vitality Force to circulate in a unique way.
The eighth movement was an extension and strengthening of the first seven movements, but the ninth movement's circulation of Qi and Blood would undergo a huge change in an instant. It was as if the circulation of Qi and Blood had changed from releasing to withdrawing, and from scattering to gathering. The completely different circulation method required Chen Zong to control the circulation of Qi and Blood in an instant. It was as if a galloping horse had to suddenly turn around.
After practicing for a while, Chen Zong still couldn't find a clue.
…
The Clan Hall wasn't sealed off, and it was very well-informed.
"Tang Junluo has made a breakthrough …" Chen Zong was a little surprised when he heard the news, but he thought it was normal.
After all, Tang Junluo had tempered his Blood Qi eight times. As a martial artist, his cultivation speed was much faster. Moreover, he was the young master of the Tang family. Naturally, he would enjoy better resources. It was only natural for him to break through to the fifth stage of the Qi and Blood realm in just four to five months.
"Then, Li Zhenshi and Zhao Wangcheng shouldn't be too far away from breaking through." Chen Zong guessed. Although the two of them hadn't tempered their Blood Qi eight times, they had reached the limit of seven times. They were even better than him. Moreover, they were the young masters of two wealthy families. Needless to say, they enjoyed even better treatment.
As for the young masters of the Chen family, the older one had already left the Clan Hall, and the younger one wasn't even old enough to practice martial arts.
About half a month later, another piece of news came. Li Zhenshi and Zhao Wangcheng had broken through to the fifth stage of the Qi and Blood realm.
"I'll be there soon too," Chen Zong said to himself.
The third piece of news was that Tang Junluo, Li Zhenshi, and Zhao Wangcheng had left Fengwu City separately and entered Mount Fulong to seek out beasts to train themselves.
"Beasts …" Chen Zong's gaze was distant.
Monstrous beasts were a terrifying and dangerous species. Even the weakest monstrous beast was equivalent to a Qi and Blood Realm Level 4 martial artist. They were born with strong bodies, sharp claws and teeth, astonishing survival abilities, and a certain level of intelligence. Under normal circumstances, martial artists of the same level were no match for monstrous beasts.
Martial artists who could single-handedly kill beasts of the same level were called elite martial artists.
"Should I also leave the Clan Hall and go to Mount Fulong to train?" Chen Zong suddenly had this thought.
He used to think that it wasn't the right time, but now, he seemed to be influenced by Tang Junluo and the other two.
No matter how outstanding he was, he was still a fifteen-year-old youth.
"I'll go to Mount Fulong, but not now." Chen Zong suppressed his inner desire.
Reality proved once again that Shadowless Dispersion was harder to cultivate than Shadowless Dispersion. Especially the ninth movement, which had to instantly reverse the flow of Blood Qi. Chen Zong failed every time, and every failure would cause his Blood Qi to vibrate, making him feel very uncomfortable.
At the forge, Chen Zong could already easily forge ordinary iron swords of excellent quality. Elder Lie began to teach him how to forge fine iron swords.
…
At the Martial Library, Chen Zong spent two hundred contribution points to exchange for the right to cultivate the Wind Stepping Steps.
There was only one level to the Wind Stepping Steps. Chen Zong studied it and realized that it wasn't very difficult to cultivate. It wouldn't take long for him to get started.
From now on, he had one more move to cultivate. Chen Zong began to feel that he didn't have enough time, but in order to improve his overall strength, he had to squeeze in the lack of time and find joy in the midst of hardship.
…
February 15, 396 of the Zhenwu calendar.
Under the shade of the tree, a figure was walking at a fast pace, as if he was stepping on the wind. His body moved with the wind, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared three meters away. His body flashed again, and appeared three meters away again.
"The Wind Stepping Steps is easy to cultivate."
The cultivation and execution of the Wind Stepping Steps required the consumption of Vitality Force. The classification was also very straightforward. Taking one step was entry level, two steps was minor success, and three steps was major success.
Chen Zong's cultivation was at the fourth level of the Blood Qi realm. When he executed the Wind Stepping Steps, he could cover three meters in one step. Now that he could take two steps consecutively, he was at the initial level.
He cultivated the Spectral Swordsmanship.
His Blood Qi was depleted once again.
The second level of the Fierce Tiger Skill was activated. When his Blood Qi was fully recovered, Chen Zong felt his Blood Qi become restless as if it was about to escape his control.
"This feeling …" Chen Zong's expression changed. He quickly continued to activate the Fierce Tiger Skill. He used his mind to coordinate with the Fierce Tiger Skill and forcefully controlled his surging Blood Qi.
His Blood Qi became more and more restless, but Chen Zong had a firm grip on it. It was as if he was taming a ferocious tiger. This might be difficult for an ordinary martial artist, but it was nothing for Chen Zong.
The restlessness of his Blood Qi was gradually suppressed. It was as if a raging river had calmed down. However, there were continuous roars of a tiger. As his Blood Qi circulated, it became more abundant.
Abundant Blood Qi!
This was the sign of the fifth level of the Blood Qi realm.
"I've finally reached the fifth level of the Blood Qi realm." Chen Zong smiled. This was within his expectations.
He could clearly feel the Blood Qi circulating in his body. It was abundant, as if it had spread all over his body. It had at least doubled.
He drew his sword and executed the Spectral Strike. Eight sword gleams followed, tearing through the air and leaving a two-meter long sword mark on the ground.
"I've used up almost one-tenth of my Blood Qi. It seems that the breakthrough in cultivation not only doubled the amount of Blood Qi, but also slightly increased its purity." Chen Zong came to this conclusion as he acutely sensed the depletion of his Blood Qi.
"Since my cultivation has broken through to the fifth level of the Blood Qi realm, I'll need at least a year to reach the sixth level of the Blood Qi realm.
"I still have no clue about the True Secret Realm.
"The Eight Forms of the True Sword is at the peak of perfection, but it's difficult to break through.
"The second level of the Spectral Swordsmanship is quite difficult to get started with."
After thinking about it, Chen Zong realized that there was nothing he could improve in a short period of time. In other words, he had passed the period of rapid improvement and was about to enter a relatively stable period.
Since that was the case, going out to train was the best choice.
"Let's go to the mission room and take a look at the missions."
Going out to train often had a purpose. Other than improving oneself, one also had to complete some missions to earn contribution points. It was killing two birds with one stone.
Chen Zong's gaze carefully swept across the mission panel as he memorized one mission after another.
Missions related to killing monsters and obtaining certain parts of their bodies, as well as missions related to picking herbs were all within the scope of acceptance. Anyway, he would not lose anything even if he could not complete them.
The last mission was to guard the mineral vein.
The Chen family had an iron mine in Mount Fulong. Miners would mine it every day. Most of the mined iron would be sold to various families in Martial Wind City. A small portion would be kept for themselves and supplied to the clan hall's foundry. It could be said that the iron mine was one of the Chen family's main sources of income.
Since that was the case, the mineral vein was very important. It had to be heavily guarded to prevent others from seizing the opportunity to attack and invade.
As for the mission of guarding the mineral vein, it was also to give the clan hall's disciples a chance to train.
The limit of this mission was ten people, and the duration of the mission was three months. During the mission, unless there was a special reason, they were not allowed to leave their posts for long periods of time. However, they were not restricted from leaving the iron mine for a short period of time to look for herbs in the vicinity.
If they left their posts for more than five days, they would be considered to have failed the mission and would be punished by having 300 contribution points deducted.
However, if they completed this mission, they would be able to obtain 1,200 contribution points. It was a good deal.
Chen Zong was the last person to accept this mission.
"Since you've already accepted this mission, get ready. Gather here in the afternoon and set off to the mineral vein with the other nine people. Don't delay. If you miss the time, you'll fail the mission," the administrator said solemnly.
"Got it." Chen Zong nodded and turned to leave. He first went to the foundry to inform Elder Lie that he had to make some preparations, such as bringing bags and some dry food.
After lunch, Chen Zong went to the mission room to wait.
Not long after, the other nine people arrived one after another. There were disciples of the Heaven Court and disciples of the Earth Court.
Among the nine people, Chen Zong saw a few familiar faces.
They were Chen Zhong, a disciple of the Earth Court who was also from the branch family in Xiaohu Town. There was also Chen Waixiu, who came to find trouble with him on Chen He's orders but left in a sorry state. There was also Chen Kaiyue, who wanted to gain something without risking anything.
When they saw Chen Zong, the three of them were very surprised.
"Brother Chen Zong, did you also accept this mission?" Chen Zhong could not help but ask.
"Hmph, do you think you can do whatever you want with a precious iron sword? You might even die under the claws of a demonic beast." Chen Waixiu still hated Chen Zong for making him leave in a sorry state that day. Chen Kaiyue stared at Chen Zong with a gaze as sharp as a sword.
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