Chapter 9

This unnamed saber manual records a saber technique with a name —— Clear Wind Slash. Wind means speed. To master this technique, the key is just one word: speed!

The speed of drawing the saber must be so fast that the opponent can't react, so fast that they can't even see it. Once the saber is drawn, it has already taken a life!

Clear Wind Slash, Clear Wind Slash, like a gentle breeze, you see the wind but not the saber.

To make the saber speed fast, one must have an extremely strong burst of power, and the second is to use qi to drive the saber, making it faster.

Zhang Ye practiced the saber under the waterfall for more than two months, and his explosive power was already quite good. Now, what he needed to practice was using qi to drive the saber.

Using qi to drive the saber, as the name suggests, is to use true qi to drive the saber in hand, making it faster and more powerful. Zhang Ye's comprehension was far better than before. After just one look, he memorized the key points of the "Clear Wind Slash." In the following time, he practiced while comprehending the saber technique, quickly grasping its essence.

"Clear Wind Slash, using strength to draw the saber, using qi to control the saber, using the wind as the saber! Haha!" Zhang Ye laughed heartily, leaped up, and landed in the pond, slashing the thick-backed saber dozens of times.

The first few dozen slashes were like chopping wood. But after the next few dozen, his arm seemed to disappear, and the thick-backed saber seemed to be driven by a light breeze, moving at an incomparably fast speed, leaving no trace.

"Yes, that's the feeling!" Zhang Ye retracted the thick-backed saber, feeling a surge of joy: "Though martial arts value innate talent, in the later stages, comprehension becomes increasingly important. My comprehension is good now, and with diligence, I will surely find my own path!"

...

Time flew by, and before he knew it, Zhang Ye had practiced the saber under the waterfall for another two months.

At the edge of the huge waterfall, there was a large green stone. On this large stone, Zhang Ye held a long thick-backed saber, his feet moving in a peculiar step, slashing the saber against the waterfall.

The dozens of meters long waterfall poured down from above, continuously hitting Zhang Ye's head, shoulders, legs, and back. Water is the softest thing in the world, but the water falling from a great height is extremely fierce. Practicing the saber under the waterfall is as difficult as practicing with hundreds of pounds on your back!

Zhang Ye withstood the pressure of the waterfall, swiftly slashing over three hundred times. The speed of drawing the saber gradually slowed down, his blood boiling, and his skin turning a strange red.

"Three hundred and six, three hundred and seven! Three hundred and eight! Ah!" Zhang Ye roared, slashing the last three times, and leaped out of the waterfall like a fish, breathing in fresh air deeply.

After a long time, his surging breath finally calmed down.

In the past two months, Zhang Ye gradually mastered the key points of using qi to drive the saber. The time he spent practicing the saber became longer, and the speed of drawing the saber became faster. Now, Zhang Ye could slash three hundred and eight times in one breath, as fast as a gust of wind, the saber and the waterfall merging into one, making it impossible to distinguish where the saber ended and the waterfall began.

Using qi to control the saber, drawing the saber like the wind. At this level, Zhang Ye's "Clear Wind Slash" had reached a minor accomplishment, but he vaguely felt that he was still a step away from major accomplishment.

This gap was not about the degree of practice, but an indescribable realm. Saber techniques also have realms, and without entering that realm, no matter how much you practice, it will be in vain.

After reaching the minor accomplishment in saber techniques, Zhang Ye withdrew from the focused state of practicing the saber. While practicing the saber, he also began to practice the "Surprised Crane Technique."

Time passed slowly, and before he knew it, the flood season had arrived.

The flood season, as the name suggests, is the period when the river swells. During this time, the river flowing down from the waterfall becomes larger and larger, gradually turning into a mountain flood.

With the arrival of the flood season, practicing the saber under the waterfall became increasingly difficult. However, under this difficulty, Zhang Ye's saber techniques improved every day. He vaguely felt that his saber techniques were just a step away from major accomplishment. If he could comprehend the key, he would immediately enter the major accomplishment stage.

One day, while practicing the saber under the waterfall, Zhang Ye suddenly felt a tremor in his meridians, and his true qi began to circulate on its own. Zhang Ye was initially stunned, then overjoyed, and quickly leaped out of the water, sitting cross-legged on a large stone.

The true qi started from the dantian, slowly but irresistibly flowing through the meridians for several small cycles. With each cycle, Zhang Ye felt the purity of the true qi increase slightly. On the ninth cycle, Zhang Ye felt a jolt, and the true qi broke through several usually blocked meridians. Subsequently, the true qi in his body burst with vitality, cleansing his body.

When the true qi returned to the dantian, Zhang Ye finished his practice, stood up, and looked at his body. He noticed a layer of black dirt on his body. Seeing this, Zhang Ye laughed heartily, saying, "True qi refining the body, hehe, I didn't expect to reach the middle stage of the second level of martial arts so quickly!"

Reaching the middle stage of the second level of martial arts, Zhang Ye felt his strength had improved. He couldn't resist drawing the thick-backed saber and slashing a few times in the air.

Zhang Ye's slashes were casual, but after slashing, a subtle insight suddenly surged in his mind. He keenly felt that the few casual slashes he had just made were different from his usual saber techniques.

Why did the same slashes feel different?

Zhang Ye closed his eyes, recalling the feeling of practicing the saber under the waterfall.

Others practice according to the techniques, but after integrating his memories, Zhang Ye was no longer satisfied with just following the techniques. While practicing, he always thought about the principles behind the martial techniques, calculating and simulating the best moves. When practicing the "Clear Wind Slash," Zhang Ye continuously corrected his angle, speed, and strength, constantly comprehending and perfecting the key points.

This continuous calculation and thinking allowed Zhang Ye's saber practice to progress rapidly, and he could feel some extremely subtle changes in drawing and controlling the saber.

Suddenly, Zhang Ye burst into a long laugh, saying, "Clear Wind Slash, Clear Wind Slash, haha, this technique was originally inspired by the clear wind. To achieve this realm, one must practice in the clear wind. I have been practicing under the waterfall, although I have reached the peak of speed, I couldn't find the clear wind realm. No wonder I couldn't reach major accomplishment!"

Zhang Ye's mind suddenly became clear, and he entered a wondrous realm. The true qi in his body flowed through a peculiar meridian, transmitting to the thick-backed saber. With the flow of true qi, Zhang Ye faced a gentle breeze and slashed several times.

The thick-backed saber seemed to merge with the clear wind, and in the air, only a faint glow of the saber could be seen, with no trace of the saber itself.

Several leaves drifted down, and as soon as they entered the range of Zhang Ye's saber technique, they were instantly shattered by an invisible force. When Zhang Ye's Clear Wind Slash was unleashed, a force field surrounded his body, and any leaves that landed on this force field were immediately shredded by the invisible force.

Clear Wind Slash, Clear Wind Slash, like a gentle breeze, you see the wind but not the saber. At this point, after several months of practice, Zhang Ye's Clear Wind Slash finally reached major accomplishment.

After reaching major accomplishment in the "Clear Wind Slash," Zhang Ye soon discovered another problem: recovering qi.

The "Clear Wind Slash" was powerful, but it consumed a lot of true qi. With Zhang Ye's current cultivation, he could only slash twice before his true qi was depleted.

Recovering qi, recovering qi! How could he recover qi faster and slash more "Clear Wind Slashes" in one breath?

This problem deeply troubled Zhang Ye.

Zhang Ye tried to increase his practice volume to improve his physical condition. This method was very effective, and after more than a month of practice, he could slash three "Clear Wind Slashes" in one breath.

Although he had made progress, Zhang Ye was not satisfied. While practicing the Clear Wind Slash, he also devoted some effort to practicing the "Surprised Crane Technique." The step technique recorded in the "Surprised Crane Technique" is called the "Surprised Crane Step," emphasizing "graceful like a startled crane, elegant like a dragon." When practiced to the extreme, it can leave no trace on snow, and for travel, it can cover a thousand miles in a day. Among low-level techniques, it is considered a very good movement technique.

After practicing the Surprised Crane Step for more than a month, Zhang Ye, with his astonishing calculation ability, tried to use the step technique to drive the "Clear Wind Slash."

Zhang Ye's method was very successful. After more than twenty days of practice, he could slash six "Clear Wind Slashes" in one breath, three times more than the initial two.

Days passed one by one.

Zhang Ye practiced and thought, and as his step technique became more proficient and his coordination improved, the number of "Clear Wind Slashes" he could slash in one breath gradually increased.

One day, while practicing the saber, Zhang Ye suddenly felt a shadow above him, and the wind sounded different. An unknown object was falling from the top of the waterfall, straight toward his head.

Zhang Ye had encountered falling debris from the waterfall before. He remained calm, and with a swift movement of his thick-backed saber, he slashed a "Clear Wind Slash" at the unknown object.

Zhang Ye practiced the "Clear Wind Slash" hundreds of times a day. After so much practice, he had deeply grasped the essence of the "Clear Wind Slash." When he unleashed it, it was as if it came naturally, and the large logs and rocks falling from the waterfall were split in half and flew far away.

This slash, though casual, was still powerful. With a loud "clang," the unknown object was slashed and flew dozens of meters away, landing heavily on the shore.

"Huh? What is this? I can split a log weighing thousands of pounds with one slash, but this thing is completely unharmed!" Zhang Ye, surprised, sheathed his saber and ran to the shore to check the unknown object.

Seeing the unknown object clearly, Zhang Ye was stunned.

It turned out that what he had slashed away was a person. This person, who had taken a direct hit from his saber, was not split in half!