As the sun set in the west, the dim red light sprinkled on the ever-changing sea of clouds. The sea of clouds, which had been surging for an entire day, was about to come to an end. Gradually, like the sea after a storm, it returned to its calm state.
A few strands of dark red light carrying traces of warmth traversed through the sea of clouds and landed on Chu Mu's body, covering his grey robe with a faint layer of red, making it seem like a dream.
Closing his eyes, his calm face seemed to be covered by a thin red veil. The light flowed, and his expression was clear.
One cycle after another, he carried the sword qi. A strand of sword qi came out of his dantian. Under the control of his mind, it slowly flowed along the path of the Qi Cultivation Sword Qi Art. After one cycle, it returned to his dantian. After circulating in his dantian, it once again rushed out of his dantian and carried on.
After fifteen cycles, the sword qi once again entered his dantian. Faintly, it was a bit purer.
Opening his mouth slightly, a white aura shot out like a sword, penetrating through the void and dissipating.
Opening his eyes, a trace of light flowed through them.
"Relying on the Qi Training Pill and Qi Gathering Pill, I reached the peak of Stage 6. However, after several attempts to break through to Stage 7, I have failed. This is because the sword qi is not stable enough. I should first completely stabilize my cultivation at the peak of Stage 6 before looking for a breakthrough to Stage 7."
"Stage 7 of the Sword Qi Realm requires sword qi to be attached to the blade. When the time comes, the sword qi cultivation will obviously increase. But right now, I can't think of any method."
"Let nature take its course. I can't force it."
Staring at the sea of clouds in front of him, watching the sea of clouds slowly return to calmness, he collected his thoughts and took out a thin, mottled, ancient book: Sword Qi Protection.
When he first obtained it, he only roughly glanced through it and did not go into detail. Now, he opened it again and read it carefully. After reading it once, he closed his eyes and thought for a while. After a while, he opened his eyes and read it again. This time, he read it more carefully and understood every sentence.
Half an hour later, the sea of clouds had returned to calmness. Half of the setting sun had also disappeared into the western horizon. The remaining red light that shone down was like blood.
Closing the book, Chu Mu raised his head and looked at the calm and dim sea of clouds.
"Let's start cultivating the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique."
Closing his eyes, Zhang Xuan cleared his mind of distracting thoughts. Then, he circulated the sword qi in his dantian once more.
Immediately after, a wisp of sword Qi split into threads and spread out. Through the meridians, it spread to the muscles in the special way of the protective sword Qi secret technique and squeezed into the muscles.
The corners of his eyes twitched involuntarily, and his entire body trembled slightly. His muscles felt like they were being torn apart. That kind of pain was like many sharp knives cutting and strangling from the inside out of his body.
This was a necessary step for the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique. After the Sword Qi was divided, it would enter the muscles through the meridians and squeeze out until it reached the skin. After a simple tempering of the skin, the Sword Qi would cover the skin and form a thin layer of invisible protection.
He had already imagined that the Sword Qi would be very painful when it pierced through his muscles, but the pain now was beyond his expectations. Even with his strong willpower, he felt uncomfortable.
In just a moment, his entire body was drenched in sweat, and his face paled. He could feel his muscles twitching slightly. He had reached his limits, and he had no choice but to stop cultivating the Protection of Sword Qi.
"The Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique is much harder to cultivate than I thought." Frowning, Zhang Xuan took out the silk book and flipped through it. He closed his eyes and thought, "Even with the strength of my soul and willpower, the first layer is already so difficult. If it was someone else, they would have probably fainted under this kind of pain.
"No, there should be a better way to cultivate the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique. This Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique is not only lacking in the back, but also in the front. It's missing a part on how to get started."
Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.
"After cultivating the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique, it will form an invisible barrier on the surface of the skin. It will increase one's defensive power and overall strength. I can't give up on it."
"Since it's missing a way to get started, I'll find one myself."
"The Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique uses the Sword Qi to penetrate the meridians and muscles, and finally temper the skin. The Sword Qi is dispersed into a thin layer and attached to the skin, forming an invisible barrier. Although the correct method is missing, I have external Sword Qi. If I directly temper the skin with external Sword Qi and skip the internal Sword Qi piercing through the meridians and muscles, I wonder if it'll work? "
Zhang Xuan stared at the contents of the silk book once more, studying the detailed steps of tempering the skin with Sword Qi.
"Internal Sword Qi focuses more on destruction. On the other hand, external Sword Qi can strengthen the body. According to theory, external Sword Qi should be more suitable for tempering the skin."
Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan no longer hesitated. He focused his mind and felt the Sword Qi within a few meters of him.
Under his senses, the Sword Qi flowed clearly, just like flying swords.
Shortly after, he began to control the Sword Qi and attached it to the surface of his body. Ignoring the gray robe on his body, the Sword Qi flowed slowly and vibrated according to the special law of the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique, tempering the skin.
There were many secret techniques in the Ancient Sword Continent. Among them, there were not many classifications. There were active, auxiliary, and passive ones. They could also be divided into attack, defense, amplification, and weakening.
Strictly speaking, the Sword Qi Body Protection Secret Technique was a passive type of protection. That was to say, after mastering it, there was no need to deliberately activate it. This was because after tempering the skin, the skin would become accustomed to the Sword Qi, causing the Sword Qi to naturally attach to the skin. Once the skin was attacked, it would play a defensive role.
Zhang Xuan concentrated on mobilizing the external Sword Qi to temper the skin. The progress was abnormally slow because the range of the Sword Qi he could mobilize now was only two meters, which was too little.
The sun set in the west, and a touch of darkness quickly spread from the horizon, swallowing the remaining red. Night fell, and the stars gradually flickered. The sea of clouds fell into a deep sleep.
A chilly wind blew in from outside the cliff with a slight whistling sound. Strangely, when the wind blew two meters in front of Chu Mu, it seemed to be blocked by an invisible wall. It collided with each other and separated to the left and right, continuing to blow. However, his hair and clothes did not move at all.
Stars filled the sky, and a bright moon shone in the sky. The moonlight sprinkled down, covering the sea of clouds with a thin layer of gauze. When it sprinkled on Chu Mu, it was strangely bent, like the refraction of light when it hit the bottom of the water.
Chu Mu was still cultivating.
After a while, the moonlight suddenly turned, and the strange refraction disappeared. The moonlight fell on his body, covering him with a layer of moon-white gauze, which was a little cold.
After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his eyes.
"Sure enough, using external Sword Qi to practice the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique is not only feasible, but also doesn't have to bear the pain of the internal Sword Qi piercing and tearing my muscles."
"Now I've mastered the basics of tempering the skin. After three or four more days of tempering, I'll be able to master the first level of the Sword Qi Protection Secret Technique. At that time, the skin will naturally form a layer of invisible Sword Qi protection."
At this time, it was already late at night. It was time to go back and rest.