Chapter 8: Human-Grade Top-Ranking Sword Technique - Water Shadow Sword

  "Ding! Congratulations, host, you have successfully leveled up and killed the enemy, earning 8 points of merit value." The cold system prompt sounded like heavenly music to Fang Yan's ears.

  "It's another 8 points of merit, today's harvest is enough for me to cultivate for half a day." At the moment when Wang Hai fell to the ground, Fang Yan disdainfully curled his lips. Now he had a clear understanding of his own strength, and ordinary Qi Refining Seventh Stage cultivators were not even his opponents. Now, perhaps only Qi Refining Eighth Stage cultivators could pose a threat to him.

  "Haha…… I'm rich, this is truly being rich. So many spiritual herbs, first-class Starlight Grass, Red Ginseng... so many first-class spiritual herbs. My dear, and there's also second-class Three-star Accompanying Moon Grass, which is the top-grade spiritual herb among second-class ones. Now, I won't have to worry about not having enough merit points for cultivation anymore."

  After collecting the cloth bags from Wang Hai and others, Fang Yan saw a large quantity of spiritual herbs, mostly first-class ones, many of which he couldn't even name. Among them were four or five stalks of second-class top-grade spiritual herbs. If he exchanged all these spiritual herbs for merit points, he wouldn't have to worry about not having enough merit points for cultivation for half a month.

  "Huh, there's actually such a great thing in Wang Hai's package, the top-grade sword technique 'Water Shadow Sword'. Fang Yan opened Wang Hai's package and found that inside, apart from a large quantity of spiritual grass, there was also a sword technique wrapped in cowhide paper."

  In his previous life's game "Xianjing", Fang Yan was a master swordsman, the sword being the emperor's weapon, the gentleman of the sword, and the sharp tool for killing. After crossing over to this Cultivation world, Fang Yan cultivated his family's inherited martial skill, Bōng Shān Quán (Collapse Mountain Fist). Without any sword skills, he could only make do with it temporarily. At this moment, having obtained this top-grade human-level sword skill, Water Shadow Sword, Fang Yan was like a starving person who had finally found food, and immediately opened and began to study it.

  "It's no wonder it's a top-notch sword technique, far more lethal than my Broken Mountain Fist. I've learned from him, and this will be my trump card for survival in the future." Fang Yan put away the secret manual, muttering to himself.

  Human-grade top-notch swordsmanship, this is a remarkable product in Yanzhou City, many people cultivate human-grade lower and middle-grade martial arts, only the three major families with such deep foundation have human-grade top-notch skills and martial arts.

  "I don't even know what kind of luck Wang Hai has, to actually obtain a top-level sword technique like Shui Ying. Fang Yan muttered to himself, and then quickly left the place. As for Wang Hai's corpse, it could only be left behind to feed the demonic beasts."

  More than half a month will no longer have to worry about the points value for cultivation, now Fang Yan only needs to successfully cultivate this Water Shadow Sword.

  Fang Yan spent eight years cultivating the top-level martial art, Bao Shan Fist, to the point of perfection. I wonder how difficult it is to cultivate a top-level sword technique and how long it will take to reach the realm of a legendary master.

  His back against the tree trunk, Fang Yan's somewhat leisurely hands held a yellowed book, reading with great relish.

  After a meal's worth of effort, Fang Yan closed the last page of this yellowed book. Immediately afterwards, a cold system prompt sounded in his mind. "Congratulations to the host for learning the top-level human sword technique Water Shadow Sword, proficiency is 0%!"

  "Training was a success! With this system, learning martial arts and sword techniques is really fast!"

  "I hope it's just like I imagined!" Fang Yan muttered to himself, his body leaping into the air as if he had lost all weight, lightly landing on the withered leaves. His body sprang up again, and with a wave of his hand, the long sword in his hand shone brightly, emitting a series of sharp whistling sounds that cut through the air.

  Suishin Sword is a top-level sword technique for humans. Unlike the Gekido Punch, which is a straightforward and powerful attack, Suishin Sword is more about variation. The sword's shadow appears and disappears in a series of transformations, like ripples on water, with attacks that are continuous and unrelenting, each wave surpassing the previous one.

  Fang Yan closed his eyes, and the sword moves he had seen earlier were still etched in his mind like a seal, unable to be shaken off or erased.

  The withered red maple leaves fell down, and Fang Yan drew out a sword. The sword body lightly swayed, bringing up a faint sword shadow. The sword flowed like water straight down, lightly striking the withered leaves in front. The sword light flashed, and instantly the entire piece of withered leaves turned into fragments scattered between heaven and earth.

  The Water Shadow Sword has a total of nine forms, and only when the nine forms are combined is it truly the Water Shadow Sword. Therefore, for swordsmanship, movements must be continuous and smooth, without any pause in between.

  Each sword move was interlocking, Fang Yan remembered this sword move, but when Fang Yan first launched it, he still struggled extremely, the sword moves were intermittent, very obscure and difficult to understand, and completely failed to exert the power that this sword technique should have.

  When Fang Yan dropped the ninth move, the system's voice sounded in his mind: "Congratulations to the host for mastering the human-level top sword skill Water Shadow Sword, proficiency +1!"

  "Finally, I've got a good grasp of this Water Shadow Sword. From now on, things will be much easier. With just a few more practice sessions every day, my proficiency will naturally increase." Fang Yan's face lit up with excitement as he heard the cold system prompt in his mind.

  Before, he had only learned the top-level sword technique of Water Shadow Sword at the human level, but now he has finally grasped it. Learning and grasping are two different concepts. Learning is just a memory, an image in the mind that cannot be applied, while grasping is different. He can integrate what he has learned into his brain and make use of it, this is what it means to grasp.

  The sword light dissipated, and a smile appeared on Fang Yan's face. Indeed, as long as he could display this sword style once, he would be able to learn this sword technique. The realm of the sword law would naturally improve as soon as the proficiency reached a certain level. Everything was spontaneous, and it didn't seem like cultivation in this world at all. Without enlightenment, the realm couldn't be improved.

  Fang Yan performed the sword moves one by one according to his memory, and after finishing a round, he was drenched in sweat. Every time Fang Yan demonstrated his sword skills, he spent a lot of energy.

  "Human-level top sword skills, if mastered to the realm of a generation's grandmaster, combined with the Crashing Mountain Fist, then killing enemies above one's level would be effortless!" Fang Yan's eyes sparkled with insight, closed his eyes, and recalled the entire Water Shadow Sword technique, as if he had gained some enlightenment.

  "Continue!" Opening his eyes, Fang Yan tightly grasped the hilt of his sword and muttered to himself before continuing to cultivate the Water Shadow Sword.

  A sword flashed out, and a fierce gust of wind suddenly appeared, rolling up the withered branches and fallen leaves on the ground. The fallen leaves flew about, and Fang Yan's figure, holding his sword and moving about freely, flickered in and out of sight amidst them.

  Shuiying Sword was performed again, and compared to before, Fang Yan's movements were less stiff and more agile.

  A bright moon like a silver plate hangs high in the sky, its light pouring down, tree shadows swaying gently, and the dark, watery sword light spreading out, bringing with it wave after wave of sword shadows.

  Fang Yan's whole body was drenched in sweat, but he seemed oblivious to it, completely absorbed in his sword technique.

  Time and time again, Fang Yan repeated the human-level top sword technique, Water Shadow Sword, until the sky turned a pale white, at which point he finally stopped his movements and ceased his training.

  "Compared to the martial art of Wuji Boshan Fist, this Water Shadow Sword is also a top-notch sword technique that consumes more time each time it's used. After an entire night has passed, I've only increased my proficiency by over 50 points! This speed is still somewhat slow, and it's impossible for me to cultivate to the level of a Grandmaster in a short period of time." Fang Yan lightly rubbed his brow, looking at the Water Shadow Sword's proficiency with some furrowed brows. However, he thought about it again and let it go, believing that as his proficiency continued to increase, the time it took to use the Water Shadow Sword would also shorten accordingly.