Class A Rating Within Reach!

"Breathe... in, out..."

Or he could maintain the sword-drawing stance for a long time, placing tremendous pressure on his enemy.

The reason one maintained a standard sword-drawing posture while training was that it allowed the sword to be drawn the fastest and with greater power.

But at this moment, Zhong Ming's primary purpose was to cultivate the Dragon Creek Breathing Art, not to fight. Thus, he entered the sword-drawing stance while holding his Long Sword in his arms.

"Buzz..."

The instant he entered this state, Zhong Ming's mind calmed.

At the same time, Zhong Ming activated the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique. Through his breathing, he absorbed the surrounding Spiritual Energy and circulated it through his body.

"Breathe... in, out..."

Absorbing Spiritual Energy, then relying on visualization to imagine a dragon formed from a stream of Spiritual Energy within his body, guiding that dragon through his body, and after it completed one circuit and was thoroughly refined, sending it into his Qi Sea Acupoint to nourish that vital dantian—this cultivation process seemed no different from before.

But that was not the case. The process had not changed, but the details had changed enormously.

Previously, the dragon formed from the Spiritual Energy stream that Zhong Ming condensed through breathing and visualization possessed no spirituality whatsoever. As it traveled through his body, it was like a jolting dump truck, crashing recklessly about.

Such circulation not only failed to restrain the Spiritual Energy, but also placed immense pressure on Zhong Ming's meridians.

But now, Zhong Ming had comprehended the true meaning of Water Flow. He further understood that because water had no fixed form, it could take on ten thousand forms.

With this understanding, and while in the sword-drawing stance, Zhong Ming could exert some control over the dragon formed from the Spiritual Energy stream within him.

"Whoosh..."

Under Zhong Ming's subtle control, although the dragon formed from the Spiritual Energy stream moved faster, it had become much gentler.

And when it encountered obstructed areas, it no longer charged through them with brute force.

"Buzz..."

Driven by Zhong Ming's will, the dragon formed from the Spiritual Energy stream became long and thin, smoothly weaving through somewhat clogged meridians.

Furthermore, the meridians of the human body were not straight lines. They twisted and turned, forming what could be called the most complicated pathways in the world.

When Spiritual Energy circulated through such meridians, bumps and collisions were naturally unavoidable. This was also why novice students like Zhong Ming could only cultivate a few times before their meridians began to ache and swell.

But after comprehending the true meaning of circulation, things were completely different for Zhong Ming.

"Whoosh..."

Like the most skilled driver, under Zhong Ming's guidance, the Spiritual Energy he circulated through breathing no longer rammed straight ahead whenever it encountered twists and turns.

Instead, like water, it flowed smoothly along the bends of his meridians.

Because it was not crashing through but flowing downstream, the pressure the dragon formed from the Spiritual Energy stream exerted on Zhong Ming's meridians during this process was naturally minuscule—utterly minuscule.

Previously, the reason Zhong Ming's daily training time had been limited was because his meridians could not withstand it.

Now that his meridians were not being worn down, the amount of time Zhong Ming could cultivate naturally increased greatly.

"This increase is at least threefold."

"Sure enough, advancing my Fundamental Cultivation Method will speed up my cultivation."

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +93

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +87

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +105

You completed one...

Still, the two were ultimately somewhat different. One was swordsmanship, while the other was a breathing technique. Therefore, Zhong Ming still needed to test and adjust things.

On the Attribute Panel, this manifested as Zhong Ming's Dragon Creek Breathing Technique not immediately advancing to Stage 2: Proficient.

However, the two came from the same lineage, and there were simply too many connections between them. This allowed a single cultivation session to make the proficiency of Zhong Ming's Dragon Creek Breathing Technique surge dramatically.

"The reverse should work as well. And most of the time, it is the advancement of the Fundamental Cultivation Method that drives the improvement of Dao Arts and swordsmanship."

"Breathe... in, out..."

The changes on the data panel did not draw the slightest bit of Zhong Ming's attention.

However, although it had been driven by his swordsmanship, the progress in his cultivation method still caused new insights to continuously emerge in Zhong Ming's mind.

"Come to think of it, the current flow of water also fits the characteristics of a dragon."

"A dragon is not merely majestic. It can grow large or small, rise or hide; when large, it stirs clouds and spews mist, and when small, it conceals itself between the reeds and hides its form... The Spiritual Energy flowing through my body now changes freely in form. Isn't that precisely an embodiment of a dragon's ability to grow large or small?"

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +95

"Eh, this is... the meaning of water's scouring. Those with mediocre spiritual roots have some blockages in their meridians. Under normal cultivation, they need to force open those blockages and widen their meridians..."

"But forcefully breaking them open damages the meridians greatly, while the meaning of flowing water is just right..."

"Within a riverbed, flowing water gradually broadens the channel through the scouring force of dripping water piercing stone. I, too, can turn Spiritual Energy into a stream and use the meaning of circulation to slowly wear away the blocked areas in my meridians..."

"This may be somewhat slow, but it works silently and will not damage my meridians..."

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +73

"Buzz..."

Bolstered by the essence of Water Flow, Zhong Ming's Dragon Creek Breathing Technique circulated ever more smoothly, and its Stage 1: Beginner proficiency climbed higher and higher.

In merely the time it took to burn one stick of incense, Zhong Ming's Fundamental Cultivation Method, the Dragon Creek Breathing Art, had completely reached Stage 1: Beginner completion.

Then, after Zhong Ming circulated it once more, it broke through the bottleneck and entered Stage 2: Proficient.

And by then, despite circulating his cultivation method repeatedly, Zhong Ming's meridians had yet to reach their limit. He could still cultivate.

"I have a chance at earning a Class A rating within seven days!"

The hope of being rated Class A was nearly within reach, filling Zhong Ming with excitement.

His excessive excitement even caused Zhong Ming, for the first time, to stop cultivating and pace back and forth beside the stream several times.

I never expected that I would truly touch the edge of Class A.

Only after the time it took to drink a cup of tea did Zhong Ming calm down enough to examine the trait gained when the Dragon Creek Breathing Art advanced to Stage 2.

But upon seeing it, Zhong Ming let out a slight sigh—the trait his Fundamental Cultivation Method, the Dragon Creek Breathing Art, gained upon reaching Stage 2 was also Water Flow.

Trait: Water Flow

"..."

"Hah... Sure enough, no one can claim all the good things in the world. Same root, same origin—when one aspect of my Dragon Creek Dao Arts breaks through, it can drive my other skills forward and make their levels soar as well."

"Yet as the saying goes, fortune rests upon misfortune, and misfortune hides within fortune... It is also because they share the same root and origin that the traits and Dao essence of the Dragon Creek Lineage are basically interconnected. They are merely different applications of the same trait."

At this moment, Zhong Ming could already foresee that if he turned to study Dragon Creek Swordplay, the trait he gained at Stage 2—or even Stage 3—would most likely also be Water Flow.

"Forget it. Water Flow it is. Learning Dragon Creek Swordplay with the correct answer already in hand will not take me much time."

"Besides, although both are Water Flow, the two cultivation methods have subtle differences. When layered together, they will deepen my understanding of the true meaning of Water Flow."

That was exactly the case now. When the Dragon Creek Breathing Art advanced to Stage 2, the newly gained Water Flow made Zhong Ming's spiritual power flow more smoothly through his meridians.

Now, he could not even feel the pressure exerted on his meridians by circulating Spiritual Energy.

"Breathe..."

Like a stream, yet also like a flood dragon, the Spiritual Energy Zhong Ming absorbed through breathing spun rapidly through his meridians.

Because he did not feel too much pressure,

Zhong Ming, holding his sword in his arms, cultivated for an entire morning.

And that was not the end.

At noon, after taking Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid to ease the fatigue in his meridians somewhat, Zhong Ming cultivated for most of the afternoon as well.

"With the assistance of Earth Marrow Spirit Liquid, my cultivation time has now increased more than fivefold compared to before..."

Being able to cultivate to his heart's content made Zhong Ming feel utterly refreshed.

Moreover, the true meaning of Water Flow could do more than alleviate the pressure Spiritual Energy exerted on Zhong Ming's meridians during cultivation.

Just as swiftly moving water carried "mud and sand" along with it through the force of its momentum, this soft yet resilient meaning of circulation could also restrain most of the Spiritual Energy within the "water flow," carrying it charging forward rather than allowing more than half of it to disperse during circulation as it had before.

"My cultivation time has increased, and I can restrain Spiritual Energy as well. My cultivation efficiency is now more than ten times what it was on the first day."

"This Class A rating is truly in the bag this time."

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +1

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +1

You completed one full cultivation cycle of the Dragon Creek Breathing Art. Proficiency +1

You...

As his cultivation steadily rose, the progress of Zhong Ming's Dragon Creek Breathing Art also increased at a decent pace.

Although cultivation methods became harder to improve the further one progressed—especially Fundamental Cultivation Methods—meaning that each circulation only earned Zhong Ming the one guaranteed point provided by Heaven Rewards Diligence,

because he cultivated enough times that day, Zhong Ming's cultivation method proficiency still increased by 49 points over one morning and one afternoon.

Everything was heading in a good direction, and he only needed to cultivate step by step to earn a Class A rating. Thus, when Zhong Ming ate dinner that evening, the smile and relaxation on his face were impossible to hide.

Jiang Yue and Liu Wanyu, who were eating with him, naturally noticed his expression, and it filled them with curiosity.