Perfect Mastery

The next day.

Early morning.

Zhou Zhiruo stood in a corner of the courtyard, a wooden sword held horizontally in the air. A stone weighing nearly three pounds had been tied to the sword, and beads of sweat had already surfaced on her forehead. From time to time, her gaze shifted toward Gu Shaoan in the courtyard.

At that moment, Gu Shaoan moved like a swimming dragon, his sword like flying blossoms.

Without pausing, he naturally raised his sword, and the moves of Willow Catkin Sword Technique unfolded like quicksilver pouring across the ground.

Moving like a swimming dragon did not mean being fierce and swift. Rather, his movements were expansive and drifting, carrying an indescribable ease and rhythm.

His sword was like flying blossoms, or willow catkins. Flecks of silver light leaped and shimmered in the faint morning glow, their trajectories light and elusive, as if invisible wind tugged at willow catkins and sent them swaying with the breeze.

Gu Shaoan had long since committed every move of Willow Catkin Sword Technique to memory. Now, as he practiced it, his movements flowed without the slightest hitch.

Yet even more striking was the charm contained within them. It was not deliberate imitation, but a natural sense of drifting with the wind that emerged from every gesture.

The sword tip thrust out, like willow threads lightly tapping the surface of spring water.

The sword curved around, just like a tuft of catkins swirling in the wind.

His steps turned and shifted, as though willow branches swayed in the breeze—supple and boneless.

In theory, after obtaining profound martial arts such as Sunset Swordplay, Gu Shaoan should no longer have devoted his attention to basic martial arts like Willow Catkin Sword Technique.

But Gu Shaoan knew that the application of martial arts lay in the mind.

The power of martial arts varied from person to person. In the hands of different people, the power they displayed could be completely different.

Moreover, when facing an enemy, flexibility was what mattered. Martial arts were dead, while only people were alive.

There were no entirely useless martial arts in the world. It only depended on how one used them.

As far as Gu Shaoan was concerned, although the sword techniques of Sunset Swordplay were more domineering and forceful, with sword qi spanning the sky like a rainbow sinking into the sunset and possessing greater power,

when it came to delicate control over the sword and his internal force, as well as naturally sensing and making use of the surrounding environment and energy, it was far inferior to Willow Catkin Sword Technique.

Against a suitable enemy, Willow Catkin Sword Technique was likewise more effective than Sunset Swordplay.

Unless the difference in internal cultivation was overwhelmingly vast, martial artists fighting were like two players competing on a chessboard: the one with superior skill would win.

Sweat soaked his temples, but Gu Shaoan remained completely unaware of it. His mind had sunk entirely into the three-foot green blade in his hand and the flowing aura around him.

Once, twice. The sword moves repeatedly cycled without end, yet he showed no sign of fatigue.

He did not know whether it was the seventh or eighth repetition. When the move "Wind Brushes a Thousand Threads" slowly unfolded, his sword drew diagonally, hovering just before it fell—

Hum!

An indescribably profound sensation, like a warm, gentle current, suddenly spread from his sword-holding fingertips throughout his entire body.

Everything around him seemed to slow down in an instant.

Or rather, his perception had become incomparably clear.

Amid this mysterious sensation, Gu Shaoan felt as though he had suddenly comprehended a certain aspect of Willow Catkin Sword Technique.

After that, the subtle path traced by the sword edge through the air formed an unprecedented harmonious resonance with the faint morning breeze in the courtyard.

On the surface, his movements had changed only through slight adjustments to his wrist and footwork, yet somehow, his sword techniques now bore no trace of being "deliberately performed."

Every rise, transition, turn, and conclusion of his sword momentum was like willow catkins meeting the wind—drifting along naturally and flowing without restraint.

Wherever the sword moved, his internal force followed.

At that moment, even the moving blade seemed to become the willow catkin itself, swaying with the wind without leaving a trace.

[Congratulations, player. Willow Catkin Sword Technique has successfully entered the realm of Perfect Mastery. Achievement Points +500.]

Just then, a notification popped up before Gu Shaoan.

Glancing at the notification, Gu Shaoan slowly raised the green blade in his hand. His gaze settled on its still plain and unremarkable surface, but his mind remained immersed in the realm he had just broken through into.

The sensation was too clear. The sword was no longer a cold piece of metal, and internal force was no longer merely energy circulating through his meridians.

The two seemed to have fused into one, like a natural extension of his thoughts.

With the slightest movement of his mind, the sword tip seemed to possess a mutual understanding of its own, pointing toward whatever he envisioned. His internal force flowed and surged with the sword's momentum, smoothly and harmoniously, without the slightest obstruction.

It was as though things should naturally be this way.

"So the realm of 'Perfect Mastery' isn't merely about practicing Willow Catkin Sword Technique until it becomes second nature."

Gu Shaoan muttered under his breath, his eyes gleaming with insight.

He casually performed another "Wind Brushes a Thousand Threads." The movement appeared slow and devoid of any force, as gentle as a spring breeze brushing across his face.

However, when the sword swept through the air, a supple, dense pulling force naturally emerged around the blade.

Several withered leaves that had just fallen to the ground were not directly shredded by the sharp sword qi.

Instead, they were drawn along by this seemingly weak force, silently tracing several smooth circles along the path of the sword's momentum.

In the end, they gently gathered at Gu Shaoan's feet.

"Indeed, the basics are the foundation of a towering edifice."

Though Willow Catkin Sword Technique was simple, it contained the most fundamental principles of swordsmanship: "flow, softness, agility, and resilience."

By practicing these most basic sword principles to the point of "Perfect Mastery," he had achieved unity between sword and heart, unity between intent and force, movement following intent, and harmony between the inside and outside.

It was equivalent to forging a solid, flawless foundation for Gu Shaoan's martial arts in the way of the sword!

In the future, if other martial arts he cultivated involved the principles of "flow, softness, agility, and resilience," Gu Shaoan would be able to draw inferences quickly and comprehend their true meaning.

It would even help with his subsequent cultivation of Sunset Swordplay.

If he wanted to create new martial arts in the future, it would likewise be of tremendous help.

It was like writing.

By practicing horizontal and vertical strokes, dots, slants, and hooks to perfection as a beginner, one laid the foundation for strokes as firm and sharp as iron or silver hooks.

Only then, when one later wrote in the wild cursive style of a great calligrapher, could the brush move like a dragon and snake while naturally generating strength, with a free-flowing composition that never lost its rules.

"All this painstaking practice wasn't wasted!"

After more than a month of effort, even Gu Shaoan now felt a sense of achievement, as though every drop of sweat had finally borne fruit.

Immediately afterward, Gu Shaoan turned his gaze toward his Achievement Points.

[875]

From the time he had descended the mountain until now, his successive efforts at cultivation, combined with what he had obtained yesterday and today, had finally brought Gu Shaoan's Achievement Points close to one thousand once again.

In a few more days, he would be able to gather enough Achievement Points to conduct another draw.

Just then, Miejue's door suddenly opened.

Looking at the two people bathing in the morning light, Miejue unconsciously revealed a gratified smile.

Upon seeing Miejue, Gu Shaoan and Zhou Zhiruo both sheathed their swords and saluted at the first opportunity.

"Master!"

Miejue nodded lightly and walked slowly into the courtyard before beckoning to the two of them.

After first sweeping her gaze over Zhou Zhiruo, Miejue finally turned her eyes toward Gu Shaoan. She raised her right hand slightly, and as her wide sleeve slipped down, it revealed her right hand and the wooden box she was holding.