Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword

The first light of dawn was faint, and the morning mist had yet to lift.

In Su Yu's courtyard, sword light flashed like a bolt of silk, refracting brilliant gleams beneath the rising sun.

Cloud Rise!

With a soft shout, his blade traced a perfect arc.

The air in the courtyard suddenly stilled, and a nearly solid Wind Wall formed three feet around Su Yu.

It was several times denser than it had been ten days ago. Cloudlike wisps swirled faintly within it, easily batting aside the falling leaves.

His sword momentum had not yet faded when the second move followed.

Thirteen indistinct Sword Shadows interwove in midair, like layer upon layer of flowing clouds, dazzling the eye.

Most astonishing of all, three clear Cloud Patterns appeared in the air at the peak of his sword momentum and lingered for a long while.

This was the sign of the Flowing Cloud Sword Style reaching Lesser Accomplishment: the manifestation of Cloud Patterns!

As he sheathed his sword, the third move suddenly burst forth.

A condensed Sword Qi shot through the air, striking a bowl-sized crater into the Sword Testing Stone ten paces away. Shattered stone flew everywhere.

Wasn't the force of this strike several times greater than when he had first begun?

Still not enough... Su Yu gently stroked the sword, his brow furrowing slightly.

He had broken through to Lesser Accomplishment five days ago, but he was still some distance from true Great Accomplishment.

The sword manual stated that only when one reached the realm of Nine Clouds Manifestation could the style be considered to have reached Great Accomplishment.

After putting away his sword, Su Yu gazed at the rising sun.

For the past ten days, he had practiced his swordsmanship by day and cultivated the Qi Nurturing Technique by night. Though his cultivation had not broken through, it had improved considerably.

The Ancient Sword lay quietly in his Sea of Consciousness. He had not used it for several days.

External aids were still external aids, after all, Su Yu murmured to himself.

These past few days of arduous cultivation had made him understand more and more that the path to becoming a true powerhouse had to be walked one step at a time, relying on oneself.

Beast Cores could rapidly raise one's cultivation, but the Spiritual Qi gained from one's own training was ultimately more firmly grounded.

With that in mind, he decided to return the sword manual first.

After all, the Su Family's rules forbade high-tier martial arts from being borrowed for long periods.

Uncle.

In the family head's courtyard, Su Tianheng was reviewing clan affairs. When he saw Su Yu arrive, he set down the bamboo slips in his hand.

Yu'er? You're here so early. Have you run into a problem with your cultivation? Su Tianheng asked warmly, his gaze passing over the sword manual in Su Yu's hands. He already had a guess.

I've memorized the Flowing Cloud Sword Style, so I came to return the manual, Su Yu said respectfully, handing it over.

Su Tianheng was slightly taken aback, then smiled in understanding. The Human-grade Mid-tier sword style was indeed difficult. You haven't been practicing for long, so don't be discouraged!

After speaking, Su Tianheng saw that Su Yu looked calm and composed, not at all like someone who had suffered a setback, and felt a little more at ease.

The path of cultivation values steady progress. Su Tianheng rose and patted Su Yu on the shoulder.

Su Yu only smiled in response.

How has Su Yan been lately? Su Yu changed the subject.

That boy doesn't know what got into him. He's shut himself in the training room for seven days and nights, Su Tianheng said with a wry smile.

He even has to have his meals brought to the door.

Su Yu's lips curved slightly. Maybe the Grand Tournament is coming up, and Yan wants to bring glory to the family too.

Another ten days passed, and the ground in Su Yu's courtyard was covered with crisscrossing sword marks.

Su Yu stood quietly in the courtyard, the Azure Edge Sword in his hand gleaming with a cold, piercing light in the morning sun.

This Human-grade Low-tier sword had been collected from the family storehouse five days ago. It was long and slender, its edge as keen as frost.

Thinking of how the iron sword that had accompanied him for so long had been unable to withstand the strain of practicing the Flowing Cloud Sword Style and had finally snapped inch by inch, Su Yu couldn't help stroking the spine of his new blade.

Clang—

The sword gave a clear, ringing tremor, as if responding to its master's touch.

Unlike ordinary iron, this Azure Edge Sword could perfectly bear his Sword Qi as it was now. He no longer had to worry about it when using his techniques.

Over these ten days, the Qi Gathering Pills he had received as rewards from the family Grand Tournament had been used up. Though they had increased his cultivation speed by only about thirty percent, his foundation remained solid.

Still one hair's breadth away...

Su Yu stared at the blade. The Flowing Cloud Sword Style he had just performed could now manifest eight Cloud Patterns; he was only one step away from Great Accomplishment.

Yet he could not break through that final, paper-thin barrier, no matter how hard he trained.

He sheathed his sword and looked up at the sky, trying to find inspiration in nature.

Clouds shifted and changed across the horizon, gathering and dispersing.

Su Yu's gaze gradually fixed, and a peal of thunder seemed to explode in his Sea of Consciousness.

So that was it!

The essence of the Flowing Cloud Sword Style lay not in its forms, but in its conception!

His past practice had been too rigidly bound by the prescribed moves, and he had lost sight of the sword style's true meaning.

The Azure Edge Sword flashed free of its sheath once more. This time, Su Yu's sword techniques changed completely.

His sword momentum was no longer stiff and formulaic, but as natural and unrestrained as flowing clouds and water.

As the move unfolded, the Wind Wall grew dense, layer upon layer like stacked cotton.

As the technique turned, eighteen Sword Shadows gave rise to one another, and at last nine Cloud Patterns blossomed overhead, lingering without fading.

The final strike was even more earth-shattering. The bluestone twenty paces away shattered on impact, and the dust it raised hung in the air for a long while.

The Flowing Cloud Sword Style had finally reached Great Accomplishment. Su Yu let out a long breath, his eyes gleaming.

But that still wasn't enough. Over the next ten days, he would integrate the Gale Sword Momentum into it and create a killing move of his own.

Time flew like a white colt flashing past a crack.

Over the next ten days, howling gales sometimes swept through Su Yu's courtyard, while clouds sometimes swirled around it.

After ten consecutive days of arduous cultivation, Su Yu's courtyard had been transformed beyond recognition.

The bluestone ground was covered in sword marks of varying depths. Some cuts were several inches deep, with tiny traces of Wind Blade cuts still visible along their edges.

Half the leaves and branches on the ancient locust tree in the corner had withered, struck by stray Sword Qi.

At dusk on the seventh day, Su Yu stood with his sword in hand, drenched in sweat.

His left hand formed a sword seal, while his right held the long sword angled toward the ground, its tip trembling faintly.

Suddenly, a fierce gale burst from the blade, sweeping up every fallen leaf in the courtyard.

Then the Flowing Cloud Sword momentum unfolded, and the leaves condensed in midair into the shape of Cloud Patterns, lingering without fading.

Still a little off... Su Yu frowned.

Though the two forces coexisted, they still could not truly merge. They were like two parallel streams: seemingly harmonious, yet strictly divided.

Late on the ninth night!

A sudden downpour swept across Skywind City, but Su Yu continued practicing his sword in the courtyard.

The rain soaked his robes, yet made his senses even sharper.

By the light of a flash of lightning, he suddenly noticed something wondrous.

The clouds in the storm were not still. The gale swept them along, constantly changing their shape while they remained clouds at their core.

So that was it!

The two forces weren't meant to coexist. They had to be like the clouds in the wind and rain, taking wind as their momentum and clouds as their form!

He immediately adjusted his sword path, no longer deliberately separating the Gale Sword Momentum from the Flowing Cloud Sword Style.

His moves began like clouds rolling across the sky, but when his momentum shifted, they carried the gale's ferocity.

Gradually, strange vortices began to form around his sword. At times they raged like tornadoes; at others, they surged like a sea of clouds.

At last, a strand of Sword Qi imbued with the momentum of wind and clouds shot into the sky.

This strike had the Flowing Cloud Sword Style's elusive transformations and the gale's sharp, overbearing force. Its power was more than twice that of the unaltered Flowing Cloud Sword Style!

Su Yu lowered his sword and gazed at the cloud vortex slowly fading from the sky, a smile playing on his lips. Wind and clouds in harmony, shifting and flowing... I'll call it the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword.

Even a Human-grade High-tier martial art might be no better than this. Su Yu lovingly wiped the blade and decided to keep the move hidden as his trump card.

With his current strength, ordinary fighters at Qi Refining Level 9 were no longer a threat.

But when he thought of Lin Tian, the monstrous genius of the Lin Family, Su Yu still felt the pressure.

His opponent must have hidden trump cards of his own.

Feeling the surging Spiritual Qi within him, Su Yu looked pleased.

After a month of arduous cultivation, aided by the Qi Gathering Pills, he had reached the peak of Qi Refining Level 7. It was time to break through.

In the Quiet Room, Su Yu sat cross-legged.

As his cultivation technique circulated, the Spiritual Qi in his dantian began to boil.

A pale yellow sphere spun rapidly, absorbing all the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth around it.

Spiritual Qi surged through his meridians like a mighty river, repeatedly battering the barrier to the next level.

With a soft shout, Su Yu's aura suddenly surged.

The bottleneck at Qi Refining Level 8 shattered, and newly formed Spiritual Qi flowed joyfully through his body, several times stronger than before.

He opened his eyes, his gaze as sharp as lightning.

At last, he no longer feared any genius among the younger generation of Skywind City.