Supreme Being: The Sword of True Martial Arts

When Lin Yan opened his eyes, the roar of the subway car still lingered in his mind.

Then he saw a dilapidated wooden house.

Above him were mottled beams covered in cobwebs; beneath him was a hard wooden bed, exuding a musty smell; the air was filled with a faint herbal scent, mixed with some indescribable... spiritual energy?

Holy crap.

Lin Yan sat up abruptly, a large chunk of memories that didn't belong to him flooding his mind.

Zhenwu Sect. Outer disciple. Suffered a cultivation deviation leading to demonic possession. Achieved minor success in Qi accumulation.

He looked down at his hands—long and fair, with calluses still visible on his fingertips from practicing swordsmanship, but not the same hands he used to have developed tendonitis from typing on the keyboard. He recognized these hands; in his memory, they held a sword, slashing, thrusting, parrying, and sweeping over and over again.

"I've transmigrated." Lin Yan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and "moreover, I've transmigrated into the body of an unlucky guy who almost died from a cultivation mishap."

It took him about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn to digest the original owner's memories. The True Martial Sect was one of the six major sword-wielding sects of the Great Jin Dynasty, and its leader, True Man Xuan Yang, was a high-ranking Dharma Master. The original owner was an outer disciple with average talent. He was hardworking but lacked comprehension. A few days ago, he forcibly attempted to break through to the Great Perfection of Qi Accumulation, which caused his true qi to become disordered. He fainted in his room and was found by his fellow disciples when he was only exhaling and not inhaling.

Then Lin Yan was replaced.

"Minor success in Qi Accumulation." Lin Yan sensed the faint flow of true Qi within his body, like a trickle of water slowly circulating through his meridians. "According to the classification of this world, it doesn't even qualify as the beginning."

He stood up and stretched his limbs. The original owner had only managed to cultivate for so many years to achieve a minor level of Qi accumulation; his talent was indeed questionable. But Lin Yan was, after all, a modern person who had read hundreds of online novels—wasn't he supposed to have the essential cheat ability for transmigrators?

The thought had barely formed when a sudden "ding" sounded in my head—

It wasn't a system notification sound; it sounded more like something breaking.

Then the whole world changed.

Lin Yan saw faint ripples of spiritual energy flowing in the air, like ripples on the surface of water, drifting in from outside the window and then dissipating. He looked down at his hands, where the trajectory of his true energy was clearly visible, and he could even see a few tiny blockages.

He walked to the corner of the wall, where the iron sword that the original owner used hung. The moment he gripped the sword, every minute flaw of the blade was reflected in his mind—the blade was slightly curled in a few places, the rope wrapped around the hilt was loose in one place, and even the distribution of the metal density of the blade could be vaguely felt.

"The Sword Heart of All Things," Lin Yan murmured to himself.

The golden touch has arrived.

He carefully examined the abilities of this cheat: Flaw Insight, which can be used three times a day, allows one to see through the flaws in an opponent's moves, techniques, and even the laws of heaven and earth; and Sword Sense Enhancement, which is passively activated, enhancing one's perception of the sword and understanding of sword moves.

However, there is a limitation—it cannot perceive the flaws of someone who is at a higher level than oneself.

"In other words, I'm currently at the minor stage of Qi Accumulation, and I can see through the flaws of those at the major and perfect stages of Qi Accumulation, but I can't see through them when they encounter those at the Qi Opening stage." Lin Yan nodded. "That makes sense. Otherwise, what's the point of playing if you're invincible?"

He carefully examined the original owner's physical condition again and found that the problem of the diverged true energy channels had not been completely resolved, and there were still residual blockages in several meridians. The original owner had fainted because of this, and if left untreated, at best his cultivation would regress, and at worst his meridians would be completely severed.

"I need to save my own life first."

Lin Yan sat cross-legged and circulated his true energy according to the "True Martial Qi Cultivation Technique" from his memory. This technique was the basic technique for outer disciples of the True Martial Sect. It was not of high rank, but it was reliable and not easy to suffer from qi deviation.

The true energy flowed slowly, stagnating slightly when it passed through the blockages. Lin Yan closed his eyes, and with the amplification of his sword sense from the Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart, he could clearly perceive the specific location, size, and even the nature of each blockage.

"It's not that the true qi is blocked, it's that there are impurities in the meridians." Lin Yan frowned. "The original owner was too impatient in his cultivation, and his true qi was not pure enough. Impurities accumulated in the meridians. When he forcibly tried to break through to the Great Perfection of Qi Accumulation, the impurities were pushed to a deeper level, causing blockages."

He carefully controlled his inner energy, bypassing the blockage and slowly advancing it through a smaller, more subtle side meridian. This required extremely precise control; the slightest mistake could damage the meridians. However, the enhanced sword sense from the Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart allowed him to perceive every minute adjustment of his inner energy in real time, performing it flawlessly.

Half an hour later, the first blockage was successfully bypassed, and the true energy flowed smoothly again.

Lin Yan opened his eyes and let out a long breath. A layer of fine sweat had already seeped from his forehead, but the flow of true energy within his body was more than 30% smoother than before.

"We'll deal with the rest tomorrow. You can't get fat in one bite." He stood up, stretched his stiff legs, and walked to the window.

Outside the window stretched rolling green hills, with several magnificent palaces faintly visible through the swirling clouds and mist. A mountain breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and trees, along with a subtle spiritual energy. In the distance, several flashes of sword light appeared; inner disciples were flying on their swords.

"The Zhenwu Sect, huh." Lin Yan gazed at the mountain gate, a thought suddenly popping into his mind. "This place is not bad; it's good to take shelter under a big tree. I'll lie low for now, improve my cultivation, and go out and have fun once I have the ability to protect myself."

He wasn't the kind of reckless youth who, upon transmigrating, would shout "I'm going to defy the heavens!" The original owner's memories contained a great deal of information about the treacherous nature of the martial world; powerful cultivators at the Outer Realm level could wipe out a small sect with a single palm strike, and high-level cultivators could move mountains and fill seas. With his current cultivation level, going out there would be like delivering himself to the slaughter.

"Let's set a small goal first: survive the first volume."

Three days later, all the blockages in Lin Yan's meridians were cleared, and his true energy circulated smoothly and freely. His cultivation at the initial stage of Qi Accumulation was completely stabilized, and there were even faint signs of further improvement.

During those three days, he did one more thing: he took the original owner's iron sword, found a secluded spot in the back mountain, and tried to use his sword sense to perceive sword moves.

The sword technique accompanying the "True Martial Qi Cultivation Manual" is called the "True Martial Basic Sword Forms," ​​which consists of nine forms and serves as the foundation for outer disciples' sword practice. The original owner had practiced it for three years and had long since mastered it, but Lin Yan, using the Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart to sense it, discovered that there were at least seven or eight areas in these nine sword forms that could be improved.

It's not that the sword technique itself is flawed, but rather that the path of true qi circulation is not efficient enough.

"The original method of circulating true qi starts from the dantian, passes through three main meridians, and then reaches the tip of the sword. About 30% of the true qi is lost." Lin Yan gestured and pondered. "If we change the route and go directly from the dantian to the side meridians to the arm, the distance is shortened by 40%, and the loss can be reduced to about 15%."

He tried to draw his sword according to his own ideas—

"Whoosh!"

The iron sword pierced the air, its speed more than twice as fast as before.

Lin Yan was stunned.

He knew the optimization would make it faster, but he didn't expect it to be this much faster. The blade sliced ​​through the air with a sharp whistling sound, and a faint wisp of sword energy even condensed at the tip.

"This... is a bit intense."

He tried several more times, each time precisely controlling his inner energy to follow the shortest path, and his sword speed became faster and faster until he could even see the afterimage left by the blade in the air.

"No, no, going too fast will give us away." Lin Yan quickly sheathed his sword. "We need to keep a low profile in the outer sect. If we act too extraordinary, we'll be targeted."

He decided to keep his skills hidden for now, only using the optimized sword techniques in life-or-death situations, and sticking to the original version in ordinary times.

Two days later, it was time for the outer disciples to practice their swordsmanship.

The Zhenwu Sect has about three hundred outer disciples who practice swordsmanship together every morning at the training ground on the back mountain, with inner disciples taking turns to instruct them. Today, the instructor is Zhao Ping, the eldest outer disciple, who has opened three acupoints and is considered one of the top outer disciples.

Lin Yan stood in the middle of the group, holding an iron sword, and practiced the basic sword techniques of Zhenwu with everyone.

But he wasn't practicing his sword.

He was "listening" to the sword.

The amplification of sword sense by the Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart allowed his perception range to cover the entire training ground. Three hundred disciples simultaneously drew their swords, three hundred sword winds intertwined, forming a three-dimensional sword net in his mind.

The speed, angle, and force of each sword strike, the trajectory of each stream of true energy, and the breathing rhythm of each person—all were clearly visible.

Then he saw it.

There is a clear flaw in the swordplay of the disciple standing to his left front—when he strikes, his wrist will unconsciously press down three degrees, causing the sword path to deviate and the power from his waist and abdomen to not be transmitted to the tip of the sword.

The disciple on the right rear has a flaw in his internal energy circulation. Every time he thrusts his sword, his internal energy stagnates briefly at his elbow, affecting his sword speed.

Further away, a female disciple's breathing rhythm was off, causing a half-breath pause at the transition between sword moves.

Lin Yan "looked" at each of the three hundred disciples one by one, and every flaw, imperfection, and deficiency in their sword moves was exposed.

"Is this the power of the Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart?" he wondered to himself. "It doesn't make me stronger, but rather it makes me see the weakness of everyone."

This ability is practically cheating in combat—every flaw of the opponent is clearly visible, which is equivalent to fighting with X-ray vision.

But he also knew that this was only for outer disciples with low cultivation levels. When facing opponents in the Qi Opening stage, the Weakness Detection skill couldn't be used casually; there were only three chances a day, and it had to be used wisely.

After the sword practice ended, Zhao Ping walked to the front of the group and gave a few comments. He said the same old things, like "the sword must be steady," "the breath must be deep," and "the mind must be focused," which made Lin Yan want to yawn.

Zhao Ping himself hadn't even mastered it yet—Lin Yan had just "seen" three obvious flaws in Zhao Ping's sword moves, but the outer disciples' skill level was too low to see them.

"That's enough for now, we'll continue tomorrow." Zhao Ping waved his hand.

The disciples dispersed in twos and threes. Just as Lin Yan was about to leave, someone suddenly called out to him.

"Lin Yan".

He turned around and saw a young man wearing a gray outer disciple's robe. He was about the same age as him, with an ordinary appearance, but bright eyes.

"Zhang Ce?" Lin Yan retrieved the name from his memory. Zhang Ce was also an outer disciple, with his cultivation at its peak. He was one of the top three experts in the outer sect, and he was a low-key person who did not compete or fight.

"When you were practicing your sword just now, there were a few times when you struck particularly fast." Zhang Ce stared at him, his tone calm. "Although you deliberately slowed down, I could tell."

Lin Yan's heart tightened.

"You've mistaken me," he said without changing his expression.

Zhang Ce glanced at him, didn't ask any more questions, and turned to leave.

Lin Yan watched his retreating figure and silently noted in her heart: This person has a sharp eye.

Back in the cabin, Lin Yan continued his cultivation. He sat cross-legged and circulated the "True Martial Qi Cultivation Technique" according to the optimized true qi circulation path, increasing efficiency by at least 40% compared to the original version.

"At this rate, I'll be able to break through to the Great Perfection of Qi Accumulation in another ten days." He did a mental calculation, "I'll reach the Perfection of Qi Accumulation within a month, and then I can try to break through to the Opening Stage."

But he also knew that cultivation couldn't be rushed. The original owner was a prime example—his foundation was unstable, and his forced breakthrough almost killed him.

"Take it easy and lay a solid foundation first."

For the next few days, Lin Yan lived a regular cultivation life. During the day, he practiced swordsmanship with the outer disciples, and at night he returned to cultivate his true qi. Occasionally, he would go to the back mountain to find a secluded spot to practice optimized sword moves.

He tries to keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention. Each time he practices swordsmanship, he keeps it at a level slightly above average but not outstanding, making himself appear to be "fairly hardworking but with average talent."

But some things cannot be hidden.

For example, his swordsmanship.

Once, during sword practice, Zhao Ping had everyone practice in pairs. Lin Yan's opponent was a disciple who had mastered the art of swordsmanship; his swordsmanship was fierce but crude. Lin Yan deliberately exposed a few openings for his opponent to attack, and then, when his opponent's sword moves were at their most basic and unchanging, he gently deflected the iron sword, sending it flying from his hand.

The whole process was clean and efficient, and it looked like a coincidence.

Zhao Ping frowned, glanced at Lin Yan again, but said nothing.

Zhang Ce watched from a distance, his eyes thoughtful.

Lin Yan knew that if things continued like this, he would be exposed sooner or later, but he had no choice—he couldn't deliberately lose in a real battle, could he? That would be even more suspicious.

"Oh well, so be it. I won't be in the outer sect for long anyway." He thought to himself, "Once I've fully accumulated my Qi, I'll ask the inner sect to accept me as a disciple. Once I'm in the inner sect, I won't be afraid of these little troubles from the outer sect."

On the eighth night, Lin Yan was cultivating when he suddenly heard a faint sound coming from outside the window.

It wasn't the sound of the wind, it was the sound of footsteps. And there was more than one person.

He immediately stopped his practice and silently grasped the iron sword at the head of the bed. The Myriad Manifestations Sword Heart activated, and the sword's power spread outwards—

Three people approached his wooden house from three different directions; all of them were at the peak of their Qi accumulation cultivation.

The leader was a disciple from the outer sect named Wang Hao, a collateral branch of the Wang family. He usually liked to bully the outer sect disciples, and Lin Yan, the original owner of this body, had been bullied by him quite a bit.

"Not again?" Lin Yan rolled her eyes.

In the original owner's memories, Wang Hao would come to "borrow" things every few days, but it was really just stealing. The original owner was timid and dared not resist, so he always swallowed his anger.

But now the person inside has changed.

Lin Yan got up, opened the door, and came face to face with Wang Hao.

"Hey, Lin Yan, still awake?" Wang Hao walked over with a smile, followed by two henchmen. "We're a bit short on cash, so we wanted to borrow some money from you."

Lin Yan leaned against the doorframe, holding his iron sword, a half-smile on his face: "How much do you want to borrow?"

"Ten taels." Wang Hao held out his hand. "Didn't you just receive your monthly allowance last time? Don't hide it."

"Ten taels, huh?" Lin Yan nodded. "Okay."

Wang Hao was taken aback, not expecting Lin Yan to agree so readily. He'd always had to resort to coercion and threats before, so why was she so agreeable today?

"But I have one condition." Lin Yan held up one finger.

"What are the conditions?"

"If the three of you come at me together and manage to touch even a corner of my clothes, you can have the silver. If you can't—" Lin Yan smiled, "stay away from me from now on."

Wang Hao's face darkened: "Are you fucking playing me?"

"Don't dare?" Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.

"You're asking for it!" Wang Hao roared, throwing a punch at him.

A full-force punch, brimming with accumulated energy, sends a whistling wind through the air and generates considerable momentum.

But in Lin Yan's eyes, this punch was as slow as a snail.

Wang Hao's punches were straight and unchanging; the power from his waist and abdomen wasn't fully transferred to his fists, resulting in brief gaps in the midsection of his punch. This created an opening.

Lin Yan turned to the side, his iron sword still sheathed, and with a gentle flick, Wang Hao's fist grazed the hem of his clothes, causing him to stagger forward and almost fall.

"The first one," Lin Yan said with a smile.

The two henchmen exchanged a glance and charged forward simultaneously. One threw a punch, the other a kick.

Lin Yan moved lightly, weaving through the gaps in their attacks. He drew his iron sword from its sheath and precisely struck their weaknesses—one at their elbow and the other at their knee.

Both of them lost their balance at the same time and fell face-first into the mud.

"Three." Lin Yan clapped his hands. "Thank you for the favor."

Wang Hao scrambled to his feet, his face ashen. He wanted to strike again, but when he saw Lin Yan's ambiguous, smiling eyes, a chill ran down his spine.

In those few moves, Lin Yan didn't even draw his sword or pull out the scabbard. He just tapped them three times and took down all three of them.

This is not the level of strength one should have at the initial stage of Qi Accumulation.

"You..." Wang Hao opened his mouth.

"I told you, stay away from me from now on." Lin Yan's smile faded, his tone calm. "Next time, I'll draw my sword."

Wang Hao gritted his teeth and slunk away with his two henchmen.

Lin Yan closed the door and continued his cultivation.

He didn't take this little incident to heart at all. Someone like Wang Hao might be able to bully ordinary disciples in the outer sect, but he'd be a pushover against anyone with even a little strength.

However, this incident also reminded him that he wouldn't be able to stay in the outer sect for long. He needed to break through to the Qi Accumulation Perfection stage as soon as possible and strive to enter the inner sect.

After all, the true lineage of the Zhenwu Sect lies within its inner sect.

But what he wanted was far more than that.

The moonlight outside the window was like water, and a gentle mountain breeze blew. Lin Yan sat cross-legged, his true energy surging through his optimized meridian pathways. The bottleneck of his Qi accumulation mastery was beginning to loosen; perhaps in less than ten days, he would break through it.

"This world is vast." He closed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips. "And for me, it's only just begun."