Temporarily letting go of the obsession of the former possessor of this body, Lin Yun took out the painting scroll given by Old Hong.
In the Sword-Washing Chamber, he often saw Old Hong observe this painting in an extremely cautious way, but Lin Yun never stole a glance at it.
He wondered what on earth was in the painting.
“Let tiger be your heart but gently sniff a rose.”
These were the words written on the scroll, full of ancient austerity and sophistication at the same time.
The moment the scroll was unfolded, raging roar rings in Lin Yun’s ears and a fierce tiger rushed right toward him from the painting.
Bang!
Lin Yun got a fright and pulled back in a hurry, dropping the scroll on the ground.
His heart wouldn’t stop beating slower after a long time.
“It’s so scary. It seems that there was really a tiger coming at me.”
Lin Yun’s fear lingered for a while. Looking at the scroll on the ground, he decided to pick it up after some hesitation.
Painted in the scroll was a fierce tiger rushing out, one peek at which imposed tremendous pressure on the viewer.
In the next second, you would forget that it was something in a painting, but instead regarded it as a real tiger coming at you.
The tiger opened its mouth, sending out tiger roars formidable enough to shake one’s soul.
Whiz!
Lin Yun quickly folded the scroll, not daring to take one more look. His hand holding the painting slightly trembled.
How terrifying! No wonder Old Hong couldn’t be careful enough every time he watched the painting.
The pressure of a fiery tsunami or earthquake taking place right in front of you! The murderous breath of the king of all beasts attacking straight at your heart!
Undoubtedly, this scroll was a real treasure.
However, it seemed useless for the moment because one look at it made Lin Yun under tremendous pressure.
“Wait…”
Lin Yun’s eyes lit up, remembering what Old Hong told him, “What you practice is Tiger Fist, so it must be of great use even if you cannot figure out the secret of the painting.”
Now he got it that Old Hong never expected him to unlock the mystery in the painting.
He only hoped that by observing it, Lin Yun could reach the top level of Tiger Fist.
The practice of any cultivation or martial arts, from primary to top, could be divided to four stages: Primary Stage, Slight Achievement, Big Achievement, and Final Perfection.
Tiger Fist was one of the simplest of all basic martial arts, the Primary Stage of which could be reached with just a little perception.
With diligence and hard training for enough time, it was not difficult to reach Slight Achievement.
Reaching Big Achievement, however, required much. For a person without enough perception, no matter how much time spent on it would be a waste.
As for Final Perfection, it required both gift and opportunity, which was indeed a pipe dream for him.
Even the most basic martial art, once reaching Final Perfection, could generate breath-taking power of destruction, or even broke through the limitation of the martial art itself, exerting enormous might that transcended its own grade.
In the past two years, Lin Yun’s Tiger Fist had been stuck in Slight Achievement.
The power of Tiger Fist could only be given play to thirty percent, so it was out of pure luck that he defeated Zhou Ping last time.
The major reason for Lin Yun’s last victory was Zhou Ping’s complacency and underestimation of Lin Yun because for a long time, he had been able to easily beat the crap out of Lin Yun.
He never anticipated that Lin Yun should reach the third level of martial practice, so he suffered great deal under his impatience and impulse.
Joining the outer Sect was sure to be followed by many new challenges, so it’d be better to stabilize his martial level first. It wouldn’t be late to wait until he reached the Final Perfection of Tiger Fist.
In his previous life, Lin Yun had been a calm and vigilant actor.
He never took an inattentive step and always made a move when he was as sure as a gun.
This world, operated by the law of the jungle, permitted even no bit of negligence, because any careless behavior might ruin one’s whole life.
Making up his mind, Lin Yun stopped hesitating.
He tried his best to suppress the fear in his heart and once again unfolded the tiger scroll.
Whizz!
As if a gale fleeting by the ear, the overwhelming pressure came right at his face.
Lin Yun tried his best to keep calm, carefully observed the subtle spirit of the tiger, and quickly folded the scroll after insisting for two seconds.
He closed his eyes in an attempt to recall in his mind the subtle spirit of the fierce tiger from the paining.
By the time when he opened his eyes with brilliance, Lin Yun began to practice Tiger Fist in the tiny wooden cabin.
Instantly, the punches blew as fluently as running water and as smoothly as floating clouds, and the tiger spirit, reverberating simultaneously in his mind while he carried out movements, was absorbed bit by bit.
Finishing a set of punches, Lin Yun merrily felt his body stretched to a full extent.
A swell of thoughts flooded to him and every intertwined detail was inextricably about Tiger Fist.
An experience had never occurred before embraced Lin Yun, in an enjoyably abstruse way beyond description.
It was indeed helpful. Old Hong wasn't bragging!
Joy sprawled along the corners of his mouth. He was motived to open the scroll again.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, and four seconds!
This time, Lin Yun watched the scroll for four seconds, doubling that of last time!
The fierce tiger in the painting had even formed a vague silhouette in his mind.
In the narrow and plain cabin, the young man seemed to have opened the door to a brand-new world, so he kept practicing the martial art regarded as worthless trash by others.
He sweated like a pig, exhausted, but still carried on.
Even though he would be scared and shiver to the extent psychological scars might be left on his mind every time he unfolded the scroll, he still held on biting hard his teeth and summoned up the courage to unfold the scroll again and again.
Tiger Dashing Down from Mountain Top!
Lin Yun shouted out loud after repeating the process ten times and the second killing skill of Tiger Fist was carried out by him without any hindrance.
In an instant, as if turning into a tiger, he jumped nearly one and a half meters into the air, almost touching the ceiling.
During his landing, bones inside his body made cracking sounds like whistling wind, ear-deafening.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The overflowed gale blew away everything in the cabin and made pieces of furniture scatter here and there on the ground, leaving the room in a mess.
Tiger Roaring in Forest, Tiger Dashing down from Mountain Top, and Tiger Worshipped by All Beasts were the three killing skills of Tiger Fist. The first two moves could only build up one’s body and refine Qi-blood.
At this moment, Lin Yun succeeded in the first two killing skills, leaving only the last one—Tiger Worshipped by All Beasts.
Brilliance shimmered in Lin Yun’s eyes. The scroll is indeed a treasure, with the help of which his martial arts improved more than what he had to practice for half a year.
“With this treasure, surely I’m going to reach Final Perfection of Tiger Fist soon.”
Having succeeded in two killing skills in a time, Lin Yun was now full of confidence.
………………………………………………
Three days later, the sun was rising from the horizon.
In front of a wooden cabin halfway up the Qingyun Mountain, a figure was turning and rolling in the midair and punching as fast as wind in the sunshine.
Whistling sound floated over the open space.
Every punch sweeping out triggered roaring and whistling wind. The young man was for sure the sword slave—Lin Yun. Before he became a disciple of the outer Sect, the identity of Qingyun sword slave would still be sealed on him.
In the open space, Lin Yun looked calm and didn’t push out punches randomly.
He was experiencing the warm stream within his body, which was said to be the inner power generated when the martial artist entered the third grade of martial practice.
One could be called a martial artist only after becoming an outer disciple and learning the approach to cultivate inner power.
Currently, even though he had no idea of how to cultivate inner power, he paid attention to integrate his punches with inner power.
All of a sudden, from his calm eyes, zealous glow oozed out like burning flames.
“Tiger Roaring in Forest!”
Boom!
The bones inside his body were roaring again and again out loud like a tiger. By one vigorous punch, cracking sounds burst out in the air, stirring turbulent air flows to finally form gales in all directions.
Tiger Dashing down from Mountain Top!
Taking advantage of the momentum, Lin Yun jumped high into the air and then dived downward directly. He seemed to transform into a tiger, thumping hard on the ground. Boom!
One punch on the ground, and cracks began to creep all over the mountain rocks.
Rocks crashed suggested that Lin Yun reached the top level of Tiger Fist—Final Perfection!
After practicing a set of punches, Lin Yun was sweating but not much compared with the first practice, an indication that he had made speedy progress.
In three days, his Tiger Fist finally reached top level and his third level martial cultivation was also stabilized.
Phew!
Pulling back his arms, Lin Yun stood upright.
In the sunshine, Lin Yun’s slightly tender face was full of vigor and vitality. He exhaled out a breath of foul air, looking calm and composed, and whispered to himself, “Now that I have reached top level and stabilized my martial cultivation, I can finally depend on myself.”
He walked into the wooden cabin and tidied up himself. Seeing in the basin reflection the purple seal between his eyebrows, Lin Yun was lost in contemplation.
The seal was too conspicuous. Even if he didn’t give a care, others might make carping comments on it.
Thinking about it, Lin Yun tore off a piece of cloth and put it on his forehead as a headband.
Half an hour later, Lin Yun appeared in the Qingyun Sect Affair Administration.
Sect Affair Administration was the place sending out sect salaries and storing martial arts books, cultivation manuals, weapons and martial tools.
When Lin Yun arrived, there were already many disciples gathering here.
“Senior, I’m Lin Yun and I’ve reached the third level of martial cultivation, so I hereby apply to become an outer disciple.”
Facing the administrator of Sect Affair Administration, Lin Yun took out the identity card for the administrator to review and says calmly.
The administrator was an elder in grey whose family name was Yang. Despite his plain look, his martial cultivation reached as high as the sixth level.
In front of him, Lin Yun could feel the coming pressure.
“Lin Yun the sword slave?”
The administrator in grey lazily raised his eyebrows and took a glance at Lin Yun, not inspecting his identity. He smiled, “I have heard about you. You’re quite famous for your excellent skill in sword maintenance.”
The voice of the old man was not too loud but enough to attract the attention of other people who all displayed their curiosity.
“Lin Yun the sword slave!”
“This guy actually breaks through to the third level of martial cultivation. That’s awesome of him. He helped me with my sword maintenance.”
“Not that he is awesome. Think how many elixirs Sister Su has given him. What a fool he is not able to break through to the third level until today.”
The quiet Administration hall turned noisy after grey-gown administrator spelled out Lin Yun’s name.
To the loud and harsh comments, Lin Yun showed no joy or anger. Instead, he asked calmly, “You’re flattering me, senior. Am I eligible to become one of the outer disciples?”
“According to the Sect rules since ancient time, anyone who reaches the third level of martial cultivation, no matter what his identity, is eligible to become an outer disciple. This is the rule, but…you’re an exception!”