novelTele Chapter 41: The Second Layer
Chapter 41: The Second Layer
The hunt was progressing much faster than Lin Yun had anticipated.
The gains from the first three days were already astonishing, but Lin Zheng was clearly not satisfied. On the morning of the fourth day, he convened a brief meeting with everyone.
"Next, we'll venture deeper into the West Lake area." Lin Zheng drew a simple map on the ground with his short sword. "Based on our previous experience, the middle section of the canal has the highest density of monsters, especially pythons. The skin and fangs of mutated water pythons are always in short supply on the market. The materials from a single adult mid-level beast general water python can sell for over 30 million."
Everyone nodded, having no objections to the captain's arrangements.
On the fourth day, the team continued deeper into the canal.
The river widened, and the buildings on both banks became more densely packed. Collapsed high-rises, capsized boats, and submerged streets—everything here tells a story of the devastation of the Great Nirvana.
"There's a water python." Liu Xu, who was walking at the front, suddenly stopped and whispered.
Everyone followed her gaze. On the river ahead, a mutated water python, as thick as a water bucket, was coiled on the wreckage of a sunken ship, lazily basking in the sun. Its dark green scales gleamed eerily in the sunlight, and its triangular head was slightly raised, as if it were wary of something.
"A low-level beast general," Lin Zheng judged. "Lin Yun, you come here."
Lin Yun gripped the Blood Shadow Battle Blade tightly and silently approached. After several days of practical training, his stealth skills had made a qualitative leap—his steps were as light as a cat's, his breathing was even and long, and even his heartbeat was controlled at the lowest possible frequency.
The python seemed to sense something and abruptly turned its head towards Lin Yun. But before it could react, Lin Yun's blade had already struck.
The curved blade technique—this was one of the most practical skills he had learned from Liu Xu. The battle blade drew a graceful arc in the air, bypassing the serpent's fangs and striking precisely at its vital spot.
The blade sliced into flesh, and dark green blood gushed out. The water python let out a sharp hiss, its body twisting violently, its thick tail sweeping across. Lin Yun was prepared; as he dodged to the side, his second strike was already unleashed—this time a direct, frontal slash, the two forces combined, unleashing the full power of the first level of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade.
The python's head snapped off instantly, its massive body twitched a few times, and then lay still.
"Great!" Shenyang praised in the communication channel.
Lin Yun sheathed his sword, his expression unchanged. This was already the fourth low-level beast general-level water python he had killed. From the initial nervousness and awkwardness to the current smooth and effortless movements, his progress was clearly visible.
"Your swordsmanship is becoming increasingly refined." Liu Xu walked over and examined the water python's corpse. "However, there's still room for improvement in your power generation. You're already quite proficient at the first level, but the second level... have you even touched the threshold?"
Lin Yun shook his head. The key to the second level of the Ninefold Thunder Blade lies in the superposition of three forces—on top of the first two forces, a third force is then unleashed. He had tried many times, but he could never find that feeling.
"No rush," Liu Xu patted his shoulder. "Take your time."
Over the next two days, the Thunder Blade Squad launched a special hunt for the python-like monster in the canal area.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, they discovered two mutated water pythons of intermediate-level beast general rank under an abandoned bridge. These two water pythons were a full size larger than the previous ones, their scales were covered with dark red patterns, and their aura was much more ferocious.
"Lin Yun, you handle the one on the left," Lin Zheng assigned the task. "Leng Bao and Luo Fang, provide support. The one on the right is for me and Liu Xu."
"clear."
The battle erupted in an instant.
The python on the left reacted extremely quickly, launching its attack almost the instant Lin Yun approached. Its body sprang forward, its gaping maw large enough to swallow a whole person, its two venomous fangs gleaming with a ghostly blue light in the sunlight.
Lin Yun dodged to the side and slashed with his battle blade. However, the water python's scales were more than twice as thick as those of a low-level beast general, and the blade only cut in two inches before getting stuck. The water python cried out in pain, its body suddenly contracting, and its thick serpentine body coiled around him.
Lin Yun remained calm. He drew his battle blade sharply, leaped backward, and simultaneously unleashed the power of the first level of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade at 1.4 times its normal force!
The sword slashed at the water python's head, and the python let out a mournful hiss, its body twisting wildly. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Yun thrust the sword into the python's vital spot, pulling hard and opening a long gash in its body.
Dark green blood gushed out, and the python's power rapidly dissipated. Lin Yun gave it no chance to catch its breath, and with a third slash, he directly severed its head.
The whole process took less than twenty seconds.
"Great job!" Shenyang's voice came through the communication channel. "Although it was a bit of a mess, we won."
Lin Yun took a breath and looked down at the bloodstains on his body—the blood of the water python was splattered all over him, stinking and foul. He smiled wryly, took out a water bottle from his backpack, and rinsed himself off.
Meanwhile, the battle between Lin Zheng and Liu Xu had also ended. Lin Zheng's short sword had cleanly and swiftly severed the head of another water python, leaving very little blood on it.
Lin Zheng walked over and, unusually, offered his opinion: "The core of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade is the technique of exerting force." Lin Zheng sat down on a nearby stone stool and gestured for Lin Yun to sit as well. "Do you know why it's called the 'Thunder Blade'?"
"Because it's fast?" Lin Yun said.
"Speed is the result, not the cause." Lin Zheng shook his head. "It's called Thunder Blade because its power generation is like thunder—first there's lightning, then the thunder. Lightning and thunder are two phenomena produced by the same discharge, but they reach your ears at different times. Why?"
Lin Yun thought for a moment: "Because the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound."
"That's right." Lin Zheng nodded. "The power of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade is the same. The first layer of power is lightning, and the second layer is thunder. What you need to do is not to release the lightning first and then the thunder, but to make them occur simultaneously, only at different times. The first layer is fast, and the second layer is slow—the slow layer is not delayed, but is already on its way the moment the first layer is released, it's just that it 'travels' slower, so it arrives later."
Lin Yun was stunned.
He had never seen this analogy in any tutorial about the Ninefold Thunder Blade. It wasn't in Thor's manual, nor in online discussion threads. This was something Lin Zheng had figured out himself, an understanding he had gained through over a decade of hard work and losing a leg.
"You've grasped the first level, but your method of generating power is 'first the first level, then the second level.'" Lin Zheng's gaze fell on the distant river. "That's wrong. The correct approach is—in one burst of power, create two distinct power channels. One goes fast, the other slow. The fast channel arrives first, forming the first level; the slow channel arrives later, forming the second level. The two forces originate from the same source and are generated simultaneously, only arriving at different times."
He stood up, drew his short knife, and demonstrated a strike.
The blade flashed, and two crisp sounds rang out in the air—the first sharp, the second muffled, almost simultaneously, yet the order could be clearly distinguished.
"Did you hear that?" Lin Zheng sheathed his sword. "That's double force. If you use the method of 'striking the first force first, then unleashing the second,' the second strike will come much later than the first, and its power will be greatly reduced."
Lin Yun listened intently, the sound of Lin Zheng's knife strike replaying in his mind. Two sounds, almost simultaneous, yet distinctly different.
He suddenly remembered the lightning magic in the Panlong world. When lightning strikes, the light comes first, followed by the thunder. But the light and thunder are produced by the same discharge, not by separate discharges. The essence of lightning is the instantaneous neutralization of positive and negative charges, which simultaneously produces light and sound.
If we compare the body's strength to an electric charge and exerting force to discharging electricity, then each exertion should generate multiple forces simultaneously, rather than being triggered one after another.
"Captain, I think I understand." Lin Yun stood up and gripped the Blood Shadow Battle Blade tightly.
He closed his eyes, constructing channels of power in his mind. Not one, but two. One takes the fastest path, from the feet to the legs to the waist to the arms to the blade; the other takes a slightly slower path, passing through the same areas, but deliberately creating a tiny "delay" at each joint—not a pause, but allowing the power to linger there for a moment, building up momentum.
This is the slow road.
The force of the fast path reaches the blade first, forming the first layer. The force of the slow path arrives later, but at the moment of its arrival, the force of the first layer has not yet completely dissipated. The two forces overlap on the blade, creating resonance.
He opened his eyes and drew his knife.
"laugh--"
A crisp sound rang out in the air. Only one.
Lin Zheng shook his head: "It's still not right. You only have one level of strength; the second level hasn't come out."
Lin Yun was not discouraged and continued practicing.
Once, twice, three times...
Liu Xu watched from the side, a hint of worry flashing in her eyes. But she didn't speak, because she knew that this kind of understanding couldn't be helped by others; she could only rely on herself.
Lin Zheng didn't say anything more, just stood there quietly, watching Lin Yun draw his sword again and again.
the fifth time.
"Sizzle—smack!"
Two crisp sounds rang out in the air. The first was sharp, the second... though faint, it was definitely there.
Lin Zheng's eyes lit up: "Again."
The sixth time. The seventh time. The eighth time...
With each strike of the knife, the second sound became clearer. By the fifteenth strike, the two sounds rang out almost simultaneously, distinctly separate.
"Stop." Lin Zheng stepped forward and grasped Lin Yun's hand holding the knife. "Your force is misdirected. The second force shouldn't come from the outside of your arm, it should come from the inside. The muscles on the inside are shorter, so the power is transmitted faster, and the interval between the two forces will be smaller."
He adjusted Lin Yun's grip on the knife, causing his wrist to rotate slightly inward.
"Try again."
Lin Yun took a deep breath and drew his sword.
"Sizzle—smack!"
The two sounds overlapped almost perfectly, a blend of sharp and muffled, like real thunder.
A smile appeared on Lin Zheng's face—this was the first time Lin Yun had ever seen him smile.
"It's done," he said. "I've mastered the second level of the Nine-Layer Thunder Blade."
Lin Yun stood there, panting heavily, but the light in his eyes was brighter than ever. The second level—a triple power stacking, 2.1 times the force. Although he had only just begun, it was a qualitative leap.
"Congratulations." Liu Xu walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Being able to break through in actual combat shows that you really have good comprehension."
"Thank you, Sister Liu," Lin Yun said sincerely. "Thank you, Captain."
Lin Zheng waved his hand, turned and walked towards the water python's corpse: "Don't thank me, you figured it out yourself. Continue cleaning up the battlefield, we need to reach the next campsite before dark."
That evening, the team settled in an abandoned hotel by the canal.
Lin Yun sat alone on the rooftop, practicing his newly mastered power-generating techniques over and over again. Under the moonlight, his figure resembled a tireless machine, drawing his sword, sheathing it, drawing his sword, sheathing it.
After reaching the second level of mastery, he could feel his swordsmanship undergoing a qualitative leap. The triple power was not yet smooth enough, but with each strike, he could hear two distinct sonic booms.
"Still practicing?" Lin Zheng's voice came from behind.
Lin Yun turned around and saw Lin Zheng walking up to the rooftop with a cane. His steps were slow, but each one was steady.
"Captain," Lin Yun sheathed his sword, "I want to take advantage of this feeling after my breakthrough and practice a little longer."
Lin Zheng nodded and sat down beside him. They remained silent for a while, neither speaking.
"Do you know why I'm willing to take you along?" Lin Zheng suddenly asked.
Lin Yun shook his head.
"Because you have a kind of spirituality about you," Lin Zheng said, his gaze falling on the distant canal, where moonlight shattered into silvery spots on the water. "Of course, most importantly, you have a kind of... indomitable spirit."
He paused, then continued, "The most difficult aspect of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade technique isn't the power generation technique, but the perseverance. Countless martial artists worldwide choose this blade technique, but only a handful can truly master it to the fourth level or higher. It's not because they lack talent, but because they can't persevere."
"Captain, how did you achieve your fourth level?" Lin Yun asked.
Lin Zheng remained silent for a long time before saying, "In a hospital bed."
Lin Yun was stunned.
"After my leg was broken, I lay in the hospital for three months." Lin Zheng's voice was calm, as if he were telling someone else's story. "During those three months, I couldn't do anything but practice in my mind. I imagined the process of exerting force over and over again, and corrected the mistakes in my movements over and over again. When I was discharged from the hospital three months later, I had broken through from the third level to the fourth level of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade."
He turned to look at Lin Yun: "Do you know what this means?"
Lin Yun shook his head.
"This means that the cultivation of the Ninefold Thunder Blade doesn't rely on the body, but on the mind." Lin Zheng pointed to his head. "No matter how strong your body is, no matter how great your strength is, if your mind is not open, you will never be able to break through. Conversely, if your mind is open, your body will naturally follow."
Lin Yun nodded thoughtfully.
"You've already mastered the second level." Lin Zheng stood up. "For the next month, what you need to do is not pursue the third level, but practice the second level until it's as natural as breathing. To what extent? To the point where you can deliver double the force even with your eyes closed, to the point where you can instinctively deliver double the force even if you're attacked in your sleep."
"At that time, you can start thinking about the third level."
"I understand," Lin Yun said solemnly.
Lin Zheng nodded and walked down the rooftop, leaning on his cane. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and looked back.
"Get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."
"Yes, Captain."
For the next two days, the Thunder Blade Squad continued hunting python-like monsters in the canal area.
On the fifth day, they hunted down three low-level Beast General-level water pythons and one mid-level Beast General-level water python. Lin Yun single-handedly dealt with the mid-level Beast General-level one, using the second level of the newly mastered Nine-Fold Thunder Blade technique. The triple force combined, severing the water python's spine in a clean and swift motion, leaving its opponent no chance to recover.
"Rapid progress." Liu Xu's evaluation consisted of only four words, but the approval in her tone was undisguised.
On the sixth day, they encountered a group of seven water pythons gathered near a collapsed bridge. Four were at the beginner level, two at the intermediate level, and one was exceptionally large with golden patterns on its scales, its aura far stronger than the other pythons.
"High-ranking beast general," Lin Zheng said in a low voice, "Be careful."
This time, Lin Zheng didn't let Lin Yun face the high-level beast generals alone. He and Liu Xu teamed up to deal with the largest one, Leng Bao and Luo Fang were responsible for the two intermediate-level ones, and Lin Yun and Shen Yang were responsible for the four beginner-level ones.
The battle was more intense than ever before. The high-level beast general-class water python was not only enormous, but its scales also possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities; Lin Zheng's short sword could only leave a white mark when it struck it. The venom it spewed was highly corrosive; wherever it splashed onto the cement ground, white smoke immediately rose.
Lin Zheng used his fourth level of power three times in succession before, with Liu Xu's cooperation, he managed to cut through the water python's scales. Liu Xu's sword pierced through the wound and went straight to the water python's heart.
On the other side, Lin Yun had already dealt with three low-level water pythons. The power of the second level of the Ninefold Thunder Blade was fully displayed at this moment—each strike produced two sounds, each strike precisely hitting the water python's vital spot, killing it instantly without any hesitation.
The fourth primordial water python tried to escape, but Shenyang shot it through the skull.
The battle between Leng Bao and Luo Fang had also ended. Of the two mid-level water pythons, one was pinned to the ground by Leng Bao's spear, and the other had its throat slit by Luo Fang's dagger.
All seven water pythons were killed.
"A high-level beast general-grade water python, the materials alone would be worth at least 100 million." Shenyang calculated while processing the corpse, "Adding the others, this wave today will be worth at least 300 million."
Everyone was panting heavily, but they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces.
Lin Yun stood by the river, looking at the corpse of the water python floating on the surface of the river, but a vague sense of unease lingered in his heart.