Immortal Dao Swordplay, Qi Meridian Unity

"Stage 1: Novice, Stage 2: Proficient, and Stage 3: Mastery all belong to the stage of Sword Merges with Stream."

"Stage 1: Novice is merely mastering the sword forms. At Stage 2: Proficient, you can deflect an enemy's attacks to one side. Only at Stage 3: Mastery can you rely on the intent of flow to borrow the enemy's attacks and increase the speed and power of your own sword forms."

Because he had already understood the true intent of Water Flow, Zhong Ming could sense that in one or two days at most, once he had mastered the moves of Dragon Creek Swordplay and adapted them slightly to Water Flow, this sword art of his would reach Stage 3: Mastery.

Having realized this, Zhong Ming continued reading downward.

Then he discovered that the second stage of Dragon Creek Swordplay was called Smooth Qi Sword.

This realm required Zhong Ming to achieve Qi Meridian Unity—that was, for his mana to flow ceaselessly like creek water, while his sword became an extension of the creek, so that force did not stagnate at the blade, forms did not stiffen into shape, and the heart was not disturbed by momentum.

Beyond that, Zhong Ming also needed to comprehend Dynamic-Static Harmony—still as a deep creek pool when at rest, surging like a rushing spring when in motion.

"Qi Meridian Unity... as expected, once Immortal Dao Swordplay reaches the higher realms, it all requires mana. Sword forms alone cannot be cultivated."

An ordinary cultivator reading this far would have had only such thoughts.

But Zhong Ming's state at this moment was anything but ordinary.

He had Intent Reading activated, and before silently reading the book, he had even sought out Xue Yao and asked her to place an Ice Heart Curse on him.

This special state made Zhong Ming's Heart like a Mirror Lake, and countless inspirations surged forth.

At this moment, he gleaned something from the four words Dynamic-Static Harmony.

"Motion and stillness... Dragon Creek Swordplay is motion, while the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique is stillness. Since they are meant to complement each other, and Qi Meridian Unity is required, can I practice the sword while cultivating the art at the same time?"

You have gained insight into the Dragon Creek Breathing Technique. Cultivation Art Progress +4

You have comprehended some true intent from a book. Reading Progress +7

The system prompts immediately made Zhong Ming understand that his guess had been correct.

Seeing this, he drew his sword without hesitation, rose to his feet, and went to a secluded place where no one was around to perform Streamflow Swordplay.

The reason he sought out a quiet place was that he did not want to be disturbed.

Having been rated Class A, Zhong Ming drew far too much attention.

Although those people no longer dared to disturb him casually after being driven away by him,

they all kept their eyes fixed on him while cultivating, hoping to learn something from him.

—Zhuang Yi, Yi Yunya, and Xue Yao had been rated Class A purely because of their Spiritual Root talent.

Only Zhong Ming, with his Third-grade Spiritual Root, had comprehended something.

The people of Dragon Stream Peak were not fools. They knew whom to watch if they wanted to learn something.

Those burning gazes made Zhong Ming, whose five senses had become sharper after becoming a cultivator, extremely uncomfortable.

Though he could ignore them once he entered a focused state,

the discomfort was still there. Under such circumstances, finding a quiet place became Zhong Ming's first choice.

Fortunately, Zhong Ming still carried some intimidation at the moment. Seeing that he did not wish to be disturbed, everyone looked at one another, yet not a single person dared approach.

And so, beside a secluded, deserted creek, he began to wield his Long Sword.

Whoosh...

At first, Zhong Ming's sword dance was not much to look at.

After all, this was his first time cultivating this art, and he was unfamiliar with the sword forms. This made his sword movements halting and awkward, far from fluid.

At times, he even made mistakes in his forms, and they were not standard.

Fortunately, that soon improved.

The effects of the Ice Heart Curse had yet to fade, and Zhong Ming had also grasped the true intent of Water Flow.

Having clearly understood the true intent before practicing a mortal sword art made Zhong Ming's cultivation especially swift.

Not to mention that he had Heaven Rewards Diligence, which could solidify the effects of his training.

Whoosh...

By the sixth time he practiced the sword forms, Flowing Spring Pierces Stone, Pine Waves Circle the Creek, Nine Turns of the Winding Creek, Falling Waterfall Over the Cliff, Cold Creek Seeping into the Bones... the moves of Streamflow Swordplay were executed by Zhong Ming with meticulous precision.

And with every practice, Zhong Ming's moves became more accurate. At the same time, system prompts rang continuously in his ears.

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +62

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +41

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +33

Before the ninth repetition, Zhong Ming's Long Sword had still been bound by fixed forms, but soon, he broke those forms apart.

Once he reached this point, another system prompt rang in his ears.

Ding, your Dragon Creek Swordplay has broken through to Stage 2: Proficient. You have gained the trait: Stream Sword Convergence

Stream Sword Convergence: Your sword momentum will become like a creek, able to draw away and deflect others' attacks, while also becoming as flexible and winding as a creek.

Ignoring the Attribute Panel prompt, Zhong Ming merely continued wielding his sword.

The Long Sword in his hand grew increasingly smooth, and his forms became less and less fixed. In the end, no complete sword forms could be seen in Zhong Ming's hand. Sword light stretched on without end, like a mass of flowing water circling, winding around, and flowing about Zhong Ming.

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +41

Once he had grown familiar with the sword and was no longer bound by fixed forms, Zhong Ming took the next step—breathing.

"Inhale, exhale..."

As Zhong Ming drew long breaths, he also instinctively circulated his cultivation art.

This step... succeeded.

Though dividing one's attention between two tasks could easily cause one's cultivation to go astray,

Zhong Ming had already practiced the Dragon Creek Breathing Art to an extreme degree of mastery. Unless one watched carefully, it was impossible to tell whether Zhong Ming was breathing or cultivating.

Under such circumstances, the only thing Zhong Ming needed to consider was his sword forms.

That naturally made things countless times easier.

However, although Zhong Ming could practice swordplay and breathing at the same time, they were not synchronized at present.

"When the spiritual energy in my body circulates at high speed, my swordsmanship is steady. When the spiritual energy circulates gently, my swordsmanship becomes fierce... this rhythm will not do."

"I need to coordinate them so they are in harmony. That is Qi Meridian Unity and Dynamic-Static Harmony."

Left with no alternative, Zhong Ming could only breathe naturally while making his swordsmanship conform to his cultivation method.

This time, it was not so easy.

When practicing swordplay, Zhong Ming also imagined himself battling enemies. Under such circumstances, his swordsmanship had to be ever-changing—this was motion.

The Dragon Creek Breathing Art, meanwhile, primarily refined spiritual energy and could not be overly hasty—this was stillness.

Dynamic-Static Harmony sounded simple, but putting it into practice was truly difficult.

There was always some discrepancy between the rhythm of his breathing and his swordplay.

Fortunately, where there were discrepancies, there were also moments when he got it right. Whenever his cultivation art circulated correctly, a system prompt sounded in Zhong Ming's ears.

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +13

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +17

You have practiced Dragon Creek Swordplay once and gained insight into this sword art. Cultivation Art Progress +23

Once, twice, three times, four times...

As Zhong Ming wielded his sword, the compatibility between his breathing technique and swordplay grew ever higher.

At this point, for one-third of the time, Zhong Ming's swordplay could synchronize with his breathing technique.

When spiritual energy circulated in abundance, his sword momentum became swift; when spiritual energy circulated steadily, his sword momentum remained as unruffled as still waters.

Seeing this, Zhong Ming immediately added Breath Harmonizes Heaven and Earth Creek into the mix.

"Inhale, exhale..."

Breath Harmonizes Heaven and Earth Creek meant synchronizing Zhong Ming's breathing with the creeks between heaven and earth, resonating with the creeks.

This step of integration was also easy—he had already accomplished it while cultivating the Dragon Creek Breathing Art.

And now, Zhong Ming was striving to achieve Qi Meridian Unity... that was, for mana to flow ceaselessly like creek water, while his sword became an extension of the creek.

This special state, combined with Breath Harmonizes Heaven and Earth Creek, produced a remarkable scene.

Splash...

As Zhong Ming harmonized his breath with heaven and earth, his mana resonated with the Long Sword in his hand.

The unity of heaven (the creek), man (mana), and sword (Streamflow Swordplay) actually allowed Zhong Ming to stir the creek water through swordsmanship alone!