2969 Change of mental state



'We're all wrong?'

'What a joke. Who do you think you are to say we're all wrong?'

'He's with Ling Duanyun. Clearly, he's going to support him.'

Gou Li laughed coldly. "Oh, where are we wrong? I warn you not to speak rashly. Otherwise, I'll let you know the meaning of regret!"

"Are you threatening me?" Ling Han smiled as a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

In that instant, Gou Li completely went blank. When he came to, he was covered in sweat, feeling as though he had just been hollowed out. He couldn't utter a single word.

Watching all of this unfold, Cheng Sisi couldn't help her surprise.

Gou Li submitted?

The young master of the Gou Clan was not only renowned for his arrogance, but he was also a Severing Mundane Tier grand elder, even though the latter was something that would only apply after a few hundred million more years of cultivation. However, each major tier in cultivation level was separated by a nigh insurmountable gap. This was even more so between the Severing Mundane Tier and the Genesis Tier.

Strange!

The girl kept staring at Ling Han, but she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary that would make him capable of suppressing Gou Li.

"Oh, why don't you explain where they went wrong?" she asked.

Gou Li was also looking at Ling Han. He had already regained his senses, and was feeling both ashamed and confused at his earlier reaction.

How could a mere Genesis Tier scare him into a cold sweat?

It was fortunate no one found out. Otherwise, he would have lost a lot of face.

"If you're not able to give a reasonable explanation, then I might have to teach you some manners!" he threatened.

Ling Han paid him no heed, and simply smiled. "This sword technique is utter trash from start to finish."

Ling Duanyun was the only one who didn't doubt his words. How could a Heavenly Venerate possibly speak of such things casually?

However, both Cheng Sisi and Gou Li were furious because the sword technique that Ling Han had just belittled so harshly was the catalyst for creating a great elite of the Immortal Palace Tier called Zhu Mang.

Zhu Mang was a prodigy like no other. As a lone cultivator, he learned through trial and error, and eventually became a Immortal Palace Tier great elite.

However, Zhu Mang only cared about cultivation, and did not wed anyone nor have any descendants to create a clan with. Instead, he established the Jia Nan Martial Academy.

He was very selfless, and had many outstanding students. That was also why he was such a highly regarded individual to all of Peaceful Leaf City's forces, both big and small.

However, Ling Han just insulted the sword technique that Zhu Mang had created, calling it utter trash, even. What was this if not a disrespect towards Zhu Mang?

How dare a mere Genesis Tier mock a respected senior?

"Are you that eager to die?" Gou Li said coldly.

Cheng Sisi kept quiet, but her expression had also hardened.

Ling Han took Ling Duanyun's sword, and said, "Watch."

He casually flicked his hand, demonstrating the Autumn Wind Blowing Leaf technique. The sword intent was the same as before, but the details were completely different.

Pu! As he stabbed the Cloud Heart Stone with his sword, layers of creases began to form.

29 layers!

Cheng Sisi and Gou Li were flabbergasted, and couldn't believe it. Even Ling Duanyun was taken aback. This was because Ling Han had suppressed his strength to Cheng Sisi's level, and used the same sword technique, but the resulting damage was over twice as powerful. This was simply too astonishing.

Ling Han lightly tossed the sword back to Ling Duanyun and smiled. "What do you think?"

Cheng Sisi and Gou Li were lost for words. They had a good enough eye to tell that Ling Han did not use any power well beyond Cheng Sisi's level. He had dominated purely based on technique.

Could the sword technique they had been practicing all this while really be that wrong?

The two of them were stupefied. What kind of person was Zhu Mang?

He was a prodigy like no other, reaching the Immortal Palace Tier with his own strength one step at a time. In the future, he might even become a great elite of the Ascending Origin Tier. How could he possibly lose to someone from the Genesis Tier?

Even though Zhu Mang had created this sword technique while he had been at the Severing Mundane Tier, he would still be many times stronger than the current Ling Han.

"You must have cheated somehow!" Cheng Sisi couldn't believe it.

Ling Han smiled. "Alright, then I'll teach you the sword technique, and you can check that out for yourself."

He started to demonstrate the sword technique that he had just casually created. It was not some secret technique, so he didn't mind teaching it to someone else.

While Ling Han started to teach, not only Cheng Sisi was studying his moves, even Ling Duanyun was following suit. Gou Li also couldn't help mimicking Ling Han's movements.

As the four of them trained together, they soon drew the attention of other people, causing a crowd to slowly gather where they were.

When the crowd found out why the four of them were training, they were also doubtful that Ling Han could improve upon the Autumn Wind Blowing Leaf sword technique and increase its might over twofold. As such, they also started practicing in accordance to Ling Han's description in the hopes of proving him wrong.

Zhu Mang was a saint-like figure in everyone's heart, and any disrespect was not tolerated.

They were able to pick up the move quickly as Ling Han had only changed the sword technique slightly. The sword intent was still the same, just the subtleties had changed.

They all tried their hand on the Cloud Heart Stone, and as a result… everyone saw some form of improvement in the sword technique. Some of them only saw minor improvements, while others got more moderate gains, with the greatest improvement being almost twice the original technique's power.

This was an indisputable fact. After Ling Han's modifications, the Autumn Wind Blowing Leaf technique had greatly increased in strength.

Zhu Mang was lesser than Ling Han?

"No, no, no, Master Zhu had created this sword technique when he had been at the Severing Mundane Tier. Back then, his cultivation had not reached the Great Accomplishment level, so it seems normal that there may be one or two flaws in his technique."

"Yes, yes, yes, that must be the case."

Everyone nodded in agreement as though this was the only reasonable explanation.

However, some of the smarter individuals didn't agree. Ling Han was still only at the Genesis Tier, and the fact that he was able to improve upon the Severing Mundane Tier grand elder's sword technique alone was still something noteworthy.

Cheng Sisi was one such individual. She had a visible excitement in her eyes as though she had just discovered a new continent.

Ling Han chuckled. He was not so petty as to compare himself to a junior from the Immortal Palace Tier. However, as a result of this light-hearted action, Ling Han was able to sense a slight change in his mentality.

Previously, he was too concerned with raising his cultivation level. With the constant injustices set upon him, the immense pressure drove him to make highly visible improvements in his cultivation.

He was a person who thrived under pressure.

However, stress had both pros and cons. Now that his cultivation had reached a bottleneck, the pressure he gave himself only added to his anxiety, and did nothing to facilitate the actual breakthrough.

After loosening up a bit, he immediately felt something different than before.

On the path of cultivation, there was always a push and a pull.

Ling Han felt that he was on the right path. He was still ambitious about breaking through, but he wanted to mold his mentality into being more cool and collected, and not easily swayed by pressure.

The crowd naturally dispersed after having their little banter. However, Cheng Sisi was highly interested in Ling Han. She asked, "You are?"

"Oh, he is a senior of mine," Ling Duanyun hurriedly replied.

"A senior?" Cheng Sisi nodded. She wasn't surprised, since the gap between the students of the academy was extremely wide, which made the huge age gap a normal occurrence as well. For example, Gou Li was already a few hundred million years old.

Just as she was about to continue, three silhouettes dropped in from separate directions, each with a furious expression on their face.

"Not good!" she said in surprise.