However, he had in his hands a large variety of high-level martial art skills, but very few low-level ones.
That was natural. In his previous life, he had been a strong warrior of Heaven Tier. Even if he had discovered any Black Grade or Yellow Grade martial arts skills in a historical site, how would it be possible that he would train in any of them? He may flip through some of them, but there were definitely few of them.
Thankfully, he had also been a martial artist that had slowly worked his way up from the bottom in his last life, so he still possessed a few low-level martial arts skills.
Shocking Electricity Sword Arts, Flying Fire Palm Arts, Dashing Panther Fist, and Exiting Cloud Step were all Yellow Grade high level martial arts skills.
However, what caused Ling Han to feel a little embarrassed was the fact that he had not cultivated these four martial arts skills to the highest level in his last life, for he was always busy with concocting pills.
So, he just had to start all over again. He was still young anyways.
Ling Han began with Shocking Electricity Sword Arts. The reason was simple. His current cultivation level was still too low, so he needed the support of a weapon to increase his strength, and the favorite weapon of most martial artists were either a sword or a saber.
Chapter 27
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
Ling Han decided to head to Balance Mountain for training.
Balance Mountain was about eighty kilometers north of Gray Cloud Town. It was not a very large mountain. Even the continuous length and breadth of it measured just over one hundred kilometres. There were four towns within the mountain’s vicinity, and their residents largely depended on the mountain for their livelihood.
The reason being, this mountain had both medicinal herbs as well as demonic beasts, and to a martial artist, both of these things were beneficial.
Unlike the gigantic mountain range that was the Seven Wind Mountains, where the demonic beasts were extremely powerful to the point that even strong warriors of the Spiritual Ocean Tier dared not venture too deeply, the strongest demonic beast in Balance Mountain was only in the Element Gathering Tier and could only be found in the innermost parts of the mountain range. Thus, as long as they did not venture too deeply into the mountain range, Balance Mountain was an excellent training grounds for a martial artist in the Body Refining Tier.
Ling Han knew very well that purely practicing would never let him train in a martial arts skill to the highest level. To achieve that, he had to experience actual battle!
Although Ling Dong Xing did not want his son to take risks, he also knew that it was impossible for a real martial artist to grow up protected like a plant in a greenhouse. Moreover, Liu Yu Tong would be by Ling Han’s side to protect him, so naturally he did not need to worry that they would encounter some danger. Therefore, he agreed.
He was also very busy now. He was currently making preparations for the counterattack against the Cheng Clan while also reorganizing the Ling Clan to regain power over the clan, which Ling Zhong Kuan had partially taken over these past few years.
Ling Han and Liu Yu Tong very quickly began their journey, setting off towards Balance Mountain.
As Balance Mountain was quite close by, they did not need to bring too much baggage with them and had only brought two, three changes of clothing. Yet, even so, they still carried a sizable bundle, each.
This caused Ling Han to miss the spatial ring from his previous life.
A spatial ring seemed to be not much different from a normal ring, yet there was an incredible space within it that could accommodate a large number of items. If you were going on a trip, bringing a spatial ring along would be very convenient.
However, the method to create spatial rings was long lost with the passage of time, so there was only an extremely limited number available. In his last life, only a strong warrior of at least Flower Blossom Tier could possess one. Otherwise, even if you had very luckily obtained one, it would still bring a fatal disaster to you as its owner!
A spatial ring was something extremely valuable.
They traveled by foot. A distance of eighty kilometers was nothing much to a martial artist and they only spent about two hours on their journey. The two of them set off in the morning, and they had already entered the vicinity of Balance Mountain by noon.
They could hear the distant roars of tigers and cries of monkeys. As they looked everything over, a strongly fragrant, primitive, desolate air blew against their faces.
“Let’s go!” Ling Han walked in front, and said, “As long as it’s a demonic beast in the Body Refining Tier, you don’t have to do anything. Just leave it to me.”
“Very well,” Liu Yu Tong nodded.
However, Balance Mountain was not a place that was filled to the brim with demonic beasts. Although the two deliberately searched for them, they did not encounter even one. They didn’t even encounter any ordinary wild beast. As the sky slowly darkened, the two of them began to feel hungry.
They had only brought a small amount of food as emergency rations. They had actually intended to hunt the demonic beasts on the mountain for food.
“We have to quickly hunt a demonic beast. Otherwise, we’ll have to go hungry tonight,” Ling Han said as he brandished the iron sword in his hand. He had bought the sword before he had departed for the journey. It was considerably expensive, being priced at ten silver coins. It would be enough against a demonic beast of Body Refining Tier, but against a demonic beast of Element Gathering Tier, it wouldn’t even be able to break through its defense.
Moreover, he was not an equal opponent for a demonic beast in the Element Gathering Tier anyway.
Liu Yu Tong suddenly stopped walking.
“What is it, have you heard something?” Ling Han said with a bit of excitement.
“My shoelaces came undone,” Liu Yu Tong crouched down.
He never imagined that this woman had a bit of a sense of humor. Ling Han shrugged and waited until Liu Yu Tong stood up. The two of them then continued their way forward. However, they had not walked too far before Liu Yu Tong once again crouched down.
“Your shoelaces came undone again?” Ling Han asked.
“No, I heard something!” Liu Yu Tong looked over in a particular direction. Her expression was still icy cold.
This woman definitely had a cold sense of humor.
Ling Han too glanced in the same direction. Liu Yu Tong was in the Element Gathering Tier, so her sight and hearing were much stronger than his. The shrubs in front of them were shaking, as if something was making its way out.
Very quickly, a gigantic wolf’s head emerged, rapidly followed by the appearance of its body. It was about the size of a water buffalo and was blood-red in color, though its skin had several rotting scars scattered all over its body. It looked a little disgusting.
“Our luck’s not bad, this is a Rotten Blood Wolf!” Ling Han’s eyes lit up. Cultivating the Indestructible Heaven Scroll required various valuable materials to support his training, and the fresh blood of demonic beasts was currently the best material available, while the Rotten Blood Wolf could be considered as one of the strongest demonic beasts in the Body Refining Tier.
“Be careful!” Liu Yu Tong reminded. A mature Rotten Blood Wolf was a being in the ninth layer of Body Refining Tier. Other than that, demonic beasts always had a big advantage over humanity when it came to strength and defense, and that was the case even when a demonic beast and a human cultivator had similar cultivation.
The advantage of martial artists, on the other hand, was in the fact that they could use various martial arts skills and weapons to greatly increase their own power.
However, Ling Han was only in the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier now. There was too big a gap between him and the Rotten Blood Wolf. Moreover, a martial artist could die at any moment in a battle against a demonic beast. The battle would not end even if you shout “Stop” or “I give up”.
“Don’t worry!” Ling Han smiled. Wielding the iron sword in his hand, his expression immediately became serious.
The Rotten Blood Wolf continuously released deep growls. In front of it stood two people. The man did not look very threatening to it, but the woman standing behind him caused the wolf to feel dread. However, due to the ferocious nature of a demonic beast, it was not willing to give up its prey.
The blood and flesh of demonic beasts were considered extremely nutritious to any martial artist, but martial artists were likewise a very nutritious meal to demonic beasts.
The Rotten Blood Wolf was very cautious. It did not attack right away.
“Yu Tong, step back,” Ling Han said. Wolves were an extremely patient, very careful species. It must have sensed Liu Yu Tong’s hidden strength.
Liu Yu Tong frowned faintly. Considering the current distance, she would be able to help him in time if he needed it. But if this distance increased, then should Ling Han encounter any danger, she might not be able to do anything to help him.
“Trust me,” Ling Han smiled.
Liu Yu Tong finally stepped back slowly.
The Rotten Blood Wolf’s ferocious nature was immediately roused. The claws of its front paws dug into the ground and its jaws opened, revealing two rows of sharp dagger-like teeth, exuding a cold air.
Ling Han crooked his finger, and said, “You big stupid dog, come, come, come!”
“Ao!” The Rotten Blood Wolf released a howl, pouncing abruptly at a very surprising speed.
Ling Han did not panic. With a wave of his long sword, the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts had already been initiated.
“Shua!” Only one sword stabbed forward yet two flashes of cold light appeared. One of them was the sword itself, while the other was a white-colored energy.
“Sword Qi!” Liu Yu Tong could not help breathing out in shock.
Sword Qi was the symbol of a swordsman, just like a saber’s wielder needed to have Saber Qi. It was incomparably sharp, and extremely powerful.
She had not formed Sword Qi yet she knew the difficulty of achieving it–she had an uncle who had been acclaimed as a genius in the art of the sword, yet he had only formed Sword Qi after five years of immersing himself in the path of the sword.
Was this guy really human?
Ling Han felt no surprise however. Forming Sword Qi was only a natural course of event, his goal was Sword Ray! [1]
Sword Ray was the solid form of Sword Qi. Its power was even stronger. Unfortunately, he had not spent much time on sword arts in his last life so he had only formed Sword Qi, and did not manage to form Sword Ray.
The prerequisite for forming Sword Ray was that one thrust of the sword would have tens of flashes of Sword Qi, which then had to be condensed into Sword Ray. Just now, he had only managed to release one flash of Sword Qi. He still had a very long way to go.
The next step from Sword Ray was Sword Heart. This was the highest level one could achieve on the path of the sword.
However, against a Rotten Blood Wolf, one flash of Sword Qi was more than enough.
Chapter 28
Translator: _Dark_Angel_ Editor: Kurisu
As the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts unfolded, Ling Han’s long sword moved freely, his figure graceful.
Accompanying the display of Shocking Electricity Sword Arts was the Exiting Cloud Step. Every step was about four or five metres long, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, suddenly forwards, suddenly backwards. His steps appeared strange and were extremely quick, becoming a blur to any observer’s eyes.
Liu Yu Tong looked on from the side and could not help nodding her head in secret.
If she suppressed her cultivation level to the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier, she would definitely not be able to perform as well as Ling Han. Rather, she would probably be facing danger from all sides by now. After all, there was a big difference in cultivation level between Ling Han and his opponent–two layers. Furthermore, the opponent was a demonic beast.
Normally, in a battle between a martial artist and a demonic beast, the martial artist needed to have a slight advantage in cultivation level to attain victory. If the cultivation levels of the martial artist and the demonic beast were about the same, then the martial artist had a higher chance of losing. After all, not every martial artist was a battle genius.
Ling Han’s sword moves were becoming more and more fluid. His steps were natural and smooth as he enjoyed the pleasure of battling.
He had really put too much focus into the path of alchemy in his last life. In terms of martial arts, he used to care about cultivation level only. His whole “journey” upwards had just been a superficial understanding of martial arts. But this time, as he once again stepped onto the path of martial arts, he suddenly discovered that martial arts could actually be very interesting too.
The Rotten Blood Wolf had become his sparring partner, allowing him to practice his moves to his heart’s content, tempering his grasp of the Shocking Electricity Sword Arts.
Ten minutes later, the Rotten Blood Wolf was already covered with cuts and bruises. This caused it to become very fearful. This seemingly weak human was actually so powerful! It did not want to retreat, but it feared even more that not only would the two not become an offering to its fangs, but it itself would become a meal for these two humans.
“There’s no escape!” Ling Han laughed loudly. The sword moved as he willed it to. Two flashes of Sword Qi were simultaneously released in between the glints of cold light.
Two flashes of Sword Qi! He had finally broke through!
“Pu!” Blood splattered as a crimson flower suddenly blossomed on the neck of the Rotten Blood Wolf. Its large body toppled over with a loud noise, its eyes open wide as if it still could not believe that a human at the seventh layer of Body Refining Tier would actually be able to kill it!
Demonic beasts had a very high level of intelligence. Powerful demonic beasts could even possibly have intelligence comparable to a human’s.
Ling Han nodded. The power of two flashes of Sword Qi was indeed huge. Previously, one flash of Sword Qi only allowed him to fight on equal footing with the Rotten Blood Wolf, but two flashes allowed him to kill it in an instant! As expected, even if the cultivation level was the same, there could still be a large discrepancy in actual strength of different martial artists.
At the side, Liu Yu Tong was once again shocked into speechlessness.
Just this little bit of time, and Ling Han had improved from one flash of Sword Qi to two. If that uncle of hers knew about this, wouldn’t he be shamed to the point of jumping into a river and drown himself? As that uncle of hers had spent more than thirty years to form four flashes of Sword Qi, he was already acclaimed as a genius swordsman by the whole clan. But, when compared to Ling Han….
However, she did not know how far ahead Ling Han’s starting line was, or how terrifying his comprehension ability was. Otherwise, how would he have been able to achieve Heaven Tier by two hundred years old in his last life?
“Dinner’s settled!” Ling Han said with a smile.
The two of them found a small brook. Settling by the brook, they cleaned the body of the Rotten Blood Wolf. They naturally wouldn’t waste the blood of a demonic beast and so poured all the blood into a pouch. Afterwards, Ling Han would bath himself in the blood to absorb the essence of it to temper his own body.
They started a fire and cut off the wolf’s leg for barbecue. After sprinkling some salt on it, a fragrant aroma very quickly wafted out.
There shouldn’t be too many demands when on a trip out in the wilderness. After they had washed the wolf’s leg with clean water from the brook and it had dried, the sky had already completely darkened. They did not continue their journey onwards. Instead, they both sat cross-legged by the brook and began cultivating.
Ling Han bathed himself in the blood of the demonic beast. He started to circulate Indestructible Heaven Scroll to extract the concentrated essence of the blood for hi
s own use.
After merely slightly more than ten minutes, this dense, sticky beast’s blood became watery and diluted. The essence within it was already completely spent.
‘Like I thought… improving one’s physique is truly quite difficult!’ Ling Han thought.
Let’s use an example. If a martial artist in the Element Gathering Tier was consciously defending using Origin Power covering his body while being freely attacked by a martial artist of Body Refining Tier, it would be impossible for the latter to break through this layer of defense. However, if they didn’t try to defend, the defense of a martial artist of Element Gathering Tier was not much stronger than a martial artist’s of Body Refining Tier.
For instance, should a martial artist in Element Gathering Tier be ambushed by a martial artist in Body Refining Tier when asleep, then the chances were high that he would die due to his carelessness.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 18