Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

Chapter 238: Chapter 193: A Great Increase in Progress

The mid-mountain Outer Courtyard of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect was cloaked in silver overnight.

"It’s snowing!"

Cries of surprise rose from here and there as disciples woke for their morning sword practice.

The Outer Sect had become a world of white. Rooftops, branches, and streams were all blanketed in snow. Dressed in white, the Outer Sect disciples practiced their swords on the snow-covered grass and by the stream, seeming to blend into the scenery. The mountainside had transformed into a classical line drawing, with only the glint of a few sword shadows flickering within it.

Xie Yuan stood in his courtyard, reaching out to catch a snowflake as large as a goose feather. He let out a breath.

’Is it winter already?’

It felt like autumn had only just arrived. The challenge at the Sword Storage Pavilion didn’t seem that long ago, and he felt as if he’d only just gotten into the rhythm of cultivation, yet the first snow was already falling.

Time truly flies in the mountains.

Although Cloud Mountain was a high peak, its climate was mild thanks to the ambient Spiritual Qi, so it didn’t snow very often.

It was winter now. Calculating the time, he realized the end of the year was approaching.

"Winter again..."

Xie Yuan stood stunned for a moment. A full year had passed.

It was around this time last year that he had "awoken," chopped his first block of wood, and saw a whole new world.

He found himself missing the small courtyard of the Xie family in Little Stone Village. He hadn’t actually spent much time there this past year—less time than he’d spent on Cloud Mountain, even—but the memories felt different.

’Should I go back for the New Year?’

The thought was fleeting. Xie Yuan sighed. Who would he even celebrate with if he went back?

There was only Brother Shitou and Sister Orchid, but they’d taken the silver notes he gave them. They had probably moved out of Little Stone Village and into a town or city by now.

Besides, Xie Yuan hadn’t forgotten he was a wanted man. On the rare occasions he went down from Cloud Mountain to procure supplies, he could still see his strikingly lifelike wanted poster hanging in the taverns of Cloud Mountain Town.

Many elusive fugitives were caught at the end of the year, unable to resist their homesickness, which in turn padded the New Year performance records for the Officials. He didn’t know if Su Xing would bother with something so inefficient, but it was just a thought. He couldn’t go back.

It had been a full year since he’d transmigrated, awoken, and set foot on the path of cultivation.

Around this time last year, he was probably still practicing things like the Iron Garment Long Fist. In retrospect, that Fist Skill was just a few stances and couldn’t even be considered a proper Cultivation Technique, but it had been his very first combat method.

Back then, he had just activated his Golden Finger and started on the path of the Martial Dao, and his status panel had looked rather pathetic.

But now...

[Chopping Wood: (4,265/100,000)]

[Golden Bell Shield - 4th Layer: (1,086/5,000)]

[Body-Nourishing Art - 4th Layer: (3,171/4,000)]

[Eight Trigrams Mountain-Shaking Fist - Minor Success: (39/3,000)]

[Moon-Cutting Axe - Minor Success: (427/3,000)]

[Celestial Concealment Skill - Minor Success: (2,128/5,000)]

[Black Celestial Book: (97/500)]

[Cloud Dragon Step - Proficient: (146/1,000)]

[Rushing Wolf Saber Skill - Perfection]

[Cloud Mountain Sword Form - Perfection]

[Cloud Dragon Nine Forms - Proficient: (15/1,000)]

[Cloud Mountain Sword Qi Skill - 3rd Layer: (87/1,000)]

Looking at this truly luxurious display of Cultivation Techniques, feeling the surging Blood Qi of the Qi Blood First Transformation and the two potent internal energies from the Body-Nourishing Art and the Cloud Mountain Sword Qi Skill—which coexisted peacefully and even complemented each other—Xie Yuan felt like the world was his oyster.

With high-level techniques for nourishment, training, combat, and killing, Xie Yuan felt like his status panel was positively glowing with wealth.

Over the past two months in the Outer Sect, whether he was practicing the Golden Bell Shield in his room or training with the group, his Blood Qi had been steadily increasing. He was already twenty percent of the way through the 4th Layer of his Golden Bell Shield.

According to the structure of the Golden Bell Shield, the 4th Layer corresponded to the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm. The 5th and 6th Layers corresponded to the Second and Third Transformations, respectively, after which the technique would be maxed out.

At his current rate—more than twenty percent progress in two months—he should be able to break through to the Qi and Blood Second Transformation Realm in less than a year.

To other disciples, such a speed was almost unimaginable. But Xie Yuan himself felt it was slow. After all, compared to the explosive progress he’d made during his External Training, his current speed was a steep decline.

However, that was the nature of cultivation. Mu Chaoyun had once told him:

"The four stages of External Training, each stage a new gate;

"The three Qi and Blood Transformations, each transformation a heavy mountain."

Cultivation grows more difficult the further one progresses. The difference between a gate and a mountain should be self-evident.

The four stages of External Training are merely the foundation of the entire cultivation path. Once one reaches the Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm, the gulf between each level widens considerably. The gap between the Qi Blood Second Transformation and the Qi Blood First Transformation can be even greater than the gap between the First Transformation and the entire External Training phase.

It was the difference between one metamorphosis and two, a gap that couldn’t be fully captured by the numbers on his panel.

Furthermore, not every Martial Artist can reach their full potential, and that includes experts who have already reached the Qi Blood First Transformation.

Countless Martial Artists progressed with unstoppable momentum, only to enter the Metamorphosis Realm and discover that their potential was exhausted, leaving them unable to break their limits and achieve another transformation.

Many sailed through their training, hailed as the prodigies of their generation with cultivation speeds matching any other genius. Then, one day, they would get stuck before a new gate or at the foot of a new mountain, unable to advance a single inch for the rest of their lives. Only then would they realize their journey was over. They could only watch as others continued to climb, including those who had once trailed far behind, but who now showed them nothing but their receding backs.

Cultivation was sometimes a cruel, high-stakes gamble. You might enter with the mindset of a genius, aiming for ultimate victory, but you never knew when you would suffer a crushing defeat.

But cultivation always paid dividends. Even if your progress stalled, as long as you didn’t give up on yourself, your principal investment would never be reclaimed.

But Xie Yuan didn’t have to worry about that. In fact, he still felt he was progressing too slowly.

’When will I break through? Sword Aura is so damn cool.’

Xie Yuan rubbed his chin, recalling the long rainbow of light from Ning Zi’s blade as it shot across the arena. In terms of both power and style, it was the very image of a Sword Immortal.

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