Chapter 34: Blinking Sword Art
“Blinking Sword Art?” Han Li murmured.
“That’s right! What do you think this set of sword techniques has in common with eyes blinking? Isn’t the name funny?”
“Have you practiced this set of sword techniques before?” Han Li asked curiously.
“Of course not. Who would practice such a useless set of sword arts? It’s all form and no power. Ever since this sword technique was created, no one has chosen to practice it, let alone me, Senior Disciple Li.”
“I was told that if the creator of this set of sword techniques hadn’t saved the Sect Leader’s life countless times and left a will for it to be placed inside the Seven Supreme Division, the Seven Supreme Division wouldn’t have even considered storing this type of swordplay.”
With his cold countenance, Li Feiyu was someone whom Han Li would never have thought of as a big mouth. Who would have thought that Li Feiyu would list all of the techniques and stances for this particular sword art before Han Li opened his mouth to speak. Li Feiyu would only act in this manner when privately facing Han Li. In the presence of a disciple other than Han Li, he would revert back to the cool Senior Disciple Li who was revered by every other disciple.
After hearing Li Feiyu speak, Han Li’s intuition told him that this was the technique he was looking for.
“Senior Disciple Li, could copy this set of sword techniques from the Seven Supreme Division and bring it to me?”
“Hehe! No problem! If you were to ask about any other martial arts, I might not be able to guarantee success since there would be people guarding it. But as for the Blinking Sword Art, you can count on me. However, copying it is too much of a hassle, so I will just steal the original book for you. Once you record the techniques listed down, just give it back to me, and I will stealthily return it to its original location. This way, no one would notice its absence.” Li Feiyu nonchalantly made a bold suggestion.
Han Li felt that Li Feiyu was very confident about this, and as such, agreed to his suggestion.
Initially, Han Li was concerned that Li Feiyu might accidentally overlook or miss a portion of the technique when copying it down, but since he wanted to steal the original copy of the technique, Han Li could be more at ease.
“It’s getting late. I should go back and practice my martial arts. If not, the Seven Supreme Division might discovered that I sneaked out.” Li Feiyu dried his body and donned his clothes in preparation to leave Han Li’s secluded mountain hideout.
Before Li Feiyu left, Han Li reminded him to be cautious when stealing the sword technique manual.
After Li Feiyu left, Han Li returned back to God Hand Valley as well.
Upon stepping inside the valley, Han Li could see the mysterious figure that Doctor Mo bought back from afar, standing motionlessly as a guard outside of Doctor Mo’s residence. It was as if the summer heat did not affect him in the slightest way.
Han Li, as he neared to the entrance of his own residence, halted his steps and glanced at the silent, mysterious man guarding Doctor Mo’s doorstep.
Ever since Doctor Mo threatened him, Han Li had felt an extreme interest regarding what the mysterious figure looked like underneath his hood. Han Li had never heard him speak a single word after arriving at the valley, causing him to wonder if the man had been mute since birth.
What was even more surprising was that this mysterious man seemed to have an elephant constitution; he could silently stand on guard for an entire day without being exhausted. In Han Li’s heart, only the word “freak” could be used to describe this mysterious figure.
He had once tried to communicate with this man, but the mysterious figure was akin to a block of wood, eliciting no response no matter what Han Li said to him.
Han Li truly felt that Doctor Mo was amazing for being able to train a person to an extent where the person became similar to a puppet. The mysterious figure had no weaknesses or emotions. In addition, it was equipped with herculean strength and was completely obedient to Doctor Mo’s orders. This was Han Li’s judgement regarding the mysterious man Doctor Mo brought back from his travels.
Han Li knew that this mysterious man could very well be used by Doctor Mo to suppress him in the future, but despite of this, he was unable to find a solution or a weakness to exploit.
The only thing that aroused Han Li’s suspicion was that he could vaguely feel a sense of familiarity whenever he viewed the mysterious man’s back; it was as if he had encountered this man somewhere before. However, no matter how hard he pondered, he could not recall why this man’s back seemed so familiar to him.
After a while, Han Li let out a sigh and he closed his door. Returning back to his residence, he knew that unless Doctor Mo gave a different order, the mysterious man would likely continue standing on guard without resting.
Feeling slightly confused in his heart, Han Li decided not to worry anymore and jumped onto his bed, laying his head on his interlocked fingers. On his bed, Han Li slowly closed his eyes as he tried to organize his thoughts and memories of the events that had transpired today. He repeatedly dissected and analysed the techniques that Senior Disciple Li taught him until he could grasp the essence behind them.
This was an effect of Han Li’s fifth layer of cultivation in the Eternal Spring Arts: Eidetic Memory!
Taking full advantage of his Eidetic Memory, Han Li crammed as many martial arts techniques as he could get hold of into his brain, analysing them over and over. His Eidetic Memory was what caused Li Feiyu to call him a genius.
Two months ago, Han Li had used medicine that he concocted to forcefully break into the fifth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts!
Both the Yellow Dragon Pellet as well as the Gold Essence Pill had incredibly strong medical effects that widely surpassed Han Li’s estimation. These two concocted pills could be considered priceless treasures!
However, he had already consumed over half of his stock. From from what left, Han Li estimated that it should be barely enough for him to breakthrough to the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts. Rubbing his hands in glee, he wondered what surprises the sixth layer of the Eternal Spring Arts had in store for him.
There was only half a year left until Doctor Mo’s time limit. Although Han Li had learned some martial arts from Li Feiyu, he was unable to combine the martial arts techniques with his True Qi, He could at most display the forms, but he could not manifest the true might behind the martial arts techniques he learned from Li Feiyu.
Against clumsy and weak people, it was more than enough to deal with them. However, if he wanted to fight against Doctor Mo with such low level skills, it would be very laughable. It was the same as hitting a dog with a meat bun, producing no effects at all.
Just thinking about this caused worry to arise in Han Li’s heart. How troublesome; the Eternal Spring Arts enhanced his body in multiple ways but it couldn’t be used for battle or slaughter!
Now, it seemed like he could only depend on the Blinking Sword Art, hoping that it would create a miracle and give him a chance to survive whatever ordeal would take place.