Chapter 37: Three Restrictions for Cultivation
The crisp sound of pages flipping was pleasant to Han Li’s ears.
However, Li Feiyu hated that sound.
He ignored Han Li, who was concentrating on reading, and walked towards the mountain spring. He pulled out a long saber from the mud and started practicing.
Han Li glanced over at him. Seeing his friend’s overwhelming energy, Han Li stopped paying attention to Li Feiyu’s movements and shifted his concentration back to the book in his hands.
Han Li could read at a shocking speed of ten lines per glance. He quickly finished the thick book and grabbed another book without even lifting his head to look.
He kept his eyes partly closed while reading, showing a pensive expression from time to time. His eyes were glued to the book’s pages and unwilling to detach themselves for just a single moment. The way that his head followed his gaze and moved back and forth gave him the appearance of an elegant intellectual.
As time flew by, Han Li rapidly browsed through the Blinking Sword Art’s many manuals.
When he finished reading the eleventh manual, he suddenly stopped and threw the book back in his bag.
He closed his eyes to rest for a little bit.
Once he felt better, he sat down cross-legged and started cultivating the Eternal Spring Arts, striving to comprehend all the information he had just read.
Han Li’s facial expression shifted back and forth from excited and lively to serious and dispirited.
Not knowing how much time had passed, Han Li finally opened his eyes and was shocked by what he saw in front of him.
He didn’t realize that Li Feiyu had sneaked up so close to his face while his eyes had been closed. Li Feiyu was in such close proximity that their noses had almost touched.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to be practicing with your saber?”
“Junior Disciple Han, can’t see you what time it is right now? You’re asking a stupid question.” Li Feiyu pulled back his body and twitched his lips.
Han Li realized just then that the sunlight had dimmed.
He lifted his head and looked up. The sky was currently a blueish-grey colour, which meant that it was already evening.
“Cough! Time has really flown by while I was cultivating. I didn’t notice that it was this late already.”
Han Li stood up and moved around a little bit.
“So? Did you find anything interesting in the book?” Li Feiyu looked at Han Li passionately, hoping that Han Li could tell him about the Blinking Sword Art.
“Hmm, it’s not bad. I think this technique will suit me.”
“Huh?! What do you mean ‘not bad’?” Tell me the actual truth,” said Li Feiyu in a slightly dissatisfied tone.
“Specifically, these rare books are a combination of different techniques. In other words, there is no full set in here. They have all been pieced together from different martial arts styles,” Han Li slowly explained.
“Then what is the meaning of the name ‘Blinking Sword Art? Is it even an actual sword art? Why is the name so strange?” Li Feiyu was still unsatisfied by Han Li’s response, so he kept asking questions.
“Blinking Sword Art actually exists, but the manuals that pertain to it are only a small portion within the big mash up,” Han Li said with patience.
“As for the name of the Blinking Sword Art, there is a special reason for it.”
“What reason? Why can’t you say it all at once? Stop talking sentence by sentence, you are just like the old people in town.” Li Feiyu glared at Han Li; he couldn’t stand Han Li’s slow explanation.
At Li Feiyu’s urging, Han Li couldn’t do anything else but speed up his clarification.
“According to the books, this sword art manipulates light to affect the opponent’s eyesight, thereby giving the user a chance to land a decisive blow. It often makes your opponents lose their lives the moment they blink, hence the name ‘Blinking Sword Art’.”
“There is actually such a strange sword art? There are quite a few eccentric martial artists in this world!” Li Feiyu showed a lot of interest after listening, but quieted right after Han Li’s next sentence.
“This sword art has three restrictions. It cannot be practiced by those have cultivated True Qi, those who lack perseverance, or lastly, those without talent.”
When Li Feiyu heard the first requirement, he immediately gave up on cultivating the sword art. His True Qi was already at trained to a formidable stage. There was no way that he would be willing to disable his own internal strength to practice this new skill, which he knew next to nothing about.
Since he had completely lost interest in the rare books, Li Feiyu didn’t want to stay there any longer.
He stood up and was getting ready to leave, but before he left, he warned Han Li to copy the rare books as soon as possible so he could bring back all the original copies when they next met. Even though these rare books weren’t valued very much by other people, but if they disappear for a long time, it would still attract attention.
Not long after Li Feiyu left, Han Li left the place as well.
The whole landscape of the mountainous region was covered by layers of fog, causing it to be slightly dark. A forest of thistles grew on both sides of the narrow mountain paths. When a gust of mountain wind blew through the forest, a “hua lala” sound would be emitted. The leaves on the branches on both side of the path would flutter about frenziedly, akin to bared fangs and dancing claws.
On the somewhat seemingly sinister mountain road, Han Li rushed toward God Hand Valley.
Because he left mountain when the sun was beginning to dim, the sky was completely dark by the time he walked halfway to the valley.
If it hadn’t been for his Eternal Spring Arts, which sharpened his night vision, Han Li wouldn’t have been able to rush down the mountain in this dark environment. After all, this small road was not well tread. The road was filled with dangerously placed twists and turns. If one were not careful, an accident was likely to occur, thereby claiming his or her fragile life.
Walking in the pitch black forest, Han Li heightened his senses. Ordinary humans wouldn’t be able to clearly see the path in front of them, but for Han Li, it was as clear as day.
Despite his advantage, Han Li continued to be cautious. His caution was not honed by hunting ferocious wild beasts, but rather developed into a habit by hiding from Doctor Mo.
After the Seven Mysteries Sect relocated to the Rainbow Celestial Mountains, the beasts and creatures inhabiting the mountains and forests were eradicated in order to ensure the safety of the sect members. In addition to the ferocious beasts, even normal wild animals, such as the venomous snakes, had been hunted and turned into food for the disciples.
Han Li’s vigilance was not a part of his natural personality. He had developed it after experiencing Doctor Mo’s schemes so that he could prevent any unwanted dangers.
The mountain’s bone-chilling wind got stronger and stronger, giving off a shrill sound that caused his hair to stand on end. The distant Han Li, upon sensing the wind, hastened his pace as he stepped across the boundary that marked the edge of the forest.
He lightly sighed. Walking alone in this pitch dark made his heart grow heavy. Han Li quickened his pace once more, increasing his stride in order to leave the forest as soon as possible. All of a sudden, a strong gust of wind blew towards him.
After enduring the strong gust of wind, Han Li paused as if he had discovered something bizarre. He furrowed his brows and tilted his neck, as if he was trying to listen for something.
Han Li’s expression quickly turned serious. He heard the sound of footsteps echoing in the distance. Although the footsteps were extremely light and the owners of the footsteps were far away from him, Han Li could determine that there were two individuals rushing closer towards his direction.
He lightly lept away and hid himself in the forest next to the mountain path without making a single sound.
There was a large tree about thirty meters away from the path. Han Li hid himself behind the tree, curling himself into a ball. If one were to examine the tree from the front, he or she would not be able to find any traces of Han Li.
It was only after finding a good hiding spot that Han Li gradually began to calm down.
This time, Han Li was not being overly sensitive; there was something truly strange going on. It was highly illogical for two people to prowl around a remote location in the middle of the night. Han Li was eighty percent positive that the two mysterious figures were hiding something fishy up their sleeves.
Han Li did not want the mysterious figures to kill him for discovering their secret, even if he did so by accident.
However, if there were no dangers facing Han Li, then there would be no problem for him to eavesdrop on their secrets. Han Li was no hypocrite; he merely understood that if good fortune delivered itself to his doorstep, he would be a fool not to take advantage of it.
“…Descending the mountains… arrange well….time..people….Commander….”
Waves of low-sounding voices drifted over from far away. At this moment, the mountain wind was blowing extremely strongly. As a result, most of the words had been scattered by the wind, leaving only a small portion of the conversation that made its way into Han Li’s ears.
Han Li was astounded to think that he had managed to discover a portion of their secret. In this region, the only person with the title of Commander was the “Golden Wolf” Jia Tianlong from the Feral Wolf Gang. This person had great enmity with the Seven Mysteries Sect. Now that Han Li had heard his name in this remote location, it provided much food for thought.
Jia Tianlong was a ruthless, blood-drinking demonic figure in the eyes of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s disciples. Rumors told that he was a broad-shouldered man with a fat waist, long teeth, and a livid face. He supposedly ate human flesh and drank human blood three times a day. Many of the Seven Mysteries Sect’s junior disciples were frightened out of their wits just by hearing the rumors of such a devilish figure.
However, according to Li Feiyu, the rumors were far from the truth. Contrary to the rumors, Jia Tianlong was skinny and weak with exquisite facial features. He was quite young, in his early thirties. The rumors regarding how he ruthlessly killed people, however, were true. Jia Tianlong could not be judged by his appearance. After all, based on his facial features alone, no one would expect him to be able to control the other members of the gang.
Han Li gathered his thoughts as he tried to remember all that he knew about Jia Tianlong. Sucking in a cold breath, he curled up even tighter, trying to lower the sound of his breathing.
“…this time…. steal….list of names….kill….”
Another part of the conversation drifted over, clearer than before. The two mysterious figures were getting closer and closer to Han Li
Han Li did not even dare to breathe loudly. He knew that if he were to be discovered now, only death would await him. The two of them were likely spies from the Feral Wolf Gang, and they would definitely not let an outsider know of their secret.
“….Plan…must…not….quickly…”
Gradually, the voices of these two mysterious figures got even lower. It seemed like they had reached the crux of their discussion, which meant that they were about to reveal the most crucial information.
After a short moment, the voices got louder again, but Han Li could not hear them clearly; he could only hear the sound of the mountain wind blowing through. The outlines of these two mysterious figures passed by Han Li and gradually disappeared into the distance.
Han Li still did not dare to make any movements for a long period of time. Only after activating the Eternal Spring Arts and determining that there was no one near him in a thirty meter radius did he slowly reveal himself.
This time around, he had avoided certain death. Luckily for him, he managed to discover the movements of these two spies early on. If Han Li had met them face to face, he would surely have been killed to protect their secret. Even worse, based on his own martial skills, he did not even have a single shred of hope that he would survive such a confrontation.
Han Li stood motionlessly at the same location. Lost in his thoughts, his fingers lightly rubbed his chin while he gazed at the direction where the two spies had disappeared.
From the fragments of the secret conversation he heard, he could gauge that in the near future, the Feral Wolf Gang would undertake some action that would prove greatly detrimental to the Seven Mysteries Sect. There was a high probability that this action would have a close connection with the “list of names” that was previously mentioned.
What surprised him the most was that Han Li had already identified the identity of one of the figures despite of not being able to see their facial features. Even though the two mysterious figures had not spoken much, Han Li could match one of their low voices to the kitchen steward on the mountain of the Seven Mysteries Sect.
The steward, who had sold rabbits to Han Li back then, gave him a low impression. He had a mustache and an ignorant face, and he loved to take advantage of others. To think that he was actually a spy from the Feral Wolf Gang once again reminded Han Li that one could never be too cautious.
But reflecting back upon it, this was something to be expected. Only with a position such as a kitchen steward could a spy been able to enter and leave the mountains and pass along any news that he or she had obtained without arousing any suspicions.
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