Chapter 167 - 20: Explosive Growth

Chapter 167: Chapter 20: Explosive Growth

Wherever the Sword Momentum passed, fallen leaves in the courtyard were swept up by Sword Qi and shattered into dust mid-air.

Before one strike had even ended, the next had begun.

The two strikes connected seamlessly, as if they were meant to be a single move.

Three strikes, four strikes, five strikes...

The Sword Momentum grew ever stronger, the Sword Qi ever denser.

Eventually, the entire courtyard was shrouded in sword light.

...

Lin Yan withdrew his sword and stood tall.

The moment he withdrew his sword, the few withered leaves drifting down into the courtyard were all neatly sliced in two, the cuts as smooth as a mirror’s surface.

The Sword Momentum of the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques was now established.

’It took me thirty-eight years’ worth of Martial Arts Fruits to achieve Sword Momentum with the Jinghong Sword Technique, but it only took one year for the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques. It’s not that the latter is weaker, but that my talent in the Sword Dao has improved.’

However, the strongest part of the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques lay in its final four techniques. Even though he had developed Sword Momentum, he was still incapable of executing them.

He could only get halfway through the opening motions before his Sword Momentum would disintegrate.

These last four techniques were incredibly difficult.

Each technique embodied a different layer of Sword Intent.

Glancing at the remaining Martial Arts Fruits, Lin Yan murmured to himself, ’Refinement.’

The scene before him shifted. There were no sword techniques, no arduous training.

He saw clouds.

The sky was clear for miles. White clouds drifted lazily, flowing slowly across the horizon.

They left no trace, neither competing nor contending, simply moving with the wind and going with the flow.

That was the first layer of Sword Intent for the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques: Flowing Cloud Freedom.

The scene changed.

Dark clouds roiled, blotting out the sky and sun. A fierce wind swept in, carrying a torrential downpour that cascaded down.

The clouds were no longer leisurely, but violent and domineering, pressing down upon the earth with suffocating weight.

That was the second layer of Sword Intent: Cloud’s Majesty.

The scene shifted again.

The sky began to clear after the rain. A fissure opened in the clouds, and a beam of heavenly light, sharp as a sword, pierced through to the earth.

Brief, sudden, and unstoppable.

That was the third layer: Cloud’s Edge.

The final layer.

The wind died down and the rain ceased. The clouds dispersed, leaving the sky clear.

The sky was pristine, without a single wisp of cloud.

It was as if there had never been clouds, never been wind or rain.

Only a vast emptiness remained.

It was not disappearance.

It was tracelessness.

...

...

The forms of the clouds were as fleeting and varied as life itself.

One year, two years...

Lin Yan quietly watched the clouds for eighty years. From beginning to end, he never once drew his sword.

Only when the Flowing Clouds finally dissipated did Lin Yan open his eyes.

He raised the longsword in his hand and struck!

The tenth technique, the eleventh, the twelfth...

He did not perform the thirteenth technique.

He withdrew his sword.

Lin Yan performed a Martial Arts Tree Introspection. There, on the same branch as his Jinghong Sword Technique, sat two shimmering green leaves, one to the left and one to the right. Light flowed across their surfaces, and they looked exquisitely tender.

The Sword Intent for his Jinghong Sword Technique was at Perfection.

The Flowing Cloud Sword Intent for his Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques was also at Perfection.

His gaze shifted to the Smoke-Stepping Technique on a nearby branch. Lin Yan estimated his remaining Martial Arts Fruits—he still had one hundred and thirty-two years’ worth.

’If I’m going to improve things, I might as well go for a complete overhaul.’

"Refinement!"

This time, another thirty-two years’ worth was infused.

The scene before Lin Yan shifted from a courtyard, to a room... and finally, to a platform no more than ten feet square.

Within that tiny space, he flickered and weaved.

His steps were like smoke, elusive and traceless.

...

When Lin Yan opened his eyes again, his Qi Blood flowed. With a light tap of his right foot, his body instantly floated ten feet away, his form as flickering and uncertain as smoke.

’What a pity...’

He came to a stop. Gazing at the leaf for the Smoke-Stepping Technique on his Martial Arts Tree, which had only reached the Great Success stage, Lin Yan shook his head in frustration.

He had desperately wanted to infuse it all the way to the Perfection Level to see what kind of qualitative change a Body Technique would undergo, but after reaching Great Success, it could no longer be improved.

The Smoke-Stepping Technique had reached the upper limit of what he could currently achieve.

Unlike the Jinghong Sword Technique and the Flowing Cloud Thirteen Techniques, Sword Intent required an understanding of the sword; its demands on Qi Blood weren’t particularly high.

It would be an exaggeration to say an ordinary person could comprehend Sword Intent. At the very least, they would first have to develop Sword Momentum. But an ordinary person couldn’t even meet the required accuracy and speed for a simple thrust. They could train for a thousand years and never develop Sword Momentum.

But any Third-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artist with sufficient talent could develop Sword Intent.

Weaker Qi Blood would, at most, mean that their Sword Intent would be less powerful when executed.

The Smoke-Stepping Technique was different, however. It was powered by a special circulation route for Qi Blood through the feet and waist. With his current Qi Blood, this was as far as his cultivation of the technique could go.

Without an increase in his Qi Blood, further practice would be futile. It was like trying to cook without any rice.

’Now that I’ve upgraded everything I can,’ Lin Yan estimated, ’with my current strength, I should be considered a force to be reckoned with even among Fourth-Time Skin Smoothing Martial Artists.’

He packed his bags and prepared to head for the Yantian Mountain Range.

...

After packing his belongings, Lin Yan stepped out of his courtyard, locked the door behind him, and started walking toward the estate’s exit.

However, he had taken only a few steps when his peripheral vision caught sight of a figure not far away, furtively watching him.

’Someone from the fourth branch!’

’Has my killing of Lin Mingyu been exposed?’

The thought flashed through Lin Yan’s mind for only an instant before he dismissed it.

’If word that I killed Lin Mingyu had truly gotten out, I wouldn’t have been able to practice my Martial Arts in the courtyard so peacefully.’

Pretending he hadn’t seen the person, Lin Yan continued walking toward the exit. His pace was neither fast nor slow, no different from his usual gait.

What puzzled Lin Yan was that the clansman from the fourth branch didn’t tail him. ’Who did he run off to inform?’

Soon, Lin Yan had his answer.

Several sets of hurried footsteps sounded from behind him.

"Lin Yan, stop!"

Hearing the voice, a cold glint flashed in the depths of Lin Yan’s eyes, but by the time he turned around, his expression was placid once more.

Behind him, Lin Wang was striding over with two others in tow. He got straight to the point. "Lin Yan, do you dare accept my challenge and face me on the Combat Platform?"