Peak Qi Refining Level 9

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

Mountain winds howled, whipping his robe, already soaked through with sweat.

The long sword in his hand traced one mysterious arc after another beneath the rising sun.

At times, it stood like a lone peak, its sword force as weighty and steady as a thousand-jun mountains.

At others, it appeared like a sheer cliff, its sword light as fierce as a perilous peak's precipitous edge.

Every stroke carried a suffocating pressure. Wherever the sword wind swept, the gravel on the ground silently crumbled into dust.

Still not enough...

Su Yu closed his eyes and focused, picturing the most perilous lone peak in the Azure Mist Mountain Range.

How it had withstood a thousand years of wind and frost without ever yielding, how it stood proudly amid thunder and torrential rain.

As the sword followed his body's movements, he gradually became one with the long sword in his hand, as if he had turned into that ancient, solitary peak.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, their light flashing like lightning.

His sword force changed abruptly!

His previously steady moves turned as fierce as a rainbow in an instant. Su Yu leaped into the air, his body and sword becoming a pillar of light that shot skyward.

At the highest point, he turned in midair and brought his sword down in a blow carrying the weight of a thousand jun—

A tremendous crash shook the entire cliff.

When the dust settled, a sword mark three zhang long and more than a foot deep had appeared in the ground. The rocks along its edges glowed red like molten lava.

At last... I've reached Lesser Accomplishment.

Su Yu slowly lowered his sword, lightly brushing his fingertips over the heat that still lingered on its blade.

For the past half month, he had been studying the essence of the Lone Peak Sword Art day and night.

He had to master not only its form, but its spirit as well.

Only by contemplating the lone peak's essence every day and infusing his moves with the weight and peril of a mountain had he achieved today's breakthrough.

Besides the Lone Peak Sword Art, his practice of the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword had never stopped either.

As his understanding of the sword deepened, he gradually realized that this sword art, which he had once thought he had mastered quite well, still had immense room for improvement.

After achieving Lesser Accomplishment in the Lone Peak Sword Art, Su Yu finally had a clear point of reference.

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

However, by comparison, the Lone Peak Sword Art was indeed more powerful.

That was no surprise. After all, the Lone Peak Sword Art was an extraordinarily special martial skill.

As long as the practitioner had sufficient comprehension, its upper limit was almost impossible to measure.

Su Yu privately suspected that his current Lesser Accomplishment in the Lone Peak Sword Art already far surpassed the Lesser Accomplishment level of ordinary High-grade Human-tier Martial Skills.

As for the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword, though it was somewhat less powerful, it was still far beyond an ordinary High-grade Human-tier Martial Skill.

After repeatedly studying it during this time, Su Yu reorganized and refined the sword art's moves, eventually condensing them into three forms:

The Opening Stance used fierce sword wind to throw the opponent into disarray.

The middle form carried the sword's momentum onward without end.

The finishing form abruptly drew the sword moves together to deliver a lethal blow.

Su Yu slowly set down the Azure Edge Sword in his hand, picked up the Thunderclap Fist manual, and began to study it closely.

The manual opened with the words: "A punch bursts forth like thunder, its force like charging lightning; fierce and domineering, it breaks skill with strength."

His fingertips brushed over the passage, and before his eyes arose the immense, overwhelming might of Thunderous Might.

The essence of this Thunderclap Fist lay in two moves: Gathering Thunderclouds and Thunder Shakes the Sky. One gathered power, the other unleashed it—simple, yet concealing the profound truths of heaven and earth.

Rain fell in woven sheets, and thunder split the sky.

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

A punch bursts forth like thunder, its force like charging lightning...

Over the past half month, he had practiced these two moves more than a thousand times.

During Gathering Thunderclouds, his fists were cupped as if embracing a mountain. During Thunder Shakes the Sky, his force erupted like a thunderclap.

Yet it always felt as if something were missing, like touching thunder through a thin veil and never grasping its essence.

Rumble—

A streak of purple lightning tore across the sky, making the ground tremble faintly.

A sudden flash of insight came to Su Yu. He looked up at the churning thunderclouds as raindrops struck his face, stinging painfully, but he seemed not to notice.

So that's it...

He slowly assumed a boxing stance. This time, he no longer deliberately sought perfection in his moves.

The instant his fists came together as if embracing something, he seemed to see dark clouds gathering in his palms. As he stepped forward and punched, all he could picture was that bolt of lightning splitting heaven and earth.

Another crash of thunder boomed, and Su Yu's punching force abruptly changed.

His moves, previously fierce but lacking something, suddenly gained a touch of heaven and earth's might. Every punch was accompanied by a thunderous crack of sinew and bone.

The rain was shaken into a fine mist by his fist wind, forming a hazy halo around him.

At one moment, he drew back and stood still.

His right fist slowly pulled back, while spiritual power swirled toward his fist like a vortex.

Faint strands of lightning flickered between his fingers.

His fist shot out like a dragon, sending a solid burst of force tearing through the air.

Three zhang away, a slab of bluestone shattered, its broken surface charred black as if struck by lightning.

I did it!

Su Yu exhaled a breath of stale air. The white mist lingered in the rain for a long time.

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

One had to gather power like thunder, ready to strike, and strike with the unstoppable force of lightning.

As the rain eased, Su Yu returned to the Quiet Room and changed out of his soaked clothes. He sat cross-legged, sensing the surging spiritual power within him.

The weight of the Lone Peak Sword Art, the lightness of the Wind-Swept Flowing Cloud Sword, the ferocity of the Thunderclap Fist.

Three entirely different states of mind intertwined and revolved within his qi sea, unexpectedly beginning to loosen the bottleneck that had remained still for many days.

Now!

The Qi Nurturing Technique circulated at full force, spiritual power surging like a great river.

A faint tearing sensation traveled through his meridians, but the cool energy replenished by the Ancient Sword quickly repaired them.

As the morning light streamed through the window, Su Yu's aura suddenly soared.

The Qi Refining Realm Ninth Layer—achieved as naturally as water flowing into its course!

Taking out the twenty Beast Cores he had carefully saved, Su Yu gently stroked the sword's blade. "Brother Sword, it's your turn."

The Beast Cores crumbled into dust at a visible speed. After the long sword absorbed their pure energy, it replenished him with even more refined spiritual power.

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

He pushed open the window. The sky after the rain was clear and blue as if washed clean.