"Does practicing [Inch Step] not require opening acupoints?"
Thinking of the training method for [Dripping Water Force], Lu Wu-bing looked troubled.
Opening one's acupoints could not actually be done so quickly, especially now that they were out in the wilderness, with no abundance of medicinal supplements to consume and not enough vital essence within his body to refine into inner breath.
He still needed over eight thousand thrusts to complete the hundred thousand required for practicing the thrusting sword move [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun]. Then, with the talent of [Heaven Rewards Diligence], he could directly push that thrusting move to the Greater Mastery Realm.
He did not know just how powerful a single thrusting sword technique would become upon reaching Greater Mastery.
But at the very least, his sword would be faster, and its force stronger. Its offensive power would be beyond comparison.
Although he had gained a brief period of safety for now,
once dawn broke, unless he could find a place no one else could locate, people would sooner or later hunt him down.
Practicing swordsmanship was naturally the best choice at a time like this.
He could reach Greater Mastery in a single night.
If he practiced lightness skill as well, it would take too much time. Clearly, the loss would outweigh the gain.
He had always felt that attacking was more important than fleeing.
Unless driven to the bitter end, he still wanted to kill his way back...
They had plotted against his family's sword manual and chased him until he ran everywhere like a dog. If he did not vent this anger, his heart would truly find no peace.
Ouyang Lan smiled and shook her head. "No. Movement techniques and sword techniques both fall within the scope of skill; they are not foundational arts.
"Like your family's [Six Yang Divine Needles], it merely passes through the meridians and does not open the Divine Treasure."
He understood.
One was the body; the other was its use.
If internal arts were the engine,
then lightness skills and sword techniques were the gearbox.
Knowing that Lu Wu-bing had never received the guidance of such profound martial knowledge, Senior Sister Xiaolan was exceptionally patient.
"Let us set swordsmanship aside for now and speak of the Celestial Star Sect's [Inch Step]...
"Inner qi circulates through the [Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian] and [Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian], stimulating the acupoints of the three gates and nine apertures. The exertion of force mainly relies on the three joints of the hips, knees, and ankles, as well as the nine acupoints of [Qiu Xu], [Yang Jiao], [Feng Shi], [Xue Hai], [Chong Men], [Gong Sun], and so on.
"Using inner breath to either shake or permeate these acupoint meridians, circulating and surging through them, allows one to become light and swift, with endlessly changing movements..."
This time, when Ouyang Lan taught him lightness skill, she spoke each word slowly, as though reading straight from a manual.
She even felt out the positions of the acupoints on Lu Wu-bing's body one by one, telling him how to guide his qi through every point and exactly how to exert his strength.
"Did Martial Mother teach you like this?"
Listening to Senior Sister Xiaolan's exhaustive instruction, Lu Wu-bing seemed to gain some insight.
"Yes. Mother was always the most patient when teaching disciples... unlike Father. Whenever he taught a cultivation method, it made people feel as though they were being tortured."
Thinking of the day her own father had taught [Dripping Water Force], and of her junior brother's bewildered, helpless expression, Ouyang Lan could not help letting out a chuckle.
Sect Leader Ouyang's cultivation was profound, and his comprehension of swordsmanship was also exceedingly strong, but he could never understand why something so simple was incomprehensible and unlearnable to others.
He often said, "Idiot, can't you do this as long as you have hands?"
"If one road is blocked, can't you switch paths and think it through another way?"
Then the fellow disciples would simply be dumbfounded.
Had Mother not been there to fill in the gaps, Ouyang Lan suspected that the disciples on the mountain might still be grinding away at the basic beginner sword arts even now.
An ordinary person truly could not stomach the sect leader's "genius teaching method."
Lu Wu-bing listened attentively and gave it one clumsy try.
On the second try, he immediately got on the right track, grasping the route of the inner breath's circulation and the method of varying its force and turns. He began to look the part.
Watching her junior brother listen once, walk through it once, and immediately begin practicing,
his first step covered three feet.
After taking several steps, a single stride could already span more than a zhang...
Ouyang Lan suddenly lost all interest in speaking.
It was too crushing.
What kind of innate sacred physique for cultivation was this?
Learn it upon hearing it, enter the gate upon practicing it.
All that remained was proficiency.
Lightness skills and movement techniques did not have so many twists and turns. The finer one's control over the qi within the body, the more accurately one stimulated the acupoints, and the faster one's qi circulated, the faster one's movements and footwork would become.
Just like Lu Wu-bing at this moment, not only were his feet moving faster and faster, but each stride was stretching farther and farther.
The twisting and shifting of his body also became increasingly natural.
"I understand. Stimulating the [Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian] can improve reaction speed, making the movements beneath one's feet more agile;
"while the [Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian] allows the body to alter its shape, increasing flexibility and extension..."
With the talent of [Heaven Rewards Diligence] upon him, Lu Wu-bing first practiced it once by imitating a cat while drawing a tiger.
No matter how poorly he performed, as long as his movements were in place and his method was not wrong, the results would immediately stabilize, and he would successfully enter the gate.
After that, it was simply mechanical repetition.
Yet he could still sense the changes in his body after the acupoints on those two meridians were stimulated.
"Merely stimulating the acupoints a little already has such wondrous effects. If all the acupoints on these two meridians were completely opened, then [Inch Step] was circulated... just how fast would it become?"
"You noticed?" Ouyang Lan sighed.
She thought that her junior brother truly had a quick mind, able to draw inferences from one instance.
Unfortunately, whether it was [Dripping Water Force] or the [Celestial River Orthodox Method], completely cultivating the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary meridians, opening every acupoint, was still a far-off matter.
The idea was a good one.
But it was useless.
"Mother once said that no matter what martial path one cultivated, the greatest taboo was aiming too high. It was best to take one step at a time, slowly..."
At this point, Ouyang Lan's voice grew softer and softer.
She could no longer continue.
For she clearly saw Lu Wu-bing circulate [Inch Step], and as he walked, he began to draw his sword.
He stepped forward and thrust out a sword.
He stepped back and thrust out another...
Left and right, forward and back.
In the end, a single move of [White Rainbow Pierces the Sun] had actually been played into countless variations, meshing seamlessly with [Inch Step] and carrying the force of blades striking out in all eight directions.
"This..."
"Could it be that I had been practicing wrong all along?"
"So practicing swordsmanship and lightness skill this way is the proper way to open the door to martial arts?"
It hurt her pride.
Ouyang Lan sat down slowly in silence.
She felt it was better to focus on healing her injuries first and not worry about these pointless matters.
People were different.
Even if one refused to admit it, that gap objectively existed all along.
No wonder even her old-fashioned father had begun looking at her junior brother differently overnight.
He had clearly discovered something.
"Practice footwork a thousand times, and it enters the Proficient Realm. Practice it fifty thousand times, and it reaches the Proficient Realm. I was foolish too—who said footwork could not be practiced together with swordsmanship?"
After discovering this trick, Lu Wu-bing was overjoyed.
He could save time again.
Not only could he push his swordsmanship to Greater Mastery, but practicing his footwork a thousand times and entering the Proficient Realm would also be effortless.
The destiny of [Heaven Rewards Diligence] seemed especially friendly toward those born to toil like oxen and horses.
It was not afraid that you could not learn—it was afraid that you would not work hard... As long as you wanted to pile more burdens onto yourself, it would provide endless convenience.
Just like now.
He split his attention in two: one stream of inner breath traveled through the [Foot Taiyin Spleen Meridian] and [Foot Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian], while another traveled through the [Hand Shaoyin Heart Meridian].
They ran in parallel without error, each undisturbed by the other...
One step, one sword—smooth and natural.
His progress surged at a breakneck pace.
Before you continue