Heaven Severing Sword

Watching Granny Lan depart and recalling her words, Shi Yun wore a strange expression. "That old lady doesn't think we already knew Zhong Ming had comprehended Dao Rhyme, and that we only believed the Xie Family wasn't qualified to take Zhong Ming as a Dao Protector because of it, does she?"

Yang Chen shrugged at those words and, for once, spoke a fair word for Granny Lan. "It can't be helped. If I were in her position, I would also think that comprehending Dao Rhyme was Zhong Ming's greatest talent."

At that, Yang Chen shook his head, his face filled with boundless emotion.

And he was far from the only one present who felt that way.

After glancing at Zhong Ming and thinking of how his greatest talent was that terrifying rate of progress, their expressions all became complicated. "Now I understand why people say the gap between people is even greater than the gap between people and dogs. Before Junior Brother Zhong Ming, my talent isn't even as good as a dog's."

Qi Hong said, "Who isn't the same? I've practiced the sword for eight or nine years and fought more than a hundred life-and-death battles, yet I haven't even touched the edge of Dao Rhyme. Junior Brother Zhong Ming has cultivated for less than a month, yet he has already comprehended the true meaning of a cultivation art... Sigh, people truly cannot be compared."

Originally, Qi Hong and the others already knew that Zhong Ming's talent was formidable.

The appearance of Dao Rhyme raised their assessment of Zhong Ming by yet another tier.

However, Zhong Ming's overwhelming strength also dealt a serious blow to their Dao Hearts.

Yet beyond their distress, excitement surged in their hearts.

Half-crippled as they were, whether it was revitalizing Dragon Stream Peak or walking the path of cultivation anew, they could not accomplish it through their own strength alone.

The only person they could place their hopes on was Zhong Ming.

Under such circumstances, the stronger Zhong Ming became, the happier they naturally were.

While they were stirred and exhilarated, Zhong Ming, having recovered, took out the manual for Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception and resumed his unfinished study.

—He wanted to raise his magical power, yet instead of cultivating immediately, he studied a spell art. It seemed strange, but it was not.

Zhong Ming had not forgotten one thing: his spirit root was only third grade.

With such an ordinary spirit root, if he relied solely on bitter cultivation without any method, it would be absolutely impossible for him to advance to Mid Qi Condensation by the end of the month.

This was also the root cause of why Senior Disciple Sister Mo Shuying had half-given up on Zhong Ming and instead concentrated all resources on Xue Yao. In the early stages, spirit roots truly mattered more than comprehension.

The closer you were to Spiritual Energy, the faster you could cultivate.

Of course, this would reverse in the middle and later stages of immortal cultivation, but Zhong Ming's cultivation was still in its early phase.

Under such circumstances, if he wanted to rapidly raise his cultivation to Mid Qi Condensation, he had to use some special methods.

"Dao Rhyme is very important. If I want to use an ordinary spirit root to catch up to the cultivation speed of other geniuses, I must have Dao Rhyme assisting me."

Thinking of this, Zhong Ming sighed.

In truth, the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme could also assist his cultivation.

To say nothing else, once dragon might manifested, countless tides would surge toward him and acknowledge him as their master. That alone could greatly increase Zhong Ming's efficiency in absorbing water-attributed Spiritual Energy.

With the domineering contamination of dragon qi, he could even imprint the Spiritual Energy between heaven and earth with his own mark in a short time—this refining speed was more than ten times faster than normal cultivation.

Unfortunately, under normal circumstances, he simply could not trigger the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme.

"Whew... Looking on the bright side, that sword strike at least gave me a great deal of Experience Points."

[You unleashed a sword strike whose momentum resembled a dragon. Your Dragon Creek Swordplay progress +173]

[You unleashed a sword strike whose momentum resembled a dragon. Your Dragon Stream - Sword Drawing Technique progress +115]

[You resonated with the Dragon Flood Dragon Dao Rhyme and grasped fragments of the true meaning of wind and rain, dominion, and the form of a flood dragon. Your Spirit Stream Finger · Water Dragon Art progress +379]

With a single sword strike, all of Zhong Ming's skill Experience Points had risen by a large amount. Such was the power of Dao Rhyme.

Of course, its cost was immense as well.

Although Youlan had given him Moonlight Spirit Water, it still took a full incense stick's time for his mind to recover enough to activate Intent Reading and read Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception.

And as he read this time, Zhong Ming immediately discovered what differed about this cultivation art and understood why it had been placed on the third floor.

"This one is not about Water Flow. No, it is also about Water Flow, but it speaks of how to sever it..."

"Follow!"

Breathing in harmony with heaven and earth was one kind of "following," and the accumulation of momentum in Dragon Creek Swordplay was another kind of "following."

Water had no form, and thus possessed ten thousand forms. That too was following the laws of heaven and earth.

Just as a wooden raft drifting downstream required little force, going with the current allowed Zhong Ming to refine Qi more easily and accumulate momentum more smoothly.

Ignoring the notifications by his ear, Zhong Ming continued reading. Then he discovered that although Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception had a different core concept from the other cultivation arts, they also shared many common threads.

"The 'interception' in Stream Interception is not a matter of forcibly blocking or severing. It is like cutting off the key waterway of a stream, striking directly at the vital point."

"But to strike directly at the vital point, one must first find where that vital point lies."

"..."

This observation left Zhong Ming somewhat silent, and even more speechless.

He understood far too much about Water Flow.

[Insights into Water Flow arose in your heart. Your Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception cultivation art progress +131]

[Insights into Water Flow arose in your heart. Your Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception cultivation art progress +92]

[Insights into Water Flow arose in your heart. Your Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception cultivation art progress +103]

[You...]

As Zhong Ming recalled the various traits of Water Flow, system notifications rang through his sea of consciousness like a barrage of scrolling messages.

These nearly unceasing notifications meant that in less than a minute, before Zhong Ming had done anything at all, his Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception had successfully advanced.

"...So fast."

The cultivation art had advanced far too swiftly and easily, leaving Zhong Ming stunned for a moment.

But soon, he felt that this was only reasonable.

There was a saying that all methods in the world shared the same origin, and different paths led to the same destination.

Just as some sword Dao grandmasters could learn a sword art after seeing it once and comprehend its true meaning.

Some mathematical prodigies could likewise solve a problem after merely reading it once.

Zhong Ming had not reached such a realm, but Spirit Stream Finger · Stream Interception had ultimately been derived from the cultivation arts of the Dragon Stream Peak lineage.

And Zhong Ming's understanding of Dragon Stream Peak's cultivation arts and their underlying intent was simply too profound. Under such circumstances, it was only natural for him to enter the path quickly, even become proficient.

"If that's the case, then cultivating this art to Realm 3 will be easier than I imagined."

After murmuring softly, Zhong Ming continued reading, only to discover that the conception behind this cultivation art ran quite deep.

"There is a theory that earth, wind, water, and fire created the world. Among these four elements of creation, water represents flow, change, nourishment, wisdom, and life."

"The world, too, transformed from boundless dead silence into a place overflowing with life because of flow... And thus, within the world, all things are flowing."

"Water running downward is one kind of flow. People breathing and eating are also a kind of flow. The turning of the seasons, the rising of the sun and moon are likewise kinds of flow... Even if one sits motionless, the power of time still flows through the human body..."

"All things flow. Some also call this breathing, fluctuation..."

"Smooth flow is a natural and healthy state. But if that flow is severed..."

Seeing this, Zhong Ming's eyes immediately gleamed.

"Severing the flow at a crucial node can throw an entire region into chaos, collapse, even dead silence..."

"Stream Interception carries a trace of the flavor of the Heaven Severing Sword Dao."