True Solution of the Sword Dao

As the lunchtime dismissal bell rang, the Chinese teacher decisively halted the ongoing classical Chinese explanation, straightened up the teaching plan on the desk, adjusted their glasses, and swiftly walked out of the classroom with a composed expression.

This new Chinese teacher, Mr. Zhang, was a model teacher who never dragged out class. No matter how passionately he was teaching, even if he was just a little away from finishing the planned content, as soon as the bell rang, he would pick up his teaching plan and decisively leave without a word. Among the students, he was quite well-liked.

As soon as the teacher left, the classroom instantly became lively.

From morning dismissal to afternoon classes, there was a two-and-a-half-hour interval. Deducting time for eating and commuting, there was about an hour and a half left for students to arrange freely.

Generally speaking, in a high second-year class like Lin Fei's Ban 1, more than a dozen students would choose to study in the classroom until the afternoon, having their meals directly in the school staff canteen.

Most of the other students, however, would take their backpacks and head straight home. Lin Fei used to be one of them.

"What!? You're not going back?" Chen Yun was astounded. "Pretend! Keep pretending!"

Lin Fei, at a loss for words, shook her head, "Is it that strange if I don't go back?"

"Of course! Someone who's ranked fifth from last in the entire class for English suddenly decides to study on their own—I'm telling you, Feifei, you must have a fever," Chen Yun said incredulously.

"I just suddenly felt that my previous life was very boring," Lin Fei said as she packed her books neatly into the drawer.

"Chen Yun! Hurry up! What are you two doing?" At the classroom door, two boys with backpacks shouted loudly toward them.

Lin Yuqi and Xiao Chao were among the students with poorer grades in the class. They were close with Chen Yun but only had an ordinary relationship with Lin Fei; they were just travel companions on the way home.

In class 2-1, there was actually a fixed primary hierarchy in place.

The top ten outstanding students formed one circle, chatting and walking together, competing—they looked down on all other students from an elevated standpoint.

This circle included the class monitor, the class president, and representatives for various subjects. Of course, when choosing class positions, academic performance was used as the standard.

The second circle consisted of a large portion of students with average grades. These students each aligned themselves with different top performers from the first group. They banded together around different top students.

Whenever they had academic questions, they too relied on the top students of their group as a support.

Most of these students came from very well-off families, and they wielded considerable influence among their peers. They were also the main group who competed with one another.

The third group included students like the former Lin Fei, Chen Yun, and Fang Jing, whose academic performance was poor.

Of course, within this group, some students who were not academically gifted but came from very well-off families or had talents in other areas were also keen to move closer to the second group.

And students like Lin Fei, who lacked both academic ability and a noteworthy family background, as well as any outstanding talents, were part of the lowest stratum in the entire class. Their numbers were only in the single digits.

Chen Yun, looking perplexed, dragged his backpack and left the classroom with his two travel companions, though he seemed rather annoyed.

Lin Fei understood his mindset. Generally, students who perform poorly themselves find some comfort and a sense of superiority when they see others doing worse.

However, when those who were performing worse start showing signs of academic progress, they begin to feel threatened, fearing they would be surpassed and become the worst in the class.

Lin Fei glanced around the classroom. In the front, two girls including Fang Jing were packing up their belongings, preparing to leave. On the right side, the middle seats were nearly empty, except for a few top students like Zhao Chuanfang and Cheng Dekai, who were still intently solving the math problems they hadn't finished during class.

Such top students usually had their own strict study plans. Studying math during Chinese lessons was something even the teachers wouldn't interfere with, a special privilege reserved for those in the top five.

Apart from them, the other students who usually stayed behind at school should have gone to the canteen for lunch.

As Fang Jing finished packing up, she turned around, carefully placed a Walkman on Lin Fei's desk.

"Here, thanks."

"No need," Lin Fei replied with a smile. Fang Jing herself didn't have any outstanding qualities, but because she had a good figure and a lively personality, she was one of those from the third group trying to move closer to the second group. She was quite popular in the class and always took good care of things she borrowed.

So Lin Fei didn't mind lending her Walkman to Fang Jing. Moreover, she was one of the very few classmates in her previous life who had never made fun of Lin Fei for not dressing well.

After putting her things away, Lin Fei checked the money left in her trouser pocket. This was the lunch money she had specifically asked her family for last night. Her family was very supportive of her decision to study in school.

Leaving the academic building, Lin Fei went to the canteen and got a portion of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and taro soup. After quickly finishing her meal, she started to explore the school grounds.

Her cultivation was divided into two main parts: one was the Visualization Diagram of Qi Cultivation with accompanying Hand Seals. This training was time-limited but effective in replenishing energy.

The other part was the Basic Sword Technique. The first part could be considered stationary work, while this part was entirely dynamic, specifically used to strengthen physical fitness and enhance body quality.

Similar to the last time she clashed legs with that burly man and injured the muscles in her thigh, Lin Fei did not want a repeat incident.

The school had a large 800-meter playground, an indoor basketball court, and a white stone square used for flag-raising ceremonies and group exercises. The space was vast.

Lin Fei chose a small undeveloped grove behind the indoor basketball court as her activity area.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the scorching sunshine was overshadowed by the freshness of the grove. The surroundings were very tranquil, especially at this time when there were the fewest people in the school. This place, which was usually deserted, was now even more quiet.

Lin Fei placed a bottle of mineral water she had bought from the canteen on a stone bench in the grove. She picked a slightly larger open space on the side of the grove, stood in the center, and began to visualize the First Diagram of the First Layer of the First Realm with her eyes closed.

Her hands slowly moved in a circular shape in front of her abdomen.

As the visualization progressed, Lin Fei could clearly feel his vital energy and blood flowing faster, and he experienced a tingling sensation throughout his body, like countless ants marching through his veins; this was the so-called ant-walking sensation.

In his previous life, Lin Fei had also come into contact with some stance techniques for cultivation, and he was quite knowledgeable about these matters.

The ant-walking sensation, though it sounds mystical, usually occurs fastest in those with weaker bodies when they first start stance practice.

Because such individuals have frail vital energy and blood, which is easy to mobilize, if a strong, robust man were to try it, it would probably take at least half an hour to experience this feeling.

And now, Lin Fei had felt this sensation after only a few minutes of visualization, which made him unsure whether to lament his poor health or marvel at the effectiveness of the cultivation technique.

With the ant-walking sensation occurring even on his scalp, Lin Fei began to feel a bit of itching and stinging on his skin's surface.

This was a sign that the circulating vital energy and blood had begun to impact some of the finer blood vessel endings.

Generally, if it were ordinary stance practice, it would be impossible to reach this level without a few months of foundational training; one can imagine how formidable this cultivation method is.

This slight stinging and itching sensation is similar to what some people feel when they suddenly go for a few laps on the track after a long period without exercise.

This is the manifestation of blocked capillaries being forced open by the rapidly circulating vital energy and blood. For Lin Fei, this sensation was much stronger than that.

Just visualizing the images alone can replenish energy, but combined with the Hand Seal, it actually had the effect of transporting vital energy and blood to strengthen his foundational qualities—it was undoubtedly beyond Lin Fei's expectations.

But the visualization of the First Diagram lasted at most for a few minutes, and doing it five times in a row took about twenty minutes or so. It was only when he had reached his limit with the visualization that Lin Fei slowly stood still and released the Hand Seal, allowing his vital energy and blood to settle naturally.

Just these twenty minutes left him drenched in sweat from head to toe.

"Such a session is as effective as running for several hours. And it involves the circulation of vital energy and blood throughout the entire body.

If it weren't for the First Diagram replenishing energy, this kind of training alone would likely cause an ordinary person to collapse in less than five minutes from sheer depletion. The excessive consumption of vital energy and blood cannot be replenished in time—this method of training is simply too overbearing."

Feeling warmth throughout his body and not too drained from standing still, Lin Fei continued with the second part of his cultivation.

He casually broke off a relatively straight twig from a small tree beside him and began to practice the footwork while following the poses shown in the Basic Sword Technique.

The footwork of the Basic Sword Technique was very tricky, with each step involving a complex combination of forces. Lin Fei had only tried two steps when he felt a burst of pain in his chest and fell to the ground, landing on his bottom.

"That's not right, weren't these two steps supposed to be continuous? Why is it so awkward? And I didn't even apply the right force."

Sitting on the ground, Lin Fei began to carefully recall his recent movements.

The footwork of the Basic Sword Technique played over and over in his mind until the fourth repetition, when he suddenly noticed something crucial.

"Why is there no explanation for the transitions between these postures? It goes directly from one posture to another, but at a glance, they seem to flow seamlessly? Why is there nearly opposite force required between every two postures?"

Assuming the first posture, Lin Fei held the twig and started to follow its direction exactly.

"If I follow the direction of the twig, the target of the attack…"

Lin Fei carefully visualized it, and suddenly a chill ran up from his heart. The chill surged to his eyes, and he felt a sharp pain in his eyes as tears streamed out. At the same time, a small part of his energy quickly drained from his eyes, leaving his body somewhat fatigued.

"This sensation..."

'This posture is used for the practice of the "Eye Sword," one must close their eyes while practicing,' a stream of information suddenly flowed from this image in his mind.

"Eye Sword?" Lin Fei thought for a moment, then let go of the posture and rested for a while. When his body had somewhat recovered, he resumed the posture again.

This time, however, he remembered the advice and practiced with his eyes tightly closed.

As soon as he assumed the posture, there was no sign of the previous effect.

"Wasn't this how it worked just now?" Lin Fei was puzzled. He recalled the actions he had just taken.

"Right, I was imagining the target I wanted to attack! Could that be the reason?"

Suddenly, his mind again visualized the target of the attack.

Almost instantly, a coolness flowed from various parts of Lin Fei's body, quickly converging on his eyes. But because his eyes were closed, there was no outlet, and it stayed around the eyes—this time, however, he did not feel the draining sensation of before.

"It must be correct this time."

The Eye Sword technique, when cultivated to the highest realm, can intimidate enemies and cause them to perish without a fight. This was the new content revealed by the Basic Sword Technique.

"It seems that these postures can serve both cultivation and combat. If the first is the Eye Sword, then what are the effects of the other postures?"

The Basic Footwork consists of five diagrams, each detailing a different footwork posture.

Lin Fei tried each one and found that all but the first diagram were connectable.

Moreover, practicing all four diagrams in sequence prompted a certain soreness and softness in his muscles, suggesting it was a workout for the muscles.

After practicing several times, Lin Fei felt invigorated, and although his body was tired, his spirit was exceptionally clear.