"Maintain this state! I can hear your heart rate! It might feel uncomfortable at first, but don't worry. Since you endured practicing swordsmanship while using the Dragon Transformation Breathing Technique, it means you can handle the burden of the Dragon Transformation!"
Xie Yanran's voice rang in Feng Yin's ears. Struggling to maintain the Rotating Dragon Breath in Hidden Performance Mode, he slowly turned his head to look at her. "Senior... Sister..."
Xie Yanran's expression was stern. "Don't speak. You've just started learning this skill and aren't proficient yet. Speaking will disrupt your breathing rhythm and affect your ability to maintain the state."
Feng Yin forced a nod.
"Maintain this state and your breathing, then practice the Jiao Sword. Let's see what changes occur."
Looking at Feng Yin, whose appearance had drastically changed, Xie Yanran revealed a strange expression but tried her best to keep her tone calm. In reality, she was so shocked she almost cursed. As the Eldest Senior Sister, although her own talent wasn't high, she had managed the Gangrou Sect alongside Sect Leader Xie Jingyuan for many years. Even if she hadn't practiced it herself, she had seen other disciples who specialized in the Jiao Sword. Among them, no one had ever successfully found the critical node of the Dragon Transformation after merely half an hour of learning. Nor had anyone been able to maintain the Dragon Transformation State for so long on their first try... And absolutely no one had ever reached such a deep level during their first Dragon Transformation! This kid, Feng Yin... his talent was a bit too absurd. She had to find a way to let him return to Celestial Essence, to return to the Gangrou Sect!
On the other side, Feng Yin had already begun swinging his sword, executing the moves one by one according to Xie Yanran's instructions.
The moment he swung the blade, he immediately noticed the difference. The power, the Speed... they were incredibly strong! Overjoyed, he rapidly swung his longsword. The sword Light flashed like lightning, and the sound of it cutting through the air grew increasingly sharp. Not only that, but as his figure rose, fell, dodged, and pivoted, he moved as swiftly as a darting rabbit or a swooping falcon. Even with the unadorned Jiao Swordsmanship, bolstered by his current Dragon Transformation State, Feng Yin's Body Technique appeared extremely ferocious and swift.
However, this miraculous state only lasted for about a dozen seconds. Just as Feng Yin was executing his swordsmanship with growing excitement, his fluid movements came to a sudden halt. His rapidly beating heart began to decelerate, and the surging blood Flow within his body correspondingly slowed down. The power and Speed of his sword swings grew increasingly sluggish until they completely recovered to normal.
Confused, Feng Yin stopped. He was just about to turn his head to ask Xie Yanran what had happened when a massive amount of sweat suddenly poured from his pores, rapidly evaporating under his unconsciously elevated body temperature. Faint traces of mist could be seen rising from his skin. It was as if most of his body's energy had been depleted along with the evaporation of that copious amount of sweat. A sense of extreme exhaustion subsequently spread from deep within his body.
At that moment, Xie Yanran promptly handed him a water bottle filled with a faint blue liquid. "Quick, drink this Nutrient Liquid. Don't waste a drop."
Feng Yin silently reached out, only to find that his arm was trembling violently, entirely out of his control. Managing to grasp the bottle with great difficulty, he struggled to gulp down the blue liquid inside. Whether it was purely psychological or not, the moment the liquid hit his stomach, his body felt like a sponge that had been parched in the desert for years finally encountering a spring, instantly and completely absorbing the Nutrient Liquid. Unable to suppress his craving, he downed the nearly two hundred milliliters of liquid in one gulp.
Beside him, Xie Yanran spoke softly. "This is a high-energy Nutrient Liquid developed by the Zero Point Consortium's biotechnology division. It can rapidly and comprehensively replenish the essential elements required for vital activities. It's exorbitantly expensive and even harder to obtain here in Sin City."
Feng Yin, feeling slightly better now, nodded silently. "Thank you, Senior Sister. It must not have been easy for you to get this."
Xie Yanran didn't dwell on the topic of the Nutrient Liquid. Instead, she looked at Feng Yin seriously. "Feng Yin, to be able to maintain the Dragon Transformation for so long on your first use, and with such a massive degree of Enhancement... even though I was mentally prepared, your talent is still unexpectedly formidable. Are the legendary Innate Martial Artists truly this blessed by heaven?" she murmured, clearly a bit uncertain herself.
Feng Yin was even more at a loss for words—after all, he wasn't even sure if he was an Innate Martial Artist himself, let alone knowing anything about the circumstances of other Innate Martial Artists. Xie Yanran didn't continue to dwell on the matter. Since she hadn't seen many Innate Martial Artists prior to Feng Yin, she had nothing to use as a point of reference.
She simply instructed Feng Yin to make sure he rested well and arranged his training schedule for the next few days. Especially regarding the practice of the Fixed Form Dragon Transformation, Xie Yanran repeatedly emphasized that his next training priority was to increase his proficiency in activating this Fixed Form.
"In actual combat, your enemies won't give you the time to build up to its activation like you just did. Therefore, you must compress that build-up process further and further, until you can enter the Dragon Transformation State anytime, anywhere.
"Conversely, maintaining the Dragon Transformation State isn't something you need to specifically practice. It's purely a burst state that squeezes your bodily functions to their limits. Deliberately practicing it will, at best, increase your combat proficiency while in that state, but it won't extend the duration you can sustain it."
Xie Yanran patted Feng Yin's shoulder helplessly. "The most crucial point is... here in Sin City, Nutrient Liquid and various supplements are very difficult to come by. If you activate the Dragon Transformation excessively, you could easily damage your foundation. Do not use it in actual combat unless it's an absolutely critical moment."
Feng Yin nodded in agreement. "I understand, Senior Sister."
Xie Yanran gave him a faint smile, then turned and left. She had to find a way to let Sect Leader Xie Jingyuan know of Feng Yin's existence. An Innate Martial Artist with such talent was enough for the Gangrou Sect to do everything in their power to fish him out of this Border Prison Island. They absolutely could not let Feng Yin waste away in this place of exile within Genroku Country.
At the intersection of deep night and early dawn, before the sky had even begun to brighten, Feng Yin opened his eyes in the pitch-black room and sat up. He opened and closed the door with brisk, light movements, leaving the room. Carrying his longsword, he walked calmly and naturally toward the Roof of the Tongzi Building. On his way, he ran into two brothers from the Night Patrol, exchanging a silent, eye-contact greeting with them. Going up to the Roof at dawn every day for the Cultivation of his swordsmanship was a habit of his over the past few days, one that many people in the Tongzi Building were already well aware of. Although he was even earlier than usual today, the two men from the Night Patrol only admired his diligence and didn't think anything else of it.
Upon arriving at the Roof, however, Feng Yin did not practice as he usually did. Yesterday's night raid had resulted in the deaths of eight people in the Tongzi Building. Although Feng Yin had no ties to these people and didn't particularly care about the lives or deaths of those who were criminals by nature, the demise of these "companions" still made it difficult for him to sleep peacefully. If he hadn't coincidentally "logged into the game" last night, causing him to enter a state where the enemy couldn't detect him, the normally sleeping him would likely have already joined those dead men on their journey to the afterlife.
One cannot sleep soundly with a threat lurking beside their bed. To get a good night's rest, he had to make the enemy so battered and exhausted that they wouldn't have the time to bother him. The battlefield should be placed in enemy territory.
Feng Yin walked to the edge of the Roof and silently observed the routes of the Night Patrol below. Then, he looked toward the building about ten meters away from the back of the Tongzi Building. A terrifying, hideous black Armor quietly materialized on his body. A few seconds later, under the moonlight, a pitch-black silhouette dashed out rapidly from the Roof. With its shredded, hair-like cape fluttering wildly in the wind, it landed silently atop another abandoned, low-rise building before vanishing entirely into the darkness of the night.