Unrestrained Wind Mark, Azure Luan Lets Go

When Yuan Yu was nine, his Soul Power broke through to level forty.

This time, the Wind Pattern stirred first.

It did not burst out suddenly like lightning, or set his bed on fire in the middle of the night like flame.

The Wind Pattern awakened quietly.

That morning, Yuan Yu was practicing with his blade on the roof of the Worship Hall.

He slashed, but the wind did not scatter.

Instead, it circled his blade.

Azure Luan Douluo stood at the other end of the roof ridge and glanced at him.

"Come with me."

Yuan Yu sheathed his blade.

"Where?"

"Heavenly Wind Cliff."

Heavenly Wind Cliff lay north of Spirit City.

Violent currents swept through its heights year-round. Azure Luan Douluo had trained his movement techniques there when he was young.

An ordinary Soul Master could not even keep his eyes open at the cliff's edge.

When Yuan Yu arrived, the first thing he said was, "This would be a good place to dry clothes."

Azure Luan said, "It would also be a good place for the wind to blow you off."

Yuan Yu promptly shut his mouth.

The wind at the cliff's edge was like a blade.

It did not hurt when it struck his face, but it kept him from opening his eyes.

Yuan Yu tried taking half a step forward. The wind immediately plastered his white robes against his body.

Loose stones tumbled over the edge beneath his feet.

For a long time, he heard no sound of them landing.

He looked down.

"Grandpa Azure Luan, is it too late to change my mind?"

"Yes."

"You're answering faster and faster."

"Because your questions are getting more and more pointless."

Yuan Yu sighed.

He knew Azure Luan had brought him here for more than his fourth God-given Spirit Ring.

After water, fire, and lightning, his fighting style had grown faster and sharper.

But someone who moved too fast could easily see only what lay ahead.

The Wind Pattern demanded that he learn direction.

He had to do more than charge forward. He had to know why he was going that way.

The Wind God's Divine Sense soon descended.

"Fourth of the Ten Thousand Manifestations Nine Trials: Unrestrained Wind Mark."

"Trial: Cross Heavenly Wind Cliff without outside help. Rescue three Wind Chimes along the way, and do not let any fall into the gorge."

"Reward: A God-given Spirit Ring bestowed by the Wind God."

Yuan Yu looked at the opposite cliff.

Between the two cliffs, there was only raging wind.

No bridge.

No path.

Three pale green Wind Chimes hung in midair, tossed about by the turbulent currents.

Yuan Yu asked, "Will I die if I fall?"

The Wind God laughed. "Not with Azure Luan here."

Azure Luan said evenly, "Broken legs won't kill you."

Yuan Yu nodded.

"Got it. Very dangerous."

He did not rush in.

The Water Pattern could borrow momentum.

The Flame Pattern could hold a course.

The Thunder Pattern could unleash a burst of speed in an instant.

Wind was different.

Wind was the freest of them all.

The harder you tried to catch it, the faster it ran.

Yuan Yu stood at the cliff's edge, his white robes snapping in the wind.

He tried one step first.

His foot had barely left the cliff when a crosswind slammed him back against the rock wall.

Bang!

His shoulder throbbed from the impact.

The Wind God laughed loudly.

"Kid, wind isn't solid ground."

Yuan Yu rubbed his shoulder.

"I can hear how happy you are."

On his second attempt, he used the Thunder Pattern to accelerate.

But he rushed in too fast. A current high above flipped him over, and he nearly plunged headfirst into the gorge.

Azure Luan raised a hand, and a streak of green light swept him back.

"Lightning is fast, but you can't force your way through wind."

Yuan Yu sat on the stony ground and caught his breath.

"Then what does work?"

Azure Luan watched the turbulent currents between the cliffs.

"Let go."

Yuan Yu froze for a moment.

"Let go?"

"You keep trying to make the wind obey you. That's why it pushes you back."

"Unrestrained Wind Mark doesn't mean you have to catch the wind."

Azure Luan turned to look at him.

"It means knowing when to go with it and when to go against it."

Yuan Yu fell silent.

That sounded like something Azure Luan would say.

Cold.

But right.

On his third attempt, he did not use the Thunder Pattern.

Nor did he use the Flame Pattern.

He lit only the Wind Pattern.

Then he leaned forward.

When the wind came from the left, he let his shoulder turn with it.

When it lifted him from below, he rode it upward.

When it suddenly curled back, he swept his blade across it and cut a narrow opening.

He reached the first Wind Chime.

Yuan Yu caught it.

In the next instant, another turbulent current swept across his path.

His body went light, and it carried him toward the cliff wall.

A name surfaced in his mind.

Wind Breathing.

First Form.

Dust Whirlwind: Cutting Slash.

Yuan Yu's gaze sharpened.

He drew his Sun Wheel Blade.

His body spun with the wind, and the gleam of his blade narrowed to a single line.

"Wind Breathing: First Form."

"Dust Whirlwind: Cutting Slash!"

A green arc of wind from his blade sliced through the turbulent current.

Yuan Yu passed through the gap and caught the second Wind Chime.

The third was farthest away.

The wild wind dragged it downward.

The Wind God's laughter faded.

"Quickly."

Yuan Yu did not hesitate.

The Thunder Pattern lit up.

So did the Wind Pattern.

Lightning gave him an instant of speed.

Wind gave him a path for his feet.

Violet-white lightning and green strands of wind crossed in midair.

Yuan Yu shot between the cliffs and snatched the third Wind Chime.

But in the next instant, there was nothing beneath his feet.

He plunged toward the bottom of the gorge.

Azure Luan raised a hand.

But he did not save Yuan Yu at once.

He saw Yuan Yu twist around as he fell.

The wind caught his white robes. Holding the Sun Wheel Blade in a reverse grip, he dragged its edge along the cliff wall.

A strand of wind wrapped around a jutting rock.

Yuan Yu swung on it and flipped back onto the cliff's edge.

Thud.

He landed hard on the stony ground, all three Wind Chimes clutched to his chest.

Yuan Yu lay there panting.

"Grandpa Azure Luan, were you planning not to save me just now?"

Azure Luan said, "You could make it back."

"What if I couldn't?"

"I would catch you."

"Where?"

"At the bottom."

Yuan Yu closed his eyes.

"Thanks a lot."

Azure Luan walked over but did not help him up.

"Get up."

Yuan Yu opened his eyes.

"I just got back. Can't I lie here for a while?"

"Do it again."

Yuan Yu's smile froze.

The Wind God did not object.

The turbulent currents swept the three Wind Chimes back between the cliffs.

Yuan Yu stared at them. After two beats of silence, he climbed to his feet.

Making it back once could be a matter of sheer determination.

Making it back a second time would mean his body had truly learned the way.

He wiped dust from the corner of his mouth and stepped up to the cliff's edge again.

This time, he did not hurry.

Whichever way the wind came from, he yielded to it.

Only when he needed to go against it did he draw his blade.

Dust Whirlwind: Cutting Slash swept a green arc between the cliffs.

Three wind chimes dropped into his hands, one after another.

When he finally landed, he did not fall.

He touched one knee to the ground, his white clothes snapping in the wind.

Only then did Azure Luan nod.

"Now, Pierce."

The Wind God's Divine Sense descended.

"Unrestrained Wind Mark, Pierce."

A fourth God-given Spirit Ring fell from high above.

The blue-gold Spirit Ring settled around the Sun Wheel Blade.

Wind Element Control was complete.

Yuan Yu's Soul Power surged upward.

Level forty-one.

Level forty-two.

Level forty-three.

It finally stopped at level forty-four.

A nine-year-old level forty-four Soul Ancestor.

When word reached Spirit City, Yan stood silent on the Training Ground for a long time.

Hu Liena asked him, "What's wrong?"

Yan said, "I'm wondering if I should still wait until he turns twelve."

Xie Yue said flatly, "You don't have to."

Yan looked at him.

Xie Yue added one more thing.

"If you fight him now, you'll lose even worse."

Yan had nothing left to say.

That night, Yuan Yu returned to Spirit City.

Qian Renxue had just returned too.

She stood on the long steps of the Worship Hall, looking at the four God-given Spirit Rings behind him.

"Were you hurt again?"

Yuan Yu hid his scraped arm behind his back.

"It's just a scratch."

Qian Renxue looked at him.

Yuan Yu took the hint and held out his arm.

As she applied medicine to it, she said, "You're getting better and better at finding trouble."

Yuan Yu smiled. "And stronger and stronger."

Qian Renxue looked up at him.

The boy's eyes crinkled with a smile, and dust from the wind-swept cliffs still clung to his white clothes.

He really had grown stronger.

And he really had given her more reason to worry.