It took Ai Hui two hours to break free from his trance.
He sat motionless on the ground, giggling. He looked battered and exhausted and his whole body was thoroughly soaked. His face and scalp were covered in sweat and his upper arms were so tired it was as if they were paralyzed.
Two hours had resulted in two moves. They were all simple strokes, nothing complicated. The combination of the [Minute Arc Stab] and [Hilt Mist] was already considered more complex. There was another inclined move, but the only change lay in its angle. He tried almost all the angles a few times before finally finding the optimal one. He named the combination of [Minute Arc Stab] and [Hilt Mist] as [Misty Strike] and the inclined move as [Oblique Slash].
The change that had occurred in those two moves were so great that even without the sword embryo’s heartbeat, Ai Hui could still feel their wholesome change.
The old strokes were now like dance moves, graceful, yet full of power. Sword manuals without spiritual force were like fishes without water. Whether willingly or not, they had long become useless; throwing fishes into the river also led to a dead end.
A change in the environment meant that a lot of things had to be redone.
No matter how splendid Ai Hui’s swordsmanship had once been and no matter how many swordplay manuals were left behind, it was difficult for them to fit into this era without some alterations.
Ai Hui still had not found out the reason behind this. A slight alteration would cause the nature of a sword move to change completely.
Perhaps there was a resonance between the sword and elemental energy?
No idea.
But he knew that he had found the key to solve what the sword techniques lacked.
There were still many sword moves waiting for him to explore and change. He had ample time to search and understand them, so that was a good start. In the past, he had improvised and used the [Gale Bat Blade] technique, but this time he was going to take it a step further. He had seen countless sword manuals and despite having no idea how to practice them, he knew how the cultivators had done so during the Cultivation Era.
The [Smoke Meteor] and [Oblique Slash] made him realize that all the sword moves had to be changed starting from the most basic strokes in order to adapt to the elemental energy era.
This was his greatest reward for the night.
He never would have thought of this if he hadn’t been struck by a brainwave. There were some sword moves that possessed formidable power even without operating any elemental energy.
He thought about how he had to come up with a resounding name for this swordplay series when he was done perfecting it.
For now… he completely did not feel like touching it!
He lay on the ground, gazing up at the pitch-black sky.
Fatty felt himself dreaming a long dream. He dreamt that he was swimming in a boundless lava river. Swimming and swimming for god knows how long, but never escaping the fire sea.
Muddle-headed, he opened his eyes to find Lou Lan, whose face was almost completely covered by a mask, blocking his view.
“Fatty, you’re really amazing!” Lou Lan exclaimed in admiration, his eyes shining. “The result was outstanding. Congratulations Fatty, four palaces! Seems like the effectiveness of the dragon soup has something to do with the number of times one consumes it. Yeah, I’ll have to note this down. Please don’t worry, Fatty. I’ll definitely do more research and brew an even better dragon soup!”
Loss was evident in Fatty’s face. Upon hearing the words “Dragon Soup”, he couldn’t help but shiver. He finally remembered what he had been doing before he lost his memory.
Snapping out of it, he looked at Lou Lan as if he had seen a ghost. He shook his head bluntly and replied furiously, “Lou Lan, I’m never drinking your soup again. I still want to live.”
“Why? Dragon soup isn’t toxic. Although it gets less effective over time, it is still very useful. It can raise your level within a short period of time. You can definitely open up your fifth palace with another bowl,” responded Lou Lan with confidence.
Another bowl…
Just thinking about that frightening experience made him tremble again. He would drink a second bowl over his dead body.
Just then, someone staggered in, their body covered in blood. Seeing who it was, Ai Hui jolted up!
“Manager Li!”
Manager Li’s body was covered in blood and he was carrying a pouch. Seeing Ai Hui, radiance filled Manager Li’s empty eyes. “Brother…”
Having endured until this point, he was already completely exhausted. His legs went soft, causing him to plunge forward.
Ai Hui suddenly sprang over with a large stride and held onto Manager Li. He then saw that Manager Li was almost eaten clean. Bones were exposed all over his back, making Ai Hui speechless.
“These are Bunny Hair Arrows…” Manager Li looked at Ai Hui and smiled, grief and regret evident in his expression. “Pardon me, I can’t settle the accounts anymore…”
Manager Li opened his eyes wide as his last wisp of spirit dissipated and he stopped breathing altogether.
Ai Hui held onto him, as motionless as a statue.
Emerging out of his daze after a while, sorrow was missing from his face. He freed one hand to retrieve the pouch in Manager Li’s arms. There were twenty Bunny Hair Arrows inside. After putting them on the ground, Ai Hui carried Manager Li on his back, turned around, and walked deep into the garden.
Ai Hui was momentarily brought back to the Wilderness, where he had witnessed comrades around him collapse one after the other. Profound helplessness and despair enveloped him.
He started digging without a word. He had never helped Fatty out in the past when Fatty had buried their teammates.
Actually, the relationship he’d had with Manager Li wasn’t very close or anything. They were merely business partners. The Dragonspine Inferno in his hands lifted lumps of earth with each swing.
So, why was he sad?
There was nothing to be sad about. Everyone would die someday, and he might even be next; who was going to dig his grave when that time came? Okay, so nothing mattered after death. There was no difference between being buried or eaten by blood fiends.
By the end of the burial, Ai Hui was back to his normal state of mind. He was used to seeing people leave this world.
“Are you okay?” Shi Xueman walked over to his side, concern evident in her voice.
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