The world of martial arts, the immortal swordsman in the mortal realm.

Chapter 25, Great Advancement in Skill!
As dusk falls, the setting sun casts its slanting rays, and a gentle mountain breeze blows.

Beside the mountain stream, in front of the wooden house, Lu Chen moved with his sword, as graceful as a dragon in flight. Where the sword light flashed, it was sometimes like falling petals, sometimes like snowflakes drifting down. The sound of the long sword cutting through the air was sometimes gentle and mild, like a drizzle and spring breeze, nourishing things silently, and sometimes swift and fierce, like a biting north wind, scraping the bones and causing pain.

They had been living in a hut in the mountains for ten days.

Over the past ten days, the two of them have caught one snake at a time, and two or three at other times, but they have still managed to catch more than ten strange snakes.

Lu Chen worked hard every day, and his skill improved by leaps and bounds. In just ten days, the originally weak true qi in his dantian had grown into a strong mass.

When true qi flows through the meridians, it is no longer as thin and pitiful as a thread, but rather like a babbling brook, flowing endlessly.

Although it was far from the realm that Lu Chen had imagined, where the flow of true qi was like "surging rivers" and the dantian was like "vast oceans," it was already much better than before he started cultivating by catching snakes. If he relied entirely on his own cultivation, it would probably take two or three years of hard work to accumulate so much true qi.

Therefore, Lu Chen was quite satisfied with his progress in true qi.

After all, in the world of low-level martial arts, internal energy cultivation is usually measured in "years".

Without extraordinary encounters such as absorbing other people's power, receiving instruction from a master, or encountering rare spiritual objects, one must rely entirely on one's own cultivation. Without enduring several years, or even decades, of cultivation experience, it is difficult to achieve significant progress in internal strength.

Lu Chen's progress in just ten days is already considered extraordinary.

Not only has his skill improved greatly, but his strength and physical abilities have also increased significantly. Even without the aid of true qi, he can easily lift a stone weighing one or two hundred pounds overhead using only the strength of his muscles and arms.

Even their recovery ability has improved, and their skills and physical strength recover faster.

With his skill greatly improved, his swordsmanship naturally improved as well.

Huang Rong sat on a rock, her hands supporting her chin, watching him practice swordsmanship with a smile.

After watching for a while, she suddenly stood up, flicked her finger and sent a pebble flying toward Lu Chen's ribs.

Lu Chen used sound to pinpoint the location, and with a casual swing of his longsword, he knocked the pebble away.

Huang Rong chuckled and flicked her slender fingers, sending pebbles flying towards Lu Chen's various acupoints.

Over the past ten days, although Master Rong has displayed great integrity by giving all the snake gallbladders to Lu Chen, she has also eaten a lot of snake meat, which has improved her skills and strength. Her martial arts skills are now much better than before.

At this moment, the pebbles she swiftly launched made a whooshing sound with each one. Not only was the force quite fierce, but the accuracy was also excellent, and ordinary martial artists really couldn't handle them.

Lu Chen, on the other hand, handled the situation with ease. With a few casual strokes, the gleaming sword light would thrust, parry, slice, or circle, knocking away the incoming stones one by one.

As the last pebble came flying, he thrust his sword straight at it. The straight line of sword light was like a bolt of lightning, and with a hiss, it split the pebble in two.

This sword strike was not "Sword One".

However, Lu Chen would comprehend the sword intent imprint every night, and he would also cultivate his true qi with "half a move of Sword One" in his daily life. Although he still could not control "Sword One" at will and use it freely, he could still incorporate a few parts of "Sword One" into ordinary sword moves, greatly increasing their power.

With his current swordsmanship, if he were to encounter a martial artist of Xue Wu's caliber again, he could take his life in less than ten moves.

After Huang Rong finished throwing the pebbles, seeing Lu Chen's composed handling and his improved swordsmanship, she couldn't help but clap her hands and laugh:

"Not bad, not bad. Your Falling Petal Sword Technique has reached a level of perfection. As for your skill, you can be considered a master as well."

In her opinion, when it comes to the cultivation of the "Falling Petals Sword Technique" alone, Lu Chen is only slightly inferior to her father.

If her father suppressed his power to the level of Lu Chen, and only used the Falling Petals Sword Technique to spar with Lu Chen, he might not be able to defeat him even after a hundred or two moves.

"A master? How skilled?" Lu Chen asked with a smile, "Could he compare to the Seven Masters of Quanzhen?"

Huang Rong thought for a moment, then answered earnestly:

"The Seven Masters of Quanzhen have been famous for many years, and you are probably no match for them in terms of internal strength. But in terms of swordsmanship, I think you have already surpassed them."

In fact, she had never seen the swordsmanship of the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, and did not know how skilled they were.

But Lu Chen was someone she had personally trained, and he had even sparred with her father many times, receiving a lot of guidance in the process. Of course, Huang Rong wanted to boost the prestige of her own family.

Lu Chen also knew that in this world, there was no clear division of martial arts levels.

Aside from the Five Greats, who stand at the pinnacle of the martial arts world, the strength of the rest can only be known by fighting them.

To reiterate, skill level does not necessarily equate to actual combat strength. Even with slightly weaker skill, a superior martial art can still offer an opportunity to defeat a stronger opponent.

Just like that night when Lu Chen killed Xue Wu with his swordsmanship.

"Alright, swordsmanship practice is done, now it's time to practice light footwork! Come and catch me!"

At this moment, Huang Rong jumped to the stream, bent down and scooped up a handful of water, splashed it on Lu Chen, then made a face at him and ran away.

Lu Chen smiled slightly, gathered his strength, and chased after them.

Huang Rong darted and leaped forward with a cheerful smile, like a nimble little deer. With a light touch of her toes, she could leap two or three zhang away.

Lu Chen, his robes fluttering, moved with graceful ease, closely following behind Huang Rong.

His skill had greatly improved, and his lightness skill had also improved significantly. His speed in flying was no less than that of Huang Rong. He could leap two or three zhang in one step, and with a burst of energy, he could jump more than 1 zhang high.

The two leaped and bounded across the stream stones, then soared onto tree branches, gliding gracefully among the treetops. Their movements were light and ethereal; as they chased and played in the forest and along the stream, they resembled two cranes riding the wind, an indescribably elegant and beautiful sight.

night.

After dinner, Huang Rong sat on a green stone by the stream, took off her shoes and socks, and immersed her two tender white feet in the clear stream water, enjoying the coolness of the water while listening to Lu Chen tell about the "immortal realm".

"My world, while having many beautiful aspects, also has many terrifying ones. For example, demons. In our world, demons occasionally appear and cause trouble. Fortunately, there are usually signs before the demons appear, and as long as we take timely precautions and eliminate them, they won't cause too much damage."

Hearing this, Huang Rong was not frightened at all; on the contrary, she became even more interested:
What do demons look like?

"They come in all shapes and sizes. Some have bodies like giant praying mantises but human heads, some have faces like mandrills but bodies like tigers, and there are half-human, half-insect, half-human, half-beast creatures—all sorts of strange and wonderful things..."

"Then how do you deal with demons?"

"It's the kind of weapons I've told you about before: guns, cannons, tanks, airplanes, missiles, and the like. Demons are also made of flesh and blood. Although they are physically powerful and some even have strange magical powers, they can still be killed by powerful weapons. Of course, in some situations, such as in cities, where it's not appropriate to use weapons that are too powerful, we'll deploy superpowered individuals."

"Superpowers?"

"Yes, some can control fire, some can create frost, some can control lightning, some can fly, some have bodies of steel... all sorts of superpowers and abilities exist. And the abilities also vary in strength."

"Controlling ice and fire, riding lightning, and even flying—isn't that being a god?"

"They can't be considered gods; they're just humans with special abilities. Just like martial arts masters, even if they can move at great heights, they're still just mortals. In fact, in terms of overall abilities, many superpowered individuals might not be able to compare with martial arts masters."

"I understand! Lu Chen, you are also a superpowered person. Your abilities are extraterrestrial travel, extraordinary regeneration, and swordsmanship talent!"

"Now that you mention it, Rong'er... it does seem to be true?"

"The immortal realm is so interesting, I really want to go and see it."

"Actually, I can take you there now. It's just that I haven't mastered the ability to travel back and forth freely yet. If I take you there, I don't know when I'll be able to bring you back... I have to wait until I can travel back and forth freely before I can take you there to play."

"When will you be able to travel back and forth freely?"

"I must completely master 'Sword One,' be able to control it at will, and wield it with ease. Don't worry, Rong'er, I will definitely succeed within a year."

Huang Rong turned her head to look at Lu Chen and smiled sweetly:
"Hmm, I'm not actually in such a hurry. You shouldn't be either. Haste makes waste. You can practice martial arts diligently, but don't be too impatient with your mindset. Just let things take their natural course."

Although she clearly longed to go to the "Immortal Realm," she advised him not to rush, lest it disturb his peace of mind. Rong'er's thoughtfulness deeply moved Lu Chen, and he turned to look at her, giving her a bright smile.
"My greatest fortune since I came to this world is that I met you, Rong'er, right from the moment I arrived."

Huang Rong was slightly taken aback, her pretty face flushed slightly, and she said in a soft, sweet voice:

"I'm not that good..."

Lu Chen didn't say much, but smiled and took her hand, enveloping her soft little hand in his big hand.

Huang Rong felt a little flustered; her heart was pounding, and her face was flushed.

But she didn't pull her hand away, letting him hold it, quietly admiring the bright moon over the mountain and listening to the mountain breeze in the forest. In a daze, she felt as if a strange emotion was quietly stirring and growing in her heart.

(End of this chapter)