Swordsmanship Coach: Kill with One Slash

On the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, beside a somewhat remote shelf, Su Xing stood alone, a bamboo book in hand, reading it slowly.

The book was ancient. Strange spots had begun to appear on its surface, a clear sign of its long and storied history.

Yet, there wasn’t a single speck of dust on it, which showed just how important this technique was to the entire Cyan Cloud Sect.

Unfortunately, Su Xing had been standing here for a long time. While few people came and went on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion, it wasn’t completely empty. Yet, not a single person came to look at this book. It seemed to be rather unpopular in the Cyan Cloud Sect.

It made sense, though.

After all, it was incredibly difficult for ordinary disciples to get even one chance to enter the Scripture Pavilion.

To waste that precious opportunity on a technique that was notoriously hard to master would surely lead to endless regret. Aside from those with immense ambition, it was likely no one was willing to cultivate this technique, even if it could lead to the ninth rank.

The opening lines exuded a strong Taoist School flavor. Su Xing immediately realized this must be a technique centered on Qi Cultivation. After all, although the Cyan Cloud Sword Immortal had achieved the unity of the immortal and martial paths, he had originally been a Qi Cultivator.

However, Su Xing didn’t pay it too much mind and simply continued to browse through it carefully.

He came across several terms he didn’t recognize at all, but he patiently read on. His past experiences had given him a rough understanding of how his "golden finger" worked.

He didn’t need to completely master a technique to trigger the fusion. As long as he read through the general idea, the system would automatically determine for him whether it could be fused.

Sure enough, when Su Xing finished reading the martial section, the system’s panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.

However, the name was different from what the Cyan Cloud Sect Elders had called it—Immortal-Martial Unity. The system prominently displayed the Cultivation Technique’s true name.

Immortal Martial Root. The name was simple, perhaps even a bit crude, but for some reason, Su Xing felt a subconscious tremor.

Because the moment the system’s fusion panel appeared, the breathing technique on his panel had suddenly been replaced by Immortal Martial Root. At the same time, Su Xing felt a dull, throbbing pain spread through his mind.

This kind of pain had only ever appeared when he was breaking through to a new realm, never during a fusion. This could only mean one thing: the upgrade to his breathing technique was far more significant than he had imagined.

"..."

Su Xing frowned. He suddenly realized the understanding the system was transmitting to him seemed different from the Martial Dao comprehension left behind by the Cyan Cloud Sword Immortal—or rather, their very foundations were different.

The Cyan Cloud Sword Immortal was undeniably brilliant, but he was fundamentally a Qi Cultivator. When creating his Cultivation Technique, he would naturally have leaned toward the Qi Cultivation Path, using a Qi Cultivation Technique as his foundation. That was why the Qi Cultivation Technique was the first thing one saw upon opening the Immortal Martial Root manual.

The system, however, was able to instantly convert the Immortal Martial Root from one based on a Qi Cultivation Technique into one founded on the Martial Dao, or even the Sword Dao.

This allowed Su Xing to comprehend it much faster, giving him the strange, bewildering feeling that this was the technique he was always meant to practice.

The feeling came as quickly as it went.

In barely an instant, the system’s fusion process was complete. For some unknown reason, this fusion had been exceptionally swift.

Su Xing let out a soft breath and subconsciously glanced down at his body. It hadn’t grown stronger as it did when his sword techniques broke through; in fact, he looked slightly leaner.

But Su Xing could clearly feel that his muscle strength hadn’t diminished in the slightest. Moreover, inside his body, in addition to the Qi and Blood that was a natural byproduct of his powerful muscles, a wisp of blue energy was now circling within his Dantian.

It was faint in color but exceptionally sharp, like a tiny sword.

’This must be Spiritual Qi.’ Although Su Xing had never practiced Qi Cultivation, he had read a great many cultivation novels and could more or less guess what it was.

In his Dantian, the Black Sword, Sparrow Sword, and Snake Sword stood beside this thread of Spiritual Qi like three big brothers.

Just then, that wisp of Spiritual Qi seemed to have a will of its own and immediately drilled into the Black Sword. The Black Sword seemed to be strengthened and immediately erupted with a terrifying wave of energy.

Although this was all happening inside Su Xing’s Dantian, it allowed him to feel even more clearly how much stronger the Black Sword had become.

Strictly speaking, the Black Sword was already very powerful. As Su Xing’s first Companion Sword, its power had continuously risen in tandem with Su Xing’s own realm. But this wisp of Spiritual Qi was able to strengthen the Black Sword a little bit.

Although it was just a little bit, it could not be underestimated at all.

If Su Xing could possess Spiritual Qi like the waves of the sea in the future, without a doubt, his Sword Dao would go longer and farther. It’s just that it would require long-term cultivation, or...

Adding points.

"A wisp of Spiritual Qi..."

"I wonder if I can even touch the threshold of the first rank among Qi Cultivators."

Su Xing said helplessly.

To be sure, through the system’s infusion, Su Xing had naturally learned the unity of the immortal and martial paths. However, it seemed that unlike previous fusions, this one didn’t integrate the new Heart Method into his existing system and bring it up to his current level.

With the Immortal Martial Root, if his Martial Dao path was a mountain, he had already reached a spot near its peak. His Qi Cultivation Path, however, had only just arrived at the foot of the mountain.