Early the next morning, Chu Qingyun left his home and headed back to the Yuan Stone Ore Vein.
Since his true strength had already been exposed, he couldn't be bothered to wear a mask and made a beeline for the place where he had discovered the Primordial Spirit Fruits.
The vast cavern was as dim as ever.
The Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees twinkled with a milky-white glow, while a dense swarm of Elemental Ore Rats covered the cavern floor like a writhing carpet.
'Now that I'm a Third-Level Martial Artist, my Primordial Power is much more abundant.'
'This time, I'll probe deeper into the cavern.'
By now, his Three-star Vine Martial Soul could reach a maximum length of a full ten meters.
He controlled two of the vines, using them like ten-meter-high stilts to move forward, his body nearly scraping against the cavern ceiling.
This time, however, Chu Qingyun was extremely careful. He used the vines to gently push aside the Elemental Ore Rats below, taking care not to kill a single one. He also left the Primordial Spirit Fruits along his path untouched.
Although this agitated some of the Elemental Ore Rats, the swarm as a whole remained calm.
After cautiously advancing another two hundred meters or so, Chu Qingyun discovered that the deeper he went, the more Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees there were.
However, the Elemental Ore Rats deeper inside were also much larger and fatter than those in the outer areas.
After another hundred meters, he suddenly spotted a Primordial Spirit Fruit Tree in the deepest part of the cavern, more than twice the size of an ordinary one.
Furthermore, the tree bore only a single Primordial Spirit Fruit, one marked with several thin, golden threads.
'A Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit!'
Chu Qingyun was so excited he nearly lost his balance and fell.
Ordinary Primordial Spirit Fruits were only Tier One Spiritual Medicines that could assist in cultivation.
A Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit, however, was a Tier Two Spiritual Medicine. Legend had it that a Martial Artist who consumed one could, with a bit of luck, advance three levels consecutively. Even with the worst luck, they were guaranteed to advance at least one level.
'A Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit...'
'Too bad I can see it but can't have it...'
Tempting as the treasure was, Chu Qingyun didn't let it cloud his judgment.
Surrounding the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit were numerous burly Elemental Ore Rats, far larger than the average adult of their kind.
They likely possessed the strength of Tier One or Tier Two Martial Artists. Coupled with their sheer numbers, they were a force that could not be taken lightly.
Moreover, from this spot, the strange sensation he'd felt before grew even more intense.
Chu Qingyun could clearly feel his Devouring Martial Soul vibrating gently.
'I should get out of here for now...'
Instead of pressing further, Chu Qingyun began a slow retreat.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from making a suicidal attempt for the Golden Thread Primordial Spirit Fruit. After all, the temptation to jump two levels was simply too great.
After retreating to the edge of the Elemental Ore Rat swarm, Chu Qingyun set his sights on the three outermost Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees.
After a moment's hesitation, Chu Qingyun decided to make his move.
Hugging a rock on the cavern ceiling, he freed up all three of his vines.
The three vines crept forward, silent and slow. Each one coiled itself several times around the main stalk of a Primordial Spirit Fruit Tree, securing a firm grip on the three of them.
'Heave!'
Chu Qingyun roared in his mind.
The three vines yanked in unison, pulling the three Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees up, roots and all.
Simultaneously, he kicked off a protruding rock behind him, his body plummeting like a cannonball toward the stone platform at the cavern's entrance.
In mid-air, Chu Qingyun caught two of the vine-wrapped Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees with his hands. He then used two of the vines to land, launched himself onto the stone platform with a powerful leap, and sprinted out of the cavern without a backward glance.
The Elemental Ore Rat swarm instantly went berserk. Enraged, the rats on the outskirts flooded the stone platform like a tidal wave, chasing him out of the cavern.
However, upon being hit by the sunlight outside, they quickly scurried back into the cavern's shadows, howling in anger and threatening Chu Qingyun from a distance.
"Quite the haul!"
Chu Qingyun waved the fruit trees tauntingly at the Elemental Ore Rats in the cavern before vanishing.
His rough method of uprooting the trees had knocked several Primordial Spirit Fruits loose, but eight still remained on the three trees.
Chu Qingyun found a secluded spot, sat cross-legged, ate a Primordial Spirit Fruit, and began to cultivate.
Using the abundant yet gentle energy from the Primordial Spirit Fruits, Chu Qingyun spent nearly two hours opening his fourth meridian, becoming a Fourth-Level Martial Artist.
He threw a couple of punches, the air whistling with the force. A satisfied smile spread across Chu Qingyun's face.
'Now, I could probably defeat Zhao Yishui even without using my Sword Drawing Technique!'
'Time to test the length of my Three-Star Vine again!'
Chu Qingyun infused one of the vines with Primordial Power, and it began to grow rapidly.
Five meters.
Ten meters.
Fifteen meters...
Twenty meters!
The vine continued to grow until it reached twenty meters, then stopped.
'Twenty meters! Excellent! I can go try to snatch those other two Primordial Spirit Fruit Trees now!'
Unable to contain his excitement, Chu Qingyun started walking back out.
He was currently in a crevice between two rock walls.
As he reached the exit of the crevice, a sudden gust of wind funneled into the narrow space, creating powerful resistance.
Even with his Fourth-Level strength, Chu Qingyun felt his movement stutter.
'The resistance of the wind.'
'That was it... the Momentum of the wind!'
A flash of insight sparked in Chu Qingyun's mind.
After the tournament battle yesterday, the village chief and the others had told Chu Qingyun about the concepts of Sword Momentum and Sword Qi.
Chu Qingyun had been pondering ever since how he could unleash the power of Sword Momentum.
In that instant the wind had funneled in, he felt he had grasped something.
'Wind... sword... Momentum...'
'To build Momentum, you don't have to accumulate it strike by strike. You can unleash all of it in a single blow!'
Chu Qingyun's eyes lit up. He leaped out, drew his longsword, and began to practice.
Spring Rain!
He practiced the first form of the Gale Seven Swords over and over again. He repeated it endlessly, trying to feel the power in every single movement of the technique.
Fierce blades of Sword Aura left a crisscrossing pattern of Sword Marks on the nearby ground and rock walls.
To an observer, it would seem that Chu Qingyun was merely repeating the same move.
However, a master of the Sword Dao would have noticed that with each repetition, Chu Qingyun performed one less action.
Yet, despite the fewer movements, the marks left by his Sword Aura grew deeper and deeper!
After practicing this first form dozens, even hundreds of times, Chu Qingyun had managed to condense the originally intricate and complex Sword Technique into a single strike.
"Spring Rain!"
On his final repetition, Chu Qingyun's eyes shone with unprecedented brightness.
He thrust his sword forward, and a fierce Sword Aura seemed on the verge of flying from the blade.
The Refined Iron Longsword plunged into the incredibly hard black rock, all the way to the hilt. But the rock for several meters behind it was pierced clean through by the ferocious Sword Aura!
Though it was just a single strike, it contained the full power and Sword Momentum of the entire Spring Rain Swordsmanship!
'So that's how it is... that's how it is! This is what it means to truly comprehend Sword Momentum. This is how you truly apply it.'
Chu Qingyun withdrew his longsword and began practicing the second form, Xia Feng Wuyan.
He continued to practice like this until dusk, by which time he had finally mastered the first four forms of the Gale Seven Swords.
He had condensed all of the techniques into just four strikes.
But with the power of these four strikes, Chu Qingyun felt confident he could face a Fifth-Level Martial Artist!
As night fell, Chu Qingyun caught a small beast and brought it to a remote cavern. He started a fire to roast it, preparing to spend the night.
He failed to notice, however, that while he was hunting, he had been spotted by a figure dressed in black.