Chapter 582: Heart and Mind

Life passed uneventfully each day. He patrolled the valley's formations with Xie Yunhan, then inscribed spirit patterns on ten cultivators, and practiced blade techniques with Xia Liang.

The cycle repeated itself.

Were it not for the thought of the revenge the fox demon had mentioned earlier, this kind of life would have been quite good.

Nine days passed in a flash. All cultivators in the valley had received their spirit patterns, and all were exclusively defensive 'Yu Shou' patterns. During this time, Lu Ye also enjoyed quite an eye-opening experience.

After finishing the tasks at hand, Lu Ye found Xia Liang, ready to practice blade techniques with him.

Unexpectedly, Xia Liang said, "Regarding the basics, I've taught you everything I can. The rest you'll need to slowly comprehend through life-and-death combat. Mere instruction won't be of much use anymore."

After all, the fundamentals of blade techniques are limited. Over these ten-plus days of instruction, Xia Liang had truly given his all. There was indeed nothing more he could teach Lu Ye.

Furthermore, the primary way to improve blade techniques isn't through teaching, but through refinement accumulated in repeated actual combat. Each person's mastery of blade techniques also needs to be slowly honed and refined in bloody battles.

Over these past ten-plus days, Lu Ye could feel that his blade techniques had greatly improved. Compared to before, his foundation was more solid, and his understanding of blade techniques had reached a new level.

It could be said that this alone had boosted his strength by at least ten percent. This was undoubtedly a huge gain.

So even though there had been much animosity between him and Xia Liang, just for his instruction over these days, Lu Ye formally bowed and said, "Many thanks, Daoist Friend Xia!"

He wondered what Xia Liang's reaction would be if he ever had the chance to break free from the fox demon's mind control.

Xia Liang had originally intended to kill Lu Ye, but by a strange twist of fate, he had instead taught Lu Ye many things about blade techniques.

"'I can't teach you the basics anymore, but today I'm going to teach you something else.' As he spoke, Xia Liang took his long blade from his storage bag, assumed a stance, closed his eyes, and said, 'Attack me!'"

Seeing his posture, it seemed he wanted to demonstrate something. Lu Ye didn't hesitate. He reached for his blade hilt, and with a flicker of his body, he swiftly advanced towards Xia Liang. His long blade unsheathed, he brought it down in a powerful strike, while closely watching Xia Liang's movements.

When the Mountain-Cleaving Blade was less than a foot away from Xia Liang, Xia Liang suddenly moved. His long blade rose, striking later but arriving first, parrying the Mountain-Cleaving Blade.

Lu Ye couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Xia Liang was at the ninth level of the Cloud River Realm, while Lu Ye was only at the fourth. There was a huge disparity in their cultivation and strength, so Lu Ye wasn't surprised that Xia Liang could block his strike.

What surprised him was that Xia Liang's eyes were clearly closed, yet he seemed to be able to see his attack.

Using the force of the rebound, Lu Ye gracefully retreated.

"'Again!' Xia Liang called out."

Lu Ye charged forward again. This time, he didn't choose a slashing attack, but a direct thrust. Compared to a powerful slash, such a direct thrust was undoubtedly much more covert.

This guy could block his slash with his eyes closed, which might be explained by judging position from sound. But how could he block this covert thrust?

To Lu Ye's surprise, still at a distance of half a foot, Xia Liang's long blade suddenly moved. It lightly parried the Mountain-Cleaving Blade, and at the same time, he tilted his head, allowing the Mountain-Cleaving Blade to brush past his neck and pierce empty air.

Lu Ye was greatly astonished.

"'Again!'"

Lu Ye struck a third time...

But without exception, each time, when the attack was about half a foot away from Xia Liang, he would suddenly move and block it.

Although Lu Ye hadn't used his full strength, Xia Liang's ability to achieve this with his eyes closed still felt incredible to him.

He attacked more than ten times in a row, yet he couldn't even touch Xia Liang's clothes.

Only then did Xia Liang open his eyes, looked at Lu Ye and said, "Do you understand now?"

"Perception?"

"Heart's Eye!"

"Heart's Eye?"

"'What the physical eyes see isn't necessarily real, but what the Heart's Eye sees will never be false,' Xia Liang lectured patiently. 'This isn't a blade technique, but it's an auxiliary secret art useful to all weapon cultivators. You mentioned perception, which isn't entirely wrong. Most weapon cultivators have their own sense of danger when fighting others, but Heart's Eye is a secret art that builds upon perception, surpassing it.'"

He paused, then continued, "Currently, the cultivators we encounter are all in the Cloud River Realm, and their blade speeds might not be too fast, still detectable by the naked eye. But as your cultivation improves, there will come a day when many powerful experts strike at speeds too fast for the naked eye to track. How will you react then? Relying solely on your own perception might not give you enough time to react. But if you can master the Heart's Eye secret art, it will be different. Then, even if you can't see, with your blade in hand, no enemy will dare to approach you. Heart's Eye is a unique secret art of my Mad Blade Sect, similar in essence to the Sword Heart of the North Profound Sword Sect. My mastery of this secret art has only just reached the introductory level, which is why I can only defend against attacks within half a foot."

Lu Ye suddenly understood. No wonder Xia Liang only reacted when his attacks were about half a foot away. So this secret art had a range.

He asked with keen interest, "How do I cultivate it?"

This was a unique secret art of the Mad Blade Sect, only accessible to its elite disciples. If he hadn't ended up in Fox Immortal Valley this time, Lu Ye would never have come across it.

He suddenly remembered that when he had pursued and fought Xia Liang previously, Xia Liang's defense had indeed felt impenetrable. If Xia Liang hadn't been so heavily injured then, Lu Ye wouldn't have been able to do anything to him with just this Heart's Eye secret art.

Xia Liang showed a reminiscent expression. "'When I cultivated this secret art, I fought varying numbers of demon beasts under the supervision of my elders, and with my eyes blindfolded. So, if you truly want to cultivate this secret art, you'll need to experience it firsthand. Use your physical body to remember the feeling of impending danger. With enough time and repetitions, it will naturally succeed. We don't have the conditions for that here, so you can cultivate it later when you have the opportunity.'"

Lu Ye nodded slightly.

Given Zhou Yuntian's previous instructions, Xia Liang would absolutely not attack Lu Ye. Therefore, even if Lu Ye wanted to cultivate this secret art, Xia Liang couldn't act as his sparring partner.

"'Remember this one thing: The Heart's Eye secret art relies on one's own perception as its foundation. The stronger a person's perception, the easier it is to successfully cultivate it.'"

"Understood."

The strength of perception is key to one's mental fortitude, and the strength of one's mental fortitude is closely related to their divine soul.

In short, the stronger a cultivator's divine soul, the easier it is to cultivate this secret art. And the divine soul... was Lu Ye's strong suit.

After bidding farewell to Xia Liang, Lu Ye returned to his room. He activated the formation, had Yiyi stand guard nearby, and only then took out the Breath Fruit Core from his storage space.

Fox Immortal Valley indeed lacked the conditions for cultivating the Heart's Eye secret art, as he couldn't find a suitable sparring partner. However, the Breath Fruit Core in Lu Ye's hand could provide him with the best cultivation environment.

Previously, whenever he entered the Mirage Realm, he would desperately slay the monsters within to hone his blade techniques. However, as his cultivation gradually increased, his entries into the Mirage Realm also gradually decreased.

Firstly, each entry into the Mirage Realm consumed merit points. Secondly, he wasn't lacking in life-and-death combat experience in his daily life, so he didn't particularly need to enter the Mirage Realm for further tempering.

But now that he needed to cultivate the Heart's Eye secret art, the Mirage Realm was undoubtedly the best choice.

Spending a hundred merit points, he pushed open the large door. Lu Ye stepped into the Mirage Realm, stood firm, and closed his eyes.

As soon as he was ready, the nearby mist suddenly churned, and a figure charged out from it, fiercely rushing to attack him.

The figure's attacking power was only at the level of a fourth-level Cloud River Realm cultivator, matching Lu Ye's cultivation. Enveloped in mist, its appearance was indistinct, and its gender could not be discerned.

Normally, encountering such an enemy, Lu Ye could defeat it with a single strike.

But now, with his eyes tightly shut, Lu Ye could only judge the enemy's movements through his perception and some sounds. This was undoubtedly a huge test for him.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit him. Following his instincts, Lu Ye unsheathed his long blade and struck.

However, this strike didn't hit anything. Instead, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, having been wounded by the opponent.

Another gust of wind assailed him. Lu Ye turned and swept his Mountain-Cleaving Blade sideways. It still missed, and pain flared on his body again.

A moment later, on the second floor, Lu Ye opened his eyes. A sharp pain surged in his mind, making the corner of his eye twitch involuntarily.

An enemy at the same cultivation level as him, a foe he could usually defeat with a single strike, yet after he closed his eyes, it had managed to kill him out of the Mirage Realm in less than a quarter of an hour!

How could Lu Ye tolerate this?

"Again!"

After another quarter of an hour, Lu Ye opened his eyes again.

"Again!"

After repeating this process more than ten times, Lu Ye's face was faintly pale.

Even though his divine soul was powerful, dying out of the Mirage Realm once or twice had no significant impact on him. However, too many repetitions in a short time made even him struggle to bear it.

At this moment, he felt a splitting headache, as if his entire head was about to explode. He had only experienced this feeling a few times when he first acquired the Breath Fruit Core, and hadn't felt it since his divine soul grew stronger.

However, dying more than ten times wasn't without gain. With his eyes closed, he could last longer and longer against the enemy, and even accurately blocked enemy attacks several times.

Xia Liang said that cultivating the Heart's Eye secret art required firsthand experience, using the physical body to remember the various sensations of impending danger. Therefore, with every move the enemy made in the Mirage Realm, Lu Ye carefully perceived it, judging the enemy's attack point and feeling the danger arising within his body.

Xia Liang had originally cultivated this secret art by fighting varying numbers of demon beasts under the supervision of his elders, gradually succeeding in its cultivation.

Compared to Xia Liang's cultivation method, Lu Ye undoubtedly held more advantages. Being in the Mirage Realm meant that even if he was killed, there wasn't much loss, and the experience learned through his body in this way was undoubtedly more deeply imprinted.

Moreover, Lu Ye's mental fortitude was much stronger than cultivators at the same level, which was another one of his advantages.

He didn't know how much time Xia Liang had spent cultivating this secret art, but he was certain that he would cultivate it much faster than Xia Liang.

With this, Tang San's grasp of time, position, and distance was extremely precise.

He knew very well that even with all the Tang Sect's peerless arts and a third-tier Profound Heaven Cultivation, he might not be a match for wolf demons in a direct confrontation, given their extraordinary talents and powerful bodies. Especially being young and lacking vital energy, he definitely couldn't engage in prolonged combat. If that transforming human hadn't forcibly killed one wolf demon, he might not have even acted against two third-tier wolf demons. His own life was paramount.

However, once he made a move, he had to land the hit.

The wolf demon was currently in a state of extreme rage. Therefore, it only realized Tang San's hand had struck the side of its eye when it was already too late. It violently twisted its head, its fangs rushing towards Tang San.

At that moment, Tang San's other hand grabbed its clothing. Using the convenience of his small stature, he pulled on the wolf's fur, changing his direction. He flipped over, almost brushing the third-tier wolf demon's chest, and landed on its other side.

His right index and middle fingers formed a sword-finger. With the activation of his Mysterious Jade Hand, the two fingers gleamed with a pure white jade color as he thrust them like lightning towards the wolf demon's eye as it turned its head back.

Pfft! The slender fingers almost instantly pierced into something warm. In terms of physical strength, Tang San was certainly far inferior to this third-tier wolf demon, but once he hit a vital point, with energy of the same level, there was no chance for luck.

The Profound Heaven Cultivation, infused by the Mysterious Jade Hand, almost spun into the wolf demon's brain. As a result, the wolf demon's other eye also exploded instantly, and its brain was churned into a paste. Its roar abruptly ceased as if choked, and its strong body fell to the ground.

Tang San pushed off its body with the tip of his foot, and with a flip, landed a considerable distance away.

That this strike could achieve such a result was still due to his rich combat experience from his previous life. The child's small body and the darkness provided the best cover, coupled with the fact that the third-tier wolf demon was in a violent rage, weakening its perception.

In a head-on confrontation, Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand might not even be able to break through the wolf demon's thick hide. However, the eyes were the most vulnerable spot. Once the eyes were pierced and infused with Profound Heaven Cultivation energy, death was absolute.

His feet landed. The third-tier wolf demon on the other side was also motionless. Only then did Tang San breathe a sigh of relief. He didn't rush to check on the human. Instead, he quickly lay down on the ground, pressing his ear to the earth, listening for any movements around him, to see if there were more pursuers.

With his current strength, a head-on confrontation with a third-tier wolf demon was very difficult. No matter how good his technique, his young body was too weak. One hit from a wolf demon could very likely be fatal. That seemingly simple attack just now had actually been his full effort, raising his mental will to its highest degree.

No other movements appeared around him. Clearly, only two third-tier wolf demons had been pursuing the transforming human. This allowed Tang San to relax; otherwise, he would have had no choice but to flee.

Only then did he walk towards the human, while maintaining his vigilance.

When he approached the person, he immediately noticed that the fur which had grown on the person's body had disappeared. This made Tang San's heart rate increase slightly.

Given his situation as a child and having no relation to the transforming human, the safest course of action would naturally have been not to intervene and wait for the wolf demons to leave. Yet he still chose to act. One reason was that the pursued individual was human. Another important reason was the transformation he had just witnessed.

In Tang San's original world, Douluo Continent, there were Soul Masters who possessed Beast Martial Souls and could have similar abilities. They could also continuously grow stronger by cultivating their Beast Martial Souls.

If similar abilities existed in this world, for him, if he could learn them, it would naturally be greatly beneficial for improving his own strength and would make it easier to integrate into this world!