Hide in the world of gods and demons

Chapter 161 Swordsmanship at Max Level
In the days that followed, Chen Li's life settled down again.

Life returned to its previous peaceful state.

half a month later.

The message string is finally complete.

Chen Li and the two women tested it out and found it to be similar to leaving a message on the phone. After Chen Li activated the male talisman, he could send a one-way message for up to twenty or thirty seconds.

The person holding the female talisman will simultaneously receive the information.

The greater the distance, the shorter the transmission time.

If you don't have the talisman on you, then there's nothing you can do.

To communicate like making a phone call, both parties need to be at the Foundation Establishment stage, and they need to prepare several male and female talismans and continuously burn money.

……

Time passes, autumn goes and winter comes, and then spring arrives again.

As he practiced the Immortal Muscle Jade Bone Technique, his physical strength increased day by day. At the same time, his progress in basic swordsmanship also accelerated, gradually approaching the maximum level. However, he was stuck at the last step.

For two months in a row, there was no progress.

After spending a few more days with Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang, Chen Li chose a quiet place near Luanluo Mountain, carved out a cave to live in, and began his secluded cultivation to break through to the next level. He was determined not to leave his seclusion until he achieved a breakthrough.

Living in seclusion, undisturbed, he spent his days practicing martial arts, cultivating his magic, eating, and sleeping.

Cultivation is a gradual process, and there is no such thing as instant success.

Through this daily ascetic practice, his consciousness was refined to become increasingly pure.

At the same time, bodily sensations become increasingly clear and bright, shining brilliantly. With movement and even thoughts, the light and dark constantly change, appearing intricate and complex, yet containing a certain pattern.

Only the brain remained in complete darkness.

It seems to be brewing some kind of qualitative change.

Time passes day by day.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Li's senses became increasingly clear, from large muscles, internal organs, and bones to small capillaries and nerve endings; his entire body radiated a bright light.

This morning.

As if he had finally accumulated enough power, the qualitative change that Chen Li had been waiting for finally began.

Just as he was practicing as usual, his entire spinal cord, including the surrounding neural networks, suddenly lit up as if electrified, and then quickly dimmed again. Just when Chen Li thought the impact had failed, the nerves lit up again.

This time the light was even more dazzling, and it lit up much faster.

It was incredibly fast, like lightning.

This process repeats itself repeatedly, like an electromagnetic pulse, causing the entire neural network to flicker on and off.

Each time it got stronger than the last.

It's getting brighter and brighter!

faster and faster!

His entire body was illuminated.

Waves of flashes shot up the spine, relentlessly assaulting the shadows in the brain. As time passed, finally, at a certain moment, the brain was 'ignited'...

"boom!"

Chen Li was jolted awake, his heart filled with light, and his pupils emitted a dazzling array of colors, his aura suddenly intensifying.

……

Inside the cave.

Chen Li broke free from his sudden realization and regained his senses.

It was extremely quiet all around.

Countless dust particles filled the air, drifting with the airflow, jumping and dancing, changing their graceful trajectories.

The birdsong outside seemed to be stretched out, becoming incredibly long and melodious; he could even discern the tremolos caused by subtle changes in melody.

A few blades of grass at the entrance of the cave were covered with morning dew. They trembled in the breeze, and occasionally a dewdrop would slide off. In his eyes, it was as if the movement was slowed down by almost 50%.

The dewdrops fell to the ground, making a tinkling sound and splashing up countless sparkling droplets.

He felt incredibly clear-headed, his thoughts sharp and quick, and many distant memories that he had long forgotten were now vividly recalled.

This feeling was somewhat similar to when he was refining his marrow. His five senses—smell, taste, hearing, sight, and touch—were amplified, and everything in front of him became vivid.

But that's not all.

"It feels...like the brain is processing data much faster," he said thoughtfully.

The previous marrow refinement improved his information reception ability, making him more 'sensitive' and reducing the body's 'delay', while the brain refinement improved his information processing ability, greatly increasing the amount of information he could process and the speed at which he could process it.

Thinking is faster.

This caused him to experience a loss of his sense of time.

It gives you the illusion that the world has slowed down.

Chen Li stretched his body and suddenly threw a jab.

boom!
A sonic boom suddenly echoed through the air.

His right fist, along with his body, shot out like lightning, then instantly retracted.

"My strength and speed haven't changed much, but I feel more 'at ease' now, and my eyes can clearly see my punches."

Chen Li thought to himself as he recalled his battle with Ke Xian last year.

If I were to meet Ko Hsien again now...

Although I'm not confident that I can take him down in a few moves, at least it won't be that dangerous. Even without the Flash spell, I can easily defeat him.

Chen Li then used several more spells in succession. Invisibility!
X-ray vision!
Rainbow Transformation Technique!
Whether it's chanting mantras or forming hand seals.

It feels like there's not much difference compared to before.

However, considering the reduced sense of time, it should actually be more than 50% faster.

To outsiders, it probably looks almost like an instantaneous attack.

"I am now... more powerful than ever before."

He clenched his fist tightly, feeling incredibly good: "Now I finally feel a little safe!"

He sighed inwardly for a moment, then opened the game panel.

'Basic Swordsmanship Master: 3200/3200'
"As expected! It's already at the maximum level!"

In addition, his lifespan increased by 3 years, reaching 293 years, bringing him one step closer to the 300-year limit of Foundation Establishment.

How would you describe Chen Li's feelings at this moment?
All I can say is that my emotions are complicated.

He started practicing basic swordsmanship not long after he transmigrated, and has been practicing it for a full ten years now. During this time, he has spent countless hours and shed countless drops of sweat, gradually evolving from an inconspicuous mortal swordsmanship manual into a divine skill that is no less powerful than any other martial arts technique.

Now, this skill has finally reached its maximum level and come to an end.

There was a sense of satisfaction, but more than that, there was a feeling of emptiness.

"Fortunately, the cultivation technique is not a magic technique. If I continue to cultivate, my strength can continue to improve. It's not really the end. After all, the brain training has only just begun. Based on past experience, I can still grow rapidly in a short period of time."

Chen Li put away the items inside the cave, took the Five Elements Yin Yang Gathering Spirit Array set up outside, and walked out of the cave.

A chill swept over me, and goosebumps rose on my skin.

Early spring was chilly, and the mountains were still covered with remnants of snow.

Chen Li walked with one light step and one heavy step. This time, he did not feel the incoordination of his limbs that he had experienced during the marrow refining. Instead, he felt as if his body had become light and airy, as if the earth's gravity had been reduced considerably.

I didn't feel any exertion; I was just walking 'normally,' and with each step, my body could leap quite a distance.

After that, I either stepped too hard or too lightly.

The pace was sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

As he walked, he could feel a distinct sense of 'being suspended in mid-air'.

It will take a long time before it lands.

Of course, Chen Li knew that these were all illusions.

His sense of time is off.

He looked around, and the whole world seemed to have slowed down considerably. Even the breeze and the swaying of the branches seemed to move slowly and listlessly.

"This is a bit troublesome... I'll just have to get used to it gradually!"

In fact, there are similar feelings when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment stage or even a minor realm, but they are not as obvious or abrupt as this time.

Chen Li was in a good mood, experiencing the wonderful feeling of tranquility and transcendence. He did not fly, but measured the distance step by step with his feet and floated down the mountain. Then he circled around Luanluo City.

I experienced the everyday life and tried to adapt to the new era.

It was almost afternoon when they returned to the mountain gate.

Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang were not there; only a few maids remained in the cave.

With nothing else to do, Chen Li simply returned to his quiet room to continue practicing his swordsmanship and consolidating his skills. He waited until evening before the two women returned.

"Husband, are you out of seclusion?"

"Yes, we just got back. Did you go to listen to the sermon?" Chen Li said slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

"No, that's not true. The sect just accepted a new batch of young disciples, and we went to watch the fun." Zhou Hong sat down next to Chen Li and said with a smile, "They're all seven or eight years old, and many of them were crying."

"You're too young to appreciate what you have; you'll be glad you did later!"

Every year, the sect selects a group of children with outstanding aptitude from the mortal world to join the sect.

The number ranges from over a hundred to several dozen.

The total number of disciples has remained at around one or two thousand.

Those who are chosen are like fish leaping over the dragon gate. Even if the vast majority of them fail to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, they are still hundreds of times stronger than ordinary mortals. This is a comprehensive leap in lifespan, strength, and status.

Zhou Hong and Zhang Shuniang chattered about the trivial matters that had happened during Chen Li's seclusion these past few days.

Chen Li would sometimes agree and sometimes offer a few comments.

Looking at his beautiful wives and concubines on either side, one youthful and graceful, the other charming and alluring, he couldn't help but feel a surge of desire. After being away from them for more than a month in seclusion, it truly felt like three autumns had passed.

But with his strong willpower, he managed to endure it.

After practicing mental exercises, not only did my sense of time become problematic, but my body also became increasingly sensitive, becoming afraid of cold, heat, dampness, and humidity...

He might embarrass himself like last time, and he'll need some time to readjust.

……

In the days that followed, as Chen Li refined the energy each day, the difference in his sense of time became increasingly pronounced.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly in his eyes.

From an initial slowdown of 50%, it gradually slowed down to more than double.

At the same time, the range of his spiritual awareness was also expanding continuously, as if even his soul consciousness was affected, expanding from the original radius of thirty or forty meters to more than a hundred meters, and these drastic changes were completed within half a month.

It only began to slow down gradually after that.

Such a short time, such drastic changes.

This caused Chen Li to feel a sense of alienation and incompatibility with the world, which he was unable to adapt to for a long time. It felt as if he had jumped into another dimension of time, and his grasp of time and power was disrupted, which seriously affected his daily life.

Therefore, Chen Li not only tried to live a simple and frugal life, but also frequently went out to communicate with people and try to get used to this change.

It wasn't until a month later that he gradually adapted and no longer needed to do it deliberately.

(End of this chapter)