11 The Swing of His Sword.

Raymond's patience was pretty good, but it wasn't omnipotent. After another four hours of cultivating, he had managed to completely fill up his second energy channel, successfully going one step further on the path of cultivation. If he wanted to fill up the last energy channel, Raymond would have to cultivate for at least another six hours. After already cultivating for six hours in a row, Raymond's body was feeling a little numb from sitting in one position for an extended period of time.

The sky was getting darker outside, as the sun was setting over the horizon; it was getting late. Raymond was filled with energy, a sort of energy he had never felt before. Perhaps it was because of his cultivation session, but Raymond already felt stronger than before, and he had a feeling that he would become a lot stronger as soon as he mobilised the spiritual energy in his energy channels.

Since his concentration was already wavering, Raymond decided to do something else for now. He could continue cultivating in the morning. Since the inn he was staying at had a courtyard that he could use to train his martial arts, Raymond decided to check it out. After stretching his body for a bit, he left his room with newfound vigour.

After he arrived at the courtyard, he noticed that it was almost completely empty. The only people there was a couple that was sitting on a bench, chatting, as well as a middle-aged man that was just sitting by himself, with his eyes closed and a dull sword resting in his lap. Raymond found himself a spot where he promptly sat down and opened the book containing the Azure Wind Sword Art. The contents in the book were intriguing to Raymond, and he was quickly engrossed in reading it.

After reading it for a while, Raymond felt like he had learned a lot. The most important part when learning a martial art is how you're supposed to apply force and use your muscles, but another part that baffled Raymond a little was the application of spiritual energy. A misconception that Raymond had gotten about the body-refining realm was quickly corrected upon reading the intriguing sword art.

Raymond had thought that a body-refining cultivator's spiritual energy couldn't leave their body, but apparently, that wasn't exactly the case. It was true that they couldn't fire off spiritual energy attacks through the air, but they could actually imbue an item with spiritual energy as long as they were holding onto it. A body-refining cultivator's spiritual energy would almost instantly dissipate if it travelled through the air, but as long as it travelled inside of an item, it was fine.

Raymond felt like he had gotten a grasp of the basic moves contained in the sword art, and he picked up his sword. He instantly noticed that the sword felt a little lighter than when he had bought it, which naturally delighted him. He felt like the decision he had made was correct, even though it was still a bit too heavy for optimal use. If anything, Raymond just saw it as a challenge that he needed to overcome. If he learned to use the sword with a sword that was too heavy, perhaps his control would get even better in the end?

With a determined gaze, Raymond stood up from the ground and began swinging his sword. As soon as he swung his sword for the first time, the middle-aged man suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were an ominous blood-red colour, and after seeing Raymond swing his sword, he merely scoffed before closing them once again. If Raymond had seen this middle-aged man's little episode, he would've surely wondered if there was something wrong with him.

As time passed, Raymond's moves were getting faster and faster. After swinging his sword for more than an hour, Raymond's arms were so sore that he would've normally stopped ages ago. The weird thing was that Raymond seemed to have grasped something, and the swinging of his sword seemed to follow a peculiar rhythm. The sound of his sword slicing through the air was pleasing to the ears, it was almost like a musical piece, brimming with poetic beauty.

This state he was in didn't last for much longer than half an hour, and even though he wanted to keep going, his body practically collapsed. There was no way he could keep training. Since he couldn't move anyways, he immersed his mind in the feeling of epiphany that he had just experienced, and he tried his best to grasp whatever he had just experienced. Like this, the only two people in the courtyard had their eyes closed, with a sword by their side.

The couple had originally been captivated by the poetic sound of Raymond's sword, but after he collapsed in exhaustion, they snapped out of their trance and quickly left in befuddlement. The only people left were Raymond and the middle-aged man. Raymond's mind had entered a trance-like state, yet his thoughts seemed strangely clear. This state only lasted for around half a minute before it disappeared, but when it did, something strange happened.

The wind in the surroundings suddenly stirred, creating a current above Raymond's body. The leaves on the trees and the blades of grass on the ground seemed to sway in unison, creating a picturesque scene of harmony. The middle-aged man that had been meditating silently once again opened his eyes, but this time, he had a weird look on his face.

The state that Raymond was in was something that almost all sword artists dreamed of, and if he knew, he would surely be amazed. The middle-aged man wasn't shocked by the phenomenon itself, since he had experienced similar things himself before. What really shocked him was the fact that Raymond was the person that had created such a phenomenon.

When he had seen Raymond swing his sword earlier, he seemed like a complete beginner. It was obvious that he had never swung a sword in his life before. But now, just after an hour had passed, the kid had somehow comprehended sword force, how sick was that? It would normally take a swordsman years of effort to comprehend sword force, even geniuses would take months or weeks at the very least. But an hour? That was just absurd.

After a few seconds, the raging winds calmed down, and the courtyard returned to total silence. It was at this moment that Raymond finally woke up. With a dazed look on his face, he looked around. He was completely out of it, he had no idea what had just happened, but he had a feeling that it was amazing somehow. His exhaustion was still there, but it had faded a little bit, so he decided to get some rest for now.

He could think about the complicated stuff later. With exhaustion written all over his face, Raymond dragged his tired body back to his room, leaving the middle-aged man standing in the courtyard all alone. The middle-aged man followed Raymond with his eyes for a while, before he snapped out of it. After pondering for a while, a weird smirk emerged on his face.