Heavy Sword - 1

When Yuan Yi came to, it felt as if he was out for only a moment. But immediately, he could tell that the air was colder than usual. The leaves on the nearby trees had all become brown and discolored. It was truly as if 15 days had passed.

He felt no pain, he felt no discomfort or anything. His foundation felt stable, more so than it ever was, and his cultivation was indeed at the 6th stage of Qi Condensation. He could hardly believe it. What took him two years to achieve was accomplished in two weeks. The helpless feeling that he was ruined and useless, and then the thought of having to go through all that hard work again to reclaim his past glory - it all disappeared.

The motivation to lead a better, more upright life disappeared with the torment. He felt normal again. There was no pressure on him to change anything about his life. Before it felt like he received an opportunity to do it all over again, but now it just seemed as if none of that ever happened.

"... Status," Yuan Yi whispered insecurely.

To his surprise, it actually worked.

[Status]

Cultivation: 6th stage of Qi Condensation (0%)

Roots: Immortal Void Tyrant

Physique: [Hard] [Void] [Metal]

Yuan Yi's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. It must've been a mistake. He had Mortal roots before, but now he had Immortal Void Tyrant roots! How was that even possible? Could the entity have done it?

What did that even mean? Was it good? Yuan Yi knew that the spiritual roots were important to cultivation. It would eventually define the Domain, Physique and Bloodline. The word Immortal was often used to describe the level of treasures, medicine and Physiques. It was the highest possible ranking. But there was no way that he had Immortal level roots. Right?

[Quest reminder: Kill Hou Hu.]

Yuan Yi had not forgotten the quest. To Yuan Yi, he received it just a few minutes ago. Even though 15 days passed.

Yuan Yi didn't mind killing Hou Hu - that bastard deserved it for what he did to him. But he had to wonder if he was becoming the system's hitman. The system said that he was completing quests so that their compatibility level increases. He did not understand why doing quests improved their 'compatibility', whatever that was. Neither did he understand how killing someone would achieve that.

He thought there had to be more to it, but that thought didn't remain for long. This time, their goals aligned. Yuan Yi was planning on killing Hou Hu anyway. This is what he swore in his soul that day. Even if he died and was reincarnated as an insect, he would find a way to kill Hou Hu.

Yuan Yi took a deep breath and looked at the field. Only one was planted with herbs, and it was arranged in that Trigram-like formation. The spirit herbs had grown tall, and their stalks glowed with a pale blue light. They were drunk on qi, and Yuan Yi thought this was normal. He had never seen spirit herbs before, to begin with, or knew anything about cultivating them. He knew that spirit stones came from refined spirit grass, which grew alongside spirit herbs, and there was plenty of both in this field.

[Estimated growth stage: 95%]

Yuan Yi blinked. It was almost mature and ready to be harvested? But they should grow for 40 days!

Could it be that because of the rich qi, they were growing faster? That had to be it. Thinking like a businessman, Yuan Yi suddenly understood the value of the <Auspicious Farming Method>. It could allow him to obtain twice the amount of material than he otherwise could. Not to mention the rich qi it produced, which was perfect for cultivating.

Yuan Yi walked to the center of the formation and he drew his sword.

Yuan Yi always desired to cultivate the sword, and to reach the Heavens. His was the Dao of the Sword, and there were few things in his heart beside that. He could not really describe what it was about it that attracted him. Of all the weapons, it was the most majestic. It was a Ruler's weapon. It was elegant and cool.

Ever since he was young, he heard stories of the immortal sword cultivators who could split mountains with one slash, slaughter the gods and devils and walk their own path in life. Yuan Yi also wanted to have that freedom and strength.

The first form of the <Outer Path Sword> law was an external martial art called <Heavy Sword>. It was a very Yang martial art, ferocious and indomitable. The sword would become extremely heavy and unstoppable, the movements fast and explosive. It was fairly predictable, which was its weakness, but in that weakness itself was also the strength. Carelessly parrying a predictable sword, only to find your guard crushed under its heaviness is what made the form so dangerous and appealing.

It was a rare manual of a prestigious Sect after all. It would not disappoint.

Yuan Yi assumed a proper fighting stance and went through the motions of the first form. His sword was light and fast. The "Heaviness" was barely present in the sword. Compared to an ordinary mortal, sure, his sword was extremely heavy, but to a cultivator, it was nothing. What was "Heaviness" anyway? It was Yang. It was dominating and oppressive.

Yuan Yi was aware that he had to comprehend the concept of Heaviness if he wanted to move up in the world. He could cultivate as fast as he wanted, but if he could not master any martial arts, it would be for nothing. He would be like one of those incredible alchemists who had a profound cultivation, but no fighting power at all. Certainly, they could kill Yuan Yi with a simple slap, because compared to them, Yuan Yi was an insect. But someone even close to their cultivation base would do the same to them.

That is not what Yuan Yi wanted.

[Vital quest issued: Become an alchemist.]

[Rewards: Self-sufficiency. 1x <Rare> alchemy manual.]

Great. The entity being able to read his mind was definitely a curse.

"Since you are listening, can you explain to me what Heaviness is?" Yuan Yi asked.

[Would you like to try a free trial of the Automatic Comprehension mode?]

...

"Yes, please."

[Automatic Comprehension mode enabled.]

Once again, he lost control over his body. Within a moment, everything changed. The air became heavy. Yuan Yi exuded a tangible threat and oppressive air as his body assumed a slightly different stance. It was open and defenseless, extremely aggressive and proud with the sword held behind his back and upright. The silver blade-tip emerged above and behind his head, as he held his left hand forward, with his palm open and fingers pointed up.

Then he moved, turning his body right, as the sword uncoiled from behind his back and swiped left diagonally, and then back down towards the right. His body always turned in the opposite direction of the sword.

The air vibrated as the sword passed through it, and a breeze passed through the area, picking up fallen leaves and gently swaying the growing spiritual herbs.

That sword was extremely heavy. Yuan Yi could feel his bones tremble. It was impossible to stop it once it was in motion; but the entity did not stop it. It went with the flow. Body and sword were united in motion, in complete harmony, as it seemed like it was almost dancing in the center of the formation, the sword swaying like a leaf, yet heavy as a mountain.

Yuan Yi understood. Heaviness wasn't simply mass. It was motion. It was harmony. It was intent.

[<Heavy Sword> attainment level reached: 6.]