Free Web NovelChapter 267: Chapter 266: Wind and Cloud Escape: Entry Level
WHOOSH—
Fang Han wasn’t traveling at full speed. Instead, he practiced the *Wind and Cloud Escape* as he went.
This wouldn’t be possible with Swordsmanship, of course, but it was perfectly fine for a Body Technique suited for travel.
The Inner Qi in his body followed the incredibly complex pathways of the *Wind and Cloud Escape* as he attempted to circulate it.
At first, it was quite sluggish. His Inner Qi didn’t flow smoothly, and the transitions between steps were stiff.
But thanks to his Sixty-Fourfold Stepping Talent Amplification and the solid foundation laid by his Perfection Level *Flowing Wind Shadowless Step*, he could always quickly identify his mistakes and correct them in time.
Many obscure and difficult points often became clear to him after just a few attempts, with a slight shift in his thoughts.
And so he continued, cultivating as he traveled.
His figure would sometimes speed up and sometimes slow down, graceful and agile. At other times, it was like a shifting cloud, his trajectory impossible to predict.
Although he was far from achieving the ultimate realm described in the manual—"appearing and disappearing unpredictably, merging with heaven and earth"—his understanding of the *Wind and Cloud Escape* was deepening at a steady pace.
’At my current pace, it’ll probably take at least ten days of hard work to reach the Entry Level with *Wind and Cloud Escape*.’
Fang Han estimated inwardly.
This was more than twice as slow as the five days it had taken him to reach the Entry Level with the *Nine Swords of Sky Splitting*.
But there was nothing to be done about it. His current Stepping Talent Amplification was only sixty-fourfold.
He traveled by day and rested by night.
After six days of this, the vast silhouette of a mountain range appeared on the horizon—sprawling and undulating, with treacherous peaks shrouded in clouds and mist.
It was none other than Fang Han’s destination—the Cloud Mist Mountain Range!
At the foot of the mountains, the faint outline of a city was also visible. That was Yunwu City, the last supply point before entering the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
Fang Han slowed his pace and approached the city.
He paid the entrance tax and stepped inside.
Compared to the other towns he had passed through, Yunwu City was exceptionally noisy and... chaotic.
The proportion of Martial Artists among the pedestrians on the street was astonishingly high. Most of them carried sabers or wore swords, their eyes wary, and they exuded a murderous aura that varied in intensity.
Shouts, arguments, and even the clash of weapons could be heard from various corners from time to time.
The air was thick with a restless and tense atmosphere.
Clearly, the news of the thousand-year-old ginseng had attracted a flood of Martial Artists. With all sorts of people mixing together, the public order in this already small border city had deteriorated rapidly.
Fang Han wore a Silver-Striped Cyan Robe with a longsword at his waist. His aura was composed, and his steps were unhurried.
Wherever he passed, Martial Artists sensed the faint but dangerous aura he projected and saw the robes that marked him as a True Disciple of the Qingxuan Sect.
Most of their expressions changed slightly as they subconsciously made way for him, their gazes filled with a mixture of wariness and curiosity.
The Qingxuan Sect was one of the seven most powerful sects in Qingyang County. A True Disciple of the Qingxuan Sect was not someone they could afford to provoke lightly.
Fang Han paid no mind to the surrounding chaos. He found a tavern that looked relatively clean and tidy from the outside and walked in.
The tavern was buzzing with voices and almost every seat was taken.
Martial Artists from all walks of life were talking loudly, their boisterous conversations mostly revolving around the thousand-year-old ginseng.
Fang Han’s arrival caused a small commotion, and many eyes instantly focused on him.
His expression was calm as he found an empty table by the window, sat down, and ordered a few house specials and a pot of clear wine.
Soon, the food and wine arrived.
Fang Han ate his meal in a slow, deliberate manner, all while casually listening to the discussions around him.
"...Did you hear? Three days ago, someone spotted that thousand-year-old ginseng again over in Luoxia Valley!"
"Really? What happened? Did they get it?"
"Get it, my ass! That thing’s practically a spirit; it’s faster than a rabbit. The guy who saw it was a proper Seventh Grade expert, but he couldn’t even touch a single root hair!"
"Hahaha! But it’s strange, isn’t it? The thousand-year-old ginseng never appears in the same place twice, but it seems... it’s always active in the outer regions of the mountain range, never going deep into the dangerous areas."
"Maybe its spiritual intelligence has awakened and it knows the depths are dangerous? Or maybe... it’s looking for something?"
"Who cares what it’s looking for? As long as we can catch it, that’s millions of silver! Enough to live in luxury for several lifetimes!"
"Hmph, in your dreams. How many experts are watching it in the mountains right now? Even the Seven Sects have sent people. Just the two of us? We’ll be lucky if we don’t get ourselves killed!"
As these fragments of information entered his ears, a plan began to form in Fang Han’s mind.
The thousand-year-old ginseng hadn’t been caught yet, there were recent sighting records, and its activity seemed to be concentrated in the outer areas of the mountain range.
This undoubtedly increased his chances of finding it.
After finishing his meal, Fang Han waved over the waiter to settle the bill, tossed him a small silver ingot, and asked in a low voice.
"Waiter, is there any concrete news about that thousand-year-old ginseng recently?"
The waiter accepted the silver, his face immediately breaking into an enthusiastic smile as he lowered his voice.
"Sir, you’ve asked the right person. Three days ago, someone definitely saw it over in Luoxia Valley. It was golden all over, ran like a streak of golden light, and it can even burrow into the ground!"
"But since then, no one’s heard of any other sightings. The mountains are crowded and chaotic right now, a real mess. If you plan on going in, Sir, you must be extremely careful."
"Thank you."
Fang Han nodded. This information was more or less the same as what he’d overheard.
He delayed no longer. He got up, left the tavern, purchased some non-perishable rations and fresh water in the city, and then headed straight out of Yunwu City toward the majestic, sprawling Cloud Mist Mountain Range.
As he stepped into the mountain range, the air instantly became fresh and moist. The forest was lush, birds chirped in the mountain’s tranquility, and it felt like a different world from the noisy chaos of the city.
But Fang Han’s sharp Spiritual Sense could feel countless auras, both strong and weak, hidden beneath the tranquility, along with the faint scent of blood.
Contention and slaughter were constantly playing out in this mountain forest.
He activated the *Ten Thousand Transformations Concealing Breath Technique*, and his aura instantly retracted to its absolute minimum, as if he had become a dead log or a mountain stone.
He did his best to lower his presence.
He used the *Wind and Cloud Escape* to weave through the forest, using the opportunity to practice it.
His figure flickered erratically through the mountain woods. He wasn’t moving fast, but there was an elusive rhythm to his movements.
After several days of searching like this, Fang Han had covered a vast area. He encountered a few groups of Martial Artists along the way and even sensed powerful auras from a distance twice, suspecting the presence of Fifth Grade experts.
But he relied on his superb Breath Concealment Technique and Body Technique to avoid them in advance, preventing any conflict.
However, there was still no trace of the thousand-year-old ginseng, which made him wonder if the Sect Leader’s words were actually true.
’Getting on the Celestial Pride List is supposed to bless you with great luck, so why haven’t I felt anything?’
Two more days passed. As he was in a secluded valley, integrating the step variations of the *Wind and Cloud Escape* more tightly with the circulation of his Inner Qi—
BUZZ...
His Inner Qi suddenly resonated strangely. The airflow around him seemed to be drawn in, coiling around him naturally.
He took a step, and his body seemed to melt into the wind. He felt as light as nothing, and his speed suddenly increased severalfold, leaving behind a series of startlingly realistic afterimages that slowly dissipated.
’I’ve reached the Entry Level of *Wind and Cloud Escape*!’
Fang Han stopped, a look of delighted surprise flashing in his eyes as he felt the profound sensation of being more in tune with the world’s air currents.
Just as he had estimated, it had taken him over ten days to successfully reach the Entry Level of *Wind and Cloud Escape*.
At the Entry Level, the *Wind and Cloud Escape* had already completely surpassed the Perfection Level *Flowing Wind Shadowless Step* in terms of speed, agility, and stealth!
The feeling of ’Melt into the Wind’, in particular, made him feel even more at home as he moved through the mountain forest.
’Now that I’ve reached the Entry Level with this Body Technique, moving through the Cloud Mist Mountain Range will be much faster and stealthier.’
Fang Han nodded in satisfaction.
He regulated his breath for a moment, then rose and set off again, moving stealthily.
His figure was like a faint, imperceptible wisp of green smoke, zipping between thick tree trunks and dense bushes at high speed.
BUZZ—
He pushed his Perfection Level *Spirit Nose Technique* to its limit. His sense of smell was magnified to the extreme, allowing him to carefully distinguish every subtle scent in the air.
The earthy smell of the soil, the fresh fragrance of plants, the musty odor of rotting leaves, the faint, gamey stench left by a distant Demon Beast... All these scents mingled, creating a complex olfactory map.
He completely immersed his mind in this ocean of scents, not letting a single abnormality slip past him.
Time passed slowly. The sun climbed higher, and the light in the forest grew a little brighter.
Suddenly, his nostrils twitched. He had caught an extremely faint yet exceptionally unique fragrance.
The fragrance was barely there, as if drifting from a great distance. It carried an indescribable vitality and spiritual charm; just inhaling a trace of it was enough to make his spirits lift slightly.
It far surpassed the medicinal aroma of the Earth Essence Pills he had taken before!
’This is...’
A light as sharp as a falcon’s flashed in Fang Han’s eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.
’The thousand-year-old ginseng!’
’Such a unique and rich Spirit Medicine aroma is something no ordinary medicinal herb could possess!’
The only thing he could think of was the thousand-year-old ginseng.
Forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he activated his *Ten Thousand Transformations Concealing Breath Technique*. His aura retracted, and he blended in with the surrounding rocks and trees.
He silently employed the *Wind and Cloud Escape*, his figure like a wisp of green smoke melting into the wind as he crept noiselessly toward the source of the fragrance.
He didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless. Each step landed as light as a feather, not disturbing a single speck of dust. He used the shadows of the trees and the undulations of the terrain to perfectly conceal his tracks.
The medicinal fragrance grew clearer and more distinct. Its source seemed to be a shaded hillside several hundred yards ahead.
Fang Han held his breath, his movements becoming even gentler and slower. Like a ghost in the night, he drew closer, one bit at a time.
He parted the dense leaves of a bush and peered through the gap toward the hillside.
The next moment, his pupils contracted abruptly!
There, on a relatively flat patch of ground on the shaded part of the hill, a peculiar plant was growing quietly.
It was about a foot tall. It lacked the compound leaves of an ordinary ginseng; its top was bare, consisting only of a main stalk.
Its entire body was the color of warm, lustrous jade, with a faint golden light flowing within it. It didn’t look like a mortal plant at all, but rather a work of art carved from the finest gold and jade.
It was as thick as a child’s arm, its roots buried deep in the dark brown soil.
The rich medicinal aroma, filled with immense life Essence Qi, was emanating from this very plant.
With just a single glance, Fang Han immediately determined that this had to be the thousand-year-old ginseng that had countless Martial Artists flocking to it like moths to a flame!
