Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 237: Chapter 29 Senior and Junior, Advancing Side by Side
 

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Mount Fajue, in the dungeon.

“Damn! Damn! Damn!” Ling Yunpo cursed inwardly three times in a row.

The Daoist opposite him was incredibly skilled in swordsmanship, surpassing him in strength, speed, skill, and judgment.

Facing off with swords, he was violently overpowered; trying to stealthily attack from behind, he was promptly seen through;

Attempting to flank from the side, only to find the opponent effortlessly flicking their sword, disrupting his moves and restraining him instead of gaining any control.

Ling Yunpo gritted his teeth and fought fiercely, using the Thunder Punishment Sword to block the left sword’s cleave, while the Green Duckweed Sword feigned entanglement with the opponent’s right sword, before abruptly turning and stabbing directly at the Daoist.

With no block on the right, the opponent’s sword pierced fiercely into his right arm.

Ling Yunpo, with his left hand, grabbed the tip of the sword, his hand covered in blood, desperately holding it in place;

His right hand summoned his full strength in True Yuan, turning the Green Duckweed Sword into black light piercing through the Daoist’s chest.

He’d done it!

Almost simultaneously, the Flying Sword that pierced his right arm suddenly vanished as if it had been an illusion from the beginning.

The Daoist, with his chest pierced by the Green Duckweed Sword, did not fall dead. He simply said indifferently,

“Sword Bone, Sword Bone, a body filled with hundreds of bones and five metals. If not tempered in the great furnace, how can it be sharp?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished without a trace.

Ling Yunpo maintained his stern expression, casting a “Universal Pure Tone Minor Illumination Technique” on his right arm, and the wound quickly healed.

“What did that Daoist mean by that?” he said through clenched teeth.

“He’s probably telling you not to fear getting hurt and to fight with all your might when necessary,” guessed the Kunlun Mirror.

“I think it means your technique is too conservative, and there’s a clear suspicion that you fear injury,” analyzed the Green Duckweed Sword, “You could fight more unrestrainedly, accepting some minor injuries in exchange for the advantage during offensive and defensive switches.”

“Is that so?” Ling Yunpo stood in silence for a moment, then sighed.

The Daoist just now could be considered the first real adversary he had truly defeated since his reincarnation.

Before this, either he had just the right countermeasure for his opponent, or he used various clever methods to avoid confrontation… It’s almost as if he’d ingrained the awareness of risk control into his very genes.

Of course, this was unavoidable as he was spying within many Sects, playing multiple roles, where being cautious was the least he could do.

However, this inevitably affected his combat style, even forming an intangible shackle in his consciousness:

That is, “don’t clash head-on with an opponent.”

Thinking of this, Ling Yunpo suddenly recalled Senior Sister An’s similar words:

“…Frostfall, though it has aided me greatly, has also hindered my progress in the sword’s path to some extent.”

“…When facing strong enemies, I would subconsciously choose to evade their edge, rather than confront them head-on.”

Indeed, Senior Sister An originally practiced with the Water System Immortal Sword, just like him, and her combat style was also focused on being flexible and unpredictable.

She faced the same problem, so how come he had just discovered it now? He should’ve realized this long ago!

Sigh, what is Senior Sister An up to now?

As Ling Yunpo worried about his senior sister, in the twelfth floor of the White Jade Capital, Senior Sister An was already fighting like a madwoman.

Starting from the third tower, the Sword Foes she faced became more and more formidable.

By the time she reached the fifth tower, the Sword Foe actually possessed Golden Core Rank Cultivation Level, so that no matter how hard An Zhisu struggled, she eventually could not withstand the opponent and was penetrated by a sword.

However, after being pierced through the chest, unlike Ling Yunpo being transferred away immediately, she was reborn outside the fifth tower’s gate.

An Zhisu: ……….

“Where is my junior brother!” In a fury, she activated her Flying Sword again, smashing towards the surrounding towers.

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After venting for a while (surroundings still intact), An Zhisu finally calmed down again, her full chest heaving up and down,

“Don’t worry, don’t worry… Sigh, Junior Brother must be fine. This is clearly a trial-oriented secret realm; it wouldn’t intentionally harm the trialists.”

“I was defeated by the sword at the fifth pavilion and got ‘killed’, didn’t I? And yet I didn’t die, right?”

But…

“At least teleport me and him to the same place!”

An Zhisu repressed her anger, her beautiful face frosting over with cold.

Standing in silence for a moment, she then picked up the Flying Smoke Sword again, her aura murderous as she strode forward.

Meanwhile, Ling Yunpo had traveled through the tunnel and arrived at the second dungeon.

He saw the water on the ground suddenly rise, coalescing into a massive human shape about seven feet tall, burly as a wild ox. The figure said with a cupped fist salute,

“My name is ‘Wu Sheng.’ I am honored to cross swords with a ‘Sword Bone.’ Please do not hesitate to enlighten me.”

“Please enlighten me,” he replied, returning the gesture with a cupped fist salute.

Once the formalities were finished, Ling Yunpo shot the Green Duckweed Sword forward, a streak of white light aimed at the giant.

But the giant, with a backhand flick, dismissed the Green Duckweed Sword as if it were a toothpick, knocking it away.

Before Ling Yunpo could react, he received a heavy blow to the abdomen… the giant had burst forward two steps and was already upon him.

The palm as large as a fan clenched into a fist and sent him doubling over like a shrimp.

Ling Yunpo coughed out a mouthful of water, a shock of terror crossing his mind:

A Body Refiner! What about the sword duel we agreed on? Why isn’t this following the rules?!

“Sword Bone! Sword Bone!” The giant, however, did not follow up with an attack, but backed off a few steps, stood firm, and burst into loud laughter, “His hide is tough like copper that won’t break! Endure a thousand hammers to forge steel refined a hundred times!”

“It means that it wants you to learn how to take hits in adversity,” the Green Duckweed Sword quickly reminded him.

“I know that!” Ling Yunpo had just replied when he saw the giant lift its thick leg again, sweeping a cruel and fierce kick at him, startling him so much that he abandoned all pretense of a Sword Immortal’s grace and rolled on the ground to narrowly avoid it.

No sooner had he barely managed to get up than he saw the opponent stop the half-kicked sweep and changed it to a “War Stomp” from above.

Ling Yunpo, having just gotten up and not yet steady, could only hurriedly raise his sword to block. He, along with his sword, was kicked flying by the giant’s foot, slamming hard into a wall, his back breaking who knows how many ribs.

Slumping down the wall like mud, Ling Yunpo sat in disarray on the ground. He barely managed to mobilize his True Yuan, casting a “Universal Pure Tone Minor Illumination Technique” on himself.

This spell, truly worthy of being the first layer of Daoist Magic derived from the “Nine Heavens Clear Entrance True Mantra,” is perfect for Regenerate. It was capable of recovery from bleeding, bruising, or bone fractures. With one application, one could recover in a few breaths.

While he was healing, the opponent indeed did not take advantage of his victory to pursue but simply crossed his arms to watch.

Thus, Ling Yunpo could confirm that this test was indeed meant to train him in “how to take a beating.”

However, his experience in this area was practically nonexistent… whether it was the untouchable Qiu Changtian, the unfathomable Wei Dongliu, or the Magical Treasure-reliant Luo Yan, where would he have had such an experience of being beaten like a dog?

“So what am I supposed to do!” Ling Yunpo became anxious, “Even if I have to learn how to take a beating, how do I know when I’ve learned it? I can’t just keep getting beaten like this!”

“Perhaps it is training your ability to withstand pressure,” the Kunlun Mirror speculated, “Maybe when you’re beaten half to death and barely clinging to life, yet still barely maintaining your consciousness for battle, that means you’ve passed this level?”

“Impossible! Next!”

“I think you might try to deflect the force,” said the Green Duckweed Sword, “Since taking the hits is inevitable, if you could find a way to reduce the harm inflicted, wouldn’t that be another viable approach?”

“Deflect the force?” Ling Yunpo wondered aloud.

After all, as a Sword Immortal, he was accustomed to countering flying swords with flying swords.

If an opponent’s flying sword broke through his defense and reached him, he typically wouldn’t even have time to cast a spell before being considered as good as dead.

Deflecting force…