The crisp sound of flipping paper pages echoed, clear and pleasant.
But Lì Fēiyǔ found this sound quite annoying.
Ignoring Han Li, who was immersed in reading, he ran back to the edge of the pool, pulled out the long knife stuck in the mud, and began to play with it on his own.
Han Li glanced at him sideways, saw his energetic behavior, and stopped paying attention to him, focusing his mind back on the books.
"The ability to read ten lines at a glance" probably referred to Han Li's astonishing reading speed. A thick book was quickly skimmed through, and without even looking, he casually grabbed another book and continued flipping through it non-stop.
With narrowed eyes, Han Li occasionally showed a pensive expression while reading, his gaze fixed firmly on the pages, unwilling to leave for a moment. His head moved back and forth with his eyes, showing the demeanor of a scholarly reader.
Time passed quickly, and one by one, Han Li quickly browsed through the "Blinking Sword Manuals."
When he finished reading the eleventh manual, he suddenly stopped his astonishing reading speed, throwing the just-finished manual back into the package.
He closed his eyes and rested for a moment.
When his spirit had recovered a bit, he sat cross-legged in place and used his memory to replay the contents of the dozen or so books he had just finished reading in his mind.
After a while, Han Li finally opened his eyes, but was startled by what he saw.
Lì Fēiyǔ's head had somehow appeared right in front of his eyes, so close that their noses almost touched.
"What are you doing? Aren't you practicing swordsmanship?" Han Li asked in surprise.
"It's already this late, Han Junior Brother. Why are you asking such silly questions?" Lì Fēiyǔ shrank back, rolling his eyes.
Only then did Han Li notice that the surroundings had become dim.
He looked up at the sky, which had turned gray, indicating that it was already evening.
"Oh! Time really flew by. I didn't even notice that so much time had passed," Han Li remarked as he stood up and stretched his limbs.
"So, did you find anything interesting in the books?" Lì Fēiyǔ eagerly looked at him, hoping to hear the final results from him.
"Well, it's not bad. It suits me well," Han Li replied.
"What do you mean, 'not bad'? Give me something more concrete," Lì Fēiyǔ said, somewhat dissatisfied.
"In specific terms, these manuals are a mishmash of various techniques, pieced together without any coherent structure," Han Li explained slowly.
"What does 'Blinking Sword Technique' mean? Does it really exist? Why such a strange name?" Lì Fēiyǔ continued to inquire, still not satisfied.
"The Blinking Sword Technique does exist, but it's just a small part of these mixed-up manuals. It occupies only a small portion of these books," Han Li patiently explained.
"As for why it's called that, there's a reason for it."
"What's the reason? Can't you just tell me everything at once instead of saying it bit by bit, like talking to an old scholar in our town?" Lì Fēiyǔ glared at Han Li, unable to stand his slow pace.
Han Li had no choice but to speed up his storytelling slightly.
"According to the books, this technique uses various lights and visual illusions to gain an advantage over enemies, often causing them to lose their lives in the blink of an eye. So it's called the Blinking Sword Technique."
"Such a strange technique exists? There are indeed many talented individuals in the world!" Lì Fēiyǔ became interested upon hearing this. But then, he lost interest completely when Han Li mentioned the next condition.
"This technique has three conditions for practice: One cannot practice if their inner energy has made small achievements; one cannot practice without great perseverance; and one cannot practice without talent."
Upon hearing the first condition, Lì Fēiyǔ immediately gave up on the technique. His internal energy had already achieved considerable progress, and he couldn't afford to abandon his hard-earned skills to learn a technique of uncertain power.
As Lì Fēiyǔ lost all interest in these manuals, he didn't want to stay here any longer.
He got up to bid farewell and, before leaving, instructed Han Li to transcribe these manuals as soon as possible. He would take the originals back next time they met. Although these manuals were not valued by others, if such a large quantity of them disappeared for a long time, it would attract attention.
Not long after Lì Fēiyǔ left, Han Li also departed from the area.
The entire mountain range was shrouded in a thin layer of mist, appearing somewhat dim. Dense coniferous forests grew on both sides of the narrow mountain path. After a gust of mountain wind blew through the forest, making a rustling sound, the branches on both sides twisted and danced eerily.
Walking on such a eerie mountain path, Han Li hurried towards the direction of Divine Hand Valley.
Because he set off late, by the time he reached halfway, it was already completely dark.
If it weren't for his Longevity Arts, which made his eyes more acute at night, Han Li would never have traveled in such a dim environment. After all, this path was not easy to walk on. There were many dangerous turns along the way, and one could easily have an accident if they weren't careful, losing their life.
