Chapter 77: Chapter 77: Minor Accomplishment in Sword Nurturing

A moderate rain fell in June, lasting just long enough to soothe both the scorching weather and the frayed nerves of the third-year high school students.

The college entrance exams had arrived.

The seventh and eighth were for academic subjects, with all students participating. The ninth featured exams on the Human Body Scripture and the Great Yu Martial Scripture. From that day forward, all subjects were exclusively for martial arts students. The tenth was the official martial exam, covering one’s realm, Cultivation Technique, and practical combat abilities.

The college entrance exams were a hot topic every year. Everyone followed closely to see who would become the top martial arts scholar in each province and city. But none of that mattered to Yu Fei. He simply maintained his own pace, training as always.

In the quiet room, the three-foot-long Cyan Lotus Sword hovered motionlessly before his brow.

"Harness!"

Within his spiritual space, two glints of sword light clashed and crossed. After a long struggle, one of them, a watery Sword Qi, dissipated, revealing a cyan-white wisp of energy that was then absorbed by the victorious light.

The hovering Cyan Lotus Sword fell to the ground with a CLANG, its light seeming to have dimmed.

Yu Fei kept his eyes closed, his heart pounding with excitement.

He had finally defeated the first stage of the Sword Intent. This meant his Sword Nurturing Skill had reached the Minor Completion stage. The miniature Cyan Lotus Sword, formed through visualization in his spiritual space, became more tangible after absorbing the cyan-white energy, its sharp intent growing more potent. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

He rose and picked up the fallen Cyan Lotus Sword. According to the Sword Nurturing Skill, the Cyan Lotus Sword contained three layers of Sword Intent. Only by completely vanquishing all three could the Sword Nurturing Skill reach the Perfection stage, allowing one to forge a supreme-grade Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation.

After stowing the Cyan Lotus Sword, Yu Fei circulated his Qi Blood and, using his finger as a blade, swiped it across the corner of a wooden tea table.

SHK!

Yu Fei felt a slight resistance at his fingertip. With a bit more force, he actually sliced a corner off the table.

’This power... it’s as strong as any ordinary blade!’

At the Minor Completion stage of Sword Intent, his Qi Blood could extend an inch from his fingertip, giving it lethal potential.

After a brief rest, Yu Fei made the Cyan Lotus Sword slowly rise again. Now that he had reached Minor Completion, practicing the Sword Nurturing Skill required him to suspend the blade one inch from the spot between his eyebrows—two inches closer than before. This was an extremely dangerous distance; no one could remain calm with a sharp weapon pointed at such a vital spot.

"Harness!"

The surface of the Cyan Lotus Sword flashed with an azure light. Within Yu Fei’s spiritual space, a cyan blade-edge struck as fast as lightning. With a sorrowful cry, the miniature Cyan Lotus Sword, so vibrant just moments ago, was sliced in two before dissolving into motes of light.

Ugh...

Yu Fei’s face turned ashen, and he swayed on the verge of collapse.

He tried to get up several times but failed. He slowly fell back, lying there for a long time before he finally recovered.

He looked at the Cyan Lotus Sword lying on the floor, a sliver of fear creeping into his heart.

The true essence of the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill was for a Cultivator to comprehend an incomparably firm Sword Intent—one of ultimate purity and sharpness—through repeated destruction.

In the dance between life and death, there was great terror, but also great opportunity.

To repeatedly brush against death, to reforge oneself from the brink of annihilation, and to cast a supreme Sword Intent from death and destruction itself.

Use the Sword Intent as a catalyst to refine the Primordial Qi Sword Lotus Seed, forge the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation, and master the Formless Sword Qi—one of the world’s ultimate Slaughter Blade Skills.

This was what Yan Sea had explained to him about the Tribulation Sword lineage’s standing in the martial world, after confirming he was a prodigy-level Martial Artist.

He still remembered his teacher’s words. At the time, Yan Sea had looked both anxious and delighted.

"Yu Fei, there’s some special information about Martial Artists I need to tell you. You’ve now earned the right to decide your own path."

"Prodigy-level Martial Artists are qualified to choose from the world’s most elite legacies. In the first realm of the martial path, you cultivated the Ox Subduing Pile Skill as your foundation and the Six Harmonies Killing Fist as your martial technique. This is the introductory path for all Martial Artists. After reaching the second realm, the Cultivation Techniques begin to diverge, with different choices depending on one’s personal talent and foundation."

"Teacher, does that mean the foundational Cultivation Technique of the first realm acts as a preliminary screening for Martial Artists?"

"Yes. The level you achieved in your pile skill when you broke through the first realm determines the grade of the Cultivation Technique you can practice in the second. You can’t break through to the second realm without reaching at least Minor Completion in your pile skill. Therefore, second-realm Cultivation Techniques are typically divided into four grades."

Yu Fei was a little confused.

"Four grades? Shouldn’t there be only three? Minor Completion, Major Completion, and Perfection. Those should correspond to three grades of Cultivation Techniques."

Yan Sea explained, "Logically, that would be the case. But there are differences even among prodigies. Some people’s talent can’t be contained by a single pile skill. Perfection is the limit of the skill, not the limit of the person."

"You’re actually qualified to give up the Tribulation Sword lineage’s Cultivation Technique right now. After all, our lineage’s art has never reached the absolute peak, so it can’t be considered the strongest. You could easily choose one of the time-tested, top-tier Cultivation Techniques instead."

As he said this, Yan Sea felt a little uneasy. Of course, he could have withheld this information from Yu Fei, but that would go against his principles. No matter what Yu Fei chose, he would support him.

"Teacher, if I may speak my mind, I believe the person cultivating the technique is what makes it strong, not the technique itself. That’s why I have to see it for myself—the view from the very peak of the Tribulation Sword path."

Hearing this, Yan Sea was momentarily stunned.

"Good. Your teacher supports you!"

"By the way, Teacher, I have a question. Can you only choose one of those top-tier Cultivation Techniques?"

"Not necessarily. It’s just that most people choose only one to focus on. After all, if you choose too many, you might not be able to master any of them."

"Alright, that’s all then!"

Setting aside Yan Sea’s anxieties, Yu Fei didn’t slacken his cultivation even after his talent had improved.

After his Sword Nurturing Skill reached the Minor Completion stage, his training became even more agonizing. The method for building the Dao foundation of the Tribulation Sword lineage was fraught with hardship.

The training began with the Cyan Lotus Sword Seal, which aimed to strengthen one’s control over Qi Blood in preparation for refining the Cyan Lotus Sword itself. Once the Sword Seal reached Minor Completion, the first major hurdle appeared: refining the Cyan Lotus Sword. Those whose Spiritual Power wasn’t up to standard would fail.

After successfully refining the sword, one could begin practicing the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill. This involved using a mentally visualized blade to fight a long-distance battle against the Sword Intent sealed within the sword by an eighth-realm Grandmaster—an experience of near-indescribable agony.

Throughout this process, one had to ensure that the mastery of their Cyan Lotus Sword Seal always remained a step ahead of their Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill. As an introductory method for the Dao foundation, the process was exceedingly difficult and convoluted.

Yan Sea had told him that after reaching Minor Completion in the Sword Nurturing Skill, there was a ten percent chance of successfully forging the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation, though its power would be greatly diminished. At Major Completion, the chance rose to fifty percent, with no reduction in power. As for reaching Perfection in the Sword Nurturing Skill... no one had ever done it.

In truth, these numbers weren’t entirely reliable. The Tribulation Sword lineage had so few Cultivators that there was insufficient data to corroborate the claims; they could only be taken as a reference.

Yu Fei’s goal was to aim for Perfection in the Sword Nurturing Skill. He was confident he could do it thanks to his red-grade talent, "Spiritual Insight." The bonus of having three times the base Spiritual Power of an ordinary person and an entire tier increase to his soul’s quality were the key factors for cultivating the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill to Perfection.

Facing the second stage of the Sword Intent, Yu Fei’s cultivation speed slowed once more. A single session of sword nurturing now required at least half an hour of recovery. After five sessions in a day, it was impossible to continue any further.

In fact, if Yan Sea knew how frequently he was training, his entire understanding of the technique would be shattered.

The journey from Minor to Major Completion in the Sword Nurturing Skill was exceptionally arduous. In the past, those who had succeeded had mostly done so through lucky chances and fortuitous encounters.

But for Yu Fei, as long as he continued to practice step by step, reaching Major Completion was an inevitability.