Chapter 162: Ethereal Body

May 19th, clear skies, a day auspicious for travel.

Xiao Nan woke up early, stretched his body casually in the courtyard, and did not practice with the sword.

Today was the day the martial arts students of Yuanjiang No. 1 High School set off for the provincial capital to take the preliminary examinations.

As early as twenty days ago, once she was certain that his physical condition was fine, Qin Shuang had already left for the Imperial Capital.

That young miss was quite interesting; from beginning to end, she had not uttered a single word to persuade Xiao Nan to join Qingning Academy.

Perhaps, in her heart, she also felt that entering East China University and studying under the Great Grandmaster of Kendo, Li Shanmin, was a more professionally aligned path.

It was better than going to Qingning Academy.

……

Time passed quickly. It had been nearly two months since the blood sacrifice incident at the Yuanjiang Villa area. A lot had happened during these days; while the weather grew increasingly warm, his strength had also undergone a drastic transformation compared to back then.

The severe injuries he suffered on April 25th had long since healed.

Some people knew about this, while others did not.

Ever since the Dean of Academic Affairs and Head of the Martial Arts Academy of East China University had paid a visit that day, Mentor Yun Xi and the others had soon returned to Qingning Academy.

However, back then, Mentor Yun Xi had strictly urged Qin Shuang to return to school early to participate in the trials.

This time, on the contrary, she requested Qin Shuang to stay in Yuanjiang Prefecture for a while longer and not worry about the quota for the Cuihu Trials, adding that she would keep the spot reserved for her, and so on.

Her intention was as clear as day.

Unable to save face until the very end, the female mentor simply left with an awkward expression.

Seeing them leave, Xiao Nan had no desire to stay in the hospital any longer.

His injuries, truth be told, were not a major issue. Once his thoughts condensed into a sword shadow and he gathered his scattered spiritual energy, he had already stepped onto the fast track of recovery.

He was discharged the same day, and that very same day, he recovered his concentrated spirit.

The next day, his vital blood returned to its meridians, his sinews reconnected, and his body underwent restructuring under the effect of his analytical talent.

After consuming a quantity of vital blood pills and two meridian-clearing pills, Xiao Nan discovered that his physique had become somewhat peculiar.

Compared to the surging vital blood and far superior strength he possessed after analyzing the gene of Xiong Man's physique, his current body felt completely devoid of any lingering vital blood ripples.

Even through his own spiritual perception, it felt empty and hollow, with only very weak vital blood abilities manifesting externally.

However, the essence of his body was entirely different.

His boundless strength had been preserved, and he had gained a special ability to boot.

As long as he focused his mind and meditated deeply, he could sense a strange fluctuation surrounding his body.

This was not vital energy perception, but a deeper spatial perception.

It seemed that the space around him had altered somewhat in its appearance.

"Watch my sword..."

A crisp, girlish cry rang out.

A small figure leaped out from the side, and amidst fluttering sword flowers, thirteen sword lights pierced forward, overlapping and caging him in.

Xiao Nan smiled slightly. Without moving his feet, his body swayed, leaving three or five afterimages on the spot.

Little Xiao Bei's sword tip merely stabbed back and forth around his body, never quite landing a solid hit.

In the end, she even withdrew her sword and stared closely at the short blade in her hand, wondering if she was holding a fake sword.

Perhaps it was projected by a machine.

She had hit him, but the blade had just passed right through...

Looking at the little girl's silly expression, Xiao Nan couldn't help but laugh.

"Now do you know your older brother's power? Even if I just stand here, you can't hit me."

"Xiao Nan, how did you do that? Teach me, teach me!"

Xiao Bei withdrew her sword, shamelessly sidling up to him to cozying up.

This trick never failed. Over these past few days, she had indeed wheedled quite a few formidable moves out of Xiao Nan.

Presently, at the middle school division of Lanxin Affiliated High School, Xiao Bei could already be considered a minor celebrity. Compared to her peers, her swordsmanship was super formidable.

Even their head teacher had made a special home visit to have a serious discussion with Tan Qiuyi.

They wanted to see whether they should let the little girl strengthen her vital blood and visualize her spirit ahead of schedule.

They were planning to nurture her as a top-tier genius.

In fact, children of prominent families or descendants of martial arts lineages did not rigidly wait until after the age of fifteen to cultivate vital blood and spirit.

Instead, they would carefully let children adapt to and gradually increase their vital blood step by step through various means, such as consuming vital blood pills beforehand in practical contexts.

Taking pills without practicing physical training was quite wasteful, but it was not without its uses. When they grew older and began body forging, their progress would be slightly faster than others.

Additionally, they engaged in more activities that enhanced spiritual concentration—in other words, cultivating sentiment and character.

For instance, calligraphy, painting, playing the zither, and practicing swordsmanship...

As for academic subjects, their weight would be appropriately reduced.

Hearing this, Xiao Bei was as happy as if it were the New Year.

She had never been particularly interested in academic subjects, and being able to get an early start on various sword techniques was much more fun than holding books all day long.

"You can't learn this yet. First, master the true intent of the Three Swords of Spring, and later learn the Three Swords of Summer well. Then you'll be a junior expert."

"When the time comes, can I learn this transformation jutsu?"

Xiao Bei blinked her eyes.

What transformation jutsu? It was clearly a method of sensing spatial shifts to deceive the field of vision.

Xiao Nan rubbed her crop of yellowish hair and brushed her off, saying, "Alright, I'll teach you when the time comes. You know you can't pull out the seedlings to help them grow, right? If you haven't learned to walk yet and try to run, you'll run into trouble."

Hearing Xiao Nan put it that way, the little girl was filled with anticipation and went off to practice her sword at the side with even greater enthusiasm.

……

Xiao Nan lowered his head in thought, pressed his fingers together into a sword shape, and casually thrust forward.

His arm was not long, but for some reason, a sharp whistle flashed out, piercing into the trunk of a small tree three meters away and leaving a deep hole.

He flicked the wood chips off his fingernail, deep in thought.

It was as if the space in front of him had folded and looped back, pierced through by that single sword-finger thrust.

The trajectory of the blade tip had defied common sense, failing to cleave the air or stir up any sonic booms.

Moreover, the spatial distance around him had also transformed.

When he calmed his mind and concentrated, he could sense threads spreading out all around him, growing fainter the further they reached.

With this ability combined with the Four Seasons Sword Technique, his swordplay would become so intricate and bizarre that anyone who encountered it would find it agonizingly difficult to deal with.

"Qin Shuang told me that after those two Dan-Origin Grandmasters from the University Alliance and the Imperial Arbitration Committee arrived, they examined my body right away."

"Furthermore, they concluded that the spatial blade which killed the barbarian god's apostle was formed by my Ethereal Physique absorbing energy and then unleashing it in a burst."

"In addition, under the impact of that massive energy, my Ethereal Physique had collapsed, and even my spiritual power was exhausted, making recovery extremely difficult."

That was why Mentor Yun Xi subsequently rejected his special admission.

After all, several Grade 7 experts had examined him one after another; they couldn't possibly have misdiagnosed him.

"This reason is quite good, though. I can just use the Ethereal Physique to explain things to outsiders in the future."

The matters of the bronze mirror space and the talent analysis were too supernatural to see the light of day.

Thinking of these things, Xiao Nan chuckled inwardly.

He naturally knew better than anyone that he did not possess any Ethereal Physique, but his ability to perceive spatial changes far surpassed it.

Because the unique talent the bronze mirror had parsed from the Ethereal Crystal had already touched upon a certain shallow rule of heaven and earth.

Qin Shuang's Watery Physique only allowed her to achieve twice the result with half the effort when practicing certain water-attribute cultivation techniques, lacking any truly extraordinary abilities. But this move of his made one's scalp tingle just thinking about it.

It could serve as a hidden trump card.

……

After breakfast, amidst Tan Qiuyi's endless parting instructions, Xiao Nan bid farewell to the tearful little girl Xiao Bei, packed a change of clothes on his back, and headed to school.

Early June was the time for the national academic unified examinations, during which all high school students would take their written tests.

For martial arts students like them, tomorrow's preliminary examinations in the provincial capital were what mattered most.

The vehicle traveled for a full day and night without any mishaps along the way.

As the morning light turned pale fish-belly white on the second day, the sixty-nine martial arts students, led by Principal Sun Zhongli, arrived at Lijiang City.