Chapter 886: Zhang Kuanglie!

Even after the Ripple Suppression Field reached advanced mastery, Li Yun did not stop cultivating. His next target was the Void Severing Sword Style, and comprehending it turned out to be considerably harder.

The Ripple Suppression Field was mainly about manipulating energy and building layers of ripples around the body. It was profound, but it still had a fairly clear structure that Li Yun could analyze step by step.

The Void Severing Sword Style was different, because its foundation touched on the mysteries of space. The sword itself was only the vessel. The real essence of the technique lay in learning to concentrate sword power so precisely that a strike seemed to sever the space between two points.

Even with Li Yun’s comprehension, it took him two and a half months before he could say he had reached initial mastery.

Throughout that time, he also kept trying to fuse Fast Sword and Slow Sword, but the task proved even harder than he had expected. Watching the Old Fisherman’s spatial attack on the second floor of the Everlasting Pagoda had finally given him a direction.

He now understood that extreme speed and extreme slowness could eventually be linked through the concept of space. Knowing the direction, however, did not mean he could achieve the fusion right away.

More than two months passed while Li Yun experimented with the two sword techniques again and again. Sometimes he tried to give Fast Sword the profound rhythm of Slow Sword, and at other times he tried to give Slow Sword the instant explosiveness of Fast Sword.

Every attempt ended in failure, and he still had not made any real progress. Even so, he was not discouraged. At least he was no longer wandering without a direction, and as long as the path existed, he believed he would reach its end sooner or later.

After finishing his initial comprehension of the Void Severing Sword Style, Li Yun spent another month and a half on Horizon Fold Step. This movement technique was also based on spatial principles.

Rather than relying purely on physical speed, it subtly changed the distance between the user and his destination, so a single step that looked ordinary to an observer could actually cover hundreds or even thousands of feet.

By the time Li Yun reached initial mastery of Horizon Fold Step, five months had passed since his arrival on Chronospace Island.

He slowly rose from beneath the Chronospace Jade Wall.

“All three low-level secret techniques have reached initial mastery,” he said, and his eyes flashed with anticipation. “It’s time to take a look at the middle-level secret techniques.”

Although he had spent most of those five months in secluded cultivation, he had not cut himself off completely. Whenever he paused, he would sometimes talk with the cultivators around him and trade information. As a result, he now knew far more about Chronospace Island and was no longer the newcomer who understood almost nothing about this strange place.

The sixty low-level secret techniques were engraved on the Chronospace Jade Walls so that anyone living on the island could study them freely. The thirty-six middle-level secret techniques were treated very differently.

They were kept in a special inheritance ground called the Chronospace Vault, and only cultivators who held an Everlasting Trial Token or another qualifying inheritance token could enter. Li Yun happened to have exactly such a token.

He left the jade walls and made his way to the Chronospace Vault. Before long, its entrance came into view. It looked like an ordinary stone cave set into a dark cliff.

Before Li Yun could go in, however, a loud laugh rang out behind him.

“Brother Li, please wait!”

Li Yun stopped and turned around, and his eyebrows rose slightly. A large man was hurrying toward him. He looked extremely rugged, with broad shoulders, a powerful build, and a thick black beard that covered much of his face.

At first glance, he seemed straightforward and almost overly honest, and a hearty smile filled his face.

“Brother Li, are you about to go into the Chronospace Vault to pick your middle-level secret technique?”

“That’s right,” Li Yun said with a nod, although his expression became noticeably more guarded.

He knew this man. His name was Zhang Kuanglie, and despite his rough looks and seemingly open personality, he was notorious throughout Chronospace Island for his exceptionally calculating mind.

Over the years, several newcomers had been fooled by his friendly manner and had suffered serious losses. Once his reputation spread, tricking people became much harder for him, but even so, few people liked dealing with him.

“Wonderful,” Zhang Kuanglie said, and his smile grew even broader. “It looks like I came at exactly the right moment.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Brother Li, the truth is that I came because I have a small favor to ask. I hope you’ll be generous enough to help me out.”

Li Yun looked at him calmly. “What do you want?”

Judging by appearance alone, Zhang Kuanglie really did look like a simple, trustworthy cultivator, and almost nothing in his expression hinted at hidden motives. That only made Li Yun more careful. People who were openly dangerous were often easier to deal with than people who could hide their nature perfectly.

Zhang Kuanglie laughed. “It’s nothing serious. You see, I’ve been stuck on Chronospace Island for many years.”

He looked a little embarrassed. “Unfortunately, my aptitude is mediocre. For all the time I’ve spent cultivating here, I never managed to clear the first floor of the Everlasting Pagoda, so in the end I had no choice but to advance into the Dao Resonance Realm.”

He let out an exaggerated sigh.

“I thought that getting a middle-level secret technique after my breakthrough might finally give me the strength to clear the first floor. Who could have guessed that the pagoda would get so much harder once I reached the Dao Resonance Realm?” He shook his head. “My chances only got worse. That’s why I came to ask you for a little help.”

Li Yun said nothing, and Zhang Kuanglie gave him a sincere-looking smile.

“I know you have an Everlasting Trial Token, and I’d just like to borrow it. If I can get one more middle-level secret technique, I’m sure I can finally pass the first floor of the Everlasting Pagoda.” His smile grew even warmer. “Once I clear it, I’ll naturally receive a new Everlasting Trial Token, and I’ll give one back to you right away.”

He clasped his hands together. “So, Brother Li, that shouldn’t be too much trouble for you, right?”