Heavenly Saber Art

On the official road leading to Shuofeng City, Lu Ming trudged forward slowly. He had already hidden the two books away and would not retrieve them anytime soon.

But he would not need them in the short term anyway. The martial arts manuals had already been inscribed into his mind through the Jade Pendant, so whether he had the originals no longer mattered.

As for the other one, it had not triggered the Jade Pendant. He guessed it was merely an ordinary book.

Even if it were lost, he would not feel much heartache.

So after hiding them, he gave them no further thought. Instead, he occasionally reviewed the contents the Jade Pendant had poured into his mind.

This was the name of that cultivation technique. The saber art that followed was naturally called the Heavenly Saber Saber Art. It contained nine killing moves, known as the Heavenly Saber Nine Forms.

This was a complete cultivation technique with both inner cultivation and combat moves. According to its introduction, it was an Earth-grade initial level technique, capable of allowing someone to cultivate all the way to the Peak Gangqi Realm.

The Inner Qi Realm, True Qi Realm, and Gangqi Realm were the first three realms of human Martial Artists listed in the Heavenly Saber Art.

According to the technique, the Inner Qi Realm was a process of refining essence into qi. Through cultivation, one condensed the body's essence, vitality, and blood into inner qi, storing it in the dantian.

Then, once the inner qi had grown strong enough, one could enter the True Qi Realm.

True qi was refined and compressed from inner qi. In other words, the cultivation process of the True Qi Realm was the refinement and compression of inner qi.

Then, once the inner qi had been compressed and refined to a certain degree, one could enter the Gangqi Realm.

Gangqi was naturally refined and compressed from true qi. Both its quality and quantity stood a level above true qi.

Thus, cultivation in the Gangqi Realm was the process of refining and compressing true qi.

As for the realms beyond that, the Heavenly Saber Art also briefly mentioned one: the Gangyuan Realm.

Though it did not describe the specific cultivation process, Lu Ming guessed it was likely the same as before—compressing and refining gangqi.

As for just how far it needed to be compressed and refined, he had no idea.

But he did not dwell on it too much. After all, it was still far beyond his reach.

He raised his head to glance at the road ahead. Then Lu Ming focused his thoughts on the words "Earth-grade initial level."

Combined with the original owner's memories, he roughly understood that martial arts manuals in this world were divided into the Heaven, Earth, and Human grades, twelve stages.

The higher the grade, the rarer and more precious the manual.

Ordinary Martial Artists generally cultivated Human-grade Low or Middle Stage techniques. Possessing a Human-grade High Stage technique already counted as having a modest force behind one.

As for Human-grade Peak Stage techniques, they could only be commonly learned within those great powers.

From this, one could imagine just how precious his Earth-grade cultivation technique was. If word got out, it would certainly stir up a bloody storm, and he would undoubtedly be left without even bones remaining.

Back then, the original owner had seen several groups in Shuofeng City fight fiercely over a Human-grade High Stage technique.

In the end, several lives had been lost.

All of that information had come from the discussions of the watching crowd.

It seems I need to be even more cautious. I absolutely cannot expose this cultivation technique.

Another blast of cold wind swept past. Lu Ming withdrew his thoughts and tightened his thin clothing. Looking ahead, he saw that after traveling for some time, the outline of the city before him had become clearer.

But he knew it was still not close. He understood the saying that mountains look near enough to run to, yet can exhaust a horse.

He glanced at the sky again. Seeing that there was still enough time, he decided to stop and rest first, replenishing some energy.

After all, this body of his was still extremely weak. He had traveled for so long purely by relying on willpower to hold himself up.

He stuffed a handful of grass roots into his mouth, then bent down to rub his slightly swollen legs. But at that moment, he suddenly heard a rumbling sound from behind, as though something was speeding toward him. Then came a powerful shout urging horses onward.

It was a carriage.

Lu Ming looked back and hurriedly stepped to the side of the road.

"Hyah!"

In the blink of an eye, a carriage drawn by two tall horses passed before him. The driver was powerfully built, and the carriage itself was luxurious. Through the open window, he saw a delicate face.

It was a young girl gazing out the window, and their eyes naturally met.

The instant their gazes crossed, Lu Ming hurriedly lowered his head, refusing to look at her further.

That carriage clearly did not belong to an ordinary household, and the people within could not have simple identities. If they felt offended, a kind-hearted person might let it pass, but if they were willful and unruly, they could get down and give him a few punches and kicks—something his current frail body could not endure.

After the hurricane passed, only the bent grass remained.

So when one was weak, one should lower one's head when necessary. There was no shame in that.

Before long, the sounds of hooves and wheels gradually faded away. Only then did Lu Ming raise his head again and sigh, preparing to continue his journey. Yet when he turned around, he saw that the carriage had not gone far. Instead, it had stopped ahead.

What is going on? Did I still offend them somehow?

Lu Ming muttered to himself and hurriedly considered a countermeasure. He looked around and found the terrain flat and the view open. If he tried to run, he would be caught in an instant.

His thoughts spun rapidly. He felt that if he did not want to beg for mercy, the best option now was to lie down and pretend to have fainted to death.

If conditions allowed, it would be even better to roll himself in a pile of filth so that no one would want to step near him.

Perhaps then the other party would lose interest in beating him.

But before he could put that plan into action, the light above him darkened. He could not help raising his head, only to see a huge figure descend one step before him like Mount Tai pressing down from above.

It was the burly man driving the carriage. After landing lightly, he tossed a bundle at Lu Ming without another word.

"Little beggar, this is a reward from my young lady."

His voice was like thunder.

"Give..."

Lu Ming had yet to react when that muscular figure leaped away again like a great roc spreading its wings.

Lu Ming watched him with envy written all over his face. He wanted to be able to soar high and come and go like that too.

Soon, the carriage started moving again and headed toward the city.

This... I ran into good people.

Only after the carriage had completely vanished from sight did Lu Ming withdraw his gaze and look down at the bundle in his arms. He quickly opened it to inspect its contents.

Inside was a set of clothes. He touched them. Though the style looked ordinary, the fabric was exceptionally soft and smooth. At a glance, it was clear that ordinary people could not afford to wear it.

There were also ten taels of silver, along with several pieces of pastry.

Seeing these things, Lu Ming was somewhat surprised by the other party's generosity. But he soon realized that such things might be nothing at all to them.

To him, however, they were exceedingly precious. With them, the difficulty of getting started would be greatly reduced.

Originally, he had planned to enter the city and find work while avoiding the beggar who had controlled the original owner.

Accomplishing the former would not be easy. There might not be much else in the city, but there were certainly plenty of beggars. It would be difficult to avoid their watchful eyes.

Still, he had thought of many ways to deal with it.

Accomplishing the latter would be difficult as well. Who would hire a frail beggar with barely any strength?

He had not thought of a good solution for that yet. He could only take one step at a time.

But now, things were different.

With these clothes, he could change his appearance and avoid drawing attention so easily. And even if he was discovered, he could borrow a tiger's might through a fox's cunning, for the fabric of these clothes was clearly not ordinary.

And with these ten taels of silver, he could fully support himself until his life got back on track.

Thus, this bundle held immense significance for him.

"Thank you. If fate allows us to meet again, I will definitely repay this kindness."

Lu Ming thanked them once more in his heart. After firmly memorizing the other party's appearance, he ate the pastries in small bites while searching for a puddle.

He planned to wash his messy hair, then change clothes and enter the city.

Before long, he spotted a puddle reflecting sunlight and hurried over.