A few days later, deep in the forest, Mu Yun had gained some understanding of the Thrust Form.
He gripped the steel blade tightly, closed his eyes, and silently recited the core method. As the technique circulated, he could clearly feel his mental power being drawn by an invisible force, flowing along a mysterious path.
He stood still, sensing the changes in his body, as if touching some wondrous realm.
A gentle breeze blew, carrying a few withered leaves drifting down.
The moment the leaves fell, Mu Yun's figure vanished. In the next instant, he appeared a zhang away. At the same time, the fallen leaf had been split cleanly in two.
Truly, thrusting like a ghostly apparition.
But before the fleeting lightness had fully faded, a wave of exhaustion surged within him. Mu Yun staggered slightly, took a deep breath, and barely steadied himself.
"My current physical strength and mental power are still insufficient to support frequent use of this Thrust Form…" Mu Yun slowly sat cross-legged and thought to himself.
"Four times… that is my limit."
He looked into the distance, recalling the scene when Old Man Zhu had performed this technique.
"According to the core method, the Thrust Form is the simplest, but also the easiest for an opponent to detect a flaw. Yet to achieve what Old Man Zhu did, one must have immense mental power and have mastered the Thrust Form to perfection."
After a brief rest, Mu Yun sprang up, dashed into the forest with a few leaps, gripped his steel blade, and immersed himself in practice again.
—
Inside the house, Old Man Zhu stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the figure darting among the trees. A glint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes, and he murmured to himself:
"The complex forest terrain is very advantageous for practicing the Thrust Form… This brat is quite clever."
After a pause, he narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze shifting to the desk, a trace of contemplation in his heart.
"Yun'er is working so hard; this old man cannot be idle either. Last time I failed to find the Extreme Cold Ice. While Yun'er is training, I must accomplish this task, even if…"
With that thought, he hesitated no longer. He turned, took out paper, and picked up a brush, writing with bold, forceful strokes:
"I will be away for some time. Train diligently. If I have not returned and you can perform the Thrust Form six times in a row, go to the Fengyun Martial Arts Hall."
He paused, thought for a moment, then added:
"I once promised Lei Gang something. You will carry it out."
…
By dusk, Mu Yun had returned home.
Accustomed to Old Man Zhu's elusive ways, he paid little heed to the few lines left behind.
Night fell, stars faintly visible. Mu Yun ate a simple meal and went to his room. After exhaling a breath of turbid air, he took out several ancient scrolls from the storage pouch gifted by Yumo, sat cross-legged, and quietly began to read.
"All things in the world possess spirit. If spiritual natures blend, they can be refined into pills… The effects of pills range from condensing spirit and gathering qi, increasing spiritual energy and nourishing vitality, prolonging life… to overturning heaven and earth, reversing life and death, and altering yin and yang."
His fingertips brushed over the slightly yellowed pages. Looking at the Alchemy Canon in his hands, Mu Yun's eyes showed shock.
"Destroy heaven and earth… raise the dead!"
These words echoed like thunder in his mind, and the terms "divine consciousness" and "spiritual energy" mentioned in the book shook him deeply.
"What is recorded in this book is probably all methods of cultivation… There is still much I do not understand, but that is fine." Mu Yun pondered for a moment, then gathered his thoughts and continued reading.
After some time, he had roughly browsed through the Alchemy Canon. The pills described in the book were varied and had incredible effects, filling him with longing.
However, the refining methods were extremely demanding. Almost every pill required rare treasures, and the slightest mistake could ruin everything or even cause backlash.
Suddenly, the name of a pill caught his eye—Dragon Strength Pill!
"Dragon Strength Pill… This is the only pill in the book that involves both mental power and physical strength!"
His gaze grew slightly fervent.
"Dragon Strength Pill required materials: one Dragon Beard, one Fog-Scattered Spirit, two Stone Petal Flowers…"
Mu Yun's eyes narrowed, his thoughts racing. Most of the pills recorded in the book were elusive, but this one aligned with his current cultivation progress.
If he could obtain this pill… both his mental power and physical body would greatly advance!
Mu Yun continued reading the Alchemy Canon, carefully studying the refining method of the Dragon Strength Pill and committing it to memory.
He read on, and soon a passage caught his attention—but it was not clear who had written the annotation.
"The art of alchemy is nothing more than the fusion of substances with different spiritual natures, decomposing and recombining them to create new spiritual objects… Throughout the ages, many cultivators have explored and practiced, creating various alchemy tools, hence the concept of the alchemy cauldron! However, alchemy methods vary greatly. Depending on the spiritual nature of the materials, the techniques differ into many schools: some use intense heat to refine, some use cold to condense, and some combine ice and fire, yin and yang… countless variations."
Mu Yun's gaze sharpened, and he murmured, "I see! So the alchemy cauldron… is a tool to assist alchemy and increase success rates?"
As he pondered, he frowned slightly, another possibility emerging deep in his mind—
"If the essence of alchemy is the decomposition and recombination of spiritual substances… does that mean the alchemy cauldron does not necessarily have a fixed form? If all things in the world can bear the power of decomposition and recombination, then… could anything that increases the success rate of pill refining be called a cauldron?"
With this thought, his doubts grew, and he continued to immerse himself in the pages…
As expected, when Mu Yun's eyes moved down, he saw an annotation on the page that read—
"If a cultivator can shape heaven and earth… or if an alchemy master can form a pill with a wave of the hand!"
These words struck like thunder. Mu Yun took a deep breath, his heart churning. Shape heaven and earth? Form a pill with a wave of the hand? Could such miraculous skills truly be achieved by cultivators?
He slowly closed the scroll, closed his eyes in contemplation, and a rough outline of the mysterious alchemy method had already formed in his mind. After a moment, he turned his attention back to the page on the Dragon Strength Pill, examining it carefully.
"Dragon Strength Pill: Place the materials in an ordinary alchemy cauldron and burn at high temperature until the cauldron emits a fragrance, then the pill is formed. After taking the Dragon Strength Pill, it can greatly enhance the cultivator's mental power and physical body. However, after reaching the Kaiyang Realm, its effects become minimal…"
At his current stage of cultivation, his mental power and physique had not yet reached perfection. If he could obtain this pill, it would undoubtedly be a shortcut to advancing his cultivation!
He immediately closed the book, opened the storage pouch without hesitation, and eagerly searched through it.
But Heaven's will was hard to predict—
Inside the storage pouch, he found no finished Dragon Strength Pill, only two of the required materials—Dragon Beard and Fog-Scattered Spirit—but the key ingredient, Stone Petal Flower, was missing!
Apart from these, there were only a few other pills in the pouch, called the Hundred Summons Pill.
Mu Yun frowned slightly and murmured, "The Hundred Summons Pill… is a common pill used by cultivators, but I have no use for it for now. What a pity…"
He slowly put away the storage pouch. Though disappointed, he was not disheartened. After all, this exploration had deepened his understanding of the alchemical path, which could be considered a fruitful gain.
"Oh well… though it was a fruitless effort, at least it broadened my knowledge."
Mu Yun sighed softly and settled his thoughts.
Then, exhaling a breath of turbid air, he raised his hand and blew out the candle. The room fell into darkness. With his mind full of alchemical knowledge, he slowly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.
—A few days later.
Between several ancient trees, a figure flickered in and out of sight.
"Whoosh—"
The figure suddenly stopped. Mu Yun landed firmly, breathing slightly heavily.
Over these days of training, his physique—thanks to his breakthrough to Qi Refining, combined with the nourishment of medicinal herbs—was growing at an astonishing rate.
It was like a water bottle that had never been full, now being continuously replenished.
Suddenly, Mu Yun's gaze sharpened. He focused inwardly, his blade stance shifting into a fierce thrust!
First thrust!
The blade tore through the air, the air itself trembled, fallen leaves swirled!
Second thrust!
The power increased sharply, a fierce wind howled!
Third thrust! Fourth thrust! … Ninth thrust!
Each strike was stronger than the last, and the consumption of mental power multiplied accordingly!
A slight sheen of sweat appeared on Mu Yun's brow, his breath came a little faster, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"With this Thrust Form, each strike's power doubles, but the consumption of mental power also multiplies… With my current mental power and physique, nine times is the limit! As for the tenth thrust…"
He pondered for a moment, a flicker in his eyes, then shook his head.
"The tenth thrust is probably beyond the capacity of a Qi Refining cultivator. If I were to force it, not only would I be unable to continue fighting, but I might not even survive…"
As he thought, the wind rose, leaves fell, and the forest was silent.
Mu Yun exhaled lightly, slowly sheathed his blade, and his figure disappeared into the depths of the forest…
Mu Yun smiled faintly, looking at the steel blade in his hand, and murmured to himself, "The ancients often said 'nine is the ultimate number'—it seems there is truth to it…"
He lowered his head in thought for a moment. As his mental power slowly recovered and he was about to rise, a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
"Since that is the case, I might as well name these first nine thrusts…"
He looked into the distance. The early morning sun cast a golden glow over the world. After a moment, his brow relaxed, and a smile rose at the corner of his mouth.
"—Nine Shadow Stack Thrusts!"
As he spoke, his mind trembled slightly, as if at that moment, his connection with the blade intent deepened, and the Thrust Form technique had undergone a new transformation.
…
At this moment, he had finally entered the Qi Refining stage—the Miniature Realm!
If earlier he had been like a piece of uncarved jade, then the grinding of these past few days had been a thousand hammers and a hundred refinings, gradually revealing a sharp edge. And the Thrust Form of the Seven Forms of the Blade was especially potent in tempering mental power.
At this point, among Qi Refining cultivators, there was probably no one who could contend with Mu Yun!