Master Every Move, or Master One Move

Lu Wu-bing had only just practiced further when he discovered that not only had his body's vital essence been severely depleted, but more importantly, his mind could no longer remain focused.

He was always easily fatigued, to the point that even when circulating qi through the opened meridians, it became somewhat unstable.

Thus, he understood.

Cultivating internal energy was, in essence, a process of refining essence into qi.

Without essence, where could qi come from?

After cultivating for too long, one aspect was that his body's primordial qi was insufficient and could no longer endure it.

The other aspect was surely that using intent to guide qi consumed too much mental power, leaving him unable to continue cultivating.

This was completely different from the cultivation method of [Six Yang Divine Needles].

[Six Yang Divine Needles] focused on the word "nurture"...

Nurturing the meridians, nurturing qi, cultivating vitality.

It neither opened acupoints nor connected meridians, so it was only suitable for applying needles to treat illnesses, not for fighting.

That vitality circulated along the silver needles, thin and faint, gentle and slow. Injected into a patient's acupoints, it caused not the slightest harm.

Dripping Water Force, however, was majestic and razor-sharp, with formidable offensive power.

It was difficult to compare the ranks of cultivation arts. One could only say that their natures were different.

The only benefit of the original owner's many years of cultivating Six Yang Vitality was that it had filled Lu Wu-bing's body with vigorous life force. Now that he was truly cultivating Dripping Water Force, his foundation was much deeper.

Of course, it was also related to the tonics he had been taking bit by bit all these years.

His original vitality was sufficiently abundant.

Yet after his first cultivation of Dripping Water Force, even that deep reserve had been almost entirely consumed.

To the point that he now felt faintly hungry.

However, this was naturally not the right time to order the kitchen to prepare food. He still had to listen to Senior Sister Xiaolan answer his questions.

Ouyang Lan carried herself with the bearing of an expert and lightly patted Lu Wu-bing's shoulder.

"Internal energy cultivation is not something accomplished in a day or night. Especially Dripping Water Force—no matter how much you want speed, it cannot be rushed.

"Open the Divine Treasures throughout the body, connect the twelve primary meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians.

"It is like moving mountains and breaking rocks, dredging channels and carving rivers. The further you go, the harder it becomes. You must be patient."

Lu Wu-bing nodded repeatedly.

He thought that was sound reasoning.

With his [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate, as long as he learned something, he could grasp its basics. Each practice session increased his proficiency by one point.

He could cultivate techniques to the familiar and Proficient realms at an extremely rapid pace. His cultivation efficiency was naturally far greater than that of ordinary people.

But the speed at which he accumulated bodily essence and transformed it into inner qi was not something proficiency could solve.

There was no such essence energy in his body to begin with, and he could not create it out of thin air for no reason. Sure enough, it was a clumsy effort built up over days and months.

"Let us not speak too much of internal energy for now. You have already understood how to cultivate [Dripping Water Force]. Later, I will draw the diagrams for opening acupoints and connecting meridians. You can follow the map and continue cultivating from there."

Ouyang Lan spoke earnestly, then changed the subject. "Internal energy is the foundation, but swordsmanship is the true priority.

"When one roams the martial world, one's fate is not entirely one's own. Sooner or later, one must weather treacherous storms and perilous dangers.

"Without powerful swordsmanship and martial arts, even if one's inner strength is cultivated to great depths, one might still be challenged across realms and slain on the spot."

"Senior Sister, are you going to teach me the swordsmanship Extinction Art of our Celestial Star Sect?"

Lu Wu-bing was delighted to hear that.

He still remembered how Senior Sister Xiaolan had leaped forth with her sword to save someone on the street.

That sword strike had been exquisitely brilliant and dazzlingly splendid.

Not only was it powerful, but more importantly, it looked incredibly cool.

Whether one was strong was only a matter of the moment.

Whether one was cool was a matter of a lifetime.

Such swordsmanship, both cool and powerful—

He definitely had to learn it.

Seeing Lu Wu-bing's face filled with longing, Ouyang Lan was greatly satisfied and smiled. "Though the rules of our Celestial Star Sect are not particularly strict, there are still rules for cultivating internal energy and swordsmanship.

"No matter one's talent or comprehension, whether one is an outer disciple or a personal disciple, the first things learned are basic internal energy and basic swordsmanship."

"You already know the basic internal energy. Next, I will teach you the Celestial Star Sect's basic sword art: Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords."

Lu Wu-bing was stunned. "Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords is a basic sword art?"

Ouyang Lan's expression turned solemn. "Though the martial world may flatter us, the foundation sword art of our Celestial Star Sect is not necessarily inferior to the sect-defending sword arts of other minor sects. Every sword is fierce, chasing souls and snatching lives. Why can it not be called Thirteen Life-Snatching Swords?"

"Yes. Senior Sister, please wield your sword slowly. I learn slowly."

Seeing Ouyang Lan preparing to demonstrate, Lu Wu-bing hurriedly said.

How should he put his comprehension? His understanding was actually not bad; otherwise, he would not have entered a good school in his previous life.

But when it came to bodily control, martial arts, or dancing, he had no particular talent. Even learning a set of radio calisthenics took him several days before he could do it smoothly.

"It is fine. The sword-wielding methods and footwork are actually quite simple. The key lies in the sword-wielding mental method: gathering the strength of your entire body and coordinating it with the inner breath of Dripping Water Force. Watch carefully how I move my breath when I draw my sword."

Ouyang Lan performed the first sword, "White Rainbow Pierces the Sun," slowing it down and repeating it three times as she explained the subtle essence of exerting force.

Then he heard a series of hissing sounds by his ear.

She turned her head to look.

There stood Lu Wu-bing, his feet planted in a neither-ding-nor-eight stance, ripples spreading through his clothes...

His longsword became a stream of light pointing forward. Its edge tore through the air, thrusting out rings of ripples.

Sword drawn, sword withdrawn—it truly resembled a white rainbow streaking across the heavens.

His spirit was full and his qi complete.

"You call this learning slowly?"

For some reason, Ouyang Lan's voice came out muffled and nasal, as though she felt somewhat wronged.

Teaching this sort of student gave her not the slightest sense of accomplishment.

When she had first learned "White Rainbow Pierces the Sun," it had taken her ten days just to enter the door.

To truly practice it until it flowed with such familiarity, with spirit full and qi complete, was not measured in days, but in years.

"Uh, I have spent these years specializing in a single thrusting sword move, so I have some understanding of it. Though White Rainbow Pierces the Sun uses a somewhat more complicated sword method, it still has not departed from the foundation of the thrusting sword, so I am fairly practiced at it."

Lu Wu-bing gave a casual explanation, but inwardly he was brimming with delight.

A thrusting sword was not the same as another thrusting sword.

With the [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate upon him, every sword strike increased his proficiency and deepened his understanding. He had already practiced the thrusting sword to the Proficient Realm and was gradually pushing it toward Greater Mastery...

He dared say that in the single move of "thrusting sword," he had mobilized every ounce of strength in his body and controlled it with the utmost precision.

Yet after drawing his sword with the sword-wielding method of "White Rainbow Pierces the Sun," he discovered that his sword speed had increased by nearly thirty percent.

Not only had his sword become faster.

With inner strength supporting it, the force of his sword was no longer held steady along a line when he struck, but condensed into a single point.

At the sharp tip of the blade, its lethality had increased by more than severalfold—more than tripled.

If I had thrust at Lu Zhongkui, the Life-Severing Sword, while he was distracted back then, I could have pierced straight through him with one strike.

Thinking of his earlier clash with one of the Seven Swords of the Eastern Sea, Lu Wu-bing felt joy, but also sighed inwardly.

After silently estimating the difference in their strength, he knew that even with his current sword speed, if the other party was prepared, he absolutely would not be a match for that man.

Because this was the only sword move he had cultivated above the [Proficient] Realm.

It was direct and straightforward, with no room for variation.

It was useful in a surprise attack...

Once seen through, it could be dodged or blocked...

Then, relying on deeper inner strength and more exquisite swordsmanship to counterattack, he would find it difficult to respond.

In this world, people of the martial world have few restraints. Life and death are decided by their whims.

If I want to live freely and hold my own life in my hands, it will ultimately depend on my own strength.

Without strength, I am like a sheep in the wilderness, never knowing what day I might be buried in a wolf's belly.

With that thought, Lu Wu-bing's enthusiasm for learning the sword soared.

He followed Ouyang Lan in learning the remaining twelve sword forms. Then he had the servants bring up food, wolfed it down, temporarily forgot the other sword forms he had just learned, and practiced only [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun].

Master every move, or master one move.

Faster. Faster still.

The sixty-three-thousandth sword.

The sixty-three-thousand-and-first sword.

Lu Wu-bing was drenched in sweat, dancing alone beneath the moonlight.

The [Heaven Rewards Diligence] fate told him that once he practiced one hundred thousand sword strikes, he could cultivate this sword move to Greater Mastery and break through once more.

At that time, his attack power and sword speed would rise to an inconceivable level.

He had already probed for information from Ouyang Lan indirectly.

Among the Celestial Star Sect's eight senior brothers and sisters, aside from Eldest Senior Brother Yue Lingfeng, a swordsmanship genius who had already cultivated Celestial Star swordsmanship to the Proficient Realm—

The remaining senior brothers and sisters were basically all at the Familiar Realm in swordsmanship.

As for the Gazing Sky Cliff branch of the Celestial Star Sect, only Master and Mistress had reached the Greater Mastery Realm in swordsmanship, after decades of bitter effort.

He could cultivate his swordsmanship to Greater Mastery in such a short time.

Though it was merely a basic sword form, though he had practiced only one form.

Once he succeeded, if he truly encountered an enemy, then when [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun] struck forth, ordinary third-rate martial artists—whether Ninth Rank or Seventh Rank—would find it exceedingly difficult to withstand.