novelraw Chapter 8 : Object Control Technique
Chapter 8 : Object Control Technique
Chapter 8: Object Control Technique
“Yunqing, how does practicing martial arts feel?”
At the dining table, Li Yansong spoke softly, his eyes secretly glancing at the quiet Li Yunqing, as if lacking confidence.
Deliberately sending his daughter to the Mingyu Martial Hall to meet Jiang Yu of the Jiang Family inevitably carried some calculation.
If it were someone else, it would have been one thing—but this was his most beloved daughter.
“Why even ask? Father, you already know—my sister is a genius in Zither, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting!”
“I think martial arts won’t be much for her.”
Before Li Yunqing could respond, Li Shuo had already spoken, smiling as he explained, “If she had made progress in martial arts, she’d definitely have a smile on her face. She wouldn’t be this quiet.”
“Don’t speak. I’m asking your sister!”
Li Yansong glared at Li Shuo before turning back to Li Yunqing, gently consoling her. “It’s fine if there’s no progress in martial arts. Just treat it as relaxation.”
Seeing the obvious difference in attitude from his father, Li Shuo’s mouth twitched. “So I’m the only one at this table who’s not biological?”
Li Yunqing slightly raised her head, glanced at her father and elder brother, and softly replied, “It’s alright.”
“Mm!” Li Yansong nodded slightly. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke again, “Did you meet anyone interesting?”
Hearing this, Li Shuo immediately understood—this question was the real point. He also looked toward Li Yunqing.
“Could it be that the Jiang Family coming to propose marriage is true?” a thought flashed through Li Shuo’s mind.
Looking at his sister’s delicate and charming appearance, he felt somewhat indignant. “My sister is so beautiful—what a bargain for that boy from the Jiang Family.”
Li Yunqing paused slightly with her chopsticks, her tone still calm as she replied, “Father is asking about Jiang Yu?”
After a brief thought, she answered objectively, “He’s alright.”
Setting aside her own bias, Jiang Yu was indeed decent—polite, sensible, and with a good temperament.
He had looks and background alike.
If she had not awakened her past-life memories, such a man would indeed have been a good match.
Unfortunately, after awakening those memories, no matter how excellent a man was, he was no different from a stranger in her eyes.
“That’s good, that’s good!”
Hearing his daughter’s response, Li Yansong visibly relaxed and said, “Then Father will inform the Jiang Family to prepare an auspicious date for the betrothal gifts?”
“Father may decide.” Li Yunqing remained indifferent.
Even if she objected, her father would not agree, so she had no desire to say more.
The process of betrothal—presenting gifts, asking the name, confirming auspiciousness—would take at least several months.
Especially the steps of asking the name and confirming auspiciousness, which required the woman’s birth details to be given to the man’s family and placed before the ancestral shrine.
At minimum three days, at most three months—if no misfortune occurred during this time, it would be considered ancestral approval.
After that, the man’s birth details would be placed in the woman’s ancestral shrine for the same observation.
Then, during the auspicious confirmation, the exchange of birth documents and matching of the Eight Characters would take place, again requiring ancestral approval.
Divination would also be conducted to determine compatibility.
Only after everything was completed smoothly could the final betrothal gifts be prepared, marriage documents exchanged, and the engagement formally established.
According to the laws of the Great Yu Imperial Dynasty, men married at twenty, and women at sixteen. Even if the marriage date was set, she would have to wait until sixteen to wed.
The more prominent the family, the more they valued these rules—unlike common folk, where girls married as early as twelve or thirteen.
So she was not in a hurry. In this year, she only needed to focus on improving her strength.
As long as she was strong enough, if she refused, no one would dare force her.
“I’ve finished eating. Father, Elder Brother, please continue. I’ll head back first.”
After finishing her meal, Li Yunqing stood up and walked straight toward Ziyun Pavilion.
Watching her leave, Li Yansong sighed softly.
He still could not understand—Jiang Yu’s character and appearance were both outstanding, and his family background even better. Why was his daughter so resistant?
“Father, my sister is still young. There’s no need to rush her into marriage, right?”
Li Shuo also sensed his sister’s reluctance and could not help but try to persuade him.
“What do you know!” Li Yansong snapped in anger. “Eat your food!”
Li Shuo shrank his neck and buried himself in his meal, not daring to say another word.
If he angered his father, he would really get beaten.
On the contrary, his sister—since their mother’s passing—had been cherished in his father’s hands, granted whatever she asked, never even scolded harshly.
When he was younger, he had felt it unfair. But as he grew older, he realized that he too doted on this gentle and quiet younger sister.
Thinking of her sweet voice calling “Brother, brother” as she followed behind him in childhood, all bad moods disappeared.
Ziyun Pavilion.
“One year… I must at least reach the Qi Realm to have the confidence to refuse.”
A trace of worry appeared in Li Yunqing’s eyes.
Upper Tier Initial Realm martial artists were considered experts in Qingzhou. Those in the Qi Realm were already major figures.
In the Demon Suppression Division or the military, Qi Realm strength was enough to command a region as a general.
Without Qi Realm strength, refusing would inevitably cause turmoil within the family.
She understood clearly that even if she reached the Qi Realm, once the marriage documents were exchanged, the engagement would already be considered established.
In the eyes of others, they would already be a true betrothed couple.
And she would still need a reasonable excuse—one that would not damage the relationship between the two families—to cancel the marriage.
Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
“Forget it. I’ll take it one step at a time.”
Li Yunqing sat cross-legged on the soft couch, the contents of the “Frost Sword Art” surfacing in her mind.
“Form and spirit unite, embrace the origin and guard the one, when thought arises, the method follows, use the spirit to control form…”
“Is ‘method’ magical power? Is ‘spirit’ mental force? Or divine sense?”
“Form and spirit unite… does that mean merging one’s spirit with the flying sword?”
“The legendary refinement? Or magical power sacrifice refinement?”
Looking at the contents of the Frost Sword Art, her brows furrowed tightly.
This was completely different from martial arts—mysterious and profound, extremely difficult to comprehend.
Especially since she had no magical power, no flying sword, and could not even properly use her own spirit—let alone unite form and spirit or control form with spirit.
Without these, reading the sword manual was like looking at flowers through fog—impossible to see clearly.
“Since the panel displays it, it must be cultivable.”
“I’ll try these hand seals.”
Nine peculiar hand seals appeared in her mind. Li Yunqing raised her hands, forming them step by step, imitating them.
Once!
Twice!
Ten times!
Twenty times!
She did not know how many times she formed the seals. Just as she was about to give up—
At the instant she completed all nine seals in succession,
she felt a slight swelling at her brow, and an invisible force surged out from it, flowing toward her fingertips.
At that moment, her mind sank as if struck by a heavy hammer, making her dizzy.
But immediately afterward, a refreshing coolness arose in her mind, and her consciousness became clear again.
“What is this?”
Feeling the invisible force at her fingertips, Li Yunqing blinked slightly. After thinking for a moment, she pointed toward a sheet of paper on the nearby table.
“Buzz!”
The paper trembled slightly, lifting gently for an instant before falling back onto the table.
“This is my mental power?”
Li Yunqing paused slightly. Recalling the earlier sensation, the dizziness must have been her mental power being drained.
The clarity afterward was likely due to the Vigorous Spirit trait, allowing her mental power to recover rapidly.
“Frost Sword Art Experience +1”
As she was thinking, a line of text flashed before her eyes.
She instinctively looked at the panel.
“Frost Sword Art (Not Yet Initiated 1/50)”
Blinking, she moved her hands again, forming the nine hand seals once more.
“Buzz!”
Her brow swelled slightly again, and invisible force flowed to her fingertips. Her mind dimmed for a moment, then cleared once more.
Feeling the mental power at her fingertips, a trace of realization flashed through her mind.
“These nine hand seals… should be the Object Control Technique!”
“The Object Control Technique used to control flying swords!”