In that moment, the qi stored in his dantian and the 13 acupoints he had opened had started to transform. Turning formless just like a stream of water or a gust of wind, flowing however it desired.
"After completing the entry level from the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique, the qi in my body has become more solid. I can't wait to see how much stronger it will become once I reach the perfection level."
Just like before, when he had advanced in the Blood Thread Transformation or the Three Purities Sword, Ling Xu also observed that the progress in his Existence Shadow Will cultivation technique had increased from thirty-two percent to thirty-three.
This was expected since his mastery in the Formless Qi Breathing had completed the entry level and reached small success.
"Uh?" his eyes concentrated once again inside his body, sensing that the path between his eyes had activated and the golden energy was flooding in.
His mind became clear once again and his body started to circulate his qi naturally, increasing his comprehension in his cultivation technique.
…
After an incense stick of time had passed, Ling Xu returned back to normal, feeling that the enlightenment energy equivalent to one week had been used up.
He still had the path between his eyes open but he managed to take control and make it stop before the last week of energy he had remaining was used.
"The control over my qi has become even stronger than before!" he said aloud, seeing in his status panel another change.
[Name]: Ling Xu
[Realm]: 1st stage of Qi Refining (0%)
[Cultivation]: Formless Qi Breathing (proficient 83%), Existence Shadow Will (34%)
[Techniques]: Three Purities Sword (perfection), Blood Thread Transformation (completed)
With the increase in level from the Formless Qi Breathing, the mysterious cultivation technique Existence Shadow Will increased one percent more.
Feeling his formless qi flow through his body, Ling Xu was amazed as he could now make it go from one side of the body to the other in an instant.
"Now my qi is truly able to move however it wants, even turning the opposite way without receiving a backlash and performing difficult and fast movements very smoothly." he felt, as it had now truly become formless compared to less than an hour ago.
"Let's do what the old man said and go claim the other technique I have for becoming an outer disciple." he decided, having saved up his last week of enlightenment energy to advance on another technique.
…
Ling Xu arrived at the second floor from the Books Pavilion after a short while, noticing that the person guarding the place wasn't the old man anymore.
"Being in a sect with the word sword on its name it's only natural to choose a sword technique." he started searching for one as he had already built a solid foundation with the Three Purities Sword technique.
After two hours of going through all the bookshelves, Ling Xu had already set his eyes on three different sword techniques and he had even found the Red Autumn Leaves Sword and Elusive Ghost Sword which belonged to Sun Qinglan and Lu Wenjie.
"The sword techniques I liked the most are the Scorching Strike Sword, Severing Wave Sword and Flowing Stream Sword."
From the names of these three, it can be seen that there were two kinds of sword techniques. The first one belonged to the fire element while the other two belonged to the water element.
The reason that Ling Xu could choose these was because those who had learned the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique had the ability to learn with the same speed any kind of technique, not differentiating between the elements because of the characteristic of their qi having no form.
This was also one of the reasons why several people still tried to learn it even though the difficulty of mastering it was extremely high.
"This Scorching Strike Sword is very fierce, slashing at the opponent with an intense fire that burns the body even after the sword has passed." he paused for a second and retracted himself, "But If I had to choose I would prefer a sword technique related to the water element."
Ling Xu had realized that one of the characteristics that the Three Purities Sword contained was the natural flow of one move to the other, having an ever changing sword technique that ingrained the basic movements in the body.
"With my level of mastery in it reaching perfection, I believe that I'm more aligned with the last two. After all, learning something from the ground is very different to building with a solid foundation already."
Afterwards, he read the introduction from the last two sword techniques once again, just in case he missed something.
"This is very hard." he struggled, "While this Severing Wave Sword has the characteristic of making precise moves and is able to even cut through water, the Flowing Stream Sword flows like a stream, carrying an unstoppable power that breaks any obstruction."
Thinking about the different aspects of both sword techniques, Ling Xu had to think for a few minutes.
"Although cutting through anything is very exciting, I feel that I resonate more with my sword flowing like a stream."
The decision of which sword technique to choose was already set in stone as he came out from the pavilion with a copy from the Flowing Stream Sword manual in his spatial ring.
"Brother Xu, you are alright!" he heard the voice from a woman as he looked to the side it came from and realized that it was Sun Qinglan.
"Sister Qinglan, it's you again." Ling Xu said, feeling a little bothered . This was because, just a few hours earlier, after meeting her for the first time he had a fight that he only managed to come out of unscratched because he was saved by the old man.
Although he knew that it wasn't her fault, he still didn't feel very energetic about meeting again with her.
"I heard you had a conflict with Lu Wenjie, are you okay?" she said with a worried face, feeling guilty about what happened.
"I'm alright, but how did you find out?"
Seeing that he looked to have no noticeable injuries, Sun Qinglan felt a little better since she had been blaming herself if something had happened to him.
"I heard about it from a disciple who was telling the others. Apparently, the person who saw you fighting before running away told everyone he met what happened." she said, still searching for any injury he could have gotten.
Noticing her worrying about him, Ling Xu reassured her, "I'm alright so you don't have to worry. Fortunately, an elder came and stopped the fight before I was severely injured by him."
"Phew… I can't believe he did that just because we have an arranged marriage, I was even the one at fault there." feeling like she had wronged him for a second time in what remained of the day, she looked down, "If only this marriage arrangement wasn't necessary..."
"What?" hearing her whisper, Ling Xu asked what she meant by that, "Is she being forced into this marriage?" he thought, feeling that it wasn't her decision to go with this marriage from the very beginning.
"It's nothing, brother Xu. You don't need to worry about it, I will make Lu Wenjie understand that he shouldn't mess with you." she said and then left, heading full of energy to his residence.
A pair of eyes observed the scene from afar as they noticed Sun Qinglan heading to Lu Wenjie's direction.
…
Inside a room, a man could be seen in the lotus position, with his skin surrounded by a sharp energy like the edge from a sword.
"Come in." after hearing someone knocking on his door, he asked and the door was opened without receiving an answer.
Seeing the figure from the person that entered, the man's expression changed, becoming softer than before.
"Sister Qinglan, I didn't expect it to be you!" Lu Wenjie said, happy that his fiancée had come to visit him. After all, he had been very absent minded lately, distracted by the thought of another man having contact with her.
"Lu Wenjie don't misunderstand the reason why I am here. I came to warn you to not harm brother Xu, he doesn't have anything to do with you." she said with a fierce tone, angered that he would dare to try something like that just because they had a fight in the arena.
"You call him brother Xu?!" he was surprised as this was the first time he had heard her refer to a fellow disciple of the sect in such a close manner. "You don't expect me to leave him be after humiliating you in front of so many fellow disciples, right?"
As if saying that lit a candle in Sun Qinglan, she answered, "Humph! Don't you dare change the reason why you did that. Don't think that I don't know why my family suddenly had the idea of marrying me with you."
Lu Wenjie's previous smile faded away, "I don't know what you mean, but we are a couple made for each other. With our cultivation talent and strong backgrounds, once we become inner disciples we will be able to help our families take control over Bright Moon City."
"I have already conceded my right to choose who my partner will be, so don't make me say it twice. Don't touch brother Xu or any other person that comes into contact with me, or you won't get out of this either."
Coming out of the room, someone else was waiting outside.
Seeing Sun Qinglan leave the room with a fiery expression, Lu Wenjie's lackey entered afraid of what his young master's mood would be.
"What do you want now?!" he heard him say without any patience.
"It's nothing young master, just that I did what you told me and followed Ling Xu."
"Then why did you come now? It's has barely been a few hours since I sent you there."
"It's just that… before Sun Qinglan came here, she seemed to have a conversation with him, and since you said that I should inform you if they met again."
After he ended, Lu Wenjie was about to burst out in anger, having all the qi from his body come out making pressure against his own subordinate who was in the second stage of Qi Refining.
"Very well! Since she doesn't seem to realize that she is my fiancée now, I will have to teach him a lesson that he won't forget, or else there will be other people eyeing what's mine."
…
While all of this was going on, Ling Xu was heading to the forest that surrounded the outer sect, ready to start training in his new sword technique.
"It should be safer to practice in a place where no one is watching. After all, I don't want them to know how strong I am." he thought, trying to hide as much as he could after showing in the arena that he was able to defeat someone two stages higher than himself.
Now that he had officially started practicing the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique and his strength had increased once again, he didn't want the rest to know. In case he found himself in another situation like when Lu Wenjie attacked him, so the other wouldn't be prepared.
"Let's see what this sword technique is all about." once he found a spot in the forest that he liked, Ling Xu sat down and read the Flowing Stream Sword manual.
It took just an hour and a half before he read it completely, encountering himself in a much different situation from when he read for the first time the Formless Qi Breathing cultivation technique.
After reaching perfection in the Three Purities Sword technique, Ling Xu's knowledge and comprehension of the sword had become very solid, allowing him to understand this new sword technique without much difficulty.
He stood up next and unsheathed his new low grade treasure sword that came from the night assailant, with quite the normal appearance since it was the most normal treasure sword available in the sect.
Starting to move, he got the hang of the technique pretty fast, moving his sword like a stream of water that flowed continuously.