Chapter 205: Breaking Limits in Sword Techniques, Advancing Sword Aura Once More!

Chapter 205: Breaking Limits in Sword Techniques, Advancing Sword Aura Once More!

Inside the room.

Looking at his status panel.

【Source Energy】: 687.33

【Skills】:

Firewood Chopping Sword Technique+ (4 Limit Breaks 5000/5000) (Characteristics: Broad Understanding, Swift as the Wind, Divine Sword Control, Unity of Man and Sword)



Enhanced Water Skill+ (5 Limit Breaks 6000/6000) (Characteristics: Underwater Breathing, Water Manipulation, Water Spirit Affinity, Cloud and Rain Invocation, Water Spirit Body)



Looking at his skill panel once more, Jiang Ning fell into deep thought.

Among the numerous skills, only two had reached the maximum experience value and met the requirements for limit-breaking.

One was the Firewood Chopping Sword Technique, which had completed four limit breaks, and the fifth limit break required 200 Source Energy points.

The other was the Enhanced Water Skill, which had completed five limit breaks, and according to his estimation, the sixth limit break would require a full 500 Source Energy points.

In other words, to break the limits of both skills, he would need a total of 700 Source Energy points.

He currently had only 687 Source Energy points, and he chose to ignore the decimal values for now.

So, he could only choose one of these two skills to break through.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Jiang Ning decisively selected the Firewood Chopping Sword Technique.

He had greater plans for his Source Energy, and the Gale Thunder Arrow Art had only completed its first limit break. With dedicated grinding, he estimated that it would take no more than two to three days to max out the remaining 2000 experience points.

The next moment, Jiang Ning's mind moved, and his intention focused on the plus sign behind the Firewood Chopping Sword Technique.

He closed his eyes.

As his eyes shut, darkness enveloped his vision.

At that moment, a flash of sword light suddenly appeared in the pitch-blackness.

The sword light was dazzling white, approaching from a distance.

The closer it got, the more intense the sword light became.

Swiftly!

The entire field of vision was engulfed by this sword light.

Wherever his eyes fell, they were met with a dazzling, blinding sword light.

This sword light pierced through the darkness in his eyes, as if it could cleave the very heavens and earth within his gaze.

Time passed.

Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes, regaining his sight.

But at this moment, he still saw two streaks of sword light floating in his pupils.

One on the left and one on the right, each with a streak of sword light.

The sword light appeared vividly in his vision, but as time went by, Jiang Ning noticed it gradually dissipating.

【Source Energy】: 487.33

【Skills】:

Firewood Chopping Sword Technique (5 Limit Breaks 6000/6000) (Characteristics: Broad Understanding, Swift as the Wind, Divine Sword Control, Unity of Man and Sword, Natural Sword Bone)



Enhanced Water Skill (5 Limit Breaks 6000/6000) (Characteristics: Underwater Breathing, Water Manipulation, Water Spirit Affinity, Cloud and Rain Invocation, Water Spirit Body)



【Natural Sword Bone】: Possessing a natural sword bone, one has an innate talent for achieving great heights in sword techniques.

After glancing at the description on the panel, Jiang Ning's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"This time, it's a passive talent characteristic!"

"It seems that relying on characteristics alone won't provide an immediate boost to my combat power."

Subsequently, Jiang Ning stepped into the center of the courtyard.

A long sword appeared in his hand.

Having just broken through the limit in his sword technique, the sword light had dissipated, but it had already left a deep impression in the depths of his mind.

At this moment, he felt as if he could wield the sword and unleash that very sword light.

Holding the sword, Jiang Ning stood in the courtyard, feeling a sense of unity with the sword and the heavens and earth.

In this state, he seemed to perceive the rhythm and breath of the heavens and earth.

Jiang Ning closed his eyes and focused, quietly sensing this rhythm.

After about half a cup of tea's worth of time.

Jiang Ning, standing in the center of the courtyard, suddenly opened his eyes wide.

He slashed with his sword.

Whoosh—

The sword light hung upside down in mid-air.

Buzz—

The long sword stood in the air, its blade trembling incessantly.

At this moment, Jiang Ning's eyes were slightly open, revealing a hint of amazement.

His slash had stopped in mid-air, just above the ground, about three feet away.

Yet, on the ground, there was a finger-thick sword mark.

Wherever the sword mark passed, all grass, wood, and stones were cleanly severed.

Several egg-sized pebbles were also split in two by this sword mark.

The cuts were smooth and even, without a single flaw.

Even the soil beneath the surface of the ground was exposed.

This display of power was entirely different from what his sword wind could achieve before."

Before, when he swung his sword, it could only cut through grass.

But now, the power was entirely different.

This slash left a blade mark more than half a meter long.

Wherever the blade mark passed, not only were the weeds and bamboo completely severed, but even the hard rocks were split in two.

This display of power was no less than the eruption of Inner Breath.

However, in this slash, he didn't use any special techniques.

It was merely a simple downward chop.

Then, Jiang Ning slashed again.

Hum—

The blade halted in mid-air.

The powerful kinetic energy was completely absorbed by the blade in Jiang Ning's hand, and it kept emitting a trembling sound.

Within a meter in front of him, another clear blade mark appeared.

This time, Jiang Ning carefully measured the length of the mark, and it was about six feet and three inches long.

In other words, it was about two meters in length.

Wherever this blade mark passed, grass, wood, bamboo, and rocks were all severed without exception.

Swoosh—

He raised the blade and waved it.

A moment later.

Boom—

A huge rock in front of him was split in half, and the smooth cutting surface caused it to lose all support, sliding and falling to the ground.

Looking at this scene, Jiang Ning's eyes slightly narrowed.

"According to the book, when the sword aura becomes powerful enough, it can resonate with heaven and earth, invoking their power and unleashing unimaginable might."

"Is this the effect of further enhancing the sword aura?" Jiang Ning muttered.

He didn't dare to make a hasty judgment in his heart.

Because in this aspect, he didn't know much.

He only had a superficial understanding of the sword aura.

According to the book, mastering the sword aura was a necessary condition for stepping into the Fourth Stage of Martial Dao.

At the Sixth Stage of Martial Dao, each subsequent stage was a whole new world, and the gap between them became increasingly vast, making them far beyond ordinary humans.

For example, at the Fifth Stage of Martial Dao, one could only touch the human body's limitations and remove them.

But at the Fifth Stage, one could control the Inner Breath and discover the Dantian.

At this stage, with the support of the Inner Breath, one's combat power increased significantly, allowing them to fight three or four opponents of the same stage, or even those at the initial stage of the Fifth Stage.

If one could further refine the Inner Breath into a vortex, their power would become unimaginably strong.

A single slash with the vortex could easily sever anything.

Even armored soldiers wielding sharp weapons could be effortlessly cut down.

This was something that even a Fifth Stage Martial Artist at full power would find difficult to achieve.

After all, the so-called armor was forged from fine iron.

It wasn't that easy to cut through armor made of fine iron.

The soldiers wearing such armor were all Ranked Martial Artists with skin as tough as copper.

The combination of the two made them akin to human tanks.

Not to mention cutting through both the person and their armor.

Even a simple kill would be challenging.

These elite soldiers, when formed into an army, could easily surround and kill Martial Artists far above their level.

Even Fifth Stage Martial Artists who had refined their Inner Breath wouldn't dare to fall into such an army formation.

Because human strength had its limits, and so did the Inner Breath.

How long could one fight at full power?

But an army formation had an endless supply of killing power.

Moreover, as far as Jiang Ning knew, some elite legions in Great Xia, like the Black Wind Army, were composed of soldiers at the Eighth Stage of Martial Dao and above.

There were many elite soldiers at the Seventh Stage, and even higher-ranked commanders.

This was one of the reasons why Great Xia had been able to suppress the world for nearly a thousand years without major chaos.

However, all of this was not as effective against a Fourth Stage Martial Artist.

The Fourth Stage was much stronger than the Fifth Stage.

Jiang Ning only knew that it was much stronger, and that only by mastering the sword aura could one obtain the key to entering the Fourth Stage.

Aside from that, he didn't know much else.

Currently, the Fourth Stage of Martial Dao was still far from him.

But he knew that he had already obtained the key to entering the Fourth Stage.

The next moment,

He tested a few more slashes.

With each swing, it seemed to invoke the power of heaven and earth.

Each slash possessed an effect similar to the sword vortex, capable of cutting through everything within two meters in front of him.

Even hard rocks, in the face of the sword aura invoking the power of heaven and earth, were as fragile as tofu.

"This should be the effect of further enhancing the sword aura," Jiang Ning muttered.

[Source Energy]: 487.33

[Skills]:

Firewood Chopping Sword Technique (5 Break Limit 6000/6000) (Characteristics: Versatility, Swift as the Wind, Divine Sword Control, Sword and Man as One, Natural Sword Bone)



Swimming Skill (5 Break Limit 6000/6000) (Characteristics: Underwater Breathing, Water Control Technique, Water Spirit Affinity, Summon Rain, Water Spirit Body)



He glanced at his panel again, falling into a brief contemplation.

As he broke the limit of his skills, the required Source Energy points also gradually increased.

From the initial ten points needed to break the limit, to now nearly five hundred points still not meeting the requirements.

Undoubtedly, both the Enhanced Firewood Chopping Blade Technique and the sixth Break Limit of the Enhanced Water Skill required a total of 500 Source Energy points.

This requirement was indeed a bit excessive for him at the moment.

If he accumulated at his usual rate, it would take nearly half a year to gather 500 points.

And this was just the sixth Break Limit.

Needless to say, the requirements for the seventh Break Limit would be even more exaggerated.

"Forget it! I won't invest in the Enhanced Firewood Chopping Blade Technique and Enhanced Water Skill for now!"

"The Gale Thunder Arrow Art, with only 200 points needed for the second Break Limit, is the best choice for me right now."

After making up his mind, Jiang Ning glanced at the bottom of the panel,

【Skills】: Gale Thunder Arrow Art (1/2000 Break Limits) (Attribute: Wind and Thunder Breath)



The Gale Thunder Arrow Art was now just 1999 experience points away from the second Break Limit.

For him, this was as simple as drawing the bow and shooting arrows 1999 times.

Even though the recovery of Wind and Thunder Force took some time, even in water, it couldn't be infinite.

But drawing and shooting arrows 1999 times, without considering exhaustion or muscle strain, would take at most two to three days.

Although this time was short, Jiang Ning didn't plan to grind for experience in the Gale Thunder Arrow Art today.

His resources hadn't been fully consumed yet.

In the Infinite Ring, there were still pills to assist him in the Seventh Stage of Martial Dao's muscle refining.

In the courtyard.

Jiang Ning sat cross-legged on the ground and took out a golden brocade box from his storage ring.

Inside the box was the pill he had purchased yesterday.

Dragon Tiger Sinew Pill.

Each of these pills was worth five thousand taels.

Even with a 20% discount, it was still four thousand taels each.

According to Han Hongmei, the Dragon Tiger Sinew Pill was the best pill for muscle refining in the Wanhua Tower.

The price of five thousand taels per pill was enough to prove its potent medicinal properties.

This time, Jiang Ning bought a total of six pills.

Buying these six pills almost emptied his savings.

"I wonder how much progress I can make in muscle refining by taking these six Dragon Tiger Sinew Pills?"

"Will it be like a tiger, or like a dragon?"

Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

As for refining his muscles like a dragon, he didn't dare to think about it.

With just these six Dragon Tiger Sinew Pills, it was impossible to refine his muscles to that level.

To reach the state of having muscles like a dragon, one needed extremely precious treasures.

Jiang Ning had only seen such an item in the records of the Inspection Bureau's collection.

Obtaining that treasure required a significant amount of contribution points.

A moment later.

Jiang Ning calmed his mind.

He opened the brocade box in his hand.

In an instant, a pill the size of a quail egg appeared before his eyes, its body a mix of gold and purple, with lines resembling the struggle of a dragon and tiger on its surface.

As the brocade box opened, no scent of medicine diffused.

But Jiang Ning wasn't surprised at all.

The outer layer of these pills was covered with a thin, cicada-wing-like pill coating.

The pill coating could seal the pill, preventing the loss and deterioration of its medicinal properties.

It was because of this pill coating that such precious pills didn't require any special storage and could be kept in ordinary brocade boxes.

No sealed container could match the effectiveness of the pill coating.

Looking at the pill before him, Jiang Ning's thoughts stirred.

As if guided by an invisible hand, the Dragon Tiger Sinew Pill rose and flew towards his slightly open mouth.

Once in his mouth, the pill was moistened by saliva, and the outer pill coating quickly dissolved, releasing a rich medicinal fragrance.

This fragrance was like aged sandalwood, filling his nostrils and making his entire body feel refreshed, his bodily functions became extremely active, his heartbeat quickened, and his blood flowed faster than usual.

The next moment.

Jiang Ning's throat slightly swelled, and the pill descended into his abdomen.

In his mind, a raging fire burned.

He visualized a crucible taking shape.

The secret technique of the Medicine King Valley, the Furnace Transformation Pill Technique, took effect once more.

At this moment, his body transformed into a crucible, and his qi and blood power became the fuel for the invisible fire.

With his qi and blood now more vigorous, the invisible fire burned even stronger, causing his body to radiate an astonishing amount of heat.

As the heat dissipated, the surrounding air began to distort and deform.

Jiang Ning's skin was filled with a fiery red color.

One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths.

Time passed.

The Dragon Tiger Sinew Pill in his body was slowly refined, and impurities were burned away by the invisible fire, leaving only the pure essence of the pill.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end