Great Accomplishment

Seventeenth Branch,

In the open space of the Inner Residence,

Zhang Qingyuan was testing the power of the magic tool he had purchased at great expense.

Clang!

The longsword left its sheath. The wind trembled, Sword Light flashed repeatedly, and sharp Sword Qi filled the surrounding air with a deep, murderous chill!

Each sword, each stance, reflected the cold sky.

Fallen leaves whirled up,

As his figure flickered, he moved like a roaming dragon. The Silver Shadow in his hand seemed to transform into a flood dragon, twisting through the air in a deadly strangulation,

Shredding the fallen leaves into fragments in an instant!

The incoming Sword Qi did not weaken. It swept sideways in an instant, carving a deep sword mark into a tree some distance away.

His figure abruptly came to a halt,

The wind settled,

Looking at the tiered magic tool Silver Shadow in his hand,

Zhang Qingyuan could not help but reveal a faint smile.

"Good! Those forty Spirit Stones were well spent!"

A magic tool was, after all, a magic tool.

As Spirit Essence circulated,

There was none of the obstructed feeling he had experienced when practicing martial skills with a standard longsword.

Even his cultivation speed for the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles had increased considerably.

[You diligently cultivated the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles. You have become familiar with the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles. Your Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles proficiency +1]

During the earlier practice,

He had gained one point of proficiency after only a single run-through.

If he could maintain this momentum,

He would soon cultivate the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles to Great Accomplishment!

The reason for this,

Zhang Qingyuan knew,

Was that the magic tool itself had been forged from Spirit Materials. Unlike the ordinary weapon he had used before, it allowed Spirit Essence to flow through it without difficulty.

The smooth use of Spirit Essence naturally made his sword techniques better suited to his own condition.

And the benefits of Silver Shadow,

Did not end there.

"The fourth layer of the Water Essence Art can actually draw out the cold aura inside Silver Shadow. Combined with the supple, unbroken Spirit Essence of the fourth layer of the Water Essence Art, it is simply incomparably powerful!"

"If someone fights me and we fall into a stalemate, the Spirit Essence produced by the fourth layer of the Water Essence Art already possesses both softness and toughness. With this chill added on top, the longer we fight, the more of the Water Essence Art's supple Spirit Essence will seep into the enemy's body, along with more and more coldness, disrupting and slowing them."

"Once we become entangled in battle, the later it goes, the greater my advantage will become!"

Zhang Qingyuan carefully examined the cut his sword had made in the tree beside him.

Upon that cut,

A faint, inconspicuous chill lingered and spread.

It was the aura of coldness carried by a strand of Water Essence Art Spirit Essence.

There was no ice,

And nothing unusual could be seen on the surface.

Only by touching the area around the wound could one feel that faint coolness, slightly different from elsewhere.

Yet that was precisely what made it suitable.

If it were ice,

The opponent would sense the peculiar attribute of the attack after a single exchange, making them wary and defensive.

But this faint chill,

After being layered with the fourth layer of Zhang Qingyuan's Water Essence Art, that unbroken, soft, thread-tough Spirit Essence would seep little by little into an enemy's body during battle, silently accumulating without a trace.

Because in the midst of fierce combat, such a tiny force would not attract attention at all.

By the time the opponent reacted,

The supple True Essence of the Water Essence Art, together with the coldness, would already have accumulated to a level capable of causing them enormous trouble.

"Very good. With this trump card, perhaps I can fight for a higher ranking in the Outer Sect Grand Competition half a year from now and enter the Inner Sect!"

Compared to before he had broken through to the Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level a month ago,

Zhang Qingyuan's strength,

Had increased by at least more than double!

With the power of the fourth layer of the Water Essence Art and the strength of Silver Shadow, Zhang Qingyuan was now even confident that he could face weaker cultivators at the Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Late Stage!

And half a year later,

Before the Outer Sect Grand Competition, his Cultivation Realm would certainly improve again. Combined with his Martial Skill cultivation and other aspects, it might not be impossible for him to face cultivators at the Eighth Layer of Spirit Essence Realm by then.

If he could raise his combat power to the Eighth Layer of Spirit Essence Realm by then, he would have at least a thirty percent chance of successfully advancing in the Outer Sect Grand Competition!

Compared to the slim chance he had before,

Zhang Qingyuan only felt that,

The road ahead had become brighter than ever.

Thus,

Over the following days,

Zhang Qingyuan devoted all his time to cultivation.

On one hand, he diligently practiced the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles, allowing his own strength to better align with Silver Shadow's power.

On the other, he continued meditating and cultivating, tempering the Spirit Essence of the fourth layer of his Water Essence Art. At the same time, he used his remaining two Spirit Stones to assist his cultivation, steadily consolidating and improving his realm.

After half a month of effort,

The Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles,

Finally reached Great Accomplishment, becoming the Martial Skill with the highest attack power on Zhang Qingyuan's Proficiency Panel.

At the same time,

After digesting the Spirit Materials he had eaten at the Hu Family banquet, as well as consuming two Spirit Stones during half a month of meditation and cultivation afterward, his Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level cultivation improved further,

Reaching the peak of the Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Early Stage.

Name: Zhang Qingyuan

Realm: Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Early Stage Peak

Cultivation Method:

Water Essence Art: (fourth layer: 11/10000 (+12))

Techniques:

Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique: (Third Layer: 887/1000 (+2))

Light Body Technique: (Third Layer: 11/1000 (+1))

Growth Induction Technique: (second layer: 91/100)

Spring Return Technique: (second layer: 49/100)

Manifestation Tracing Technique: (second layer: 3/100)

Martial Skills:

Nine Refinements Bone Forging Fist: (Great Accomplishment: 729/1000 (+3))

Cloud Smoke Steps: (Minor accomplishment: 4/100 (+2))

Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles: (Great Accomplishment: 13/1000 (+81))

Half a month of cultivation,

Had brought progress in each of his Techniques and Martial Skills.

Among them, the one that had improved the most,

Was naturally the Cloud Water Thirteen Sword Styles, which he had been diligently practicing. It had directly broken through minor accomplishment and entered the realm of Great Accomplishment.

In this,

The Proficiency Panel's auxiliary display of his own progress had played an enormous role.

Looking at the "proficiency +1, +1" words on the panel,

Progress visible to the naked eye,

Was precisely what gave Zhang Qingyuan the motivation to persist through such dull, repetitive practice without ever letting up.

For anyone else,

They would likely cultivate with great enthusiasm for the first two days, then see no obvious harvest on the third day and gradually slacken, unable to continue persevering.

Half a month of cultivation,

And his strength improved once more.

Meanwhile, Hu Junshan, whom he had brought back earlier, had remained orderly and well-behaved, helping manage the various affairs of the Inner Residence with the diligence of a servant.

Furthermore,

Following Zhang Qingyuan's instructions, Hu Junshan had opened up a patch of barren Spirit Field around the residence and planted the handful of Spirit Grain seeds obtained from the mission to kill Spirit Devouring Rats in Azure Mountain Town.

Of course,

Although the residence lay within the range of the Micro Spirit Vein inside the Seventeenth Branch, where the Spiritual energy concentration was higher than in the outside world, and the land around the residence could be cultivated as a barren Spirit Field for planting Spirit Grain,

If he wanted to avoid a reduced yield at harvest, Zhang Qingyuan would still need to frequently use the Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique to gather Spiritual energy into the Spirit Field.

But that was no problem.

Zhang Qingyuan had already decided not to take missions from Areas C and D anyway, so he could simply treat it as practice for the Spring Breeze Fine Rain Technique and raise that technique's proficiency.

Zhang Qingyuan expressed satisfaction with Hu Junshan's work.

Whenever he grew tired from cultivation and had some spare time, he would also offer Hu Junshan guidance in his cultivation.

This improved Hu Junshan's cultivation considerably.