Ninth In the World

Di Jiu saw different results each time he executed the third saber move. The whirlpool of Saber Qi could only bind a single position at first, but soon the effects of the third saber move were able to affect a larger area.

After he had been executing the third saber move for two whole days, he was able to feel the sensations of the fourth saber move.

The fourth saber move was included in the manual of the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers. The Di Clan’s disciples would usually learn the fourth saber move by following the manual or their master’s guidance after they became familiar with the third saber move.

However, Di Jiu could feel the power of the fourth saber move right now, despite the fact that he had not read the respective chapter of the manual.

Di Jiu was sure that he was the only person in the Di Clan who was wired this way. This wasn’t merely because of his talent or resources. Perhaps his sense for the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers had heightened after he had cultivated to the second-stage Qi Refinement realm based on the Major Conduit Internal Records.

Di Jiu executed the fourth saber move without reading about it in the manual. He did so based solely on his intuition.

His fourth saber move had a slicing intent, so it could transform the air swept up from the subsequent strikes into a true slicing intent after the move had been executed. The slicing intent would then be combined to form a deadly saber flash. This saber flash was the true essence of that move.

Even though the weather had been normal lately, it was obvious to Di Jiu that the temperature dropped a few degrees as soon as he executed this move.

Bang! When the saber fell to the ground, the temperature seemed to go back to normal again.

What had once been a large empty area had now shockingly transformed into a place with many streams of gullies created by Di Jiu.

Di Jiu looked down at the saber in his hand. The blade of the saber seemed to have completely disappeared, as if it had been integrated into the killing intent of the move.

Wow! Di Jiu was thrilled. This was what saber techniques should be all about. Di Jiu had only been exposed to the periphery of saber techniques after executing this move.

Although this was his first time executing the fourth saber move without any restrictions, it had come naturally to him, as though he had been cultivating it for a very long time.

However, this move could probably not be considered one of the Di Clan’s saber moves, as Di Jiu had not relied on the chapter about the fourth saber move included in the manual of the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers.

Di Jiu did not continue practising the fourth saber move. Instead, he took out the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers manual and flipped to the chapter explaining the fourth saber move.

“During the Di Clan’s Fourth Saber Move, the saber becomes a shadow whose imposing manner swallows the shape. Then, the saber falls and shocks the wind…”

When Di Jiu looked into the details of cultivating this move, he realized that it was based on the Qi Channeling method. One had to adhere to this method and cultivate the fourth move step by step. There was no mention of the slicing intent of the Di Clan’s Fourth Saber Move, as the chapter focused completely on using saber strikes to suppress one’s opponent. However, Di Jiu’s fourth move had advanced from saber strikes to saber intent. If the Di Clan’s Fourth Saber Move was considered to have good form, then the move he had invented had a god-like form.

Di Jiu took a deep breath. He knew that the fourth saber move he had executed had been completely different from the one in the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers. In fact, his fourth saber move was a new saber technique based on the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers.

Di Jiu’s move was not complemented by the Qi Channeling method of the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers. It was purely based on the Quintessential Essence he had cultivated through the Major Conduit Internal Records. The Di Clan’s saber techniques were powerful and difficult to imitate, as the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers had to be complemented by the Qi Channeling method. Learning only one of them would be completely pointless. However, Di Jiu was able to execute the fourth saber move without applying the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers’ Qi Channeling method.

He had been able to execute the fourth move, as well as the first three saber moves, with the help of the Major Conduit Internal Records and his own talent. Di Jiu knew very well that, although this move was based on the first three moves of the Di Clan’s Seven Sabers, it was much more powerful than the actual Di Clan’s fourth saber move.

“From now on, the first two moves shall be called the Di Clan’s First and Second Saber Moves. The third move shall be called the Di Clan’s Cyclone Saber Move, and this move…” Di Jiu paused for a moment. “This move shall be called the Wind-Rustling Move!” he muttered to himself.

According to a poem, the rustling of the wind could easily turn water cold. Di Jiu felt that this line described his move very aptly. As he struck this move, Saber Qi was swept up and transformed into Saber Intent, which caused the temperature to drop. That was why he believed that the ‘Wind-Rustling Move’ was the best choice for a name.

Di Jiu loved the fourth move the most out of all the other moves, not just because it was powerful, but also because he had created this move himself, so he was able to execute it more smoothly.

Back when Di Jiu had fled the Ji Nation, he’d had a chilling, heavy feeling in his heart, very much like the one the poem described. At the time, he had not known when he would be able to return and get revenge.

However, that day he had been enlightened by the Wind-Rustling Move. If he kept having such breakthroughs, perhaps returning to the Ji Nation for revenge would no longer be an impossible dream.

After executing the Wind-Rustling Move a few more times, Di Jiu took a break. He believed that the difference between the Wind-Rustling Move and the first three saber moves was that, once the Wind-Rustling Move had been mastered, practising it would not make one more proficient in it. This was the difference between saber strikes and saber intent.

Based on his current skills, if Di Jiu sought out Trustworthy now, he would have about a 70% chance of success. Unfortunately for him, Trustworthy had also cultivated several cultivation techniques of the Major Conduit Internal Records. One of his disciples, who had been wearing a white shirt the last time Di Jiu had seen him, was able to form fireballs and levitate for a long time. Di Jiu was unable to do any of these things and he had been unable to find such a skill, even though he had looked through the Major Conduit Internal Records many times…

Di Jiu snapped out of his thoughts. If there was no such skill in the Major Conduit Internal Records, why not read the Secrets Of A Martial King instead?

The Secrets Of A Martial King contained a cultivation technique passed on by his ancestor, Di Yue. Di Jiu was not able to cultivate this technique, because he did not have a fire-element spiritual root.

Even though he could not cultivate that technique, he wondered whether it would be possible for him to practise the other moves.

He had previously taken a test that had shown he was unable to cultivate the Swirling Flaming Art, so he did not bother reading the rest of the book. Things were different now that he had cultivated the second stage of Qi Refinement, so he should be able to continue reading the book.

Di Jiu dashed into his aircraft and took the Secrets Of A Martial King out of his bag.

The first few pages contained the introduction and a test for detecting the presence of martial roots. The next few pages were full of diagrams on how to cultivate Qi. Di Jiu’s hands were trembling with excitement as he flipped to the last few pages.

The introduction mentioned clearly four Dharmic Spells: Fireball, Invisibility, Dust Removal, and Wind Blade. Even though there was no technique that would allow him to levitate, Di Jiu found it difficult to believe the potential that he could reach. He was indeed unaware of the treasure trove within him.

The Di Clan’s ancestors had known everything about martial arts after all. Di Jiu had been especially envious of the Fireball Dharmic Spell for a long time.

“Although cultivated inner Qi from Dao Cultivators cannot form a real fire, it can execute the Fireball Dharmic Spell via true Qi…”

The introduction was clear and easy to understand, and the complicated moves were also explained in great detail.

Di Jiu suddenly recalled the white-haired man who had performed the Fireball Dharmic Spell he was reading about. He had demonstrated many of the required moves at such extreme speed that Di Jiu had been unable to carefully observe the transformation.

Now that he had read about the Fireball Dharmic Spell in Secrets Of A Martial King, he realized that the move was not as difficult as he had thought after all.

Di Jiu spent the next few days practising those moves and trying to form fireballs. He felt like a child who had been given a new toy.

On the third day of his practice, he managed to form his first fireball. However, he was a little nervous, so he unconsciously threw it aside.

Bang! The fireball landed on a huge rock, which blew up almost immediately.

“That was easy. Seems like the white-haired man is not much stronger than me after all,” Di Jiu thought as he realized that his fireball was probably as powerful as the other man’s.

By the time he formed his second fireball, he was able to stay calm and allow it to spin on his palms. According to Secrets Of A Martial King, the fireball was formed using his own Quintessential Essence Dharmic Spell, so it would not hurt him unless he allowed it to.

However, the Fireball Dharmic Spell used up a lot of Quintessential Essence, so Di Jiu could not form too many fireballs. He felt strained after forming more than five, and it was obvious that the fireballs he had formed after the first one were not as good in terms of quality and strength.

The upside of forming fireballs constantly was that Di Jiu’s Quintessential Essence became more condensed after a few days, so he was able to form fireballs much faster.

This showed that the Swirling Flaming Art was more suitable for beginners than the Major Conduit Internal Records. The Swirling Flaming Art explained that cultivation had to be complemented with dharmic spells in order to achieve quicker improvement.

After learning to form fireballs, Di Jiu immersed himself completely into experimenting with all the dharmic spells. He even practised the moves of the Dust Removing Dharmic Spell consistently.

Even though he was running out of food rations, he couldn’t bring himself to leave the mountain. When he felt extremely hungry, he would go out to hunt wild animals or pick some wild berries to fill his stomach temporarily. He spent the rest of his time there practising various dharmic spells without eating or sleeping much.