Qin Ming was stunned. Could this blade manual really be exceeding all expectations, delivering one surprise after another?
The old man's swordsmanship had already been astonishing enough, showing him a sublime realm of the blade way. But his own Heaven Light had only just taken shape, and he couldn't yet fully unleash the power of that ultimate strike.
Now, before he'd even begun practicing the old man's Heaven Light Force, this "Suchness Force" was already responding?
Qin Ming quickly shook his head. He shouldn't set his hopes too high. If someone had truly mastered the Suchness Force, they probably wouldn't bother with a blade manual like this.
The Pillar-Heaven Force, the Suchness Force, and others of that caliber were all stronger than even the Giant Spirit Force—legendary force arts. The Giant Spirit Force's goal was already godhood, which was already supremely powerful.
After considering this, Qin Ming came to a judgment. A legendary Heaven Light Force wouldn't appear in this book.
His mind began to focus entirely on the book, immersing himself in the reading, resonating with those emotions.
The more concentrated he became, the clearer those voices and images grew.
Qin Ming first examined the "Suchness Force." Just a single sentence had produced such intense emotional fluctuations—he could see how deep the obsession of the person who left those notes must have been.
Before him, a rough, burly man appeared, his face covered in thick curls of beard, a broad blade strapped to his back, gazing up at the night sky during a thunderstorm and sighing.
In the end, he even shouted: "Suchness Force? I'll train you into a nail!"
What was this about? Qin Ming was momentarily stunned, nearly breaking his resonance from the shock of those words.
A moment later, he understood. The bearded man had followed the clues, gone through all manner of hardship, and finally discovered a secret cache left by his predecessors, obtaining a few pages of paper.
The opening was impressive—the very first paragraph told whoever came next that this secret art was related to the Suchness Force!
Yet when the man read through carefully and reached the final page in excitement, he nearly tore the paper. The last line stated that this was actually a Nail Force with extremely strong penetrating power.
The earliest owner of those pages had seriously informed future generations that among the components of the Suchness Force, there was definitely a Nail Force.
Qin Ming was also left speechless, understanding perfectly how the bearded man felt.
In truth, any supreme sect-defining art was composed of numerous force arts combined together, ultimately fusing into the rare Heaven Light Force.
Let alone those legendary force arts.
Everyone knew that the Suchness Force's "true transmission on a single sheet" must be densely packed with every kind of force art.
No wonder the bearded man's留言 carried such hatred—he'd probably been stunned back then, his heart bitter, having spent so much effort tracking down those pages.
Then Qin Ming began to follow along and learn.
The man cursed as he went, but he still studied this force art, practicing with intense resentment because he felt cheated.
When Qin Ming resonated with him, he was affected by the man's emotions, nearly catching fire himself.
At first, he tried to suppress it, but then he realized—the more he gave in to the anger, the stronger the mental resonance became, and the clearer his insights grew.
So he simply let go entirely!
When he closed the book, his mouth was still muttering: "I'll train you into a nail!"
Qin Ming closed his eyes, taking a full quarter-hour to calm himself before finally shaking off those emotions.
He went to the courtyard and began practicing seriously. It flowed smoothly, without the slightest hesitation, as if he'd been studying this for most of his life.
The Heaven Light inside Qin Ming surged rapidly, a sharp gleam gathering at his fingertips as the Nail Force gradually took shape.
His emotional resonance with the predecessor felt as though he'd lived through those experiences himself—those insights and experiences were firmly grasped and became his own "spiritual provisions."
But this didn't mean his Nail Force now carried decades of accumulated power.
He had merely witnessed and resonated with those insights—he hadn't gained the actual force. He still had to train it himself.
In a sense, this emotional resonance was most valuable when facing various "techniques"—like studying blade manuals, spear arts, or sword scriptures. It allowed one to master them quickly and efficiently, achieving sudden enlightenment as if one had practiced for decades.
But elevating one's life level—like Qin Ming's transition from Second New Life to Third New Life, or the accumulation of total Heaven Light Force—still required his own effort.
In those areas, there were no shortcuts.
"Even so, this is more than enough! Some force arts are terribly difficult to train and hard to comprehend thoroughly." Qin Ming was very satisfied, holding the crystallized effort of his predecessors. After aligning with them on a mental level, his gains were immense.
He studied carefully and concluded that this Nail Force was quite formidable. The name might not sound impressive, but it was extremely useful in actual combat.
With Qin Ming's own talent, developing the Nail Force wouldn't be difficult. But having those experiences and insights to guide him meant he could get started quickly. Naturally, he was willing—after all, it saved precious time.
Qin Ming barely exerted any force. With just a light tap of his finger, he pierced straight into the stone millstone.
The Heaven Light Force he'd developed from the silk tome possessed multiple properties—adhesion, tearing, penetrating power. Without question, the Nail Force could integrate with it!
Suddenly, Qin Ming heard crying. He pushed open the door and stepped outside.
"The old man from the Li family just passed." He heard the news on the street.
Qin Ming's heart lurched. He looked up at the night sky, roughly estimating the position—that patch of black mist that appeared not long ago had likely descended near the Li family's home.
A chill crept through him. What was going on?
Were there really various ghosts and specters that came to claim lives? He didn't believe in such things—even the so-called mountain freaks were just higher-stage aberrants.
But he had indeed seen that black mist, invisible to others, slithering like a spirit-snake from afar.
"Is that what Cao Long and Mu Qing said was invisible, something even the great families feared?" Qin Ming's heart tightened.
He kept his composure while observing from nearby, but the black mist didn't appear again.
Twin Tree Village was small—only about forty households. Any disturbance spread through the whole village quickly.
Xu Yueping arrived and sighed: "Now that outside grain is being brought in and the aberrants have retreated from the outer mountains, hunting is becoming safer again. Life was just about to get better, but some old folks have passed at exactly this moment."
Hearing this, Qin Ming immediately sensed something wrong. "Have many old people died recently?"
Xu Yueping nodded. "Yes. In the surrounding villages, old folks have been passing every day."
Then he seemed to remember something. "There are also a few young men who were injured while hunting and didn't make it through recently."
He lowered his voice: "Some say the young men who died might have gone into the mountains to collect weapons. Nobody dares go anymore. But there was another group who brought back weapons and didn't have any problems."
Qin Ming frowned. He suspected these deaths were connected to the black mist.
And originally, he'd first seen the black mist at the Great Rift Gorge, where weapons were scattered.
His mood turned complex. These were things he couldn't talk about.
The exhilaration of mastering the Coiling-Silk Force and Nail Force was completely shattered. Would that unfathomable yet dangerous black mist come again?
Qin Ming felt uncertain, gripped by a strong sense of urgency. He didn't want to leave his fate to chance.
He strode toward Old Liu's house, wanting to ask where he could find a blacksmith.
"You want to forge a blade yourself?" Old Liu looked surprised.
Qin Ming nodded. "Yes. Find a reliable blacksmith. I need a good blade urgently."
Old Liu shook his head. "With everything that's happened recently, and hunting now allowed, the blacksmiths are swamped. They're busy at this hour and won't be able to free up space for you. How about we go early tomorrow, before they start work?"
Qin Ming thought about it, then nodded. Going now would probably be rejected anyway—offering an excessively high price at a sensitive time would be too conspicuous.
He felt the black mist had just visited Twin Tree Village and would likely move elsewhere for now. A small village losing people repeatedly would definitely look abnormal.
"Let's leave around midnight. It's my first time forging a blade—I have no idea how long it'll take."
"Why go through all this trouble? Just hire someone to forge it." Old Liu was on good terms with the blacksmiths, but he was in the middle of his Third New Life and不便外出打招呼. He kicked the big yellow dog. "Dog, get up. Help me deliver a letter."
...
Back at home, Qin Ming studied the blade manual to calm his mind.
He saw the old man again, wielding his blade.
The old man had mastered a Severing Force—a highly refined Heaven Light Force art, synthesized from multiple ordinary force arts.
Qin Ming didn't know exactly how many had been fused, because that emotional memory wasn't intense enough and the scene was dim.
Qin Ming obtained the final Severing Force. The moment he began practicing, he knew this Heaven Light Force art was both powerful and quite complex.
If he'd had to study and comprehend it himself, it would have taken a very long time. This wasn't a single-attribute force art—it was rather profound.
Qin Ming saw in the old man's memory that his pursuit of the Severing Force had been in service of chasing the legendary Heaven-Intercepting Force!
Unfortunately, though the old man's talent was exceptional and he'd gone far on the blade path, his life level couldn't keep up, and he couldn't obtain famous force arts. Developing the Severing Force was his limit.
"This single Severing Force alone makes the three-colored flower worthwhile!" Qin Ming now understood its value.
"Intercept the line of heaven, hoping to tear through the night..." He clearly saw that even the blade manual was evolved from this Heaven Light Force. The ultimate strike's meaning lay in those two characters: Heaven-Intercepting.
Qin Ming sat in silence, digesting this for a long while. The Severing Force was truly remarkable.
Shortly after, he noticed with surprise that his own Heaven Light Force touched on all aspects—it could indeed integrate the Severing Force!
Now he finally understood why the silk tome had that notation. It was indeed a specific reminder to future generations: FUSE is the key word!
"Seek within oneself, but also borrow from outside."
Clearly, inner cultivation alone wasn't enough. Without spiritual substances, relying solely on his own slow grinding—how could he rapidly elevate his life level?
And without other force arts, how could he fuse anything?
Qin Ming drank the last of the spiritual substance. That night, after his body grew hot again, he fully completed his Third New Life—even faster than his Second New Life.
He felt the changes within himself. His strength had surely exceeded three thousand jin, and his speed, physical resilience, and overall constitution had all improved significantly.
At midnight, Qin Ming opened his eyes, stepped outside, and rendezvoused with Old Liu.
The blacksmith was in Silver Elm Town. At this hour it was utterly quiet—no matter how busy business was, nobody worked in the dead of night.
Old Liu's vitality was now extraordinarily robust. He personally worked the bellows for Qin Ming, raising the furnace temperature.
Yet what dumbfounded Qin Ming was that no matter what he tried, he couldn't melt the piece of mutton-fat jade iron. In the end, it only glowed red.
"What rare treasure is this? You really are something. It must be a mystical product from the deep mountains?" Old Liu guessed immediately.
"Keep pumping the bellows!"
In the end, Qin Ming gave up on melting it. Taking advantage of the mutton-fat jade iron being red-hot, he swung the great hammer with all his strength. Fortunately they were underground—if not, the noise in the middle of the night would have been enormous.
With Qin Ming's immense strength, he was eventually exhausted, because he never stopped. Every swing used his full power.
"I went through Third New Life just to become a blacksmith's assistant?"
Old Liu couldn't bear to watch any longer and stepped in himself. His technique was slightly better—he'd been on good terms with the blacksmiths and had forged blades here before.
Qin Ming learned quickly, took the hammer again, and through sheer effort finally shaped the blade.
After quenching, neither of them could put an edge on it—the stone simply wouldn't grind.
Old Liu couldn't look away, sighing: "I think once you reach the big cities, you should have this blade reforged. We're truly helpless here—the material is just too extraordinary."
"Mm, I'm not sure yet what weapon I'll ultimately use. For now, this will have to do." Qin Ming gazed at the blade's jade-white body. This material was far too eye-catching.
He coated it with the mineral paint he'd prepared earlier, then dried it with fire.
If he ever wanted to strip the paint, his Heaven Light's adhesive property meant a single brush of his hand would peel it all off.
The blade was short—even with the handle, it didn't reach the length of his forearm. But it was sufficient, and Qin Ming found it comfortable in his hand.
As for the tiny piece of luminous blue jade iron, Qin Ming left it untouched. Such a delicate piece was impossible to forge here.
Qin Ming asked: "Is it too early to go borrow the secret manual now?"
"The sky is black as ink. Even the breakfast shops in town haven't opened yet. Going this early wouldn't be appropriate."
The two wandered around town, unable to even find breakfast.
Qin Ming's pupils contracted—what he feared most had come to pass. He saw the black mist again.
It was actually appearing in town. It had just emerged from a household, spotted them both, and was rapidly approaching.
"Uncle Liu, let's go home first." Qin Ming spoke, turning him around and giving Old Liu a meaningful look in the thick darkness.
After his Third New Life, Old Liu could clearly see his expression even in this pitch-black night. He immediately nodded. "Good!"
The two ducked into an alley, changing direction.
The black mist adjusted its course and followed.
Qin Ming realized they'd been thoroughly targeted. Probably because the streets were empty in the second half of the night—they were the only two people around, far too conspicuous.
There was another possibility: they'd encountered the black mist at the Great Rift Gorge before. This wasn't their first meeting, and the mist likely remembered them.
"Could it be that when I spotted it yesterday, the black mist also noticed me?"
No matter which explanation was true, today probably wouldn't end peacefully!
"Let's go. Back to the village, and we'll hunt something along the way!" Qin Ming said casually, tightening his grip on the blade handle as he and Old Liu left Silver Elm Town.
The black mist seemed happy to see them enter an uninhabited area, following silently.
Once the trees on both sides of the road grew denser, the black mist couldn't resist any longer—it lunged at them without warning.
Qin Ming had been on guard in secret for some time. When it drew close, he swung his blade in a reverse slash!