Entry: I Secretly Cultivate Immortality in the Martial Arts World

7: Chapter 7: Half a year has passed, and I’ve reached the seventh level of Qi Refining!At nightfall, Gu Yan returned to his small courtyard.

After a simple wash, he sat cross-legged on the couch.

He did not rush to Cultivate, but instead opened ”The Flowing Light Splitting Shadow Sword”.

The opening of the general outline was quite extraordinary.

Its core essence lies in turning the solid into the void, splitting light and skimming shadows.

The Cultivator needs to reach the Second Transformation Stage of the Martial Dao, where Internal Energy is condensed enough to initially leave the body.

Only then can they follow the Secret Manual to compress and temper the Internal Energy within specific Meridians to the extreme, finally breaking out of the body to transform into invisible yet substantial, fierce Sword Qi.

The amount of Sword Qi, its sharpness, and its flight speed all depend on the practitioner themselves.

It can be said that there are a thousand swords for a thousand people, with light and shadow following one’s heart.

The sword technique diagrams total twelve forms, from the starting ”Flowing Light Sudden Appearance” to the final ”Ten Thousand Shadows Returning to the Ancestor”, going from simple to complex, and then simplifying the complex.

It emphasizes moving like flowing light and, when still, having shadows remain, making it impossible to defend against amidst the changes between void and reality.

In addition to the sword move applications and Internal Energy circulation routes, the second half of the classic also details a special footwork used in conjunction with Sword Qi: the Shadow Skimming Step.

After reading the whole text three times, the content was thoroughly memorized.

Gu Yan closed the sword manual and closed his eyes to contemplate.

...

During the day, he earned Sect Contribution, and at night he would Cultivate.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a year passed.

Late one night, Gu Yan slowly finished his Cultivation.

With a slight movement of his mind, a light screen naturally appeared before him:

【 Gu Yan 】

【 Lifespan: 21 / 180 】

【 Realm: Qi Refining · Seventh Level 】

【 Entry: Five Elements Spiritual Body · Orange 】

【 Cultivation Technique: ”The First Transformation Chapter of the Taiyi Dao De True Scripture”, ”The Flowing Light Splitting Shadow Sword” 】

Unknowingly, the System had been loading for over a year... A Cultivation Technique column had also appeared on the panel.

But the real major change lay within Gu Yan himself.

Now, seven of the nine acupoints in his body were completely filled with Spiritual Qi, replacing his original Internal Energy.

It was truly as if each acupoint was a Realm, and he had firmly stepped into the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

Gu Yan’s gaze lingered on the Lifespan item for a moment, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up.

Back when he broke through from the first level of Qi Refining to the second, his Lifespan increased by twenty years, which had already surprised him.

Now that he had broken through to the seventh level, although the increase brought by each level had dropped to ten years, he was already very satisfied.

”In the web novels I read in my past life, an ordinary Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivator living to one hundred and thirty years old was considered a long life.”

”I haven’t even reached Foundation Establishment yet, and I’m almost touching the edge of two hundred years...”

”And even for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, their Lifespan is only two to three hundred years.”

”This abnormal upper limit of mine is likely a wonderful reaction produced by the combination of local martial arts and the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.”

In short, this is a huge blessing.

Lifespan is capital, it is the fault tolerance rate.

Even if the next time he extracts an entry has to wait until he is one hundred and twenty years old, he has enough confidence to wait.

Besides Spiritual Qi and Lifespan, another qualitative change brought by the seventh level of Qi Refining was the birth of Divine Sense.

Gu Yan moved his mind slightly, and an invisible ripple spread out from him as the center.

Within a hundred feet, the chirping of insects, the movement of grass, the condensation of night dew, and even the calm breathing of the Outer Sect Disciple in the courtyard next door were reflected in his heart as clearly as lines on the palm of his hand.

This feeling, like a god’s eye view, was exceptionally mysterious, as if the whole world had shed a layer of film and become clearer.

Just as he was carefully experiencing the wonderful uses of Divine Sense...

In the Outer Sect of the Taiyi Dao Sect, at the Herb Garden of Grade C, Qingyun Peak.

The moon was hidden and the stars were sparse, with black clouds covering the sky.

The originally peaceful herb garden was broken by violent collisions of Qi and delicate shouts.

Su Zhi and Lin Wei, who were guarding this place, were in a bitter battle.

Their opponent was a martial Cultivator covered in a black robe, with black Qi surging between his strikes, his palm power vigorous and domineering, actually able to leave his body for several feet and injure people from a distance.

The herb field had already been devastated and left in a mess.

”Martial Dao Second Transformation! Internal Energy projection!” Su Zhi dodged a palm wind in a sorry state, her breath in chaos.

Both she and Lin Wei were at the Peak of the First Transformation of the Martial Dao, only one step away from the Second Transformation where Internal Energy can be projected.

But this one-step difference was a chasm in actual combat.

Facing this opponent who could control Internal Energy like an extension of his own arm and attack enemies from a distance, their defensive line was already precarious and full of danger.

The black-robed man gave a strange laugh, spotted a flaw, and his palm, condensed with pitch-black Internal Energy, slammed towards Lin Wei’s back!

If this palm landed solidly, she would definitely die.

Lin Wei was on the verge of death.

At the critical moment!

Chih!

A faint but sharp sound of breaking through the air pierced the night sky.

It was a pale golden Sword Qi.

About a foot long, fast as lightning, as if born from thin air, it instantly pierced the black-robed man’s ribs.

The black-robed man’s body suddenly stiffened, his forward palm momentum suddenly dissipated, and the grin on his face froze.

He looked down at the blood spot rapidly splitting on his waist, opened his mouth, but could not make any sound.

Immediately, his eyes became unfocused, and he fell to the ground with a thud, with no breath left.

Su Zhi and Lin Wei were stunned on the spot.

The trance of escaping death and the sudden change before their eyes left them unable to react for a moment.

That Sword Qi came too fast, too hidden, they didn’t even see where it originated.

In the darkness, in the shadow of an ancient tree a hundred meters away from the herb garden, Gu Yan slowly retracted his right hand, which was held in a sword finger gesture.

Just now, he was using his Divine Sense to perceive the surroundings and, upon noticing the commotion here, he quietly came over and happened to witness this scene.

Lin Wei had given him ”The Flowing Light Splitting Shadow Sword” Secret Manual, and she had the grace of teaching him, so he naturally would not sit idly by and watch her die.

So he used Spiritual Qi to simulate the method of condensing Sword Qi in the sword manual, and fired this Flowing Light Sword Qi from a distance.

The Sword Qi gathered by Spiritual Qi was far more powerful than that condensed by Internal Energy, instantly beheading a Second Transformation martial Cultivator.

And this was far from his full strength; that strike just now only used two tenths of his power.

Seeing that the two women were unharmed, Gu Yan’s Divine Sense perceived another not-so-weak aura approaching rapidly.

Judging by his attire, it should be an Outer Sect Elder of the Taiyi Dao Sect.

This person was heading straight for the Grade C Herb Garden.

Immediately afterwards, several sounds of wind breaking came from afar, obviously other guarding Elders arriving.

Gu Yan did not stay any longer, his figure silently merged into the deeper night, and with a few leaps, he returned to his quiet little courtyard.

He stood quietly in the courtyard for a moment, recalling the scene of taking a life with a flick of his finger just now.

Contrary to his own expectations, he felt no nausea, no fear, and not even excitement.

He couldn’t say what kind of feeling it was.

Gu Yan shook his head gently, cast this thought aside, and did not pursue it further.

The next morning.

Gu Yan came to the Grade C Herb Garden to work as usual.

The herb garden had returned to surface peace, but some of the destroyed herbs and overturned soil still indicated the unrest of last night.

The steward, Elder Chen, saw him and sighed: ”Little Yan, our herb garden was troubled by a monster last night, fortunately no one died... It’s just that quite a few herb fields were destroyed, today’s work will probably be back-breaking.”

Gu Yan picked up his tools skillfully while responding: ”As long as no one died, it’s fine. I’ll just do more of this work.”

He noticed that Lin Wei and Su Zhi did not appear today, and could not help but speculate in his heart: After such an incident, the two of them might have been summoned back to the Inner Sect to be questioned about the details.

The situation was indeed as he expected.

In the Inner Sect of the Taiyi Dao Sect, in a certain palace hall.

Su Zhi and Lin Wei had already reported the situation of last night in detail.

The identity of the black-robed man had been verified; he was a member of the Extreme Yin Demonic Cult, a sworn enemy that had been battling the Taiyi Dao Sect for over a hundred years.

This cult’s Cultivation Technique is vicious, often using the blood and Qi of living beings to Cultivate, and is not tolerated by the Righteous Path.

Although the monster was not killed by the two women themselves, their efforts to ensure the herb garden did not suffer greater losses were still considered a merit.

Therefore, the two still received a substantial amount of Sect Contribution as a reward.

At this moment, the focus of the several Inner Sect and Outer Sect Elders who had rushed to the hall upon hearing the news was no longer on the reward.

Instead, it was on the mysterious Sword Qi mentioned by Su Zhi and Lin Wei that had appeared briefly and killed the Second Transformation monster of the Demonic Cult in an instant.

”That was not done by this old man.” The Outer Sect Elder who arrived at the scene first waved his hands repeatedly, his expression solemn.

”According to the descriptions of Junior Niece Su and Junior Niece Lin, and judging by the faint sharp aura remaining at the scene, that monster’s Internal Energy projection was quite skilled, at least at the Middle Stage of the Second Transformation.

Although I am also at the Second Transformation, it is absolutely impossible for me to kill the enemy with such a light and easy strike.”

Another white-bearded Elder stroked his beard and pondered: ”That Sword Qi strike hit the vital point, cutting off his vitality... Such means not only show a very deep understanding of the Sword Dao, but their own cultivation is also absolutely crushing the monster.

In my opinion, the strength of the person who attacked is likely at least at the Peak of the Third Transformation of the Martial Dao, and possibly even... has reached the Fourth Transformation Realm!”

”Fourth Transformation?” Someone gasped.

The Fourth Transformation of the Martial Dao is considered a powerful figure throughout the Great Qian Dynasty, enough to serve as top combat power for an ordinary School.

Why would such a person appear near the Outer Sect herb garden of the Taiyi Dao Sect?

And why would they help two Inner Sect Disciples?

Was it just passing by and acting righteously, or was there some hidden reason?

The Elders discussed and speculated in various ways, but none had solid evidence.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that within the territory of the Taiyi Dao Sect, there was a hidden stranger who was at least at the Peak of the Third Transformation and was good at using Sword Qi.