Upon returning home, Chu Qingyun checked and saw that the devouring progress on the first hammer Martial Soul had reached 31%.
'Looks like I can try strengthening my Martial Souls in another two days.'
From the trip to the Yuan Stone Ore Vein, plus the Martial Souls from Zhao Lan and his two companions, Chu Qingyun had acquired a total of seven Tier One Martial Souls.
However, all seven of these Martial Souls were offensive-types.
When it came to offense, Chu Qingyun already had the Gale Seven Swords and the newly acquired Celestial Sword Three Techniques, so he didn't have much need for more.
Therefore, he planned to use all seven of them to strengthen his own Martial Souls.
Through experimentation, Chu Qingyun had already figured out many ways to use his Three-star Vine Martial Soul.
He even came to a realization: with Martial Souls, quality was more important than quantity.
After greeting his parents, Chu Qingyun went into his room and began to study the Celestial Sword Three Techniques.
Although Chu Qingyun had defeated Zhao Lan, a Level 4 Martial Artist, his current strength didn't give him absolute confidence in his ability to beat Zhao Yishui.
After all, Zhao Yishui possessed a powerful Tier Two Martial Soul, while Zhao Lan only had a very ordinary Tier One Martial Soul.
The gap between Martial Soul tiers was a problem every Martial Artist had to face.
'Celestial Sword Three Techniques.'
'First Form: Sword Drawing Technique.'
After studying the secret manual for the Sword Drawing Technique for an entire day, Chu Qingyun finally began to make some sense of it.
The next day, Chu Qingyun began practicing the Sword Drawing Technique in his courtyard.
In all of martial arts, speed is unbeatable.
This Sword Drawing Technique was all about a single word: fast!
A sword draw of ultimate speed, defeating the opponent before they could even prepare or make a move.
Draw, sheathe. Draw, sheathe...
His entire practice consisted of only these two movements.
What Chu Qingyun had to do was master every detail of the draw, making it faster and more ferocious.
After a full day of arduous training, Chu Qingyun's right arm became swollen. Even after applying medicine, a piercing pain, like needles stabbing him, spread from the inside out.
Though it was agonizing, not once did the thought of giving up cross Chu Qingyun's mind.
He had understood since he was a child that talent was one thing, but effort was another entirely.
No matter how great one's talent, it was worthless without hard work.
That night, the first hammer Martial Soul was completely consumed by the Devouring Martial Soul.
Chu Qingyun was once again presented with two choices.
Keep the hammer Martial Soul, or use its power to strengthen his other two Martial Souls.
This time, Chu Qingyun chose to strengthen the Three-star Vine Martial Soul.
After he made his choice, both the Three-star Vine Martial Soul and the Devouring Martial Soul appeared before him.
Chu Qingyun could feel streams of mystical energy flowing from the Devouring Martial Soul into the Three-star Vine Martial Soul.
As it received this power, the Three-star Vine Martial Soul seemed to grow excited, its three vines swaying gently.
Moreover, Chu Qingyun was surprised to feel a faint sense of affinity from the Martial Soul.
'This is so strange. Aren't Martial Souls supposed to lack their own consciousness? Or is it just because this one is too low-level?'
Chu Qingyun couldn't figure it out, so he could only silently observe the changes in his Three-star Vine Martial Soul.
After being strengthened, the illusory Three-star Vine Martial Soul seemed to have become slightly more solid, but there were no other major changes.
Once the strengthening was complete, a new piece of information appeared in Chu Qingyun's mind.
Devouring Martial Soul, Strengthening Progress: 0%
Three-star Vine Martial Soul, Strengthening Progress: 23%
Once the strengthening progress reaches one hundred percent, the Martial Soul will evolve from Tier One to Tier Two!
However, there was one condition: only after the foundational Devouring Martial Soul evolved to Tier Two could his other Martial Souls advance to Tier Two.
Furthermore, a Tier One Devouring Martial Soul could only consume Tier One Martial Souls.
To consume a Tier Two Martial Soul, the Devouring Martial Soul first had to be upgraded to Tier Two.
Upon receiving this information, an astonishing light flared in Chu Qingyun's eyes.
'Just as I thought! My earlier guess was right!'
'The Devouring Martial Soul doesn't just let me possess multiple Martial Souls—it can even make them evolve!'
Martial Soul evolution... such a thing was simply unheard of.
If word of this got out, it would undoubtedly send massive shockwaves through the entire world.
At that point, forget about just him—even Qingshan City, Lianshan County City, and perhaps the entire Great Xia nation would be turned to dust!
After his excitement subsided, Chu Qingyun's conviction deepened.
'I must never tell anyone about the Devouring Martial Soul!'
He fell asleep with a heart full of excitement. Early the next morning, Chu Qingyun rose to continue practicing the Sword Drawing Technique.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
With each and every repetition, Chu Qingyun's understanding of the Sword Drawing Technique grew deeper.
「Three more days passed.」
The second short-rod Martial Soul was also completely consumed.
This time, Chu Qingyun chose to strengthen the Devouring Martial Soul.
Even though they were both Tier One Martial Souls, the hammer Martial Soul had increased the Three-star Vine Martial Soul's strengthening progress to 23%, whereas the short-rod Martial Soul only raised the Devouring Martial Soul's progress to 10%.
Over the next two days, Chu Qingyun discovered that after being strengthened once, the Devouring Martial Soul's consumption speed had increased significantly.
It took only two and a half days to completely consume the third Martial Soul.
After strengthening the Devouring Martial Soul to 20%, its consumption speed increased yet again.
This discovery led Chu Qingyun to another realization.
'It seems the correct order is to strengthen the Devouring Martial Soul first to increase its consumption efficiency, and only then strengthen the other Martial Souls...'
「In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had passed.」
There were only five days left until Zhao Yishui of the Zhao Family Castle was due to arrive for the wedding procession.
All seven Tier One Martial Souls had been consumed, and the strengthening progress of Chu Qingyun's Martial Souls had changed.
Devouring Martial Soul, Strengthening Progress: 60%
Three-star Vine Martial Soul, Strengthening Progress: 23%
By now, the Devouring Martial Soul's consumption speed had increased so much that it could consume a Martial Soul in less than a day.
Unfortunately, he had no more Martial Souls for it to consume.
Otherwise, Chu Qingyun might have been able to raise his own Martial Souls to Tier Two before Zhao Yishui's arrival.
Even so, Chu Qingyun was still full of confidence for the great battle five days from now.
In the courtyard of Chu Qingyun's home stood a stone boulder taller than a man.
Standing before the boulder, Chu Qingyun held his sword in a reverse grip. He took a deep breath, and a sharp glint suddenly flashed in his eyes.
"Sword Drawing Technique!"
Without a sound, a cold light flashed.
In the blink of an eye, the sword was already back in its scabbard.
Chu Qingyun's sword was fast. Incredibly fast.
After the strike, a satisfied smile appeared on Chu Qingyun's face, and he turned to head back inside.
The Sword Drawing Technique was mastered!
Only after Chu Qingyun had returned to his room did the great boulder let out a soft CRACK as its upper half slowly slid to the ground.
The slanted surface of the cut on the boulder was impossibly smooth.
This was a testament to just how sharp Chu Qingyun's sword was!
The Sword Drawing Technique was undoubtedly a deadly finishing move.
'Even a Level 5 or Level 6 Martial Artist wouldn't be able to dodge a strike that fast,' Chu Qingyun thought. 'They would suffer a huge blow from this one sword form.'
However, the technique also had a drawback.
The Sword Drawing Technique was too fast, too powerful.
Each time he used it, the Sword Drawing Technique placed an overwhelming strain on his right arm.
For over an hour after using the Sword Drawing Technique, his right arm would be wracked with intense pain.
Therefore, this technique could only be used as a trump card, not something he could use regularly.
Unless Chu Qingyun could find a way to strengthen his body, or at least his right arm.