Chapter 1 Rebirth

  After breaking through the acquired seventh rank, Chen Xuan didn't rush to get up, but instead continued to cultivate again and again, until he thoroughly solidified the seventh rank realm before standing up. He looked at the already pale white inner elixir of the Magic Bear in his hand, an eighth rank inner elixir that couldn't increase his true strength by much.

  It seems that to quickly improve, I have to go find a 9th-level demonic beast. Trying to punch the wall, my physical strength reached 5,000 jin, plus true energy it's 10,000 jin, which is more than twice the increase of a post-heavenly 6th-grade true energy. This should be related to the compression of my own true energy. If I were in my previous life as Chen Xuan, I wouldn't dare imagine that human strength could be so terrifying.

  "Hey kid, did you know what you were just doing?!" Lao Li said with a bit of anger.

  "Are you referring to the compression of true energy? I was also having a sudden idea, so I tried it out, and unexpectedly, the purity of the compressed true energy increased by a whole level. Now, if I were to face the Great Earth Demon Bear again, I could settle it with just one slash!" Chen Xuan said excitedly.

  "You little brat, don't you have any basic knowledge of cultivation? While compressing your true energy can make it more refined, it will also bring trouble for the next breakthrough. From now on, every time you break through, your true energy will be compressed twice as much, and the spiritual energy required will also be double that of others. There are pros and cons to this - a higher purity of true energy means you'll have the strength of two people at the same level, but it also means that future breakthroughs will become increasingly difficult. What would normally take a month to break through will now take two months. A person's lifespan is limited after all, so from now on, you'll need to spend twice as much time cultivating. I've already told you before - there are no shortcuts in cultivation, you must be down-to-earth."

  Lai Lao was so angry that he jumped up and down, and then continued to say.

  "If you're a genius, you upgrade one level while others upgrade two levels. One or two levels don't feel like much, but when every time you upgrade one level, they'll be one level higher than you, how can you still cultivate? While you're still in the mortal realm, others have already reached spiritual martial arts."

  "It's also my fault for not warning you in advance, you little scoundrel is too reckless, if the compression isn't done well, you'll be stuck at the Seventh Rank of the Post-Heaven Realm for your entire life, don't even think about advancing." Lí Old said angrily.

  The lifespan of a cultivator at the Later Heaven stage is generally around 100 years. Breaking through to the Spiritual Martial stage, one's lifespan can reach up to 200 years, which means that Chen Xuan will have to race against time from now on.

  Chen Xuan was like a basin of cold water poured from head to toe, and he was startled. His whole body broke out in cold sweat. It was all because of the mysterious harm caused by his previous life's cultivation. He had said that compressing one's true energy could make it more refined, but he hadn't expected there to be so much to it. He had almost ruined his own future prospects for cultivation. Even now, Chen Xuan's heart was still racing with a thumping sound.

  "You little scamp, you finally understand the severity of the situation, but it's not too late. If it were someone else, they might have to find a place to cry about it, but you don't need to. You have the Swallowing Heaven Technique, which allows you to quickly absorb spiritual energy, and you can also plunder it from others or extract it from the inner dan of magical beasts. Cultivation is originally an act of defying heaven, and one misstep could lead to walking into the devil's lair. You little scamp, you're truly a newborn calf that's not afraid of tigers!" Old Master Li said again.

  After listening to Lao Li, I finally put my heart at ease. At least I can continue to cultivate, and I will spend twice as much time as others. Chen Xuan didn't think that much, he deeply knew the truth that hard work always pays off. Although his cultivation was half a beat slower than others, his true strength was double that of his peers. Thinking about it, I felt relieved.

  It's impossible for all good things to be yours, true strength is twice that of others, and cultivation is faster than others. Now I understand what I saw before, "over level challenge", it was all a scam.

  "You little scamp, don't go out for a while, just stay here and master the second slash of the Seven Kills Sword 'Cutting Empty Space' before you leave. I'll teach you another set of footwork to cultivate together!"

  "Lui Lao, what level of body technique are you passing on to me?!"

  "Awesome!"

  Chen Xuan jumped up from the ground, this was the first time he had heard of a Heaven-level technique. Although the Devouring Heaven Technique was overbearing, it didn't have any levels. The Seven Kills Blade that Lao Li said was an Earth-level top-grade technique, and Chen Xuan hadn't even cultivated a single Heaven-level technique yet.

  "Hurry up and pass it to me!" Chen Xuan said hastily.

  "You little scamp, how can you be so impatient? First, master the 'Cutting Void' technique before speaking. Haste makes waste, and if you try to cultivate two things at once, your spirit will be dispersed. Only by focusing on one thing will your progress be faster. Don't listen to those people who say that in the morning they cultivate this, and in the afternoon they cultivate that - it's not that easy. Every day, you'll practice sword techniques in the morning, and contemplate them in the afternoon. You must summarize what you've learned from practicing sword techniques in the morning, and then meditate to cultivate your true energy at night. I want you to tell me about your insights from practicing sword techniques every day. Simply practicing blindly is useless. Also, don't practice on land; go under that waterfall to practice your sword."

  In the next few days, Chen Xuan practiced his swordsmanship at the bottom of the waterfall every day. At first, he could only last less than a minute each time before coming down, and not to mention practicing his sword, he couldn't even stand steadily.

  Two days later, Chen Xuan finally adapted to the impact of the waterfall, and he could stay for a cup of tea time at most. He barely managed to complete one move of "斩空" (a sword technique), but his knife skills were awkward and every time he made a cut, it wasn't where he wanted it to land.

  Chen Xuan also asked Lao Li how to avoid this situation, and Lao Li gave Chen Xuan another sentence: "You must grasp the flow of water, battles are not always fought on land." Then Lao Li ignored him, letting Chen Xuan comprehend the knife technique by himself.

  Shui Liu, Chen Xuan has been thinking about how to prevent the water flow from blocking his knife's forward progress.

  In the following days, Chen Xuan didn't practice his sword much and quietly watched the waterfall rushing down from the sky. Lao Li also didn't bother him.

  Water flows downward, breaking through the resistance of air to reach the ground. If my knife technique also follows the direction of water flow, using force will have what effect? To think that knife technique can be practiced to make the knife faster, it is necessary to break through the resistance of air.

  Chen Xuan came to the waterfall again, drew his sword with a hint of doubt, and swung it slowly, one stroke at a time. Chen Xuan went to feel the impact force of the water flow hitting the blade.

  "That's it, this is the feeling!"

  It wasn't until the sixth day that Chen Xuan finally figured out the direction of the water flow's impact, and the power needed to row against the current was several times higher than the effort required to go with the flow.

  Lao Li wanted me to understand the resistance of air, not how I was practicing under the waterfall. Cutting through the air means breaking through the airflow. Only by understanding the resistance of air can your knife speed be faster. Once Chen Xuan understood this point, he went crazy and practiced cutting wind at the bottom of the waterfall.

  Ten days had passed, and Chen Xuan had already mastered the "Cutting Void" skill to perfection at the bottom of the waterfall. He came to a forest and wanted to try out the power of this move, Cutting Wind.

  "Boom!"

  A row of trees as thick as a water bucket fell in a large area, all the cut surfaces were neat and tidy. Chen Xuan stared at everything in front of him with his eyes wide open, he simply didn't dare to believe his own eyes.

  The destructive power of Slash is too strong, this move will be used as a killer trick, and it must not be used unless absolutely necessary, the lethality is too great.

  "The kid's not bad, he can master 'Void Slash' in just ten days, that's a genius."

  Lao Li reappeared at this time and said with an appreciative tone.

  "What is genius? I am a genius." Chen Xuan said with some complacency.

  "You said I'm fat and now you're panting too."

  Lao Li couldn't help but admire Chen Xuan's comprehension. Some people may not be able to master the "Knife Slashing Empty Air" technique even after a lifetime of practice. You might be able to perform this move, but it's different from mastering it. If you can only manage to learn the physical movement, that means you've only grasped its form, but not its essence. Only when you reach a certain level of mastery can you truly understand the subtleties of knife techniques.

  Break its form, capture its spirit, this is the highest realm of martial arts.