Chapter 6: Wind and Thunder Steps (Part 2)

  As Lu Qing followed the trajectory of the stormy energy in his mind, the originally rapid speed gradually slowed down to a normal walking pace, but it was still much faster than before. Every step he took seemed to traverse space, and the end of ten zhang would be automatically trampled underfoot at the moment his foot fell.

  As time passed, Lu Qing's footsteps became more and more natural, the trajectory of his feet gradually merged with the wind and thunder in his mind, at this moment, Lu Qing felt as if he had merged into the wind and thunder, feeling the steps that belonged to the wind and thunder coming out of his body.

  At this moment, it's already the time when the sun rises, and basically all the disciples have started their daily practice. Therefore, at this moment, the road of Chaoyang Palace can be seen everywhere with disciples coming and going. Obviously, at this moment, Lu Qing's strange image is particularly eye-catching, especially that cyan-purple wind and thunder sword energy, which has almost become the most memorable sword energy in the memory of all the disciples of Chaoyang Palace.

  "What's going on? What kind of movement is this? How can he have such speed?"

  "It's indeed, just like shrinking the earth to an inch." If Lu Qing were awake, he would find that the one exclaiming in surprise by his side was none other than Bao Yu, with whom he had once crossed swords. Next to him stood another fellow disciple of the Inner Sect.

  "Could it be the Step Method?" Bundou seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and a look of shock appeared on his face.

  It was as if he had been reminded, the disciple next to him bowed his head and pondered for a moment before saying: "It's very likely, but I don't know what footwork Land Protector is cultivating. From my understanding, it seems that Sword Emperor Lu Tianxiu left behind a book called Wind and Thunder Manual, which is a basic sword technique. Could it be that Land Protector has already received the transmission?"

  As soon as the words were spoken, both of them seemed to have accepted this result, and a look of envy appeared on their faces at the same time. Indeed, for these inner disciples who ranked behind, the Earth Rank Sword One Cultivation was a distant goal, which could only be reached by becoming a Sword Master and getting permission from their master Xuan Qing.

  Let's not mention Master Xuanqing's attitude, just the fact that it takes at least a decade or so of cultivation to reach the Sword Master stage from where they are now as inner sect disciples who have just entered the Sword Cultivator stage. The two didn't think they could possess Lu Qing's freakish cultivation speed and comprehension. A decade or so was already an optimistic estimate, assuming everything went smoothly.

  While they were guessing, they all thought that Lu Qing's innate talent was similar to Nie Qingtian's seven points or more of genius, and now they think so, there is nothing wrong with it. Lu Qing also cannot refute it. After the first layer of Zihuang Sword's washing and marrow cleansing, Lu Qing's innate talent has been greatly improved. As for his previous innate talent, only his mother knew, except for Xuanqing who brought him to the peak at that time, and later the four people from Luo Qianfeng.

  Lu Qing continued on his way, and his extraordinary gait startled countless people. Soon, the news reached Xuan Qing in the Chaoyang Hall.

  A look of astonishment flashed in his eyes, and he didn't even notice the outer door disciple who had just come to deliver a message. A purple-red light flashed on Xuansu's body, and he suddenly disappeared into thin air, leaving the outer door disciple standing beside him with a look of reverence and admiration.

  Although Lu Qing was immersed in the fusion of the stormy energy in his mind, his footsteps still followed the memory deep within his mind and returned to Lian Xin Yuan. As soon as he returned to Lian Xin Yuan, Lu Qing directly stepped into the Green Bamboo Forest.

  In an instant, in the approximately twenty-zhang radius of the green bamboo forest, five or six extremely clear afterimages appeared, each with a fierce and sharp wind and thunder sword aura wrapped around Lu Qing's body.

  At this time, Lu Qing's eyes were already closed, his spirit had completely sunk into the sea of consciousness, and the wind and thunder energy at this moment felt so familiar to him. Following the trajectory of the wind and thunder, he walked step by step, without touching any of the green bamboo around him. Slowly, on his body, the originally jumping purple electricity and the entwining green whirlwind actually completely converged into the wind and thunder sword energy.

  At this moment, the sword energy of Feng Lei seems to have completely lost its previous overbearing appearance. However, in the eyes of Xuan Qing who appeared in Lian Xin Yuan a few breaths ago, it is even more restrained than before, and the destructive aura of the overbearing path is even stronger.

  Without making a sound, Xuan Qing quietly looked at Lu Qing who was in a daze, his eyes showing a complex expression, with surprise, comfort, and even a hint of envy, because he could see that for some unknown reason, Lu Qing had once again entered a state of enlightenment.

  Sudden enlightenment is a mysterious state that is difficult to put into words, and has nothing to do with one's innate abilities. No one can guarantee that they will definitely enter sudden enlightenment, so it can only be said that sudden enlightenment is an opportunity that is equally available to everyone. Once entered, it will inevitably lead to progress in cultivation, or even a breakthrough in one's state of mind.

  But in Xuan Qing's eyes, Lu Qing seemed to have gained some insight and inadvertently created a mysterious footwork. This footwork seemed to incorporate the aura of wind and thunder, and with each step, he possessed the speed of wind and thunder.

  Watching the movement of Lu Qing in the green bamboo forest, Xuan Qing slowly saw the characteristics of Lu Qing's footsteps. In his opinion, Lu Qing originally had a speed that was much faster than other swordsmen at the same Tian level due to his possession of the Wind and Thunder Sword Qi, almost reaching the level of an ordinary Jian Shi's Xiao Tian level. At this moment, looking at the footwork walked out by Lu Qing, he actually already had a hint of the speed of a Jian Shi's Zhong Tian level, of course, this was limited to ordinary swordsmen of the Five Elements attributes.

  About the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Lu Qing finally stopped and stood quietly in the middle of the bamboo forest. His eyes were still closed, and at the same time, the Wind and Thunder Sword energy on his body was flashing with a soft purple light, which harmonized with the surrounding green bamboo forest, creating an inexplicable harmony.

  Standing like that, Lu Qing slowly seemed to merge into the bamboo forest, without any signs of wanting to wake up. Xuan Qing also didn't show any impatience, quietly standing outside the bamboo forest as day broke and night fell, a whole day and night passed, the wind and thunder sword energy on Lu Qing's body gradually faded away, until it completely disappeared at dawn the next day.

  At this time, in the midst of Xu Qing's feelings, Lu Qing's aura had undergone a change. If his original self was always shrouded in an aura of tyrannical destruction due to possessing the Wind and Thunder Sword Qi, then at this moment, that aura had faded significantly, and even gave off a hint of etherealness.

  Slowly, Lu Qing opened his eyes, still with that absent-minded look, but soon regained clarity, and from the calm gaze, a kind of enlightenment slowly emerged.

  A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, Lu Qing knew that because of the note left behind by the Zixuan Wind and Thunder Sword Spectrum, he had outlined his understanding of wind and thunder, and unknowingly entered a state of enlightenment, just like when he fought with Mingxue and understood the principle of "lifting heavy as light".

  This time, by integrating the original aura left when he first introduced Feng Lei's two auras into his mind, he gained insight into the trajectory of Feng Lei's operation. He not only had a deeper understanding of the origin of Feng Lei but also imitated the trajectory of Feng Lei's movement and created a set of footwork.

  "Since it's the trajectory of wind and thunder, then let's call it Wind Thunder Step." Lu Qing murmured, "I don't know if my footwork can compare to those recorded in the Earth Rank Sword Source Scripture."

  "While slightly inferior in terms of refinement, it is unmatched in speed. It's already quite impressive for a rough creation to have reached this level."

  "Master." Lu Qing was startled by the words and saw Xuanqing standing in the courtyard.

  "Do you know? You just did something that can start a new trend." Xuan Qing said, gazing at Lu Qing who came forward to pay his respects.

  "Founding a sect —" Lu Qing was stunned by the words, he had never thought of this before, could it be that his newly created Wind and Thunder Step was...?

  However, Xuan Qing explained: "The reason why the Sword Origin Technique is divided into four levels of Human, Earth, Heaven and Emperor is because it depends on the level of cultivation of the senior swordsmen who created them. The six-layered Heart Method of the Human-level requires a top-notch Sword Master to create, similarly, the nine-layered Earth-level Sword Origin Technique requires a Sword Emperor Master, and the twelve-layered Heavenly-level Sword Origin Technique requires a Sword Ancestor Master. As for the legendary thirteen-layered Imperial-level Sword Origin Technique, only a Sword Saint can create it."

  He paused, looking at Lu Qing with a serious expression: "And similarly, the footwork that only has the power of the first-order sword can also be possessed by at least a Sword Master in the Sword Soul Realm. Only then can one have enough insight into the movement to create it. So, to some extent, you have already done something that only a Sword Soul Realm master can do. On another level, your perception of the power of movement has reached a certain height."

  Upon hearing this, Lu Qing couldn't help but be stunned, could it be that he really had such a strong intuition.

  "Of course not," came Ye Lao's long-awaited voice from the depths of his mind, but somehow it sounded slightly trembling and weak.

  "Master." Lu Qing called out in his mind, unlike Xuan Qing this master was different, only when he truly became a disciple of the inner chamber would it be considered a true master-disciple relationship. Although Xuan Qing was also Lu Qing's master, in terms of status, she was slightly inferior to Ye Lao. After all, according to Ye Lao's words at the time, he had taken him as his closed-door disciple. As for swordsmen, there were no restrictions on who they could take as their master, generally as long as they did not betray their sect, it was a swordsman's freedom to choose who to take as their master and how many masters they wanted.

  "After you've finished paying your respects to your master."

  Lu Qing immediately came back to his senses, and since the conversation between the two was taking place directly in Lu Qing's divine sea of consciousness, he wasn't worried about Xuan Qing finding out. So although Lu Qing had been stunned for a moment, Xuan Qing just thought that he couldn't accept it for a while.