Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi

In the battle at the Dragon Gate Inn, aside from Jing Wuming, Abbess Miejue, and Black Stone's Wheel King, Cao Feng, the others had contributed little fortune. Barely any had yielded more than a thousand points.

But there had been so many of them!

Although Yu Huatian had not counted carefully, at least a hundred and fifty martial artists had died at his hands in this battle.

With that many people, even a few hundred points of fortune from each kill added up to well over a hundred thousand. That was how he had gained so much this time.

Almost a hundred and sixty thousand points of fortune!

Yu Huatian began considering how to spend this windfall.

Should he keep drawing Silver Rewards, or try a Gold Reward?

As for saving a million points for a Diamond Reward, Yu Huatian had never considered it.

Who knew how long it would take to accumulate a million points of fortune?

Right now, he needed to grow stronger as quickly as possible. There was no reason to hoard fortune; he should spend it when he needed it.

Yet Yu Huatian hesitated.

The system had made it clear enough: the higher the draw's tier, the better the rewards he could obtain.

But Yu Huatian feared drawing something of little practical use, like the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords he had obtained last time.

Without comprehending the Fourteenth Sword and Fifteenth Sword, the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords really were not that useful to him at present. After all, he already had the Sunflower Manual's Seventy-Two Sword Forms.

After pondering for a moment, Yu Huatian made his decision:

"System, give me one Gold draw!"

Whatever the endeavor, someone had to take the first step.

This was the first time his fortune had exceeded a hundred thousand, allowing him to draw a Gold Reward. If he waited, who knew when he would accumulate another hundred thousand points?

Besides, how would he know what Gold-tier rewards were like without trying once?

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host. Martial art obtained: Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi.]

The system's voice rang out.

Yu Huatian froze briefly. Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi?

The supreme art of Guan Qi, the God of War and Holy Lord of the Heavenly Alliance?

[Martial art detected: Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi. Proceed with infusion?]

"Infuse it!"

Yu Huatian answered without hesitation.

Boom-

In an instant, an endless flood of martial knowledge poured into his mind, making his head swell slightly.

The Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi was divided into two parts.

The first half: Innate Formless Finger Sword. The second half: Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi.

Only after establishing a foundation with the Innate Formless Finger Sword could one advance to Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi, together known as the "Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi."

In other words, to master "sword qi," he first had to cultivate the first half, the "Innate Formless Finger Sword."

The "Innate Formless Finger Sword" had five transformations: flicking, yielding, upright, dominating, and toe-four hand techniques and one foot technique.

The "Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi" also had three realms: Sword of the Dead, Sword of Nature, and Formless Sword.

Upon reaching its strongest "sword qi" realm, sword qi arose with a thought and tore through the air, swift as lightning and nimble as the wind. It also possessed a ferocious killing power that swept through resistance like rotten wood and pierced anything in its path. Its might could shake the heavens!

"No wonder it took a hundred thousand points of fortune to draw this... worth every point!"

Yu Huatian murmured, a brilliant gleam flashing in his eyes.

After breaking through to the Grandmaster realm, one could also project true qi outside the body, attach it to a sword, and turn it into sword qi to kill from a distance.

But sword qi manifested from true qi suffered a drastic reduction in power. It was nowhere near as lethal as a sword strike at close range, much less comparable to the Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi.

Moreover, the Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi needed no medium. Once mastered, a mere thought could send sword qi bursting out of the body to kill. The enemy had no way to defend in advance-its terror was unmatched!

Its only flaw was that the sword qi's power depended on the practitioner's internal energy. The stronger the internal energy, the stronger the sword qi.

"At a critical moment, this will be much more useful than hidden weapons..."

Yu Huatian nodded slightly, then willed his information panel open again:

Host: Yu Huatian

Realm: peak Grandmaster

Martial arts: Boy Skill (complete mastery), Sunflower Manual (complete mastery), Thirteen Life-Taking Swords (complete mastery), Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi (uninitiated +)

Plundered fortune: 59527

Without hesitation, Yu Huatian clicked the "+" sign.

Whoosh-

The first transformation of the "Innate Formless Finger Sword," "Toe Sword": a single toe rode the wind, the feet trod upon sword qi, and movement became light and nimble as the breeze.

The cultivation formula and practical experience for the "Toe Sword" flooded into his mind.

At the same time, his fortune instantly decreased by a hundred points.

Continue!

Yu Huatian clicked the "+" sign again-

The second transformation, "Dominating Sword": twin swords struck together, drilling through sharp edges and piercing sword radiance, supremely forceful and capable of breaking through anything.

Two hundred points of fortune!

The third transformation, "Yielding Sword": cutting currents flowed from every direction, their yielding edges eating into the bones, soft as a whip, nimble and swift.

Four hundred points of fortune!

The fourth transformation, "Upright Sword": a rain of swords like a swarm of locusts, drilling through sharp edges and piercing sword radiance, combining the Dominating Sword's force with the Yielding Sword's agility, uniting attack and defense.

Eight hundred points of fortune!

The fifth transformation, "Flicking Sword": sword qi formed spheres that were flicked from the ring finger, blanketing heaven and earth, all but impossible to withstand.

Sixteen hundred points of fortune!

A moment later, Yu Huatian checked the system information again:

Host: Yu Huatian

Realm: peak Grandmaster

Martial arts: Boy Skill (complete mastery), Sunflower Manual (complete mastery), Thirteen Life-Taking Swords (complete mastery), Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi (first half fully mastered +)

Plundered fortune: 56427

Mastering the first half had consumed a total of thirty-one hundred points of fortune.

But the true core and strongest aspects of this martial art lay in the three sword qi realms of its second half!

Without hesitation, Yu Huatian continued clicking the "+" sign to cultivate the second half.

Whoosh-

The first realm of "Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi," [Sword of the Dead]: black, representing death and containing resentment, derived from killing. The more people one killed, the greater the power accumulated. When unleashed, it was called "Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi."

The energy of the dead, commonly called corpse qi, was the resentment of the deceased. In other words, the first realm of "Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi" required gathering corpse qi before it could be used, combining it with true qi to form black sword qi that burst out of the body to kill.

It was somewhat impractical, but at a critical moment, it might produce an extraordinary result.

Yu Huatian nodded slightly.

Yet when he looked at the system interface, his brows drew together.

His fortune had dropped by a thousand points at once-ten times the cost of the first transformation in the first half!

Still, it was acceptable.

After a brief moment's thought, Yu Huatian continued clicking "+," intending to master the second half outright.

The second realm, [Sword of Nature]: at the extreme of death, life emerged. The vital essence of flowers, grasses, trees, and forests could also drive the sword qi, making it even more powerful. The sword qi was formless, and thus called "Formless Sword Qi."

Fortune decreased by two thousand points!

The third realm, [Formless Sword]: the colorless, odorless energy of heaven and earth tore through the air, without form or appearance, its power shaking the heavens. This was called "sword qi"!

Four thousand points of fortune!

The "sword qi" realm was fully mastered!

Yu Huatian's eyes shone as he looked at the system interface again:

Host: Yu Huatian

Realm: peak Grandmaster

Martial arts: Boy Skill (complete mastery), Sunflower Manual (complete mastery), Thirteen Life-Taking Swords (complete mastery), Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi (complete mastery)

Plundered fortune: 49427

Fewer than fifty thousand points of fortune remained...

After pondering briefly, Yu Huatian continued drawing Silver Rewards.

[Ding!]

[Congratulations, host. Obtained: Great Restoration Pill.]

The Shaolin Sect's Great Restoration Pill was said to bring the dead back to life, heal all internal and external injuries, and even increase one's cultivation.

Bringing the dead back to life might have been an exaggeration, but it was unquestionably a supreme healing medicine. As for how many years of cultivation it could add, that likely depended on the individual's constitution and meridians. The exact amount remained unknown.

After a moment's hesitation, Yu Huatian stored it in the system space, intending to save it for a critical moment. After all, it could save his life.

"Continue!"

[Congratulations, host. Obtained: Black Jade Intermittent Ointment.]

Yu Huatian paused.

The Black Jade Intermittent Ointment was a miraculous healing medicine from The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. It could heal bone injuries, even restoring bones crushed to fragments by the Vajra Finger's force, as Yu Daiyan's had been.

For him, however, it was of little practical use. He had no need for it at present.

"Continue!"

[Congratulations, host. Martial art obtained: Star-Absorbing Great Method.]

Yu Huatian's eyes lit up.

The Star-Absorbing Great Method!

Ren Woxing's supreme art from The Smiling, Proud Wanderer could absorb another person's internal energy and make it one's own. It achieved much the same effect as Zhu Wushi's "Energy-Absorbing Great Method" and the Carefree Sect's "Northern Darkness Divine Skill," though by different means.

Its only flaw was that, unlike the Northern Darkness Divine Skill, the Star-Absorbing Great Method did not require practitioners to disperse all their existing cultivation before training. As a result, absorbed energy was difficult to refine and conflicted with their own internal energy, easily causing a backlash and cultivation deviation.

But he cultivated the Sunflower Manual. So long as he absorbed internal energy in moderation, then slowly converted it into Sunflower True Energy, that problem should not arise.

Yu Huatian considered this.

After some thought, Yu Huatian decided to cultivate the Star-Absorbing Great Method.

The Star-Absorbing Great Method was a support-type martial art with only a single mental cultivation formula and no separate stages. Yu Huatian clicked the "+" sign beside it once, and the system already showed complete mastery.

However, his fortune also instantly decreased by five thousand points.

With only one draw remaining, a gleam flashed through Yu Huatian's eyes.

Continue!

[Congratulations, host. Martial art obtained: Dragon-Capturing Skill.]

The Dragon-Capturing Skill, one of the Shaolin Sect's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts, was as renowned as the Crane-Controlling Skill. It allowed the practitioner to retrieve objects and seize enemies from a distance, making it another support-type martial art.

Learn it!

Fortune decreased by two thousand points, and the Dragon-Capturing Skill reached complete mastery!

His fortune finally fell to four digits.

By now, Yu Huatian's information panel had also changed:

Host: Yu Huatian

Realm: peak Grandmaster

Martial arts: Boy Skill (complete mastery), Sunflower Manual (complete mastery), Thirteen Life-Taking Swords (complete mastery), Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi (complete mastery), Star-Absorbing Great Method (complete mastery), Dragon-Capturing Skill (complete mastery)

Plundered fortune: 2427

Writing a chapter about the martial arts gained after each story arc should not count as padding, right? After all, they will all be useful later, especially the Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi. It is currently the protagonist's strongest killing move, specifically for killing the children of fortune.

(End of chapter)