Chapter 55: Sword Technique Classification

"Greetings, Instructor!"

Ye Tian arrived at Instructor Li Haoyang's office, and he happened to be there.

"Ye Tian, you kid are something else, actually killing all those geniuses of the Scale Clan, and even killing four of the Gold Scale Clan. Now the Scale Clan in the Earth Cave World has gone mad and is causing trouble for our East Sea Fortress!" Li Haoyang said.

"I can't be blamed for that; it was the Scale Clan that killed our humans first!" Ye Tian said with a smile.

The two chatted for a while before discussing serious business.

"Instructor, I would like to ask for advice on the Weapon Dao. I fought against the Gold Scale Clan in the Wanxiang Strange Realm, and their attainments in weapons are very high, and their close-combat level is very powerful! Therefore, I want to learn the way of weapons and close combat," Ye Tian asked for guidance.

"The Weapon Dao!" Li Haoyang smiled. "The close-combat level of the Scale Clan and many other strange races is indeed powerful, while we humans are not good at it. This is mainly because the human physical body is weak; if one really engages in close combat with those strange races, one will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage. However, once you reach the realm of an Ability Grandmaster, you still have to cultivate both weapons and close combat; even if you are not good at it, you must know it. Otherwise, at a critical moment, it is really easy to be approached and killed by a weaker person."

"Exactly!"

Ye Tian nodded.

"Ye Tian, what kind of weapon are you prepared to cultivate?" Li Haoyang asked.

"The sword!" Ye Tian liked the sword, and he had also obtained the Mid-grade Strange Treasure Heaven Gate Sword, so naturally, he had to learn the sword.

"The sword, the blade, and the spear are the three major weapons of the Earth Cave World, and all have great potential. Since you have chosen the sword, I will tell you about the way of sword technique and close combat!" Li Haoyang introduced: "No matter what kind of weapon, the realm division is the same. For example, with sword technique, once you reach Entry Level, it is comparable to the power of an E-grade Strange Art; Small Success in sword technique is comparable to the power of a D-grade Strange Art; Great Success in sword technique is comparable to the power of a C-rank Technique; above Great Success in sword technique is the Incipient level of sword technique, comparable to the power of a B-grade Ability; above Incipient is the Perfect Level Sword Technique, where every move and every stance can be called perfect, with almost no flaws to be found. Once you master the Perfect Level Sword Technique, it is terrifying; once you get close to someone, unless their strength far exceeds yours or their defense is very powerful, they will be easily killed by you."

"Instructor, what is above the Perfect Level Sword Technique?"

Ye Tian asked again.

"Above the Perfect Level Sword Technique is the realm of Sword Intent!" Li Haoyang revealed a hopeful look. "Sword Intent is something countless sword practitioners want to comprehend, and it is much harder than comprehending Strange Art Intent. More importantly, Sword Intent can contain the intent of all things, merging them into one. For example, if you comprehend Fire Intent, Water Intent, and other various intents, you can use Sword Intent to fuse them together and execute them through sword technique. Otherwise, when you attack an enemy with a sword, you can only use one type of intent; you cannot use more than two, or they will conflict."

"Sword Intent, containing the intent of all things!"

Ye Tian gasped; this was too terrifying!

Li Haoyang continued: "The attack bonus of Sword Intent is actually secondary; the main thing is that for those who comprehend Sword Intent, their close-combat level is terrifying, and fighting across ranks is very easy. In the Earth Cave World, there are even strange races that purely cultivate the Sword Dao; they do not cultivate Bloodline Strange Art at all, only the Sword Dao. You will see them in the future. Of course, it doesn't matter if we humans don't cultivate the way of close combat; specializing in Strange Art is also fine, you just need to cultivate more defensive Strange Arts."

"Instructor, if I want to cultivate sword technique, how should I go about it?" Ye Tian asked for advice.

"It's a bit difficult." Li Haoyang frowned. "The sword techniques of the strange races are almost all coordinated with their bloodlines, which can be considered bloodline sword arts, and they don't fit well with us humans. And we humans are not good at the Weapon Dao, so there are not many sword techniques, and most of them are very incomplete or have flaws; there is almost no complete path of Sword Dao. Therefore, you can only browse some sword technique knowledge, or borrow from the sword technique manuals of the strange races and study them slowly yourself. If possible, it is best to find a human Grandmaster who is good at sword technique to ask for advice; perhaps your progress will be faster."

"Instructor, are you good at sword technique?"

Ye Tian asked.

Li Haoyang shook his head. "I am not good at sword technique; I am only good at Blade Technique. If you ask me for advice on Blade Technique, I can give you pointers."

"Instructor, who is good at sword technique?"

Ye Tian inquired.

"An instructor at Donghai University—Lin Su!"

Li Haoyang said a name.

"Instructor Lin Su?"

Ye Tian did not know much about this instructor.

Li Haoyang added: "Instructor Lin Su is a member of the Lin Family in Donghai City. Although she is an instructor at our Donghai University, she rarely teaches anymore. Ten years ago, in order to break through to the realm of Ability Grandmaster, she went to the Earth Cave World to seek opportunities, but she was severely injured, and her ability organ developed countless cracks. She can no longer fight; otherwise, if her ability organ completely shatters, her ability power will also disappear. Therefore, she only does some clerical work at Donghai University now."

"The ability organ is damaged; can it not be repaired?"

Ye Tian asked.

"It can be repaired, but the cost is huge!" Li Haoyang said helplessly: "Unless it is that kind of S-rank Treasure specifically for repairing ability organs, but such treasures are extremely rare. Even if some forces possess them, they would not take them out for Grandmaster Lin Su to use. Otherwise, there is the S-grade Mutant Strange Art—Great Resurrection Art, which is an upgraded version of the Resuscitation Technique. But the cost of performing the Great Resurrection Art is too great; not only will the recipient's cultivation plummet and their lifespan be reduced by fifty years, but it will also consume ten years of the caster's own lifespan. One must ask, who is willing to spend ten years of their own life to save Grandmaster Lin Su?"

"Ten years of lifespan!"

Ye Tian gasped.

This was consuming ten years of one's own life; indeed, apart from close relatives, others would certainly not be willing, and they wouldn't even want to reveal the Great Resurrection Art. Otherwise, everyone would come knocking, and saving one person would cost ten years; saving a few more would mean death for oneself.

Li Haoyang sighed again: "There are quite a few people like Grandmaster Lin Su in our Xia Country. There are ways to save them, but many are unwilling to do so. Grandmaster Lin Su's attainments in sword technique were very high; she had reached the Perfect Level Sword Technique, and her strength was even a tiny bit stronger than mine. If she hadn't had this incident, perhaps she would have had a way to comprehend Sword Intent."

Ye Tian came out of Instructor Li Haoyang's office, thinking about Instructor Lin Su's situation.

He wasn't sure if he could persuade Instructor Lin Su to guide him; after all, her body had become like this, and perhaps she had given up on cultivation and didn't care about anything anymore, so she probably wouldn't be happy to teach him.

"Should I first inquire about Instructor Lin Su's hobbies?"

Ye Tian went to investigate, but discovered that Instructor Lin Su had a connection with his high school classmate Lin Qingya; Lin Qingya was Lin Su's niece.

"This is such a coincidence; perhaps I can ask Lin Qingya for help."

Ye Tian muttered to himself.

Thus, he went to find Lin Qingya.

Soon.

The two met in front of a training building at Donghai University.

Compared to before, Lin Qingya's cultivation had greatly improved, and she had already reached the realm of Intermediate Esper.

"Ye Tian, I heard you can even kill a Grandmaster?"

Lin Qingya said.

"How did you know?" Ye Tian was surprised. Lin Qingya definitely hadn't been to the Earth Cave World, yet she knew about his situation!

"I found out by accident!"

Lin Qingya said.

Ye Tian guessed that Lin Qingya must have learned it from her family or elder relatives; after all, he was very famous in the eyes of the top brass at Donghai University now!

"Lin Qingya, I want to ask you for a favor!"

Ye Tian said.