Technique name: Ascending Immortal

Type: Movement skill

Realm: Heaven Realm

1st level: Floating Leaf, Rushing Tide 

> Prerequisite: Solid Body Realm & Spirit Core Realm.

> A burst of energy that allows a cultivator to accelerate and decelerate with breakneck speed 

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Xiao Fang was momentarily shocked by the first level prerequisites to practice the heaven realm technique.

Little Hei couldn’t understand what he was so shocked about. Where she was from, heaven realm techniques were somewhat rare, but wasn’t he being a bit too overdramatic?

What she didn’t know was that in this country, not including the old monsters in the royal court, there were only a handful of cultivators that possessed a heaven realm technique. 

Despite how difficult it was to practice, it was well known that mastering a single level from a heaven realm technique would allow a cultivator to easily overwhelm other cultivators in a cultivation realm above theirs.

‘I need to learn this technique as soon as possible’, Xiao Fang thought.

But before he could learn it he needed to breakthrough several stages to reach the Spirit Core realm. So for the time being he needed to find something he could practice in his current state.

With that in mind he chose two techniques from the Death Reaper scroll:

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Technique: Fear

Type: Debuff attack

Realm: Profound Realm

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1st level: Eye of the abyss

> Prerequisite:

• Spirit Refinement Realm,

• Bloodlust

> Invoke fear to a single target.

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2nd level: Death Aura

> Prerequisite:

• Spirit Core Realm

• Bloodlust 2nd level

> Emit a terrifying aura that could make anyone within it have a strong urge to flee.

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3rd level: Nightmare

> Prerequisite:

• Profound Spirit Realm

• Bloodlust 3rd level

> Trap someone in a temporary nightmare

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[ Bloodlust ]

1st level: 10 kills

2nd level: 100 kills

3rd level: 1,000 kills

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Technique: Reaper’s Grasp

Type: Area Control

Realm: None

> The ability to pull things towards you without any physical assistance.

> The higher the cultivator’s body/spirit cultivation gets the stronger this ability becomes.

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Xiao Fang was satisfied with the techniques he chose, especially with ‘Reaper’s Grasp’, because unlike most techniques this one didn’t have a cap. As long as he got stronger, this technique would follow suit.

He also really liked the technique called ‘Fear’, but it would take a while till he can satisfy the prerequisites for ‘Bloodlust’ , because he didn’t kill people whenever he felt like it, he needed a reason to do something like that. 

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When he was done, he left Little Hei’s mind-space to start practicing his new techniques, but what he found once he was out was that his lower body was more wet than he was expecting. 

Little Hei saw him looking down at their kissing groins and noticed the mess she had made. She looked back up at Xiao Fang and smilled innocently at him. 

‘I’ll certainly deal with you when I’m feeling better’, he thought as a lustful thought shot through his mind. He moved his hip up once and watch her squirm cutely.

Though he was a bit surprised by the situation below, he noticed that his body was feeling a lot better since they started cultivating. 

He once recalled that his mother told him that dual cultivation can heal the body and spirit, he didn’t realize to what extent that was true until today.

“Xiao Fang, what is that mark?”, Little Hei asked.

Looking to where she was pointing, Xiao Fang saw a small ink black coiling tattoo-like mark appear on his right shoulder.

The curse was starting to eat at him, he needed to make breakthroughs soon, but how?

The fastest way for a dual cultivator to make breakthroughs was to cultivate with cultivators in a higher cultivation realm than themselves.

In all of the Divine Sword sect, there were only a handful of spirit cultivators here, but there was only one person Xiao Fang could think of that had a significantly higher spirit cultivation than his own…

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Outside of Xiao Fang’s house, Xun Wei was still practicing her sword under the night sky when she was suddenly confronted by a strange old woman. If Xiao Fang were here he would recognize her to be his grandmother.

The elder had a terrifying body cultivation realm. So much so, that when Xun Wei tried to see through it her eyes immediately began to tear up and sting a little.

The elder still had the appearance of an adult in her prime, but one could easily see the vast amount of knowledge and wisdom contained in her eyes.

Xun Wei stopped practicing and pointed her sword at the elder several meters away.

“Who are you? How did you get past the gaurds?”, Xun Wei asked sternly.

“Do not panic, young one. I am not your enemy”, the elder spoke calmly, but Xun Wei didn’t believe her, because Xiao Fang told her that absolutely no one was permitted into this area.

Xiao Fang’s mother is dual cultivator. So if word were to get out that the Divine Sword sect was harboring her, the sect would attract many dangerous eyes.

The elder sighed before attempting to walk around Xun Wei, but Xun Wei again blocked her path. The elder seemed to be getting a bit irritated and was about to use a movement skill to get past her, but then she noticed the unique craftmanship of Xun Wei’s sword.

“That is a nice sword. May I have a closer look at it?”, the elder asked Xun Wei politely with her hand extended. 

Xun Wei wasn’t foolish enough to attack someone that could kill her with just a breath, but she wasn’t going to give up either. She was now a swordsman, so she had her pride.

Seeing the strong commitment to make the elder her opponent, the elder could only shake her head. 

Without warning the elder took a single step towards Xun Wei’s direction, but that single step had transported her several meters and made her appear right infront of Xun Wei. 

Seeing her so close, Xun Wei didn’t hesitate. 

[ If you cannot save a life, take it.

If you cannot take a life, save your own.

If you cannot save yourself, draw some blood ]

These were the words Xiao Fang had taught her till it was engraved into her very being.

A fierce streak of light shone in her eyes and she immediately swung her sword down on the elder as she appeared infront of her.

The attack was too sudden, even for the elder, but to her this attack was no threat. She only feared that she wouldn’t be able to adjust her strength fast enough to not accidentally break her sword. 

With a brief moment to decide, the Elder chose to dodge Xun Wei’s sword.

‘Hmph, if those old bastards from the royal court knew that a young disciple made me dodge her sword, I’d become a laughing stock’, the elder thought. 

In the middle of that thought she felt a blade on the hairs of her skin. She dodged again. 

‘Quick succession of basic sword techniques, she must be using ‘Dragon Dance’, but something like that can’t be easily preformed in battle. Let’s see how long she can keep this up for’, the elder thought with a hint of excitement.

She effortlessly dodged attack after attack. The more she attacked the more their surroundings began to change. 

Leaves and flower petals began to rise and dance around them. Xun Wei was beginning to fascinate her by how well she could keep her chain of attacks going.

‘This definitely isn’t the same Dragon Dance I know, her attacks are far too weak, but it’s compensated by her incredible attack speed’, the elder thought.

Seeing the leaves and petals dance around her, it confirmed her suspicions.

However, the moment she took her attention off Xun Wei, her elegant attacks suddenly changed to a different sword technique.

‘Now!’

1st level of the Quick Sword technique:

[ Vanishing Blade ]

Suddenly the elder felt something tickle her neck.

‘Hm? Did I get hit? Why couldn’t I see it?’, she thought with a hint of fascination in her eyes. 

The reason why the elder’s swordsman’s instincts didn’t kick in was because Xun Wei’s attacks were too weak to even scratch her. It felt like she had been grazed by a feather. 

Suddenly confirming her suspicions, Xun Wei dropped her sword with shaking hands. She was experiencing the backlash of the technique she used. Though it wasn’t too bad of a backlash, it still made her struggle to pick up her sword.

The elder stepped on her sword that was on the ground and kicked Xun Wei away from it. 

“Hmph, stubborn girl. I just wanted to take a look at your sword”, the elder said to herself outloud.

Picking her sword up she examined it closely.

“As I thought. Although it may look nice, I can tell that you didn’t get this sword from this sect. This sword is meant for spirit cultivators, not body cultivators like us”, she spoke as if she were lecturing her.

The elder reached into her spirit pouch and tossed Xun Wei a new sword. It had a smaller hilt, but a cleaner and sharper edge. It was perfect for Xun Wei.

If she had used this sword earlier she might of actually made the elder react to her ‘Vanishing blade’ technique and her backlash wouldn’t have been nearly as bad as it was now.

“Keep it. You won’t find another one like it in this country”.

“Why are you giving this to me?”.

“Because it suits you”.

It was at that moment that Xun Wei believed she was not a bad person. Not only did she not fight back against her but she had also gave her such a valuable sword. It was even far more better than anything Xiao Fang ever wielded.

“Thank you, Elder”.

“That technique you used earlier, what was it called?”

“Vanishing Blade”, Xun Wei answered.

“I see, so it seems I didn’t imagining it. That is indeed a powerful technique. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it”.

“Thanks for the praise”

“I praised the technique, not you… but if I’m going to be honest, I do see potential in you… How’d you like to become my disciple?”

“That…”, Xun Wei was take aback by her words.

“Why do you hesitate, child. Is there someone that you think is more capable than me?”.

Xun Wei didn’t know how to respond without sounding disrespectful. Though Xiao Fang wasn’t her master, she had always followed his instructions.

Truth was, she knew she was holding Xiao Fang back by taking time away from him to train her, but he always seemed to care more about her cultivation than his own. She didn’t want to be a burden for him, so she felt like this opportunity would benefit the both of them, but why did she feel so hesitant to accept his grandmother as her master? Maybe she liked training under Xiao Fang because she could spend more time with him.

Seeing her hesitate, the elder spoke once more, 

“If you agree, I can help you open the inner court gates and give you something far more valuable than that sword”, the elder said. She couldn’t believe she was trying to persuade her to become her disciple, but she truly did see enormous potential in her.

A spark of interest appeared in Xun Wei’s eyes. Now that Xiao Fang was injured she didnt know when he’d be able to help her train and open the inner court gates like she wanted to. 

Furthermore, the elder had taken her ‘Vanishing Sword’ attack straight to the neck but she couldn’t even leave a mark on her skin, not even Xiao Fang was capable of that. 

This was an incredibly tempting offer for her and she didn’t think she could pass it up, especially when she needed to train for the inner court exam that was just under 4 months away.

‘What would Xiao Fang say’, Xun Wei thought.

Just when Xun Wei had made up her mind, a voice sounded out from several meters behind them.

“It seems you like to poach in places where you are not welcome. Does that give you pleasure, grandmother?”.