Chapter 432: Chapter 28 My Skills Are Too Many
“Actually, we only need to master the four basic forms of Sword Control Technique to cope with the vast majority of battle needs,” Lin Ning said. “This is how I practice the basics: White Rainbow Across the Sky, Cang Song Ying Ke, Bai Niao Chao Feng, and Night Battle in All Directions. I perform each 500 times every day, aiming to reach the point where I can do it without thinking and control it as I wish.”
“Hmm-hmm,” Su Yunjin noted seriously.
“Yunjin, you might as well start with White Rainbow Across the Sky,” Lin Ning suggested. “I need to practice Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step, so you can use White Rainbow Across the Sky to attack me, and I can also use this opportunity to practice dodging.”
“Okay,” Su Yunjin nodded repeatedly.
As the two practiced together, one attacking and the other chasing, nearly half an hour passed when Lin Ning suddenly stopped and looked into the distance with curiosity:
“Why has the captain suddenly started practicing Taoism Method?”
...
Following her gaze, Su Yunjin saw Yan Yu standing in the midst of the Taoism Method practice area, his hands forming complex Taoist Incantations at high speed before spitting out a golden thread and fiercely swinging his head to sweep, slicing down all the various targets in front of him.
He then took out an Elixir Medicine, swallowed it, and began to assimilate the medicinal power.
“Shall we rest for a while? I’ve also practiced White Rainbow Across the Sky almost five hundred times,” Su Yunjin said, turning around.
“Yes, let’s take a break,” Lin Ning agreed.
Su Yunjin walked towards Yan Yu, and Lin Ning quickly followed her from behind.
“Ningning, where are you going?” Su Yunjin asked.
“Where are you going, Yun Jin?” Lin Ning retorted.
“I’m going to ask the captain what he’s doing,” Su Yunjin replied.
“So am I,” Lin Ning echoed.
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The two girls exchanged glances, and a competitive emotion suddenly arose between them. Although it remained unspoken, everything was understood.
Approaching Yan Yu, who was standing still and assimilating the medicinal power, Su Yunjin asked with concern:
“Captain, are you practicing Taoism Method?”
“Aren’t you a Sword Immortal?” Lin Ning also interjected eagerly, “Does a Sword Immortal need to practice Taoism Method?”
“It’s nothing, just practicing casually,” Yan Yu said absentmindedly, feeling somewhat helpless.
The test result was that, with his current True Yuan reserves and Spell proficiency, he could at most cast Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire twice before becoming exhausted, and its lethality was clearly insufficient, only about half the power described in the Taoism Method texts.
The conclusion was that it had virtually no practical value in combat.
He consulted Agent Tang on his mobile, who said that Zhou Hongyu, without taking any medicines, could cast Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire seven times in one breath, indicating a significant disparity between himself and a formally trained Magic Cultivator — after all, only Cultivators with sufficiently abundant and mighty True Yuan would choose to become Magic Cultivators.
By using the power of Great Bright Fire to indirectly make the Puppet cast spells, one could solve the problem of insufficient Spell power, but endurance was still the biggest limitation for Puppet Taoism Method.
In other words, Taoism Methods that are highly destructive and designed for armor-breaking assaults like Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire are undoubtedly most suitable for the Puppet Ah Zhen to use. On the contrary, Spells like Great Bright Fire, which mainly focus on suppression and wide-area bombardment, are not suitable for use on Puppets, as he did not have so much True Yuan to waste.
While Yan Yu was contemplating this, he suddenly heard Su Yunjin say:
“Captain, if you have any questions about Taoism Method, I should be able to help answer them.”
“So can I,” blurted out Lin Ning, driven by her competitiveness, and then she immediately realized her slip.
Taoism Method? I don’t think I can be of help. After all, what I am proficient in is Sword Control Technique, but why would the captain come to me for advice on swordsmanship? His expertise is undoubtedly much higher than mine.
Therefore, she quickly added:
“Captain, if there is anything I can help with, feel free to let me know at any time.”
“Alright,” Yan Yu smiled, “You two go ahead with your things.”
The two girls expressed their loyalty and improved their rapport, then returned to continue their sparring, while Yan Yu stood in place, continuing to plan and assess.
The cards he could play included the Two-handed Sword Control Technique, Cloud Dividing Eight Trigrams Step, and String-Pulling Puppetry Technique. The first two belonged to the path of the Sword Immortal, while the last was the path of the Puppet Master.
The two paths were not very compatible, both requiring deep research. He dared to pursue both because in his previous life, he had already gone far on the path of the Sword Immortal, reaching the “pinnacle” and “approaching the summit,” armed with a complete set of experience and techniques. Therefore, in this life, he only needed to focus on learning the String-Pulling Technique.
But who could have predicted the existence of a Two-handed Sword Control Technique?
Considering that most of his current strength came from the skills of the Sword Immortal, Yan Yu originally tended to prioritize the practice of the Two-handed Sword Control Technique before delving into the String-Pulling Technique.
Yet unexpectedly, the String-Pulling Technique also reached its limit and burst forth, and the Puppet could actually use Taoism Method!
If the Two-handed Sword Control Technique meant using one Sword Immortal as two, then the current Puppetry Technique was equivalent to having a Sword Immortal plus a Magic Cultivator; the latter, due to the combination of professions, was definitely more valuable than the former. For example, some enemies have extremely exaggerated physical defenses, impervious to Immortal Swords, but might be easily penetrated by Crimson Feather Nine Phoenix Fire.
Between conventional combat methods and key trump cards, which one should he practice first? Alas, who would have thought I, Yan Yu, would have too many skills to learn and not enough time to master them all—unlike in my previous life, where from beginning to end, I focused solely on mastering the Sword Immortal’s basic skills, without the need to consider so much.
Just as Yan Yu was reflecting on this, suddenly a phone call came in—it was Li Weiguo summoning him to the principal’s office.
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Since the Liang Yi Micro Dust Sword had been sealed by the old man with the long eyebrows, the researchers hadn’t been able to learn much from it. Therefore, after merely recording the basic data, it was returned to Yan Yu.
However, to everyone’s surprise, instead of focusing on “Yan Yu obtaining the Liang Yi Micro Dust Sword,” it was “Yan Yu finding the Liang Yi Micro Dust Sword on his own” that garnered high levels of attention from the higher-ups.
“The Pingxi Army has already sent people to inspect the area,” Li Weiguo told him. “They didn’t find the entrance to the Mysterious Realm you mentioned.”
“Hmm,” Yan Yu contemplated for a moment before asking, “So does the Privy Council think my statement is untrue?”
“Of course not,” Chen Tianming answered with a laugh from the side. “Your account and Tang Xiaolian’s statements are highly consistent. The Privy Council doesn’t suspect you of lying. It’s probably because the Mysterious Realm has a unique mechanism that only opens when someone who meets the requirements arrives.”
“The current issue is, how many such Mysterious Realms are still undiscovered within our country?”
“I don’t know,” Yan Yu shook his head.
But there must be many.
Official Cultivators are supported by the resources of the entire nation, while civilian Cultivators have to fend for themselves. Why were these Cultivators able to rise in my previous life and even stand up to official Cultivators? Because they had the numbers.
Once the population base is large, there’s no shortage of examples of people encountering treasures. Like an ancient scroll hidden away in a family collection that turns out to be an entrance to a Mysterious Realm, or a secret passage in the cellar of an old rural house… These kinds of illogical, untraceable “fortuitous encounters” are completely beyond the control of the authorities.
On the other hand, due to the country not achieving “universal Cultivation,” many such fortuitous encounters go unexplored. Take the inheritance of the old man with the long eyebrows as an example: If you inform a Cultivator like Yan Yu, he would proactively seek out such an opportunity; but if an ordinary person receives the information, they might not have the initiative to fully explore it, and in the end, such inheritances could go unnoticed.
Transcendents are not only the “users” of the existing Transcendent resources but also the “discoverers” of potential Transcendent resources. If the number of Cultivators within the country is less than the Transcendents abroad, the production of Transcendent resources will also be inferior to those overseas, and the overall power gap will inevitably grow over time.
For Yan Yu, this was merely another ordinary adventure in search of treasures. However, for Li Weiguo, Chen Tianming, and the other bigwigs in their circle, almost immediately understood the worrisome essence behind this event.
If this continues without change, it will lead to great peril!
After receiving the Liang Yi Micro Dust Sword, Yan Yu took his leave. Li Weiguo was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked:
“Why don’t you ask him for his opinion?”
“Asking would be in vain,” Chen Tianming said with a smile. “Given his personality, he’d probably say something like ‘let the strong be strong, for I shall slay them all with a single sword.’
“That’s indeed his character,” Li Weiguo also began to smile, “Such distinctive sharpness in a young man.”
The two didn’t finish their thoughts but understood each other perfectly.
If Yan Yu could maintain this sharpness and pride, it at least proved that his abilities remained at the world’s top standard, which would be a great blessing for Lu Country. But if he started falling behind in his progress, when the time came for someone to take Yan Yu’s place and continue to deter neighboring powers, the situation would become quite dire. Therefore, everyone would prefer that Yan Yu continued to show his edge.
At its core, this issues lies with the country’s planned Cultivator training system, which has become significantly less efficient than the free competition abroad and the invisible hand of the market. But due to various factors, a drastic change of approach at this stage is not feasible.
People like Yan Yu, Liu Longtao… the farther they can go on the path of top Cultivators, the longer the current system can sustain itself. From this perspective, although the Zhendong Army still needs to keep on pacifying and recruiting civilian Cultivators who stick their necks out, it should also put a focus on supporting Yan Yu and the Zhenghai Team, to prevent a situation where the weak lead the strong.
“We still need to press on with the Northern Army regarding Ox-Head and Horse-Face,” Chen Tianming suddenly said, “Any bit of capital that can enhance the strength of the Zhenghai Team must be utilized as soon as possible, without further delay.”
“You sure have raised a good daughter,” Li Weiguo chuckled, “I’ll call Old Yang in a bit and pass on the message. Oh, by the way, the Annan Army went to the Privy Council again, still about Xie Ruoxi’s matter.”
“No need to worry,” Chen Tianming replied calmly, “Xie Ruoxi is serving in Yan Yu’s team, and there’s proof her strengths are aptly being utilized. It’s not possible to make a move now. The real reason Old Zhang went to the Privy Council to complain is because of the budget for March.”
“I see,” Li Weiguo nodded, then added, “Li Minghu from the Qing An Team has had some health issues lately.”
“He can’t be replaced by Xie Ruoxi,” Chen Tianming stated flatly. “She’s not up for that.”