Chapter 306: Stealthy Night Probe of 3 Mountain Island

In the courtyard, Chu Fan divided his attention, teaching Wen Ang the Spear Technique while also instructing the two girls, Cailing and Bai Yun, in Sword Technique.

Both Cailing and Bai Yun had a great aptitude for Sword Technique. Chu Fan only needed to give them a few pointers for their swordsmanship to improve significantly.

Of course, this was related to Chu Fan’s own Realm in the Sword Dao, but the biggest reason was still the aptitude of the two girls.

Therefore, teaching them Sword Technique was quite simple for Chu Fan. He had them perform the techniques they already knew, then pointed out their shortcomings. They would practice again, and each piece of guidance resulted in an improvement.

Compared to teaching them Sword Technique, Chu Fan’s method of teaching Wen Ang the Spear Technique was much cruder.

This crudeness wasn’t about beatings or verbal abuse.

Instead, he had Wen Ang bear a weight of ten thousand jin and execute the Basic Thirteen Techniques over and over again.

This kind of training wouldn’t show much effect in the short term, but over time, after a long period of accumulation, it would surely allow his heaven-defying talent to erupt.

By the end of the day, Wen Ang, Cailing, and Bai Yun were all utterly exhausted.

Chu Fan had prepared a medicinal bath for them. After soaking for an hour, not only did their fatigue vanish, but their Cultivation also improved. They could even Calm the Mind and Gather the Spirit while in the bath, allowing them to properly reflect on the day’s gains and losses.

Of course, this medicinal bath wasn’t something Chu Fan had developed himself. It was specially prepared for them by their master’s wife, Yun Xi. It came in pre-mixed medicinal packs that just needed to be boiled in water.

Yun Xi had prepared a full one thousand of these packs.

They were Chu Fan’s disciples, but to Yun Xi, there was no difference from them being her own.

The next day, when Wen Ang went for his morning run carrying the Dragon’s Roar Demon-Slaying Spear, no other disciples made jokes anymore. They were merely curious about his novel training method.

And from this day on, aside from teaching the three youngsters Sword Technique and Spear Technique, Chu Fan himself began to ponder the Second Layer Realm of the Wind and Thunder Escape Technique.

The Wind and Thunder Escape Technique had a total of seven realms. Three belonged to the Mortal Realm, and four were at the Divine Level.

Chu Fan was very curious. ‘Why are there more realms after ascending to godhood?’

Of course, ascending to godhood was still a distant prospect for him. Curiosity was one thing, but there was no need to get to the bottom of it right now.

The Second Layer Realm of the Wind and Thunder Escape Technique was where Shrinking Inches and the power of wind and thunder were truly utilized to their absolute limit.

Normally, when a cultivator’s Cultivation reached the Integration Realm, even without practicing any particular Body Technique, they could cross dozens of yards in a single step just by using Shrinking Inches.

In fact, this was about the same speed Chu Fan had with the First Layer Realm of his Wind and Thunder Escape.

By combining the First Layer Realm of the Wind and Thunder Escape with Shrinking Inches, Chu Fan could cover a hundred zhang in a single step.

However, the Second Layer Realm of the Wind and Thunder Escape Technique had two profound principles. The first was instantaneous movement; with the aid of Shrinking Inches, one could instantly teleport three hundred zhang.

What did three hundred zhang mean?

It meant that in the span of a single thought, one could reappear at any position within a one-and-a-half-li radius.

The second principle was speed.

And what kind of speed could it reach? Thirty-six thousand li in a single hour.

The thing was, with the reserves in Chu Fan’s Dantian, he could travel at this speed for ten to fifteen days without sleep or rest, and still not need to recover.

That was the concept, anyway. But how could mastering the Second Layer Realm be so easy?

For a full day, aside from guiding the three youngsters, Chu Fan focused single-mindedly on practicing the Body Technique, but he made no progress whatsoever.

It wasn’t until the third day that a chance opportunity led to a sudden enlightenment.

The reason was a single sentence from Cailing.

“Master, when drawing a sword, although the wind’s effect on the speed of the draw is negligible, you can still be faster if you move with the wind. A headwind might slow you down, but if you can use the angle of the wind, let it blow, and then follow its momentum, couldn’t you also achieve an unexpected result?”

This sentence caused a flash of inspiration in Chu Fan’s mind.

In the Sword Dao, Chu Fan was naturally far more proficient than Cailing. He knew that whether it was a tailwind or a headwind, if utilized properly, both could bring out different kinds of power in one’s Sword Techniques.

For a skilled Swordsman, all environmental factors could be transformed into Sword Momentum.

‘The Second Layer Realm of the Wind and Thunder Escape isn’t about using wind and thunder to increase speed, but about borrowing momentum.’

What was this momentum?

It sounded abstract, yet it was a tangible thing that existed at all times.

The rolling tide of history is a form of momentum; the rushing waters of a river are also a form of momentum.

To give the simplest example, if you stood at the bottom of a cliff and looked up at its face, what would you feel?

You could say with certainty that what you felt was a form of the mountain’s momentum.

“Wind—Thunder—Escape!” Chu Fan bellowed.

His figure suddenly moved.

There was no sound of tearing through the air from his high speed. Instead, it was as if he himself were just air, rapidly shifting his position within the air.

When one’s Cultivation reached a certain level, learning something new was often a matter of extremes: either you couldn’t even touch the threshold and remained completely stuck, or once you fully grasped the concept, you could directly achieve Minor Success.

This was now the case for Chu Fan’s practice of the Wind and Thunder Escape Technique.

After comprehending its profound principles, he had stepped into the Second Layer Realm just like that.

「That night.」

Chu Fan left the Celestial Heart Hall alone, unleashing his Wind and Thunder Escape Technique and flying straight for Celestial Wave Lake.

The journey from Shuoyue City to Celestial Wave Lake was about forty thousand li, and he arrived in just over an hour.

By the ferry crossing, there was a sprawling expanse of tents.

Several hundred soldiers patrolled in shifts.

Looking at the orderly camp, Chu Fan nodded in approval. However, he didn’t linger, instead flying directly toward Three Mountains Island.

He had come here once before during the extermination of the Red Blood Mansion, so he was relatively familiar with the place.

After entering the island, he immediately used the Inner Binding Seal Divine Technique.

He used the Divine Technique for two reasons. On the one hand, it granted him Invisibility, which was convenient for scouting. On the other, it allowed him to hear the inner thoughts of others.

Three Mountains Island was quite large, and many Martial Artists patrolled its perimeter, but he couldn’t glean any useful information from them.

Arriving at the central island, he found several old men in a recently built house at its core, talking late into the night by candlelight.

Chu Fan passed directly through the wall and, still invisible, sat down in an empty chair beside them.

“In my opinion, the plan you just proposed is no good. It’s too risky. After all, a good number of experts from the Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm are gathered at the ferry crossing, especially the leader of the Profound Wind Mercenary Corps and that Dark Night Envoy, Zhou Yi. Those are tough opponents.”

A purple-bearded old man said, wheezing slightly.

That’s what he said out loud, but in his mind, he was thinking: ‘I’m not that stupid. You want me to lead the charge for you? If there’s any merit, the Saint Heir will reward you. If we suffer losses, the Saint Heir will punish me. You just got to the Eastern Domain. What right do you have to boss me around?’

A man with a pale, sinister face slammed his hand on the table. “You think this was my idea? The Saint Heir already knows you’ve been in a standoff here for over half a year. The Saint Heir’s will is to give you another six months. In that time, you are to destroy at least half of the Eastern Domain’s major sects, especially the Lingyun Sect, the Purple Gold Sect, the Zi Wu Gate, and the Dark Moon Sect.”

The man was also fuming internally: ‘Damn it, what a moron. What time is it to be thinking about personal gain? Why would the Saint Heir send such an idiot to the Eastern Domain? Does our God Slaughter Hall have no one else?’

When Chu Fan heard this, his heart trembled.

‘These people are actually from the God Slaughter Hall! They’re going to stir up a storm in the Eastern Domain?’ Chu Fan’s real worry was this: this group was merely a squad of pawns sent by the God Slaughter Hall, and they had already put the entire Eastern Domain on high alert. If they sent more people, or people from higher up the ladder, how could the Eastern Domain possibly resist?

However, Chu Fan hadn’t expected that this slight tremor of his spirit would be enough to alert the old men in the room to a sense of danger.

All six men stood up.

The purple-bearded old man bellowed, “Who’s there? Get out here!”