Douluo Continent has a system, but I don't want to use it.

Chapter 13 Nine Palaces Blade Step Advancement

"Old Li, you're still as impatient as ever." The middle-aged man put down his book, stood up, and teased Li Feng with a smile.

"I'm not called impatient, I'm just decisive. Alright, there's no time to argue with you. I brought this child here to register as a Soul Master. This child named Fang Tian's Martial Soul was awakened by me. He had innate Soul Power of Level 4, and in just over a year and a half, he improved to Level 10. Now he's even become a Soul Master. You can test his Soul Power first."

"Oh, your cultivation is so fast, you seem to be a little genius. Come on, young Fang Tian, ​​let's test your soul power." Old Ma was also a little surprised, and took out a crystal ball to signal Fang Tian to start the test.

Fang Tian raised his right hand and placed it on the crystal ball, continuously channeling his soul power into it. The crystal ball lit up, and the blue soul power markings steadily increased, only stopping when it reached the peak of level eleven.

"Not bad, level eleven soul power, and it's already very close to level twelve, which meets the standards for soul master registration." Master Ma nodded.

Fang Tian quickly completed his Soul Master registration, refused the Spirit Hall's routine recruitment, accepted a gold soul coin as a subsidy, and took his leave.

Fang Tian knew he hadn't become a Soul Master until he was over eight years old, so he couldn't possibly be considered a genius. Joining the Spirit Hall would just make him an ordinary member randomly assigned by others. Right now, Fang Tian's best course of action was to play it safe, develop his skills, and avoid recklessness.

Back at the Soul Master Academy, Fang Tian continued his arduous training life, which revolved around three points: school, home, and study.

……

Time flies, and a year and a half has passed in the blink of an eye.

The back mountain of Notting Junior Soul Master Academy.

Fang Tian focused intently on the Nine Palaces Step, wielding his goose-feather saber. His footwork was unpredictable, his swordsmanship swift; each step was deliberate, landing unexpectedly. The blade danced around him, Fang Tian seemingly coiled like a dragon, poised to devour any approaching prey.

Suddenly, he accelerated, disrupting Fang Tian's rhythm.

Fang Tian stopped, bewildered. "What's going on? I was moving at my usual pace, how did my speed suddenly increase?"

Upon careful recollection, it seemed that the soul power of the Meridian Technique had been mobilized into the finer meridians of the legs, and then the speed suddenly increased, although not by much.

"Could this be the opportunity to advance my Nine Palaces Blade Steps?" Fang Tian exclaimed excitedly.

Fang Tian then focused even more intently on his studies.

Fang Tian's pace suddenly quickened again, but he didn't stop. After adjusting his posture, he continued practicing the Nine Palaces Blade Steps. As time went on, more and more of his footwork accelerated, and Fang Tian carefully sensed and memorized the meridian flow of each accelerated footwork technique.

Two hours later, with each step Fang Tian took, his soul power was mobilized and circulated. His entire figure moved like the wind and lightning, and even afterimages appeared around him. Fang Tian's expression was even more relaxed and carefree. He reached the desired position with just a slight effort, a feeling that Fang Tian found irresistible.

Finally, having exhausted all his soul power, Fang Tian slowly stopped.

The Nine Palaces Blade Step not only connects the internal and external worlds, allowing for the mobilization of soul power at any time, but also utilizes even finer meridians, resulting in a significant increase in speed. Now, it should be one foot in the door of reaching the pinnacle.

Fang Tian rested for half an hour and then resumed practicing the Nine Palaces Sword Steps. However, this time he discovered a major problem: the speed of the sword couldn't keep up with the speed of his footwork!

Fang Tian began to consider countermeasures. Currently, his sword speed was hampered by his own weak strength, which slowed down his footwork. He needed to either advance his swordsmanship to significantly reduce air resistance like his footwork, or find a way to reduce the impact of air resistance on his sword.

"Let's try covering the blade with soul power first."

Fang Tian enveloped his soul power around the Wild Goose Feather Blade and began practicing the Nine Palaces Blade Steps.

Fang Tian leisurely wielded his goose-feather saber while performing the Nine Palaces Steps. A thin layer of soul power adhered to the saber. The saber continuously sliced ​​through the air without making a sound, as if the thin layer of soul power completely blocked the air, and the saber seemed to be slicing through a vacuum.

The speed of the blade increased, and Fang Tian's footwork also increased, always perfectly matching the most comfortable power exertion of the goose feather blade.

"Bang! Whoosh!" The thin film of soul power attached to the surface of the blade was finally crushed by the air, and the blade cut through the air with a loud sound.

As expected, attaching soul power is not as simple as it seems. To better reduce wind resistance, the attached soul power should ideally be shaped like an airplane wing. Of course, since the knife doesn't need lift, a symmetrical wing shape is fine.

The blade edge forms the leading edge of the symmetrical wings, the back of the blade forms the thickest part of the symmetrical wings, and then a streamlined shape that gradually thins out extends backward from the back of the blade.

"Give it a try!" Fang Tian did as soon as he thought of it. Fortunately, Fang Tian had strong mental power, otherwise, he would have just been able to dream of creating a symmetrical wing-shaped soul power attachment.

Fang Tian imbued himself with symmetrical wing-shaped soul power. He tried swinging his sword a couple of times and felt that the wind resistance had indeed decreased. So he began to practice the Nine Palaces Sword Steps.

The blade was faster and more swift than before, while the man was more relaxed and serene. It was as if the man wasn't wielding the blade, but rather the blade was propelling him across the field. Fang Tian had become one with the blade, and his arms were now enveloped in symmetrical wing-shaped soul power, making his sword swings even faster and continuously increasing in speed.

As the blade moved faster, Fang Tian felt as if the goose-feather blade had merged into the wind, and then he felt as if his whole being had slowly merged into the wind as well.

Fang Tian felt that the Nine Palaces Step was going smoothly no matter how he walked it, and gradually he reached the point where he could do whatever he wanted. His speed was also constantly increasing, and one after another phantom appeared and disappeared. The range of the Nine Palaces Step was also getting bigger and bigger.

It has expanded to a radius of thirty meters, within which phantoms constantly appear and disappear.

As Fang Tian's figure moved faster and faster, his sword speed also increased, reaching twice its original speed. Fang Tian carefully comprehended the sword technique at this moment, and only slowly stopped two hours later when his soul power was almost exhausted.

At this moment, Fang Tian knew without checking the system that his Nine Palaces Blade Steps had been completely upgraded.

"System, open your own panel."

……

Realm: Level Sixteen

Soul Power: 849/1000

Constitution: 522/500 (around 500 for an average Great Soul Master)

Spirit: 570/500 (around 500 for an average Great Soul Master)

Skills: Midnight Skill (Advanced Level 4999/5000), Nine Palaces Blade Step (Peak Level 3/200000)

Soul Skill: Rooting (440 years)

As expected, the Nine Palaces Blade Steps have advanced, but the Meridian Skill remains unchanged from two months ago, with no improvement in proficiency.

The Meridian Qigong now operates on its own for 59 cycles per day. With Fang Tian's daily encouragement, the speed can reach up to 69 cycles per day, which is equivalent to enhancing Fang Tian's talent invisibly.

Overall, Fang Tian was quite satisfied. He didn't have the ability to find immortal herbs in Sunset Forest, nor did he want to rely on any sect or force.

Given Fang Tian's current abilities, he'd likely be used as cannon fodder no matter which sect or force he joined. Joining the Spirit Hall wouldn't earn him any respect either. He should just focus on developing his skills and wait to surprise the Douluo Continent in the future!

Hopefully they'll like it.

(End of this chapter)