The Artistic Conception of Wind

The next morning, Ji Yun first practiced several spear forms, then sat cross-legged in the main hall on the third floor.

Morning sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the entire Martial Arts Hall. Ji Yun wore a white training suit, barefoot and cross-legged in the center of the hall. The spacious training hall, over a hundred square meters, was empty save for Ji Yun alone, with a secret manual placed before him.

This was—Fierce Wind.

"Invincible War God Chen Qingzhi, famed for his swift spear, capable of facing a thousand alone, with armies and cavalry avoiding his edge." Ji Yun opened the manual. "I wonder what power Fierce Wind holds."

Opening the first page, there was only one question.

"What is wind?"

"Wind."

Ji Yun pondered silently. What was wind?

"What is wind? Wind exists everywhere in nature. Sea breeze is wind, mountain wind is wind, storm wind is wind, hurricane is also wind."

"Wind, ever-changing and diverse. That which one can control—this is called hunting the wind!"

Ji Yun turned to the next page.

"When your speed is fast enough, reaching a certain threshold, you can cause the formation of wind, control its emergence, and even fully master this wind born from yourself." As Ji Yun opened the first page, he saw elegant, flowing handwriting, as if a gentle breeze brushed his face.

"And to form wind, you must be fast enough!"

"This fast does not merely refer to speed in the simple sense, but the speed of your spear relative to the air. If you can resonate with the surrounding wind, naturally you become even faster. The two combine, ultimately riding the wind, a single spear piercing the air."

"Why cause wind?"

"On a small scale, wind can raise dust, confuse opponents, and increase your own advantage."

"Or apply wind to yourself, enhancing your speed or the power of your spear."

"Or! A single spear thrust, stirring a great storm, directly tearing the enemy apart."

"Do not underestimate the power of wind! Wind can be gentle, or it can be violent. I once thrust my spear, and the wind it brought directly shredded a Lord Monster."

"This is wind!"

Ji Yun set down the manual, his eyes faintly gleaming. Clearly, his heart was far from calm, as if he had grasped something.

"To comprehend the Conception of Wind, one must sense the flow of surrounding air. To cause or even sense the flow of surrounding air, one must be fast enough. To be fast enough, one needs great strength, speed, and physical constitution."

Ji Yun continued reading.

"Fierce Wind contains a complete movement technique 'Wind Motion', a complete Guide Technique 'Mystic Wind Guidance Technique', and a complete spear technique 'Fierce Wind'. Among these three, the Guide Technique is the foundation!"

"Only through the Guide Technique can you possess a powerful physique!"

"Physical constitution is the foundation!"

"The spear technique and movement technique are skills, requiring repeated cultivation and insight!"

And the ultimate goal of Fierce Wind is to comprehend and master the Conception of Wind, using wind in battle to amplify one's momentum.

Ji Yun continued flipping through. The Guide Technique recorded in this manual had five chapters. According to the manual, the 'Mystic Wind Guidance Technique' Guide Technique had five chapters. By the same logic, the spear technique in this manual only had the first five layers. The movement technique also only had the first five layers. Ji Yun studied carefully, reading every word and sentence completely.

"The introduction says that this spear technique and movement technique only have five layers, meant to help martial artists exert more force and achieve greater speed."

"The final two layers of the manual are meant to help martial artists comprehend the Conception of Wind, ultimately mastering wind."

"Exerting force—so this is how it's done. The method I figured out on my own only counts as the first layer."

Every high-end manual has its own set of force exertion methods. Previously, Ji Yun's self-realized method was called Hidden Force, but this exertion could only be applied once, not stacked. The force exertion method of Fierce Wind was far more advanced.

As mentioned before, an ordinary person's full-force spear strike might be ten percent power! But when a Fierce Wind practitioner strikes, they use only eighty percent power. When releasing the first layer of force, they strive to make their body release a second layer of force, also eighty percent. The two layers stack, resulting in sixteen percent power.

And Fierce Wind has five layers, capable of releasing forty-eight percent power, granting the martial artist nearly five times the strength.

That is to say, with successful cultivation, one could even rely on this burst to fight above their level.

Ji Yun gripped his spear, standing as the first layer of the manual described. Suddenly, he thrust.

"Tss," the sound of the spear tip piercing the air rang out sharply.

With this thrust, Ji Yun used eighty percent power, but only produced six layers of afterforce, reaching fourteen percent of his original power.

I didn't expect that even with my Hidden Force foundation, fully cultivating this would be so difficult.

Ji Yun nodded. If it weren't difficult, how could it be called an SS manual? After all, many people spend years unable to figure out how to release Hidden Force, while Ji Yun's first attempt nearly succeeded in cultivating the first layer—that was already extremely impressive.

"Let me try again, see where the problem lies."

Time passed. Although Ji Yun had joined the Eagle Strike Squad, the squad was on break during this period, and Ji Yun spent the month carefully studying the spear technique, movement technique, and Guide Technique of Fierce Wind. Among these, the Guide Technique, cultivated alongside Genetic Origin Energy, showed the most obvious results. The speed of Ji Yun's physical strength increase was clearly much faster.

Ji Yun had already successfully cultivated the first layer of Fierce Wind, but the second layer still had a way to go. With the success of the first layer, Ji Yun's absorption speed of Genetic Origin Energy had also risen a level. After this period of consolidation, he had fully stepped into the Low-Level War General rank, and was not weak even among Low-Level War Generals. If he used his techniques, he was even extremely formidable among Low-Level War Generals.

On the morning of September second, Ji Yun wore a combat vest, covered by a white robe that concealed the vest inside.

He carried a martial artist's backpack and a Wind Lifter Spear. A communication watch was fixed to the guard on his right wrist. Inside the backpack, he had prepared water and some high-energy food.

"Today, September second, is my first time leaving the base city, officially entering the Wilderness Zone." Ji Yun took a deep breath.

Today was the day the Eagle Strike Squad set out!

Ji Yun went downstairs and saw Ji Shan and Luo Hong's family sitting in the living room, all looking at him.

"Ah Yun, be careful in everything," Ji Shan said quietly.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm not the same kid who was just a Quasi-Warrior anymore." Ji Yun smiled.

"Come back safe. Don't make Xiao Yue wait for you." Luo Hong's voice was a little hoarse.

"Ji Yun, when you come back, will you chase me?" Luo Yue's eyes were a bit red, as if she had been crying.

"Mm." Ji Yun nodded, hugged Luo Yue, then turned, grabbed his car keys, and walked out the door.

Ji Yun drove for two hours and arrived at Kyoto Base City.

Kyoto Base City, the capital base city of Huaxia Nation, was extremely prosperous. In the main urban area stood a skyscraper with a full 88 floors. On the wall of this skyscraper were the very dazzling English letters 'HR'. Around the first floor of the skyscraper was a beautiful plaza and the largest statue in all of Kyoto Base City—a statue of Jia Yi, an existence beyond the War God level. Surrounding the plaza were over a thousand fully armed soldiers on patrol, forbidding any outsiders from stepping inside.

Passersby walking by looked at this skyscraper with curiosity and envy.

"Beep"

An electronic mixed tone sounded.

The soldiers standing guard and on patrol immediately moved aside. A sports car with the Limit Dojo emblem on its license plate stopped at the entrance hall of the skyscraper.

Ji Yun got out of the car, took his weapons from the trunk, and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"Sir, please come in." The doorman at the skyscraper's entrance hall bowed respectfully.

Ji Yun entered the building directly and, following the information he had received earlier, went to a private lounge on the second floor.

As he went upstairs, Ji Yun carefully observed this HR Alliance Mall. This was the Underground Alliance formed by the world's super families and consortiums, serving as their headquarters in Jiangnan Base City. The entire building was extremely luxurious.

The floor of the hall was so polished it could be used as a mirror, and even some simple decorations were extraordinary.

The service staff in the hall—the men handsome, the women slender and charming—each wore a smile that made one feel like a spring breeze.

This HR Alliance headquarters in Kyoto Base City was slightly different from others. Because it was relatively close to another base city, Northeast Base City, it sold fewer materials and had a larger rest area.

Ji Yun found the room, knocked, and walked in.

As soon as he saw Ji Yun arrive, Eagle Eye Zhang Taofang smiled and said, "A-Yun, have a seat."

"Let me introduce you. This is our team's vice-captain, known as Stray Arrow, Li Ke. Li Ke uses a blade, but he also has a throwing knife technique—that's where his nickname comes from."

Li Ke nodded and gave Ji Yun a smile.

"This is our team's Shield Mountain, Zhang Yan."

He was a rough, mighty-looking man, his muscles bulging, clearly full of strength. He wore only a combat vest, his exposed bronze-colored muscles tensing and relaxing.

Zhang Yan laughed heartily. "A-Yun, just call me Brother Yan."

"Brother Yan, Brother Li." Ji Yun smiled and greeted them.

"Our team originally had four people. Now with you, it's five. I'll introduce the other one to you when they arrive." Zhang Taofang said.

"First, let me tell you about our team's strength."

"Our team of four is all at the War General level. Among us, Li Ke and I are Mid-Level War Generals, while Zhang Yan and the other are Low-Level War Generals." Zhang Taofang said in a low voice.

"Your physical fitness should also be at the Low-Level War General level, right?"

Zhang Yan and Li Ke were both very surprised. An eighteen-year-old Low-Level War General was indeed very talented.

"Yes, Captain."

"This time, you'll learn from us how to fight and how to survive in the Wilderness Zone. Since your physical fitness is already decent, our target remains the same—Beast General Rank monsters. And the place we're going is quite special. It's a prefecture-level city in the former Qilu Province—Dongying City."

"Dongying?" Ji Yun was startled.

"Dongying is by the sea, at the mouth of the Yellow River. Because it's coastal, the monster levels are generally higher, there are more Beast Generals, and the hunting speed is faster. But it's also more dangerous."

As he spoke, Zhang Taofang's face lit up with a smile. "Here they come. Let's get ready to head out."

Ji Yun followed the three of them down to the first floor and saw a woman sitting on a sofa. She had short, neat hair and dark skin, exuding a wild charm.

"This is our team member, and the only female member. Naili."

"Hello." Naili greeted him warmly. "Wow, the new little brother is so young."

"Don't get any ideas. He's the son of Head Instructor Ji Shan." Zhang Taofang shook his head with a smile. "Alright, enough joking. Let's get ready to go!"

"Let's move!"

"Get in the car!"

Ji Yun tucked his car keys into his pocket, and the five of them got into the HR Alliance's dedicated vehicle.