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Translator: Raikov
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
Each day passed uneventfully. Lu Ye patrolled the valley with Xie Yunhan, tattooed Glyphs for ten cultivators, then cultivated blade techniques with Xia Liang.
And the cycle repeated.
If it weren’t for the revenge that the Fox Mutant planned stuck in his mind, this life would have been quite pleasant.
Nine days flew by, and all the cultivators in the valley received their Tattoos, all of them Glyph: Protection Tattoos. During this time, Lu Ye also enjoyed quite a feast for his eyes…
After finishing up his work, Lu Ye went to see Xia Liang so that he could cultivate his blade technique with him.
However, Xia Liang spoke up, “I’ve taught you all the basics, and there’s not much more I can teach you. As for the rest, you’ll gradually become enlightened to it by going through life and death battles. Instruction alone will no longer be much help.”
After all, there was only so much to the foundations of blade techniques, and Xia Liang had already imparted his knowledge to him quite generously over the past two weeks. There was truly nothing more he could teach Lu Ye.
What was more, the improvement of one’s blade techniques were not reliant on instructions. The most important thing was to accumulate experience through real battles. The blade techniques that each person wielded had to be honed slowly through bloodshed.
After the two weeks or so, Lu Ye could also feel his blade techniques improving significantly. Compared to the past, his foundation was more solid, and his understanding of it had reached a higher level.
Based on this alone, it could be said that his strength had increased by at least ten percent, which was undoubtedly a tremendous gain.
So, even though there had been numerous grievances between him and Xia Liang in the past, Lu Ye still solemnly bowed to him for his guidance over this period. “Many thanks, Cultivator Xia!”
Still, he wondered how Xia Liang would react if he had a chance to break free from the Fox Mutant’s control.
Originally, he was supposed to kill Lu Ye, but due to a twist of fate, he ended up teaching Lu Ye a lot about blade techniques instead.
“There’s nothing that I can teach you on the basics. Instead, I will teach you something else today.” As he said so, Xia Liang took out his own saber from his Storage Bag, got into position, and closed his eyes before saying, “Attack me!”
It seemed like there was something he wanted to show him, so Lu Ye did not hesitate. He placed his hand on the hilt of his saber, and swiftly advanced towards Xia Liang. Saber unleashed, he slashed down with his blade while closely observing Xia Liang’s movements.
When the Inviolable Saber was less than a third of a meter away from Xia Liang, he suddenly moved, lifting his saber. Despite moving last, he managed to block the Inviolable Saber that struck at him first.
Lu Ye couldn’t help but raise his brows.
Xia Liang was in the Ninth Order of the Cloud River Realm, while Lu Ye was only in the Fourth Order. The difference in their cultivation levels was enormous, so Lu Ye wasn’t surprised that he could block his attack.
What surprised him, however, was that Xia Liang seemed to be able to see his attacks despite his eyes being closed.
Using the force of his counter, Lu Ye backed away with light feet.
“Again!” Xia Liang called out.
Lu Ye rushed forward again, but this time, instead of using a slashing attack, he made a forward stab, which was comparably more covert than the momentous slash.
The fact that this guy can block his slash with his eyes closed could be explained by saying that he determined the direction of the attack through sound, but how was he going to block the covert thrust?
To Lu Ye’s astonishment, Xia Liang’s saber suddenly moved, again at a third of a meter away, and easily deflected the Inviolable Saber. At the same time, he tilted his head, allowing the blade to pierce the empty space near his neck.
Lu Ye was greatly surprised.
“Again!”
Lu Ye attacked for the third time…
Without exception, every time he attacked, Xia Liang would block it when the attack was within a third of a meter away from him.
While Lu Ye hadn’t used his full strength, Xia Liang’s ability to block his attacks to this extent with his eyes closed was still unbelievable to him.
After a dozen attacks, Lu Ye still couldn’t touch the corner of Xia Liang’s clothes.
Only then did Xia Liang open his eyes and look at Lu Ye, saying, “Have you figured it out?”
“Perception?”
“Mind’s Eye!”
“Mind’s Eye?”
“What you see with your eyes may not necessarily be true, but what you see with your Mind’s Eye will never be false,” Xia Liang explained earnestly, “This is not a blade technique, but an auxiliary Secret Technique that is useful for all cultivators. You mentioned perception, which is not entirely wrong. Most cultivators have their own perception of danger during combat, but the Mind’s Eye goes beyond perception. It is a Secret Technique that transcends perception.”
After a short pause, he continued, “Right now, the cultivators we come into contact with are all in the Cloud River Realm. The speed of their sword may not be too fast, still visible to the naked eye, but as their cultivation improves, there will come a day when many powerful experts will move with such speed that the naked eye cannot perceive it. How will you deal with it then? Relying solely on your perception may not give you enough time to react. However, if you can cultivate the Mind Eye Technique, it will be different. Even if your eyes cannot see, if you have your saber in your hands, then your enemies shouldn’t even dream of approaching you. The Mind’s Eye Technique is a unique Secret Technique of my sect, the Raving Bladesmen, and it’s similar in concept to the sword heart of the Northern Profound Sword Clan. My proficiency in this technique is only at the beginner level, so I can only defend against attacks within a third of a meter away.”
Lu Ye realized now why Xia Liang had only reacted when his attack was about a third of a meter away each time, and it turned out that it was because the Secret Technique had a limited range.
With great interest, he asked, “How do I cultivate it?”
This was an exclusive Secret Technique of the Raving Bladesmen, and only their elite acolytes were allowed to cultivate it. If Lu Ye hadn’t ended up in Fox Immortal Valley, he would never have had the chance to come into contact with it.
Suddenly, he remembered when he was chasing and fighting with Xia Liang before. Xia Liang’s defense did indeed give him a sense of invulnerability, and if Xia Liang hadn’t been severely injured at the time, Lu Ye would never have been able to do anything to him just through this Mind’s Eye Technique alone.
Xia Liang had a reminiscent expression on his face. “When I cultivated this technique, I fought against various numbers of Spirit Beasts while my elders watched over me, and with my eyes blindfolded at that. So, if you truly want to cultivate this technique, you have to personally experience it and remember the feeling of impending danger with your own body. With time and repetition, you will naturally succeed. We don’t have the right conditions here, but if you have the opportunity in the future, you can go and cultivate it then.”
Lu Ye nodded slightly.
With Zhou Yuntian’s previous instructions, Xia Liang would never attack Lu Ye. So, even if Lu Ye wanted to cultivate this technique, Xia Liang wouldn’t spar with him.
“Remember, the Mind’s Eye Technique is built upon the foundation of your own perception. The stronger one’s perception, the easier it is to cultivate the technique successfully.”
“Understood.”
The strength of one’s perception was dependent on one’s Mental Power, and the strength of that was closely related to one’s Divine Soul.
In short, the stronger a cultivator’s Divine Soul, the easier it was to cultivate this technique, and the Divine Soul happened to be Lu Ye’s strong point.
After bidding Xia Liang farewell, Lu Ye returned to his room, activated the Ward, and had Yi Yi stand guard nearby. He then took out the seed of the Mystic Fruit from his Storage Sphere.
Indeed, the conditions in Fox Immortal Valley were not suitable for cultivating the Mind’s Eye Technique because there were no suitable sparring partners. However, the seed of the Mystic Fruit in Lu Ye’s hand could provide him with the best cultivation environment.
In the past, when he entered the Rift of Illusions, he would desperately slay the monsters inside to hone his blade technique. However, as his cultivation gradually improved, his entry into the Rift of Illusions also became less frequent.
Firstly, each entry into the Rift of Illusions consumed Contribution Points, and secondly, he didn’t need to train much in the rift as he didn’t lack the experience of fighting others in life or death situations to begin with, so there wasn’t a strong need for him to enter the Rift of Illusions for training.
But now, if he wanted to cultivate the Mind’s Eye Technique, the Rift of Illusions was undoubtedly the best choice.
Spending a hundred Contribution Points, he pushed open the door and entered the Rift of Illusions, where he stood still and closed his eyes.
Just as he was ready, the surrounding mist suddenly stirred and a figure rushed out, charging at him.
The strength of this figure’s attack was only at the level of a Fourth Order Cloud River Realm cultivator, on par with Lu Ye’s own cultivation. Wrapped in the mist, the figure’s appearance and gender were indistinguishable.
Normally, Lu Ye could easily defeat such an opponent with a single slash.
However, with his eyes tightly shut, Lu Ye could only rely on his perception and some sounds to judge his opponent’s movements, which was undoubtedly a great challenge for him.
A gust of wind suddenly brushed his face, and following his instinct, Lu Ye unsheathed his saber and tossed out a slash.
However, the slash hit nothing, and instead, he felt a pain in his abdomen from being struck by the opponent.
Another gust of wind came, and Lu Ye turned around, sweeping his Inviolable Saber to the side, yet he still failed to land a successful strike and another gush of pain ran through his body.
After a moment, on the second floor, Lu Ye opened his eyes, feeling a piercing pain in his head, causing his eyelids to twitch.
An opponent of the same cultivation level as himself, someone he could easily defeat with a single slash under normal circumstances, had managed to kill him in the Rift of Illusions in less than a cup of tea’s time!
How could Lu Ye endure this?
Again!
After another cup of tea’s time, Lu Ye opened his eyes once more.
Again!
This continued more than ten times, and Lu Ye’s complexion had grown pale.
Even though his Divine Soul was powerful, meaning that dying a few times in the Rift of Illusions didn’t leave much impact on him, to die so many times in a short period of time was still difficult for even him to handle.
At this moment, his head was throbbing in pain as if it were about to explode. He had only experienced this feeling a few times when he first obtained the seed of the Mystic Fruit. After his Divine Soul became powerful, he hadn’t experienced it again.
But dying more than ten times did not leave him without any gains. With his eyes shut, he could now endure for a longer time against his enemy’s attacks, and he even accurately blocked the enemy’s strikes several times.
Xia Liang said that cultivating the Mind’s Eye Technique required personal experience, using one’s body to remember the various feelings emerging in the face of imminent danger. So, every time the enemy attacked him in the Rift of Illusions, Lu Ye used his perception to feel and judge the enemy’s attack trajectory, and sense the crisis arising within his body.
When Xia Liang cultivated this technique, he fought against different numbers of Spirit Beasts under the watch of his elders, gradually succeeding in cultivating the Secret Technique.
Compared to his cultivation method, Lu Ye undoubtedly had more advantages because he was in the Rift of Illusions. Even if he was killed, there wouldn’t be much loss. This way, the experiences recorded in his body would be even more indelible.
Moreover, Lu Ye’s Mental Power was much stronger than cultivators of the same level, which was also an advantage for him.
He had no idea how long it took Xia Liang to cultivate this Secret Technique, but one thing was certain Lu Ye would definitely cultivate it much faster than he did.
