After successfully mastering Basic Sword Qi, Qi Yun immediately summoned his Magic Technique Panel.
Amidst swirling mist and ink, the panel slowly materialized.
[Mastered Magic Techniques]
[Clear Wind Technique: Automatically updating (Progress 1%)]
[Basic Sword Qi: Automatically updating (Progress 1%)]
At the same time, a familiar throbbing erupted in Qi Yun's chest, its source pointing directly to the Storage Pouch in his robes.
Or rather… it was the Tough Gold inside the Storage Pouch!
'Just as I thought!'
'The Magic Technique Panel only performs Refinement on Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Objects that correspond to a technique's Dao Essence.'
A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Qi Yun immediately took out the Storage Pouch and fished out the piece of Tough Gold.
The moment the Tough Gold was in his hand, the Magic Technique Panel trembled slightly. A surging suction force erupted from Qi Yun's palm, refining this Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Object in an instant!
Fueled by the wondrous power of the Tough Gold's Refinement, the progress bar for Basic Sword Qi on the Magic Technique Panel began to skyrocket at a visible rate.
10%… 20%… 45%… 80%… 100%!
A single Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Object filled the progress bar for Basic Sword Qi to the brim.
The newly mastered Basic Sword Qi was instantly upgraded!
[Magic Technique automatic update complete. This is a minor version update. The Magic Technique's effects have been adjusted as follows.]
[Basic Sword Qi: Removed casting wind-up.]
"Removed casting wind-up?"
Staring at the line of text on the panel, Qi Yun was stunned and a little confused.
'Casting wind-up?'
'Isn't that... the term from the games in my past life for a character's pre-skill animation?'
'But I'm not playing a game right now.'
'Wait... could it be...'
Suddenly realizing something, Qi Yun looked at the wooden table five meters away. Then, he activated it with a thought!
SHING—
An incredibly sharp stream of Sword Qi shot out again, instantly carving a deep gash into the table.
"Holy crap, instant cast..."
Qi Yun's expression was one of pure shock, seeing that he had unleashed Sword Qi with just a single thought—no hand seals, no incantations.
'No hand seals!'
'No incantations!'
'No preparation whatsoever!'
'As the thought arises, Sword Qi is born!'
"So this is what they meant by 'removed casting wind-up'… The technique follows the will. A single thought is all it takes for the magic to manifest."
'It's too powerful.'
Compared to the Clear Wind Technique's new effect of turning into a clear wind, this characteristic of Basic Sword Qi—the ability to fire instantly with a thought and without any wind-up—was no less valuable.
Although the power of the Sword Qi itself hadn't increased, the ability to unleash it with a mere thought and no preparation was far, far more powerful than a simple boost in might.
'And this is just a minor update. What would a major one be like...?' Simply imagining it, Qi Yun could feel the boundless potential of his Magic Technique Panel.
'Next, besides tempering my Cultivation for an early breakthrough, I need to gather more wood- and metal-element Spiritual Objects.'
'Luckily, I seem to have a special sense for these Spiritual Objects now.'
'I can perceive them as long as I'm within a certain range.'
'A few more upgrades, and even the most ordinary minor Magic Technique could become a world-shaking Great Divine Technique.'
Silently plotting his future path, a smile crept onto Qi Yun's lips.
After more than two years of hardship, of exhausting his mind and treading on thin ice...
...he could finally see a glimmer of dawn.
...
「Three days passed in a flash.」
The familiar procession of black carriages appeared once again before the secluded wooden cabin in the bamboo forest.
Only this time, it was no longer the awkward situation of more than ten people crammed into one carriage. Instead, six carriages were lined up neatly, one for each person, the distinction clear.
"Hmph!" Tang Shun's face was grim, his eyes a web of red veins. He clearly hadn't slept for the past three days.
Over the past three days, he had privately "visited" the other five one by one, probing them with his words and scrutinizing them with his gaze, trying to find any trace of the thief in their subtle expressions or verbal slip-ups, but to no avail.
Every single person vehemently denied seeing any Storage Pouch.
Shen Fan, in particular, completely washed his hands of any responsibility for his "failed" Tracking Technique.
'Qi Yun and that Wu Tao are both peasants with terrible cultivation and aptitude. They only passed the trial through sheer dumb luck.'
'With their skills and disposition, there's no way they could have stolen my Storage Pouch.'
'Shen Fan offered to help, but considering how fucking useless his Magic Technique was, I can't rule out the possibility that he's the real thief crying 'stop thief'. '
'As for the other two, Du Yunian and Sun Pingqiu, there's a good chance one of them is the culprit, too.'
His inherent mindset as a second-generation scion led Tang Shun to rule out the correct answer from the start, fixing his suspicion firmly on Shen Fan's group of three.
After all, from a logical standpoint...
Qi Yun was, by all accounts, a peasant with no backing. His aptitude was poor, and the technique he cultivated was the Clear Wind Technique, the simplest of the Five Elements Techniques.
Could such a background character really have the skill and nerve to steal the Storage Pouch from right under his nose?
Meanwhile, Qi Yun, who had been silently observing Tang Shun, took note of the "smiling tiger's" expression.
'Clearly, Tang Shun's suspicion of me is mostly gone.'
'Still, I can't let my guard down. Who knows if this punk is just acting.'
'He's a damn good actor, after all.'
The treacherous scene outside the valley cave—Tang Shun feigning retreat only to launch a surprise attack—flashed through Qi Yun's mind, and he slowly shook his head.
'Sigh. The world is a degenerate place these days.'
Boarding his assigned carriage, he found the interior filled with the faint scent of leather and wood.
The accompanying Black-clothed Cultivator lifted the curtain and handed Qi Yun a plain wooden box.
"This is a Breath-Concealing Bead. On our way to the Holy Sect Mountain Gate, we may have to pass through some of the Zombie Alliance's territory."
"There has been frequent friction between the Holy Sect and the Zombie Alliance lately. To avoid unnecessary trouble, please keep this Breath-Concealing Bead on your person when we enter their domain."
Qi Yun took the wooden box and opened the lid.
A grayish-white, walnut-sized bead lay quietly inside.
The bead's interior wasn't solid; countless dark gray vapors swirled restlessly within.
"Excuse me," Qi Yun said, closing the box. He looked at the Black-clothed Cultivator outside the carriage and finally voiced a question that had long been on his mind.
"There's something I don't understand."
"Why must we travel through the Zombie Alliance's territory to get to and from the Holy Sect Mountain Gate?"
"It seemed to be the same on our journey here."
The Black-clothed Cultivator fell silent for a moment, seeming to choose his words carefully before speaking in a low voice.
"Because this area we're in, including the Trial Valley, is only nominally under the Holy Sect's jurisdiction. In reality, it's just an outlying 'enclave,' not part of the Holy Sect's core territory."
He paused, a subtle, grave note entering his tone.
"This year... it seems there are more important matters within the sect occupying the higher-ups' attention, so their control over the borders has slackened."
"The Zombie Alliance seized the opportunity, encroaching on a great deal of territory that originally belonged to the Holy Sect."
"This area was already far from the main gate, and now the direct route has been cut off by the Zombie Alliance's forces. That's why..."
After hearing the Black-clothed Cultivator's explanation, Qi Yun nodded in understanding.
'So this Zombie Alliance...'
'...is pretty powerful, then.'
...