Austin finished counting his booty.
He then sat cross-legged and decided to practice the Golden Sun Scripture.
The scripture had obvious effects on power storage and damage caused in attack. No matter how busy
Austin was he would squeeze some time to practice it, at least once a day.
However, it seemed that the required amount of vital energy in practicing it was much greater than that
of other formulas. Its effect was more noticeable than that of the other formulas, too.
In his earlier practices, Austin felt as if his energy pool had turned into the vortex of a whirlpool, and
every time the Golden Sun Scripture was activated and progressed, the vital energy diffused in the
nearby space was dragged in.
When he had to stop, the energy in the nearby space would be emptied. When he felt the arid air, he
couldn't help but feel both amazed and appalled.
Since then, he had been afraid that others might sense it. So he decided to choose a quieter and
secluded space to study the scripture, in order to escape the notice of others.
This time, four hours passed before he stopped. The energy pool in Austin's elixir field had grown to
the size of a fist in the shape of a light ball. It pulsed and surged, giving out a blazing and dazzling light
that illuminated Austin's whole body and filled him full of surging vital energy.
There was also another surprise because Austin found out that the energy mass could help him draw
power from herbs or elixirs by assimilating all of their essences.
It happened twice before but they were uncontrollable.
But now it was not only controllable but proved to be more efficient than taking the elixirs orally. The
energy transformed through the light ball was of a lower attrition rate.
When one ingested an elixir, the substance would pass through one's mouth, throat, intestines, and
stomach. During the process, the energy contained in the elixir would have been consumed a great
deal. In terms of quality and quantity, the energy assimilated that way was lesser.
Austin suddenly remembered something and quickly took out a pile of elixirs from the Space Ring.
Back in the outer range of Grand Desolation Mountains, he had harvested a great amount of elixirs
from Gilbert, Nigel and other men. Gilbert's collection in particular contained many high-grade elixirs.
Also, he received many valuable elixirs from Raymond and his men.
In total, the elixirs he owned summed up to no fewer than a dozen now.
He casually took a few from his hoard. Almost all of his elixirs are those that could help store vital
energy. He placed the elixirs in front of him and activated the Golden Sun Scripture and controlled the
golden light ball to float out. Out of his elixir field, the light ball started to radiate strands of glowing
golden light that fell upon the elixir.
In an instant, all the medical essence was assimilated and the elixirs disappeared. It all turned into pure
energy.
Austin couldn't help but feel very satisfied of the powerful effect.
He looked into his body and saw that the light ball grew slightly larger.
When he saw the change, he wondered whether it would continue to grow. If it would, how large would
it grow in the end.
He assimilated the energy and continued to practice the Golden Sun Scripture some more.
At last, he straightened up and took out a jade slip in the color of light cyan from his store. It was the
skill book Austin gained from Ganges Auction House. It recorded the practice process of the Illusory
Swordsmanship.
Back in the auction, he exhausted all of his fortune in order to get this set of sword skills.
Also, because of Raymond, a lot of wasted money was spent.
Austin couldn't help but feel heartbroken when he recalled that.
However, as compensation, he looted a great fortune from Raymond and his men. Maybe that was
called Karma—Raymond wanted to assault him, but was defeated in the end.
Holding the jade slip in his hand, Austin already knew the correct method to use it.
He laid it on his forehead and closed his eyes.
In an instant, paragraphs of information surged into his head.
"Name of the Skill: Illusory Swordsmanship
Grade of the Skill: Fourth
Introduction: Illusory Swordsmanship is a swordsmanship that contains forms of infinite variety. When it
is used in a combat, the user's attack will come out in an imposing manner and it will be very difficult to
defend. His every strike will be agile and of great power. It would seem as if he was swiping thousands
of swords at the same time..."
It was all about this set of sword skills named Illusory Swordsmanship.
Generally speaking, the main idea of Illusory Swordsmanship was to hide the real strike among a set of
false actions and make the opponent difficult to defend.
It didn't define any fixed move of sword. In every attack, the thousands of strokes of sword would be
clouded in mist.
Each of these strokes could be real and each of these strokes could be false. It all depended on the
current situation and it could always be controlled by the attacker. In real combat, it would be
impossible for a lesser opponent to distinguish the real attacks from the false attacks. Also, when one
mastered this skill, his sword would be swift like moonlight and elusive like dreams. That was also
where the name of the swordsmanship came from, "Illusory Swordsmanship".
After reading through the information that rushed into his brain, Austin now had a basic understanding
of the Illusory Swordsmanship.
Infatuated with this new knowledge, he studied and deduced the swordplay in his mind. He was totally
immersed in this swordplay that he even practiced with gestures.
He sat there and meditated. He reached a state where he totally forgot himself and lost track of time.
From the middle of the night to when the sun rose and the cocks crowed, to the mid-day noon, and to
the evening when the birds returned nests. For almost a whole day, he had been immersed in his study
and was unable to extricate himself.
Austin had once learned a sword skill, the Cloud Swordsmanship of Sun Sect. Therefore, he had some
knowledge in using a sword. But this time, when he learned about the Illusory Swordsmanship, his
foundation was further underpinned and his understanding was deepened.
It was not until the late night did Austin snap out of his meditation. He suddenly stood up, opened his
eyes, and pulled out a long vermilion sword from his waist.
The sword he was using screamed an overbearing demeanor. It was the Violet Royal Sword, his loot
from Scott.
He stood silent for a while. The next moment, he brandished the sword and stabbed it forward like he
had calculated it for many times. Thousands of images of swords appeared around him accompanying
his every strike.
One by one, he started trying out the skills recorded in the Illusory Swordsmanship. His sword was
sharp as Death's scythe and his moves were elusive and unpredictable. Where he moved about, his
whole body was armored by Sword-lights.
With his every attack, his sword appeared and disappeared at will. The residual images it left behind
shrouded him like a shadow that blinded the eyes and interrupted the view.
"Swish!"
Suddenly, he thrust forward again with his sword flashing in the mist. The attack was powerful,
unrelenting and lethal. Apparently, his moves were exactly what the Illusory Swordsmanship was like!
No matter how talented he might be, when a cultivator learned about a skill, he had to go through the
process from unskilled to skilled.
However, Austin was all different. Although it was his first time to learn this swordsmanship, his sword
was so natural and smooth; it appeared as if he had practiced it since his birth. By chance, he would
also do some ingenious moves.
'It is so strange!'
Even Austin himself was puzzled.
At the same time, he felt so pleased with himself.
Austin never considered himself a genius. However, he had been practicing for only a few hours and he
had already mastered the gist of the swordsmanship. The rhythm in his moves both proper and artistic
became evident. Every time he wielded the sword, his moves became even smoother.
It was as if he had been working on this swordsmanship for years!
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