Chapter 358 Breezy Swordstyle
We camped the bodies until it was 10pm. Matcha, Wolf, Thousand Suns Over Snowy Lands, Yue Qin Qian, and Dancing Forest had already gone to complete [Misty Palace]’s quest 2 hours ago, and I had no clue how they had been doing since. While they were in the middle of the quest, they had no way of contacting the outside world. Thinking about it, they were probably pretty well off, if anything. Misty Clouds had invited a lot of top tier experts to join in, and besides, Qing Qian was there. Based on her strength as CBN ranked 18th, her ability to cripple BOSS skills should be quite high. And with Wei Liang, she should be able to decrease the pressure of killing a BOSS by at least 10%.
……
I stood on a quiet little path in Green Qilin Valley. Lv 77 monsters resp.a.w.ned all over the place; there were no other players. Trees surrounded the area and bushes hid the small path away from the outside world. The sunlight trickled down through the tree canopy, casting a looming shadow over the path. This was the northernmost part of Green Qilin Valley, a forbidden place that stretched down to the bottom of the Ice Ridge Mountains with The Ocean of No Return lying further north.
This endless sea, The Ocean of No Return, thus named because it was also a forbidden area. Any fool brave enough to venture in its waters have been spirited away, hundreds of sailors and entire boats have all but vanished. Many have long since given up in settling the area, and no ports were ever built near the area. What’s more, if one were to stand up high enough they would be able to see numerous hurricanes gliding across the water, setting an ominous chill in their bone. Legends hold that huge waves and powerful sea monsters capable of ma.s.s destruction lurk in the waters. I myself do not know if these stories are true, but you can ask the drunk sailors at the bar later.
Standing on a path in Green Qilin Valley, everywhere I looked there wasn’t any sign of other players. Only a few dead leopard corpses were lying around, having not resp.a.w.ned yet.
I stood there silently and calmly, pulling out my Emperor Qin’s Sword and Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword. When I held them out in front of me, I could feel the circulation of Qi condense in my body. As expected, the designers of [Destiny] made every experience profound. I could feel the flow of Qi in the game, clearly demonstrating that I had an advantage over ordinary players.
The sky and the earth harmoniously merged together as I recalled what the old man told me——
“Kid, in training in the way of the sword, you must remember we derive nothing and everything from nature. Once every stroke of your blade flows with the wind, harmonizes with the earth, and is aligned with the heavens, your strength will blossom beyond man’s imagination. Only at such a point will you have reached the highest echelon of Qi!”
“Though, a brat with such limited talent and comprehension such as yourself, may never have an understanding sufficient enough to reach such a realm, even if you managed to live up to my age, hei hei…”
“Go die old geezer, you old fart!”
“Little brat, getting rebellious, are you? Go down the mountain and buy some food, I want to eat Kung Pao Chicken and Fish Flavored Pork. If I don’t eat these in one hour, I won’t teach you any techniques for a whole month!”
“Oh, wise master must have heard wrong, I was saying you were brilliant and amazing…”
“Enough of your excuses, go buy the food!”
……
Remembering up to that point, I couldn’t help but feel the corners of my mouth twitch upward. Opening my eyes, hua hua, I saw the leaves around me begin to dance as a gentle cyclone began to form. The tips of my swords began to radiate dense blue and red lights, emitting hot and cool air around it. This was the power of the yin and yang effect! I waved my Emperor Qin’s Sword forward and used my Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword to continue the rapid strikes, synchronizing with mother nature.
“Shua Shua Shua Shua”
The shadow of my sword whistled through the alley, leaving behind long slashes along the walls. “Keng!” An oppressive force suddenly stopped the flow of air, causing the blade in my hand to halt. “Peng!” The Deep Sea Cold Sword dropped onto the stone floor, piercing into the rock. I could barely keep the Emperor Qin’s Sword in my hand, forcing me to retreat several steps backward!
“Pa….”
Dropping to my knees, I could feel my breath getting heavier. This was the system backlash from failing to create a skill. Just as I thought, I couldn’t put together random quick slashes….
I frowned and stood up. Walking over, I pulled out my Deep Sea Cold Iron Sword, and raised both of my arms so that my blades were parallel to the ground and each other. I closed my eyes and meditated calmly. I began waving my swords abruptly once more, creating bright green slashes in the air. Just as I expected, the Qi in the game materialized. My Divine Battle Boots violently kicked off the ground as my two swords lashed out, one after another. “Shua Shua Shua” seven slashes quickly followed. However, just as before, a “Peng” resounded throughout the alley, and the oppressive force pushed me back. Once again, I knelt to the ground from the sickening pressure on my chest. I had failed once again.
Sitting down with a thump, I held the two swords, and quietly leaned against the tree as I fell into deep thought.
The old man said before that this swordplay had actually been lost for 800 years. Legend has it that the skill was created by an expert from the Northern Song Dynasty, who had combined the Daoist yin and yang theories with the specialties of dual bladed sword play. It was a style that utilized the firmness of the blades. This was the most powerful sword style used by the master pract.i.tioners of the Wudang Mountains. By the time the old fart gave me this book, it was already 800 years old. At that time, I was so ignorant that I blindly believed all of it. But now that I think about it there was ‘Printed in Kenting, Taiwan” written in fine prints on the bottom of the book…..
Later on, while I was playing around, I destroyed the book. That made the old man give me a beating….. Now that I think about it, that sword style was the strongest twin sword style that I can remember.
Song Yang Sword Style. This was the original name of the technique. However, after 5 years of arduous training, my “unique” take on the sword moves had changed quite a bit. I emphasized less on the firmness of the blade but more on the agility. The killing potential didn’t decrease too much, especially against experts. I had even renamed it as something else: “Flying Swordplay”. As a naive youngster, I had named it that because I believed that the only people who could be considered strong were those who could fly and kill G.o.ds.
However, I had been painfully beaten up by the old guy the last time I practiced this sword style. He had said that my sword style didn’t seem like one. In the end, the old man “left his home”, and his last words to me before leaving had been to continue studying this “Flying Swordplay”. Based on my relationship with him, this meant that the old man had actually recognized the value of my swordplay.
……
I channeled energy through my legs, and suddenly straightened my waist to somersault through the air. Reaching out with my hands to grasp the two hilts, I continued to test the Flying Swordplay. However, every time I tried, it would always rebound after seven slashes. In reality, the Flying Swordplay’s true quintessence was its fast break. Its rapid, forceful chain attacks led the opponent to enter the user’s domain, with each attack becoming increasingly more powerful. The two blades formed a perfect combination, although mastering them in the game was a bit difficult.
Practicing that over and over again was similar to the the waves I felt when I was learning the sword back when I first picked it up. I knew that I hadn’t yet understood it because my connection with the game wasn’t good enough. Otherwise, I would’ve definitely mastered it. The mysterious of [Destiny] numbered far more than I had imagined, enough to make me delve much deeper to understand things.
At 1 a.m., a “Di” sound rang out as General Li Mu sent a message, “Xiao Yao, just now, 200+ people from [Ma.s.s Burial] revived while we were off guard. They all ran into the cover of the snow. Do we chase after them or not?”
I thought about it for a bit, “There’s no need to chase after them. Leave behind 500 elite members to stand guard overnight, and let the rest go offline to sleep. Quite a few people have to go to work or school tomorrow…”
Li Mu replied, “Ok, then what should we do next?”
“Throw off all the people guarding the bodies, and let [Ma.s.s Burial]’s member revive. Then continue to closely observe their actions. After we capture their next objective, we can initiate our attack at any moment!”
Li Mu smiled, “Haha, I understand. This is for the sake of forcing [Ma.s.s Burial]’s towards death’s door. I’ve got it!”
“Oh, also, purchase all of the Guild Prestige Tablets from all three major cities!”
“Ok, got it!”
……
As I was not in a hurry to level, I continued to test out my custom skill. I needed to master this Flying Swordplay, or else I wouldn’t possess a unique storm of attacks the represented me alone. Once I really mastered the Flying Swordplay, I would be able to wildly attack and sweep away everything in my way. The Flying Swordplay really only had one style; as long as this succession of wild attacks kept hitting its target in rapid succession, that single chain of attacks would be enough to kill even the most powerful close combat expert!
“Di!”
At 3am, a message from General Li Mu came in, “We found it out. Not Ordinary dispatched 200 people to the south of Ba Huang Forest for a mission. It’s said to be an A rank task, shared by 50 people. The other 150 people are clearing their path. The final reward is an Emperor Tier axe. What do you think?”
I smiled and raised my sword, “What else is there to say? Dispatch 500 brothers back to the city, and we’ll directly go and kick [Ma.s.s Burial]’s a.s.ses. Let’s make sure they won’t be able to do a single thing today!”
“Ok!”
I fished out a return scroll to head back to the city. A white light appeared in the middle of Ba Huang City and soon, [Zhan Long]’s 500 people group had finished gathering. We all left the city together, racing southwards.
……
20 minutes later, quite a few players that were spending the night leveling up in a vast forest were killing monsters. In the distance, I could already see the densely packed crimson names. That’s right, it was [Ma.s.s Burial]’s members currently advancing through a temple map. Their target seemed to be inside the temple. Off in the distance, Not Ordinary raised his battleaxe and loudly declared, “Everyone, make sure to focus. [Zhan Long] wants to exterminate all of us? F*ck that, I don’t believe that Xiao Yao Zi Zai really has that type of remarkable ability. Just wait and see, I’ll make [Zhan Long] and Xiao Yao Zi Zai learn that [Ma.s.s Burial] isn’t someone they can mess around with! Mm, well, let’s first get that f*cking Emperor Tier axe in our hands….”
A Wind Elf Archer desperately flapping his wings flew out from the forest. Breathing heavily, he shouted, “Boss, bad news!”
“What happened? Why are you so panicked? You look as if a fire is burning your eyebrows or something. Didn’t I once say something like, ‘stay composed even if Mt. Tai collapsed’?”
“Boss! The [Zhan Long] players are here! They have 500 people 800 meters north of us led by Xiao Yao Zi Zai, Li Mu and w.a.n.g Jiang!”
Not Ordinary felt a chill down his spine, “F*ck! This endless killing spree… it’s making me so f*cking mad. Everyone, turn around and engage in battle with [Zhan Long]! Also, go contact [Flying Dragon] and [Hero’s Mound] to ask for reinforcements!”
Next to him, Youyi’s face ashened, “Boss! Cang Cheng said he went offline to rest. [Hero’s Mound: First Division]’s two Vice Guild Masters are playing dead as well. [Flying Dragon]…… Soaring Dragon and his guys still have their corpses guarded by Han Bei Song……”
“What?!?”
Not Ordinary’s face turned white, “Is G.o.d trying to destroy my [Ma.s.s Burial]? Go contact…. contact Wonderland Nightclub’s boss, w.a.n.g Zong….”
Youyi shivered, “….. Boss, this w.a.n.g Zong is an amateur. He’s still Lv 17…. What the h.e.l.l can he do?”
Not Ordinary showed an angry expression, “Did I say that we were asking w.a.n.g Zong to save us? What I said was to….. get w.a.n.g Zong to go get two beauties for me…… I’m gonna go cool down a bit!”
“Then what are we going to do here?”
“Everyone log off!”