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Tian Ye, who had his eyes closed, replayed the scene in which Han Yi performed the first form of the Flowing River Swords Style.
He couldn't fully replay it like how most protagonists do it in the cultivation novels that he had read in his past life, but he could get close enough with great imagination.
He focused his recall on Han Yi's sword, and his thoughts at that moment. Tian Ye wasn't especially confident in his memories but he was confident that when he remembered something, he could remember the details in that moment well.
As he opened his eyes, he was filled with clarity, 'Although the complete version of the first form of Flowing River Sword Style can't be displayed currently, displaying it halfway should be possible.'
Grabbing the hilt of the sword with both hands, he started to channel spiritual qi.
The sword then began to emit a subtle blue light that slowly went brighter, the evidence that spiritual qi was slowly wrapping the sword.
As he did so, a slight frown formed on his eyebrows, 'The spiritual qi consumption is much larger than I thought but…'
Rather than extending it, he simply closed his eyes and kept enhancing the sword with spiritual qi.
After calculating, he opened his eyes again with the thought, 'It'll take at least 3 minutes for my spiritual qi to be fully consumed… That's long enough but… it's no wonder that martial arts focuses so much on instant releases of spiritual qi. According to my calculations based on the words of Master Han Yi, even the 9th layer isn't that much even if it's higher. If I use spiritual qi like this at the 9th layer, I'll still run out of spiritual qi within 45 minutes.'
Letting out a deep breath, his eyes began to show focus again, and he waved his sword downwards.
As the sword cut through the air, a blue crescent shaped line appeared in the air briefly before disappearing.
Han Yi, on the side, watching Tian Ye, clapped his hands with a nod, "Not bad. Since you can't stretch the spiritual qi, you simply wrapped the sword with it. With just this, you can consider the first form to be half complete. Now, stretch the spiritual qi outwards."
Tian Ye nodded and focused his attention to the tip of the sword. He didn't have time to waste due to the fact that his spiritual qi was gradually being depleted at an insane rate even if he had broken through to the 2nd layer.
Gritting his teeth slightly, he started increasing the spiritual qi channeled into the sword and extended the sword's length, however, unlike Han Yi's Drifting Current, his was wavy and watery in contrast to Han Yi's thin and sharp spiritual qi.
Taking back the spiritual qi that was channeled into the sword, he stabilized his breathing, he smiled slightly, satisfied with his progress but it wasn't there yet so he recalled the feeling he had just had, and channelled spiritual qi into the sword again instantly.
What appeared was a thin and sharp spiritual qi that extended for tens of centimeters but no more than 50 centimeters.
It was thin and sharp, yes, but it was only for a second, the next second, it became wavy and watery again, then flowing out into the air like smoke rising from a fire.
He took back his spiritual qi again then instantly released spiritual qi again and waved his sword, causing a blue crescent shaped line to appear in the air but now a much larger version of it.
Han Yi's eyes widened as he thought, 'Goodness! Since he couldn't display it in a stable manner, he actually took advantage of the instant that spiritual qi is released to make a thin and sharp line made out of spiritual qi. My disciple is a combat genius as well?'
His disciple was so talented that he couldn't help but feel envious but he was also relieved and excited to have taken on such a disciple.
Tian Ye, who sheathed his sword, smiled, "How was that, Master?"
What else could Han Yi do but praise?
"Brilliant! If you were in a battle and had just learned a martial arts technique, you can take advantage of subtle details and be able to win! But! This is but a talent, you still have to refine it."
"Yes, Master. I'm aware." Tian Ye agreed, he knew, despite being able to display it successfully, it was nothing but a shortcut, if he was able to extend his spiritual qi continuously, he could slash out several times when he starts to wave his sword, dealing more damage to the enemy. If he took back his spiritual qi every time then activated it again and again, it would give the enemy more time to react.
Han Yi smiled then said, "We can continue it next week, you don't have enough spiritual qi to practice the second form enough yet so continue working on your cultivation. I'll see the progress of your first form by next week, then we can proceed with the third form. The third form doesn't require much spiritual qi but it requires a lot of time to practice. I've decided that with your talent, I'll teach you martial arts only once a week and that would be enough."
Tian Ye just bowed slightly and said, "Yes, Master. I'll listen to your arrangements."
Han Yi just nodded in satisfaction at his obedient disciple before saying, "I won't be giving you cultivation resources until 3 weeks later even if you've already finished absorbing this month's portion. You understand why, right?"
"Yes, it's to make a solid foundation, breaking through within a week is great and all, but the spiritual qi is unstable, especially so when I've just broken through." Tian Ye explained, as he felt the spiritual qi, unlike his break through to the 1st layer a week ago was more… he didn't know how to describe it but solid, unlike his current spiritual qi that was wavy and watery just like his control over the first form of the Flowing River Sword Style.
He will spend the next two to three weeks refining and stabilizing his spiritual qi simply because his cultivation right now was simply the result of the spiritual herbs that he absorbed, unlike his breakthrough to the 1st layer that was manually absorbed.
"Good, then, I'll go first, we'll meet again next week, just I've arranged."
"Yes, Master, be careful on your way out." Tian Ye said goodbye, meanwhile, Han Yi just waved his hands, his back towards Tian Ye, walking out of the cave casually with a smile on his face, obviously in a good mood.
Tian Ye, on the other hand, sat down in a lotus position and began refining his spiritual qi by circulating it throughout his body.
The Dantian was weird, it wasn't simply a storage, it also had this feature like a filter, originally, he thought that the dantian was simply a storage for spiritual qi but it wasn't. When spiritual qi was circulated throughout the body, passing through the dantian, it became cleaner like dirty water passing through a filter that slowly made the quality of the water cleaner as it passed through multiple times.
His breathing was calm, his thoughts were focused, but he couldn't deny that it was a boring process but strangely enough, there was something interesting when he felt the spiritual qi getting more pure as he circulated it throughout his body.
It's like watching fishes swim through the river, it wasn't anything special but it felt kind of interesting and soothing.
In the blink of an eye, the night passed and the next day came.
Feeling the hunger in his stomach, Tian Ye took a fasting pill and stood up from his original sitting position.
As he stood up, he also grabbed the sword on the floor beside him and swiftly drew it.
He injected spiritual qi and began extending the spiritual qi by ten to twenty centimeters. The spiritual qi this time was still quite wavy and watery but after a day of spiritual qi refinement, it was better than yesterday.
He held this, trying to turn it into a thin and sharp spiritual qi. After a minute, he was able to achieve a thin and sharp spiritual qi but it was only for a few seconds before it started becoming unstable again.
He wasn't the least bit depressed because there was progress. He could maintain it for a few seconds, which was enough progress considering he could only do it instantly before.
No matter how little, progress is progress, furthermore, if you look at it another way, 100% was one second, then a few seconds was 200-400% improvement to last time, so it was great progress?
It's all about perspective.
After 3 minutes, just like his original evaluation, he ran out of spiritual qi so he sat back down to absorb and recover his spiritual qi, then continue to refine his impure spiritual qi into a purer version.
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