After My Rebirth, I Ended Up Happily Ever After with the Saintess - Chapter 9

The stone wall behind the mountain, where the moonlight fell like water.

Ye Li sat cross-legged, the tattered beast skin manual spread open on her lap. Relying on the cold, clear moonlight and her far-beyond-average eyesight, she meticulously studied the vague, ancient characters and the few simple, almost abstract, diagrams of figures performing martial stances.

The more she studied, the brighter the light in her eyes became.

As she expected, the content recorded in this nameless movement technique remnant was profound and subtle, far beyond what its “Human-Rank Low Grade” evaluation suggested. Its core essence lay in the traction of vital energy (Qi), the extreme utilization of the surrounding environment, and incredibly precise micro-control over one’s own power. It focused on shifting and maneuvering within a small space, avoiding danger, and, when practiced to a high level, could even create the illusion of a short-distance blink.

However, its incompleteness was indeed fatal. The most crucial general outline was missing, the secrets concerning the conversion between several core footwork methods were vague, and the Qi circulation method had several noticeable breaks and errors. If one were to follow the text literally and forcefully cultivate it, they would indeed be highly prone to making mistakes and damaging their meridians.

“What a pity for such a peerless movement technique…” Ye Li sighed softly, but her face held no frustration; instead, it was illuminated by a light called “challenge.”

To copy the text verbatim? That was the mark of a mediocre talent.

Who was she? She was Venerable Li! A peerless powerhouse who once stood at the pinnacle of all laws, witnessed countless divine abilities and secret techniques, and possessed her own understanding of the Great Dao! To repair and optimize a mere Human-Rank, or even Earth-Rank, movement technique remnant was not an impossible task for her!

She closed her eyes, and her mind sank into her Sea of Consciousness. Her powerful Divine Soul power began its frantic deduction.

The text and diagrams of the remnant technique continuously decomposed and reassembled in her mind. The essence of many advanced movement techniques, footwork, and even escape arts she had seen in her previous life lit up like stars in her consciousness, providing her with endless inspiration and reference points.

The shard of the Cycle Mirror seemed to sense her high level of concentration and the astonishing deduction process, once again emitting a trace of cool energy, moistening her Divine Soul. This made her thinking speed faster, her deduction process smoother, causing many inspirations to bubble up and many critical points to suddenly become clear!

She wasn’t trying to completely restore the technique—that would consume too much time and energy, and might not even fully recover its original form. What she was doing was to conduct a “re-creation” and “optimization” based on the core intent and framework provided by the remnant, combined with her current physical condition, the characteristics of her spiritual energy, and her combat experience from her previous life!

Discarding the dross, keeping the essence; correcting errors; simplifying the complex; strengthening the advantages!

Those obscure and difficult ancient terms were converted into the most direct and effective action commands; the broken Qi circulation methods were cleverly connected and compensated for using the basic circulation route of the textit{Nether Sovereign Emperor Sutra}; the missing footwork transitions were infused with her own understanding of combat rhythm, designing the most concise and efficient links.

Under the moonlight, her figure suddenly began to move.

Initially, her movements were somewhat stiff, hesitant, and even slightly stagnant due to her attempt at the modified Qi circulation method. But she didn’t care. She failed once, adjusted once.

Her body seemed to have transformed into the most precise instrument. Every twitch of a muscle, every shift of her center of gravity, every bit of spiritual energy output was constantly micro-adjusted under the control of her powerful Divine Soul, closing in on the optimal solution.

Gradually, her movements became fluid, and a unique rhythm formed around her body.

It was no longer a complete imitation of the record in the beast skin manual, but a footwork infused with her own style—more concise, more bizarre, and more practical!

As her figure flickered, she was like a willow catkin in the wind, elusive and unpredictable; or like a phantom in the dark night, silent and traceless. She was only maneuvering within a small space, yet she created streaks of afterimages, as if several people were moving simultaneously, dazzling the eyes and making it difficult to capture her true trajectory.

Occasionally, she would draw upon that wisp of icy spiritual energy within her body and circulate it according to the optimized method. Immediately, her speed drastically increased. Her figure seemed to merge into the shadows beneath the moon, suddenly appearing several meters away, with the gentle breeze she stirred up only belatedly sweeping past her previous location.

This was not teleportation, but a visual deception effect produced by pushing the utilization of power, timing, and environment to the absolute limit!

During her practice, she once again felt the subtle assistance of the Cycle Mirror shard. It didn’t directly enhance her strength, but in every attempt and every adjustment, it made her perceptions more acute. She could more clearly “see” the flaws in her movements and the subtle deviations in the flow of spiritual energy, enabling her to make the optimal corrections faster.

This kind of aid, which accelerated her comprehension speed, was proving to be invaluable at this moment.

Time quietly slipped away, and the moon passed its zenith.

Ye Li’s figure had completely transformed into a blur of shadows, flashing and shifting within the limited open ground. Her footwork became increasingly skilled and agile, sometimes like a butterfly flitting among flowers, light and clever; sometimes like a poisonous snake emerging from its hole, swift and insidious; and sometimes like a phantom stealthily moving, utterly silent.

The tattered beast skin manual lay quietly where it was, as if its mission had been accomplished.

What Ye Li was currently executing had already surpassed its original scope. It was a movement technique exclusively belonging to Ye Li—a new, top-tier technique that integrated ancient wisdom and the experience of a Supreme Venerable!

Although constrained by her current cultivation level, its absolute speed and spiritual energy consumption could not yet support long-duration, large-range movement, in terms of small-scale shifting, evading attacks, and finding opportunities for attack, it already bore a few glimpses of the future “Ghost Shadow Maze” prototype! Its sophistication was enough to rival or even surpass many Human-Rank High Grade or even Extreme Grade movement techniques!

Finally, Ye Li’s figure suddenly paused, standing still under the moonlight as if she had never moved. Her breathing was steady, with only fine beads of sweat on her forehead indicating the exhaustion from the practice.

She slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, her eyes sparkling with brilliant light.

It was done!

In just one night, she had not only initially grasped this optimized movement technique but had also integrated its essence, turning it into an instinct. This was certainly aided by the Cycle Mirror, but more importantly, it was due to her terrifying comprehension and the deep foundation accumulated in her past life.

“I shall call you… ‘Phantom Shadow Step,'” she named her new technique, a name perfectly suited to its nature.

With this footwork mastered, her practical combat ability would undergo a qualitative leap! This was undoubtedly a powerful trump card she had prepared for the upcoming Grand Competition!

She could imagine the bewilderment and shock of her opponents, who thought she would only rely on brute force or simple evasion, when confronted with this phantom-like footwork.

She looked up at the sky; the Grand Competition was not far off.

She put away the beast skin manual, sat cross-legged, and began to regulate her breathing and recover. The spiritual energy within her body circulated slowly, nourishing the muscles and meridians slightly fatigued from practicing the movement technique.

In her mind, she was still replaying the entire process of optimizing the technique. This act of combining the wisdom of the predecessors with her own experience for re-creation seemed to have deepened her understanding of the “Dao” once more. Cultivation was not merely imitation; it was more about suitability and transcendence.

The moonlight shone upon her serene and confident face, as if plating her with a layer of silver light.

The mountain breeze swept past, bringing with it the faint, indistinct sounds of human clamor from afar.

The direction of the Martial Arts Field was already brightly lit.

The great battle was about to begin.