Chapter 772: The Wound of Sword Intent

Fang Yue's heart surged with excitement as he turned his gaze toward the darker shadow farther away in the black mist.

This time, Fang Yue realized he had stared at the shadow for nearly five full minutes before finally comprehending the Sword Technique.

And this time, the Sword Technique he comprehended was…

"System Prompt: Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have comprehended 【Cold Sky Sword Technique/Xiantian】!"

That's right! It was an Xiantian Realm Sword Technique!

One glance, and Fang Yue's entire body trembled with excitement.

After all, his Dark Moon Blade Technique was only Xiantian Realm as well!

But after carefully checking his attribute list, Fang Yue discovered that 【Cold Sky Sword Technique】 was an Innate Third-rate Realm Sword Technique—nothing compared to Dark Moon Blade Technique.

Unlike the dense circle of shadows surrounding him before, the distant shadows were clearly fewer—only about thirty or so, some even incomplete, merely half-formed bodies like ghosts, their upper torsos wielding swords while their lower halves vanished entirely.

Since they were formed from black mist, Fang Yue didn't dwell on it.

Yet when he began studying the second shadow's Sword Technique, he noticed flashes of sword light appearing intermittently before his eyes.

A moment of distraction…

Hum—

A blade of black mist appeared out of thin air, striking him before he could react, emitting a shrill scraping sound.

"-0!"

Fang Yue was startled, but no damage appeared.

Protected by 【Weird Robe】, the sword slash posed no threat whatsoever.

Yet when the residual force of the blade struck 【Weird Robe】, that residual energy made Fang Yue's understanding of Sword Dao sharper, subtly enhancing it further.

Fang Yue's mind stirred—he released 【Weird Robe】's protection, letting the black silk retreat to his back, forming a spinning black ring.

Fang Yue then continued observing the second Xiantian shadow.

Hum!

The second sword slash appeared quickly as expected; this time prepared, Fang Yue could have dodged—but he chose not to, instead taking it head-on!

Ssshh—

The black blade carved a several-centimeter-long gash across his cheek.

Pain surged through his body, yet his comprehension of Sword Dao surged again!

The Xiantian shadow, which previously required five minutes to fully absorb, now took only two minutes to master.

As the system chime sounded, another Innate Third-rate Realm Sword Technique was added to Fang Yue's knowledge.

Without pause, Fang Yue turned his gaze to the third Xiantian shadow.

Strangely, the wound from the earlier sword slash had not healed at all.

The cut remained, blood trickling down from it.

This puzzled Fang Yue—he could feel 【Night's Breath】 active, yet it could not repair this wound saturated with Sword Intent!

Frowning slightly, Fang Yue hesitated, then chose not to re-cover himself with 【Weird Robe】, instead opting to endure the occasional sword slashes.

Comprehension continued…

"System Prompt: Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have comprehended 【Repelling Sword Technique/Xiantian】!"

"System Prompt: Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have comprehended 【Nine Pigeon Sword Technique/Xiantian】!"

"System Prompt: Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have comprehended…"

When Fang Yue finished observing all thirty-plus Xiantian shadows, his body bore dozens of sword wounds, looking utterly battered—but all were minor, insignificant, since he had consciously controlled the severity of each slash.

After mastering all thirty-plus Xiantian shadow Sword Techniques, Fang Yue noticed a problem: every Xiantian Sword Technique he'd learned hovered only between Xiantian Second-rate and Xiantian Third-rate—none reached Xiantian First-rate!

Moreover, most of the Xiantian Second-rate techniques were incomplete, like those half-formed shadows—only half the technique remained; even if Fang Yue mastered them fully, he'd only learned broken moves.

He didn't understand why, but he felt his comprehension of Sword Dao had reached roughly seventy to eighty percent of his Blade Technique mastery.

With no more shadows to learn from, the only way to further deepen his understanding of Sword Dao was…

Hum!

A sword slash struck straight at him—he didn't dodge, absorbing the damage head-on.

Ssshh—

Blood spurted from his chest, leaving a long diagonal gash; faint, semi-phantom characters flickered around the wound—his comprehension of Sword Dao surged again!

This boost was unmistakable: it felt like a progress bar inching up at 1% or 2%, then suddenly jumping two full 20% segments—his Sword Dao comprehension skyrocketed.

But the wound was also clearly severe.

Fang Yue looked down—his chest wound was already quite serious; a few more like this, and he'd be in real danger.

The sword slash's maximum power was far stronger than he'd assumed.

Fang Yue was about to endure two more such slashes before wrapping himself in 【Weird Robe】 and moving on to deal with the giant cocoon—when the parchment suddenly burst from his mind.

【Eeeeee?】

【Fang Yue, what are you doing?】

Though only text appeared, Fang Yue's mind conjured an image of a cute girl holding binoculars with both hands, eyes wide, speaking in a sweet voice.

He shook his head slightly and forcibly banished this inexplicable mental image.

"Why are you appearing now?"

【Hehe!】

【I just finished absorbing the cheater's essence—I came out for a stroll!】

【By the way, are you trying to kill yourself?】

【I never thought you had this kind of hobby!】

【No worries—the great and noble Parchment will always hold you in high esteem in my heart!】

Suicide?

Fang Yue froze.

What do you mean?

【Huh? What do you mean? Aren't you committing suicide?】

I'd never kill myself!

【Then why didn't you dodge the sword aura?】

【Didn't you feel it? The wounds on your body aren't ordinary—they're sword wounds infused with sword intent, akin in some ways to 【Curse of Deceit】, not some trivial injury at all.】

Fang Yue's heart lurched.

Damn!

Why didn't you tell me sooner!

【Tell you sooner? I just woke up!】

【So unfair!】

【Wahhh, what did Zhi Zhi do wrong? I just woke up and you're yelling at me!】

A picture of a cute girl pouting flashed in his mind.

Fang Yue hurriedly said, "It's not your fault, not your fault—I'm sorry. So what should I do? This sword wound is a huge boon!"

【I'm not talking to you! Go ahead and heal yourself to death! Hmph!】

"Wait! Who are we to each other? I'm sorry, okay? Help me analyze the situation!"

Fang Yue thought Zhi Zhi would truly ignore him, but before two seconds passed, the parchment reappeared.

【Fine, I'm over it! Zhi Zhi forgives you—after all, if you die, I'll be in trouble too.】

……So easy to appease.

【Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!】

【Say another word and I won't talk to you again!】

(End of Chapter)