Ascending to the Clouds Alone

Several large rocks were scattered on the open ground a dozen or so feet away.

A jade mantis, eight feet long, was facing off against a large, black-patterned snake.

The surroundings were completely quiet; even the chirping of insects had disappeared.

However, after a short while, the mantis seemed to have lost patience, and with a push of its hind legs, it suddenly leaped into the air.

A pair of blades, gleaming with a bluish hue, slashed down with ferocity as they descended.

The black snake twisted and turned its body, managing to dodge the fierce and deadly attack in time.

"Clang!"

The arm blade struck the boulder beside the black serpent, causing a burst of demonic light that sent sparks flying and stone chips flying everywhere.

The mantis's attack did not stop. With a sweeping motion, it struck the snake's scales, barely tearing through the armor and leaving a bloody mark.

Each strike carried a sharp sound, like a sharp blade scraping against a musical string, causing the buzzing in Lin Su's ears to ring again.

The buzzing sound momentarily distracted him, and images of him learning the piano as a child suddenly flashed into his mind.

He plucked the thinnest and tightest string, and with a clear, resonant sound, the lingering resonance instantly penetrated the walls and echoed outside.

At that moment, his mother pointed at him from the side and said:

"The seven-stringed martial music, mainly the Shao Shang, is strong in response to softness, but its sharpness cannot last long."

This string is sharp and fierce, with the strongest killing intent; its aftereffects are short and difficult to sustain, so it is always used with the aim of securing victory with a single strike.

Lin Su looked at the mantis, which was like a high-pitched string stretched to its limit, its every move sharp and aggressive.

In contrast, the black serpent remained hunched over, its waist pressed against the ground, its body filled with swirling black energy.

When it was too late to dodge, the black energy condensed into a ball, deflecting the force that struck its own scales.

This added more wounds to the black serpent's body.

This continued for more than ten rounds, and Lin Su was greatly puzzled as he looked at the bloodstains left on the snake's body.

The two beasts fought for several more rounds, and Lin Su, who was watching from the side, noticed strange noises coming from underground.

"Boom...boom...boom..."

It's like pressing your palm on the surface of a musical instrument, with the string vibrations seeping into the bottom plate along the bridge and then transmitting out from the depths.

This is probably the principle my mother meant when she said, "The six-stringed zither plays the minor palace tone, using gentleness to control strength, and though silent, its power is profound."

The mantis moved with surprising speed, its two arm blades flailing more and more rapidly, clearly intending to end the battle quickly.

However, the black serpent continued to wriggle slowly, without haste or impatience.

The tremors from underground grew more and more intense, "Boom boom boom boom..."

In several rounds, the mantis, wielding its sharp blade, struck the black serpent repeatedly, but without achieving any success.

The sharp force that invaded the body was guided by the black serpent to travel within the body, and some of the force flowed down the serpent's body into the ground, just like the sound of a zither dissipating into the sky.

The other part, however, accumulated deep within the snake's body, seemingly dissipating, but in reality, it had already moved into the shadows.

Lin Su suddenly realized that the black serpent was using "walking string" to transform its power.

That is, after the right hand plucks the string, the left hand then slides on the string, the pitch rises and falls accordingly, and the aftertaste continues.

The further the finger slides down, the more its sharpness dissipates, until finally nothing remains. If you want to regain momentum, you must seize the moment before it dissipates.

The black serpent used itself as a medium to receive the force of the mantis's strike, and by meandering its body, it gradually dispersed and weakened the sharp force before dissipating it.

The scattered energy rose from deep within the rocks, vibrating along the ground and penetrating into Lin Su's internal organs, almost causing him to vomit.

He quickly suppressed his discomfort and held his breath, afraid of disturbing the two ferocious beasts.

The mantis seemed to sense something, its attack paused, and it crossed its two blades in front of its chest, emitting a series of hisses.

After a brief standoff, anger surged in the mantis's eyes, and it immediately closed its twin blades, its demonic power surging instantly.

A ten-foot-long emerald blade of light slashed down from the sky, tearing the surrounding air with a piercing, sharp sound.

The black serpent couldn't dodge in time; its scales shattered, and bright red blood gushed out.

Seeing that its attack had failed to severely injure the black serpent, the mantis pounced forward and slashed with all its might.

Just as the blade was about to strike, the snake's body suddenly retracted, narrowly avoiding the attack.

The mantis missed its target with its attack, but it couldn't stop its momentum, and its arm blade pierced into the stone and soil with a "crack".

At that moment, the snake's body suddenly tensed, simultaneously activating and rapidly gathering the power that had been accumulating within it, along with the scattered energy that was surging around underground.

Is this the beginning of a surge?

Just like the left-hand fingering technique instantly changes from "walking" to "pulling", the fingertip presses down hard on the string, suddenly tightening the loose string and forcing all the remaining strength towards a single point.

The force, twisted into a single bundle, was drawn by the black serpent's head and struck the base of the mantis's arm blade like an arrow released from a bow.

"Boom——"

With a cracking sound, the arm blade snapped off at the root, and emerald-green demonic blood splattered all over the ground.

The mantis let out a shriek and slashed wildly with its other arm blade, determined to force the black serpent back.

But the black serpent, using the force of the collapse, suddenly lunged forward and bit the base of the severed arm.

The demonic energy was released, and black energy surged into the wound, instantly stiffening half of the mantis's body.

Taking advantage of the moment, the black serpent leaped up and coiled around the mantis, its black energy spreading out and instantly enveloping it.

The snake's body, which had been supple and boneless just moments before, was now as hard as an iron hoop. With each tightening of its coils, the mantis's body deflated a little.

The mantis's hissing gradually subsided, becoming intermittent, and finally, it fell silent.

A gentle breeze carried the scent of demon blood.

Lin Su lay prone on the spot, not daring to move an inch.

Watching the ferocious sight of the black snake swallowing the mantis slowly with its mouth agape, Lin Su felt as if someone was gripping his spine, pulling it upwards segment by segment.

Only after it dragged its swollen body away with a rustling sound did Lin Su dare to move his already stiff and numb limbs.

Watching the receding snake shadow, Lin Su was filled with doubt:

The mantis's other arm blade was still clearly connected to its body, yet the black serpent was able to swallow the demonic blade unharmed.

After a long while, he cautiously scanned his surroundings, got up from his hiding place, and crouched down to approach.

The severed mantis arm lay on the ground, which he picked up.

A faint lingering vibration remained in the blade, like the sound of a plucked string; though the string was still, the vibration had penetrated the wood and lingered deep within the instrument's body.

Lin Su gripped the severed arm blade, but in his heart he felt the strangling power unleashed by the Xuan Snake.

It turns out that sound, like power, can not only be projected outwards to become sharp, but it can also first disperse and then gather, using softness to accumulate momentum, and then using hardness to unleash force.

Upon closer reflection, my mother had actually pointed this out long ago:

The true killing move is neither a relentless attack nor a purely defensive strategy; it is the combination of both that reveals its true power.

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Su felt as if a layer of mist had broken through his mind, and he vaguely understood a few things.

This mantis is estimated to have the cultivation level of the late stage of Qi Refining, but it only knows how to attack fiercely and does not know how to defend or adapt. It is rigid and lacks flexibility. Once it reveals a flaw, there will be no room for recovery.

The Xuan Snake was of similar level to it, but it was well-versed in using its supple demonic body to deflect force, using the earth's veins to guide and disperse energy, and then secretly accumulating power for future attacks. It was practicing the principle of using softness to accumulate strength and dispersing before gathering.

It's a pity that the mantis only knew the strength of Shaoshang and not the gentleness of Shaogong. If it had been willing to restrain its sharpness a little and conserve its strength for future changes, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Lin Su sat there for a long time, quietly digesting the insights gained from this battle.

The female deacon was injured and could not return in a short time, but she still could not stay here for long.

Seeing the glistening flesh at the severed arm, a primal urge surged within Lin Su, making him dizzy and drool.

He gathered some withered moss and broken branches, lit a small bonfire, and repeatedly cut the broken surface of the mantis arm with a stone shard, tearing off strips of tender flesh, skewering them with sharpened twigs, and roasting them over the fire.

As soon as the aroma of roasted meat wafted out, he couldn't resist and immediately began to wolf it down.

The monster's flesh, once inside his stomach, transformed into wisps of pure heat that spread throughout his limbs and bones, clearing his mind somewhat.

While eating, Lin Su used a stone shard to scrape off the residue from the mantis arm, and then repeatedly roasted the arm blade over the fire to tighten the fascia.

Throughout the entire process, he kept a close eye on his surroundings, never daring to relax for even a moment.

As the flames crackled softly, the chill on my body lessened somewhat.

After swallowing the last piece of mantis meat, the mantis arm was also properly disposed of.

This gleaming, cold-looking blade, less than two feet long, felt exceptionally comfortable to hold.

Lin Su propped himself up, using his arm as a sword, and carefully studied the mantis's fierce fighting style.

This beast's attacks are fierce and its moves are direct, which is perfect for me right now, when my spiritual energy is locked up and I can only rely on brute force to fight for my life.

As for Xuan She's methods, Lin Su kept them firmly in mind, waiting to slowly comprehend them in the future.

At this moment, he was unable to mobilize the spiritual energy within his body, and his movements were distorted due to his injury, with his wound throbbing painfully.

But when he focused his mind on the blade in his arm and swung it, he subtly stirred the airflow, creating a faint trail of wind.

Lin Su sheathed his arm blade, silently making a decision in his heart:

One day, I will use the blade as a string and unleash my own killing move.

But now I must first survive, but the world is vast, and where should I go now?