A Chaotic World

Chapter 260: Shifting Blossoms Sword Art

At this point, Lu Tianzi could not help but look over at Nanlan Qianxue, curious about her new sword technique. Of course, he was not neglecting his practice as well. Behind him, the Moon Culler continued to rotate harmlessly.

Nanlan Qianxue nervously took a deep breath as she stood before Xihuang Yuanfeng.

This was her first chance to show off in front of her new master, and she certainly did not wish to disappoint.

Still, there was a reason why Nanlan Qianxue was considered a genius of the Nine Suns Sect.

The very moment that the Frost Jade Sword appeared in her hand, it was like every last bit of nervousness had evaporated. Her eyes focused and her sword pierced forward, powered by every last bit of liquid Slaughter Essence within her inner world.

Xihuang Yuanfeng waved his hand lightly, and a small pebble on the ground was sent flying.

Despite his casual looking movement, the pebble flew quickly and precisely, heading straight towards the tip of Nanlan Qianxue's sword.

Nanlan Qianxue was surprised for a moment, but she understood Xihuang Yuanfeng's intentions immediately after, therefore continuing to pierce out with her Frost Jade Sword.

The Frost Jade Sword, with all of Nanlan Qianxue's strength behind it, struck the small pebble head on. Yet the small pebble actually remained intact, held together somehow by Xihuang Yuanfeng.

Instead, a glow of green light appeared on the surface of the pebble, right at the point where the tip of the Frost Jade Sword had connected. This glow of light was extremely faint and only lingered for a fleeting moment, but there was no mistake that it had truly been there.

Nanlan Qianxue pulled her sword back, and the pebble fell to the ground immediately after.

Just from the end result itself, it had been nothing impressive. Even the pebble that Nanlan Qianxue had struck earlier remained intact after landing on the ground.

However, Xihuang Yuanfeng broke out into a smile. "Looks like you have indeed understood the basic concept behind the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art. Or at least, you understood the energy portion. However, the way you executed your sword strike is still wrong."

"Eh?" Nanlan Qianxue was happy to hear Xihuang Yuanfeng's compliment initially, but the later portion caught her by surprise.

"The Shifting Blossoms Sword Art is about using soft moves to counteract hard moves. Your earlier sword strike might be powerful and fast, but it is ultimately unsuitable for the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art," Xihuang Yuanfeng shook his head.

"Thank you for your guidance, Master," Nanlan Qianxue clasped her fist respectfully.

"Hey Qianxue, let me take a look at that," Lu Tianzi called out, the Moon Culler still rotating behind him.

"Sure," Nanlan Qianxue answered without hesitation.

"Why do you want to look at techniques suited for females?" Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped. "On top of being a confusing mix of human and demon, are you a mix of male and female as well?"

"" Lu Tianzi could not help but feel his mood dampen.

On the other hand, Nanlan Qianxue could not help but perk her ears to listen. She had always been curious about why Lu Tianzi was able to cultivate in both the Spiritual Essence and Slaughter Essence systems, and this was the first time they had even mentioned Lu Tianzi's strange identity.

Unfortunately, she was not about to get her answer this time.

"Who says that I must be a female to look at techniques suited for females?" Lu Tianzi questioned indignantly. "I have to at least understand how females fight so as to beat females in the future. And what better way is there to understand this than to actually look at techniques suited for them?"

At the same time, he secretly signalled to Nanlan Qianxue with his hands that were hidden behind his back, wanting her to pass over the jade slip.

"You greedy brat," Xihuang Yuanfeng snorted. "Go ahead and take a look then! However, make sure you focus on perfecting your own techniques before even thinking about starting another!"

How could he not know what Lu Tianzi was doing?

However, it was true that the more techniques Lu Tianzi was exposed to, the better his chances of handling his future opponents. As long as he did not end up neglecting the Eternal Wraith Sword Art, there was little reason to stop him.

"Here," Nanlan Qianxue passed the jade slip over. After which, her gaze lingered on the jade slip in Lu Tianzi's hands.

Lu Tianzi naturally noticed this. He was just about to pass over the jade slip for the Eternal Wraith Sword Art in return when Xihuang Yuanfeng stopped him.

"Hold it, you ignorant brat," Xihuang Yuanfeng spoke out. "Qianxue, there is something else I want you to focus on."

Nanlan Qianxue turned towards Xihuang Yuanfeng in surprise, only to see the latter wave his hand once more and another jade slip flew out from the shelves behind him.

"From your sword strike just now, I can tell that your cultivation technique is based on the ice element. While I am unable to pinpoint what it is exactly, I have an ice element cultivation technique in my possession as well. Take a look and see if it is suitable for you," Xihuang Yuanfeng explained.

"Thank you, Master!" Nanlan Qianxue was filled with gratitude as she sat back down to inspect the contents of the jade slip.

Once again, silence fell over the rock chamber as both youngsters were immersed in perusing their respective jade slips. The only difference from before was that there was now an additional Moon Culler rotating behind Lu Tianzi.

At this moment, Xihuang Yuanfeng let out a rare sigh.

He looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through the walls of the rock chamber to look into the distance, and his thoughts could not help but to stray into the past.

The Shifting Blossoms Sword Art, eh?

He doesn't even remember how long it has been since he last saw it being executed. But she probably won't blame him for passing it down to someone else without her permission, would she?

Clang-!

The Moon Culler fell to the ground, disrupting Xihuang Yuanfeng's thoughts.

"Damn brat, if you can't do both things at once, then just concentrate on one!" Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Lu Tianzi shrugged nonchalantly, pretending as if nothing had happened. Upon the end of his sentence, the Moon Culler floated up from the ground, and started rotating behind him once more.

"Tch! You sure know how to talk big for someone who can't deliver!" Xihuang Yuanfeng snorted.

Lu Tianzi ignored Xihuang Yuanfeng's words as he closed his eyes, his perception delving into the jade slip once more.

In fact, what happened earlier had been done deliberately by him.

While he was peusing the jade slip for the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art, he had never been fully immersed in it. This was how he was able to keep the Moon Culler rotating behind him, and at the same time, this also allowed him to sense the longing expression that had appeared on Xihuang Yuanfeng's face.

Lu Tianzi had never seen such an expression on his master's face, but he certainly did not find it a surprise. After being trapped in this rock chamber for who knew how many years, it was only natural that his master had things that he longed for as well.

Still, Lu Tianzi had no intentions to ask his master about the matter.

From what his master had been saying about male techniques and female techniques, it was obvious that his master was quite the stubborn character. Even if he asked, it was unlikely that his master would answer.

Since that was the case, he could only distract his master in a bid to make him feel better.

With that done, Lu Tianzi finally returned to perusing the jade slip in his hands.

The Shifting Blossoms Sword Art was quite different from the Eternal Wraith Sword Art. Just as his master had mentioned earlier, the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art was a sword technique that focused on using soft moves to counteract hard moves.

Unlike the Eternal Wraith Sword Art that relied heavily on using trickery and illusions to take the opponent by surprise, speed and agility was of the essence for the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art.

If there was anything similar between the two sets of sword techniques, it was that the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art was divided into stages as well.

The First Blossom allowed a martial artist to absorb energy from the opponent with every contact. It would not only sap the opponent of strength, but it would also boost the martial artist's own. The longer the battle dragged on for, the more this effect would accumulate.

This meant that even if the martial artist was weaker than the opponent initially, as long as he could drag the battle on, the martial artist would eventually be able to build a sizeable advantage over the opponent to obtain victory.

As for the dim glow of green light that had resulted from Nanlan Qianxue's sword strike earlier, it was nothing but the proof of a successful execution of the First Blossom.

How interesting!

Lu Tianzi exclaimed in his heart, making sure to understand how the sword technique worked.

It did not take long for Lu Tianzi to open his eyes once again.

Taking a quick look at Nanlan Qianxue, Lu Tianzi could see that she was still deep in meditation.

"Finally decided to stop wasting your time?" Xihuang Yuanfeng asked with a smirk. "Took you long enough, now focus on honing your control over your sword."

"Actually, I think I want to try the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art as well. Is it possible to help me like how you helped Qianxue?" Lu Tianzi forced out a smile.

"You want to try what?" Xihuang Yuanfeng frowned. "I allowed you to go through the technique to understand techniques that others might use against you, not for you to waste time on learning it! In any case, a man should rely on your own strength. Why would you want a technique that relies on sapping others' strength? Are you a sissy? Or are you looking down on my Eternal Wraith Sword Art?"

"Haha, you are making things sound too serious, Master. I just feel like trying it out," Lu Tianzi laughed awkwardly.

"You greedy brat" Xihuang Yuanfeng cursed inwardly. "Do it then, I want to see just how well you can execute the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art!"

Without even waiting for Lu Tianzi to prepare himself, Xihuang Yuanfeng sent a small pebble flying towards Lu Tianzi with a wave of his hand.

Lu Tianzi felt the corner of his lips twitch. This master of his is really being blatantly biased!

Without turning his head, Lu Tianzi reached out behind him to grab onto the Moon Culler. But instead of thrusting his sword forward to meet the pebble head on, Lu Tianzi took a step to the side before the Moon Culler pierced forward, striking the pebble on the side.

By doing so, he was merely deflecting the pebble, diverting rather than stopping its trajectory.

A green glow appeared at the contact point between the pebble and the sword, but as was the case with Nanlan Qianxue, it disappeared after a split second.

Thud-!

The small pebble fell onto the ground after flying past Lu Tianzi, landing near the entrance of the rock chamber far behind him.

"Tch!" Xihuang Yuanfeng had nothing to pick on, and could only click his tongue in response. "Even if you indeed have time to spare, you should stop wasting it on this and focus on your cultivation instead! Aren't you already at the Peak Essence Condensation realm? When are you ever going to break through to the Origin Core realm?"

"But I am still refining the impurities in my liquid Slaughter Essence. How am I supposed to focus on my cultivation when I have to divert my attention to learning the Eternal Wraith Sword as well?" Lu Tianzi retorted.

"Then that's another reason why you should not be wasting time learning the Shifting Blossoms Sword Art!" Xihuang Yuanfeng snapped. "You already don't have enough time for yourself, why would you waste it on something that you do not need?"

"Fine, fine," Lu Tianzi agreed grudgingly.

But in his heart, Lu Tianzi understood that although his master's tone could certainly be improved, his words did make sense. In a way, his master was simply trying to make sure Lu Tianzi did not make too many detours on his path.

After all, there were countless different combat techniques out there. It was simply impossible for one to pick up every single one of them. Rather than that, it would be better to completely master a single technique, honing it to perfection.

Considering how powerful the Eternal Wraith Sword Art was, it was the perfect choice as well.

Even so, how would one know which technique was the most suitable one without at least trying out a few?

That was the reason why Lu Tianzi still wanted to try out other combat techniques, and especially other weapons!

Lu Tianzi lifted up the Moon Culler once more, allowing it to keep rotating behind him as he sat back down and closed his eyes in meditation.

Perfecting his control over the Eternal Wraith Sword was something that could not be rushed. Since it was something completely new to him, it would certainly take time for him to slowly get used to controlling the movements of the flying sword.

In the end, what he should be focusing on right now was still advancing his cultivation!

Still, Lu Tianzi had always needed to put in his full concentration in order to refine the impurities in his inner world. That was clearly impossible if he wanted keep practising his control over the flying sword.

Or perhaps, just perhaps, his current method of refining impurities was not the most ideal.

As long as one existed in this world of infinite impurities, whatever one ate, drank, or even breathed would contain impurities from the world itself. The so-called refinement of impurities referred to ridding one's inner world of all these external matter.

That was a necessary step before condensing all Slaughter Essence into an origin core. The purer the core was, the further the martial artist could go on the future path of cultivation.

But how would one be able to completely rid one's inner world of all these impurities if one was constantly taking them in as well?

As expected, his current method was wrong. In order to truly achieve complete refinement of the inner world, the refinement process needed to be subconscious and continuous.

Otherwise, the refinement outcome would never be truly perfect!

Lu Tianzi did not realise this, but as he pondered over this matter, the aura around him started to change ever so subtly.

Yet despite how subtle this change was, it certainly did not escape the attention of Xihuang Yuanfeng.

Xihuang Yuanfeng widened his eyes in shock at this moment.

He could sense that Lu Tianzi had slowly entered a special state of cultivation, one that even he did not fully understand!

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