Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 144 - 119: Snow Stepping Traceless, Great Success in Medical Skill (5K3)

The wind and snow between heaven and earth cut like knives, the earth a chopping block, all living things are but fish and meat upon it—men and women, young and old, all caught within.

Amid the endless falling snow, a young man holding six jars of wine looked up, gazing at the snowflakes that never seemed to stop. Watching, watching, each petal of snow seemed to him like the willow catkins of spring.

Flying snow, willow catkins.

A flash of spiritual light streaked across his mind, and that night when Bai Yi, the Flower-Picking Thief, used his exquisite lightweight skill, the scene resurfaced vividly.

The youth slowly closed his eyes, brow arched as the Hidden Dragon in the Abyss surged, and at once, the Strength Pill in his dantian spun; two streams of power roared forth simultaneously.

Each followed its distinct circuit, streaming into his legs.

One step forward.

His body like willow catkin, drifting with the wind—this step was not far, just an ordinary stride.

Another step fell, the chirring of the cicada faintly emerging, his feet growing ever lighter.

The flash of enlightenment in the youth's mind grew clearer and more brilliant—step by step, willow catkin turning to cicada, cicada to willow, the rhythm ever changing, the clumsiness and stagnation quickly falling away.

The cicada lies dormant three years, for but one summer.

The young cicada buries itself deep underground, lurking three years and drinking bitter sap from tree roots, all for the sake of one molt, greeting the first rays of summer with new wings.

At this moment, Su Mu walking alone through the snow was like that cicada in mid-transformation: awkwardness and stiff movements sloughed away, his feet ever stronger and more powerful. Again he took a step forward.

In the snow, only a shallow print was left behind—no accident; second step, third step, and every step thereafter left only the faintest trace, vanishing instantly when new flakes fell.

The youth, eyes tightly closed, stepped out once more, gliding with the wind over ten yards; tips of his toes touched the ground, barely etching a trace in the snow, as if catkins alighted upon dust.

Another step, and the young man trembled all over.

"Weng------"

The spiritual light in his mind and that night's display of lightweight skill by Bai Yi merged completely; of all he'd seen, Bai Yi's lightness skill was supreme, and these days Su Mu had frequently replayed the scene when he fought Bai Yi.

From the worthy, learn as from a master. Su Mu never hesitated to learn from an opponent stronger in any skill, because he possessed the confidence that, once he surpassed someone, that enemy would never again catch up.

At this moment Su Mu succeeded in catching and embodying the inspiration in his mind.

And then he understood.

The Startled Sparrow Step, long since perfected, now faintly showed signs of advancing still further—a step beyond the pinnacle. As for the two newly acquired Eighth-Grade Lightness Techniques, his proficiency was rising fast, like tidewater after the moon.

Each step he took equaled months, half a year, even a year or more of painstaking practice for an ordinary person.

Su Mu's steps did not cease; the flash of comprehension in his mind gradually faded and grew still, but Su Mu seized its last vestiges, breaking through shackles one after another, breaking bottlenecks in succession!

Feixu Skill (Great Success 1%)

Yet another step fell.

Eight-Step Chasing Cicada (Great Success 1%)

Comprehension: 62 (Hidden-Dragon Level)

The two lightweight skills he had extorted from the Qingfeng Gang Leader Gu Feng, held for barely ten days, both now reached Great Success — and that was not all.

At the moment the two lightweight skills reached Great Success, yet another flash of insight streaked through Su Mu's mind—he saw the path to fusing Startled Sparrow Step, Feixu Skill, and Eight-Step Chasing Cicada.

"Body like willow catkin, cicada sings in company, mountain sparrows startled into flight..." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The inspiration flared and vanished in an instant, allowing no time for Su Mu to dwell on it. As both Eighth-Grade Lightness Techniques attained Great Success, a searing current sprang to life in his abdomen, surging through his four limbs and hundred meridians.

Beneath the straw cape, Su Mu wore only thin clothing; yet even as the cold wind howled and snowstorm fell, sweat beaded faintly all over his body.

"I already have the Jade Bone Pill Formula obtained after Third Bone Forging... Let all this warmth nourish my tendons!"

At this thought, every tendon in Su Mu's body vied to absorb the nourishing flow of comprehension; within that warmth, each tendon grew more robust, faintly lustrous like jade.

When the flow abated, having only recently completed his first Yijin, Su Mu sensed faintly that the second Yijin was not far off.

"This burst of warmth will save me at least a month of tendon nourishing time, if nothing else."

The youth slowly opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance in his gaze before it settled again into a quiet, fathomless calm.

When he rose from the snow and got his bearings, he realized his epiphany had carried him a fair distance in the opposite direction from Donghe Town.

"Running the wrong way wasted some time... I'd best pick up the pace."

Su Mu shook his head with a wry smile. Looking down, he saw that during his breakthrough, a fair share of the wine in his hand had spilled. Of the six jars, three kinds, he poured two into one, cobbling up three jars in total.

For what was left, he raised the jars and drank deep—the fiery wine slit like blades on the way down, but after, it burned into a warm current, warming his body throughout.

"Good wine... but I'll need to think of a way if I mean to bring wine back in the future."

Draining the jars, he tossed them to the ground. The youth flitted out like a catkin, and as the sound of wine jars shattering filled the air, his figure had already sped a dozen yards ahead.

This time, not a single footprint was left in the snow behind him.

One Ninth-Grade Lightness Technique at Perfection, two Eighth-Grade Lightness Techniques at Great Success—Su Mu himself might not have realized it, but inadvertently he had achieved the "Snow Stepping Traceless" realm, a height in lightweight skill that ordinary martial artists would strain for a lifetime and never reach.

...

The mountains sheltering Donghe Town broke the brunt of the storm; in the small town, the wind and snow were much gentler.

Outside the bun shop, the crowd had not quite dispersed. Many saw the gang of scar-faced brutes pat their backsides and leave, and just after, the tardy Official arrived, going through the motions of questioning before swaggering away as well.