Nameless Sword Skill

Meanwhile, after Ling Li returned to the inn, he first dragged Little Doctor Fairy into a bath despite her resistance, then began dealing with the magic cores and Dou Techniques he had bought from the Mitel Auction House.

Just as Ling Li had expected, a Second Tier Magic Core could provide ten times the energy of a first-tier one—1,000 experience points. By his calculations, these three hundred magic cores, together with the medicinal ingredients from the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, should be enough to raise him to a two-star Great Fighting Master!

Ling Li was in no hurry to consume the magic cores. Rapidly increasing his strength over a short period was not particularly beneficial. Last time, in the cave on the cliff, he had raised his strength by a full five stars, resulting in him smashing anything he touched during the first few hours, completely unable to control his power. Even after adapting, the power within his body still showed signs of going berserk.

Setting the magic cores aside, Ling Li took an ash-gray scroll from the System Space. The scroll had no name, indicating that it was an unnamed Dou Technique. It looked extremely ancient, yet bore no trace of damage. This was precisely the Mysterious Tier sword technique he had purchased from Ole.

The scroll felt somewhat like leather. Modern scrolls were made from cloth mixed with special metals, or directly from special metals, but it was said that ancient scrolls had all been drawn on the hide of a particular magical beast. That magical beast had long since gone extinct. From this point alone, it was almost certain that this Dou Technique belonged to ancient times.

Ling Li slowly unfurled the scroll. Dou Qi surged through his hands as he poured it into the scroll, and then a stream of information followed the Dou Qi he had sent out, traveling upward and entering his mind.

Like pill formulas, Dou Technique scrolls above the Mysterious Tier were not made of paper. Creating them required sufficient soul power, and the resulting scrolls also had limits on how many times they could be read. The more intricate and ancient the scroll, the fewer times it could be read. This was also one of the reasons Ole had not allowed Ling Li to inspect the Dou Technique beforehand.

As the stream of information entered him, Ling Li's expression became strange. This was indeed a sword technique capable of reaching Mysterious Tier High Grade, but the sword it used was, more precisely, a short sword or dagger—not the longsword Ling Li had imagined.

Just as Ole had said, this Dou Technique was quite powerful. Once cultivated to mastery, the heavens and earth changed when the sword emerged, ghosts and gods were startled when its blade appeared, and with a single strike, mountains crumbled and the earth split.

"No wonder Ole didn't dare put it up for sale. Only an idiot would buy a Dou Technique like this." Ling Li smacked his lips as he studied its cultivation method.

The requirements for cultivating this Dou Technique were extremely demanding. First, one needed a suitable weapon. "Suitable" was not particularly strict—it merely had to be able to effortlessly sever hundred-forged refined steel.

This requirement alone limited its practitioners to Great Fighting Masters and above. The weapon-refining heritage of the Dou Qi Continent had already been lost in ancient times. Though there were still methods of embedding magic cores into weapons, that only allowed weapons to carry elemental attacks without consuming Dou Qi, offering very little improvement in sharpness. To easily sever hundred-forged refined steel, one would need to embed at least a fourth-tier fire-attribute magic core. Other than embedding magic cores, the only ways to improve sharpness were releasing Dou Qi externally or forming a Dou Qi weapon. Those required the strength of a Great Fighting Master and a Dou Spirit respectively.

Aside from the weapon, in practical use, this sword technique leaned toward defense and counterattacks. It emphasized neutralizing force and Internal Force. Dou Qi was used to make the blade loosen, flex, and tremble, generating a neutralizing force that shed the enemy's power. As the blade trembled, it resonated with the energy of heaven and earth, producing a strand of Internal Force that invaded the opponent and disrupted their blood. Because it merely triggered resonance with the energy of heaven and earth rather than taking that energy for its own use, this Dou Technique was only Mysterious Tier High Grade and had not entered the Earth Tier.

This method of using Dou Qi meant that the user needed extremely strong control over their own Dou Qi, which meant their soul power had to be exceptionally powerful. While ensuring that Dou Qi remained steadily attached to the weapon to improve its quality, they also had to make the Dou Qi vibrate rapidly in a regular pattern. These two requirements inherently conflicted. One could only divide one's attention in two, splitting the Dou Qi into two streams for precise control. To achieve this, aside from the exceedingly rare people born with twin souls, one would need to be a third- or fourth-rank alchemist, or perhaps a Dou Wang-level expert.

But alchemists were all oddballs. Which of them would cultivate a Dou Technique like this just to fight? And once one reached the Dou Wang level, wouldn't casually gathering Dou Qi and slapping someone be better than this flashy nonsense?

Other than lacking a slightly shorter dagger and being unable to use nimble attack techniques, I meet all the other requirements for this Dou Technique! Ling Li thought to himself.

As for the conditions for cultivating this Dou Technique, there was no need to mention Dark Night's strength. With a suitable weapon, the second requirement would be much easier to fulfill. Furthermore, although he was not someone with twin souls, as a transmigrator, his soul was still far stronger than that of an ordinary person, barely meeting the cultivation requirements.

"I still need to find a suitable dagger..." Ling Li smacked his lips.

A suitable close-range weapon was absolutely necessary. Even in the firearm battles of his previous life, daggers, pistols, and other close-range weapons were still equipped.

It was fine when facing a somewhat clumsy cultivator like Mo Ji, but if he encountered an assassin-type opponent or fought in a narrow space, then unless he held the blade in reverse and gave up his reach advantage, Dark Night's length would instead become a restriction.

This sword technique was dug up in the Black Corner Region. Should I try my luck there? Even if I can't find those Ancient Ruins, perhaps I can find a dark-attribute cultivation method in the Black Corner Region. Ling Li thought to himself.

A cultivation method was something Ling Li desperately desired right now. Cultivation methods determined the amount of Dou Qi one possessed, as well as the form it took. Mo Ji, whom he had only just cut down today, probably possessed a Yellow Grade High Rank or Mysterious Tier Low Grade earth-attribute defensive cultivation method. Those earth-yellow hexagonal crystal blocks were the manifested form brought about by the cultivation method. Their defensive power was such that even Dark Night, enhanced by venom, had found them difficult to cut through. And during his earlier battle with Mo Ji, if Ling Li had cultivated a high-grade cultivation method, what would it matter if he had to fight a war of attrition against Mo Ji?

Though the Black Corner Region was chaotic and known as the most chaotic place on the entire continent, filled with countless desperadoes and vicious criminals, places where all manner of people gathered often contained genuine treasures. Some treasures that could not be found elsewhere, or were not even dared to be sold, were accepted here. For example, the Three Thousand Lightning Movement Xiao Yan bought in the Black Corner Region was the treasured technique of the Wind Thunder Pavilion, one of Central Continent's Four Great Pavilions! Auctioning the Three Thousand Lightning Movement in public was undoubtedly a slap in the Wind Thunder Pavilion's face!

However, in a place like the Black Corner Region, as long as one dared to buy, someone would dare to sell. Of course, that was only if one had enough money and strength. Otherwise, even if one obtained a treasure, one might not live long enough to take it out.