On the night he got the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade manual, Lin Yun eagerly began practicing.
In the Swallowed Star World, inside the training room of his villa in Bright Moon Residential District, he gripped the Blood Shadow Battle Blade and practiced the eighteen basic moves of the first layer of the Thunder Blade over and over. He strove for precision with every move, pondering each form repeatedly, until sweat soaked through his training clothes and his arms grew so sore he could barely lift them.
At the same time, his other body was doing the same thing in a small grove behind Ernst Academy in the Coiling Dragon World.
Beneath the moonlight, Lin Yun gripped a Refined Iron Short Blade and practiced in the clearing among the trees, drenched in sweat. Memories from the two worlds converged and blended in his mind. The same blade technique, practiced by two bodies at once—it was an incredibly wondrous feeling, as if one person had twice as much time, twice as much practice, and twice as many chances to gain insight.
"First move, Thunder First Appearance—the blade chops diagonally upward from the waist. Power begins in the feet, passes through the legs, waist, back, and arms, and flows through each part in turn until it gathers at the blade."
Lin Yun silently recited the technique's essentials as his body moved in response. The War Blade tore through the air with a soft hiss. He closed his eyes and carefully felt the path of the force through his body—from the soles of his feet, up through his calves and thighs, waist, back, and shoulders, until it reached his wrist and flowed from there into the blade.
He put all his strength into that strike.
Yet he could feel that some of the force was lost as it traveled through his body. Like water flowing along a winding river, some of it inevitably escaped. At least thirty percent of the power dissipated between his feet and the blade. If he could make use of that lost strength, the blade's power would increase by at least thirty percent.
That was the problem the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade was meant to solve. Through a special Force Application Technique, the dissipated force would be "recovered" as it traveled through the body, then added to the next strike to create a second layer of power.
The principle sounded simple, but putting it into practice was harder than reaching the heavens.
Lin Yun practiced again and again, from dusk until late at night, then from late at night until dawn. He went through each of the eighteen blade moves over a hundred times. Yet he still couldn't find that feeling of a "second layer of power."
"There's no rushing it." Lin Yun lowered his blade and stood still, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
Thunder God had written in the manual that practicing the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade required immense patience and aptitude. Countless warriors across the world chose this blade technique, yet most never even mastered the first layer. He'd only practiced for one night. What was he getting impatient for?
The body in the Coiling Dragon World stopped practicing the blade technique and sat cross-legged to meditate. Meanwhile, the body in the Swallowed Star World continued practicing in the training room.
In one world, one body rested while the other practiced; one body let its insights settle while the other put them to the test. That was the greatest advantage of dual cultivation across two worlds: time was doubled for him.
After three days of continuous practice, Lin Yun had made little progress.
He had learned the eighteen blade moves by heart and could perform each one smoothly, without a break. But he still hadn't found the knack for "multiple layers of force." He could feel power flowing through his body, but after releasing the first layer, he couldn't bring forth a second.
"Where am I going wrong?" Lin Yun sat cross-legged on the training-room floor with his eyes closed, repeatedly recalling every sentence Thunder God had written in the manual.
"The fundamental essence of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade is speed. But speed isn't the goal; it's the result. The true core is the Force Application Technique—making the power resonate within the body, one layer after another, each building upon the last."
"Resonance..." Lin Yun murmured. A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed his mind.
Resonance. Wasn't that one of the most basic concepts in physics? When two objects share the same frequency, one vibrates when the other does. If he could apply that principle to the use of force—making different parts of his body vibrate at the same frequency—then the power could build layer by layer instead of canceling itself out.
"But how can I make different parts of my body vibrate at the same frequency?" Lin Yun fell into thought.
His gaze settled on the sky outside the window. Lightning occasionally streaked through the clouds, and thunder rolled across the sky.
Lightning.
Thunder.
Lin Yun suddenly remembered something. He closed his eyes and shifted his consciousness to the Coiling Dragon World.
In the small grove behind Ernst Academy, Lin Yun opened his eyes and stood up. Instead of picking up his War Blade, he raised his right hand and began casting Thunder Element magic.
Thunder Arrow!
A purple bolt of lightning shot from his fingertips and struck a tree ahead, blasting a fist-sized hole in its trunk.
Thunder Chain!
A purple chain of lightning shot from his hand and wrapped around another tree. Electricity surged across its trunk with a crackling sound.
Thunder Prison!
Countless bolts of lightning fell from the sky, covering an area dozens of meters across with their astonishing power.
Lin Yun cast Thunder Element magic again and again, practicing every spell patiently, from the lowest-level Thunder Arrow to the sixth-level Thunder Prison. He focused on feeling the power of lightning—its fierce, swift, unstoppable force.
What was the essence of lightning?
Speed. How fast did lightning travel? Three hundred thousand kilometers per second. Nothing in the world was faster.
Explosive power. A bolt of lightning could reach hundreds of millions of volts and hundreds of thousands of amperes. Its instantaneous power could pierce the air, split trees, and make the earth tremble.
Resonance. Lightning wasn't a single form of energy, but a combination of many frequencies. As it struck, it produced electromagnetic waves of different frequencies. Some were audible to the human ear, while others couldn't be detected at all. But no matter their frequency, they all erupted at the same moment, combining to create a force capable of destroying the heavens and earth.
"Speed... explosive power... resonance..." Lin Yun murmured, a glimmer of understanding in his eyes.
He picked up his War Blade again and closed his eyes, imagining the power of lightning—the swift, explosive power that built upon itself.
Then he struck.
Whoosh!
The War Blade ripped through the air with a sharp whistle. This time, Lin Yun didn't stop. The instant he launched the first strike, he abruptly drove the power in his body, trying to unleash a second layer of force—
Snap!
The blade traced an arc through the air. The sound of it cutting through the air was sharper than before, as if something had burst along its edge.
Lin Yun opened his eyes, delight filling them.
A second layer of force! It was weak, not nearly enough to increase the blade's power by much, but it was undeniably a second layer of force! He'd felt it—in the instant his first strike landed, he'd caught the point where the force flowed back, then released a second wave of power from that point. The two forces combined at the blade, creating a small burst.
"Success!" Lin Yun clenched his fist, his heart pounding.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself. This was only the beginning. The first layer required two layers of force to combine. He'd only just touched the threshold of the second layer, and he still had a long way to go before he could truly make them "combine."
But he had found the right direction.
In the days that followed, Lin Yun adjusted his training. He no longer practiced the blade technique alone. Instead, he combined Thunder Element magic with the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade—
While practicing the blade technique in the Swallowed Star World, he cast Thunder Element magic in the Coiling Dragon World at the same time, using his insights into the magic to verify the blade technique's Force Application Technique.
While practicing magic in the Coiling Dragon World, he practiced the blade technique in the Swallowed Star World at the same time, using the blade technique's Force Application Technique to work backward and explore the essence of Thunder Element magic.
The two worlds and two kinds of power blended perfectly at that moment.
Thunder Element magic gave him a deeper understanding of the essence of lightning: speed, explosive power, and resonance. The Force Application Technique of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade allowed him to turn that understanding into real combat strength.
The results were immediate.
Three days later, Lin Yun mastered the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. He could unleash a second layer of force as he struck, combining the two layers and increasing the power to 1.4 times its original strength.
"Good!" Lin Yun lowered his blade and let out a long breath.
But he didn't stop. The first layer was only the beginning. He wanted to master the second, the third, and even higher layers. And as he practiced the blade technique, he had a growing sense that his understanding of Thunder Element magic was deepening as well.
It was an extraordinary feeling. When he cast Thunder Element magic, he no longer simply called upon magical power. He could "sense" something deeper within the lightning.
The Dragonblood Warrior Clan's notes called that something "Momentum."
What was Momentum?
Lin Yun searched through the Dragonblood Warrior Clan's records and finally found a vague description.
"Momentum is the embryo of a law. When a warrior or mage understands a particular kind of power to a certain degree, they can touch the threshold of Momentum. Momentum is neither power nor technique, but an instinctive understanding of the essence of power. Those who master Momentum can make their mind and blade one, and their body and technique one, when using the corresponding power. Their strength far exceeds that of others at the same level."
"The reason peak Saint Realm experts are so powerful is that they have not only mastered Momentum, but have also grasped the rudiments of laws from it. God Realm experts, meanwhile, have fully mastered one or more Law Mysteries."
Lin Yun closed the notes, his heart surging with irrepressible excitement.
Momentum—the threshold of laws.
His understanding of Thunder Element magic had reached a critical point. When he cast Thunder Element magic, he no longer needed to deliberately chant incantations and direct magical power. A single thought was enough for lightning to answer his call. It felt as if lightning were a part of his body, an extension of his will.
Was this Momentum?
To test his theory, Lin Yun unleashed the full power of his Thunder Element magic in the grove behind the academy.
Thunder Prison!
Countless bolts of lightning fell from the sky, covering an area dozens of meters across. But this time, Lin Yun didn't stop there. The instant the lightning struck, he swung the War Blade in his hand—
First Layer of the Thunder Blade!
The moment the blade fell, a purple bolt of lightning shot from its edge and intertwined with the lightning crashing down from the sky. The two forces collided, merged, and burst into brilliant light.
Boom!
The ground ahead exploded into a huge crater. Fragments of stone flew everywhere, and dust billowed into the air.
Lin Yun stood where he was, breathing heavily, excitement shining in his eyes.
He'd done it.
That strike hadn't just used the Force Application Technique of the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. It had also infused the blade technique with the power of Thunder Element magic. The speed, explosive power, and resonance of lightning had combined perfectly with the blade technique's Force Application Technique. Its power far exceeded that of the blade technique or magic alone.
More importantly, in that instant, he had clearly felt the presence of Momentum.
It was a profound, almost mysterious feeling. Lightning was no longer magic he cast, but a part of his body; the War Blade was no longer a weapon in his hand, but an extension of his will. At the thought, lightning appeared; at the thought, his blade flashed. In his hands, lightning and blade became one, indistinguishable from each other.
"This is Momentum." Lin Yun murmured, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
In the original story, Linley had reached this realm while traveling through the Magic Beast Mountain Range to the O'Brien Empire, when he was an Eighth-level Warrior and a Level 8 Mage. And now, though Lin Yun was only a Level 8 Mage and a Level 6 Warrior, he had already touched the threshold of Momentum.
It wasn't simply a matter of talent. It was also the advantage of dual cultivation across two worlds. The cultivation systems of the two worlds verified and spurred each other on, allowing him to advance along the path to understanding the essence of power faster than anyone else.
"Still, this is only the beginning." Lin Yun sheathed his War Blade and took a deep breath.
Momentum was only the threshold of laws. Only after crossing it could he truly touch the rudiments of laws. And beyond laws lay Mysteries, then fusion, and finally... becoming a god.
He still had a long road ahead.
But he wasn't in a hurry.
Two worlds, two bodies, and the same path to becoming stronger. He had all the time and patience he needed, along with an advantage no one else could hope to match.
Lin Yun closed his eyes and shifted his consciousness to the Swallowed Star World. In the training room of Bright Moon Residential District, his other body had just finished a day of practice.
"Keep going," he told himself.
The next morning, before dawn, Lin Yun appeared in the grove behind the academy again. Gripping his War Blade, he practiced the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade over and over while repeatedly casting Thunder Element magic, blending the two kinds of power together.
He had mastered the first layer and began challenging the second.
The core of the second layer was to unleash a third layer of force on top of the first. In other words, as he struck, he had to add a second layer of force and then, at the instant that second layer erupted, release a third. The three layers of force combined to increase the power to 2.1 times its original strength.
The difficulty had more than doubled.
Lin Yun tried again and again, failing each time. But he didn't lose heart. He knew that this kind of technique couldn't be mastered overnight. It required day after day of practice and accumulation.
His advantage was that he had two bodies in two worlds that could practice at the same time.
His body in the Swallowed Star World practiced the blade technique in the training room, while his body in the Coiling Dragon World practiced magic in the grove behind the academy. Insights from the two worlds converged, clashed, and blended in his mind, allowing him to progress far faster than ordinary people.
He was certain that it wouldn't be long before he broke through the second layer, and perhaps even the third and fourth.
More importantly, as his understanding of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade deepened, his insight into the Law of Lightning was also improving rapidly. The realm of Momentum was only the first step. Building on it, he wanted to advance further and truly touch the threshold of laws.
When that happened, his strength in both worlds would undergo a qualitative leap.
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