Chương 226: Leaving the valley

Long Feng turned around with a smile plastered on his face to look at old man Solitude who had appeared behind him since heaven knows when and watched him with a grin.

"Yes Teacher. Student is overly impatient" Long Feng replied. Old Man Solitude nodded and slowly walked away, leaving Long Feng to continue his training. After he left, Long Feng repeated the leaves training twice more before he stopped. At this point, overdoing the training wouldn't help him improve. As old man Solitude said, what he needed was time and patience. He put his sword aside and slowly raised his index finger to point at the tree trunk.

"Heaven ripping finger!" He shouted in his mind. A faint glow erupted from his finger tip and a dazzling ray of light that hid great piercing power and destructive energy flew through the air and pierced through the thick tree trunk like it was non-existent, continuing along for a bit before it fades away.

"Phew! The power of the third level is really good. Even the third wave demon annihilation is much inferior. Also, I believe my current understanding of the Earth Firmament Sword strike can be considered as high level. Once I completely master it, I can move on to the second sword skill!" Long Feng then decided to test his movement skill. He took a step forward and his figure suddenly vanished, appearing far away from the tree. His movement was ghostly and left no trace behind.

He seemed to have melded into the space and instantly appear somewhere else. He blinked who more times and appeared by the cottage where old man Solitude was slowly chopping his wood. The old man didn't seem startled when Long Feng suddenly appeared like a ghost. He had already gotten used to this happening frequently over the last few days. Long Feng couldn't help but laugh heartily. His strength had greatly improved compared to two weeks ago.

He was confident that if he faced Gongsun Hao, he could last very long against him and even force a draw if he used the Earth Firmament Sword strike.

"I should reach rank nine spirit realm in two days. And my sword concept should also reach rank 8 in a few days. Similarly, my soul energy is about to reach the second heaven of the spirit layer. My body strength alone can defeat peak Yang realm cultivators. My strength had increased in every aspect" During these past days, Long Feng hadn't forgotten his soul Cultivation. Chu Haoyun had reminded him of the importance of soul cultivation. And although it took up some of his time, he didn't abandon it.

He always circulated the Infinite Immortal Soul Formula whenever he was free. This rapidly increased his soul power until he was about to breakthrough. And the attribute of endlessness in his soul was much clearer than before.

"If I play all my cards including my soul cultivation and body strength, I have a fifty percent chance of defeating Gongsun Hao from back then! He was comparable to a rank five spirit realm warrior. He might have gotten significantly stronger than before with the resources of the Misty Mountain at his feet" Long Feng sighed. He didn't have the luxury of a great force to back him so he could only envy them. But he and his own advantages.

Just old man Solitude alone was more than any Yihua continent's forces could compare to. Long Feng held no doubt that old man Solitude was at least invincible within the ranks of the high rank to low ranked continents. He didn't know about the overlord continents and the mainland though.

"I have over stayed here. I should leave after a few days. I still have to return to the Long clan to meet up with brother Yan jian and Li Yue'er. Hua Liuli might also be there too…" A gentle smile surfaced on Long Feng's face as he thought of his friends. A month had almost passed since he came here. That meant just two months and a few days were left till the hundred continent meeting.

He needed a few days to return to the Long clan, he would stay there for a while before returning to the Yihua clan a day or two before the specified day to prevent any mistakes. So he had to leave this valley soon. But the thought of leaving this peaceful lifestyle actually filled him with reluctance. He had very complicated feelings towards this valley and old man Solitude. But he had to leave. That was the reason he stayed; to get stronger and leave. Love this novel?

Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Long Feng stopped this train of thoughts and quickly cooked dinner before night. After eating, he continued to cultivate the heaven ripping finger, the Infinite Immortal Soul Formula, the Firmament Sword Art and the Nine Firmament Steps. These four were his main focus and everything else was disregarded. The next day, when he was training under the waterfall, Long Feng's sword concept broke through to rank eight! And it's density was astounding.

It could compare to the rank nine Dao concepts of some normal people! To actually reach rank eight Dao concept at just fifteen was a feat only achievable by high ranked and overlord continent's geniuses. Yet Long Feng from a low ranked continent had achieved that. He wasn't overly excited as he already expected this breakthrough. It just came sooner than he thought.

He endured the pressure of the waterfall, occasionally even jumping or making other such heavy movements that caused the pressure to surge rapidly while practicing the basic sword moves. Each of his slash, stab or other moves were polished beyond imagination. His hands were very steady, granting his sword more power. His precision was shocking and his flexibility was astounding.

He could rapidly unleash several sword strikes in the blink of an eye or use various skills immediately after another, leaving no room for dodging. He could even suddenly change his attack after unleashing it according to the situation. In short, his sword skills had reached a mastered level. His body strength was also getting stronger day by day. When merged with his cultivation, his strength exploded to new heights that shocked even him.

The next day, his cultivation finally broke through, reaching the peak of the Yang realm! Long Feng couldn't conceal his excitement as he jumped around under the waterfall, the pressure he felt having reduced drastically. His foundation was very solid even immediately after his breakthrough. A rough estimate of his strength out him equal to Gongsun Hao and the Yihua clan's elder brother from back then.

If they hadn't improved compared to back then, Long Feng was confident in defeating either of them with all his cards! But he didn't think he could fight a rank six spirit realm warrior yet. His cultivation was the main limitation for him. If he reached the spirit realm, then he would be able to fight rank six spirit realm warriors with his rank one spirit realm cultivation. That was his own estimate. But right now, he was just stronger than normal rank five spirit warriors. Still some distance from rank six.

"This is enough for me. All that is left is for my cultivation to rise and my combat power will follow." Another two days later, Long Feng's soul cultivation reached the second heaven of the spirit layer. His excitement was palpable. Indeed, bad luck don't come twice and good luck doesn't come alone! Within a few days, his cultivation, soul and concept broke through one after the other.

As if that wasn't enough, that same day, Long Feng's body strength reached a level that was similar to rank one spirit realm warriors! If he unleashed his full strength with everything he had, Long Feng was confident that no rank five spirit realm warrior could face him. That was on this continent alone. He didn't dare to be arrogant and title himself as invincible below all rank five spirit warriors. After all, who knew how strong the geniuses from other higher ranked continents were?

"It's about time for me to leave. I've reached a bottleneck in all aspects." Long Feng sighed and finally decided to leave the next day. Later that day, he went to the large tree to practice again. The tree had already lost most of it's leaves and the floor was completely filled up with pieces of leaves. Staring at the tree with complicated emotions in his eyes, Long Feng sighed and shook the trunk for the last time.

The leaves rained down more than normal, as though the tree could sense his feelings and was saying goodbye. Long Feng's sword moved rapidly without a single strand of sword energy being wasted or even released. All of the leaves around him split apart before they touched the ground. Long Feng left without looking to see the results. But If had looked, he would have seen that all of the leaves were sliced perfectly through the center without any exception…

That evening, Long Feng cooked the best meal he had ever made. And he didn't cultivate after eating that night. He simply slept soundly, letting all the exhaustion he had gathered in his body for the last few days of tireless training to fade away. The next morning, he woke up feeling energized and in his peak condition. When he left the cottage, he found old man Solitude quietly chopping wood, his sightly bent back looking lonely. Long Feng sighed and walked over to stand behind him, watching him cut the wood.

No one said a word as the sound of the axe splitting the woods echoed out rhythmically. An hour later, old man Solitude suddenly paused"Do you understand?" He asked in a tired voice without looking back. Long Feng slowly nodded his head"I do." Old Man Solitude finally turned to look at him with a smile.

"I see you're ready to leave. You should remember everything I thought you but don't let them lead you. Form your own ideas, have your own unique understanding of the Dao. And try to form your sword heart soon" Long Feng quietly listened to him, his heart filled with unwillingness to leave. But he had to go. He had important things to do that he couldn't put off.

"I'll also be leaving soon. I've hid from the world for long enough. It's time for me to return home…" old man Solitude continued, his face filled with longing and a complex emotion as he mentioned his home.

"Take this" a small azure seal appeared in his grasp. He threw the seal over to Long Feng who caught it and stared at it. On the seal, a single word was visible.

'Solitude'"Come and find me in the Solitude Mountain if you ever leave this land. If you make it, I'll accept you as my disciple. Otherwise, just live your calm life here" old man Solitude smiled faintly and explained. Long Feng carefully kept the azure seal somewhere safe and then clasped his fists and bowed.

"Teacher, Student will leave now. I'll definitely come and find you in this Solitude Mountain when I have nothing holding me down""Hahaha! That's right. You should follow your heart. Leave no regrets! That is the peak of life!" Old Man Solitude laughed and returned to chopping his wood with a happy smile. Long Feng stared at his teacher's back for a while before he sighed again and began to walk away. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the air parting.

Turning around, he raised his hand and caught something flying at him. It was a sword sheath, a pitch black sword sheathed that seemed to absorb the light that shone on it. This was definitely not a normal sheath. But Long Feng couldn't tell what was different about it.

"This is teacher's final teachings to you. Remember, live a free and unfettered life and leave no regrets behind. The Daos are infinite. The sword Dao and demon Dao you cultivate are both just a part of this infinite river we call Dao. And we all chase the Dao like moths drawn to a flame. Don't chase the Dao blindly like your teacher did. Instead, understand the Dao. If possible, try to… form your own Dao" Old Man Solitude's voice appeared in Long Feng's mind.

But when he looked back, the old man was still chopping wood, having never moved or spoken. But Long Feng knew that this sheath was his gift and his voice was his final words to him. A faint warmth seeped into his heart as he smiled brightly and made an oath in his heart"Teacher, I will definitely come and meet you in the Solitude Mountain even if I have to brave through a sea of fire. And that day, I will call you Master" He made this promise to himself silently.

Then he turned around and walked away without looking back again. When he left the valley, Long Feng suddenly felt his caution returning. The feeling of safety that he had in the valley was gone. He was on his own again. Looking back down into the valley, he seemed to see he old back of a person slowly chopping wood.