"Elder Qian? Elder Qian?"
Lin An called twice, and Qian Hai came back to his senses.
"Oh, oh, Young Master, what is it?" Qian Hai asked, suppressing the shock in his heart.
"Elder Qian, the visualization diagram is no use to me anymore. Put it away," Lin An said with a smile.
Qian Hai took the visualization diagram. He hesitated for a few seconds, but finally could not resist asking, "Young Master, just now, you..."
"Yes, I've comprehended it," Lin An said with a nod.
Gulp...
Although he had witnessed it himself just now, hearing Lin An confirm it still left Qian Hai's mouth dry.
Comprehended it?
You comprehended this visualization diagram in just a few breaths?
Are you kidding? This is a visualization diagram! Even the city lord, with his extraordinary talent, took a year to comprehend it, yet you comprehended it with a single glance?
Qian Hai felt as though the world had gone mad. Since when had visualization diagrams become so easy to comprehend?
No, the world had not gone mad.
His young master was simply too monstrously talented.
"Don't tell my father about this yet. I want to give him a surprise," Lin An said with a smile.
Qian Hai nodded, but inwardly thought that this would probably be more of a shock than a surprise.
Alas, the city lord is going to take another blow.
Only after Qian Hai had put the visualization diagram away did Lin An speak. "Elder Qian, I'd like to choose some silver-tier cultivation techniques next. Do you have any recommendations?"
"Young Master, the silver-tier cultivation techniques are on the second floor. Please follow me."
Qian Hai led the way, and the two soon reached the second floor.
There were fewer things on the second floor than on the first, though not by much.
"The Wind-Breaking Saber Technique you previously learned may only be Bronze Tier, Young Master, but it is among the finest techniques of that tier. Now that you are at Bronze Grade Nine, you can use it for ordinary encounters."
Qian Hai thought for a moment before continuing, "As for other saber techniques, I suggest choosing one with strong burst power to kill enemies above your level."
Lin An nodded. Back when he was in the Black Iron Realm, Wind-Breaking Slash, the third move of the Wind-Breaking Saber Technique, had been his ultimate move.
But now that he was at Bronze Grade Nine, the burst power of Wind-Breaking Slash was somewhat insufficient.
"Do you have any recommendations, Elder Qian?" Lin An asked.
"There are quite a few silver-tier saber techniques, but you could take a look at this one, Young Master." As Qian Hai spoke, he picked up a technique manual and handed it to Lin An.
[One Saber Slash]: Unranked. Concentrate all your strength to unleash the ultimate saber strike. Saber qi streaks like a rainbow, cutting through all obstacles. At perfection, allows the release of saber qi with armor-piercing and rending effects.
Lin An's eyes lit up as he read the technique. This truly was a saber technique with tremendous single-target burst power, probably among the very best even at silver tier.
In particular, once cultivated to perfection, it could even release saber qi.
Powerful, and cool too.
But why was it an unranked technique?
"Elder Qian, is this a silver-tier technique?" Lin An asked curiously.
"Young Master, not all cultivation techniques have ranks. The Wind-Breaking Saber Technique you cultivated before is Bronze Tier because, once its user reaches the Silver Realm, it can no longer bring out their full combat strength."
"But there is another, special kind of cultivation technique that can bring out the corresponding strength no matter what realm its user reaches."
"These techniques can essentially grow. Once learned, they can accompany their users throughout their lives, and their power changes according to their users' realms."
"This One Saber Slash is just such a special technique," Qian Hai said with a smile.
Lin An's eyes shone. He had not expected techniques capable of growth to exist. At least, he had never heard of such techniques in his previous life.
A technique capable of growth was incredibly valuable. Once learned, it would never need replacing for the rest of one's life.
"A technique like this is practically a divine ability," Lin An said.
"You are perceptive, Young Master. It is indeed much like a divine ability."
Qian Hai nodded. "The only drawback of this technique is that it is extremely difficult to cultivate."
Difficult to cultivate?
Lin An did not mind. He could just throw attribute points into it anyway.
"How many techniques like this does our city lord's estate have?" Lin An asked.
Qian Hai naturally understood what Lin An was thinking and shook his head with a wry smile. "Young Master, even having one of these special techniques would be a dream come true for countless people. The city lord's estate only has this one. They say it was left behind by the Lin Family's first ancestor."
Left behind by the first ancestor again?
That ancestor had left behind not only the inherited cultivation technique and visualization diagram, but now even a saber technique capable of growth. Just what sort of existence had he been?
"I'll take this saber technique," Lin An said. Naturally, he would not pass up such a precious technique.
After choosing his saber technique, Lin An followed Qian Hai's recommendations and selected a movement technique, Star-Chasing Steps, and a defensive technique, Vajra Body.
Once cultivated to perfection, Star-Chasing Steps allowed the use of Chasing Stars in One Step, instantly crossing a certain distance, somewhat like teleportation.
If Vajra Body was cultivated to perfection, it could produce a golden body effect that granted immunity to attacks for 0.5 seconds. Even if an enemy was powerful enough to break the golden body effect, the damage received would still be reduced, making it a means of survival.
After choosing his techniques, Lin An also selected a silver-tier saber and took the remaining two Tiger Strength Pills before leaving the treasury.
After returning to his quarters, Lin An first swallowed the two Tiger Strength Pills, gaining another two tigers' strength, equivalent to six thousand jin of force.
Then Lin An took out the One Saber Slash manual.
[Detected that the player possesses the special unranked cultivation technique "One Saber Slash." Spend 100 attribute points to learn it directly?]
Lin An raised an eyebrow. He had not expected merely learning this technique to cost more attribute points than the Platinum Rank Lin Clan Cultivation Technique.
"Just reaching beginner level costs 100 attribute points. How many will perfection cost?"
"I'll learn it first. My bargain dad only asked me to perfect one silver-tier technique anyway. I can just raise Star-Chasing Steps and Vajra Body to perfection when the time comes."
"As for One Saber Slash, if I don't have enough attribute points, I can always hunt more Sin Beasts once I enter the Spirit Realm."
With that thought, Lin An confirmed that he wanted to learn it.
[The player has successfully learned this technique and reached beginner level.] [Detected that the player is in the Bronze Realm. This technique's rank has increased to Bronze Tier.] [Technique]: Bronze Tier · One Saber Slash (Beginner, 0/500,000 proficiency)
"Five hundred thousand proficiency just to go from beginner to proficient? That's 500 attribute points?"
The corner of Lin An's mouth twitched. Looking at his two thousand-odd attribute points, he suddenly felt that this saber technique was a little beyond what he could afford to learn.
No wonder Qian Hai had said it was difficult to cultivate.
"I'd better learn the other two techniques first."
Lin An decisively set One Saber Slash aside for now. Throwing his meager attribute points into it would barely make a ripple.
[Detected that the player possesses the silver-tier cultivation technique "Star-Chasing Steps." Spend 10 attribute points to learn it directly?] [Detected that the player possesses the silver-tier cultivation technique "Vajra Body." Spend 10 attribute points to learn it directly?]
"Learn them."
Lin An said.