Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

Chapter 197: Sword Essence Technique

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Ugh!”

The surrounding disciples looked at the scene before them and couldn’t help but exclaim.

When Lan Yunfeng charged forward, they had initially expected a fierce battle to unfold. After all, the momentum that Lan Yunfeng had displayed at that moment was truly astonishing, not much weaker than that of a typical peak Visceral Tempering realm cultivator.

In certain aspects, at that moment, Lan Yunfeng seemed even stronger than a peak Visceral Tempering realm cultivator.

However, unfortunately, that incredibly powerful strike didn’t even touch Chen Fei. He easily dodged it with a slight move.

No matter how powerful an attack is, if it can’t reach its target, it’s all in vain.

There had always been rumors about Chen Fei’s strong archery and exceptional agility. Many disciples had no real concept of this before, thinking that no matter how strong someone could be, there must be a limit, given their cultivation level.

In the world of martial arts, the level of cultivation is always the ultimate guarantee of combat power.

But today, they witnessed Chen Fei’s heavy bow in action. My, oh my, with just one arrow, he could take down one cultivator at the Marrow Tempering realm after another, or even two in a single shot, without exceptions.

Even Visceral Tempering realm cultivators, like the nine who had just participated, had proven vividly that they couldn’t withstand several arrows head-on. To dodge, one needed exceptionally outstanding agility.

Finally getting close, they found themselves unable to even touch Chen Fei’s figure. Throughout the entire match, Chen Fei comprehensively outperformed the nine participants. Only Lan Yunfeng managed to make Chen Fei draw his sword.

That sword strike impressed many and made everyone understand that Chen Fei’s archery was strong, and his swordsmanship was equally formidable, if not even stronger.

Lan Yunfeng had already been carried away for medical treatment. Among the nine participants, he might have been the strongest, but his injuries were also the most severe. Even someone like Qian Guangji, who had taken a punch to the cheek, had passed out.

A few days of rest would likely suffice to recover for him.

Lan Yunfeng’s scapula was nearly shattered. Even with a Visceral Tempering realm cultivator’s recovery ability, it would take several months to fully heal.

With no contribution points left, no vital essence of iron left, and needing to nurse his injuries for months, Lan Yunfeng was truly unfortunate.

“The match is over, with Chen Fei as the ultimate victor.”

Ru Lutao announced the final result, nodded at Chen Fei, and then disappeared from the spot.

There were over ninety true disciples on True Transmission Peak, and Ru Lutao didn’t remember many of them. Now, Chen Fei had become one of those memorable figures.

Chen Fei clasped his hands towards the surrounding disciples, eliciting a wave of cheers. This battle had completely established Chen Fei’s reputation. The extent of the previous rumors’ exaggeration was now matched by the intensity of the reversal.

Chen Fei walked into the Hall of True Transmission and claimed his winnings.

When they made the bet yesterday, everyone left their wagers in the Hall of True Transmission. No one could back out now.

At this moment, Chen Fei stood in front of the counter, looking at the pile of spiritual materials. His smile was somewhat difficult to restrain.

It wasn’t that Chen Fei lacked stability, but the wager this time was simply too substantial. One spiritual material per person and someone like Qian Guangji even bet two spiritual materials directly, plus a day’s access to the Wu Family’s Elemental Spirit Pool.

In addition to the spiritual materials, there was a whopping ninety thousand contribution points.

When did Chen Fei ever hold so many contribution points? Even when he had the most, it hadn’t surpassed a thousand. And those he did obtain didn’t stay with him for long; Chen Fei used them up quickly.

Now, Chen Fei still owed Feng Xiupu a considerable amount of contribution points.

“Congratulations, Junior Brother Chen.”

A disciple responsible for administrative matters smiled and congratulated him. Looking at the pile of spiritual materials on the table, not feeling envious would be absolutely fake. But these spiritual materials were earned by Chen Fei’s own strength, so the administrative disciple deeply admired him.

One versus nine, a battle of attrition, and unexpectedly a complete domination over the opponents. Although the administrative disciples had seen many true disciples, individuals like Chen Fei were truly rare.

“Thank you!”

Chen Fei arched his hand and packed up the spiritual materials, then left the Hall of True Transmission and returned to the courtyard of True Transmission Peak.

Chen Fei had estimated that with the half-spirit sword-forging method taught within the sect, he had more than enough spiritual materials on hand. He was just slightly lacking in some auxiliary materials, but with his current contribution points, he could exchange for them at the Treasure Depository to complete the set.

“The sect’s spiritual swords are mostly self-forged. I’ll go to the Sutra Library in a few days to exchange for this forging method and then attempt to create one.”

Chen Fei thought to himself, planning the next few days.

As Chen Fei regained his composure and made plans for the Half-Spirit Sword, in other parts of the sect, discussions about the sparring match in the martial arena were still buzzing.

And as time passed, these discussions spread even more, reaching even those inner disciples who were occupied or uninterested before. They were now forced to know the results of the match due to the discussions around them.

Not only did they know the outcome of the match, but they were also gradually learning about the details that transpired during the match.

Chen Fei’s clean victory in this match left people immensely satisfied and greatly astonished. Because of this, it was inevitable that people wanted to discuss it.

Furthermore, some were beginning to seriously consider learning archery as well. After all, ranged attacks were advantageous, and during group actions, one could stay far behind, which seemed quite profitable.

The lively discussions within the inner sect eventually reached True Transmission Peak.

When Chen Fei had accepted the challenge ahead of time, some True Transmission disciples had noticed the news, especially those in the same year as Chen Fei.

However, most of them had seen Chen Fei’s archery skills and didn’t think he would lose.

At most, when they heard that Chen Fei was going to take on all nine opponents by himself, they vaguely wondered if he was being overly confident.

But the result was that the match ended today.

Chen Fei was anything but overly confident; he was clearly conservative. Taking on all nine opponents with no harm to himself, at this rate, he could probably handle a few more without any issues.

Not only did the newly-promoted true disciples get this information, but the true disciples promoted in previous years also received news of the match’s results and started paying attention to this last-ranked true disciple.

In a few more months, when the half-year period was up, the rankings of the true disciple positions would be reshuffled. With Chen Fei’s current demonstrated strength, no one would dare to challenge him, and Chen Fei would certainly continue to challenge upwards.

By then, they would become rivals. So, it was only natural to start paying attention now.

On the third morning, Chen Fei appeared in the Sutra Library. Many who saw Chen Fei nodded in acknowledgment, and he responded to each of them.

An hour later, Chen Fei left the Sutra Library with a transcribed copy of the Sword Essence Technique.

The Sword Essence Technique was the method for forging spiritual swords.

Rather than being purely a forging method, the Sword Essence Technique leaned more towards a cultivation technique. It involved nurturing the blade of the sword, continuously refining it from a half-spirit artifact to eventually becoming a spiritual artifact.

The process was somewhat challenging; after all, the goal was a spiritual artifact. When Chen Fei briefly perused it in the Sutra Library, he realized that if he truly wanted to forge a spiritual sword using the Sword Essence Technique, he would need more spiritual materials than a regular spiritual sword.

At least thirty percent more was inevitable, and even more than fifty percent was possible.

But even so, the Sword Essence Technique still had a strong demand in the Primordial Sword Sect. This was because the spiritual swords achieved through the Sword Essence Technique shared a perfect resonance with the forgers’ temperament and martial arts.

Once successful, a spiritual sword could immediately boost the forger’s strength, with no barriers whatsoever.

Of course, if it were just this aspect, it wouldn’t be that significant. After all, with long-term use, a spiritual sword could continuously adapt to the warrior’s aura, becoming more attuned with each use.

What made many people choose the Sword Essence Technique was the crucial factor that the probability of success in creating a spiritual sword using it was very high.

As long as one cultivated the Sword Essence Technique to a profound realm and invested the effort, it wasn’t certain, but it was highly probable that a spiritual sword would be created.

Forging holds risks, much like alchemy. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many half-spirit artifacts, such as the jade pendant in Chen Fei’s hand.

The material for the jade pendant was definitely sufficient, but due to improper forging, it only ended up as a half-spirit artifact.

One can imagine how crucial the success rate is.

“Being in the Visceral Tempering realm can only forge a half-spirit sword, but for me, that’s already sufficient. When I break through the Aperture Tempering realm, I can invest other materials to further upgrade it to a spiritual sword!”

Along the way, Chen Fei carefully reviewed the Sword Essence Technique several times, gaining a clear understanding. At the same time, the term “Sword Essence Technique” appeared on the panel.

Chen Fei closed the Sword Essence Technique, glanced at the Hall of True Transmission not far away, and his figure flickered as he entered the hall. He walked straight to the counter.

“Junior Brother Chen, is there something you need?” The administrative disciple looked at Chen Fei with some confusion.

“I’d like to inquire about something.”

Chen Fei lowered his voice slightly and said, “On True Transmission Peak, is it possible to have an underground hot spring in the courtyard?”

A hot spring?” The administrative disciple was taken aback.

“Yes, is it feasible?”

Chen Fei smirked slightly. The Suppressing Dragon Elephant needed boiling water, and he didn’t want to actually cook himself. He could only rely on this hot spring for help.

Most importantly, Chen Fei didn’t feel like going back to the inn to cultivate. After all, the spiritual energy on True Transmission Peak was obviously denser, which was beneficial for cultivation. It wouldn’t be cost-effective for Chen Fei to travel to the inn in Immortal Cloud City for training.

“There are special restrictions on True Transmission Peak that make the spiritual energy so dense. Therefore, it’s not feasible to specifically excavate water channels.”

Chen Fei’s brow slightly furrowed. Did he really have to continue going to the inn, first beef up the Suppressing Dragon Elephant, and then return to cultivate other techniques?

“However, there is a hot spring on True Transmission Peak, but it’s not halfway up the mountain; it’s on the mountaintop. If Junior Brother Chen wants a hot spring, you can improve your ranking. 1 remember that the top ten true disciple courtyards have hot springs.”

The administrative disciple encouraged him. He thought that Chen Fei wanted a hot spring because he enjoyed soaking in them. There was nothing wrong with that; everyone had their own preferences.

Soaking in a hot spring was something relatively minor.

“Top ten, huh?”

Chen Fei lowered his head, pondering. True Transmission rankings were definitely something he would challenge upwards in, not for the sake of vanity, but because the sect’s resources were tilted towards the higher ranks.

The higher the ranking, the more resources one would receive, and it had always been that way.

For Chen Fei to grow quickly, he couldn’t avoid this competition. The path of martial arts was sometimes like this—every advantage had to be fought for!

However, talking about these things now was a bit premature. Chen Fei wanted to challenge, but other true disciples might not accept unless he offered enough bargaining chips to make them difficult to refuse..