Eight Steps Catching Cicadas, Eight Desolations Palm

Task: Spar with Lin Xia. Reward: one bottle of Second-Grade Qi Blood Pill. Completed. Claim?

"Don't claim it!"

Hearing the system prompt, Lin Yun refused to claim it with Lin Xia present. He would take it out after he got home.

"Little Brother Lin Yun, you've mastered two martial arts. You're very talented at cultivating martial arts. Come on, I'll take you to the Martial Arts Hall."

Lin Xia said happily.

Before long, the two arrived at the Martial Arts Hall.

Before entering the Martial Arts Hall, Lin Yun also tried creating tasks.

Task: Obtain a movement martial art. Reward: a pair of Iron Shoes weighted at one hundred jin.

Task: Obtain a second-grade martial art. Reward: one Second-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill.

"It actually worked!" Lin Yun was secretly delighted, silently giving the system a thumbs-up.

The guards at the entrance of the Martial Arts Hall all knew Lin Xia. After a simple exchange, they agreed to let Lin Xia bring Lin Yun inside.

As he stepped into the Martial Arts Hall, the settled scent of books rushed toward him. The Martial Arts Hall covered quite a large area, with redwood shelves standing in crisscrossing rows inside. The shelves were filled with numerous martial arts manuals.

This was not Lin Yun's first time here.

But before, he had always been in the first-grade martial arts area.

"Come on, let's pick straight from the second-grade martial arts."

Lin Xia pulled Lin Yun forward, passing the first few rows of redwood shelves and arriving at the second-grade martial arts area.

Compared to the first-grade martial arts, the number of second-grade martial arts had dropped sharply. There were only three or four shelves, around a hundred books or so.

Lin Yun first looked for movement martial arts, so the range was very small.

"Swimming Dragon Movement Technique, second-grade martial art..."

"Soaring Wind Step, second-grade martial art..."

"Eight Steps Catching Cicadas, second-grade martial art..."

He looked through roughly a dozen movement martial arts. Some focused on bursts of speed, while others focused on flexibility and agility.

Lin Yun ultimately made his choice. He picked Eight Steps Catching Cicadas. As the name implied, it meant catching up to a flying cicada within eight steps.

This was an extremely formidable lightness martial art. It emphasized lightness and swiftness, combining flexibility and speed while also possessing explosive power.

"Little Brother Lin Yun, although this martial art is only second-grade, it's among the best of the second-grade. Once mastered, its speed can almost compare to a third-grade martial art. The main reason it wasn't selected as third-grade is that this martial art is very difficult to cultivate. It has very high requirements for the body and requires the coordination of all four limbs to reach a certain level before it can be mastered. No one in the clan has mastered this martial art for a long time. Are you sure you want to choose it?"

Lin Xia advised him. She often came to the Martial Arts Hall to read, so she understood most martial arts fairly well, and she immediately pointed out the drawbacks of Eight Steps Catching Cicadas.

"I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll change it. When the time comes, I'll have to trouble you to make another trip, Sister Lin Xia," Lin Yun joked.

Lin Xia said, "Whether I make the trip or not doesn't really matter. We're all in the clan anyway, just a few steps away. The main thing is you. Forget it, your martial arts talent is high, so there's no problem giving it a try."

After picking the movement martial art he wanted, Lin Dong followed Lin Xia's advice and chose another second-grade offensive martial art.

After some selection, Lin Yun chose Eight Desolations Palm, which Lin Hong had learned before.

This martial art was relatively popular in the Lin Family, and quite a few people cultivated it. Lin Hong mainly cultivated this palm technique, and Lin Dong would also cultivate it later.

Lin Yun also had a bit of a mischievous streak. He wanted to join in the fun and see who could cultivate it better.

Of course, this palm technique was also quite suitable for Lin Yun. It was likewise hand-based skill. Lin Yun had the foundation of two fist techniques, and Eight Desolations Palm was known for its ferocity, with broad, sweeping movements. It had something in common with Falling Rock Fist, so it would be easier for him to cultivate.

After leaving the Martial Arts Hall, Lin Yun and Lin Xia parted ways.

Task: Spar with Lin Xia. Reward: one bottle of Second-Grade Qi Blood Pill. Completed. Claim?

Task: Obtain a movement martial art. Reward: a pair of Iron Shoes weighted at one hundred jin. Completed. Claim?

Task: Obtain a second-grade martial art. Reward: one Second-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill. Completed. Claim?

"Claim!"

Back in the quiet, deserted little courtyard, Lin Yun claimed the rewards right away.

One bottle of Second-Grade Qi Blood Pill, one Second-Grade Marrow Cleansing Pill, and a pair of Iron Shoes weighted at one hundred jin.

The Marrow Cleansing Pill was a milky-white pill the size of a longan. It gave off a delicate fragrance and was round and full. This pill had the effect of cleansing the meridians and marrow, improving Physique and raising talent.

Lin Yun swallowed it directly and refined it.

As the medicinal power dissolved inside his body, Lin Yun felt impurities being forced out of him.

Before long, a layer of black, oily substance appeared on the surface of Lin Yun's body.

After taking a refreshing bath, Lin Yun began creating tasks to cultivate Eight Steps Catching Cicadas and Tongbei Fist.

The Iron Shoes weighted at one hundred jin were very suitable for cultivating Eight Steps Catching Cicadas. Generally, those who cultivated lightness skills would choose to train with weights.

Just imagine—Lin Yun cultivated while wearing these shoes, and once he mastered Eight Steps Catching Cicadas, he took the shoes off. What kind of speed would that be?

One month later! In the courtyard, Lin Yun opened his palm. A cicada flew desperately out of his hand, beating its wings at high frequency. In the blink of an eye, it had flown dozens of meters and was about to leap over the surrounding wall to escape.

The corners of Lin Yun's mouth lifted slightly. He let the cicada fly for three seconds.

Three seconds later, Lin Yun's legs moved. Even the hundred-jin Iron Shoes did not hinder him. His figure almost turned into an afterimage as his toes tapped the ground, then he skimmed up the wall. With one light leap, he reached the top, stretched out his hand, and caught the flying cicada.

The cicada lay directly in Lin Yun's hand, no longer moving.

He had caught this cicada to train Eight Steps Catching Cicadas, releasing it and catching it again in a cycle repeated over a hundred times. By now, it had lost all will to live.

Mission: Practice Eight Steps Catching Cicadas 10 times.
Reward: Eight Steps Catching Cicadas minor mastery proficiency +1.
Completed. Claim?

"Claim!"

Mission: Train Eight Steps Catching Cicadas to major mastery.
Reward: One bottle of Second-Grade Origin Qi Pills.

"Claim!"

Origin Qi Pill: A pill condensed from the origin qi of heaven and earth. It can strengthen origin power.

Lin Yun smiled with relief. After a month, he had finally trained Eight Steps Catching Cicadas to major mastery.

As expected of a second-grade martial art—it took far longer than a first-grade martial art.

The main issue was that learning the basics at the start had taken ten days. After he had grasped it and repeatedly practiced to grind experience, it had only taken five more days to push it to major mastery.

Of course, during this period, Lin Yun had also trained two fist techniques and Eight Desolations Palm.

Eight Desolations Palm had already reached minor mastery.

During this time, Lin Yun tried creating achievement-type missions for reaching basic proficiency and minor mastery, but he discovered that reaching the entry level or minor mastery in a martial art still did not meet the requirements for creating a mission.

Only after training it to major mastery could he create a mission.

However, the reward for reaching major mastery in a second-grade martial art was a second-grade pill, which was on the same level as the reward for reaching perfection in a first-grade martial art.

Looking at it this way, the reward for training a second-grade martial art to perfection might be even better, so Lin Yun created the missions on the spot.

Mission: Train Eight Steps Catching Cicadas to perfection.
Reward: Movement Technique Talent (Elementary).

Mission: Train Eight Desolations Palm to major mastery.
Reward: One bottle of Second-Grade Origin Qi Pills.

Mission: Train Eight Desolations Palm to perfection.
Reward: Palm Technique Talent (Elementary).

"Just reaching perfection grants a talent reward. As expected of a second-grade martial art." Lin Yun sighed with feeling, and immediately prepared to first push Eight Steps Catching Cicadas and Eight Desolations Palm to perfect proficiency.

As for Tongbei Fist, which had already reached perfection, he would set it aside for now. To reach Superb Skill would require 10,000 repetitions.

Lin Yun now had Pills in hand, as well as food.

The Demon Beasts he had hunted earlier could be kept fresh in the Cosmos Sack for a long time, so for the short term, he did not need to worry about food or resources.

He could enter seclusion and train with peace of mind.

Twenty days later!

Lin Yun successfully trained Eight Steps Catching Cicadas to perfection and obtained elementary Movement Technique Talent.

After claiming the reward, a strange energy merged into his body, as though breaking certain shackles within him. The acupoints and meridians in his limbs opened smoothly, and his origin power circulated with incomparable ease.

When he trained Eight Steps Catching Cicadas again, it was much easier.

At the same time, Lin Yun also noticed that the mission he had created for training Eight Steps Catching Cicadas had changed because he had obtained elementary Movement Technique Talent.

Mission: Practice Eight Steps Catching Cicadas 10,000 times (1/9000).
Reward: Eight Steps Catching Cicadas perfect proficiency +1.

Originally, it had required 10,000 repetitions to add one point of perfect proficiency, but now it had directly dropped to 9,000, reducing it by 1,000 repetitions.

This saved Lin Yun quite a lot of time.

It seemed that improvements to his physical attributes and talents had a clear effect on his cultivation progress.

This further spurred Lin Yun's determination to obtain Palm Technique Talent and Fist Technique Talent.

As if he had been injected with chicken blood, Lin Yun immersed himself in training Eight Desolations Palm and Tongbei Fist.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

That day, someone suddenly came to visit him.

When he opened the door, it was Lin Xia.

"Sister Lin Xia, why are you here?" Lin Yun was a little surprised. Guests basically never came to this courtyard of his.

Lin Xia said, "Ever since you got Eight Steps Catching Cicadas last time, I heard you haven't gone out at all, so I came to see how your training was going. What, you're not going to invite me in for a seat?"

"Oh, Sister Lin Xia, please." Lin Yun quickly welcomed her in.

Lin Xia curiously looked over the environment in Lin Yun's courtyard. This was her first time at Lin Yun's home. The courtyard was very clean, but also very simple. Apart from tables and chairs and the like, there were no miscellaneous items or furniture.

On the table in the courtyard, there were only cups and a towel.

Lin Xia was carrying a few bags. She set the things on the table, then casually picked up the towel and handed it to Lin Yun.

"You're covered in sweat. You were practicing martial arts just now, right? Wipe yourself first."

Lin Xia spoke with some concern.

"I brought you some food. For martial artists, qi and blood are very important. You need to make sure you nourish your body. If you keep training with your head down, it's easy to overdraw yourself, and that wouldn't be good. If you need anything, you can tell your sister. Don't be polite."

She sized up Lin Yun's figure. The Lin Yun of the past had been thin and scrawny, but now he looked pretty good. Although he was not especially strong, his muscles were even, his lines distinct, and he looked very capable.

"Thank you, Sister Lin Xia. I'll pay attention. Don't worry, my foundation is very solid." Lin Yun smiled honestly.

"Is that so? Then let your sister test just how solid your foundation is." Lin Xia smiled.

Then she took up a stance, preparing to have another spar with Lin Yun.