Chapter 73: Nowhere to be Found After Wearing Out Iron Shoes

Having eaten and drunk his fill, a bored Feng Zi gazed at the leaping campfire before him when a sudden flash of inspiration struck.

Then, as if guided by a ghost, he took that book, *Chongming Sword*, which Qian Lao had gifted him, from the very depths of his pack!

Calling it "guided by a ghost" was, in truth, not a mere whim of Feng Zi's.

It was just that while his mind was wandering, he suddenly realized:

He was now a Transformation Realm Martial Artist, and his understanding of Martial Arts Techniques had grown increasingly profound—

If he were to open this *Chongming Sword* again now, would he gain a brand-new understanding, or perhaps even completely decipher this unknown technique?

And then, unsurprisingly, Feng Zi still didn't understand a thing.

There was no such thing as the "sudden enlightenment" found in novels; the characters he couldn't read remained unreadable.

After all, the reason he couldn't understand this technique was ultimately because he didn't know those characters that looked like bird seals; this fundamental problem remained unresolved.

"I was just being sentimental..." Feng Zi smiled helplessly and set the book in his hand down.

Qing Lin watched his movements and curiously leaned over: "Feng Zi, what are you doing?"

"This is a technique a senior gifted to me, but I cannot read the characters within, so I have no choice but to give up."

Feng Zi did not avoid Qing Lin and answered generously:

During these few days of travel, he had already discovered that Qing Lin's learning abilities in every aspect were top-tier.

Naturally, this included the study of techniques—Feng Zi only had to practice a technique a few times, and she would be able to grasp its essential points.

For a genius who understood things at a glance, hiding one's clumsiness was meaningless; after all, he couldn't possibly never cultivate techniques for the rest of his life, could he?

What's more, as a trustworthy travel companion, Qing Lin learning some techniques for self-protection would also be beneficial to their journey.

Therefore, even though Martial Arts Techniques were extremely important items, Feng Zi had no intention of keeping them secret.

Upon hearing this, Qing Lin leaned over Feng Zi's shoulder and curiously looked at the characters on it.

Then, she read out the content on it as a matter of course:

"The sword is a weapon; the so-called 'sovereign of a hundred weapons' is, in the end, nothing more than an instrument for killing.

"In the tenth year of the Great Xia Calendar, I observed the technique left behind by the Green Sun Sword Immortal and, moved by it, left this technique behind..."

Hearing the content from Qing Lin's mouth, Feng Zi suddenly raised his head and turned to look at her—

She could actually read these mysterious characters?!

Qing Lin was also startled by his movement; she subconsciously shrank her head back and asked: "What's wrong?"

Feng Zi looked at her face and asked very seriously: "Do you recognize these characters?"

"I do, this is the most basic... uh, let me think, it seems to be called 'Rope Elephant Script', right?

"But it seems there aren't many people who use this script anymore; after all, they are almost all dead, and most of what exists in the world now are deformed versions."

As she spoke, confusion gradually filled Qing Lin's eyes; she blankly touched her cheek and curiously asked in return:

"Strange, why do I know this knowledge? What is going on..."

The confusion in the depths of her eyes grew, and she scratched her hair in great distress.

Feng Zi did not immediately realize the massive amount of information that had come so suddenly and couldn't help but freeze in place.

But seeing that Qing Lin had already fallen into an atmosphere of self-doubt, he understood that she was likely even more confused than he was at this moment.

A surge of heartache rose in his heart; Feng Zi hurriedly put his arm around her shoulder and said gently: "Since you don't know yet, don't think about it anymore."

Qing Lin raised her head, looked at Feng Zi blankly, and subconsciously asked: "Is that really okay?"

"In this life, some things can be investigated to a conclusion, while others cannot; there is no need to force it."

Meeting Qing Lin's gaze, Feng Zi smiled, patted her head, and looked at the leaping firelight before them:

"That you can recognize these characters is, to me, a practical skill that comes in handy, and that is enough.

"As for why you are able to understand this knowledge, that is clearly not something you can figure out right now; since that is the case, there is no need to delve into it—

"The journey is still long, and the life ahead is also long; there is no need to rush for this moment."

Qing Lin looked at him, her eyes shimmering with moving radiance.

Seeing this, Feng Zi just smiled and took a charcoal pencil from his pack:

"For example, right now, instead of thinking about those questions that have no answer, why not read the characters in the book to me? I can just happen to take some notes."

"Okay!" Qing Lin nodded heavily upon hearing this.

Just like that, one of them read the book, and the other quickly made records in it.

The night had grown deep; Qing Lin, having been busy all day, could no longer support her eyelids, which had begun to fight each other, and fell into a deep sleep beside the campfire.

Feng Zi sat by the fire, looking through the book in his hand, which was already filled with notes, with a serious expression:

To tell the truth, this *Chongming Sword* that Qian Lao had gifted him was completely different from all the techniques he had cultivated before.

The content in the first half of the technique was still normal, consisting of ordinary sword-practice foundations and related sword moves.

Relying on Feng Zi's current understanding of Martial Arts Techniques, he only had to wave the tree branch in his hand a few times to roughly grasp the essential points within.

But the problem lay precisely in the second half of this technique:

It was filled with a large amount of content that Feng Zi could no longer understand—

Such as how to precisely manipulate Sword Qi, the tips and insights for controlling a sword, and realizations regarding cultivation mental methods...

The content was all-encompassing, lacking nothing, except for insights into Martial Arts cultivation!

Looking at the technique in his hand, the more Feng Zi looked, the more he felt that it wasn't a so-called Martial Arts Technique at all, but rather more like a collection of absurd ravings and delusions.

Yet when Feng Zi earnestly recalled his interactions with Qian Lao, he had to admit:

When Qian Lao gifted him this technique back then, he indeed never said it was a Martial Arts Technique; he only said it was his life's learning.

The reason he thought it was a Martial Arts Technique was ultimately just because he was a Martial Artist himself, and thus he had made assumptions based on his own perspective.

If it were the him of the past, he would likely have taken this as the ramblings of an old man and would never have taken it to heart.

But he recalled the information Elder Qian had once told him, recalled the sea of flowers where he met Qinglin, and recalled what was mentioned in the talent...

In the end, he still had to face this point squarely.

But how should he verify the contents within?

Feng Zi thought for a long time and decided to test the "simplest" technique among them—Qi Controlling.

Yet when Feng Zi exhausted a great amount of Qi and Blood Power within his body, only then finally managing to lead a wisp of "Qi" out of his body and lift a tree branch, he confirmed two things:

First, that the contents of the book were all real and could be replicated;

Second, that he profoundly realized the threshold for this cultivation method was truly too high, far from what he could currently practice.

One must know, at this time he was already a Martial Artist of the Transformation Realm, yet he had not even reached the minimum standard for practicing the Chongming Sword!

But Feng Zi only silently accepted this fact and placed this cultivation method back into the deepest part of his pack.

At the very least, this cultivation method once again made him clearly recognize the fact that "there are people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens."

It also gave Feng Zi a long-term goal in his heart:

He must constantly improve his cultivation until one day he can master the Chongming Sword thoroughly!