Chapter 6 – Sword Roars Like a Dragon, Body Flows Like Clouds

[Flowing Cloud Step: Proficient 1/200]

[Water Dragon’s Roar: Proficient 1/300]

[Current Experience Points: 50]

As both “Flowing Cloud Step” and “Water Dragon’s Roar” reached the proficient level, Lu Chen felt numerous insights about these two skills emerging in his mind. This sensation was profoundly mysterious, as if he had been practicing these skills for a long time—indescribable and inexplicable.

“With these two skills, I should be able to confront those Azure Mystic Puppets now,” he thought.

With this idea in mind, Lu Chen stood up and walked out of the passage.

Ancient Cultivator Tomb, Underground Tomb.

Returning here again, Lu Chen no longer felt the initial nervousness. He gazed at the Azure Mystic Puppets not far away and slowly raised his Magic Sword.

“Again.”

As his words fell, the response came in the form of the cold stares from the Azure Mystic Puppets and their steadily approaching pressure. But unlike his first encounter, where he had been flustered, Lu Chen now appeared much more composed.

Facing the attack of the first Azure Mystic Puppet, Lu Chen easily dodged it. Then, with a stern expression, he instinctively unleashed “Water Dragon’s Roar.”

The blade of the Magic Sword began to vibrate intensely. The high-frequency vibrations not only imbued the sword with astonishing oscillating force but also produced a deep, resonant hum.

And this… was the Dragon’s Roar!

Focusing on the nearest Azure Mystic Puppet, Lu Chen swung his sword!

Sizzle!

Enhanced by the Sharpness Art’s Qianjin metal energy, the Magic Sword effortlessly sliced through the tough body of the Azure Mystic Puppet, cleanly severing its neck.

Just as Lu Chen eliminated this puppet, the other slightly distant Azure Mystic Puppets had already closed in. In response, Lu Chen fluidly evaded them, creating a relatively safe distance from the remaining nine puppets.

Right where he had just dodged, the iron fists of several Azure Mystic Puppets slammed down.

Boom!

The hard ground shattered under the puppets’ heavy blows, leaving a crater surrounded by cracks.

Witnessing this, Lu Chen thought with lingering fear, “So it seems I didn’t die unjustly the first time.”

With such strength, no wonder they had broken through his protective divine light and beaten him to death with their relentless attacks.

After this reflection, Lu Chen quickly gathered his focus, concentrating on the battle at hand.

Although the first isolated Azure Mystic Puppet had been easily dealt with, the remaining puppets maintained close proximity to one another. If Lu Chen rashly attacked one of them, he would undoubtedly be surrounded and assaulted by the others.

Therefore, to defeat them, he had to eliminate one Azure Mystic Puppet while simultaneously dodging the attacks of the others—just as he had done when dispatching the first one.

Easier said than done, however.

Maneuvering through the attacks of nine puppets within the confined space of the Underground Tomb was nothing short of a hellish challenge.

Moreover, with his current mana reserves—while maintaining the Sharpness Art—he could only activate the Purple Haze Divine Light for protection at most twice.

In other words, he could only withstand two attacks from the Azure Mystic Puppets.

This meant he had only two chances to be hit by them. If struck again after those two instances, given his current physical condition, he would either die or be severely wounded, rendering him unable to continue fighting.With this thought in mind, Lu Chen once again engaged in a fierce battle with the Azure Mystic Puppets.

One minute later…

Cornered against the wall by the Azure Mystic Puppets, Lu Chen gasped for breath, his chest heaving.

Not far from him lay three shattered Azure Mystic Puppets.

Indeed, despite being outnumbered ten to one and facing a disparity in Rank, Lu Chen had managed to trade blows for three Azure Mystic Puppets using Water Dragon’s Roar, Flowing Cloud Step, and Purple Haze Divine Light.

Such an achievement would be enough for any other Cultivator at the second level of the Qi Condensation Stage to take pride in.

Yet Lu Chen remained somewhat dissatisfied with his performance.

Too many mistakes—far too many.

Whether it was the timing of his Flowing Cloud Step or the execution of Water Dragon’s Roar, there were numerous areas he could improve upon, ways he could perform better.

Though the one-minute battle seemed brief, it had significantly deepened Lu Chen’s understanding of Flowing Cloud Step and Water Dragon’s Roar.

The essence of Water Dragon’s Roar lay in using Spiritual Power to generate vibrational force within the sword.

This way, when the Magic Sword emitted a sword hum resembling a Dragon’s Roar, it could also produce high-frequency damage akin to “water ripples.”

This was the “Dragon’s Roar” within Water Dragon’s Roar.

Theoretically, the faster the vibrational frequency of Water Dragon’s Roar, the greater the power of that strike.

But this remained only theoretical.

Because both the quality of the Magic Sword itself and Lu Chen’s own Physical Body and cultivation level were insufficient to support him in stacking more vibrational effects of Water Dragon’s Roar.

At present, he could only stack vibrational force up to five times per second.

This was already his absolute limit.

Moreover, after each use of Water Dragon’s Roar, he needed a certain amount of time to stabilize the turbulent Spiritual Power within his body.

Though this time was short, it could be fatal in battle.

It was only because water-attribute Spiritual Power was the gentlest among the Five Elements attributes.

If it were any other attribute, Lu Chen might not even manage to execute Water Dragon’s Roar before his own Meridians were shattered by the vibrating Spiritual Power.

Water Dragon’s Roar might seem simple, but this sword technique… held profound mysteries within.

Just as Lu Chen lowered his head in deep thought, the remaining seven Azure Mystic Puppets closed in on him.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Lu Chen raised his head to look at them.

Even in defeat, he refused to lose his spirit; even if he were to die, he would remain defiant to the end.

“Just wait, I’ll be back.”

Thud!

As a flurry of fists rained down, Lu Chen’s voice faded away.

Second Underground Tomb challenge—failed!

After reviving, Lu Chen didn’t dwell on his recent defeat for even a moment, immediately throwing himself into the next battle.

Just as he had said, he would be back!

Third Underground Tomb challenge—failed!

Fourth Underground Tomb challenge—failed!

One hundred and second Underground Tomb challenge.

“Flowing Cloud Step and Water Dragon’s Roar have reached the Mastery level. It’s about time to end this.”

Just as the Purple Haze Nourishing Art could improve skill proficiency through cultivation, the same applied to Flowing Cloud Step and Water Dragon’s Roar.

Perhaps because he had been using them constantly in actual combat, or perhaps because they lacked the harsh condition of the Purple Haze Nourishing Art—which could only be practiced at the first light of dawn—Lu Chen’s progress in these two skills was exceptionally fast.

Originally, by the fifty-second challenge, Lu Chen had already been capable of defeating those ten Azure Mystic Puppets.

But when he realized these ten were perfect training partners…Lu Chen, however, was in no hurry to defeat them, instead using them as tools to practice Flowing Cloud Step and Water Dragon’s Roar.

In this process, not only did Water Dragon’s Roar and Flowing Cloud Step improve, but even his repeatedly cast Sharpness Art saw significant progress.

Combat truly is the best teacher.

【Flowing Cloud Step: Proficient 1/800】

【Water Dragon’s Roar: Proficient 1/1200】

【Sharpness Art: Major Achievement 100/1000】

【Current Experience Points: 50】

If possible, Lu Chen would have liked to continue sparring with these Azure Mystic Puppets to raise the Ranks of all three skills as much as possible.

Unfortunately, perhaps because these ten Azure Mystic Puppets no longer posed any pressure on him, his proficiency in the three skills had stopped increasing during recent battles.

Seeing this, Lu Chen naturally saw no need to repeat the challenge.

In the Underground Tomb,

this was already the one hundred and second time Lu Chen had encountered these ten Azure Mystic Puppets.

This time, he was as calm as if attending an ordinary gathering.

It couldn’t be helped—after clashing with these things over a hundred times,

he could now predict their movements with precision even with his eyes closed, having completely seen through them.

Even if their numbers doubled, Lu Chen felt he wouldn’t feel any pressure at all.

Though his cultivation hadn’t advanced, he had indeed grown stronger!

Bang!

As the gate behind him closed once more, the ten Azure Mystic Puppets before him stirred to life.

Lu Chen looked at them and politely cupped his hands in a salute.

“Thank you for your assistance, gentlemen. Now… it’s time to end this.”

As his words faded, Lu Chen transformed into a blur, darting in front of one Azure Mystic Puppet.

Before the puppet could react, a clear, resonant Sword cry echoed through the silent Underground Tomb—brief yet piercing, like a Dragon’s Roar!

The moment the Sword cry vanished, Lu Chen’s figure swept past the Azure Mystic Puppet.

“First.”

Just as Lu Chen halted, a fist wind gusted from behind.

As if foreseeing it, Lu Chen nimbly sidestepped, evading the Azure Mystic Puppet’s sneak attack.

Simultaneously, the Magic Sword in his hand chimed crisply again, striking the puppet.

“Second.”

Without even glancing back, Lu Chen strolled leisurely into the encirclement of Azure Mystic Puppets.

“Third, fourth, fifth…”

At this moment, the sturdy bodies the Azure Mystic Puppets took pride in were as fragile as paper before Lu Chen.

With each Sword cry, an Azure Mystic Puppet fell.

Even though the puppets possessed astonishing strength and felt no pain, attempting to trade injuries with Lu Chen,

their efforts were futile against his fluid movements—they couldn’t even graze him.

One minute later…

“Tenth.”

As the tenth Azure Mystic Puppet collapsed, the once-crowded Underground Tomb suddenly felt spacious.

Lu Chen gazed at the scattered puppet wreckage, feeling somewhat dazed.

Who would have thought that the one who could only hold out for ten minutes against these ten Azure Mystic Puppets initially

could now defeat them unscathed in just one minute?

With these obstacles gone, Lu Chen instinctively turned his gaze toward the coffin in the distance.He clearly remembered the name of this instance – Ancient Cultivator Tomb.

According to the instance description, the most dangerous things here weren’t the Azure Mystic Puppets that served as guards.

Rather, it was a group of ancient spell corpses that had accidentally awakened.

The so-called spell corpses were essentially cultivators who had turned into Jiangshi.

Compared to ordinary Jiangshi, these were undoubtedly much more troublesome.

Because aside from possessing the Jiangshi’s impervious body that could withstand sabers and spears, they could also use some of the spells from their previous lives.

And spell corpses weren’t exclusive to instances – there were quite a few of them within the Nine Provinces Immortal Alliance as well.

Therefore, Lu Chen was actually quite familiar with these so-called spell corpses.

Staring at the coffin at the center of the tomb, Lu Chen didn’t approach directly. Instead, he cautiously swung his sword.

The rotting coffin was immediately split in half by this sword strike, revealing its contents.

“Empty?”

Looking at the vacant coffin, Lu Chen frowned.

He had originally thought the Azure Mystic Puppets in the tomb were the minor monsters, while the spell corpse in the coffin was the BOSS.

But now the coffin was completely empty.

This either meant there was never anything in the coffin to begin with.

Or whatever was inside had escaped.

Looking at the open stone door at the other end of the tomb, Lu Chen leaned more toward the latter possibility.

However, Lu Chen didn’t rush to leave the room to search for answers.

Instead, he began collecting the glowing spots scattered around the Azure Mystic Puppet corpses.

[You obtained one Azure Profound Puppet Art fragment and 35 experience points. Current fragment count: 1/10]

[You obtained one Azure Profound Puppet Art fragment and 35 experience points. Current fragment count: 2/10]

[…]

After collecting all ten fragments, they quickly merged into a complete Azure Profound Puppet Art.

[Azure Profound Puppet Art]

[Effect: After learning, can craft Azure Mystic Puppets. Puppet strength depends on materials used]

[Learning Requirements: Wood Spirit Root, Metal Spirit Root]

Aside from obtaining a puppet art, the ten Azure Mystic Puppets had also given him a decent amount of experience.

[Current Experience: 400]

Each Azure Mystic Puppet was worth 35 experience points, so ten amounted to 350 points.

If he didn’t have to kill all of them before receiving the instance experience rewards,

Lu Chen might have just stayed here indefinitely, constantly farming experience.

At that rate, not only could he master Water Dragon’s Roar and Flowing Cloud Step quickly, he might even be able to max out Purple Haze Nourishing Art in a short time.

What a pity, truly such a pity.

“Never mind, greed will make a snake try to swallow an elephant. With True Immortal Cultivation already aiding me, I shouldn’t ask for more.”

After this reflection, Lu Chen noticed the stone tablet nearby.

On that stone tablet were clearly written the tomb owner’s information.

[Tomb of Shang Zhiliang – 72nd Generation Formal Disciple of Azure Cloud Sect]

Azure Cloud Sect?

Looking at these few lines on the stone tablet, Lu Chen was quite surprised.

He never expected that this so-called Ancient Cultivator Tomb was actually a burial place for Azure Cloud Sect disciples.

And judging by the situation, the timeline within the instance and the Azure Cloud Sect in the game probably weren’t from the same period.

After all, given the Azure Cloud Sect’s power in the game, they would never allow their disciples’ corpses to undergo transformation after death.

This could only mean that during the instance’s timeline, either something had happened to the Azure Cloud Sect that prevented them from managing their sect’s cemetery,

or they had simply vanished into the river of history.

That would explain why this cemetery had become so barren and neglected that corpse transformations could occur.”No wonder I felt inexplicably familiar with these puppets earlier. They must have been crafted from the Azure Darkwood of the Azure Cloud Sect’s outer sect.”

“Even the Azure Cloud Sect, which had a Deity Transformation Stage expert overseeing it, could decline to this extent… What exactly happened in the world outside this instance?”

“Never mind, this has nothing to do with me now. I should focus on the current instance.”

“If this tomb only buries regular disciples, it would be manageable. But if it also contains the Direct Lineage Disciples, Elders, or even Peak Lords of the Azure Cloud Sect, then even though the instance only resets every three months in reality, I’d struggle to clear it before the reset.”

“After all, the weakest Direct Lineage Disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect is at least at the Foundation Establishment Stage, Elders are at the Golden Core Stage, and Peak Lords start from the Nascent Soul Stage.”

“If they were to turn into corpse demons, how could a mere Qi Condensation Stage cultivator like me stand a chance against them?”

“However, since this instance is accessible to those at the Qi Condensation Stage, there probably aren’t terrifying entities like Golden Core Stage corpse demons or Nascent Soul Stage corpse demons here. Otherwise, entry would require at least the Foundation Establishment Stage.”

“Moreover, figures like Elders and Peak Lords are unlikely to be buried alongside others.”

“So, this should just be a disciple burial ground.”

With that thought, Lu Chen stopped overthinking.

After confirming that the current tomb chamber held little of use, he walked directly through the open stone door ahead.

The first tomb room had already cost him over a hundred revivals. Who knew how many more deaths it would take to fully clear this instance?

Upon exiting the tomb, a complex underground palace came into view.

Before Lu Chen could fully grasp the labyrinthine layout of the palace, he suddenly felt a cold gust from above.

A sharp pain followed, and his vision instantly turned black.

Inside the underground tomb chamber.

“I… died again?”

Lu Chen, revived once more, stared grimly at the scattered remains of Azure Mystic Puppets around him.

At least during previous deaths, he had known how he died.

But this time, he hadn’t even seen what his enemy looked like.

Was the enemy so powerful that he couldn’t react in time, or were there special trap mechanisms outside the stone door?

Since he couldn’t guess, he might as well try again.

With unlimited revivals in the instance, what was there to fear?

Just charge ahead recklessly!

(End of Chapter)