Chapter 382 - 355: Mid-Stage Spirit Level (Part 2)

Chapter 382: Chapter 355: Mid-Stage Spirit Level (Part 2)

He didn’t know how long he’d been drinking. In a hazy stupor, wine jar in hand, Nie Yun stumbled out of the tavern. He wandered aimlessly, eventually finding himself in a desolate, empty valley.

"Little brother, I never really taught you much Swordsmanship before. Right now, I’m going to show you everything I know. Watch and learn from your big brother, so you can become a Sword God one day..."

Taking his brother’s body from the Zihua Cave Mansion, he gently propped it up against a nearby rock. Nie Yun’s body swayed.

WHOOSH!

The Profound Jade Sword sliced through the air, causing it to hum with a faint tremor. With a flick of the Longsword, Nie Yun began to dance with the wind.

"Brother, this technique is the Sword God Sect’s [Sky-Breaking Silence Supreme Sword Technique]. I used to think it was a bit too complicated, so I never taught it to you. I’ll perform it for you now..."

"This one is what I’m best at, the [Heavenly Edge Swordsmanship]. The first technique is ’Wandering the World,’ something I created myself in my past life by combining other sword techniques. Watch..."

"[Invisible Swordsmanship]. Its movements are graceful and formless; the formless is superior to form..."

"[Great Rejuvenation Sword Technique], the ultimate skill of the Cloud Transformation Sect. It has thirty-two stances in total, each one capable of piercing through the ages and shattering the heavens..."

In his hand, the Profound Jade Sword moved like a sewing needle as he unleashed a storm of different Swordsmanship styles.

In his past life, Nie Yun had stood at the very Peak of the Floating Heaven Continent. His strength was terrifying, and he had learned countless forms of Swordsmanship. Back then, he hadn’t passed them on because his brother was on his own path. But now, in his drunken state, it felt as though his brother was right beside him, and he executed every move, every technique, without restraint.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The wind howled like thunder, the gusts from his sword techniques growing stronger and stronger. Nie Yun himself seemed to merge with the heavens and the earth.

In that moment, Nie Yun’s consciousness held only his brother and nothing else. Every technique, every slash of his sword, was a demonstration for his brother, a release of the deepest emotions in his heart.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Many of these sword techniques were difficult to sustain without immense Mana to support them. However, in his drunken state, Nie Yun would often execute them with a light stroke, instantly transforming the most complex Sword Technique into an Ordinary move. Yet, hidden within these ordinary moves was a sharp, bristling killing intent.

Techniques that many Sects deemed impossible to fuse, he made his own. In an instant, it was as if he was the sword, and the sword was him—a perfect union of cosmic principles where the formless was superior to form!

If anyone had been there to witness it, they would have been stunned to see how harmonious every move was, how perfectly it fit with nature. It was as if his sword techniques were dancing with the very laws of the universe, drawing out the deepest feelings from the human heart.

Emotion comes from the heart, and the heart is the bridge that connects one to the heavens and the earth.

Never before, in this life or the last, had Nie Yun felt so in tune with nature, his spirit so close to the Heaven and Earth Law.

Anyone can practice Swordsmanship, but to treat it as a form of ecstasy, to become so completely immersed in it as to reach a state of self-forgetfulness—very few had achieved such a feat throughout history!

Even with his immense power in his past life, Nie Yun had never reached this Realm. But now, drunk for the first time and lost in his longing for his brother, he had stumbled into it by accident!

SIZZLE...!

Unwittingly and truly immersed in the Sword Dao, Nie Yun didn’t notice his Soul Power was surging at a thousandfold rate. It silently broke through the Chains of the Qi Sea Level and rapidly advanced toward the Spirit Realm!

All things have a spirit. The Spirit Level awakens the Spiritual nature deep within one’s soul. At this moment, the Longsword in Nie Yun’s hand felt as if it had been infused with a soul of its own, pulsing with a graceful, elegant rhythm.

Day after day, Nie Yun remained completely immersed in the boundless Sword Dao. In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.

For seven days, Nie Yun never stopped his Cultivation. An endless stream of sword techniques flowed from him, and his soul, in harmony with nature, had made immense progress.

WHOOSH!

Nie Yun stopped.

The wind died down. He was sober.

’I’ve been practicing Swordsmanship here alone for seven days? Thankfully, this place is well-hidden, and I didn’t emit any Sword Qi while practicing. If Huangg Chen and the others had found me, I wouldn’t even know how I died!’

As he came to his senses, Nie Yun realized that he had somehow wandered into a desolate valley in his drunken state.

Fortunately, he hadn’t leaked any Sword Qi while practicing. The valley was also deserted, with no people or Demon Beasts. Otherwise, if Huangg Chen and his ilk had found him in that state, he would have been a dead man for sure!

"Hm? My soul..."

As this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly sensed something unusual about his soul. Taking a closer look, Nie Yun was utterly stunned.

’How has it grown so much? Mid-Stage Spirit Level? I actually have Mid-Stage Spirit Level Soul Power? What... What in the world happened?’

Most Secret Realm Powerhouses didn’t even have a Spirit Level soul. Mid-Stage Spirit Level Soul Power was something only a Secret Realm Third Layer powerhouse might achieve. At a normal Cultivation speed, it was impossible to accomplish without a hundred years of ascetic practice. Yet he had reached this Realm in just seven days!

The leap from a Qi Sea Level soul to a Spirit Level soul was a qualitative one; the two were on completely different levels. Having reached a Spirit Level soul, he could now face even Secret Realm Second or Third Layer powerhouses and, as long as their soul wasn’t stronger than his, kill them in a single blow!

In other words, although Nie Yun’s cultivation Realm hadn’t reached the Secret Realm, after this surge in his soul’s power, ordinary Secret Realm Powerhouses were no longer his match!

’It’s not just my soul’s growth. My Swordsmanship has also...’

With a flick of his wrist, the Profound Jade Sword felt like an extension of his own arm. He could clearly perceive even a mosquito landing on its surface. Based on this alone, Nie Yun knew that his Swordsmanship had ascended to a new level after these few days of practice, far beyond what he could have imagined!

’Let’s test its power!’

With a thought, he channeled his power into the Longsword and swung it at the mountain before him!

The mountain was seven or eight thousand meters high and stretched for thousands of kilometers. Looming and majestic, it was composed entirely of granite, making it incredibly hard—the perfect place to test his sword.

RUMBLE!

As the blade fell, there was no Radiant Sword Aura, no overwhelming pressure. Instead, the strike looked deceptively light and effortless. But after that single slash, a violent roar erupted from the massive mountain. With a great CRACK, half of it collapsed!

"What? I only... I only used half my strength!"

Seeing his single strike bring down a mountain that stretched for thousands of kilometers, Nie Yun himself was shocked.

He hadn’t used his full strength in that last attack, only half of it. If half his power could cause such devastation, what would his full power do?

Even an ordinary Secret Realm Second Layer powerhouse probably didn’t possess such astonishing Attack Power!

’One hundred layers of Dark Force! I just unleashed 100 layers of Dark Force!’

A moment’s thought was all it took for him to understand what had just happened.

Before, he could only unleash 32 layers of Dark Force. But with that casual strike just now, he had unleashed 100 layers!

Ten represents completeness, perfection. One hundred is ten times ten, a doubling of that perfection, representing the very limit of Dark Force. In other words, in his seven days of unintentional Swordsmanship practice, not only had his soul advanced, but his understanding of Dark Force had also reached its absolute peak!

With 100 layers of Dark Force stacking one upon another, he could now strike someone and turn them to paste, even if they were wearing a Spiritual Soldier for Defense!

Incredible!

’With a Mid-Stage Spirit Level Soul and 100 layers of Dark Force, even if my brother hadn’t blocked for me back then, Lord Hua’s soul attack wouldn’t have been able to do anything to me!’

Lord Hua himself may have been powerful, but his attack had been weakened significantly after passing through the Teleportation Array. If Nie Yun had possessed this kind of soul and this deep an understanding of Swordsmanship at that time, he definitely could have blocked the attack. His brother would not have had to die so tragically!

"Brother... right, I remember I brought brother’s body out..."

Thinking of his brother, Nie Yun’s gaze fell upon the body by the rock. One look, and his eyes narrowed.

Before, his Soul Realm had been too low, and he hadn’t used his Celestial Eye Talent to inspect the body, so he hadn’t known he’d been tricked. Now that his soul had reached Mid-Stage Spirit Level, his perception was incredibly sharp. He saw with a single glance that he had been deceived. There was no Water Spirit Pearl aura at all. The watery Qi wafting from his brother’s body was nothing more than an ordinary Soul Concealing Technique!

Damn it!

If not for the sudden surge in his Soul Power, his brother’s body would have started to rot in another month when the Blinding Technique faded!

"Seal reinforcement!"

With a touch of his finger, he used his Soul Power to place several layers of seals on Nie Tong’s body before returning the corpse to the Zihua Cave Mansion.

"Baihua Xiu, come out!"

With a cold snort, he brought Baihua Xiu out of the Cave Mansion.

"Out of consideration for you, I treated your Qianqing Sect with courtesy. And yet, your Sect Leader deceived me. Since that’s the case, the Qianqing Sect has no reason to exist anymore!"

With a single touch, he transferred the events of the past few days into Baihua Xiu’s mind. Nie Yun let out another cold snort, his tone Ice Cold.

Having reached the Spirit Level with his soul, Nie Yun could now directly transmit things from his mind to others, no longer needing a recording jade as a medium.

"This... Nie Yun, our Sect doesn’t have a Vice Sect Leader..."

After learning what Nie Yun had experienced at the Qianqing Sect, Baihua Xiu’s face was a mask of astonishment.

"He is your master, the Sect Leader of the Qianqing Sect. There is no Vice Sect Leader. His soul is stronger than mine, which is why I couldn’t see through his Disguise!"

Nie Yun sneered. A powerful soul was truly terrifying. When used to deceive someone with a weaker soul, the victim had no ability to resist. The fact that this "Vice Sect Leader" could fool him meant there was no Vice Sect Leader at all—it was just the Sect Leader in Disguise!

After all, it was already incredible for one more Secret Realm Powerhouse to appear on the Qi Sea Continent. For another one with a Spirit Level soul to appear was simply impossible!

Even with their countless treasures, figures like Huangg Chen and the Zi Qiong Emperor had not advanced their souls to the Spirit Level, which showed how difficult it was. Just imagine, how could a Secret Realm Powerhouse with a Spirit Level soul possibly remain unknown? To the point that even Baihua Xiu, a former member of the Sect, had never heard of him?

"My master... Nie Yun, are you planning to..."

Hearing Nie Yun’s deduction and recalling his earlier words, Baihua Xiu’s face turned deathly pale, devoid of all color.

"Those who dare to scheme against me must pay the price," Nie Yun said coolly. "You’re either with me, or you can go back to the Zihua Cave Mansion!"

"I’ll go back to the Zihua Cave Mansion," Baihua Xiu said after a moment’s hesitation. Knowing the young man’s decision was unchangeable, she shook her head in resignation.

"In!" After returning Baihua Xiu to the Zihua Cave Mansion, Nie Yun leaped into the air and flew off once more in the direction of the Qianqing Sect. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly passes on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)