Fierce Wind Sword Art

Afterward, Chen Yuan extracted the training content for the Entering Stillness Method. It amounted to well over a hundred thousand words. Let alone practicing it, simply reading through it once would take Chen Yuan an hour or two.

After all, unlike when he read other manuals, which only required a cursory pass, this Entering Stillness Method was something he would be cultivating himself. He had to understand every word and sentence thoroughly.

But Chen Yuan was in no hurry. The secret method was not going anywhere, so he could read it slowly in his spare time.

And after Chen Yuan extracted the Entering Stillness Method, a slot opened up in his optimization panel. He could first resolve Yu Qinglan's cultivation method issue, preferably before the Gale Sword Art reached Completion Level so that it would not affect him.

This day, Chen Yuan found Yu Qinglan training in the Gravity Chamber and told her that the preparations were complete.

"So soon? That's great! The manual I needed has arrived too." Yu Qinglan's eyes lit up upon hearing the news. She immediately stopped cultivating her Gene Origin Energy and strode out of the Gravity Chamber.

The two then returned to Jiangnan Pavilion, and Yu Qinglan led Chen Yuan into the pavilion where she lived.

West Pavilion, basement level.

Upon arriving in the basement, Yu Qinglan pointed at a set of books and discs piled in the corner. "This is the manual—SS-grade swordsmanship, Red Lotus. It's also the manual I practiced before."

"For this customized manual, I specifically spent eight billion to buy another complete set, to avoid copyright issues."

Chen Yuan nodded. He walked over to the manuals, picked up a book, and flipped through it as he said, "It's called Red Lotus? It sounds like a manual related to the Fire Artistic Conception."

"More or less. The Conception branch this manual comprehends is called 'Violence,'" Yu Qinglan explained. "It is a branch with immense explosive power and excels at breaking through defenses head-on."

"Coincidentally, the Fire Artistic Conception does not merely have a Violence branch. The Wind Artistic Conception has a similar branch as well."

"So the creator of this manual once said that those who comprehend Conception through Red Lotus have a seventy percent chance of comprehending the Fire Artistic Conception and a thirty percent chance of comprehending the Wind Artistic Conception."

Chen Yuan nodded upon hearing that. He had seen those words left by the author on the title page of the manual.

"So you chose this sword art in order to comprehend the Violence branch under the Wind Artistic Conception?" Chen Yuan asked casually.

Yu Qinglan nodded. "After all, there aren't many advanced manuals compatible with the Wind Artistic Conception, and there are even fewer swordsmanship manuals. This Red Lotus is one of the few that meets the requirements."

Chen Yuan nodded and continued reading.

Chen Yuan read very quickly when it came to manuals he did not intend to practice. Before long, he had finished the first book.

Closing the book, Chen Yuan looked up and asked, "Do you have any requirements for the optimized manual?"

"I can make requests?" Yu Qinglan was clearly stunned. Then she asked tentatively, "Can I ask for anything? I want to remove the Fire Artistic Conception's interference from the manual and turn it into a sword art purely belonging to the Wind Artistic Conception. Can that be done?"

"It should not be a problem." Chen Yuan never made absolute promises. He picked up the complete set of books and discs and prepared to leave.

"Um... roughly how long will the optimization take?" Yu Qinglan looked at Chen Yuan's retreating back. She hesitated for a moment but could not help asking.

"At least ten-odd days, maybe a month," Chen Yuan replied after thinking about it. "I haven't finished reading the entire manual yet, so I can't determine the exact time."

"No rush, no rush!" Yu Qinglan hurriedly waved her hands, afraid of putting pressure on him. "Take your time reading it. I can wait."

"All right, thank you for understanding." Chen Yuan waved and left the basement carrying the manuals.

Not long afterward, he returned to his own pavilion.

"My luck this time is pretty good. I happened to come across the Violence branch that I lacked." With no one around, Chen Yuan relaxed and revealed a delighted expression as he opened the second book and continued reading.

An hour later, Chen Yuan had finished all of Red Lotus, including the accompanying discs.

"System, create an optimization task. Optimize Red Lotus in the following direction: discard all content related to the Fire Artistic Conception, make it a sword art purely based on the Wind Artistic Conception, retain the Violence-related branch, increase the sword art's power, raise the Force Exertion Level limit to five times, then abandon universality and optimize it based on Yu Qinglan's physique."

Optimization task established. Current optimization target: Red Lotus; optimization direction: remove content related to the Fire Artistic Conception, create a sword art centered on the Wind Artistic Conception, increase power and Force Exertion Level, abandon universality, and optimize according to Yu Qinglan's physical condition.

Estimated Kill Points required: 48. Establish optimization task?

Chen Yuan tapped confirm.

Optimization task established. Optimization time: 18 hours.

That was pretty fast, Chen Yuan thought as he looked at the remaining optimization time.

After finishing this, Chen Yuan stopped worrying about it and returned to his usual training routine.

That night, Chen Yuan had completely understood the contents of the Entering Stillness Method and successfully completed a meditation session, displaying the cultivation method's status on the panel.

Entering Stillness Method: Source Star Meditation: Cultivation-type secret method. Evaluation: Planetary Ultimate Secret Method. Current progress: Entry level (0.03%).

It was worth mentioning that, in order to accurately assess this Meditation Method, Chen Yuan had specifically adjusted the panel's rating system and added classifications for Planetary Level secret methods.

At first, based on a secret method's capabilities, he divided them into three ranks: Planetary Ordinary, Top-tier, and Peak.

The weakest among them were Planetary Ordinary Secret Methods. As the name suggested, they were ordinary secret methods with relatively low potential. Their advantage was that they were comparatively easy to learn, making them suitable for widespread cultivation.

A level higher were Planetary Top-tier Secret Methods. Practicing such methods allowed one to run rampant at the Planetary Level, second only to experts who possessed a Domain. The Hundred Fierce Blades practiced by Luo Hai belonged to this tier according to Chen Yuan's evaluation.

Stronger than Top-tier Secret Methods were Planetary Peak Secret Methods. By Chen Yuan's classification, secret methods at this level should be similar to the ninefold secret method of the Yan Shen Weapon practiced by Luo Feng, allowing one to claim invincibility among those of the same level.

At the time, Chen Yuan had thought those three ratings would be enough. But unexpectedly, after he updated the panel's contents, the evaluation of the Entering Stillness Method was still unknown.

Clearly, the grade of this secret method still exceeded the evaluation system Chen Yuan had established.

Chen Yuan had no choice but to add another tier above Peak Secret Methods: Ultimate.

This grade represented all secret methods that surpassed the Peak level, with no upper limit.

In other words, as long as a secret method was stronger than the Peak tier, no matter by how much, it would be classified as ultimate. To put it bluntly, it was still an unknown grade, merely given a nicer-sounding name.

After Chen Yuan updated the secret method rating standards, his Gale Sword Art was categorized as a Planetary Ordinary Secret Method, making it suddenly feel much lower-tier.

As a result, Chen Yuan trained even more diligently, striving to bring the Gale Sword Art to Completion Level as soon as possible before optimizing a more powerful secret method.

The next day, the optimization of Red Lotus was complete. Chen Yuan extracted it and examined it. The overall result was roughly what he had expected.

First, the sword art had become one purely related to the Wind Artistic Conception. Second, as he had expected, its Force Exertion Level increased from three times to five times.

Finally, the sword art gained a killing move, somewhat similar to Mountain Destroyer from the Hundred Fierce Blades. Activated through the Conception of Violent Wind, it possessed astonishing power.

Based on this characteristic, Chen Yuan named the manual the Fierce Wind Sword Art.

However, although the manual had been optimized, Chen Yuan was in no hurry to give it to Yu Qinglan. The time was simply too short—only one day had passed. Handing it over now would be far too shocking and would more easily draw unnecessary attention.

Thus, Chen Yuan acted as though the manual did not exist. Every day, aside from watching Yu Qinglan train, he followed his usual routine in practicing the Gale Sword Art.

Three days later, the system informed Chen Yuan that the data collection concerning the Wind of Existence Conception had been completed. Chen Yuan finally no longer had to stare at Yu Qinglan training every day.

Two more days passed, and Chen Yuan had finished reading all the manuals he had purchased. He then shifted his entire training focus to the Gale Sword Art.

Finally, hard work paid off. On December 31, exactly one month after Chen Yuan entered the Training Camp, his Gale Sword Art finally reached Completion Level.