Misguided practice of sinister cultivation techniques: Slander! The problem lies with you all, not me!-Chapter 4 - Ghost?

Duan Yun rested for a while, and then dug a hole under the crooked tree in the courtyard and buried the body of the Xuanxiong Gang man called Wang Li.

After finishing these tasks, it was still dark, and Duan Yun was very tired and sleepy, so he went to sleep.

In the early morning, Duan Yun woke up, took a cold bath, and changed into a clean pair of underwear.

Last night was the first time he killed and buried someone, and he thought he would have nightmares.

But surprisingly, he had a sensual dream.

It was even with the paper doll wife he liked in his previous life.

Reincarnated and still horny, what a shame.

Afterward, Duan Yun had breakfast and prepared to flee.

The palm strike he received last night was heavy; he thought he would suffer fractures and internal injuries, but his wounds healed faster than he expected.

Aside from some lingering pain in his arm, he was largely unimpeded.

It seemed to be the result of Jade Sword True Qi and his uniquely structured bones.

Duan Yun only took silver, the secret book, a kitchen knife, and some personal clothes with him.

He packed the clothes and kitchen knife in a medicine box, which made it look like he was going out for medical visits.

When leaving, he wrapped a strand of hair around the door lock.

Now with the dropped silver from the deceased, Duan Yun had a budget to buy a sword.

Last night, the kitchen knife somewhat impeded the release of Sword Qi.

A sword dao genius emitting Sword Qi with a kitchen knife wasn't cool, and it also reduced its power.

So, Duan Yun planned to first visit a weapons shop to buy a sword for self-defense.

Walking on the road, Duan Yun observed all around him, listening intently.

He had heard a few days ago that Xuanxiong Gang had started fighting with Iron Blood Sect. It was said that the masters of Iron Blood Sect have green blood in their bodies.

Now, what he hoped most was that Xuanxiong Gang and Iron Blood Sect were so preoccupied with fighting each other that they wouldn't have the energy to pursue him.

However, when buying the sword, he learned that the people from the Iron Blood Sect had run away.

Duan Yun was surprised, "They ran away?"

"The Iron Blood Sect members practice blood refinement so much that they inevitably feel constrained some days of the year and want to find someone to fight to let out some blood. Once enough blood has been let, they naturally leave," explained the weapon store owner.

Duan Yun was speechless, "That's just quitting halfway through."

With Iron Blood Sect gone, Lishui City was still ruled by the Xuanxiong Gang.

Duan Yun felt the crisis and finally bought a sword for thirteen taels of silver.

A sword of ordinary design and craftsmanship.

It was not what he had expected.

Initially, he hoped for a sword that was handy, durable, and ideally a bit stylish.

Later he didn't care whether it was stylish; as long as it was handy and durable.

Even later, he didn't care about it being handy; as long as it was durable and a sword, that was enough.

It felt somewhat like having an insufficient budget for a bathhouse and then only being able to order the cheapest package without any chance of adding extra time.

No wonder, swords are damn expensive.

No wonder in the Martial World, those who wield swords are mostly elegant young masters.

Because the poor can't afford swords.

After buying a sword, Duan Yun also bought some roasted cakes and left the city.

On the way, he encountered a group of Xuanxiong Gang members eating noodles by the roadside, giving him a scare.

After leaving the city, Duan Yun looked back at Lishui Town.

It was just dawn, with smoke curling up from the households, river mist drifting along the river by the city, and Duan Yun deeply felt the heartache of not being able to return home.

He was not vindictive, but this feeling, he remembered. Once he mastered his swordsmanship, he would definitely make Xuanxiong Gang pay double.

Lishui City was relatively secluded, with few people on the main road outside the city, let alone the small path Duan Yun chose.

The path was hidden alright, but as Duan Yun walked on, he realized he had taken a wrong turn.

Originally, he wanted to go to Qingsong Market, seventy miles away from Lishui City to avoid trouble, which would also facilitate wiping out the whole Xuanxiong Gang within a day once his swordsmanship was accomplished.

But now it was completely dark, and he hadn't found a place to stay.

At night, Duan Yun made a fire in a wasteland.

Dry roasted cakes were placed over it for a while before he started eating them with water from a gourd.

He thought about hunting some wild game, as there was a wild chicken nearby that he had taken down with his Sword Qi.

But there was no stream around to easily clean a bloody chicken, so it was simpler to just eat some roasted cakes.

It looked like tonight he was destined to spend the night in the wilderness.

In TV dramas, swordsmen spending the night in the wilderness looked rather romantic, warming themselves by a fire, and unleashing Sword Qi when facing injustice.

But all Duan Yun felt now was loneliness and solitude, even a hint of fear.

On his way here, in the woods up ahead, he had seen several broken tombstones.

Although this place had a path, it was adjacent to graves, with the wind making the trees shake, occasionally accompanied by the cries of night owls, truly like the scene of a horror film.

Yes, he had no idea where this road led, and he hadn't encountered a single soul along the way.

In such a place, it was not advisable to sleep easily.

So Duan Yun could only start practicing his arts.

Duan Yun opened the secret book, and aided by the firelight, he focused on reading.

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Whenever he started practicing his sword swords, no matter how troubled he was before, he could quickly calm down and immerse himself.

Today, he wanted to try the third technique from "Jade Sword True Understanding."

The third technique of "Jade Sword True Understanding" was called "Jade Sword Finger," apparently a finger technique.

At that moment, Duan Yun lowered his left arm, stretched out his index finger, and started circulating Jade Sword True Qi as per the instructions in the secret book.

His index finger was tensed straight, appearing strong and potent, like an unsheathed Divine Sword.

The next moment, he jabbed forward with the sword finger, but there was no reaction.

Duan Yun jabbed again, still no response.

Logically speaking, the Jade Sword Finger and Water Moon Slash are similar techniques, both release the Jade Sword True Qi from specific acupoints in the body.

On his third attempt, before rushing, Duan Yun loosened his fingers to calm his emotions.

He settled his qi in the Dantian and the Jade Sword True Qi successively flowed through acupoints like "Hand Five Miles," "Pianyang," and "Shangyang," then he thrust forward!

A white light burst out from his fingertips.

With a bang, the white light penetrated the ground, leaving an invisible hole.

Duan Yun raised his hand and thrust again!

With a bang, the white light Sword Qi penetrated a wild tree ahead, sending splinters flying.

Duan Yun walked over to see that although the tree wasn't large—only about half a foot thick—it was easily punctured.

"Why does this feel so much like the Six Meridian Divine Sword used by the Duan Family?" Duan Yun pondered upon seeing this.

In his past life, after watching the "The Eight Trigrams of the Heavenly Dragon" TV series, even at a young age he had several lofty life goals.

Marry Liu Yifei.

Marry Jiang Xin.

Master the exclusive Six Meridian Divine Sword of the Duan Family.

As he grew older, he gave up on the first two relatively achievable goals due to his preference for a two-dimensional wife, and completely abandoned the third.

Unexpectedly, by a slip of fate, he managed to achieve the most challenging goal.

It seems that the Duan Family's Finger Technique does have an added bonus.

Duan Yun continuously performed the "Jade Sword Finger" two more times, watching the trees being effortlessly penetrated, he felt a thrill similar to playing a shooting game.

Now, he could use the Jade Sword Finger with his left hand to penetrate enemies and the Water Moon Slash with his right hand for ranged attacks—both combined, the power was formidable.

Annihilating the Xuanxiong Gang seemed just within reach!

Yes, what he lacked now was the thickness of True Qi.

He was ambushed last night, and after slashing out four Water Moon Sword Energies, he nearly exhausted half of his True Qi. Considering how many members the Xuanxiong Gang had, he would need to be able to slash out hundreds of Water Moon Sword Energies and release hundreds of Jade Sword Fingers to truly revel in the battle.

His Jade Sword True Qi, from none to now a trickle, could at present continuously perform about ten Water Moon Sword Energies or twenty times the Jade Sword Finger.

This took him roughly ten days. To increase it tenfold, he would need a hundred days.

That was still too slow. He needed to intensify his efforts.

Duan Yun decided, once he found a place to settle, to diligently practice the Jade Sword True Qi.

Once his True Qi was robust, he could indeed pierce each member of the Xuanxiong Gang thoroughly, and when facing multiple enemies, directly slay them with the Water Moon Sword Energy.

Hmm, just thinking about it was both exhilarating and satisfying.

Now that the Jade Sword Finger was mastered, only the last technique "Embrace Sparrow Tail" was left in the Jade Sword True Understanding.

Traditionally, the last technique in the secret book should be the strongest.

After performing the Jade Sword Finger several times, about half of Duan Yun's Jade Sword True Qi was depleted, and his arms felt a bit sore, as if he overexerted them.

But he had experience, and knew his arms would gradually adapt to the intensity and frequency.

After all, it was just a lack of practice; more practice would be better.

Thus, without stopping, Duan Yun started practicing the final style, "Embrace Sparrow Tail".

As Duan Yun carefully studied the secret book, he found that "Embrace Sparrow Tail" was indeed the most complex of the four moves.

While circulating True Qi and forming finger mudras, it also required visualizing the image of "Jade Sword Immortal".

The depictions of the Jade Sword Immortal in the secret book were simple and lacked details, but they still managed to capture the spirit, showing the image of a graceful female sword immortal.

Duan Yun quickly memorized it.

He was a sword dao prodigy, and memorizing the image of a Jade Sword Immortal was easy for him.

Under the moonlight, Duan Yun crossed his hands and formed mudras. The appearance of the Jade Sword Immortal instantly emerged in his Sea of Consciousness, blossoming like a lotus from water.

"Embrace Sparrow Tail!"

In an instant, True Qi as radiant as moonlight burst forth from Duan Yun, forming a vague image of the Jade Sword Immortal behind him.

Duan Yun changed his finger techniques, but the image of the Jade Sword Immortal behind him remained still.

Logically, at this time, the Jade Sword Immortal should also be changing finger techniques just like him.

Duan Yun tried several times, but the Dharma Image did not respond.

"Huff~~~"

Duan Yun let out a long breath, and the Dharma Image behind him dissipated.

Condensing this Dharma Image consumed a significant amount of True Qi.

"It must be an issue with the secret book, not a problem on my part," Duan Yun speculated.

Meeting an obstacle on the fourth technique, "Embrace Sparrow Tail," the one-in-ten-thousand sword dao prodigy, Duan Yun, was not anxious.

His previous experience had taught him that with his sword dao talent and supreme wisdom, he should be able to quickly resolve this issue.

Besides, just mastering the first three techniques, if done properly, should be enough for him to settle scores with the Xuanxiong Gang.

Duan Yun practiced the "Jade Sword Stance" for another half an hour until the moon disappeared into the clouds, concluding his practice for the day.

Today had been another day of fleeing and practicing swordsmanship, and he was quite tired.

Duan Yun added some firewood, then leaned against a tree and tried to take a nap.

However, he didn't sleep well, intermittently swatting his ear in annoyance, even releasing a burst of Sword Qi.

The mosquitoes were too aggressive.

This being his first time sleeping outdoors, the carefree and romantic experience depicted in martial arts TV shows, where one falls asleep under the stars, was completely absent.

In a semi-conscious state, Duan Yun drifted off to sleep, hearing buzzing sounds around his ears.

At that moment, a cold breeze blew by, causing the already weak flames to flicker erratically.

Duan Yun felt chills on his skin and wrapped his clothes tighter around him. Just then, his body suddenly froze in place.

The flickering firelight illuminated a bit below the muddy slope.

A woman in red stood there.

It was near the site of the grave Duan Yun had passed earlier.

The woman in red stood at the edge of the wilderness, her face obscured in the dim surroundings, but Duan Yun felt that she was staring right at him.

A bone-chilling sensation crawled over Duan Yun's body.

A ghost?