Closing his eyes, Liam Carter quietly sensed the sword he had thrust out, perceiving the trajectory of each strike and calculating accordingly.

Two hours later, he stopped.

His swordsmanship...

Had already reached the pinnacle attainable at this level.

After a moment of contemplation, Liam Carter did not continue, but instead set down the treasured sword in his hand to practice a secret technique.

The secret technique was called the Flowing Light Perception Art.

He did not know who he was, nor where he came from. All he knew was that he had been summoned at the cost of life by a survivor named Grant, to save this world, and had been sent back ten years before its destruction.

Now, four years had passed...

Many things had faded from memory.

The only thing he remembered in his mind was a youthful, beautiful figure, and...

This secret technique called the Flowing Light Perception Art.

As the Flowing Light Perception Art operated, everything around him gradually slowed down...

The wind rustled the leaves, which drifted down slowly...

Slowly... slowly...

Leaves that would normally fall in three seconds now took four, then five, and finally six, seven seconds...

It was not that the time of the whole world had slowed, but that his thoughts had sped up. The contrast between the two created this strange scene, as if the entire world was playing in slow motion.

One time, two times, three times, four times...

When this gradually increasing speed of thought reached five times, Liam Carter gradually began to hear the sound of his own blood flowing, the sound of his stomach digesting, the sound of every internal organ operating...

Although only his thoughts had sped up, and his blood flow and digestion remained as usual, in this peculiar state, he could control every change within himself with extreme precision.

Gradually...

He felt as if his mind was about to detach from his body, and sensed the weakness that came from losing the body's energy supply...

Finally...

The acceleration of his thoughts slowed down.

From six times, down to five, then four, three, two... until returning to normal.

"Six times, is that the limit..."

Liam Carter withdrew from the Flowing Light Perception Art, closed his eyes, and carefully savored the scene of the world he saw when his thoughts accelerated to six times...

"Whoosh!"

In the next instant, he struck with his sword.

No sword forms, no sword moves...

Speed!

Only a speed that surpassed the normal reaction time of human thought!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

In a split second, Liam Carter thrust out thirty-one times.

The sword was so fast that the sound of the blade slicing through the air overlapped into a single burst, shooting out. Fourteen meters away, a large tree branch snapped with a bang, scattering leaves everywhere.

"Thirty-one strikes."

This result finally brought a hint of satisfaction to Liam Carter's face.

The fastest sword technique of the Moonlight Sword Sect, the Xuangguang Sword Technique, even when true qi was achieved and swordsmanship reached a subtle level, could only deliver twenty-six strikes in a single breath. But he...

Without true qi, could already deliver thirty-one strikes.

Thirty-one strikes!

Once he could break through to thirty-six strikes, his swordsmanship would surely enter an entirely new realm.

"I'll try a few more times, let my body memorize this speed, and stabilize the thirty-one strike state... It's a pity... the acceleration of thought must be gradual... Even if the speed of thought increases by just one fold, it takes a whole breath. In a life-and-death battle, no one will give you a breath to prepare, so it can only be used as an aid. If I could enter the accelerated state at any time, even if only two or three times... I would sweep away all experts below the peerless level."

Chapter Two: Expert

Six li outside Yun Sen City, on a tree-lined official road, a luxurious carriage moved slowly, protected by twelve knights. From both sides of the road came the occasional laughter and shouts of children, and in the distance, many simple farmers could be seen working diligently in the fields.

It was late October, deep autumn. The soft morning sunlight shone down, illuminating the well-tended fields, covering them in a layer of gold, painting a scene of peaceful and harmonious countryside.

"Miss, you haven't come back for two years. Master has missed you more and more. He will surely be very happy to see you today."

Inside the carriage, Evelyn, dressed in green as a maid, looked at the young girl before her with an expression of admiration.

The girl was sixteen or seventeen, her beautiful, jade-like face showing not a trace of childishness. Her dark eyes sparkled like brilliant stars, radiating a deep and intelligent light. Her long, black hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, exuding an air of ease and elegance. Even in the carriage, she maintained a cross-legged posture. A four-foot-long fine steel sword lay across her lap, without any precious gem decorations, just like her plain light blue checkered silk dress—simple and unadorned.

"Two years..."

Hearing Evelyn's words, the girl tilted her head slightly and looked out the carriage window, as if lost in thought.

The morning sunlight shone on her long eyelashes, making her beauty seem like a poetic painting.

"Father... is he well?"

"Master is very well, just misses you a little since you're not by his side."

"With eldest and second brother assisting, Father shouldn't be lonely."