25, Great Improvement in Skill!

Twilight descended, the setting sun casting long shadows as a gentle mountain breeze stirred.

By the mountain stream, in front of the wooden hut, Lu Chen moved with his sword, agile as a swimming dragon. The sword light flashed, sometimes like falling blossoms scattering, sometimes like snowflakes drifting. The sound of the long sword cutting through the air was sometimes soft and gentle, like spring rain and wind silently nourishing all things, and sometimes swift and fierce, like a biting north wind that scraped the bone and caused pain.

It had been ten days since he and Huang Rong had entered the mountains and built their home.

In these ten days, they caught only one unusual snake on days they caught fewer, and three or four on days they caught more, totaling over ten.

Lu Chen worked hard every day, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. In just ten days, the True Qi in his dantian, which was originally weak and meager, had grown into a substantial mass.

When the True Qi circulated through his meridians, it was no longer as thin and pitiful as a thread, but like a gurgling stream, flowing endlessly.

Although it was still far from the state Lu Chen imagined, where True Qi flowed through the meridians like "surging rivers" and the dantian stored it like a "vast ocean," it was already much stronger than before he began catching snakes and cultivating. If he had relied solely on his own cultivation, it would likely have taken two or three years of hard work to accumulate this much True Qi.

Therefore, Lu Chen was quite satisfied with the progress of his True Qi.

After all, in low-level martial arts worlds, internal cultivation is usually measured in "years."

Without fortuitous encounters like absorbing others' cultivation, receiving guidance from masters, or obtaining rare spiritual treasures, relying solely on self-cultivation, it would be difficult to achieve significant progress in internal cultivation without accumulating several, or even decades, of cultivation experience.

And Lu Chen had achieved such progress in just ten days, which was already an extraordinary opportunity.

Not only had his cultivation increased significantly, but his muscles, bones, and strength had also grown much stronger. Even without the aid of True Qi, relying purely on his muscles and arm strength, he could easily lift a stone weighing one or two hundred jin above his head.

Even his recovery ability had improved, with faster recovery of both cultivation and physical strength.

With his cultivation greatly advanced, his swordsmanship naturally improved as well.

Huang Rong sat on a stone, resting her cheeks in her hands, watching him practice his sword with a smile.

After watching for a while, she suddenly stood up, flicked her finger, and shot a small stone towards Lu Chen's waist.

Lu Chen listened to the sound to determine the position, and with a casual wave of his long sword, he deflected the stone.

Huang Rong giggled and flicked her slender fingers repeatedly, sending a barrage of small stones towards various vital points on Lu Chen's body.

In these ten days, although Master Rong had shown noble character by letting Lu Chen enjoy the snake gallbladders alone, she had also eaten a lot of snake meat, and her cultivation and strength had improved. Her martial arts were significantly higher than before.

At this moment, the stones she flicked out quickly each whistled through the air. Not only was the force quite sharp, but the accuracy was also excellent. Ordinary martial artists would truly be unable to cope.

Lu Chen, however, was at ease. With effortless movements, his gleaming sword light either thrust or parried, sliced or circled, deflecting the incoming stones one by one.

When the last stone shot towards him, he even thrust his sword straight out. The straight line of sword light was like a flash of lightning, and with a chi sound, it split the stone in half.

This sword strike was not Sword One.

But Lu Chen would comprehend the Sword Intent imprint every night, and he also practiced his True Qi with "half a move of Sword One" daily. Although he still hadn't fully mastered Sword One to use it at will, he could slightly integrate a bit of the essence of Sword One into his ordinary sword moves, greatly increasing their power.

With his swordsmanship today, if he were to encounter a martial artist of Xue Wu's level again, he could take their life within ten moves.

After finishing flicking the stones, Huang Rong saw Lu Chen handling it with ease and that his swordsmanship had improved further. She couldn't help but clap her hands and laugh:

"Not bad, not bad. Your Falling Blossom Swordplay can be called perfect. As for your cultivation, you can also be called a master."

In her opinion, when it came to the cultivation of Falling Blossom Swordplay alone, Lu Chen was only slightly less skilled than her father.

If her father suppressed his cultivation to be comparable to Lu Chen's and only sparred with him using Falling Blossom Swordplay, he might not be able to defeat him within one or two hundred moves.

"Master? How high?" Lu Chen asked with a smile, "Can I compare to the Seven Freaks of Quanzhen?"

Huang Rong thought for a moment and replied with a serious face:

"The Seven Freaks of Quanzhen have been famous for many years after all. In terms of cultivation, you might not be their match yet. But in terms of swordsmanship, I think you might have already surpassed them."

Actually, she had never seen the swordsmanship of the Seven Freaks of Quanzhen and didn't know how skilled they truly were.

But Lu Chen was taught by her personally and had sparred with her old father many times, receiving a lot of pointers. Of course, Huang Rong had to boast about her own person's power.

Lu Chen also knew that in this world, the level of martial arts was not clearly divided into distinct realms.

Apart from the Five Greats who stood high above, at the pinnacle of the martial arts world, the strength of the remaining people could only be known after fighting.

It was still the same saying: the level of cultivation did not absolutely represent the strength in actual combat.

Even with slightly weaker cultivation, as long as the martial skills were strong enough, there was still a chance to defeat the strong with the weak.

Just like that night, when Lu Chen killed Xue Wu with his swordsmanship.

"Alright, swordsmanship practice is done, now it's time to practice Movement Technique! Come and catch me!"

At this moment, Huang Rong jumped to the side of the stream, bent down to scoop up a handful of stream water, splashed it on Lu Chen, then made a face at him and turned to run.

Lu Chen smiled slightly, raised his True Qi to lighten his body, and chased after her.

Huang Rong raced and leaped ahead with a giggle, like a nimble deer. With a light tip of her toes, she could leap two or three zhang away.

Lu Chen's clothes fluttered, his posture graceful, following closely behind Huang Rong.

Since his cultivation had greatly advanced, his Movement Technique had naturally also improved significantly. His speed in leaping was no less than Huang Rong's; he could also leap two or three zhang in a single step and jump over a zhang high with a burst of True Qi.

The two sometimes leaped back and forth on the stream rocks, and sometimes leaped onto tree branches, fluttering and soaring among the treetops. Their movements were both light and graceful. When chasing and playing by the stream in the forest, they were like two cranes soaring on the wind, indescribably elegant and beautiful.

Nightfall.

After dinner, Huang Rong sat on a green stone by the stream, took off her shoes and socks, and dipped her two fair little feet into the clear stream water, enjoying the coolness of the water while listening to Lu Chen talk about the Immortal Realm.

"In my world, although there are many beautiful things, there are also many terrifying and dreadful places. For example, Demons and Monsters. In our world, Demons and Monsters occasionally appear and cause trouble. Fortunately, there are usually signs before Demons and Monsters appear, so as long as defenses are set up and they are cleared out in time, they won't cause too much destruction."

Upon hearing this, Huang Rong was not only not scared but became even more interested:

"What do Demons and Monsters look like?"

"They look like all sorts of things. Some have bodies like giant mantises but human heads, some have faces like mandrills but bodies like tigers, and there are half-human, half-insect or half-human, half-beast creatures. They come in all shapes and sizes, bizarre and strange..."

"So how do you deal with them?"

"Just with the weapons I told you about before, things like guns, tanks, planes, and missiles. Demons and Monsters are also flesh and blood. Although their bodies are powerful and some have strange demonic arts, they can still be killed by powerful weapons. Of course, in some situations, like within cities, weapons that are too powerful aren't suitable, so Superpowered Individuals are deployed."

"Superpowered Individuals?"

"Yes, some can control fire, some can create ice and frost, some command lightning, some can fly through the air, some have bodies of steel... there are all sorts of different powers and abilities. And their abilities vary in strength."

"Controlling ice and fire, commanding lightning, and flying? Aren't those Immortals?"

"They can't really be considered Immortals, just humans with special abilities. It's like Martial Arts masters; even if they can leap high and far, they are still just mortals. In fact, in terms of overall capability, many Superpowered Individuals might not even compare to Martial Arts experts."

"I see! Lu Chen, you're also a Superpowered Individual! Your abilities are traveling between worlds, extraordinary recovery, and Sword Intent!"

"Listening to you say it, Rong'er... it really seems like that's the case?"

"The Immortal Realm sounds so interesting. I really want to see it."

"Actually, I can take you there now. It's just that I haven't fully mastered the ability to travel back and forth freely. If I take you over to my side, I don't know when I'll be able to send you back... I have to wait until I can travel back and forth freely before I can take you there to visit."

"Then when will you be able to master the ability to travel back and forth freely?"

"I need to completely master 'Sword One', so I can use it as I please and control it freely. Don't worry, Rong'er, I will definitely succeed within a year."

Huang Rong turned her head to look at Lu Chen and smiled sweetly:

"Okay, okay, I'm not actually that anxious. You shouldn't be anxious either. Haste makes waste. You can train diligently and practice hard in martial arts normally, but when it comes to your mindset, don't be too impatient. Just let things happen naturally."

Even though she clearly wanted to go to the "Immortal Realm", she advised him not to rush, lest it upset his state of mind. This thoughtfulness and consideration from Rong'er deeply moved Lu Chen. He also turned his head to look at her, smiling brightly:

"Since I came to this world, my greatest fortune was meeting you, Rong'er, right at the beginning of my arrival."

Huang Rong was slightly startled, her pretty face flushed, and she said in a soft, sweet voice:

"I'm not that good..."

Lu Chen didn't say much else. He just smiled and took her hand, wrapping her soft, small hand in his large one.

Huang Rong felt a little flustered, her heart pounding, and her face felt a bit warm.

But she didn't pull her hand away, letting him hold it. She quietly enjoyed the bright moon on the mountaintop with him, listening to the mountain wind in the forest. In a daze, she only felt as if a strange emotion was quietly stirring and growing in her heart.