Chapter 11 – Seeing Through the Essence, Spiritual Power Shock

Clang!

A crisp sword cry echoed through the tomb as a sharp Sword Ray pierced through the air, heading straight for Ye Chenglin’s face.

The resounding sword cry now carried an indescribable pressure, as if a true Dragon had descended with immense momentum.

Lu Chen had expected Ye Chenglin to retreat upon seeing this attack.

Yet he remained calmly standing in place, then extended a single hand.

Boom!

With a sound of air explosion, Lu Chen’s full-power strike was caught directly in Ye Chenglin’s hand.

The hard rebound from the sword made Lu Chen feel as if he hadn’t struck flesh and blood, but rather tempered refined iron.

To block my Major Achievement level Water Dragon’s Roar with one hand – is this the Physical Body strength of a Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse?

Though shocked by Ye Chenglin’s Physical Body strength, Lu Chen quickly made a decision.

He abruptly released the sword hilt, transforming his surrounding Spiritual Power into ten invisible Qi Swords that hovered in mid-air.

Lu Chen formed a sword gesture with his fingers, aiming at Ye Chenglin before him.

Clink, clink, clink…

The exceptionally sharp Qian Metal Qi Swords struck Ye Chenglin’s body like waves crashing against the shore.

Apart from sparking some flashes, they couldn’t harm Ye Chenglin’s Physical Body in the slightest.

Neither Water Dragon’s Roar nor Qi transformation into swords worked.

Ye Chenglin’s Physical Body strength exceeded Lu Chen’s imagination.

It also made him deeply aware of the vast gap between the Foundation Establishment Stage and Qi Condensation Stage.

Or rather, the immense difference between a Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse and an ordinary Qi Condensation Stage Cultivator.

Lu Chen landed from the air, silently observing Ye Chenglin two meters away.

At this point, he didn’t have many techniques left.

Besides watching, there really wasn’t much else he could do.

Seeing that Lu Chen had ceased attacking, Ye Chenglin seemed to lose interest in continuing the game.

He applied slight pressure, and the sturdy Magic Sword in his hand was easily crushed into numerous Metal Fragments that scattered in the air.

However, during this process, Lu Chen noticed the shallow wound on Ye Chenglin’s palm.

His sword had ultimately inflicted some damage on Ye Chenglin – it wasn’t completely ineffective.

Although this minor injury meant nothing to Ye Chenglin, it gave Lu Chen a glimmer of hope for victory.

It also slightly improved his originally despairing mood.

If he could cause damage, there was still hope.

Ye Chenglin looked at Lu Chen, his rotten, terrifying face showing a human-like appreciation.

“You… not bad.”

Hearing Ye Chenglin’s praise, Lu Chen remained silent for a moment before saying: “But still not enough.”

Ye Chenglin slowly approached Lu Chen until they were face to face, saying calmly: “Pity.”

“Pity what…”

Before Lu Chen could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

Looking down, he saw Ye Chenglin’s claw piercing through his chest, extracting his still-beating heart.

In his final moments, Lu Chen heard Ye Chenglin’s last words.

“Pity, still too weak.”

One hundred thirty-first challenge – failed!

After reviving once more, Lu Chen began his post-battle analysis again.

“The Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse’s Physical Body is still too powerful. Previously, since I couldn’t even get close, I mistakenly thought that getting near him would guarantee victory.”

“But now it seems my thinking was too naive.”

“Admittedly, a Talisman Cultivator’s Physical Body is far inferior to a Body Cultivator’s – once in close combat, there’s often little room to maneuver.””But Ye Chenglin is no ordinary Talisman Cultivator. He himself is a Corpse that has returned from death, and the Physical Body of a Corpse isn’t necessarily weaker than that of an average Body Cultivator—it might even be stronger.”

“Although Water Dragon’s Roar multiplies the power of my Swordsmanship, my Qi Refining second Rank cultivation is ultimately still too low.”

“Even after the multiplicative enhancement, I can only barely manage to injure him.”

“Moreover, in the previous hundred-plus battles, Ye Chenglin clearly hadn’t been taking it seriously. Only this time did he start to regard me as a true opponent.”

“A serious Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse, even in a severely wounded state, isn’t someone I can easily defeat.”

“After much thought, if I truly want to defeat Ye Chenglin, this Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse, I either need to raise my cultivation level or improve the skill Rank of Water Dragon’s Roar.”

If given a choice, Lu Chen wouldn’t want to spend precious experience points on increasing his cultivation level.

Unless absolutely necessary, he would never lightly waste even a single point of experience.

Thus, the key to defeating Ye Chenglin still lay in the Water Dragon’s Roar sword technique.

How could he raise the Rank of Water Dragon’s Roar?

Lu Chen sat on the open ground before the bronze door, calmly pondering.

He had already discovered earlier that merely using a skill wasn’t enough if he wanted to quickly improve its Rank.

He also needed to gain insights into the skill.

The reason he had been able to elevate Flowing Cloud Step to the breakthrough realm was that, through repeated use, he realized the essence of Flowing Cloud Step actually lay in harnessing the mist-like power of water-attribute Spiritual Power.

Thereby making his footsteps lighter.

After understanding this, he began continuously contemplating how this mist-like power could be applied to Flowing Cloud Step.

After over a hundred actual combat battles, Lu Chen eventually figured out the technique of treading on air.

After all, moisture in the air is still water.

When he executed Flowing Cloud Step, it appeared as though he was treading on air, but in reality, he was treading on water.

Similarly, if he wanted to raise the Rank of Water Dragon’s Roar,

He must first understand what the essence of Water Dragon’s Roar is.

And regarding this, Lu Chen figured it out in a very short time.

That is, vibration.

The essence of Water Dragon’s Roar is to first cover the Sword with water-attribute Spiritual Power, then cause the Sword to produce a vibrating force similar to rippling water waves.

The Sword’s hum, akin to a Dragon’s Roar, is merely one product of this vibration.

Therefore, if he wants to enhance the power of Water Dragon’s Roar, he should focus on this aspect of ‘vibration.’

Currently, he can make the Sword vibrate fifty times per second.

Thereby creating astonishing high-frequency damage.

If he could make the Sword vibrate hundreds, or even thousands of times per second,

The power of his Water Dragon’s Roar would undoubtedly reach an even higher level.

Unfortunately, Lu Chen currently cannot increase the vibration frequency any further.

The main reason for this isn’t due to himself, but rather the weapon.

The ordinary Magic Sword used by a mere servant Disciple, while of decent quality, can only withstand fifty vibrations per second at most.

Any more, and before Lu Chen can use it to strike an enemy, the Magic Sword in his hand would shatter on the spot, unable to bear the additional vibrational force.

Thus, Lu Chen’s training in Water Dragon’s Roar has hit a Bottleneck.

To raise the Rank of the sword technique, he must increase the vibration frequency.However, the quality of the Magic Sword itself could not support him in applying more vibrational force.

Troublesome…

Lu Chen furrowed his brow and began to ponder whether there were any flaws in his understanding of Water Dragon’s Roar.

Vibration, vibration…

As Lu Chen thought, his eyes suddenly lit up.

“Wait, why am I so fixated on applying vibrational force only to the Magic Sword? My own Physical Body is also an excellent vessel!”

“If I perform Water Dragon’s Roar while simultaneously causing the Spiritual Power within my body to vibrate at a high frequency…”

“And then release this power when I strike with the sword…”

“Then the vessel for the vibrational force would shift from the Magic Sword itself to the Sword Qi emanating from it!”

Just as Lu Chen arrived at this realization, his game interface suddenly displayed a message.

[Your comprehension of ‘Water Dragon’s Roar’ has deepened. +300 skill proficiency.]

[Water Dragon’s Roar: Major Achievement 301/4000]

Seeing Water Dragon’s Roar’s skill proficiency suddenly soar by 300 points, Lu Chen grew even more exhilarated.

This undoubtedly confirmed that his idea was correct.

The essence of Water Dragon’s Roar lies in vibrational force.

And the source of this vibration is the Spiritual Power itself.

Thus, the true Dragon’s Roar in Water Dragon’s Roar should be the resonance of Spiritual Power.

Weapons may have limits in their vibration, but Spiritual Power does not.

Theoretically, as long as he has sufficient Spiritual Power and resilient enough Meridians…

The vibrational intensity of his Water Dragon’s Roar could be… infinitely great!

At this moment, Lu Chen felt as though the clouds had parted to reveal the sun—everything suddenly became clear!

(End of Chapter)