The small courtyard lay beneath a rustling shower of fallen leaves.
Qin Jue sat cross-legged on the weathered wooden bed, meditating as he regulated his breathing.
His breath was steady and long. With each inhalation and exhalation, wisps of the surrounding world's primordial energy flowed into his body, permeating his five viscera and six bowels.
This was a method from the Nine Revolutions Viscera Refining Secret Record, called Five Viscera Thunder Sound.
According to the manual, this step drew primordial energy into the body, then used a special breathing rhythm to vibrate the five viscera, making them tough as leather.
After a long while, Qin Jue opened his eyes and exhaled.
"Too slow..."
Although he possessed the Void Clarity Sword Heart, his senses were exceptionally keen, allowing him to easily understand the obscure meridian pathways in the manual.
But faced with an absolute lack of resources, even great comprehension couldn't conjure primordial energy out of thin air.
"If my cultivation is temporarily limited by a lack of resources, then I can only seek a breakthrough in technique."
Beneath the old locust tree in the courtyard,
Qin Jue stood with the Cold Iron Sword in hand, his figure straight as a pine.
He was practicing the first move of Cicada Wing Thousand Layers: Flap Wings.
The essence of this martial technique lay in one word: "vibration."
By rapidly shaking his wrist, he could set the blade trembling, creating a tearing force powerful enough to slice through metal.
The vibration had to be incredibly fast and incredibly fine.
So fast the air couldn't escape, so fine the naked eye couldn't catch it.
"Vmmm..."
Qin Jue moved his wrist slightly, and the Cold Iron Sword gave a low hum.
"Not right. The movement's too large."
Qin Jue shook his head, his brow furrowing slightly.
That last strike had seemed to produce layers upon layers of sword images, but through his senses—now several times sharper—he could tell the force had been spread too thin.
The vibration was too slow. Not only did it fail to increase the damage, but the unstable blade also threw off his aim.
"Again."
Qin Jue held his breath and focused completely as the Void Clarity Sword Heart quietly stirred.
In his perception, the entire world slowed in an instant. Every stir of wind and grass around him, even the slightest twitch of his arm muscles, was captured without fail.
This time, he concentrated all his strength into the tiny space around his wrist.
" Sss—"
The blade no longer hummed. Instead, it let out the faintest hiss, like the wings of the loudest cicada hiding deep in the forest, suddenly fluttering on a summer afternoon.
The blade vibrated within an extremely narrow range, and the high-frequency tremor seemed to twist the air around it.
That was it!
Qin Jue's gaze sharpened, but the sword in his hand did not stop.
He practiced again and again.
The repeated movements were excruciatingly dull, but Qin Jue knew perfectly well that a solid martial foundation was forged through repetition.
One strike, two strikes, a hundred, a thousand...
He had no idea how many times he had swung the sword. By now, he was drenched in sweat, his arm numb and sore. His wrist had swollen red from the prolonged, high-intensity vibrations.
But he didn't stop.
If he couldn't endure even this much hardship, how could he talk about pursuing the pinnacle of the martial path?
The sun rose and the moon fell. In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
For those seven days, Qin Jue did little but eat, sleep, and practice beneath the old locust tree.
Until dusk on the seventh day.
An autumn wind swept through, sending a withered yellow locust leaf spiraling down from the branches. It drifted right in front of Qin Jue.
Qin Jue moved.
He didn't swing to cut it down. He only gave his wrist a slight shake, guiding the rapidly vibrating Cold Iron Sword lightly into the leaf's path.
There was no fierce sword qi, no earth-shaking display.
The leaf drifted softly against the blade.
Puff!
A faint, muffled sound.
The leaf didn't split in two. The instant it touched the blade, it seemed to be shredded by countless fine strands of force, bursting into a cloud of powder!
The dust scattered in the breeze, drifting down like a fine yellow rain.
"Success."
Watching this, Qin Jue's pale face showed a hint of satisfaction.
This was the power of Cicada Wing's first move, Flap Wings. Using the force of extreme vibrations, it made anything touching the blade endure hundreds or thousands of cuts in an instant. If this force struck a person, even someone wearing soft armor would likely have their internal organs shattered by the vibration that pierced their body.
"Those seven days of hard practice were worth it."
Qin Jue casually flourished the sword and sheathed it. His arm ached as if it might split, but he could feel his control over his strength had reached a new level.
The improvement he had earned through diligence and sweat filled him with a deep sense of certainty.
"Now that I've mastered the first move, I should strike while the iron's hot and try the second: Thousand Threads."
If Flap Wings was a weapon for close-range dismemberment, then Thousand Threads was a killing move that was hard to guard against. It concentrated the vibrating force at the tip of the sword and projected it outward as tangible threads. It could ensnare an opponent like a spiderweb or pierce armor like a steel needle.
Qin Jue held his breath and focused, locking onto that wisp of wandering force as he tried to guide it toward the sword tip.
Kree—crack!
On his first attempt, the force lost control halfway along the blade. The Cold Iron Sword gave a strained, grotesque creak, and the violent recoil numbed Qin Jue's grip. The sword nearly flew from his hand.
"Not good. The force is too scattered."
Qin Jue shook his head, his expression calm. Failure didn't make him the least bit agitated.
For the next half-hour, the small courtyard rang with the sword's constant humming as it vibrated through the air.
He practiced again and again.
Until his nineteenth attempt.
Qin Jue was drenched in sweat. His right arm had endured the recoil of high-frequency vibrations for so long that its muscles began to spasm and tremble on their own.
"Again!"
Qin Jue gritted his teeth, enduring the numb ache in his arm. His eyes shone like lightning as he stared fixedly at the Cold Iron Sword in his hand.
He clenched his jaw and controlled the force within his body, driving it wildly along the lines of his arm's tendons and pouring all his strength into the tiny space around his wrist!
"Vmmm—"
The Cold Iron Sword let out a clear ringing note. Its blade blurred under the extreme high-frequency vibration, and even the air around it seemed to warp under the force.
The opportunity would vanish in a flash!
"Thousand Threads!"
Qin Jue gave a low shout and thrust the sword in his hand forward.
Shhk-shhk-shhk-shhk—
Streams of white air, almost impossible to see, erupted from the sword tip, instantly covering a radius of several feet ahead!
The next moment, a sight that made the scalp crawl unfolded.
A dozen or so falling leaves ahead were silently cut to powder the instant they touched the white streams!
This was the power of Cicada Wing's second move, Thousand Threads. It didn't slash or slice; it pulverized things directly through high-frequency vibration!
But the instant he thrust out, Qin Jue's expression changed dramatically!
Crack!
The Cold Iron Sword almost flew out of his hand. A stabbing pain shot through his grip, and his entire right arm went numb!
"Tsk."
Qin Jue eyed his trembling hand and shook his head in distaste. "Still too much of a stretch."
"Cicada Wing's second move, Thousand Threads, relies on concentrating the vibrating force at a single point and releasing it all at once. It demands extremely strong bones. With my body at the Hundred Refinements Third Layer, I can't withstand that terrifying recoil."
The more powerful a martial technique, the more demanding it was on the body. Without the bone strength of the Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer, Jade Bone, Thousand Threads was a reckless move that killed a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of one's own!
As for the third move, Silent, it required the immense qi and blood of the Hundred Refinements Seventh Layer, Blood Fusion. Perhaps he could try it once he advanced to Jade Bone and further replenished his qi and blood. If he dared attempt it now, he'd have his qi and blood drained and end up a dried corpse!
Qin Jue endured the pain and flexed his stiff fingers.
"But... at least I've managed to get a third of the way there."
As long as I don't use it repeatedly, it'll be enough to serve as a trump card to save my life, Qin Jue thought.
As for advancing to Jade Bone, without enough spirit medicines and resources, making a breakthrough in a short time would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
Qin Jue pulled a scrap of cloth from his robe and hastily bandaged his injured grip.
"I should go take a look at Deacon Hall."
He walked over and pulled up the Cold Iron Sword, carefully wiped the dirt from its blade, sheathed it, then turned and strode down the mountain.
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