Investigation and Elimination

Zhao Nan sensed the strange Wind Blade, and a thought stirred in his mind.

Could it be a miniature Dimensional Blade, or perhaps the rudimentary form of one?

But Zhao Nan quickly dismissed the idea. A spell like Dimensional Blade had its own incantation, after all. How could a mere first-level Wind Blade spell produce its rudimentary form?

After pondering for a while, Zhao Nan still had no clue. He stopped trying to think it through and instead used his spiritual power to control the Wind Blade, sending it across the waist of another Wind Wolf.

After it passed through the Wind Wolf's waist again, Zhao Nan suddenly noticed that its color had changed to match the other Wind Blades. When he controlled it to strike a third Wind Wolf, however, it dispersed against the beast's tough fur.

Sensing this through his spiritual power, Zhao Nan formed a rough guess, though he wasn't certain. He simply recited the incantation again and began summoning Wind Blades.

This time, as he summoned them, Zhao Nan deliberately increased his magic power output and compressed the magic power more intensely.

As a result, he summoned more than thirty Wind Blades, four of which were distinctly different.

Zhao Nan paid no attention to the other Wind Blades. He released his spiritual control and let them attack the Wind Wolves.

Then he focused the rest of his spiritual power on the four remaining Wind Blades.

Perhaps because there were more unusual Wind Blades this time, giving him something to compare them with, Zhao Nan quickly noticed that the difference lay in how much Wind Element had gathered in each one.

He wasn't surprised by this discovery. The difference was clear even to the naked eye: the Wind Blades with more Wind Element were a deeper emerald green, while those with less were paler.

But what Zhao Nan was trying to figure out was why this Wind Blade seemed to have the power to reap Wind Wolf lives as easily as slicing through melons and vegetables.

There were four unusual Wind Blades this time, so Zhao Nan wasn't in a hurry. He controlled one with his spiritual power and sent it toward a Level Five Wind Wolf that was tangled in combat with Roslet.

It was the perfect chance to test just how powerful the Wind Blade was.

The Wind Blade did not disappoint Zhao Nan.

The instant it touched the Wind Wolf's waist, it cut straight through the beast's tough hide and cleaved the entire Level Five Wind Wolf in two.

Roslet couldn't help but freeze at the sight.

The Wind Blade was nothing unfamiliar to Roslet, after all. It was only a first-level spell.

But since when had a first-level spell possessed such power?

After his initial shock, Roslet glanced at Zhao Nan, then turned his attention back to fighting the pack of Wind Wolves.

Zhao Nan didn't see Roslet's reaction. He was focused on the Wind Blade that had just sliced through the Level Five Wind Wolf.

Although the Wind Blade had lived up to his expectations and cut the Level Five Wind Wolf in two, it was now on the verge of collapse.

It was only on the verge of collapse, though; it hadn't completely dispersed.

That slight difference let Zhao Nan sense something unusual about the Wind Blade.

Is this Wind Element? No, if it were only Wind Element, its attack shouldn't be this powerful.

Zhao Nan muttered to himself and was about to examine it more closely, but the Wind Blade had already completely dispersed into the air.

Without hesitation, Zhao Nan surged his spiritual power and sent another Wind Blade flying toward a Level Four Wind Wolf.

If the Wind Blade couldn't hold together for long after killing a Level Five Wind Wolf, then he would try attacking a Level Four one and see if he could learn anything.

As the Wind Blade struck, Zhao Nan kept pondering what the unusual power might be.

By now, he was certain that the Wind Blade's unusual properties came from the Wind Law Profound Mysteries.

Otherwise, a mere first-level spell couldn't possibly be this powerful.

But which Profound Mystery was it?

And how had he managed to use it?

Zhao Nan believed that once he figured out what was happening, he would be able to take his first step into that Profound Mystery.

The Wind Law Profound Mysteries were divided into nine types: Wind Element, Wind Movement Technique, Clone Technique, fast, slow, Wind Space, Dimension, Sound Wave, and Sound Music.

In practice, however, these nine types amounted to only six. Fast and slow could be combined into the Profundity of Speed, while Sound Wave and Sound Music could be combined into the Profundity of Sound.

As Zhao Nan mentally listed the Profound Mysteries, he compared them with the state of the unstable Wind Blade that had already slain a Wind Wolf.

It wasn't that Zhao Nan knew the details of the Profound Mysteries. He had read the original story and had a general understanding of what each one involved.

After comparing them, Zhao Nan realized that the Wind Blade seemed to contain four of the Profound Mysteries: everything except Clone Technique, Wind Movement Technique, Dimension, Sound Wave, and Sound Music.

The discovery first filled him with excitement.

After all, how many people in even the other higher planes could comprehend an attack that fused four Profound Mysteries?

In the Hell Plane, that would earn someone the title of Six-Star Demon!

But on second thought, Zhao Nan realized that couldn't be right.

If this little Wind Blade really fused four Profound Mysteries, then it could have killed not just one Wind Wolf but all three hundred of them in a single strike.

Clearly, he was getting ahead of himself.

Once Zhao Nan understood that, he gave up on trying to match each part of the Wind Blade to a particular Profound Mystery. Instead, he began ruling possibilities out one by one.

First, the five Profound Mysteries were definitely absent from the Wind Blade. Sound Wave and Sound Music belonged to the Profundity of Sound, and the Wind Blade had no such quality.

Clone Technique was even less likely, since the Wind Blade couldn't split into two, then three, and so on.

The same went for Wind Movement Technique. The Wind Blade couldn't conceal its presence, so it clearly wasn't related to that Profound Mystery.

As for Dimension, although the Wind Blade looked somewhat similar, Zhao Nan's spiritual perception didn't detect the strange sensation associated with the Mysteries of Dimension.

But which of the four remaining Profound Mysteries were unrelated?

Zhao Nan began to think it over.

As he pondered, the second Wind Blade vanished from the world. Zhao Nan then sent out the third.

This time, instead of relying on his spiritual power to examine the attack, he watched it directly with his own eyes.

As the Wind Blade cut through the Wind Wolf's waist, Zhao Nan immediately ruled out fast and slow.

After all, he had already seen himself cast other Wind Blades, and this unusual one didn't seem especially fast or slow.

As he gradually eliminated the possibilities, only Wind Element and Wind Space remained.