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"Heavenly Severing Steps, first stage: Wind Movement!"
Xiao Yan smiled faintly, a trace of pleasant surprise appearing on his face. What had just happened showed that he had grasped a sliver of the principles of the Great Dao of wind, and it was precisely because of this that he had successfully used the Heavenly Severing Steps in that instant.
Xiao Yan let out a long breath and glanced at his current position. Dou Qi circulated within him, and with a thought, his figure appeared dozens of zhang away in an instant.
Moving back and forth like this, Xiao Yan took the opportunity to practice properly for half an hour. Although he often lost control, he was considerably better than before.
Xiao Yan flashed down to the ground. His body trembled slightly as he steadied himself before he could sway.
He exhaled, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. After all that time, he had finally more or less gotten the hang of it. To practice the Heavenly Severing Steps, he really did need wind!
Only by doing so could he comprehend the true essence of the Wind Movement Realm and reach great mastery. Now that he had officially begun practicing the Heavenly Severing Steps, it meant he was not far from gaining an initial grasp of it.
When that time came, even if Old Ghost Yan Mo personally came after him, he would presumably be capable of completely overpowering him.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, his expression turning icy in an instant. Gusts of chilling wind howled through the space around him. His expression abruptly eased, and he murmured under his breath:
"Old Ghost Yan Mo, I don't know why you know me, but since you chose to provoke me, and I let you escape last time, next time, I certainly won't..."
In the blink of an eye, a day passed, and the next morning arrived.
Xiao Yan awoke from his cultivation and glanced at the sky. A smile curved his lips, as though something he had long awaited had finally arrived.
The weather was not very good today. A layer of dark clouds, not particularly thick, drifted across the sky. Yet a trace of wonder flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes at the sight of them.
Xiao Yan moved, appearing high in the sky in an instant, with the gloomy clouds directly above his head.
Xiao Yan's arrival seemed to have angered the already turbulent clouds.
As Xiao Yan arrived, rumbling sounded from within the dark clouds.
Xiao Yan smiled and looked up. The dark clouds covered everything within a radius of several li. Although they were thin, they were enough for him.
Xiao Yan moved again, his figure rising from its place in the sky and shooting straight toward its highest reaches.
"Boom!"
Before he could reach them, the heavenly thunder erupted in fury. Amid a rumble that resounded across the sky, a slender lightning serpent struck down at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan's expression did not change as he charged straight forward. He bent his arm upward, clenched his hand into a fist, and met the furious lightning strike with a punch.
"Boom!"
When the two met, a blinding white light flashed, followed by a thunderclap that resounded across the entire heavens and shook the sky.
As the white light faded, Xiao Yan's figure appeared once more. But he was no longer where he had been. He had flown directly beneath the dark clouds and stood there proudly.
A smile curved Xiao Yan's lips as he glanced at the thunderclouds overhead, which were churning and rumbling because of him.
Xiao Yan smiled faintly and raised both hands, beginning to change hand seals. They were the cultivation seals for the Heavenly Severing Steps.
As Xiao Yan formed one seal after another, a chilly, gusting wind sprang up in the sky.
If anyone claimed that Xiao Yan had not caused the wind, no one would have believed them. Yet only one night had passed, and when Xiao Yan used the Heavenly Severing Steps again, he could actually make the cold wind answer him. It was indeed bewildering.
Seeing this, Xiao Yan smiled. His hands paused in their seals, and his figure vanished in an instant. The next moment, he flashed into view a hundred zhang away, only to disappear again.
Xiao Yan's seemingly playful antics appeared to anger the roiling thunderclouds, which churned and rumbled.
When Xiao Yan's figure appeared again, a bolt of lightning struck down in fury, reducing him to nothing in an instant. The thunderclouds churned, rumbling as though in mockery.
The next moment, Xiao Yan reappeared a hundred zhang away. A smile played at his lips as he gazed calmly at the thunderclouds overhead.
Xiao Yan moved and vanished, but the gusts of chilly wind sweeping across the world suddenly surged, seemingly becoming a fierce gale that howled off in a certain direction.
An instant later, Xiao Yan's figure flashed into view, precisely in the direction the chilly wind had gone.
Feeling the wild wind sweep over him, Xiao Yan smiled and half-closed his eyes, murmuring under his breath:
"Of the rising wind and surging clouds, I can finally make the wind rise. Now that the wind has risen, whether the clouds follow will depend on today's luck.
"The wind rises and the clouds surge; the Wind Movement Realm reaches minor mastery. Wind and clouds stir; Cloud-Soaring can be achieved. Tread upon the heavens in might, and the Severing Steps will rend the sky!"
These were the lines that had surfaced when he comprehended the Heavenly Severing Steps yesterday. Presumably, they were the cultivation insights of someone who had previously succeeded in practicing the Heavenly Severing Steps, deliberately left in the scroll to make it easier for later generations to learn.
Each line corresponded to a realm. "The wind rises and the clouds surge; the Wind Movement Realm reaches minor mastery" referred to the Wind Movement Realm.
It required a cultivator practicing the Heavenly Severing Steps to stir up wind and clouds, use the wind to form clouds, and use the clouds to aid the wind. The clouds lent strength to the wind, and the wind rose and the clouds surged!
Once a cultivator truly accomplished this, they could be considered to have achieved success in the Wind Movement Realm of the Heavenly Severing Steps.
"Wind and clouds stir; Cloud-Soaring can be achieved" was even easier to understand. The rising wind and surging clouds were merely the imposing force of the Heavenly Severing Steps' Wind Movement Realm, and how could imposing force be of much use in battle?
The stirring of wind and clouds was where the true power of the Cloud-Soaring Grand Realm lay. In the Cloud-Soaring Grand Realm, one rode the force of wind and clouds to move freely across heaven and earth, gathering wind and clouds and joining them with heavenly thunder to subdue the enemy!
It could be called using the might of heaven to subdue the enemy, possessing both offense and defense, with power that shook the heavens!
The scroll did not explain the final line in detail. Perhaps it was merely that senior's conjecture or estimate, and Xiao Yan did not investigate it further.
But judging by the surface meaning of the line alone, if the Heavenly Severing Steps were cultivated to great mastery, their power would probably be considerable. Perhaps they really would be as the scroll described: tread upon the heavens in might, and the Severing Steps will rend the sky!