novelraw Chapter 47 – Five-Rank Martial Arts
Chapter 47 – Five-Rank Martial Arts
Luo Xiu's residence was within the Free Spirit Outer Sect base, where every outer sect disciple had their own independent living quarters.
Once Luo Xiu's injuries had fully healed, he learned that Zhang Lüliang had not been crippled nor had his pipa bone been pierced.
Moreover, Zhang Lüliang had been released from the water prison and still held the position of an Outer Sect Steward.
This was definitely not good news for Luo Xiu.
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From Lu Mengyao, Luo Xiu found out that Zhang Lüliang had been personally protected by an Inner Sect Elder.
The Free Spirit Sect was divided into the Outer and Inner Sects, with the Inner Sect holding a superior status. The position of an Inner Sect Elder was even higher than that of the Outer Sect Leader.
"Zhang Lüliang has repeatedly tried to kill me without success. He surely won't let this go. And now he has an Inner Sect Elder backing him?"
After careful consideration, Luo Xiu decided to keep a low profile for the time being. He was well aware that his relationship with Zhang Lüliang had reached a point of no return.
The reward for first place in the Entry Assessment was three Qi Refining Pills. Normally, one Qi Refining Pill could help a Qi Sea Martial Artist advance a minor realm.
Of course, these pills couldn't be used without limits. The interval between taking each Qi Refining Pill was about a year.
This restriction existed because continuous consumption of Qi Refining Pills would weaken their effects and could even lead to dependency, affecting future progress in the Martial Dao.
Moreover, an ordinary Qi Sea Martial Artist would need nearly a year to fully refine and absorb the power of one Qi Refining Pill.
In his room, Luo Xiu took out a Qi Refining Pill and tossed one directly into his mouth.
Soon, the pill's power spread within his body, transforming into pure energy. A typical Qi Sea Martial Artist couldn't refine such a large amount of power at once, so most of the essence would lie dormant within their body, slowly being refined over time.
But for Luo Xiu, there was no such limitation.
"Heaven's Life and Death Cycle!"
With a thought, the Heaven's Life and Death Cycle at the center of his dantian's Qi Sea began to spin rapidly, causing the mist-like True Qi in the Qi Sea to rotate swiftly, forming a vortex and generating a massive devouring force.
Luo Xiu immediately activated the Pure Yang Technique, quickly absorbing and refining the pill's power.
In this way, Luo Xiu practiced in his room for a day. When he opened his eyes, it was already the next morning.
The power of one Qi Refining Pill was completely absorbed and refined in just one day, making the mist-like True Qi in his dantian's Qi Sea even denser and more powerful.
"Third layer of the Qi Sea Realm, the Qi Refining Pill's effect is quite good."
Luo Xiu smiled with satisfaction, stood up, and stretched his stiff muscles.
Pushing open the door, he walked into the courtyard and practiced a set of Dragon-Tiger Fist, loosening up his muscles that had stiffened from sitting all day.
"With the third layer of the Qi Sea Realm, I can now practice fifth-grade martial arts."
Generally, fifth-grade martial arts were suitable for those in the third to sixth layers of the Qi Sea Realm.
Luo Xiu had eighteen fifth-grade martial arts techniques at his disposal, including internal cultivation, martial techniques, and movement techniques.
Among them were sword techniques and movement techniques suitable for his practice.
Returning to his room, Luo Xiu carefully selected and chose the Aurora Sword Art, a sword technique known for its speed. When combined with the power technique of the Swift Sword Art, its power could rival sixth-grade martial arts!
As for movement techniques, Luo Xiu also chose one called Ten-Directional Phantom. At the entry level, it could create one phantom; at minor achievement, it could form three phantoms, and so on. When practiced to the Grand Perfection realm, one could move and create ten phantoms, making it difficult for opponents to discern the real body.
"Luo Xiu!"
A familiar voice came from outside the room, bringing a smile to Luo Xiu's lips.
Putting away the martial arts manuals, Luo Xiu stood up and opened the door to see Lu Mengyao standing outside. She wore a blue long dress that complemented her fair, jade-like skin and stunning beauty, leaving Luo Xiu momentarily entranced, unable to look away.
Seeing Luo Xiu staring at her, Lu Mengyao's face flushed with a hint of shyness, but she felt a bit pleased inside.
Although their relationship hadn't been explicitly stated, both knew it well in their hearts.
"You rascal, have you seen enough?" Lu Mengyao playfully scolded, not understanding why she had fallen for this fourteen-year-old boy.
"Enough? I'll never get enough in my lifetime!" Luo Xiu replied seriously.
"Always so glib," Lu Mengyao rolled her eyes at him, then got to the point, "You won first place in the Entry Assessment, so you can choose a fifth-grade martial art from the Free Spirit Pavilion. Once your cultivation breaks through to the third layer of the Qi Sea Realm, you can start practicing it directly."
Luo Xiu hadn't released his aura, so Lu Mengyao couldn't tell that he had already reached the third layer of the Qi Sea Realm.
"Alright, it's good to take a look," Luo Xiu nodded.
Compared to Martial King Buchen, the Free Spirit Sect was the dominant force in Yunlong Prefecture, with a vast collection of martial techniques. There might be better martial arts than the Aurora Sword Art and Ten-Directional Phantom.
Walking alongside Lu Mengyao along the outer sect path, many outer sect disciples looked at Luo Xiu with cold eyes.
As the daughter of the Outer Sect Leader, Lu Mengyao's status was extraordinary, holding a special significance for many young people in the outer sect.
Luo Xiu was indifferent to the hostility from many outer sect disciples. The path of martial arts was inherently filled with trials and challenges, and he feared no challenge.
Before long, Luo Xiu and Lu Mengyao arrived at the Free Spirit Pavilion, where numerous martial arts were stored.
The Free Spirit Pavilion had two floors: the first housed fifth-grade martial arts, while the second housed sixth-grade martial arts.
To practice higher seventh-grade martial arts, one had to enter the Inner Sect and become a Core Disciple to possibly receive such inheritance.
Seventh-grade martial arts were the highest inheritance of the Free Spirit Sect and were not casually taught. Even some elders in the Inner Sect were not qualified to practice them.
The first floor had many fifth-grade martial arts, including fist techniques, leg techniques, palm techniques, finger techniques, blade techniques, sword techniques, and more.
But after a quick look, Luo Xiu didn't find any martial arts more exquisite than the Aurora Sword Art and Ten-Directional Phantom.
After browsing, Luo Xiu frowned slightly. If he didn't choose a fifth-grade martial art and later suddenly displayed one not found in the Free Spirit Pavilion, how would he explain it?
Thinking of this, Luo Xiu told Lu Mengyao about the Martial King's Treasury, omitting the life-and-death dangers involved.
He trusted Lu Mengyao, which is why he told her.
Though Luo Xiu spoke lightly of it, Lu Mengyao knew that no opportunity in this world came without effort. The better the opportunity, the greater the danger.
She hadn't expected Luo Xiu to have obtained a treasury left by a Martial King. The wealth and resources within would tempt even the highest levels of the Free Spirit Sect!
"Luo Xiu, you don't need to worry about this. Many disciples gain opportunities while training outside and acquire other martial arts inheritances. Neither the Outer nor Inner Sect has strict rules about this."
Lu Mengyao explained Luo Xiu's concern.
"Moreover, if you have martial arts manuals you don't need, you can contribute them to the Free Spirit Pavilion and receive rewards based on their grade."
Lu Mengyao continued, "A fifth-grade martial art can be exchanged for three Qi Refining Pills."
"Three Qi Refining Pills?" Luo Xiu was slightly taken aback.
In terms of true value, three Qi Refining Pills couldn't compare to a fifth-grade martial art, but keeping extra martial arts was useless. Exchanging them for Qi Refining Pills was a good choice.
Luo Xiu didn't exchange for Qi Refining Pills immediately. He had used one and had two left. Having just broken through to the third layer of the Qi Sea Realm, he needed time to stabilize his cultivation and could exchange later when needed.
Leaving the Free Spirit Pavilion, Luo Xiu returned to his residence, stabilizing his third layer Qi Sea Realm cultivation while practicing the Aurora Sword Art and Ten-Directional Phantom movement technique.
With the Thunderstorm Sword Art and Swift Sword Art as a foundation, Luo Xiu quickly grasped the essentials of the Aurora Sword Art, mastering the entry level in less than half an hour.
The Aurora Sword Art consisted of three moves: Flash Sword, Life-Reaping Sword, and Aurora Sword.
Each move was more powerful than the last. Luo Xiu spent a day and only managed to initially master the Flash Sword.
Simultaneously, Luo Xiu practiced the Ten-Directional Phantom, visualizing the Vital Meridians Diagram in his mind to improve and enhance these two martial arts.
As for internal cultivation, although the Pure Yang Technique was a top-tier third-grade technique, its actual effects could rival fifth-grade internal cultivation. It was classified as third-grade only because it was so difficult to practice.
Once his cultivation reached the seventh layer of the Qi Sea Realm, Luo Xiu could practice the Innate Technique and combine it with the Pure Yang Technique to cultivate Innate Pure Yang!
Unknowingly, Luo Xiu immersed himself in the mysteries of martial arts, and half a month had passed since he joined the Free Spirit Outer Sect.
During this time, he practiced the Ten-Directional Phantom to the Major Achievement realm, able to create seven phantoms.
By cross-referencing the Swift Sword Art and Aurora Sword Art, Luo Xiu made significant progress in his sword technique realm, mastering the first two moves of the sword art: Flash Sword and Life-Reaping Sword!
However, the final move, Aurora Sword, was very challenging to practice. Luo Xiu could only barely perform it, and fully mastering it would require reaching the Major Achievement realm in sword technique comprehension.
The so-called sword technique realm was unrelated to martial technique realm but was a broader level of sword technique.
According to the Swift Sword Art's description, Luo Xiu's current sword technique realm was at the Minor Achievement stage.
Sword technique realms had different paths. Luo Xiu followed the path of swift sword, while others might focus on the intricacy of moves, or breaking all techniques with sheer force...
Like sword techniques, fist techniques, and palm techniques also had broad realm classifications.
If a sword technique realm could transcend the ordinary and surpass the level of 'technique,' it could reach a state of divine mastery, where technique nearly equaled Dao, entering the realm of Sword Dao!
Sword technique and Sword Dao were as different as heaven and earth.
Luo Xiu knew he was far from the realm of Sword Dao. Martial Dao cultivation, whether in cultivation or realm, required a step-by-step approach, progressing gradually, and couldn't be achieved overnight.
In the Free Spirit Outer Sect, every month, there was a Spirit Refining Realm Elder who gave Dao Transmission lectures.
Having been here for over half a month, Luo Xiu found that there was a lecture by an elder that day, and Lu Mengyao invited him to attend together.
The lecturing elder was an old man with white hair and beard. In Luo Xiu's vision, the elder's Vital Meridians glowed with blue light.
The Vital Meridians of a Body Refining Martial Apprentice glowed white, a Qi Sea Martial Artist's glowed green, an Innate Martial Master's green was more intense, and at the Spirit Refining Realm, it emitted blue light!
Clearly, reaching the Spirit Refining Realm meant a transformation in the martial artist's essence of life, which was reflected through the Vital Meridians.