Chapter 1688: The Secret of Drawing the Sword and Striking

This time, it seemed different. Lu Ye activated the Insight Spirit Pattern, empowering his eyes, and instantly, Wang Xiu's flowing aura from across him was laid bare.

Suddenly, the feeling of impending death intensified to the extreme!

Wang Xiu across from him seemed to move, and the next instant, saber light filled Lu Ye's vision.

Lu Ye's Immovable Mountain Saber in his hand met it head-on.

With a resounding boom, violent spiritual power collided and dispersed within the hall. Lu Ye felt an immensely powerful force assailing him, causing him to retreat uncontrollably.

However, his eyes were exceptionally bright, because usually by this point, he would have been defeated and ejected. But now he was still in the green hall, which undoubtedly meant he had blocked the saber strike.

He had indeed blocked it, but not entirely…

Wang Xiu's fierce and unparalleled saber energy had, in fact, torn through Lu Ye's shoulder from a distance.

Although it was merely a spiritual projection, this projection was no different from Lu Ye's true body. The only distinction was that dying here posed no threat to his life; it only consumed a bit of his spiritual energy.

Given the strength of Lu Ye's current physique, the fact that Wang Xiu's strike could tear through him from a distance revealed its terrifying power.

Half of Lu Ye's shoulder was practically severed, but he completely disregarded it. With the saber in his other hand, he brought the long saber down fiercely. A faint beast roar emanated, as an invisible beast opened its maw, fangs glinting menacingly, and a ferocious saber aura enveloped Wang Xiu.

Fangs Bared!

As Wang Xiu's figure was forced back, Lu Ye fiercely lunged forward, his aura becoming domineering and ferocious.

In an instant, figures shifted and saber light flickered within the green hall.

Wang Xiu was very strong. The predecessors who could leave their inheritances within the Maw were not ordinary powerhouses. Regardless of the era, they were considered invincible within their respective realms.

But his strongest technique was that single draw-and-slash!

If Wang Xiu in his normal state was on the same level as Qing Li, Yan Xi, and Qing Tang, whom Lu Ye had previously encountered, then Wang Xiu, when performing his draw-and-slash, was half a level higher.

Lu Ye had blocked this strongest strike, so the rest was simple. In this era, Lu Ye was equally unmatched within the same realm.

A moment later, Lu Ye, in the midst of fierce battle, suddenly stopped. This was because Wang Xiu's figure had suddenly withdrawn from the combat area and then nodded slightly at him.

Lu Ye was delighted at the sight. Did this mean he had passed the test?

But soon, he felt a bit confused, because, according to his past experiences, passing the test should also mean he had comprehended the inheritance left by the opponent within the Maw.

Qing Li's Fangs Bared, Yan Xi's Vertical Prowling Technique, and Qing Tang's Dual Saber Style were all comprehended through repeated deaths and confrontations.

But in his confrontation with Wang Xiu, Lu Ye had not actually perceived his inheritance.

Moreover, based on his own deductions, Wang Xiu's inheritance should be that draw-and-slash technique. How could he comprehend it during such a confrontation?

What was going on?

As Lu Ye was puzzled, Wang Xiu had already sat down cross-legged, placed his saber sheath horizontally on his lap, and then his spiritual power began to surge.

Lu Ye quietly watched, and the next moment, a look of sudden realization appeared on his face.

He had been pondering why Wang Xiu's draw-and-slash was so powerful; only now did he understand.

It was powerful because the charge-up was long enough.

The draw itself was instantaneous, but there was an extremely long charge-up period before the draw.

In the cultivation world, secret arts requiring charge-up times were never weak. Just like the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pattern Lu Ye had once deployed, its charge-up time was very long, but within the same realm, once successfully activated, he could eliminate a large number of enemies.

A long charge-up time meant a sufficient amount of power was infused, and its might would naturally be considerable.

At this moment, intricate patterns began to appear on Wang Xiu's saber sheath. Even with Lu Ye's mastery in the path of spirit patterns, he could feel the complexity of these spirit patterns.

Such a spirit pattern was simply not something an ordinary spirit pattern master could construct.

Wang Xiu was, surprisingly, an extremely skilled spirit pattern master!

The secret to the immense power of his draw-and-slash lay within this spirit pattern. As for its intricacies, Lu Ye would have to gradually experiment to understand them.

Inside the green hall, Lu Ye calmly observed, carefully noting every connection and transformation of the base units.

For ordinary saber cultivators, even if they forcibly memorized it, this inheritance would not be easy to acquire. But Lu Ye was different; he himself was a spirit pattern master and also possessed the Talent Tree. Therefore, he believed that acquiring Wang Xiu's inheritance would not be difficult.

Time flowed by. This time, Lu Ye stayed in the green hall longer than ever before.

It was not until several days later that his spiritual consciousness returned.

Fortunately, he had subdued Ma Shangsi as a Blood Servant, having such a peak Moon-level cultivator guarding him. This allowed Lu Ye to focus without distraction; otherwise, traveling through the starry sky, he would never dare to do this.

Upon opening his eyes, his first action was to attempt to engrave the spirit pattern into the Talent Tree.

As long as he could engrave that spirit pattern into the Talent Tree, he would be able to activate it at will in the future.

This was not difficult for him; it only required some time and effort. Currently, there were many spirit patterns on the Talent Tree that he had engraved himself.

The blank leaves burning on the Talent Tree were all suitable carriers for engraving spirit patterns.

Recalling what he had witnessed in the green hall, Lu Ye proceeded meticulously.

The spirit pattern Wang Xiu displayed was much more complex than the Void, comprising nearly ten thousand yin and yang fundamental units.

This was simply not something a single leaf could bear.

Lu Ye spent several days gradually engraving this spirit pattern completely. Looking at it, the Talent Tree seemed to gain a sharp aura. The leaf area carrying this wondrous spirit pattern was like a peerless fierce weapon in hiding, ready to strike at any moment.

The spirit pattern was successfully engraved. The next step was to test and verify it, and Lu Ye was filled with anticipation.

After slightly recovering his state, he imitated Wang Xiu, placing the Immovable Mountain Saber, scabbard and all, horizontally across his lap. Immediately, he activated his spiritual power to construct the spirit pattern on the saber sheath.

Wang Xiu had connected them very slowly at the time, mainly for the purpose of inheritance. He likely feared that later generations would not understand when he left this inheritance, so he almost taught it step by step.

Since Lu Ye had now learned this spirit pattern, there was naturally no need to be so slow.

Although it was a spirit pattern constructed from tens of thousands of base units, he successfully constructed it in an instant.

Following that, he activated his spiritual power and infused it into the spirit pattern.

This infusion was the charge-up process for the draw-and-slash. The longer the charge-up time, the more terrifying the power of the draw-and-slash!

As spiritual power flowed into the spirit pattern, it began to circulate within it, much like a cultivator performing a cultivation exercise. This gave Lu Ye the feeling as if the spirit pattern had truly become a non-living cultivator, with the infused spiritual power circulating a Grand Cycle within its body.

After one cycle of circulation, the saber sheath subtly changed.

Lu Ye felt that if he wished, he could instantly transfer this pre-constructed spirit pattern from the saber sheath to the Immovable Mountain Saber, thereby enhancing the power of the saber strike at that very moment.

This was the essence of the draw-and-slash's mystery.

However, at present, his spiritual power had only completed one cycle within the spirit pattern, so the enhancement to the saber's power was almost negligible.

Lu Ye continued to activate his spiritual power…

However, he soon realized another problem.

The quality of the Immovable Mountain Saber's sheath was too low, unable to withstand such a prolonged accumulation of power.

The current quality of the Immovable Mountain Saber was difficult to classify; it had been transformed after the Maw devoured the original Immovable Mountain Saber, but the sheath was still the old one.

It was merely at the Spirit Treasure level, and not even a high-quality Spirit Treasure.

Lu Ye had never thought about replacing or upgrading the quality of the saber sheath before, as it was just a container and mostly unused.

But now that he wanted the sheath to become the carrier for that spirit pattern, its quality was undoubtedly too low.

It had only circulated for a few cycles, and the saber sheath already felt like it was straining to bear the load. If he continued, it would surely shatter.

This made Lu Ye frown. It seemed that in the future, he would have to find a way to get a better saber sheath, one that could at least withstand the continuous charge-up of that spirit pattern.

Stopping his actions, Lu Ye pondered.

The reason Wang Xiu constructed the spirit pattern on the saber sheath was because he had no other choice. As he was also the master of the Maw, it was impossible for him to find an artificer to craft that spirit pattern within the Maw. There was likely no artificer in this world with such skill.

So, he had to settle for the next best thing, crafting the spirit pattern within the saber sheath.

Although that spirit pattern was something Wang Xiu had researched, he probably didn't have the ability to constantly maintain the spirit pattern's existence. Therefore, he could only create a restriction within the saber sheath, with that spirit pattern as its core, thus satisfying his requirement for continuous charging.

Because it was a formed restriction, he only needed to infuse spiritual power into it and did not need to deliberately maintain the spirit pattern's existence.

But these issues were not problems for Lu Ye at all. With the convenience of the Talent Tree, he could control even the most complex spirit patterns at will.

So… perhaps he didn't need the saber sheath for now. He could try it directly within the Immovable Mountain Saber.

If the saber sheath couldn't withstand such a charge, the Immovable Mountain Saber certainly could.

Thinking of this, Lu Ye's mind became clear, and he proceeded to construct the spirit pattern within the Immovable Mountain Saber instead.

Everything went smoothly. The wondrous spirit pattern was maintained within the Immovable Mountain Saber, and his spiritual power circulated cycle after cycle, slowly accumulating power.

In a short time, the effect of this charge-up wouldn't be significant, but as time passed, it would naturally grow stronger.

The only trouble was having to constantly divert a portion of his spiritual energy to maintain the spirit pattern's existence and continuously infuse it with his spiritual power.

But for cultivators striving for personal strength, if this could provide an opportunity for a burst of power, all these efforts would be worthwhile.

Lu Ye's own strength had few rivals within the same realm. Although he had not yet truly clashed with a peak late-stage Moon-level cultivator, Lu Ye felt that facing a late-stage Moon-level cultivator now would not be too difficult for him.

With his normal strength at this level, if he could suddenly unleash a saber strike far surpassing his own power, perhaps he would be qualified to threaten a Sun-level cultivator?

The two red talismans given by Su Yuqing had already been used, and the treasure coins were with Hua Ci. He truly lacked a trump card now.

Ma Shangsi was indeed loyal enough, but one's own safety could not always rely on others. Compared to being guarded by others, Lu Ye preferred to possess the ability to confront crises himself.