Chapter 9: Practicing under the Moon, Initial Understanding of Its Meaning

The moonlight shines like water on the stone cliffs of the back mountain.

Ye Li sat cross-legged, the tattered animal-skin booklet spread out before her knees. Using the cool moonlight and her exceptional eyesight, she carefully studied the blurred, ancient text and the crude, almost abstract, diagrams of human figures performing Qigong exercises.

The more she studied, the brighter the light in her eyes grew.

As she had expected, the contents of this nameless fragment of body movement were profound and profound, far beyond the mere "low human grade" rating. Its core essence lay in the harnessing of Qi, the ultimate utilization of the surrounding environment, and the incredibly precise manipulation of one's own strength. One could shift and shift in a fraction of a second, avoiding danger and seeking good fortune. At a high level, one could even create the illusion of short-distance teleportation.

However, incompleteness can be fatal. The crucial general outline is missing, the key transitions between several core footwork techniques are vague, and the Qigong techniques contain several obvious gaps and errors. If one were to follow the instructions and forcefully cultivate, it would be extremely easy to make mistakes and damage the meridians.

"What a pity to waste such a superb physical skill..." Ye Li sighed softly, but there was no frustration on her face. Instead, there was a light called "challenge" leaping in her face.

Reading from a script? That's what mediocrity does.

Who was she? She was Li Zun! A peerless powerhouse who had once stood at the pinnacle of all things, witnessed countless magical powers and secret techniques, and possessed her own unique understanding of the laws of the universe! Repairing and optimizing the fragments of a mere human-level or earth-level body movement technique was no impossible task for her!

She closed her eyes and sank into her sea of ​​consciousness. The powerful power of her soul began to deduce frantically.

The fragmented text and illustrations were constantly broken down and reassembled in her mind. The essence of the many superb body movements, footwork, and even escape techniques she had witnessed in her previous life lit up in her mind like stars, providing her with endless inspiration and references.

The fragment of the Samsara Mirror seemed to sense her intense concentration and astonishing deductions, once again emitting a hint of coolness that permeated her soul. It accelerated her thinking and made her deductions smoother. Many inspirations emerged, and many obstacles suddenly became clear!

She wasn't trying to completely perfect this technique—that would take too much time and effort, and wouldn't necessarily restore it completely. Instead, she was "recreating" and "optimizing" it based on the core concept and framework provided by the fragment, combining her current physical condition, spiritual characteristics, and past life combat experience.

Eliminate the dross, correct errors, simplify the complexities, and strengthen the advantages!

Those obscure ancient terms were transformed into the most direct and effective action instructions; those broken methods of breathing were cleverly connected and supplemented by her using the basic qi circulation routes of "Youhuan Emperor Sutra"; those missing footwork transitions were integrated into her own understanding of the rhythm of battle, and she designed the most concise and efficient connection.

In the moonlight, her figure suddenly moved.

At first, her movements were a little awkward and hesitant, and she even had some stagnation from trying the modified luck method. But she didn't care, and she failed again and again, and adjusted again and again.

Her body seemed to have turned into a most sophisticated instrument. Every muscle tremor, every shift of center of gravity, and every output of spiritual energy were all under the control of her powerful soul, constantly fine-tuning and approaching the optimal solution.

Gradually, her movements became smoother, and a unique rhythm formed around her.

It was no longer a complete copy of the records in the animal skin book, but a simpler, more strange and more practical step that incorporated her own style!

The figure swayed, drifting like willow catkins in the wind, or like a ghost in the dark night, silent and silent. Although it was only moving in a small space, it left behind a trail of afterimages, as if several people were moving at the same time, dazzling the eyes and making it difficult to grasp their true trajectory.

Occasionally, she would draw upon the icy spiritual energy within her body, circulating it according to her optimized technique. Suddenly, her speed increased dramatically, and her figure seemed to blend into the shadows beneath the moon, suddenly appearing several meters away. The breeze she brought with her slowly brushed past the spot where she had been standing.

This is not teleportation, but a visual deception effect produced by maximizing strength, timing, and environment!

During her training, she once again felt the subtle boost from the fragments of the Samsara Mirror. It didn't directly enhance her strength, but rather sharpened her perception with each attempt and each adjustment, allowing her to more clearly "see" flaws in her movements and subtle deviations in the flow of her spiritual energy, allowing her to more quickly make optimal corrections.

This kind of assistance in improving the speed of comprehension is extremely valuable at this moment.

Time passes quietly and the moon is at its zenith.

Ye Li's figure completely transformed into a blurry shadow, flickering across the limited open space. Her footwork became more and more skillful and agile, sometimes as light and clever as a butterfly flying through flowers; sometimes as swift and cunning as a venomous snake emerging from its hole; and sometimes as silent and stealthy as a ghost.

The tattered animal skin booklet lay quietly there, as if it had completed its mission.

What Ye Li was displaying at this moment had already surpassed its original scope. It was a brand new, top-notch body technique that belonged exclusively to her, Ye Li, a fusion of ancient wisdom and supreme experience!

Although limited by his current cultivation level, his absolute speed and spiritual energy consumption couldn't yet sustain long-term, large-scale movement, he already possessed some of the rudiments of a future "ghostly shadow" technique when it came to evading attacks and finding opportunities within a small area. His sophistication rivaled, if not surpassed, the agility of many high-level and even supreme human beings!

Finally, Ye Li's figure suddenly stopped, as if she had never moved, standing quietly in the moonlight. Her breathing was steady, only beads of sweat oozed from her forehead, revealing the exhaustion of her recent training.

She slowly exhaled a breath of foul air, her eyes sparkling with brilliance.

Done!

In just one night, she not only mastered this optimized form, but also absorbed its essence, transforming it into her own instinct. This was certainly aided by the Samsara Mirror, but more importantly, it was her terrifying understanding and the profound foundation accumulated in her previous lives.

"I'll call you... 'Shadow Step'." She named her new technique appropriately.

Mastering this footwork would significantly improve her combat abilities! This was undoubtedly a powerful trump card she had prepared for the upcoming competition!

She could imagine how surprised and shocked her opponents would be when they saw her ghostly movements, as they thought she could only resist or dodge.

I looked up at the sky and saw that the competition was not far from starting.

She put away the animal hide booklet, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate her breathing to recover. The spiritual energy in her body slowly circulated, nourishing her muscles and meridians that were slightly tired from practicing the body technique.

She continued to revisit the entire process of optimizing the exercises. This act of combining the wisdom of her predecessors with her own experience and recreating it seemed to deepen her understanding of the Dao. Cultivation isn't simply about imitation; it's about adapting to and transcending the past.

The moonlight fell on her calm and confident face, as if coating her with a layer of silver glow.

The mountain breeze blew by, bringing with it the faint sound of noisy voices from afar.

The direction of the martial arts field was already brightly lit.

The war is coming.

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