Lord of the Five Elements Tribulation Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Qi-Blood Burst, Blade Technique Mastery

That night, after Lu Qing had put Xiao Yan to sleep and fed the little black beast.

He lit an oil lamp and took out the Four Directions Blade manual.

It’s worth mentioning that the little black beast actually brought another old ginseng that evening.

And its quality was not inferior to the previous one.

Unfortunately, Lu Qing didn’t have any strange fish to exchange for it, so when the little beast ate the fish, Lu Qing could clearly feel its unhappiness.

It was only after Lu Qing promised it that he would go fishing for strange fish when he had time that he managed to coax it.

However, before leaving, the little beast did not take the ginseng with it, but left it behind.

So, Lu Qing now owed the little black beast a strange fish.

The oil lamp was bright, and Lu Qing opened the first page of the “Four Directions Blade”.

Soon, he saw a rich white light appear on the manual, with a hint of red light mixed in.

[Four Directions Blade: A manual recording advanced blade techniques.]

[A Muscle-Bone Realm blade technique, emphasizing momentum and slaughter.]

[Legend has it that this blade technique was created by a martial arts master in the Muscle-Bone Realm who poured his life’s efforts into it. With this blade technique, he once fought against a master in the Internal Organs Realm and survived.]

[Do you want to download and simulate?]

“It’s actually a manual with red light?”

Seeing the red light on the manual, Lu Qing was very surprised.

After awakening his ability for so long, he had a basic understanding of the light emitted by items under his ability.

Anything associated with red light was generally extraordinary and could be called a treasure.

Whether it was strange fish or century-old wild ginseng, it was always the case.

This “Four Directions Blade” could emit red light, and the red light was even more intense than that of the strange fish and ginseng, which truly surprised Lu Qing.

To receive such a high evaluation from his ability, Lu Qing couldn’t help but become more curious about this Four Directions Blade technique.

He chose yes, and then began to flip through the “Four Directions Blade”.

[Downloading, current progress: 1%, 2%, 3%…]

As Lu Qing flipped through the pages, the download progress bar increased little by little.

[…97%, 98%, 99%, 100%]

[Download complete, starting simulation, current progress: 1%, 2%, 3%…]

By the time Lu Qing finished reading the “Four Directions Blade”, the progress bar had also reached 100%.

Immediately, another progress bar appeared.

“So that’s how it is. If I detect someone cultivating a technique, I can simulate it directly. For manuals, I need to download first, then simulate.”

Lu Qing pondered.

He waited quietly, and soon, he saw the progress bar jump to 100%.

[Simulation complete, do you want to practice it?]

Without hesitation, Lu Qing chose yes.

The next moment, countless vital points and insights about the Four Directions Blade technique flooded from the depths of his mind.

Lu Qing closed his eyes slightly, quietly receiving this information.

After a long time, he opened his eyes, with a hint of shock in them.

“This Four Directions Blade technique is truly extraordinary.”

At this moment, Lu Qing had completely absorbed the insights from his mind.

He also had a comprehensive understanding of this Four Directions Blade technique.

This Four Directions Blade technique did not have many moves, a total of nine forms.

Each form explained how to mobilize the strength of the entire body, burst out the strongest power and momentum, and kill all enemies.

The so-called four directions did not simply refer to four directions, but to the four directions of the world, all space within the gaze.

It can be imagined how ambitious the martial artist who created this blade technique was.

After all, Lu Qing saw in the manual that the Muscle-Bone Realm martial artist who created this blade technique originally aimed to use it to reverse counter against a master in the Internal Organs Realm.

Closing the manual, Lu Qing reached out and took a wooden sword from beside the table, then quietly went to the courtyard.

He had carved the wooden sword himself that afternoon. It wasn’t beautiful, but it was sturdy. There was no other way. In this rural area, where could he find a real broadsword at short notice? He could only make do with this for now.

Anyway, he was just practicing now, not going to hack people.

Holding the wooden sword, Lu Qing stood quietly, all the insights about the Four Directions Blade flowing through his mind.

Along with these insights, he began to slowly practice the blade techniques recorded in the “Four Directions Blade”.

After entering the Qi-Blood Realm, Lu Qing’s control over his body was significantly stronger than before.

Although it was his first time practicing the blade techniques, he performed them quite well on the first attempt.

Of course, this was also because the moves of the Four Directions Blade were not complicated.

The Four Directions Blade technique had a total of nine forms, each simple and unadorned, emphasizing momentum over intricate moves, making them not difficult to perform.

The real difficulty lay in how to mobilize the strength of the entire body while striking, ensuring that each strike could unleash the most powerful force.

This involved a very complex way of exerting force.

Body movement, footwork, the angle and method of striking, the coordinated burst of qi, blood, and bones, timing, and so on, all had to be perfectly synchronized.

It demanded extremely high control from the practitioner.

After practicing a few times, with the help of the insights in his mind, Lu Qing soon mastered the basic forms of the Four Directions Blade.

However, he couldn’t grasp the special way of exerting force within the blade technique.

He wasn’t impatient and continued to practice the blade technique again and again.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. He believed that with the insights in his mind, when he practiced the blade forms to a sufficient level of proficiency, everything would naturally fall into place.

And indeed, it was so.

As Lu Qing practiced again and again, his mastery of the Four Directions Blade technique became more and more proficient.

The transitions between the blade forms also gradually became fluid and seamless, moving without hindrance.

Although the nine forms of the Four Directions Blade technique were unadorned, they were interconnected, forming a cohesive whole.

The nine forms linked together, capable of covering the entire body, leaving no vulnerabilities.

Lu Qing continuously practiced the blade technique, constantly reducing the flaws in the transitions between motions.

Finally, when he eliminated the last flaw, a realization sprouted in his heart.

The next moment, he stepped forward, his whole body’s qi and blood connected, instantly erupting, and he fiercely brought down a slash from the air.

Whoosh!

Under the immense power, the blade wind and qi burst forth, pressing the weeds under Lu Qing’s feet to the ground.

After this strike, Lu Qing stood still.

A joyous expression appeared on his face.

“So that’s how it is; the feeling of qi and blood connecting and bursting forth instantly is like this.”

Just now, Lu Qing finally figured out how to synchronize the eruption of qi and blood with his blade strikes, maximizing the power of each move.

And according to the description in the “Four Directions Blade” manual, only by achieving this could Lu Qing be considered to have officially entered the mastery of this blade technique.

When he could perform a complete set of blade techniques, with every move accompanied by a qi-blood burst, then he would be considered to have achieved minor mastery of the blade technique.

“It’s really not easy. If I hadn’t had the help of my ability, I probably wouldn’t have been able to master this Four Directions Blade technique even with an extra month.”

Don’t be fooled by how easy Lu Qing seemed just now, taking only an hour or two to grasp the introductory secrets of the Four Directions Blade.

In reality, only he knew how difficult this blade technique truly was.

He had been in a state similar to enlightenment, thanks to his ability.

Even so, it still took him so much time to get a basic grasp of the Four Directions Blade.

Of course, this was also related to the fact that he had never practiced a blade technique before.

But how many enlightenments can an ordinary martial artist have in a lifetime?

If they were to practice this Four Directions Blade, those with poorer aptitude might find it difficult to even get started for a year or a half.

Picking up the wooden sword, Lu Qing was about to strike while the iron was hot and continue practicing with this newfound realization.

Suddenly, he heard a crack from the wooden sword in his hand.

It turned out that when he was practicing the last form of the blade technique, he used too much force and cracked the wooden sword.

“It seems I’ll have to find a way to get a real sword now.”