I am the Rain Hall Master of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, known as the Little Rain Master. How are your spell arts?
Quinn Shepherd entered the next room. Inside was a woman with strange patterns painted on her face, a hoop of feathers on her head, and a bamboo staff adorned with an unknown beast's tail. The staff had twenty-four segments, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms. The woman smiled and said, "In this room, we compete in spell arts!"
Quinn shook his head. "I don't know any spell arts. Can a Spirit Embryo realm martial artist even learn spell arts?"
The woman laughed. "Why not? Yuanqi is magic power, and knowing spell arts lets you cast spells. The Cult Mistress is the top spellcaster in our cult—didn't she teach you? When I was at the Spirit Embryo realm, I was already traveling the land, calling rain for the people. Whenever there was a drought, folks would invite me to help, so they called me a witch. As my cultivation grew and my fame spread, I became known as the Little Rain Master. Thanks to the Cult Master's favor, I was made Rain Hall Master. But I'm still not as good as the Cult Mistress. Back when she was chosen as Saintess, I wasn't."
Quinn asked curiously, "How do you fight using spell arts?"
Rain Hall Master pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed, "How can you be so clueless? Since ancient times, there's been a rivalry between spell arts and battle skills. Those who cultivate spell arts and those who cultivate battle skills have always fought to the death, each side calling the other heretics who must be destroyed. Nowadays, people are polite when they meet, but back then, if you announced you practiced battle skills among spellcasters, you'd be chopped to bits in an instant! The battle power of the spell arts lineage is far stronger than you think!"
Quinn asked, "Is sword control considered a spell art?"
"It isn't."
Rain Hall Master shook her head. "Sword control used to be a battle skill, but later, sword control cultivators started calling themselves the true orthodox path, claiming to be a divine art lineage and branding both battle skills and spell arts as demonic heresy that must be wiped out. That's why the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor held a grand assembly, challenged all the top battle skill experts, and nearly wiped out the battle skill lineage. Didn't the Cult Mistress tell you any of this?"
Quinn frowned. "Why are they always fighting? Aren't battle skills, sword arts, and spell arts all divine arts? Wouldn't it be better to combine the strengths of all three?"
Rain Hall Master laughed and cried at once. "A person's energy is limited—who has the time to master all three lineages? Even devoting your whole life and wisdom to one path, it's nearly impossible to reach perfection. Since everyone cultivates something different, there's always competition, no one will yield, and naturally it leads to fighting to the death."
Quinn's spirits lifted. "Sister, show me your spell arts. I've never seen spell arts before!"
Rain Hall Master raised her slender hand, fingers pointing down. With a lift and a shake, mist surged into the room, and soon a gentle rain began to fall.
Quinn watched closely. The raindrops hit the floor and then flowed up along the walls, cycling over and over.
Rain Hall Master waved her hand, and the rain formed distinct threads like harp strings. She spread her ten fingers and plucked the rain-strings, filling the room with music. In the music, the rainwater transformed into a roaring water jiao dragon that surged toward Quinn!
Quinn reached out, grabbed the water jiao dragon by its vital spot, and with a snap, shattered it.
Rain Hall Master was startled. Her hands flew over the strings, and the rainwater turned into blades, spears, swords, and halberds, attacking Quinn from all directions at incredible speed. The temperature dropped sharply, and the rain froze, making the weapons even more powerful!
Quinn flicked his ten fingers, shattering all the blades, spears, swords, and halberds coming at him. "So this is spell arts. Sister, does my move count as a spell art too?"
Suddenly, Quinn's hands burst into blazing fire. He chopped with his hands like sabers, slashing Rain Hall Master and sending her flying.
Rain Hall Master tumbled into the courtyard, her voice both shocked and furious: "You heretic from the battle skill lineage, using battle skills as spell arts..."
Quinn walked into the next room and saw a burly man with a scruffy beard, half-kneeling and half-sitting. Beside him lay a long, rectangular sword case, tightly locked with bronze clasps.
"I am the Sword Hall Master."
The man did not rise, remaining half-kneeling and half-sitting. "You carry a Sword Pack, so you must know sword arts. Today, we will compete in sword technique."
Quinn shook his head. "I've never learned sword arts."
The Sword Hall Master looked up in surprise. "You've never learned sword arts, so why do you carry a Sword Pack? Didn't the Cult Mistress teach you sword arts?"
Quinn shook his head. "Granny said someone in the village has the number one sword technique under heaven, so she won't teach me the Heavenly Demon Cult's sword arts—lest that person refuse to teach me."
"Number one sword technique under heaven?"
The Sword Hall Master's tiger eyes widened, his gaze suddenly sharp as two sword lights stabbing straight into Quinn's heart. He sneered, "Who dares brag so shamelessly? Go learn a sword move from him, and I'll see just how much this so-called number one sword can outdo my Cult of the Heavenly Demon's sword arts!"
Quinn blinked. "I've learned other things, like Thunder Chant Eight-Form, Heaven-Stealing Leg Art, Pig-Slaughter Saber Art, spear technique, painting, hammer technique..."
The Sword Hall Master gently stroked the sword case beside him, coldly replying, "I only want to see your so-called number one sword technique! The rest is dog crap!"
Quinn, helpless, left the wooden building and returned to Oldridge Village to explain the situation to Granny Sue.
Granny Sue snapped, "That Sword Hall Master is so stubborn! And you, Quinn—you should've just used your saber and chopped him to pieces!"
Quinn stammered, "That's not honorable."
Granny Sue took Quinn by the hand and led him to the village entrance. There, the Village Chief and Apothecary were still brewing tea, with the Young Patriarch sitting across from them. The three drank together.
"Village Chief, the Sword Hall Master insists on competing in sword arts with Quinn."
Granny Sue smiled. "Why not teach him a couple moves?"
The Village Chief frowned and shook his head. "Even with my guidance, it's hard to surpass him in such a short time. The Sword Hall Master has immersed himself in sword arts for countless years and has made real progress. Expecting Quinn to beat him with just a couple of my moves is asking too much."
"But Quinn has the Overlord Body, right?" Granny Sue winked.
"Overlord Body..."
The Village Chief’s eye twitched, feeling a pang of regret so sharp it was as if his guts had turned green.
After all, Quinn Shepherd is the Overlord Body he personally vouched for—he knows the boy’s foundation inside and out. Quinn’s awakening of the Spirit Embryo had already exceeded all his expectations, but to expect Quinn’s swordsmanship to leap in mere moments to the level of contending with the Cult of the Heavenly Demon’s top sword masters is asking too much, even for a prodigy.
Granny Sue shoved this task onto him, and he had no choice but to accept.
The Village Chief paused, then said, "Quinn, recite the Pure-Heart Sword Formula you learned from Leonard Goodwin."
Quinn recited the Pure-Heart Sword Formula on the spot. The Village Chief nodded, satisfied. "The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor really did gather the greatest sword masters. The Pure-Heart Sword Formula has its own secrets when it comes to controlling the sword."
The Young Patriarch across from him also praised, "The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor is a true genius."
The Village Chief said, "How did Leonard Goodwin explain the Pure-Heart Sword Formula to you? Tell me."
Quinn repeated Leonard’s explanation. The Village Chief thought for a moment, then smiled, “Leonard kept a few tricks to himself.”
He pointed out the flaws, and Quinn tried the corrections immediately. Controlling the sword with qi felt much easier—and faster. Quinn was genuinely impressed.
The Young Patriarch’s eyes lit up and he grinned. "Leonard didn’t hide anything—he just isn’t as sharp as you, Chief. You heard it once and saw through all the formula’s mysteries. He spent his whole life training and still got it wrong."
"You flatter me, Chief."
The Village Chief looked at Quinn and said evenly, "I won’t teach you sword arts. I’ll only teach you one move—the thrust."
"The thrust?"
Quinn was stunned. Isn’t thrusting with a sword simple? Just drive the sword forward with qi—what’s there to learn?
"Thrusting with a sword isn’t as easy as you think. You may not know sword arts, but if you truly master the thrust, there are very few Spirit Embryo realm sword masters who could beat you."
The Village Chief said, "Take any ordinary sword. Use qi to control it and try stabbing through the butcher’s pillar."
Quinn activated the Pure-Heart Sword Formula, sending a thick strand of yuanqi to lift a sword from his Sword Pack and stab the butcher’s pillar in the village.
Thud.
With a single thrust, Quinn pierced straight through the pillar—the sword tip poked out the other side. Quinn glanced back at the Village Chief, all innocence.
The Village Chief’s face froze. He coughed and said, "Try stabbing through this stone."
Quinn wrapped the sword in yuanqi, pulled it from the pillar, and—ding!—stabbed it straight through a boulder in front of the Village Chief. Quinn glanced back again, innocent as ever.
The Young Patriarch was both surprised and amused, fighting to keep a straight face.
I forgot—this kid’s sword technique is a mess, but his yuanqi is monstrous. With that kind of power, anything hits like a hammer.
The Village Chief, embarrassed, coughed several times to cover it up. "Try stabbing your pig-killing knife."
A crisp ding rang out, but this time Quinn couldn’t pierce the knife.
Thank goodness it didn’t go through—otherwise, I’d have no way to teach him…
The Village Chief let out a quiet sigh of relief, then patiently asked, "When you thrust with the sword, what did you feel?"
Quinn pondered carefully, then his eyes lit up: “I can feel my yuanqi still isn’t strong enough. When I use qi to control the sword, the tip meets a little resistance and my yuanqi can’t keep going—it’s like having all this strength, but trying to hit someone with a strand of hair. My qi thread is too soft; it can’t bear the full force I want to unleash.”