Chapter 108 Cultivation

  The old man in front of him seemed to have a lot of childishness, but it made Ning Chong feel very close and easy-going. Ning Chong smiled slightly, thought for a moment, and replied: "Could it be human rank?"

  The old man in charge of the guard smiled and shook his head.

  Ning Chong was somewhat surprised and boldly guessed: "Could it be a land level?"

  The elder of Shouguan still smiled and shook his head.

  "Heavenly rank?" Ning Chong's further guess made him feel his heartbeat quicken slightly.

  The elder stroked his beard and smiled, not trying to sell a fake: "To be strict, I don't even know the level of this sword technique, but its true power is at least no lower than that of 'High-level Human Martial Arts'!"

  "Human-level high-order?"

  Ning Chong had already judged in his heart that the level of "Clear Wind Swordsmanship" should be very high, but now hearing Guardian Pavilion's elder say so, he was still quite surprised. Because the strongest martial skill of the Ning family was only at the human-level high-grade!

  The elder of the Guardian Pavilion smiled and nodded: "Unfortunately, this martial skill is good, but for some reason, when it was obtained by the family, it was already damaged and incomplete, and its power was not as before. For this reason, for hundreds of years, the ancestors of the family have tried to repair this martial skill. Unfortunately, repairing a martial skill is even more difficult than creating one, and it requires extraordinary talent and wisdom. Therefore, until now, the repair of this martial skill has not achieved much success."

  It seems that the Guardian Elder saw Ning Chong's confusion, and after a pause, he said: "You must be very curious, even if this martial skill is broken, it should be like a camel dying of starvation is bigger than a horse, why would it be thrown away like trash to this level?"

  Ning Chong nodded slightly.

  The elder stroked his long beard and sighed, "This is not our family's defeat, but this martial art has indeed become similar to garbage. This martial art lacks the most important outline and the first part, and also lacks the strongest martial art ultimate move. Because of its incompleteness, it is already difficult for practitioners to learn even the surface of it, let alone master it. There have been many people who, while trying to practice this martial art, have gone mad, suffered heavy injuries, or even died. Among them were several family elders who tried to repair this martial art!"

  "In my younger years, I too had a burning passion and thought I could restore this martial art. Unfortunately, it was a case of overestimating oneself, and although I was lucky enough not to suffer any harm, I only managed to learn some superficial techniques from this incomplete art. As for restoring it, that's simply impossible now. It's precisely because there have been many examples before us, and we've all had personal experiences, that we're convinced this martial art is beyond repair, and no one can cultivate it."

  "This martial art is naturally good, and even if I only learned a little bit of its surface, I have already benefited greatly from it. However, it's incomplete and flawed, and most people who cultivate it will suffer harm from it. That's why we decided to put this martial art in a corner of the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion. It's been so long that I had almost forgotten about it, but I didn't expect you not only saw it, but also have the ability to take it out..."

  After roughly hearing the story, Ning Chong's heart was even more joyful. The incompleteness was not a problem for him because, coincidentally, he already possessed the first part of the Qingfeng Sword Art! Moreover, he had that strange feeling to assist him.

  Seeing the joy on Ning Chong's face, the Elder of the Guardian Pavilion shook his head slightly and asked: "Are you still determined to take away this 'Clear Wind Sword Technique'?"

  Ning Chong nodded vigorously.

  "Well, when I placed this 'Clear Wind Sword Technique' here in the past, apart from thinking that no one would find and cultivate it, I also had the intention of testing personal luck. Among the tens of thousands of martial arts secret manuals here, you happened to pick out the 'Clear Wind Sword Technique', and even have the ability to take it away. It seems this is your luck, so we won't bother you about it anymore. Take it and cultivate it!"

  Ning Chong received the secret book and said with joy: "Thank you, Elder."

  The elder nodded and stroked his beard, reminding him: "The secret book can only be borrowed for a month. After a month, you must return it. In addition, the secret book cannot be taken out of the Ning family mansion. There is a special ban on this secret book. If you take the secret book out of the mansion, we will discover it immediately. You must remember these rules clearly. If you violate them, you will be punished."

  Ning Chong listened until the end and couldn't help but ask: "Then, can we copy it?"

  The old man in charge of the guard room burst out laughing: "Haha, if you can copy it down, then go ahead and copy it!"

  Seeing Shoufu elder burst out laughing, Ning Chong knew he had made a fool of himself and smiled awkwardly.

  In "Martial Arts Foundation", it was mentioned that for general levels above high-ranking martial arts and qigong, during practice, one must feel the aura of the secret book, in conjunction with the heart method and oral formula contained within the secret book, to fully cultivate. Simply copying down the heart method and oral formula without the original aura of the secret book is basically useless.

  Everything was ready, Ning Chong bid farewell to the elder Shouge, took "Qingfeng Swordsmanship" and "Chunyuan Gong" and left the Zangjing Pavilion, all the way back home.

  Without wasting any time, Ning Chu began his cultivation and he first chose to cultivate the Pure Yuan Art.

  With a strange feeling of assistance, the cultivation of "Pure Yuan Gong" did not encounter too much difficulty, and basically no time was wasted. Ning Chong had previously cultivated the "Basic Qi Refining Technique", and his inner yuan qi had no attributes. After easily operating the "Pure Yuan Gong" technique, he transformed his inner yuan qi into the "Pure Yuan Inner Qi" of "Pure Yuan Gong".

  The "Pure Yuan Gong" has been mastered, and next, Ning Chong will start cultivating the "Clear Wind Swordsmanship". The place Ning Chong chose to cultivate was still a secluded and quiet stone cliff near the Heartbreak Cliff in the back mountain, where no one would disturb him.

  Sitting cross-legged on the edge of the cliff, quietly watching the clouds and mist rise and fall below the cliff, listening to the sound of the wind whistling in his ears, his heart gradually calmed down. The ancient well was calm and peaceful, Ning Chong slowly took a deep breath, opened the secret book, and began to study the "Clear Wind Swordsmanship".

  "The Clear Wind Swordsmanship" manual is missing the overall outline and the first part, as well as the strongest martial arts technique at the end. However, after Ning Chong repaired "The Clear Wind Swordsmanship", the difficulties brought by the incomplete manual have been reduced to a minimum.

  With a foundation and experience in practicing "Baxian Sword Technique", Ning Chong's cultivation progressed extremely smoothly for over ten days.

  A few days ago, when he drew his sword, it was as swift as lightning, and the sword made a sound when it came out.

  In a few more days, when he drew his sword, the sound grew louder and louder, like thunder bursting.

  In just a few more days, the explosive sounds began to subside, and all that could be seen was the shadow of a sword.

  In just a few more days, the sound grew fainter and fainter until it was almost inaudible. All that could be seen was the flash of swords.

  In a few more days, the sword will be unsheathed silently and stealthily, its light hidden, the sword itself unseen as it emerges, like a gentle breeze sweeping by...

  At this point, Ning Chong had already cultivated the swordsmanship of "Qingfeng Sword Art" to an extremely high level, reaching a state where he could hardly get any more familiar with it. He had grasped the profound secret of the sword art contained in "Qingfeng Sword Art", which was "only seeing the clear wind, not seeing the sword". However, as he continued to cultivate further, he became even more aware of the difficulty of cultivating "Qingfeng Sword Art". There was always a particularly terrible feeling that something was lacking within him.