Lu Yi gobbled down the buns in a few bites, then grabbed his long sword and headed to the small courtyard, striking a pose and beginning to practice the White Cloud Sword Technique.
As a cultivation sect, even the basic arts like the White Cloud Sword Technique were far more exquisite than the swordsmanship of the mortal world. The White Cloud Sword Technique embodied the fluidity and unpredictability of clouds, and its movements were as seamless as flowing water.
Lu Yi's White Cloud Sword Technique was at level 2, according to the system's ranking. In the cultivation world, this was considered the realm of Minor Mastery. With each movement of the sword, he generated a sharp wind.
While Lu Yi was practicing the White Cloud Sword Technique, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi finished their breakfast and stepped out of the hall. Watching Lu Yi earnestly practicing in the courtyard, both of them had a slight smile on their lips.
Wang Siqi whispered, "Yi'er's talent in arts is quite impressive. He's already brought the White Cloud Sword Technique to Minor Mastery. If he can reach the realm of Great Success, he might even make it into the top five thousand of the competition."
Lu Gaoyang chuckled proudly, "Well, whose child do you think he is?"
Wang Siqi glanced at Lu Gaoyang and sneered, "Without me, could you have produced him?"
Lu Gaoyang chuckled awkwardly, "Of course, it's mainly due to your efforts, my dear."
Wang Siqi nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, go get busy and don't disturb Yi'er's cultivation."
As outer sect stewards, both Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi had many tasks to attend to.
Immersed in the White Cloud Sword Technique, Lu Yi did not notice that Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi had already left.
After practicing the White Cloud Sword Technique once through, Lu Yi looked and saw that the task progress had reached 1/10.
Feeling a bit excited, he continued practicing.
One repetition after another, soon Lu Yi had practiced ten times.
After ten repetitions, Lu Yi was drenched in sweat and panting heavily, sitting down on the ground. Even though he was now at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, practicing the White Cloud Sword Technique ten times in a row was exhausting. But thinking of the task's reward, he was filled with motivation and didn't stop for a moment.
Now that he had completed ten repetitions, Lu Yi felt like he could barely lift his arms. He glanced at the panel.
[Current Task]:
Practice the White Cloud Sword Technique ten times (Progress: 10/10)
Reward: White Cloud Sword Technique Level +1
Completed.
Claim Reward: Yes/No
Feeling a bit excited, Lu Yi hurriedly chose yes.
With Lu Yi's choice, a flood of information suddenly filled his mind. It was knowledge about how to wield the White Cloud Sword Technique, how to channel spiritual energy, how to regulate his breath, how to maximize the technique's power...
It seemed as if this information was ingrained into his mind, becoming second nature to him.
When the information was fully absorbed, Lu Yi opened his eyes and casually swung his sword.
Swish!!
A faint sound of the sword slicing through the air was heard, and Lu Yi saw a sliver of sword qi appear on the surface of his long sword. As the sword qi slashed, it left a mark on the stone-paved ground.
Lu Yi's eyes widened.
Such powerful force! This was far stronger than his previous level 2 White Cloud Sword Technique. This should be close to the realm of Great Success in the White Cloud Sword Technique, right?
If level 3 of the White Cloud Sword Technique was this powerful, what about level 4 or level 5? Wouldn't that surpass the Great Success realm of the White Cloud Sword Technique?
Transformation stage? Regain Simplicity?
What if it was at an even higher level? Would it still be the White Cloud Sword Technique then?
Lu Yi was very much looking forward to it. If he received a task from his father every day, within a month, he should be able to raise the White Cloud Sword Technique to a very high level. By the time of the sect's grand competition, he might even achieve a very high ranking...
If he made it directly into the top ten, then Lu Yi could enter the Inner Sect right away, which would be much faster than he had initially thought.
Not only that, but the rewards for the outer sect competition task would likely be great as well!
Just then, Bai Lingling walked over and said, "Young master, it's time to eat."
"Oh, alright." Lu Yi stopped thinking, having practiced the White Cloud Sword Technique all morning, he was exhausted. Resting to regain his strength, he continued his cultivation in the afternoon.
......
After lunch, Lu Yi went back to his room to rest.
Having completed the task of practicing the White Cloud Sword Technique, there was still an outer sect assessment task he couldn't undertake at the moment. It seemed that now he needed to find a few more tasks to do.
Wait... At that moment, Lu Yi had a bold idea.
Lu Yi clenched his right fist, coughed seriously at his lips, and solemnly declared, "This afternoon I will practice the White Cloud Stance ten times."
As soon as Lu Yi finished speaking, his panel once again transformed.
[Task]:
Practice the White Cloud Stance ten times (Progress: 0/10)
Reward: White Cloud Stance Insight Enhancement.
Accept: Yes/No
Goodness!
Lu Yi looked at the task prompt and felt that he had opened up a whole new world: he could actually issue tasks to himself?!
This really works?!
Lu Yi's head swirled with bold ideas, he coughed again, "Next, I will step out with my left foot first!"
Lu Yi eagerly watched the panel, but after a moment of silence, there was no reaction from the panel. No task was issued for stepping out with his left foot first.
Feeling a bit deflated, Lu Yi then declared, "My next step will cover two meters!"
…After a long silence, the panel still showed no response.
Disappointed, Lu Yi initially hoped to issue tasks for everyday actions too. It seemed the panel didn't recognize it. Was it too simple, or was it unrelated to cultivation?
But after a moment of disappointment, Lu Yi became optimistic. Regardless, being able to issue tasks to himself was already quite satisfying. Greed leads to downfall, after all.
At this point, Lu Yi also noticed something amiss: In the morning, practicing the White Cloud Sword Technique ten times directly upgraded it by one level, but now, practicing the White Cloud Stance ten times merely enhanced his insight, not raising it by a level.
Lu Yi thought about it and quickly understood the difference: His White Cloud Stance was at level 3, higher than the original level 2 White Cloud Sword Technique. The same amount of practice would consequently result in different improvements.
In gaming terms: leveling up a skill requires experience points. The higher the skill level, the more experience points are needed, making leveling up harder. The same task would yield the same experience points, so it's normal for lower-level skills to upgrade while higher-level ones do not.
Understanding this, Lu Yi realized that issuing tasks to improve his arts would be harder as the skill levels increased, requiring more repetitions.
Yet no matter what, it was much faster than relying on his own understanding.
From today onwards, I, Lu Yi, am a peerless genius!
Lu Yi felt quite satisfied.
After resting, Lu Yi began practicing the White Cloud Stance.
The practice task wasn't difficult, just tiring. After an afternoon of practice, Lu Yi easily completed the task.
In the evening, Lu Gaoyang and Wang Siqi returned. Bai Lingling had already prepared dinner, and after the three of them finished eating, they went back to their rooms to rest.
In the world of cultivators, evenings were generally reserved for cultivation, which was true for the three of them as well.
Back in his room, Lu Yi sat cross-legged and issued himself another task: practice the "White Cloud Qi Refining Art" ten times.
Since the "White Cloud Qi Refining Art" was also level 2, the task reward, like the morning's practice of the White Cloud Sword Technique, was to raise its level by 1.
Qi cultivation required controlling spiritual energy to circulate through the body, absorbing external spiritual energy. Generally, the higher the talent, the stronger the cultivation technique, and the deeper the mastery of the technique, the more efficiently spiritual energy could be absorbed.
Lu Ming's White Cloud Qi Refining Art was only level 2, so completing a full circulation took some time. Nevertheless, completing ten repetitions in one evening was manageable.
Time and again, he circulated the White Cloud Qi Refining Art, absorbing spiritual energy. Lu Yi could feel his cultivation base slowly improving. When he finished ten repetitions, dawn was near.
Task completed, Lu Yi chose to claim the reward.
Immediately, his mind was flooded with various insights about the White Cloud Qi Refining Art, and his understanding of it rapidly deepened.