Chen Yuan's Ultimate Secret Manual

"Next, it is time to optimize this sword art." Although the Spirit Wind Sword Art had just demonstrated its extraordinary nature, for Chen Yuan, the problem remained that it was far too difficult to master.

Only a secret technique optimized by the system could achieve one hundred percent compatibility with Chen Yuan. Furthermore, the greatest flaw of the Spirit Wind Sword Art was its lack of force-exertion techniques, which was why his current force-exertion multiplier was still only 1.3.

Since he already knew that the secret of the Spirit Wind Sword Art was the Wind Artistic Conception, he only needed to retain its core essence during the optimization.

Therefore, Chen Yuan did not hesitate; with a flicker of thought, he opened the optimization page on his interface.

"System, optimize the Spirit Wind Sword Art. Optimization parameters: take the Artistic Conception as the core, enhance the power of the secret technique, improve the force-exertion techniques, and abandon universality—optimize it solely for the individual."

"Optimization task established. Current optimization target: Spirit Wind Sword Art. Optimization parameters: retain the characteristics of the Artistic Conception, enhance the power and force-exertion techniques of the secret technique, abandon universality, and optimize based on the host's condition. Estimated cost for this optimization: 16 Kill Points. Establish optimization task?"

"16 Kill Points... as expected, the cost has doubled." Chen Yuan felt fortunate; it was a good thing that after abandoning universality, the secret technique only required one percent of the Kill Points. Otherwise, the 125 Kill Points he possessed would truly not have been enough.

That was correct; after Chen Yuan had slain those three Tiger Mastiff Dog leaders, the amount of Kill Points he possessed had reached 125.

Since his Kill Points were sufficient, Chen Yuan naturally saw no need to be frugal and quickly confirmed the optimization.

"Optimization task established. Estimated time for this optimization: 15 hours."

"As expected of an A-grade secret technique, the optimization time is so long." Chen Yuan sighed as he looked at the remaining optimization time.

Afterward, Chen Yuan picked up his sword and walked into the county town.

"Since it is still early, I might as well farm some Kill Points."

The cold moonlight shone upon Chen Yuan's figure, stretching his shadow longer with every step.

As time passed, the moon faded and the sun rose. Within County 0247 of the Wilderness Zone, Chen Yuan opened his eyes inside an abandoned apartment building.

Opening his interface, Chen Yuan glanced at the information he was interested in.

"Remaining optimization time: 30 minutes."

Kill Points: 583.

Excluding the remainder from yesterday, this meant that last night, by relying on killing the monsters nearby, Chen Yuan had obtained 474 Kill Points, which also meant that at least a hundred monsters had perished under Chen Yuan's sword.

It was not that Chen Yuan could not kill more, but rather that this county town was not particularly large, and it could not attract too many monsters to congregate here, causing them to be too scattered.

Another point was that Chen Yuan's primary goal was still cultivation. Every time he finished killing for a period, he would find a stronghold to practice his Guiding Technique while entering Deep Sleep to recover his state.

At this moment, counting this time Chen Yuan had just woken up from Deep Sleep, he had already practiced three full times.

Looking at the remaining optimization time on the interface, Chen Yuan took a piece of monster meat he had picked up the previous night from his backpack, set up a campfire, skewered the meat, and placed it over the fire to roast.

The monsters within a few kilometers of this stronghold had basically been cleared out by Chen Yuan, so he did not worry about any monsters coming to disturb him.

The facts were indeed as such; time slipped away slowly as Chen Yuan leisurely ate his breakfast. When Chen Yuan finished eating, the optimization progress bar finally reached its end.

"Optimization task completed. The secret technique 'Spirit Wind Sword Art' has been optimized into 'Unnamed' (Click to expand details)."

Chen Yuan let out a soft sound of surprise, finding it strange that the secret technique optimized this time had no name.

After inquiring with the system, Chen Yuan received his answer.

It was actually quite simple: the system could not find a name in Chen Yuan's memory that matched this new secret technique.

Whether it was the previous "Hibernation Method: Crystal Visualization" or the later "Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Classic," the system had always screened for names that matched the characteristics of the secret techniques based on Chen Yuan's memories.

However, for this Spirit Wind Sword Art, Chen Yuan had performed the optimization entirely according to the rules of the Swallowed Star world view, so the system naturally could not find a similar name in Chen Yuan's memory.

"So that's how it is. Let me see what effects this new secret technique has." Chen Yuan curiously clicked on the details of the secret technique.

Unnamed: Combat-type secret technique, rated Ultimate. A combat secret technique with the Wind Artistic Conception as its core, composed of three parts: sword art, movement technique, and Guiding Technique. The specific effects are as follows:

1. Cultivating this secret technique can additionally increase movement speed, sword-striking speed, and neural reaction speed.

2. Master the Wind Artistic Conception in advance, increasing the cultivation efficiency of sword techniques below the Conception Level.

3. Increase the force-exertion level, with a maximum force-exertion level of 5.

4. Assist in comprehending the technique of Unity of Heaven and Man.

5. After the secret technique reaches perfection, increase the efficiency of comprehending a "Domain."

6. After the secret technique reaches perfection, slightly increase affinity with the Wind Law.

Chen Yuan read the abilities of this secret technique one by one, his mouth slowly widening. "So powerful! It can even assist in comprehending a Domain and increase Law affinity!"

Chen Yuan claimed the contents of the secret technique. This time, he spent a full half-hour reading it, then leaned his body against the wall and closed his eyes to digest the information.

After a long while, Chen Yuan opened his eyes and sighed, "So that is the reason."

Now he could be certain that the bodies of the Chen family members were indeed different from ordinary people.

Of course, this did not mean he was not an Earthling; rather, there were some special gene fragments hidden within the Chen family bloodline, and it was these genes that created the unique talent of the Chen family members.

Chen Yuan did not yet know what this gene segment was, but according to his guess, it might be related to that "Law affinity."

Simply put, the Chen family members were different from ordinary people and were naturally more inclined toward the Wind Law.

This also explained why, during the Great Nirvana period, Chen Yuan's grandfather, Chen Xuandao, was able to push the power of a C-grade secret manual to the A-grade—it was precisely because he had comprehended the Artistic Conception of the wind, leaping to become a top-tier powerhouse who had mastered Conception Level techniques.

Likewise, this also explained why only Chen family members could master the Spirit Wind Sword Art. Even if others had high talent, lacking this special gene segment in their bodies, they would ultimately be unable to comprehend the Wind Artistic Conception through a C-grade sword art.

Back then, Hong had perhaps seen through this very point, which was why he had rated the Spirit Wind Sword Art as a C-grade secret manual rather than an A-grade one. After all, for the vast majority of people, the upper limit of this sword art was indeed limited.

Therefore, the reason this secret technique, optimized from the Spirit Wind Sword Art, possessed those final two astonishing abilities—increasing the efficiency of "Domain" comprehension and slightly boosting affinity for the Wind Law—was precisely because the technique was a perfect fit for Chen Yuan's body, which, combined with the special genes in the Chen family bloodline, created this near-heaven-defying effect.

"Since that is the case, the priority moving forward, aside from continuing to increase my strength, will be to cultivate this secret technique." Chen Yuan looked at the three characters for 'unnamed' on the manual and pondered for a moment. "I shall call this new secret technique the Gale Sword Art."

The origin of this name was simple: compared to the Spirit Wind Sword Art, the core advantage of this new technique was speed, which was the first effect of the secret technique.

According to the description in the manual, when Chen Yuan cultivated this technique to the Perfect Level, his sword-drawing speed and movement speed would double on top of his current foundation, while his neural reaction speed would also increase by two levels.

One must realize that, thanks to the Spirit Wind Sword Art, Chen Yuan's current sword-drawing speed had already increased by 70%, and his movement speed by 50%. If he were to add another 100% on top of that, how fast would he become? Even Chen Yuan found it hard to imagine.

Not to mention the concept of a two-level increase in neural reaction speed; it meant that Chen Yuan, currently an Advanced Warrior, would possess neural reactions comparable to an Intermediate War General.

All three of these improvements were targeted specifically at the attribute of "speed."

Therefore, Gale Sword Art was a rather fitting name.

As Chen Yuan's thought settled, the name of the secret technique on the panel changed accordingly.

Gale Sword Art: Combat-type secret technique, Rating: Ultimate, Current Progress: Entry/Proficient (0.01%)

"Huh? What is going on with this progress?" Chen Yuan queried the panel, then realized: "So, it is because I have already mastered the Wind Artistic Conception, which theoretically belongs to the Proficient level, but since I have not yet cultivated this specific technique, it is still at the Entry stage."

"Since it is a new technique, I should start from the beginning." With a shift of his thoughts, Chen Yuan erased the word 'Proficient' from behind the secret technique's progress.

After finishing these tasks, Chen Yuan packed his bag, extinguished the campfire, pushed open the apartment door, and stepped out.

"It is time to cultivate properly."