After the farewell ceremony, Wind and Snow Pass's life returned to its apparent calm.
But Qin Tiexin could feel that there was something underneath that calmness. There were fewer disciples coming out of seclusion, and even when they came out, they walked closer and never went too deep. Nangong Yao and his team still maintained a hunting frequency, but they no longer went deep into the outskirts of the forest as before, and more often moved around the edge, and then withdrew after confirming that there was nothing abnormal.
The number of times Qin Tiexin went out with the team also decreased accordingly. Except for occasionally accompanying Li Yun to try his luck in finding Profound Frost Crystal at several previously marked locations, he spent the rest of the time staying in the refining room.
Time passes day by day, and it has been half a year since he came to Wind and Snow Pass.
The accumulation of half a year has been solidly accumulated in Dantian. He practiced "Primordial Unity Instruction" unshakably every day, and the seven Primordial Qi Vortexs were running stably in Dantian, pulling each other to form small five-element cycles. With Five Phases Conversion Pearl in hand, he could absorb Spirit Stone very efficiently, with almost no waste.
That morning, he sat cross-legged on the stone bed as usual, with Five Phases Conversion Pearl floating in front of him, and the five-color brilliance slowly flowing. Spiritual Qi in Spirit Stone was extracted, transformed into pure five-element spiritual power through Conversion Pearl, and merged into Dantian. The seven cyclones rotated at a constant speed, as orderly as usual.
Something is different today.
The speed of the cyclone's rotation unknowingly accelerated. At first it was just a little faster, but soon the second cyclone also began to accelerate, and then the third and fourth.
The seven cyclones accelerated one after another, forming an invisible suction force in Dantian. The surrounding Spiritual Qi began to gather in his direction. The hair on Qin Tiexin's body stood up, and he could feel the touch of Spiritual Qi penetrating from the surface of the skin, like a weak electric current.
This is a sign of a breakthrough.
Qin Tiexin held his breath steadily and kept the movement route unchanged. At the same time, he took out dozens of Spirit Stone from the storage ring and spread them in front of him. The concentration of Spiritual Qi suddenly increased, and the speed of the cyclone became faster and faster.
When the seven cyclones rotated to the limit, spiritual power surged through the meridians, causing bursts of pain. Suddenly, the seven cyclones shook at the same time, and their speeds suddenly slowed down, as if being held down by an invisible hand. And in the center of them, a little light emerged. The light was only the size of a needle tip at first, and then rapidly expanded, condensing into the prototype of the eighth cyclone, connecting with the other seven cyclones to form a new balance.
Qi Refining Eighth Layer.
Qin Tiexin slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. The spiritual power was running more smoothly and thickly than before, and the total amount increased by about 30%. He clenched his fists and felt the full spiritual power flowing through his meridians. It felt like the blood was flowing more smoothly.
From the seventh floor to the eighth floor, it takes less than four months. For a disciple of Five Spirit Roots, this speed is unimaginable. The existence of Five Phases Conversion Pearl is equivalent to forcibly raising his Spirit Root qualifications to a level close to that of Dual Spirit Root.
If this progress continues, he will be able to start preparing Foundation Establishment in one year at most.
After his cultivation breakthrough, Qin Tiexin consolidated his lower realm and turned his attention to another thing - Water Phase Steps in "Five Phases Gang Steps".
There is not much else about Wind and Snow Pass, and there is absolutely no shortage of water vapor. The humidity in the air is very high, and snow and ice are everywhere. This environment is most suitable for practicing Water Phase Steps. According to the records on Jade Slip, the key to Water Phase Steps is to "shape like water" - the body shape is erratic, like duckweed drifting on the water, with no fixed trajectory, making it difficult for opponents to predict.
It sounds simple to say, but it's completely different when practiced.
He found a sheltered valley behind the pass, and repeatedly figured out the key points of Water Phase Steps's power. But after trying it several times, he always felt that it was a little bit wrong - the pace was not smooth enough, and the transfer was not smooth enough, like a stream of water being blocked by It's like Shitou is stuck. According to Jade Slip, what Water Phase Steps pays attention to is "continuous intention and non-sluggish form". Every change of direction must be seamless and there can be no pause. But he practiced for several days and still couldn't find that feeling.
There was no other way, so he went to Li Yun for help.
"Water Phase Steps?" Li Yun thought for a moment after hearing what he said, "I can try to cast some water-attribute spells. You can feel the movement of the water in them, which may be helpful."
In the next few days, every evening, Qin Tiexin will go to Li Yun's residence in the pass, and practice Water Phase Steps with her assistance. Li Yun will stand not far away, keeping a certain distance, simulating the direction, speed, and turning of the water flow - she will cast a soft water spiritual power, and all Qin Tiexin has to do is keep up with the direction and rhythm of the water flow.
At the beginning, he couldn't keep up at all. Her water spirit power was both hard and soft. It seemed slow, but it changed direction very quickly. He often took a step and the trajectory of the water flow had already turned to another direction. He tried repeatedly and gradually found the feeling - not to chase the direction of the water flow, but to judge its trend in advance and let his own pace blend into it.
Half a month later, Water Phase Steps can finally be used in actual combat. Although it is not yet proficient, it can be switched freely when combined with the other two footwork--Wood Phase Steps on a long journey, Metal Phase Steps bursts forward in a short distance, and Water Phase Steps dodges and moves in the melee. Each of the three footwork has its own use, and can be switched flexibly in different scenes. It is more calm than using only one footwork to deal with all situations before.
After stabilizing his cultivation and getting started with his footwork, Qin Tiexin took out the Wind-Rending Tiger wing bones that had been in Nourishment before.
He takes some time to use his spiritual power Nourishment every day, and has been raising this piece of Spirit Bone for several months now. The originally rough and dry bone surface has become warm and moist, showing a layer of light cyan luster. Through this period of time Nourishment, he can already clearly feel the direction of the talent Spirit Rune in his bones - it is an extremely complex and sharp texture structure, like the traces left by wind being compressed in a small space.
Wind system Law Technique, Wind-Rending.
He injected spiritual power and tried it. The spiritual power spread along those Spirit Rune, and the wing bones lit up immediately, condensing a mass of air visible to the naked eye in front of the blade. It was not released immediately, but circled and compressed at the tip of the blade, and the surrounding air trembled slightly.
He activated the air flow towards a piece of discarded spiritual material ingot he was trying out in front of him.
"Boom!"
There was a low muffled sound. The moment it came into contact with the spiritual material ingot, the frantic airflow directly smashed it to pieces. The debris flew everywhere, but the lethality was unexpectedly great. According to his estimation, this was probably equivalent to the destructive power of four or five Wind Blade stacked together.
But the problem is also obvious. It can only release one blow, and the preparation time for releasing it is too long - it takes about four breaths from the time when spiritual power is injected into the blade to the time it is fully charged. In actual combat, the gap of four breaths is enough for the opponent to do a lot of things. Moreover, the attack range is short, only two feet.
He spent several days thinking and finally finalized a plan.
He wants to cut this piece of Spirit Bone into a dagger - retaining the complete talent Spirit Rune inside it, and then use a spiritual carving knife to carve two lines of Spirit Rune on it.
The first one is called "Gale", and its function is to accelerate the flow of spiritual power and shorten the charging time at the moment when the spiritual power is injected. The second one is called "Profound Sundering", and its function is to enhance the Penetration and destructive effect of the wind element Law Technique, so that the power of the "Wind-Rending" will be taken to a higher level.
Then, he used the piece of Moonlight Copper he refined last time, plus the remaining Mithril in the storage ring, to tailor a scabbard for the dagger. The scabbard was engraved with a Spirit Rune Array composed of three Spirit Rune--"Spirit Gathering", "Essence Restoration" and "Nourishment". The three are auxiliary Spirit Rune. After nesting with each other, they form a continuous cycle inside the scabbard, which can slowly restore the spiritual power consumed by the dagger in battle. This Spirit Rune Array was named "Return to Origin Array" by him.
He inserted the dagger into the scabbard and felt that "Return to Origin Array" in the scabbard began to operate steadily as soon as it came into contact with the dagger, absorbing Spiritual Qi and Nourishment blades into the scabbard. Then he pulled out the dagger and carefully observed the edge and texture. Well, the energy was stable and the cooperation with the scabbard was smooth.
This dagger is enough for the time being.