Hard Training

In the Mind Mirror state, every movement the opponent made, every twitch of muscle and shift of the eyes, was magnified. Qin Jue could see through his opponent's intentions half a breath before he acted. That was the essence of anticipating the enemy's move.

He felt this sense of control, then closed his eyes and let the silvery-white light fade away.

Though the Mind Mirror lasted only a few short breaths, it took a tremendous toll on his mind.

Qin Jue regulated his breathing, recalling the descriptions of the later stages in the martial art.

"This is only the first layer, Mind Mirror. If I could cultivate the second layer, Body Follows, and make my body move before my thoughts even stir—or even reach the third layer, No-Self, where I cast off consciousness and rely entirely on instinct... What would that realm be like?"

"But that's for the future."

He pushed the thought aside. "One step at a time. There's no need to rush."

"With Mind Mirror, my swordsmanship can finally unleash its true power. But this mental art drains me too much to maintain for long. I can only use it at critical moments."

Qin Jue rose from the ground and stretched his body, stiff from sitting for so long.

"Now that I've mastered the mental art, it's time for Startling Swan Flash."

The first layer of Startling Swan Flash was Floating Light. Its core principle was a unique method of exerting force: channeling power from the tips of the toes through the entire body in an instant, moving like floating light and landing without a sound.

The method of training this movement technique was rather interesting—Treading Leaves. It required one to move at high speed across a ground covered in fallen leaves, compressing them underfoot without making them crack.

Qin Jue glanced at the ground. Rather than looking for a pile of fallen leaves, he stepped directly onto the thick layer of dead bamboo leaves.

"Crack!"

His first step landed, and the dead leaves beneath his foot instantly crumbled to powder.

Qin Jue shook his head.

"Too much force." With the strength of his Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer Jade Bone Realm, if he didn't hold back, one stomp could crush not just bamboo leaves, but even stone.

The essence of Floating Light was lightness and speed. Light as a feather, fast as lightning.

To make that force lighter, he needed exceptionally precise control over every part of his body.

"Again."

"Crack!"

"Not right. The force should start at the Yongquan acupoint, and flow as gently as water. I can't push too hard..."

"Crack!"

"Still too heavy."

In the bamboo grove at dawn, the sound of dead leaves breaking rang out again and again.

Tirelessly, Qin Jue repeated the motions of starting, sprinting, and stopping short. After every failure, he paused to think, then corrected the slightest deviation in how he applied his force.

No one knew how much time had passed.

The sun climbed to its zenith. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the bamboo leaves, falling across Qin Jue's sweat-drenched back.

Just then,

Qin Jue suddenly moved.

This time, there was no familiar crack.

His body was light as a feather as he glided forward three zhang without warning. His toes touched the dead leaves like a dragonfly skimming the water, then lifted away at once.

"Rustle—"

Only the faintest brushing sound followed.

Qin Jue came to a halt in front of an old bamboo stalk three zhang away, then looked back.

The thick layer of dead bamboo leaves along the path he'd taken remained as it was. Only a few leaves had sunk slightly, as if pressed down by the wind. Not one had broken.

"Floating Light... I've just barely managed to get the hang of it."

Qin Jue looked down at his feet, but the satisfaction in his eyes quickly faded.

"The first layer of Startling Swan Flash, Floating Light, is already this difficult. There's still the second layer, Fleeting Shadow, and the third layer, 'A fleeting glimpse of a startled swan, its traces nowhere to be found'..."

Then he shook his head, his expression turning serious again.

"Thinking too far ahead. I'm not good enough yet. I can land without a sound, but there's still a slight hitch when I change direction. That's already fast in the eyes of ordinary martial artists, but against a true master, that split-second pause is the difference between life and death."

Qin Jue stopped and furrowed his brow. Simple running drills had reached a bottleneck. To eliminate that final hitch, he had to hone his skills in more complex motion.

"If I can't break through by practicing movement alone, then I'll add this."

Qin Jue drew the Cold Iron Sword from his back, his gaze turning sharp.

"Startling Swan Flash is for moving through a narrow space. Myriad Forms Style is for anticipating the enemy. Then there's the swordsmanship I already know."

"Next, I need to fuse all three perfectly and turn them into my own fighting strength before the Outer Court Grand Competition."

Qin Jue narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, and assumed his starting stance.

"Movement is the waves, and the sword is water. The waves push the water forward, and the water borrows the waves' force."

At a thought, Qin Jue moved.

"Startling Swan Flash: Floating Light!"

The dead leaves beneath his feet made not a sound, yet his body shot forward like an arrow, crossing three zhang in an instant.

"Tide Surging Stance!"

Borrowing the burst of momentum from his movement, his sword, usually gentle and flowing, carved a fierce path through the air. The blade tore through the air, roaring like waves crashing against the shore!

"Whoosh!"

A wrist-thick stalk of green bamboo was severed at the waist, its cut smooth and even.

Qin Jue stopped and glanced at the cut, then shook his head.

"Too rough. I moved too fast, and the sword couldn't keep up. I forced myself to swing faster to match my movement, but that threw off the rhythm. The strike was powerful, but the momentum afterward was broken. If I missed, I'd leave myself open for a breath."

"Again!"

This time, he didn't rush to strike. Instead, he entered the Mind Mirror state once more.

Silver light flashed deep in his pupils.

He pushed off with his feet, his figure gliding away. As he moved, the sword in his hand seemed to become part of his body. He no longer deliberately swung it; it flowed naturally with the momentum of his movements.

Swish, swish, swish!

Three consecutive strikes. The first was fierce as a rising tide; the second circled back, hiding a lethal threat; the third united sword and body as one!

Three stalks of green bamboo toppled with a clatter, all falling in exactly the same direction.

"That's more like it." Qin Jue smiled faintly. "Now comes the real challenge."

He regulated his breathing, and the power of his blood and qi began to pulse at a peculiar rhythm. The vibration traveled down his arm into the blade. The Cold Iron Sword, usually cold and still, began to hum faintly like a cicada.

Cicada Wing: Flap Wings.

This was the hardest move to control. Maintaining the blade's high-frequency vibration while moving at speed and locking onto a target with Mind Mirror was no different from dancing on the edge of a blade.

"Let's see where my limit is."

Qin Jue fixed his gaze on a dead bamboo leaf drifting down.

The instant the leaf floated into midair, he moved.

This time, he held nothing back.

Void Clarity Sword Heart, full power!

The world slowed in an instant. In his eyes, the drifting bamboo leaf was almost motionless, every vein clearly visible.

Startling Swan Flash burst beneath his feet, and he shot forward like a streaking shadow. The Cold Iron Sword in his hand vibrated to its limit, letting out a piercing shriek.

"Shrrk!"

He flashed past it.

Qin Jue appeared five zhang beyond the leaf's landing spot, holding his sword in striking position without moving a muscle.

Behind him,

the dead bamboo leaf continued drifting down. But the instant it touched the ground...

"Pfft."

The blade's high-frequency vibrations had struck it hundreds, even thousands of times in an instant, shaking it straight into powder.

"Hah... hah..."

Qin Jue slowly lowered his sword. His face was somewhat pale, but the light in his eyes burned frighteningly bright.

Myriad Forms Style left the opponent nowhere to hide. Startling Swan Flash brought me close in an instant. Cicada Wing: Thousand Layers was unstoppable.

With such thunderous methods, forget a Hundred Refinements Sixth Layer expert—even a master of the Blood Melting Realm would meet his end beneath Qin Jue's sword if he let his guard down.

"Still, that takes far too much out of me."

Qin Jue felt that nearly a third of his blood and qi had been drained and gave a bitter smile.

"With the foundation of my Jade Bone Realm, I can unleash an outburst like that at most three times. After that, I won't need anyone to beat me. I'll collapse on my own."

"My foundations still aren't deep enough."

He took a deep breath and calmed the churning blood and qi inside him. If not for the powerful foundation granted by the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record, he would probably fall apart after using that move once.

"Again!"

Qin Jue didn't rest. He closed his eyes once more, regulated his breathing, and let his mind sink back into the Mind Mirror of Myriad Forms Style.