In just a few breaths, that surging momentum slowly came to a halt.
Ye Feng looked inward at his own body, feeling the surging power within him and the crystal-clear realm he had reached—Body Refining Tenth Level!
"Body Refining Tenth Level!"
Ye Feng abruptly rose from the bed and clenched his fists, feeling the power that nearly threatened to burst his body apart. His face was filled with unbelievable delight.
"I... I really jumped straight from Body Refining Fourth Level to Body Refining Tenth Level!"
In the Body Refining Realm, from the first level to the tenth, every advancement required a massive amount of accumulation and tempering.
The original owner had cultivated for more than two years to reach the fourth level. Yet with nothing more than a thought, Ye Feng had altered his "production date" and gained the fruits of ten years of arduous cultivation, directly reaching the pinnacle of the Body Refining Realm!
"This feeling... is incredible!" Ye Feng waved his arm, stirring up a gust of wind. His entire body overflowed with strength. That former feeling of weakness and powerlessness had been swept away. Now, he felt he could kill a cow with one punch! No—he could easily kill ten versions of his former self!
"The days of being weak as hell are finally gone for good!" Ye Feng excitedly paced two laps around the cramped wooden hut.
However, he soon remembered Rule Two of the system: the same item could only be modified once.
"sigh, what a pity." Ye Feng felt a little regretful.
"If I could modify things infinitely, couldn't I just change my cultivation to ten thousand years from now and become invincible beneath the heavens?"
But the thought flashed past in an instant.
"I can't be too greedy." Ye Feng chuckled.
"To possess such a heaven-defying system is already an enormous stroke of fortune. At least I've now ascended in a single step, going from the bottom-ranked Body Refining Fourth Level to the Body Refining Tenth Level. That's already enough to free me from my miserable life before! Once I break through to a major realm later, such as the Qi Gathering Realm, my modification authority will refresh. Then I can modify my cultivation once more, and it'll be another tremendous leap!"
Ye Feng's mood brightened again.
Feeling the strength of Body Refining Tenth Level, although he had not fully mastered it yet, the power contained in every casual movement filled Ye Feng with a sense of security.
However, Ye Feng soon discovered a problem.
"Wait... ten years of arduous cultivation, and he only went from Body Refining Fourth Level to Body Refining Tenth Level?"
Ye Feng frowned.
"Although that crosses six minor realms and sounds like a lot, isn't that... a little too slow?"
Having merged with the original owner's memories, Ye Feng knew that among the Outer Court disciples of Feiyun Sect, those with better talent—such as the candidates for the Inner Sect—could cultivate from Body Refining Fourth Level to Body Refining Tenth Level in roughly four or five years.
Yet he had modified his cultivation to what it would be "ten years later," and only reached Body Refining Tenth Level.
This meant... the talent of this body was even worse than he had imagined!
Not just a little worse, either!
"Damn, what a rip-off!" Ye Feng's mouth twitched.
"Looks like the original owner really got into Feiyun Sect through sheer luck—or maybe he pulled strings and entered through the back door? Otherwise, with this kind of talent, he probably wouldn't even have been selected as an Outer Court disciple."
Poor talent and slow cultivation speed were fatal flaws.
Even after using the system to modify it once, he could only reach this level.
It seemed that improving his talent would also be an important problem he would have to solve in the future.
"Forget it. I won't think about that for now." Ye Feng shook his head.
"At least my strength has improved. Besides, the system can't only modify cultivation, right?"
Ye Feng looked toward a rusty Iron Sword in the corner. It was what the original owner had used to practice the Basic Sword Art.
"Since it can modify my cultivation, then... what about the cultivation techniques and martial skills I practice? Do they count as items? Can they be modified?" A glint flashed through Ye Feng's eyes as he decided to continue experimenting.
First, he recalled the "Basic Sword Art" he practiced. This was the introductory sword art that every Outer Court disciple of Feiyun Sect had to learn. The original owner had practiced it for more than a year and could barely be considered to have entered the path.
"System, attempt to modify the cultivation time of the Basic Sword Art I practice. Set it to ten years later!" Ye Feng focused his mind.
[Command received! Modifying the cultivation time of "Basic Sword Art"...] [Modification successful! Time has been set to ten years later.]
Buzz!
A vast stream of information instantly poured into Ye Feng's mind. It consisted of all kinds of insights, experience, and techniques related to the Basic Sword Art, as though he had truly painstakingly cultivated it for ten years!
Every move and stance, the changes in sword moves, techniques for exerting force, the grasping of timing... countless details became crystal clear. The formerly clumsy sword art became etched into the depths of Ye Feng's soul like instinct.
"It really works!" Ye Feng was delighted inwardly. He picked up the Iron Sword from the corner and casually swung it several times.
Swish, swish, swish!
Sword light flashed. Although he was using a rusty Iron Sword, his sword moves were smooth, natural, and precise beyond compare. Compared to the original owner's stumbling performance before, they were like night and day!
This was no longer merely an introduction. His skill had reached the level of consummate mastery, and he had even faintly developed a trace of his own understanding!
"Wonderful!" Ye Feng's eyes shone even brighter.
"Then what if it's a martial skill I've never practiced?"
Ye Feng thought of the "Basic Fist Art" that the original owner had once envied. The original owner had never had the opportunity to learn it, nor the money to buy the manual.
"System, modify the cultivation time of the Basic Fist Art to ten years later!" Ye Feng tried again.
[Command error! Target "Basic Fist Art" is not in the host's cultivation sequence and cannot be modified.]
As expected, it didn't work.
Ye Feng was not surprised. The logic was perfectly reasonable. If he had never learned something, where would its "production date" come from for him to modify?
It had to already belong to him—something that was currently being "produced" or "used"—for it to work.
"Then what about a martial skill I've already learned, but one of a higher level?" Ye Feng thought of the only other martial skill the original owner had learned. It was a Human-grade Mid-tier Martial Skill—the Cloud Soaring Sword Art—that the original owner had only managed to learn after spending all his savings and pulling a few strings.
The original owner had only just begun practicing this martial skill and had not even fully mastered the First Form.
"That's the one!" Ye Feng's gaze sharpened.
"System, modify the cultivation time of the Cloud Soaring Sword Art I practice. Set it to ten years later!"
[Command received! Modifying the cultivation time of "Cloud Soaring Sword Art"...] [Modification successful! Time has been set to ten years later.]
Boom!
This time, the stream of information that surged into Ye Feng's mind was more than ten times larger than the one produced when he modified the Basic Sword Art!
Countless exquisite sword moves, profound methods of circulating qi, changes in sword momentum, insights into artistic conception...
Like a river bursting through its banks, it crashed into Ye Feng's Sea of Consciousness.
Ye Feng felt as if he had transformed into a sword dao expert who had painstakingly cultivated the Cloud Soaring Sword Art for ten years. His understanding of this sword art had reached an unprecedented depth!
"A sword moves like drifting clouds, ethereal and unpredictable... So that's how it is!" Ye Feng murmured to himself as the Iron Sword in his hand began to move of its own accord.
He did not deliberately think about the moves, yet every form and every variation of the Cloud Soaring Sword Art flowed forth naturally.
The sword light rippled like waves upon water, sometimes gentle as a breeze brushing willow branches, sometimes swift as a startled swan reflected in sunlight. The sword momentum was ethereal and ever-changing—precisely the hallmark of the Cloud Soaring Sword Art cultivated to the Perfection Realm!
"Perfection Realm! I actually modified the Cloud Soaring Sword Art directly to the Perfection Realm!"
Ye Feng halted his sword momentum and felt the vast sword dao insights in his mind, along with his body's perfect command of the sword art. Stormy waves surged through his heart!
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