The book said to gather clouds from ten thousand miles and winds from the nine heavens. By comparison, his Dragon-Tiger Might was pathetic. But right now, Lin Yun was more than satisfied with his results. With this form, Lin Yun was confident he could face the aura of someone in the eighth stage of the Martial Path.
Lin Yun was speechless. It had taken him only two days to mend a technique from the fragmented Xiantian Art! If word got out, people would lose their minds.
He couldn’t take full credit, though. There were definitely other factors that contributed to it aside from his comprehension. For example, if not for the mysterious tiger painting, he never would have reached complete mastery in the Ferocious Tiger Fist. He also had firsthand experience fighting many demonic tigers, even defeating the king of Cloud Horizon Mountain in single combat. Add in his consumption of the Saber-toothed Tiger’s beast core, and there was no one in the entirety of the Azure Sky Sect who could compare with his comprehension of a tiger’s might.
He had also managed to attract the winds and clouds before the Aurora Dragon’s sculpture, allowing him to gain an insight. Furthermore, the Dragon-Tiger Might wasn’t an offensive move in the Xiantian Art, so there were fewer pieces missing than there normally would have been. If any of these conditions were missing, it would have been impossible for Lin Yun to succeed.
“The prestige alone is already so terrifying. I wonder what horrors will come about if I execute my Ferocious Tiger Fist along with it?”
Looking at the boulder that was torn into fragments by the Dragon-Tiger Might, Lin Yun sighed in admiration. The Dragon-Tiger Fist was a perfect match for him. It was a pity that it was only a fragmented Xiantian Art. Making further progress would be difficult
Over the next three days, Lin Yun focused on practicing the Dragon-Tiger Might. He did not hope to be perfectly proficient in it, but he wished to be able to execute it smoothly in an emergency. In just five days, he had reached lesser mastery in it. All that was left now was to improve his timing!
Now that he had another trump card, he was much more confident going into his fight with Zhou Yun.
Early in the morning five days later, a messenger knocked on his door.
“Senior Brother Lin, there’s a letter for you.”
“Who’s the sender?”
“I’m not sure. Whoever it is didn’t put their name on it. I’ll be taking my leave now, Senior Brother. Be well!” the messenger said with a smile.
Lin Yun was baffled. He hadn’t taken any time out to socialize since he arrived on Profound Amber. His only guess was that maybe it was from someone from the previous owner of his body’s life, but he had been an orphan and a sword slave.
When Lin Yun opened the letter, he felt like a fool.
The letter was from the boss of Clear Water City’s Myriad Treasure Pavilion, Tong Hu. The Flaming Blood Bones that he left with Tong Hu had been sent to the auction, which was only a few days away.
“I can’t believe I forgot about it,” Lin Yun muttered as he became lost in thought. The Flaming Blood Bones were materials for the Profound Artifact, Flaming Blood Armor, whose value was immeasurable. He had high hopes for the results.
“It looks like a visit is in order,” he said as he tucked the letter away. Grabbing only the essentials, he left the sect.
Thanks to the Wild Goose Art, he no longer needed to rent a horse from the sect. On his way there, he travelled in the day to train his movement technique and would spend the nights cultivating. Just because he was taking a trip didn’t mean he could stop training.
His Pure Yang Art was on the cusp of the fourth of five total stages. It was a difficult art to cultivate, but the internal energy it produced was ferocious and dense. Going all out with the Blood Refining Pellets and low-grade spiritual stones had helped him make huge progress and he could see himself making a breakthrough in half a month.
If the Flaming Blood Bones could be sold for anywhere near what Boss Tong had suggested, he might be able to reach the fifth stage in his Pure Yang Art by exhausting large amounts of low-grade spiritual stones alongside taking time out to observe the painting.
In the end, it only took four days before Clear Water City appeared in his view.
“I should be able to arrive in the city tomorrow by midday,” he said as he watched the sun dip below the treeline. He would rest here for the night and head into town come morning.
As he waited for his internal energy to recover, he retrieved the mysterious tiger painting from his interspatial pouch.
Embody the tiger, smell the rose.
No matter how many times Lin Yun read those words, he would always lose himself in thought upon seeing them. Even now, he still couldn’t understand what the phrase meant.
As he slowly unfolded the painting, a violent gale echoed in his ears as the tiger in the painting roared. The tiger pounced at him, wanting to devour his heart.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Taking a long look at the painting still made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but he had made vast improvements since first receiving it. In the beginning, just a glimpse would leave him trembling in fear, but now he could look at it for over a minute.
Lin Yun circulated his Ferocious Tiger Fist as he focused on the tiger in the painting. Gradually, he became fully immersed in it.
Swish!
Suddenly, the flash of a sword burst out from the painting and exploded before his eyes, lightning up the nightscape.
“The sword flash!” Lin Yun exclaimed, nearly throwing the painting out of excitement. It was real!
He had only seen it once before a few months prior and, no matter how hard he tried, had never been able to make it appear again. He was beginning to think he had been hallucinating, but here it was!
Holding his breath, Lin Yun suppressed his emotions as he endured the great pressure brought by the flash. He was determined to figure out the origin behind this mysterious sword flash.
When the spots in his eyes caused by the brilliant flash dissipated, he turned his gaze back to the painting. Shock swept over Lin Yun’s face. There was a person in the painting!
A man in a long, azure robe was raising his hands to the sky. In the left was a sword pointed to the heavens and, in the right, a blossoming rose rest gently in his palm. While the person appeared relaxed, their dignity and charm had been captured perfectly.
This new addition drastically changed the landscape of the painting. The tiger in the painting was still the same as before, roaring as it pounced at one’s heart; however, the tiger’s target had changed. It was no longer hunting Lin Yun but was going after the rose in the man’s hand instead.
In his mind, he could picture the mighty tiger closing its eyes and as it gently smelled the rose.
The tiger was enormous, taking up half of the entire painting while the person took up only a small corner, but you could tell at a glance who was the owner and who was the servant here.
Just as Lin Yun had started celebrating his discovery, a resounding voice echoed in his ears, “Where do the flowers bloom?”
Suddenly, the man tossed the rose into the sky and caught the sword in his right hand as he danced through the air. When the rose fell on the tip of the sword, a brilliant light exploded. At this moment, the man in the painting seemed calm and composed, but the boundless sword aura that permeated from him was hundreds, if not thousands, of times stronger than the aura of the ferocious tiger. He was like a dazzling star in the sky, shrouded with glory as he shone as bright as the moon. It was as if the entire terrain would tremble beneath his sword.
When he pulled his sword back, the rose petals fell, turning a gorgeous mix of red and deep purple as they drifted through the sky. Suddenly, the man turned around to reveal a smile so brilliant, even the petals seemed to blush. As he did, he brandished his sword and leapt forward. The drifting petals in the sky transformed into a ferocious tiger beneath his sword as he charged out of the painting.
Boom!
The sudden attack startled Lin Yun, causing him to drop the painting. When he did, he awoke from his daze to see the countless stars decorating the nightscape. Around him was pitch black and both the man and flower petals had vanished.
It took Lin Yun a moment to remember where he was. His mind was consumed by the image of that man brandishing his sword. After some time, he recovered from his stupor and retrieved the painting off the ground.
Looking at the painting again, the tiger was still the same tiger from before, and there was a man standing before it. He had a rose in one hand, and a sword in another; but now, the ferocious tiger was smelling the rose. The scene was profound.
It turned out that the man had always existed. Lin Yun had simply been too absorbed by the tiger’s presence to notice.
Embody the tiger, smell the rose.
Lin Yun finally understood why those words were written on the scroll. The most surprising thing though, was that a sword technique had been hidden in the painting. Unfortunately, he couldn’t recall the steps no matter how hard he tried.
Putting the painting away, Lin Yun took his Flower Burial Sword out of the sheath and started practicing his sword technique under the night sky.
Swish! Swish! Swish!