Cultivation: Beginning with the Heart Reflecting Heaven and Earth

Whether it was swordsmanship or logging missions, Lu Qian always chose the most difficult ones, which naturally attracted the attention of some people.

"They're utterly ignorant and arrogant!"

"A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger; that's perfectly normal!"

"I guess he's some country bumpkin who came from who-knows-where. He didn't even bother to find out what chopping wood is all about, and just picked it randomly."

The burly man with stubble had previously questioned Lu Qian and witnessed this scene. He quickly came over and kindly advised, "Brother, don't be reckless. If you're slow on one step, you'll be slow on every step. If you return the jade slip now, you can change your sword technique and your mission."

Lu Qian hadn't expected that this burly, bearded man, despite his fierce appearance, was actually kind-hearted and had come specifically to persuade him. However, he didn't intend to change his mind. "I appreciate your kindness, brother, but I am also quite confident."

"I don't know where you get such confidence, brother. If you change your mind, you can come find me."

Seeing Lu Qian's unwavering resolve, the burly man with stubble, though somewhat puzzled, didn't try to dissuade him further. He simply said, "We can still chop wood together when the time comes. You can get a share of the task once it's completed. My name is Nie Tiefeng. Let's have a drink sometime."

Lu Qian clasped his hands in thanks and said, "Lu Qian, thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist."

"Fellow Daoist? Well said! Since we share the same path, we are indeed fellow Daoists!"

Nie Tiefeng scratched his head, laughed heartily, and said, "See you later!"

The woodcutters here don't use axes, but rather standard longswords made from a small amount of ironwood mixed with a large amount of other metals. They're not magical artifacts, but they're certainly enough for chopping wood.

The reason for using swords is to take into account the role of the training disciples. Otherwise, if we had found a few Foundation Establishment cultivators, we could have quickly cut down all the spiritual trees covering the mountains and fields.

The Canghai Sect assigned woodcutting as a task to newcomers, perhaps to give them a transition period and to see if any sword geniuses were among them.

Swordsmanship differs from the four arts of immortal cultivation. In the early stages, it requires little investment; just one sword technique is enough to select suitable individuals, making it very cost-effective.

Lu Qian went to collect a standard longsword that was neither new nor old. It was grayish on the surface, about a meter long, and only the blade could be seen to show a few points of cold light.

These are his tools. The first one is free, but if it gets damaged, you need three contribution points to replace it, which isn't cheap.

"To do a good job, one must first have the right tools. Let's find a place and learn swordsmanship first!"

He completely ignored the mocking looks from others, casually found a place to sit cross-legged, pressed the One Qi Sword Jade Slip to his forehead, and sword moves and corresponding energy diagrams began to appear in his mind.

"There are many training methods, which would be considered peerless martial arts in the mortal realm, but the only killing move that can be called a technique is 'One Breath Across the Sky'!"

Although the One Qi Sword is a sword technique used by cultivators, it is ultimately designed for Qi Refining disciples, so it is not particularly exaggerated. At least in the first level, there is no such thing as sword control; all techniques are close-quarters combat moves.

Among these moves, the most powerful is the killing move "One Breath Across the Sky," which can unleash an invisible sword beam at extremely high speed. The range depends on the cultivator's skill level, but even a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining can use it to split ironwood.

"The normal way to practice is to start from the simple and gradually increase the complexity, practice the sword moves of the One Qi Sword until you are proficient, and then try to master the killing moves."

One level of the One Qi Sword can be considered a complete sword technique. From the very beginning to the introduction, it is a process of gradually becoming familiar with the killing move One Qi Across the Sky. Beginners can follow this step by step.

It's like eating a meal, and the last bun is like a sudden burst of energy. If you want to be full, you can't just eat the last bun.

"But while others may not be able to do it, I am different."

"Since the previous sword techniques were all improvements made to adapt to the Qi Flowing Across the Sky method, why don't I just learn Qi Flowing Across the Sky directly?"

If someone doesn't have a certain level of skill in swordsmanship, and another person dares to do this, their meridians will definitely be injured if they fail even once.

But Lu Qian is different. He doesn't need to worry about meridians. As long as he tries and makes mistakes endlessly in his inner world, it won't take him long to learn the One Qi Soaring Through the Sky.

With that in mind, Lu Qian returned directly to his residence. He needed to master the "One Qi Across the Sky" technique first; he understood the principle that sharpening the axe wouldn't delay the work of chopping wood.

After pretending for a while, he indeed left.

"I never expected there would be such a attention-seeking person; they certainly won't go far!"

"He's just asking for trouble. Does he really think he's some kind of sword genius? He actually chose the most difficult One Qi Sword."

Lu Qian completely ignored the whispers of the others, treating them like barking dogs.

He doesn't need to care about what others think.

Watching Lu Qian's retreating figure, Nie Tiefeng sighed, "Brother Lu really has a strong will!"

He thought that after he said those words, Lu Qian would take the opportunity to back down, but he didn't expect him to leave directly. Did he really have to keep going until he hit a brick wall?

The One Qi Sword Technique is not easy to learn. Even some sword geniuses would need at least ten days to half a month to master it.

Most outer disciples who try to learn the One Qi Sword technique usually give up, as it can take them several months to master it.

Lu Qian returned to his residence and his consciousness sank into his inner world, recalling the energy flow route of the One Qi Sword. A diagram of his internal meridians appeared beside him, and he tried it out casually once.

A beam of red light split into several streams in an instant, spreading towards different meridians. The next moment, they all went out of control, and several blood flowers exploded on Lu Qian's body.

"This sudden burst of energy is indeed very difficult, much more difficult than the basics of most cultivation techniques."

However, if one hasn't even grasped the basics of the techniques, how can one cultivate the One Qi Soaring Through the Sky?

So this is actually nonsense.

The next moment, Lu Qian's body was fully recovered, and this time he was going to be more serious.

He first tried to slowly circulate his inner energy, making it flow in the way he wanted. He tried several times in a row, but all attempts failed. He could only practice repeatedly to become more proficient.

It must be said that Lu Qian is not a true genius. In the beginning, he recklessly used his internal energy, and his meridians were broken no less than ten times.

After a hundred repetitions, the flow of Qi was fine, but when combined with physical movements, many mistakes still occurred.

After three hundred repetitions, with no problems in circulating qi and executing moves, Lu Qian was able to fully unleash the "One Qi Across the Sky" technique. With a single sword strike, a faint sword light flashed and disappeared, and his true qi was immediately reduced by half.

"I can probably swing it about three times. It seems that even if I've mastered the One-Shot Strike, it's still a bit difficult to use many moves."

But that's not a problem. Whether it's ironwood or green bamboo, they are much heavier than they look. A small bundle can weigh dozens of kilograms.

"Furthermore, I don't always use the 'One Breath Across the Sky' technique. I only use it on the thickest part, and for the other parts, I just use force to chop."

Lu Qian awoke, drew his sword, pointed it forward, and shouted, "A single breath sweeps across the sky!"

In the dimly lit room, a pale white light flashed and disappeared.

"After all, this isn't the Heart World, so I didn't dare to be too reckless. My moves were much more conservative and slower, but that didn't stop me from successfully using them."

He dared to use the "One Breath Across the Sky" technique in reality because he had practiced it for a long time in his inner world and gained a certain level of confidence before daring to use it directly.

The current result is acceptable, so everything is fine. Time to go chop wood.