True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 178 - 172 Tracing II

Chapter 178: Chapter 172 Tracing II

"Is... is that so?" Jiang Nan whispered. She had always been this way, feigning composure on the surface while actually being extremely flustered inside. In special moments, she always became incredibly shy and nervous, especially since she was naturally introverted.

However, since last Chinese New Year, when she mustered the courage to hold Lin Fei’s hand, Jiang Nan seemed to have undergone some inexplicable change.

"Feifei, brother."

"What’s wrong?" Lin Fei asked softly.

"My current salary, along with various benefits and bonuses, adds up to about fifteen hundred. But school is about to start. I..." She hesitated. But in the end, she spoke up. "I don’t want to go to school anymore. After all, those university graduates earn about the same as I do."

"What are you talking about?" Lin Fei’s expression became serious. "Continuing your education is your priority. This job is after all not a long-term thing; it can at best be considered part-time."

"But..." Jiang Nan trailed off, wanting to say more but stopping herself.

"Enough. Once school starts, attend your classes diligently. When I have time, I will come to visit you." Jiang Nan’s school was near No. 3 Middle School, but due to a family incident, she could no longer attend the prestigious private school she used to. She was now studying at the high school section of the municipal No. 7 Middle School near No. 3 Middle School. No. 7 was rather chaotic, but the tuition fees were very cheap. This was Jiang Nan’s own decision; she insisted on using her salary to cover tuition and daily expenses.

Jiang Nan was typically soft on the outside but tough on the inside. That she would say such things now clearly indicated that she was experiencing some trouble that led to this escapist thought. Lin Fei silently took note, as he cared about Jiang Nan far more than he did about Lin You. After all, whether in his past life or the current one, Jiang Nan had the closest relationship with him.

"I need to find some time to visit No. 7 and check on Nannan’s situation," Lin Fei said, looking at Jiang Nan beside him, feeling slightly worried.

**************

Having returned home, Lin Fei entered his bedroom and took down the Black Demon Sword hanging on the edge of the ring.

This sword had not yielded any insights since he had returned. It seemed to be just an ordinary longsword. But remembering the immense power Shi Yinsong wielded with it, Lin Fei firmly believed it contained great secrets. Apart from that, just the ability to summon the blade at any moment to confront enemies was enough; if he could have that ability, he wouldn’t face the awkward situation of losing significant combat power because he didn’t have the longsword on hand.

Now that he could no longer use Bear Claw, being just a normal material weapon, it had stood up in numerous battles remarkably well so far. Meanwhile, the Longsword Ring, because it was inconvenient to carry, sometimes couldn’t be brought along.

Actually, Lin Fei didn’t care about any other abilities of the Black Demon Sword; what he solely cared about was this ability to summon it at will.

In the bedroom, Lin Fei sat at the desk, with the Black Demon Sword lying flat in front of him. The blade was dazzlingly bright and somewhat blinding. Its hilt was wrapped with black silk thread to serve as a non-slip grip. It looked exactly like an ordinary longsword. From the appearance alone, there was no difference from a regular longsword.

Fortunately, his parents and Lin You were not around today, and Jiang Nan had also returned home to put her things away before going to the No. 7 School. So, he was the only one in the house.

Lin Fei stretched out a finger, gently touching the silver blade of the Black Demon Sword. It was cool and smooth. It felt much like any typical metal product.

"To be able to summon a black panther, send out formless blade attacks from a distance, and finally emit numerous black auras to transform into armor. These were the powers of the Black Demon Sword in Shi Yinsong’s hands."

Lin Fei thought carefully again but failed to find any useful information about those applications. He had been pondering this for several days now, ever since he first returned.

Time passed by, minute by minute.

Lin Fei took out his phone and sent a message to Lu Jun.

"Look up information on the Shi family from Jiangnan City and major events related to them in the recent years."

Suddenly, Lu Jun sent over a data transfer request.

This was a special smartphone exclusive to the agency, only available to someone with the president’s qualification like Lin Fei, equipped with the capability to transfer various types of electronic data within the city at any time. The speed was not slow.

Watching the progress bar slowly advance on the smartphone’s color screen, Lin Fei knew it would take some more time. Feeling a bit thirsty, he gently stood up and went to the kitchen to get some water.

The smartphone was left on the desk, right next to the Black Demon Sword.

As Lin Fei walked away, the progress bar on the smartphone continued to advance steadily. Soon, the transfer was complete and quickly changed to the first page of the data. A clear line of information was displayed: "The Shi Family of Jiangnan, suspected to be related to the increasing number of disappearances in Jiangnan City this year. But there is no conclusive evidence..."

Holding the now empty water glass and about to pour a second glass, Lin Fei suddenly recalled a minor detail from his battle with Shi Yinsong.

At that time, he had nearly run out of strategies, all his moves had been countered by Lin Fei, and the dark energy had dimmed considerably, yet he had not given up and seemed to casually launch an attack on the mother and daughter nearby. Lin Fei hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time, but now it seemed very suspicious. Clearly at a disadvantage in fighting him, yet he still distracted himself to attack the mother and daughter — was he so sure that I would definitely save them? He barely knew me, how could he be sure I would intervene to save them? If he encountered someone cold-hearted, who ignored them completely and took the opportunity to attack him directly, the situation would surely have worsened.

But the fact was, Shi Yinsong really did that.

"There must be a reason," Lin Fei confidently deduced. "He definitely didn’t attack those three without reason. There must be a cause."

Setting down the glass, he strode back to the bedroom and picked up the smartphone. The words on the screen caught his attention.

"Missing persons case?" Lin Fei murmured softly. His gaze immediately fell on the Black Demon Sword on the desk.

"Black Demon Sword, Black Demon Sword, why the name ’Black Demon’? ’Black’ could be derived from the energy of black smoke, but ’demon’? What properties define a ’demon’? Cruel, terrifying, despair-inducing, reckless, domineering and controlling. That’s what makes a ’demon.’ But for a sword..." Lin Fei suddenly thought of a possibility. "The Shi Family of Jiangnan didn’t make any significant remarks about the deaths of Shi Yinsong and Shi Qingwen. It seems they don’t value the Black Demon Sword; no! Perhaps they don’t even know that Shi Yinsong possessed the Black Demon Sword. But that’s not right; since we could obtain the data on Shi Yinsong’s strength and thereby allocate the right amount of power to deal with him, his family must also be aware. Another possibility is that the Black Demon Sword is dispensable for the Shi Family, so they are not eager to recover it. This is the most likely scenario."

Images of Yan Shi discussing various famous swords briefly flashed through Lin Fei’s mind. Among them, the characteristics of one type, the Blood Demon Sword, were very similar to those of the Black Demon Sword.

"Could it be a variant of the Blood Demon Sword, using life as its powerful origin?" The Blood Demon Sword utilizes the power of blood from all lives under its blade as its energy source, constantly increasing its own strength — a demon sword and one of the most taboo sword-casting techniques of ancient times. What Lin Fei remembered was that the last Blood Demon Sword Master had relied on his immensely powerful strength to defy Yan Shi’s unifying pace and had ultimately died under Yan Shi’s sword. Both the man and the sword were destroyed, and thrown off a cliff into the sea. However, simply from the quality of the sword, the Blood Demon Sword Master had reached a level to rival Yan Shi with just the Blood Demon Sword, whereas the ring possessed by Yan Shi was just an ordinary longsword, becoming top level only because of Yan Shi’s strength. The difference between them was vast.

"If this really is a variant of the Blood Demon Sword, then just killing one person would confirm it. After killing someone, the Blood Demon Sword would absorb strength and gradually enhance itself. There will be plenty of opportunities later." Lin Fei casually browsed through the Shi Family’s related data, finding nothing unusual.

For now, he had to set aside the Black Demon Sword. Lin Fei turned his focus to his current True Force Cultivation. His cultivation had been stagnant for quite a while. It hadn’t been very long, but previously he had been making progress every moment, and now it had completely halted, although it was only for a short period, Lin Fei felt like it had been ages.

He checked his internal condition. His cultivation was still stuck at the last technique of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art. Even the Visualization patterns were unattainable. Each tier of the Tracing Shadow Sword Techniques was one hundred fifty percent faster than its preceding one, which meant each tier increased speed by one and a half times over the previous one—an extremely terrifying number.

There are ten diagrams in the complete set of Tracing Shadow Sword Art, if each diagram increases by one hundred fifty percent over the previous one. Calculating carefully, Lin Fei’s current tier was at the ninth technique. His speed had increased to about 27 times the original basis. With such an increase, whether it was moving or striking with the sword, he had an absolute advantage. At least, within the circles he had encountered so far, essentially no one could match his speed. Normally, calculating with a speed of 15 seconds for 100 meters, when multiplied by 27 times, that’s nearly 180 meters per second. This was the most realistic data. Within a radius of several tens of meters, he could reach his destination almost instantaneously.

The principle of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art is that the more advanced it gets, the harder it is to practice, but the greater the amplification. The amplification of the final tier reaches the maximum, which according to calculations should be close to a 46-time increase, practically a significant leap from the ninth tier.

But these are just data after all. To actually achieve such extreme speeds, it would only be possible under ideal conditions. After all, one must pay attention to the battle situation while moving at high speed, notice the surrounding terrain and obstacles, and make evasions. Moreover, the most crucial aspect is whether the dynamic vision can keep up.

Lin Fei currently only dared to make short-distance rapid movements; slightly longer and more complex distances required a reduction in speed. After all, if one were to move too fast and couldn’t see the surroundings clearly, running into a wall would be quite embarrassing. Furthermore, the body’s durability was also a major issue.

The air resistance generated by high-speed movement could cause significant resistance, posing a severe test to one’s bodily strength.

Speed, Lin Fei had actually already reached a relatively extreme value. However, the enhancement of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art still provided a significant increase in sword striking speed. Thus, although the movement speed had reached its limit, the final tier still greatly helped his combat power, enabling Lin Fei to truly reach the peak of level C. (To be continued. If you like this story, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)