Breakthrough

After the two of them left, Qie Qiong took up his sword and walked toward the alchemical dummy.

"Whew..."

Qie Qiong took a deep breath and stilled his mind. Everything around him seemed to come into clear view. He could distinctly feel the blood flowing through his body like a river, and the strength passing through his sinews, bones, and muscles.

He strode forward and thrust his longsword.

The longsword struck the alchemical dummy.

"Bang!"

The alchemical dummy and the longsword shattered together.

The longsword had not been made of any particularly hard material; it was just an ordinary longsword. Shattering the dummy with a single thrust was already astonishing.

If anyone picked up a fragment of the alchemical dummy, they would discover that its broken surface was as smooth as a mirror, without the slightest roughness.

Qie Qiong had accomplished that because his "force was perfect, pure, and unified."

Just now, when Qie Qiong comprehended Unity of Man and Sword, he had also happened to comprehend "Perfect and Unified Force."

"I'm probably much stronger than most Earth Rank Knights now. But this still isn't my limit."

With that thought, Qie Qiong picked up the broken sword beside him and began practicing the sword techniques in "Thunder Light" that worked with "Thunder's Five Transformation Technique" to cultivate Dou Qi.

Move after move flowed like drifting clouds and running water. As he moved through the sword techniques, the energy between heaven and earth streamed into his body, and Dou Qi began to form within him.

He cultivated "Thunder's Five Transformation Technique" over and over, losing himself in it as Dou Qi steadily spread throughout his body. Still, Qie Qiong did not stop. The Dou Qi slowly flowed into his abdomen and condensed, and a pale blue dantian Qi sea thundered into existence. This was a Heaven Rank Knight.

"Hmm, I didn't expect my body's talent to be so good. I became a Heaven Rank Knight in one go. That's a bit better than Dong Bo Xue Ying in the original novel." As he muttered to himself, he casually ate a handful of pills refined by his mother, Lin Wantang.

His mother, Lin Wantang, was a Silver Moon Mage. Mages studied all things, and even False Transcendents had been developed and created by powerful mages. Naturally, they could also develop things like potions.

One of his family's sources of income was the potions and pills his mother refined.

These pills replenished energy. In the original novel, Dong Bo Xue Ying had eaten twelve thousand jin of magical beast meat just to become an Earth Rank Knight. Although he had eaten that much because he had awakened his Primordial Bloodline, becoming a knight also consumed a great deal of energy.

But Qie Qiong could hardly eat that much meat. How tired would his jaws get?!

"To defeat those two sparring partners now, I definitely wouldn't need a second move. And this 'Thunder's Five Transformation Technique' is so powerful."

Qie Qiong gently guided his Dou Qi and felt it flow rapidly through his body. It made him seem a step faster at everything he did.

He took a deep breath. The pale blue Dou Qi in his Qi sea surged through his body, and he tapped the ground with his toes. Spiderweb-like cracks instantly spread across the training ground. His feet tapped the ground again and again, and every time he changed direction, he seemed to leave an afterimage behind.

"My speed can probably rival some Silver Moon Knights now."

Qie Qiong had only just broken through to become a Heaven Rank Knight, after all. His "Thunder's Five Transformation Technique" was really only at the first, pale blue stage.

And "Thunder's Five Transformation Technique" had five stages. With each breakthrough, the color of the Dou Qi deepened, until it finally transformed into golden Thunder Battle Qi.

"No wonder the ancestor said that someone who had just entered the Transcendent realm could defeat most Sky Realm Transcendents. With this speed alone, they could probably place themselves in an invincible position, let alone after learning 'Thunder Light' to go with 'Thunder's Five Transformation Technique.'"

With that thought, what he most wanted to do now was go home, find his father, and get the rest of "Thunder Light." Since he had not attained "Unity of Man and Sword" and "Perfect and Unified Force" before, he had only learned the method of extracting Dou Qi to go with the Dou Qi technique.

From deep within the rolling mountain range came the clash of weapons and bursts of furious roars.

"Hahaha, Qie Yunzhou, this place will be your burial ground today!"

A group of black-armored knights formed a crescent around Qie Yunzhou and the several clan knights he had brought. The man leading them laughed loudly.

The black-armored knight was the head of the Xiong Clan in Cangshan County City, Western Province, Cangyun Empire, a Title Knight known as the "Bear Knight."

In the Cang Yun Material World, three Deity Rank experts with Grade Three Deity Hearts had appeared in the previous era. The formerly unified Cangyun Empire had also split into what were now the three great empires of Cangyun, Thunder, and Chuyun.

The Cangyun Empire had inherited most of the former Cangyun Empire's foundations and was far stronger than the other two empires, so Thunder and Chuyun remained allies to this day.

And the Xiong Clan was the patriarch of the strongest clan in Cangshan County of the Cangyun Empire.

Cangshan County and Qingshan County were separated only by the Qiyun Mountain Range and had been fighting for generations.

"Heh, Xiong Biao, have you forgotten how you fled back from Jiayun Pass last time? And you still dare show your face before me?" Qie Yunzhou chuckled.

"Hahaha, of course I know I'm no match for you..."

As soon as Xiong Biao finished speaking, another man beside him, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly said, "What if you add me?"

With that, he stepped forward, his yellow battle armor fluttering. A visible wave of earthy yellow Qi burst outward in every direction from him.

Qie Yunzhou immediately willed the Power of Heaven and Earth into motion. A cyan wave of Qi collided with the surging earthy yellow wave. Boom! The cyan and earthy yellow waves were like stone and tofu; the instant they collided, the earthy yellow wave dispersed.

"This is why you dared surround me and try to kill me?" Qie Yunzhou chuckled. "I thought you had some powerful trump card, but in the end, it's only a newly advanced Title Knight."

"You're merely a little better at wielding the Power of Heaven and Earth. Don't get cocky. My second brother and I will bury you here today." A fierce look appeared on Xiong Biao's face, and his voice echoed through the valley.

Before he had finished speaking, his second brother, Xiong Li, who had been silent at his side, surged forward, as though the whole earth had trembled with him. Earthy yellow Dou Qi swirled around Xiong Li's body, forming coils.

"Big brother, don't waste words on him. Attack." Xiong Li's voice was deep. He made a grabbing motion with both hands, and his Dou Qi mixed with the Power of Heaven and Earth to form a pair of large, earthy yellow hands that reached for Qie Yunzhou.

This time, the wave of Qi was no simple impact. The Power of Heaven and Earth and Dou Qi combined, bringing with them a powerful binding force. This was no ordinary act of gathering Qi into a shape, but a cage formed by a secret technique—the Mountain Cage.

At the same time, Xiong Biao moved. Rather than drawing on the Power of Heaven and Earth over a wide area, he wrapped it around the blade of his saber. The blade instantly turned the color of the earth, and an earthy yellow saber beam condensed along its edge.

"Take this-Mountain Splitter!" Xiong Biao shouted.

The saber beam radiated a heavy presence, as though it could cleave even the earth in two.

"Die!"