Water-Severing Saber Technique

"It actually worked?" After opening the gate, Chen Fan watched the crocodile vanish down the canyon in a flash. His expression turned slightly peculiar. Why did this creature seem so much like a dog? He had only reasoned that since the beast could pinpoint locations through its own saliva, its sense of smell had to be extraordinary. So he had put it to the test. He had not expected it to truly pull through. "Not bad." He could not help chuckling as he shook his head. With the Flesh Ghost Mother-Child Fruit, he could communicate telepathically with Zhou Mo out on patrol. It was immensely useful; its only shortcoming was that, having been harvested prematurely, its effect lasted only seven days, and they had very few of them. He looked back toward the depths of the cave. After waking up from its afternoon slumber, Weiwei had once more deepened Cave No. 1. Now the cave was a bit larger still. It was vastly more efficient than digging hollows with his Level 5 cannon towers. Just then— A commotion echoed from outside the walls. "Stationmaster!" Wang Mazi, Quehou, and a group of men were hauling crates from the canyon into the sinkhole, reporting loudly with faces full of excitement, "We're back!" "Good." Standing atop the wall, Chen Fan looked down at the crates with a satisfied smile. ... Weiwei seemed to need hibernation. At least, that was his guess. Weiwei had stockpiled a vast quantity of food in its cave, and the ghost stones inside those carcasses had never been excavated. That was why Quehou and the others had headed up the mountain this afternoon to take care of the matter. Chen Fan descended the wall and looked at the crate brimming with ghost stones. Wang Kui had already dashed over ahead of him to receive the supplies. "Didn't I tell you to contact me once you finished digging up the ghost stones so I could have Weiwei pick you up? Why did you walk down the mountain on your own?" Chen Fan looked at Quehou, who stood at the front. "Hehe..." Quehou opened another crate and pointed to the rounded pebbles packed inside. "Stationmaster, look at these. After we dug out the ghost stones, we originally planned to wait for Weiwei to come bring us down. "But then we found these pebbles scattered sparsely through the woods. "The exact same kind from Weiwei's cave. "They glow. "So we walked all the way down, picking up every one we saw so the camp would be brighter on ordinary days. That took up a bit of time." "Well done." Chen Fan picked up a pebble, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes. It was indeed identical to those in Weiwei's cave. He had assumed they were worth something, never expecting them to be lying around everywhere in the wild. "All right, carry it all back to the warehouse." Once that was settled, he climbed back up the wall and lay in his rocking chair, gently swaying as he turned a transparent pearl over in his fingers. The clatter of Quehou and the others bustling about drifted through the air, mingling with the sound of the rain. He had brought back five exotic treasures from Weiwei's cave that day. One was the Eternal Night Land Deed, and another was the Wind Tower building blueprint. This transparent pearl was one of the remaining three. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Water-Repelling Pearl. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: White. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Mounted on a wooden boat, it slightly improves stability, allowing travel through wind and waves. - There was another craftable vehicle in the Vehicle Workshop: the bone boat. Even though Nameless Mountain bordered the sea, he had never harbored any desire to explore the ocean. Mainly because... Humans were far too insignificant before the boundless sea. The last time he had stood on the coastal rocks gazing into the distance, the waves had been outrageously colossal. Under such conditions, he truly doubted a bone boat fitted with a Water-Repelling Pearl could sail smoothly across the waters. Better to revisit the idea after the rainy season ended. By then, the waves should not be quite so violent. Just then— Qi Chong came trotting up the wall, asking, "Stationmaster, we've already roasted over three hundred ghost creature carcasses. Do we really need to go all the way to five hundred? I don't think Weiwei can eat that much in one sitting. Do we finish roasting them all today?" "Finish them today." Chen Fan shook his head. "Whether he can finish them is his business. Since we promised five hundred roasted ghost creature carcasses in exchange for his exotic treasures, we must see it through. "His intelligence might be higher than ordinary beasts, "but he still has the mind of a child. "We must deliver on what we promised him, lest he think we don't keep our word." "Understood!" Qi Chong wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Saying nothing more, he hurried back to roasting meat. ... After Qi Chong left, Chen Fan turned his attention back to the other two exotic treasures in his hands. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Warehouse. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Building blueprint. Used to store supplies. - A building blueprint. At present, their warehouse was merely an improvised Level 3 stone house rather than a dedicated storage facility. This warehouse would be far more specialized and versatile. However, its footprint was rather large, and there was currently no space for it inside the cave. The crocodile had yet to clear out enough room. The final exotic treasure was a bamboo slip. Several hundred characters were inscribed upon it. - [Exotic Treasure Name]: Water-Severing Saber Technique. [Exotic Treasure Grade]: Green. [Exotic Treasure Effect]: Martial technique exotic treasure. Cultivators of Level 1 and above can comprehend it. - "..." Chen Fan's expression turned increasingly peculiar. By the rules of this world, he was not actually an architect; he was merely an ordinary cultivator who possessed the Eternal Night Lord panel. Which meant... He could learn martial techniques. An ordinary architect could never comprehend a martial technique like this because they did not meet the requirements, but he could. "The highest good resembles water, nourishing all things without striving. "Striking suddenly into the void, cleaving silk and sundering gauze. "The blade seeks not to sever the wave, but to unfurl its standard on high. "When the momentum is spent, it returns into nothingness..." Chen Fan unfurled the bamboo slip and recited the mnemonics of the Water-Severing Saber Technique a few times under his breath. Faintly, he indeed felt an abstruse, profound sensation stir within his chest. Normally, all he would need to do from here on was meditate on these mnemonics every day, then practice cleaving water by the seashore with a blade in hand. In time... After spending three to five years, he would bring this Water-Severing Saber Technique to Great Accomplishment, allowing him to roam the martial world and make a name for himself. However— That was under normal circumstances. He was anything but normal. At the bottom of the panel was a postscript. [P.S.: Confirming to learn will instantly elevate the technique to the Grand Consummation realm. The exotic treasure will be consumed and shatter as a result.] [P.S. 2: Installed within a 'Training Chamber', it will not shatter, can be reused, and will accelerate the comprehension speed of cultivators.] "..." Chen Fan fell silent, his expression thoroughly strange. People in this world without a system panel were truly pitiful. To think a single martial technique actually demanded several years of bitter cultivation—how many techniques could one possibly master in an entire lifetime? This was the first martial technique exotic treasure he had obtained. He possessed a passing familiarity with martial arts from his memories. They were divided into five realms: Entry, Proficiency, Mastery, Great Accomplishment, and Consummation. With each ascending realm, the technique's power increased, and the time required for cultivation grew longer. Above those five realms lay an additional tier: Grand Consummation. Reaching that level was not something mere hard work could achieve; it demanded a certain degree of innate comprehension and karmic fortune. Even so... Martial techniques were exceedingly rare. Unless one joined a major faction and studied the manuals stored within its library pavilion, acquiring a technique on one's own was excruciatingly difficult for a rogue cultivator. Just like Zhou Mo. Though a Level 2 cultivator, he did not possess a single martial technique to his name, endowed with little more than a bit more brute strength than ordinary men.