Zhen lost track of time as he immersed himself in comprehending the Sword Slash Technique, aided by the aura of the Sword Soul. His understanding kept rising endlessly, without pause for even a moment.
Who knew how rare a Sword Soul was? If many people discovered its existence, they would probably fight to the death for it—its value nearly equal to life itself.
Fortunately, he wasn't disturbed at all.
After who knows how long, he realized there was no more aura left for him to absorb.
He was forced to open his eyes, finding that the cave had gone dark, and the Sword Soul had vanished.
(Your comprehension of the Sword Slash Technique has increased to 38%!)
(Your Soul Power has increased by 83 Points!)
[Soul Power: 298]
- Sword Slash Technique (38%)
"Truly unexpected," Zhen said.
With this level of comprehension, he could now unleash a much more powerful strike.
Moreover, the increase in Soul Power naturally gave him better control over his own strength.
"I hope I encounter more things like this, but... is there something similar for gravitational power?" he wondered.
Even imagining it felt odd—something like a Gravity Soul?
Even though the Gravity Power Technique was incredibly powerful, his mere 1% comprehension made it awkward to use. At the very least, he needed to reach 5% comprehension for it to be released effectively.
'Time to go back,' he thought.
He couldn't remain in the cave now that it was completely dark, even if he could still vaguely see thanks to the sharp vision of a cultivator.
He stepped out of the cave, heading toward the wooden ladder he'd used earlier. Without it, he would have to leap upward bit by bit, since his Flying Sword Technique could only reach a height of ten meters.
As he began climbing the ladder, he ran quickly, manipulating space to speed up his movement—it would be too slow otherwise, given the depth of the ravine.
Upon closer inspection, this ravine appeared to be a remnant of a Spirit Coin mining site.
Unfortunately, not a single coin remained.
"Ehhh!"
As he finally reached the top—though not quite finished climbing the ladder—he was startled and amazed by what he saw: a massive gathering of Monkey Beasts at the edge of the ravine, devouring dozens of enormous bananas, each possibly over a hundred meters long.
The surrounding trees had been destroyed due to the sheer size of the bananas.
He even saw more bananas being carried in—each one lifted by dozens of Monkey Beasts.
He estimated over five hundred Monkey Beasts present, most of them at Level 2 or 3. Naturally, many were also at Levels 5, 6, 7, and 8.
There were so many of them that he thought they could easily destroy Spring City.
The Level 7 and 8 Monkey Beasts stood over six meters tall, their bodies brimming with muscle.
Even their abs looked like bricks stacked together.
They looked more like wrestlers than monkeys.
The monkeys stared at him curiously, clearly not expecting to see a human here.
Their joyful expressions—enjoying the giant bananas—quickly turned cold.
Zhen couldn't stay calm as he locked eyes with them.
He prepared to attack.
However, as time passed and he waited for them to strike, they surprisingly didn't.
This was certainly strange—wild beasts typically attacked humans on sight.
'Is my aura so terrifying now that they're afraid to strike first?' Zhen wondered.
Just then, he heard the sound of light footsteps coming from behind a tree.
None of the monkeys had moved—they were too large to make such a light sound.
Sure enough, the sound wasn't from any of them.
Zhen saw a young girl suddenly emerge from behind the tree.
She might even be younger than Tang Xin—barely sixteen—but she wasn't a stunning beauty like Tang Xin.
Her appearance was simple, with short black hair, and she wore an old-fashioned gray robe that looked worn out.
She carried a bow strapped across her back.
What caught Zhen's attention most was the word (Player) floating above her head.
Why did she suddenly appear here, and why were the monkeys staying still? Were they under her control?
Zhen suspected so, because the monkeys looked at her as though waiting for instructions.
"Don't worry, he's not an enemy," the girl said to the monkeys, confirming Zhen's suspicions. Still, he couldn't help but wonder how she had the ability to command them.
Even if anything was possible, this game had just been released—and Zhen's rapid progress was only because he brought scriptures and techniques from the real world.
As Zhen continued observing the girl, he realized her cultivation had already reached the Fifth Stage.
It was still below his, but it was considered high.
"Sir, if you don't have any business here, you may leave," the girl said to Zhen in a tone typical of a youth addressing an adult.
Zhen took a step to leave upon hearing that, but as he was about to pass her, he stopped.
"What's your name, miss?" he asked.
He was somewhat curious about her background, suspecting that she might be like him.
There were many scriptures and techniques on Earth. Most were stored in the library he often visited—but it wasn't impossible for others to possess them too. No, surely there were many who had them. It's just that most people considered them nonsense, though Zhen didn't believe he was the only one studying such things.
Some people might have taken an interest and studied them. Even a young girl could be one of them.
"Ying Xue," the girl answered, not minding sharing her name.
Zhen nodded and said, "I'm Xia Zhen. I hope we'll meet again."
With that, he walked away.
He was curious and wanted to know more about the girl, but now was clearly not the right time to ask too much. Knowing her name was enough for now.
Before long, he arrived back in the city, which was fairly quiet since people had started returning to their homes.
The inner disciples of the Sacred Cloud Sect were no longer around, so Zhen couldn't ask them for the full version of the Flying Sword Technique.
At the moment, what caught Zhen's attention were the large number of players wandering aimlessly—some even cultivating at the side of the road.
The number of players surprised him. It seemed a lot of people were playing this game.
Naturally, Zhen headed straight to the inn, where he would continue cultivating until morning. Perhaps he could reach the Eighth Stage by then.
Interestingly, he noticed that his Qi absorption speed had slightly increased.
This seemed to be a side effect of his increased comprehension of the Sword Slash Technique.
His deep understanding of the technique encouraged his body to cultivate faster.
There was another, even more surprising effect. He felt he had gained insights into all three of his scriptures and was confident he could raise their comprehension by at least 1%—something that normally took a long time.
Perhaps this was also due to the massive increase in his Soul Power.
Everything was connected—big gains in one area helped accelerate progress in others.
By morning, he opened his eyes in shock.
(You have broken through to the Seventh Stage of the Qi Master Realm. You gained 20 System Points!)
(You have broken through to the Eighth Stage of the Qi Master Realm. You gained 20 System Points!)
(Your Soul Power has increased by 7 Points!)
(Your comprehension of the Eternal Dragon Scripture has increased to 10%!)
(Eternal Dragon Body form increased to 10%!)
(Your comprehension of the Time Control Scripture has increased to 2%!)
(Your comprehension of the Space Dao Scripture has increased to 4%!)
[Name: Xia Zhen]
[Cultivation: Eighth Stage of Qi Master Realm]
[Qi: 0/9000]
[System Points: 122]
[Body: Eternal Dragon Body – 10% Form]
[Soul Power: 305]
[Bloodline: General]
[Scriptures:
- Eternal Dragon Scripture (10%)
- Time Control Scripture (2%)
- Space Dao Scripture (4%)
[Techniques:
- Sword Slash Technique (38%)
- Gravity Power Technique (1%)
- Flying Sword Technique (10%)