Obtaining the Phantom Sword Art
The Six Harmonies Saber also let out a mournful cry from the recoil of the blow. Cracks instantly spread across the entire blade, and then it shattered into several pieces with a crack, scattering beside the corpse.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for successfully slaying Half-Demon at the Early Grandmaster and obtaining the Grandmaster- level sword technique: Phantom Sword Art;]
[Ding! You have gained 500,000 Demon Points!]
System notification sounds rang out in succession.
Lu Feng stood still, looking down at the Six Harmonies Saber in his hand, which now only had half a hilt remaining.
He had followed the knife all the way from Lin'an City to here. He gently placed the hilt on the ground, then squatted down and searched the monk's corpse for a while. After making sure nothing was missing, he stood up.
He tucked the storage bag into his robes, pushed off with his feet, and sped off towards the edge of the mountain.
Lu Feng left Mount Shaoshi without lingering for a moment, heading towards Linfeng City with all his might.
He believed that if Liu Suifeng successfully escaped, he would definitely return to Linfeng City to wait for him.
After returning to Linfeng City, Lu Feng booked another room at the Cloud Arrival Inn and waited for three days.
Liu Suifeng did not appear for three days.
Seeing that Liu Suifeng had not shown up for three days, Lu Feng walked through all the teahouses, restaurants, and city gates in Linfeng City.
They even asked several people to inquire, but they couldn't find a single piece of information about the Vajra Temple.
Lu Feng did not wait any longer. He left a message for the innkeeper and set off back to the Demon-Slaying Bureau.
After more than a day of full-speed flight, we finally arrived in Jinguan City.
Lu Feng headed straight for Commandant Su's residence, his first priority being to find Su Ying.
But Xiaolian told him that Su Ying had been in seclusion for several days and that no one was allowed to disturb her.
Qin Shuang was not at home either; she had gone to the Origin Crystal mine that Lu Feng had discovered and was overseeing the preliminary exploration and sealing of the vein there.
Neither of the two people in charge are here.
Without delay, Lu Feng wrote a letter detailing the appearance of Half-Demon at the Vajra Temple, emphasizing that the Vajra Temple might have been infiltrated by Half-Demon.
At the end of the letter, he added a note asking Qin Shuang to help him find out the whereabouts of Liu Suifeng of the Heavenly Sword Sect.
After sending the message, Lu Feng went to visit Chen Hu and the others.
Chen Hu's cultivation level has recovered to the Ming Jin Perfection, even surpassing his pre-injury level.
Lin Miao and Su Qiaoqiao also broke through a minor realm.
The three of them became very close. According to Chen Hu, he often took Lin Miao and Su Qiaoqiao with him to take on and do missions, and their cooperation became more and more seamless.
Seeing that they were doing well, Lu Feng chatted with them for a few minutes before heading straight for the Merit Hall.
During his trip to Azure Wolf Ridge and Vajra Temple, he had collected all the monster heads and excess essence blood in his storage bag.
The deacon counted for quite a while before calculating the total: 23,000 merit points.
The Merit Hall also sells the essence blood of demonic beasts.
A second-tier monster's essence blood costs 100 merit points, while a third-tier monster's essence blood costs 1,000 merit points.
He exchanged all the excess blood essence for merit points, and then used those merit points to exchange for a large batch of second-tier demon beast blood essence.
After spending over six thousand merit points, the blood essence of one hundred second-tier demonic beasts was finally collected.
The materials for the second level of the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art are all ready.
Back in his cave, Lu Feng went straight into the secret chamber, sat cross-legged, and opened the system panel.
[Host: Lu Feng]
[Cultivation Level: Hua Jin Perfection]
[Cultivation Techniques: Five Elements Primordial Chaos Art (Progress 77.1%); Phantom Sword Art (Not yet mastered); Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art (Level 1)]
[Perfected Martial Arts: Phantom Steps; Nine Layered Wave Slashes (Level 3); Tyrant Saber Art...]
[Demon Points: 1.57 million]
Lu Feng glanced back and forth between the two names, "Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art" and "Phantom Sword Art," and chose the former first.
"System, upgrade the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art to the second level!"
[Ding! The conditions for upgrading the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art have been met. Do you wish to consume 10,000 Demon Points to upgrade to the second level?]
"Promote!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a sharp burning sensation spread through every inch of his skin.
Lu Feng gritted his teeth, clearly feeling his skin rapidly peeling off, crumbling, and regenerating.
New skin emerges from the bottom up, its texture is firmer and finer, and its surface has a very faint jade-colored luster.
The entire process took only a few breaths.
As the burning sensation subsided, Lu Feng raised his arm. He pressed it with his fingers; it felt firm and elastic, but its internal resilience was completely different from before.
He took out an ordinary long knife and slashed his arm hard.
The blade passed by, leaving not even a mark.
"Even if I stand here and let Nei Jin martial artists beat me at will, they won't be able to hurt me in the slightest."
Lu Feng stretched and moved all his joints with satisfaction.
His physical body has far exceeded the normal range of a martial artist who Hua Jin.
With this body alone, he could fight a second-tier demonic beast in close combat without being at a disadvantage.
Lu Feng's gaze then fell upon the Phantom Sword Art.
Click on the skill details on the panel.
The Phantom Sword Art has an extremely high learning threshold.
It requires extremely high skill in movement techniques, which he just barely met with his perfected Phantom Steps.
It requires extremely high swordsmanship talent; ordinary Hua Jin Realm cannot even get to the beginner level.
But the upper limit of this sword technique is even more exaggerated: with minor achievements, one can comprehend the Sword Force.
Once you reach the Great Completion stage, you can comprehend the Sword Intent, and the Sword Intent is a realm that only Great Grandmaster can reach.
Reaching perfection in cultivation could even allow one to step into the Sword Domain. That's something only those at the Celestial Person Realm can comprehend, something Lu Feng wouldn't even dare to dream of at the moment.
Moreover, once the Phantom Sword Art is mastered to perfection, one can also comprehend a Phantom Sword Formation on their own.
Unfortunately, Spirit Artifact is required to unleash the sword formation.
As for what Spirit Artifact is, Lu Feng searched through the original owner's memories and the introductory jade slip of the Demon-Slaying Bureau, but couldn't find a precise definition.
It can only be speculated that it is something that can only be mastered by those at the Celestial Person Realm or even higher.
"This technique..."
Lu Feng looked at the information on the panel, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"That's way too strong!"
Strong, of course, also means expensive!
When Lu Feng saw the upgrade cost for the Phantom Sword Art, he couldn't help but gasp.
To even begin, you need 100,000 Demon Points; to achieve minor success, you need 1 million; to achieve major success, you need 10 million; and to achieve perfection, you need a full 100 million.
Lu Feng suddenly realized that his 1.57 million Demon Points were almost gone.
His current wealth is only enough to push the Phantom Sword Art to the minor completion stage, not even close to the major completion stage.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself down.
A minor achievement allows one to comprehend Sword Force. Unlike the Nine Layered Wave Slashes, where the Saber Force of the Nine Layered Wave Slashes only fully erupts on the ninth strike, a minor achievement in the Phantom Sword Art means that every strike carries Sword Force.
"System, upgrade the Phantom Sword Art to Minor Mastery!"
[Ding! Upgrading Phantom Sword Art to Lesser Mastery requires 1,100,000 Demon Points. Confirm upgrade?]
"Promote."
As soon as he finished speaking, a surge of cultivation experience, far more powerful than any previous advancement, flooded into his mind.
In Lu Feng's mind, a figure exactly like him appeared, holding a long sword and drawing it again and again.
Thrust, flick, chop, sweep, slice—each movement is broken down to its extreme and then recombined.
The swordplay progressed from clumsy to skillful, and from skillful to effortless.
After countless sword strikes, the figure began to blur, and the Sword Force gradually dissolved into nothingness.