Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 471 - 419: The Time Has Not Come, Sword Technique Breakthrough

Chapter 471: Chapter 419: The Time Has Not Come, Sword Technique Breakthrough

"Real men never look back at explosions," they say.

Zhou Ping’an left the High-rise Restaurant without looking back, instead he quietly hid behind a civilian household, standing in the shadows of the moonlight, silently for about fifteen minutes.

From there, the private room where he killed Fang Yu and the other two was a hundred zhang away, which was the maximum linear distance his spiritual power could scan.

He had expected the three men’s death to be discovered quickly, with masters searching about.

But nothing happened.

Even the waiters in the restaurant did not dare to go in and disturb.

It seemed that even if the people inside drank all night and did not show, nobody would go in to check on them.

"This is also good."

Zhou Ping’an lowered his head and thought for a moment, his figure turned into a wisp of faint green smoke, roaming through the streets and alleys, avoiding the gaze of those out for a nighttime stroll, and he made his way back towards the northern side of Qingyang City with practiced ease.

Compared to other places, the air here seemed much colder.

Passing by some households, he could sense a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Occasionally, there would be a few whispered discussions about the day’s events at the Governor’s Mansion, immediately quelled by a low scold...

’On the surface, their grand benevolence and love for the people cannot earn real trust after all. These wealthy families may indeed rely on the Cui Family, standing with this Prefectural Governor on the same front, but the reaction deep in their hearts proves everything.’

Zhou Ping’an silently sneered.

He raised his eyes to look ahead.

The vast mansion, now collapsed for the most part, faint cries of misery could still be heard, and among the ruins, no one was seen repairing or cleaning up.

There must have been quite a few deaths.

For the time being, the people inside the Governor’s Mansion did not have the heart to clean up the aftermath, or perhaps Cui Guangling was too busy with other matters and hid away without showing up.

With no backbone from the Governor’s Mansion showing up, half of the servants were frightened, the other half slack, too lazy to bother with these chores.

Indeed, Zhou Ping’an’s return was not specifically to kill a few scums targeting Lin Huaiyu.

He was there to see if he had the opportunity to deal with Cui Guangling.

In his view, Cui Guangling had repeatedly shown malice towards him and towards Qingyang City. The conflict between them was no longer reconcilable.

The wanted posters plastered all over Guangyun County had made his intentions crystal clear.

One side the officer; one side the bandit.

In such a scenario,

Unless one side perished, this enmity could never be smoothed over.

Of course, Cui Guangling wouldn’t consider this to be a feud; he would just think that an ant he didn’t pay much attention to at first, could be easily squashed, but instead, the ant didn’t die and had grown stronger, giving him a nasty bite.

’Whether I can squash that ant or just bite and run, it’s not that simple, is it?’

Zhou Ping’an silently smiled and drew a little closer.

’The Sea-Splitting Sword not only cut off half the Old Crocodile’s body, scared him into panicked flight. It also sliced away a large part of Cui Guangling’s thick Blood Essence. If it weren’t for the protection of that Blood Sword, it would be impossible for him to still be clinging to half his life.’

’It’s a pity that this Mysterious Blade Technique, which I comprehended from the True Kunpeng Form Diagram, is indeed very powerful, but not so convenient to use.

Not only is the activation too slow, it cannot be used consecutively in a short time, and it also consumes too much. If I really exerted all my strength to unleash two slashes, I would be exhausted of spiritual power, and my combat power would greatly diminish.’

Thinking about the blade technique he mastered that could truly injure someone of the True Martial Realm, Zhou Ping’an also felt somewhat helpless.

He now finally understood that the higher the skills, the more resources and time they required.

Spending a hundred thousand power of wishes every day, overclocking the brain, practicing swordsmanship for eight hours under such a special level of understanding.

After three days, he still hadn’t made a breakthrough and had not been able to practice the Sea-Splitting Sword to the proficient level.

This was somewhat embarrassing.

’Someone came out.’

Zhou Ping’an’s spiritual power spread out slowly like moonlight, without a hint of hostility, just evenly diffusing inside the Governor’s Mansion, his heart neither sad nor happy, just indifferent.

Suddenly, he sensed a breath as intense as the blazing sun, and yet as foul and stinky as a sewer, crashing directly into his Mental Induction.

"How could this be? Not only has his injury fully recovered, but his aura has grown more than threefold stronger. This feeling is much more dangerous than the Old Crocodile at his peak.

Thinking he had sensed it wrong,

Zhou Ping’an simply withdrew all his spiritual power back into his Sea of Consciousness, concealing his vitality, then slowly operated the Five Desires Subduing Devil Technique, not even owning a strand of emotion, before he slowly approached.

One step.

Two steps...

Thirty steps.

Zhou Ping’an stopped.

He discovered that the danger he felt in his heart became stronger and stronger.

Although he didn’t see with his own eyes, didn’t smell anything, and didn’t probe with his spirit to test, this imminent sense of danger was indeed real and substantial.

’The opportunity has missed.’

Zhou Ping’an sighed silently in his heart, turned around, and slowly walked away, not until a hundred steps away did he speed up, with a flash, he blended into the vast moonlight, left the city directly, without staying any longer.

Upon reaching the western mountain outside the city, Zhou Ping’an stopped, looked back once, and only then did the doubt in his eyes quietly disperse.

"Cui Guangling himself would not be able to silently increase his cultivation to the True Martial Realm. At most, he would only be stuck at the peak of the Heaven-Man Sensitivity, because the external environment did not support a breakthrough in realm. However, even without advancing his own realm, it is possible to obtain that level of combat power through other means, just like my ’Sea-Splitting Sword’..."

Thinking of the blood-colored long sword in Cui Guangling’s hand, Zhou Ping’an suddenly realized something.

The bloody and formidable aura emanating from the sword had merged indistinguishably with Cui Guangling, leading Zhou to mistakenly believe that the other had already reached the True Martial Body Refinement Realm.

Of course, with the sword serving as a protector, in some respects, the Prefectural Governor was not much different from being in the True Martial Refinement Realm.

The life-and-death struggle that had occurred before the banquet had certainly proven this point.

But, that wasn’t the issue.

Just now, Zhou Ping’an had wanted to take advantage of the other’s severe injuries and perform a Returning Horse Spear strike to completely eliminate Cui Guangling.

However, he found that the dark and mysterious aura around the other had grown several times stronger—he was not injured but had become even more powerful.

Furthermore, aside from this aura, Cui Guangling also exuded an intense, domineering, and bloody presence that was highly unstable, like a ticking time bomb...

As Zhou Ping’an stealthily approached, he even suspected that any superfluous movement would be noticed by the other.

And then, he would be met with a frenzied onslaught.

An attack he knew he wouldn’t be able to withstand.

The strangest thing was the sensation from deep underground he had detected during the day had long since vanished.

’To hope for the enemy’s carelessness or to take advantage of their injuries is, after all, an act of desperation when left with no choice. The true path to power is to become stronger...’

Zhou Ping’an took one last reluctant glance at Guangyun County.

Knowing the time hadn’t yet come, he turned and made his way toward Pinghu Prefecture.

...

"Eight hours of sword practice."

"Practicing swordsmanship under this state of superhuman comprehension, indeed, you can feel a bit of progress, but it’s not very noticeable—perhaps it hasn’t reached a critical point."

Outside the window, the sunlight was brilliant.

Laughter from the servants and maids doing their chores with ease, occasionally conversing, echoed from near and far.

Cheering sounds from the city drifted faintly.

It must be the news of the destruction of Longmu Camp along the Li River and the killing of Balongtu, a message that lifted spirits. Once it spread, it immediately sparked intense discussions among hundreds of thousands of people, and a heavy gloom lifted from their hearts.

The benefits for Zhou Ping’an, the ruler of three counties, were naturally also there. Countless Wish Power Threads, little by little, formed into a mighty river, flowing into his Sea of Consciousness and converging into a tranquil lake.

’Whoever is kind to them, who truly protects these million people... Even if the folk are simple and cannot see clearly, their subconscious still understands.’

Thirty thousand...

Fifty thousand.

One hundred thousand!

Zhou Ping’an’s long sword paused mid-air, and he closed his eyes, absorbing the rumbling Wish Power, his heart filled with joy.

The state of overclocking comprehension continued in his mind.

He suddenly brought the sword down in a strike.

The sword light spread silently forward like water.

A sound that was akin to ripping silk abruptly faded away...

The sword fell, and there was profound silence.

A thin, hair-like black line appeared in the air in front of him.

The black line extended straight forward, through the door, stretching several meters beyond, lingering for several breaths without fading.

Sunlight fell upon it, and the black line shimmered with a rainbow of colors.

"A black, shining with a prism of colors!"

Feeling a sudden moment of enlightenment rise in his mind, as if an invisible door had been softly pushed open, the sensation of holding the long sword seemed to undergo a strange transformation.

Even the breeze brushing against the blade felt distinctively layered.

"Has my Sea-Splitting Sword technique advanced to the proficient realm?"

Zhou Ping’an felt a surge of elation.

He pondered deeply and swiped the sword again, with the same effortless intent, this time without invoking Gang Qi or Qi-Blood.

This time, he was acutely aware that about one-fourth of his spiritual will was drawn with the sword slice—silent, air parting like water cut through.

Not just the air, but all tangible and intangible things, dust particles, light beams, and senses were all severed cleanly.

And unlike the previous effort to tear through resistance, this was natural—the blade arrived, and everything divided.

"It’s a true breakthrough in level and skill improvement."

"I can now execute four strikes in a short time."

"And the preparation to gather strength is not so obvious..."

"Essentially, I can deploy it in lightning-fast exchanges in fierce combat."

After executing four strikes, Zhou Ping’an sat and practiced the Heart Sutra of Vast Cold for a while, feeling invigorated in spirit and soul, then rose to perform another four strikes, with a smile broadening on his face.

Now, when facing the Old Crocodile at his peak, he could exchange a few moves head-on without being immediately chased away with just two blows.

Even if the Old Crocodile recovered from his injuries, he could still spar a bit. Although still insufficient, it was a significant improvement over the previous situation.

"Sword Technique is just a protective method, a killing move... True strength still comes from personal growth, growth in all areas."

Zhou Ping’an forcefully suppressed the euphoria in his heart and slowly began to channel starlight, starting a day of Starry Bone cultivation.