Song Ciwan stood in a corner beside Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall and took out three more Ancestral Dragon Coins from her sleeve.
With no target in mind and ti to kill, she perford a casual Divination.
One thing was worth noting: despite leaving long after Niu the Sixth and being repeatedly delayed by various incidents along the way, Song Ciwan had still managed to arrive at Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall before him.
This was hardly surprising. Pinglan City was massive. How could a mortal, relying solely on their own two feet, possibly outpace a Cultivator skilled in both Wind Manipulation and Escape Techniques?
Though the description of the preceding events was long, in reality, the ti was only forty-five minutes past Midnight.
The liveliness of the Mortal World was still in full swing, showing no sign of ending. From a distance, sounds of rrint and laughter drifted out from Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall.
It sounded as if there was music from strings and flutes to liven the mood, beautiful won dancing, and drunken Martial Artists holding forth in loud conversation. One of them even leaped onto the Martial Arts Arena and perford a boxing routine with wind-whipping power, instantly drawing a roar of applause.
Song Ciwan extended her Spiritual Sense, silently mapping out the various scenes within Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall. It was an unusual and truly marvelous perspective.
The three Ancestral Dragon Coins in her hand fell to the ground, landing with a faint, crisp tinkle.
First hexagram: Lesser Yin.
Second hexagram: Old Yang.
Third hexagram: Lesser Yin.
Fourth hexagram...
On the fourth throw... the three copper coins suddenly landed perfectly on their edges!
In that sa instant, the hairs on Song Ciwan’s back shot straight up. An indescribable sense of dread welled up from within her.
She opened her palm, and the three copper coins on the ground instantly flew back into it. Her Spiritual Sense swept out as her gaze darted left and right. The corners around her were both secluded and silent... nothing seed amiss.
’Then why did the Ancestral Dragon Coins suddenly land on their edges?’
Logically, coins landing on edge should be an auspicious sign. And yet, at the very mont it happened, Song Ciwan was struck by a sudden, chilling dread.
Song Ciwan would never ignore her intuition. Ever since she had cultivated the First Layer of her Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting to the level of Masterful Skill, she had naturally acquired an ability to sense danger.
This ability wasn’t always accurate, but whenever it activated on its own, Song Ciwan knew she had to take it seriously.
She then checked the three Li Wood Puppets she carried. At the sa ti, while already wearing a stitched Human Skin Mask, she felt around and swapped it for a different face.
She stood in place, but with a series of soft clicks and cracks, her body grew three inches taller. In an instant, she transford from a youth of average height into a tall, well-proportioned young man.
Song Ciwan summoned the Duality Heart Protection Array Plate for cover and completely changed her clothes. She then withdrew the Black Armor Saber Magical Artifact from the Heaven and Earth Scale—a weapon she had possessed for a long ti but rarely used.
Song Ciwan almost never used the saber, but she had completed the refinent process to bind it to herself long ago.
She gave the saber a flourish, twirling it by the hilt before gripping it firmly and sitting down cross-legged. From the Heaven and Earth Scale, she selected a cluster of emotions obtained from Xie Yunxiang. Sell!
[You have sold human desires: the joy, shock, and sorrow of a Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator. Weight: three catties and one tael. You have gained three years and one month of Cultivation.]
The Spiritual Qi concentration next to Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall was neither good nor bad. It was several tis richer than in Su Yang City, yet it could be considered barren compared to the grotto-heavens on Wangjiang Mountain.
Normally, selling "human desires" at a ti like this would have been a poor trade.
When Song Ciwan was in Illusory Nether City, she had never rushed to sell the various "human desires" from the Heaven and Earth Scale. That was because the Spiritual Qi in Illusory Nether City was sparse while the Nether Qi was overpowering, making it a highly unsuitable place for Cultivation.
For one, she didn’t want to be wasteful; for another, it simply wasn’t convenient. So, she had refrained from selling the emotional energy and had only traded physical objects.
But now, as she sold the cluster of energy from Xie Yunxiang, she had a different plan in mind.
’This ti, I’m not going to allocate this Cultivation ti to my Main Cultivation thod, the Sutra of Sitting and Forgetting. I’m going to use it to practice the Illusion-Breaking Blade Technique!’
As the saying goes: sharpening your spear just before battle—it might not make it sharp, but at least it’ll shine.
And she had three whole years of Cultivation ti to work with!
While a quarter of an hour passed in the real world, the cross-legged Song Ciwan spent three full years practicing her blade work in the ethereal Cultivation Space.
She felt she had no natural talent for the blade. Although she had practiced the Illusion-Breaking Blade Technique after acquiring it, she had still spent the least amount of ti on it compared to her other Daoist Techniques and skills.
This was the first ti she had ever been so imrsed in practicing a blade technique for such a long, continuous period.
Cleave, hack, slash, chop, flick, intercept, push...
Move by move, stance by stance, the Dao of the Blade was born from simplicity.
’Only through ultimate simplicity can one break illusions!’
Swing. Swing. And swing again.
Gradually, even as Song Ciwan swung the blade more and more tis, the path of each swing grew simpler and more direct.
Her Illusion-Breaking Blade Technique originally had thirteen basic forms. But as she practiced, those thirteen forms seed to beco twelve, and the twelve then beca eleven...
Just as Song Ciwan was savoring the subli feeling of refining her blade technique, ready to press on and reduce the eleven forms to ten, her cross-legged body suddenly stirred, and she opened her eyes.
Her three years and one month of Cultivation ti were up. In a trance, Song Ciwan tumbled out of that state of blissful, simple Dao Intent of the blade.
Upon snapping out of it, she felt a mont of regret. The Black Armor Saber lay flat across her knees. As her hand caressed the Black Armor Saber, a sudden affection for the blade rose in her heart.
Song Ciwan was tempted to press her advantage, trade another batch of "human desires," and gain more Cultivation ti. But just then, she heard the sound of familiar footsteps in the distance.
THUD... THUD... THUD...
Staggering, heavy yet unsteady.
It was Niu the Sixth. He had finally made it to Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall!
Song Ciwan had to abandon the thought of further Cultivation. She put away the Duality Heart Protection Array Plate. Then, holding the Black Armor Saber, she rose to her full height.
From within the shadows, a Black-clothed Blade Master with an almost unnoticeable presence stepped slowly out of the darkness.
"He" raised his eyes, looking toward the far end of the long alley.
There, at the other end of the street, was a drunken man, clutching a rattle and slowly making his way closer, one step at a ti.
The drunkard didn’t see the Black-clothed Blade Master standing at the alley’s edge, and the blade master, in turn, remained perfectly still, a silent observer.
Inside Hongsheng Martial Arts Hall, the festivities continued.
The drunken Niu the Sixth stumbled to a side door and started pounding on it. BANG, BANG, BANG.
An impatient voice ca from behind the door. "Who is it? Knocking in the middle of the night! What is this nonsense?"
Niu the Sixth’s voice was thick. "It’s , Brother Ma. Open up."
It turned out the guard at the door knew him.
With a CREAK, the door opened, and Niu the Sixth was let inside.
The Ma Guard sounded surprised. "Hey, Old Sixth, when did you even leave? It’s the New Year. Everyone’s inside celebrating. Why run off instead of having a drink?"
Niu the Sixth said, "I miss Niuniu. It’s the New Year. I get to be here in the hall, drinking and making rry, but what about my Niuniu? Where is she?"
His tone was dejected and heavy, and the Ma Guard was suddenly filled with pity. "You... sigh! And here I was thinking I had it bad, with them all inside feasting while I’m stuck out here guarding the door with nothing but the cold wind. Fucking miserable, I thought! But turns out, Old Sixth, you’ve got it even worse than !"
Niu the Sixth just gave a bitter smile. "Brother Ma, if my Niuniu were still here, I wouldn’t need to drink either. Brother Ma, let watch the door!"
The Ma Guard was delighted at first, then beca embarrassed. "No, no, that won’t do. How could I let you guard the door? You..."
He quickly tried to refuse, but Niu the Sixth insisted, and the two began a polite back-and-forth at the door.
What no one could see was that, in a strange dinsion beyond their perception, a Black-clothed Blade Master was standing in a corner, silently casting their gaze upon the two n.
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