Repeated Imitation

Liu Xuan's sacrifice was like another version of the Heavenly God General Medicine. Huo Qubing had not yet stepped into the Sole Self Realm. When fighting Zhang Xuezhou, he kept up with the rhythm and also triggered the control of fast and slow.

Zhang Xuezhou knew that Huo Qubing could replicate his Technique Method when he was in the secret place of Shanglin Garden, and thus master them quickly. At that time, he thought that Huo Qubing had only learned the superficial aspects. Zhang Xuezhou did not expect that Huo Qubing could actually see everything clearly.

For Zhang Xuezhou, the ability to control speed is his trump card.

This is the basic ability of spatial manipulation. To advance further, it can influence time, thus gaining unpredictable influence.

Hongjun was the possessor of this ability and also the person Zhang Xuezhou studied under. Zhang Xuezhou never expected that Huo Qubing would also take him as his role model and begin his studies.

"Very well, you're quite skilled at using sword-drawing techniques to borrow my momentum!"

The new emperor and Wei Qing used sword techniques to manipulate the terrain, while Huo Qubing manipulated human momentum, which is the sword technique that many Sequence Holder in the real world painstakingly practice.

If Huo Qubing had gone one step further, he would have possessed the same level of control.

Zhang Xuezhou praised him repeatedly. He didn't hold back in using his control, but continuously fed the sword, providing Huo Qubing with the means to nurture the sword and form its own 'fast and slow'.

But after being repeatedly given pointers, Zhang Xuezhou vaguely sensed something was different.

"Your Majesty, why don't you test the 'Defend the Frontier' sword technique on Little Huo!"

Huo Qubing had regained most of his senses and was in a state of extreme excitement as he followed along and learned. Zhang Xuezhou quickly discovered that Huo Qubing had mastered about 70-80% of his control over 'fast and slow'.

But no matter how much he practiced, Huo Qubing remained at this level and never improved.

Zhang Xuezhou had no other skills to offer Huo Qubing for imitation and learning, so he quickly switched targets, even specifying swordsmanship.

More than ten feet away, the new emperor's expression changed slightly, and he quickly adjusted his posture.

The new emperor's 'Guardian of the Frontier' has affected the terrain of the secret realm, making it extremely difficult to release in other areas; even he needs to constantly adjust it.

In a normal sword fight, there's no time for him to slowly adjust.

Despite its seemingly powerful protective sword technique, the chances of it being used in a New Emperor Sword duel are extremely low.

But letting him slowly gather his sword was another matter. After adjusting for several minutes, the new emperor unleashed a burst of sword light and then charged forward.

Sword Sword-Ray appeared around the new emperor's body, forcefully blocking Huo Qubing as Zhang Xuezhou retreated rapidly.

The occasional clanging of longswords could be heard, gradually transforming into a dense, rain-like cacophony of soft, intermittent contact.

"How could Xiao Huo imitate sword intent so quickly?" Dong Zhongshu exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Xuezhou's swordsmanship involved Technique Method, making its mysteries difficult to understand, but the new emperor's swordsmanship was not hard to comprehend.

Dong Zhongshu could not master the new emperor's swordsmanship, but he could understand it.

Because he himself could not do it, Dong Zhongshu was extremely surprised that Huo Qubing could.

"Does the Master know swordsmanship with this kind of artistic conception?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"I know a little bit," Dong Zhongshu nodded. "When I enter the Celestial Person State, my swordsmanship can be as continuous as a drizzle, until I find the opponent's weakness and strike!"

"Then get ready, and when you're ready, go up and replace His Majesty!"

Looking into the distance, Zhang Xuezhou saw that Huo Qubing and the new emperor had almost formed two arcs of sword light that covered an area of about one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

This area, spanning several feet, seemed to encompass the entire Heaven and Earth, and the two swordsmen clashed repeatedly.

While borrowing Zhang Xuezhou's influence, Huo Qubing also borrowed the swordplay of the new emperor.

Even though Huo Qubing did not learn the Horizontal Sword Technique, he still developed the "Defending the Frontier Sword Stance".

Zhang Xuezhou originally thought that Huo Qubing possessed the ability to control 'fast and slow', but only later realized that Huo Qubing's ability was more like a special kind of imitation ability.

Whatever special abilities his opponents possessed, Huo Qubing could acquire similar abilities.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't know the upper limit of Huo Qubing's imitation ability, but this kind of imitation ability was very special. If he could combine several special swordsmanship concepts, Huo Qubing would definitely possess extremely powerful swordsmanship skills.

Although Huo Qubing's imitation skills could only reach a 70-80% level, the sheer number of imitations he produced was overwhelming. If one method didn't work, he could switch to another until he could defeat his opponent.

"Little Huo's comprehension is extraordinary!"

Huo Qubing is still at the Divine Ability Realm, but the abilities displayed by Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor are not at the Divine Ability Realm.

Even the Empress Dowager couldn't help but marvel at Huo Qubing's comprehension; she could even see in this terrifying ability to imitate the hope of entering the Sole Self Realm.

From impossible to possible, Huo Qubing was indeed getting closer to his goal step by step.

"Is it possible that this could become Huo's sword Divine Ability?" the Empress Dowager asked.

"There's a very high probability!"

Huo Qubing primarily promoted the Realm Technique. He only learned the Vertical Sword Technique from Wei Qing and also possessed the ability to shoot arrows. Through repeated encouragement, his swordsmanship once again reached the level of Divine Ability powers.

This is no different from Zhang Xuezhou's promotion of the secondary Divine Ability powers of unidirectional Technique Method.

The difference is that Huo Qubing's probability of achieving a second Divine Ability power was extremely low. He relied on repeated guidance through sacrifices, continuous medication, and other methods, and finally succeeded when Zhang Xuezhou touched him, thus giving him hope of breaking through to the Sole Self Realm.

"This child's secondary Divine Ability is truly rare; there are only a handful of legendary cases!"

The Empress Dowager whispered, and then took out the "Zhongni Qiguan Shuo" (Confucius's Sayings on the Qi Officials) which Huo Qubing had practiced, and began to make corrections and adjustments based on Huo Qubing's physical condition.

This is the Realm Technique Huo Qubing practiced. How he integrated and transformed the Realm Technique adjusted by the Empress Dowager into what he needed is how Huo Qubing operated.

During Huo Qubing's efforts, it was also Dong Zhongshu and Ren Anran's turn to make their appearances.

"Little Huo has reached a bottleneck in imitating His Majesty's swordplay; Master Dong is ready to take over!"

When Dong Zhongshu entered a state of Celestial Person harmony and made his move, the gentle, continuous strikes created a different artistic conception of swordsmanship once again.

Relying on the new emperor's "defending the borders" sword stance, Huo Qubing could only withstand a few moves before he imitated it again, beginning to learn the swordsmanship and artistic conception of Dong Zhongshu.

"How could a sick child learn so much? If he could use it freely, wouldn't he be able to dominate among martial artists in the Sole Self Realm?"

The new emperor did not consider Huo Qubing a true master, after all, Huo Qubing was too young, and his study of the Confucian School "Zhongni Qiguan Shuo" was too rudimentary.

Even though Huo Qubing learned the tricks of Zhang Xuezhou and others, the Confucian School Realm Technique of achieving a certain level was still inferior to other schools of thought at the same level.

It wasn't until Huo Qubing continued to demonstrate his terrifying learning ability that the new emperor realized Huo Qubing's strengths.

If Huo Qubing learns enough, his advantage could even become a precipitous lead.

"Aside from needing medication, I'm perfectly fine!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, indicating that the new emperor was absolutely right.

If one had to find a flaw, it would be that Huo Qubing's immense power required the support of elixirs.

Huo Qubing consumed the Spirit Silk Jade Lotus Root. This heavenly materials and earthly treasures gave him a body that was light and Qi and Blood, but it consumed far more of his vital energy than others. He also had a high degree of deficiency in not reaching the True Self Realm. The sword fight that had lasted so long was not entirely due to Huo Qubing's Qi and Blood strength. Huo Qubing had already consumed more than twenty top-grade pills.

Huo Qubing's ability to continuously imitate and learn was largely due to the effectiveness of the elixirs offered by the Jade Emperor of the Immortal Court.