Peak Qi Refining Level 9

At dawn, Su Yu had already been practicing his sword at the edge of the cliff for three hours.

The mountain wind rustled, whipping his robes, already soaked through with sweat.

His long sword drew mystical trajectories under the rising sun.

At times, it stood like a lone peak, its sword intent heavy like immense mountains.

At others, it was like a sheer cliff face, its sword light as sharp as the treacherous precipice.

Each strike carried a suffocating pressure, and where the sword wind swept, the scattered stones on the ground silently turned to dust.

Still not enough...

Su Yu closed his eyes, focusing his spirit. The most treacherous lone peak in the Canglan Mountain Range appeared in his mind.

How it had stood unmoving through a thousand years of wind and frost, how it had proudly endured thunder and storms.

His sword moved with his body, and he gradually merged with the long sword in his hand, as if transforming into that eternal lone peak.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, a sharp glint like lightning flashing within them.

The sword intent changed abruptly!

The originally steady sword moves instantly became as sharp as a rainbow. Su Yu leaped into the air, his figure and the sword transforming into a pillar of light shooting towards the sky.

As he reached the highest point, he inverted himself in mid-air, the sword tip carrying immense force as it cleaved downwards—

With a deafening roar, the entire cliff trembled.

When the smoke and dust cleared, a three-zhang-long sword mark appeared on the ground, more than a foot deep. The stones at the edge of the fissure were actually glowing a lava-like crimson.

Finally... Lesser Accomplishment.

Su Yu slowly sheathed his sword, his fingertips lightly caressing the residual heat on the blade.

For the past half-month, he had pondered the true meaning of the Lone Peak Sword Art day and night.

He had to not only practice its form but also comprehend its spirit.

By visualizing the artistic conception of the lone peak daily and integrating the mountain's heaviness and treacherousness into his sword moves, he had achieved today's breakthrough.

In addition to his primary cultivation of the Lone Peak Sword Art, his practice of the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword had never ceased.

As his understanding of the sword dao deepened, he gradually discovered that this martial skill, which he had once thought he had mastered well, still had immense room for improvement.

After achieving Lesser Accomplishment in the Lone Peak Sword Art, Su Yu finally had a clear standard for comparison.

He estimated that the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword should now be around the Lesser Accomplishment stage.

However, when compared, the Lone Peak Sword Art was indeed more powerful.

This was understandable, as the Lone Peak Sword Art was an extremely special martial skill.

As long as the practitioner had sufficient comprehension, its upper limit of power was almost immeasurable.

Su Yu secretly speculated that his current mastery of the Lone Peak Sword Art at the Lesser Accomplishment stage had likely far surpassed the Lesser Accomplishment standard of ordinary high-grade Human-tier martial skills.

As for the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword, although its power was slightly inferior, it was by no means comparable to ordinary high-grade Human-tier martial skills.

After repeatedly pondering during this period, Su Yu reorganized and optimized the moves of this sword art, finally summarizing them into three forms:

The Opening Stance, using sharp sword wind to disrupt the opponent.

The Middle Stance, with continuous and unending sword intent.

The Finishing Stance, where the sword moves suddenly converge, delivering a fatal blow.

Su Yu slowly put down the Azure Edge Sword in his hand and picked up the Thunderclap Fist manual to study it carefully.

The opening of the fist manual stated: The fist strikes like thunder, its momentum like charging lightning, powerful and domineering, emphasizing the use of force to overcome skill.

His fingertips brushed over these words, and the magnificent aura of Thunderous Might seemed to appear before his eyes.

The essence of the Thunderclap Fist lay in the two moves, Gathering Thunderclouds and Thunder Shakes the Sky – one accumulating, one releasing. Simple, yet containing the profound principles of heaven and earth.

The rain curtain wove, and thunder split the sky.

In the courtyard, Su Yu let the cold rain slide down his cheeks.

The fist strikes like thunder, its momentum like charging lightning...

For the past half-month, he had practiced these two fist moves no less than a thousand times.

When Gathering Thunderclouds, his fists were like embracing mountains; when Thunder Shakes the Sky, his surging energy exploded like lightning.

Yet, he always felt something was missing, like touching thunder through a thin veil, never grasping its true essence.

Rumble—

A bolt of purple lightning tore across the sky, shaking the ground slightly.

Su Yu suddenly had an epiphany. He looked up at the rolling thunderclouds. The raindrops hitting his face stung, but he seemed oblivious.

So that's how it is...

He slowly adopted a boxing stance, no longer deliberately pursuing perfection in his moves this time.

The moment his fists were held in an empty embrace, he seemed to see dark clouds gathering in his palms; as he stepped out and punched, his mind was filled with the lightning that split the heavens and earth.

Another thunderous clap of thunder exploded, and Su Yu's fist technique suddenly changed.

The originally fierce moves suddenly gained a bit of heavenly might, and each punch was accompanied by the explosive sound of rumbling bones and muscles like thunder.

Rainwater was shaken into fine mist by the fist wind, forming a hazy halo around him.

At one moment, he stopped his movement and stood still.

His right fist slowly pulled back, and the spiritual power around his body converged towards his fist's heart like a vortex.

Faint wisps of electric light could be seen darting between his fingers.

The fist shot out like a dragon, and a solidified fist force broke through the air.

The bluestone three yards away shattered in response, its surface charred black as if struck by lightning.

It's done!

Su Yu exhaled a breath of turbid air, the white mist lingering in the rain for a long time.

At this moment, he finally understood that the true meaning of the Thunderclap Fist lay not in its form, but in its spirit.

It needed to be like thunder, gathering momentum to strike, and even more so like lightning, capable of destroying everything in its path.

As the rain gradually subsided, Su Yu returned to his quiet room. He changed out of his soaked clothes and sat down cross-legged, feeling the surging spiritual power within his body.

The profundity of the Lone Peak Sword Art, the agility of Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud, and the ferocity of Thunderclap Fist.

Three completely different artistic conceptions intertwined and spun within his Qi Sea, causing the bottleneck that had been dormant for many days to begin to loosen.

Now!

The Qi Nurturing Technique operated at full power, spiritual power surging like a river.

A subtle tearing sensation spread through his meridians, but it was quickly repaired by the cool energy fed back by the ancient sword.

As the morning light pierced through the window, Su Yu's aura suddenly surged.

Qi Refining Level 9, it was a natural progression!

Taking out twenty treasured Beast Cores, Su Yu gently stroked the sword's body: "Brother Sword, it's your turn."

The Beast Cores turned to powder at a visible rate, and the pure energy was absorbed by the sword, which then fed back even more condensed spiritual power.

By the time the last Beast Core was depleted, Su Yu's cultivation had stabilized at the Peak Qi Refining Level 9.

He pushed open the window, revealing a sky as clear and blue as washed jade after the rain.