Thunderclap Sword

Lin Yan's gaze fixed on the battle sword in Liu Mingxuan's hand.

The sword's hilt and scabbard were both black. It was an ordinary standard-issue battle sword, yet it carried a distinctly chilling aura.

In modern society, aside from certain special martial arts or those with access to swordsmithing channels, most martial artists purchased standard-issue battle sabers and swords. The most famous among them was the Blood Shadow series of battle sabers.

Heavenly Gang Battle Sword: Model A7, forged primarily from Level 4 Kro Alloy. It could fight most beginner Lord-level monsters without concern for damage.

Lin Yan raised a brow. A Model A7 Heavenly Gang Battle Sword should cost over two hundred million on the market. Even an ordinary martial artist with a high contribution value and half-price purchasing privileges would still need to pay more than one hundred million Huaxia coins.

It would be enough to use until he was promoted to the War God level.

Of course, martial artists within the military system differed from ordinary martial artists. Their weapons and equipment were provided by the military, so they did not need to pay for them themselves. Even manuals had to be exchanged with military merit.

It could be said that the state covered everything from food and clothing to housing and transportation, with favorable policies extending to their families as well.

Normally, given his strength, he should only have been issued a Model A6 weapon. This showed just how highly the military district valued Liu Mingxuan.

Lin Yan felt a pang of regret. He could only see a weapon's Skill Inheritance after getting it into his equipment slot. Otherwise, if he could learn it just by taking a look, wouldn't he be soaring straight to the heavens?

There was another point worth mentioning: only lethal kills dealt by weapons entered into the equipment slot could grant Soul Power. Lin Yan had reached this conclusion through testing.

He had originally been planning to apply to launch missiles.

But the system did not acknowledge damage that exceeded his own combat strength by too much.

Yeah, stacking cheats on top of cheats was just as shameless.

"How long have you been learning the Thunderclap Sword?"

Liu Mingxuan asked as he walked ahead.

"Less than a year, I suppose. I chose this sword skill when school started last year. It was compulsory."

National Defense University's martial arts courses required students to choose a weapon manual to study, and the available options were generally D-rank.

"Me too."

Then came silence, making Lin Yan almost wonder whether he had imagined it.

After a while, Liu Mingxuan finally continued. "I also started learning this sword skill in my first year. It took me more than two years to fully master it, and I poured a great deal of Heart's Blood into it."

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask."

Lin Yan had long prepared for this. He had not inherited this sword skill, but through memory fusion, he was still very familiar with the Thunderclap Sword. However, without diligent practice to truly make it his own, that knowledge remained purely theoretical.

Thus, the questions he raised were all substantive and not overly basic.

Liu Mingxuan's tone was as calm as ever, but he answered Lin Yan's questions without reservation. As Lin Yan compared those answers with his own knowledge, he felt as though a veil had been lifted from his eyes.

As they got more engrossed in the discussion, he nearly wanted to test the sword on the spot.

Fortunately, he remembered in time that he was only good on paper and could not actually do it. If he tried the sword then and there, Liu Mingxuan might beat the living daylights out of him with a face full of disbelief.

They arrived at the military district's training grounds.

Liu Mingxuan drew his sword, revealing its pitch-black blade with a blood groove running along it. His expression remained calm. "I'll demonstrate it only once. Watch carefully."

"The Thunderclap Sword is divided into five levels. Each level can condense a layer of hidden force to strengthen the sword's power."

"The essence of swordsmanship is nothing more than speed."

"Only by moving like thunder can one wield the might of a racing thunderbolt!"

He walked up to a special training dummy and slashed with his sword, swift as lightning and startling as a thunderclap!

Squelch!

The air erupted with a violent boom, oddly similar to thunder.

He had only slashed once, stopping the blade three inches away from the dummy.

Yet the blade's sharpness had already completely destroyed the training dummy from three inches away!

Dense, tiny lines appeared across the dummy's body, and they continued spreading deeper within.

Liu Mingxuan glanced at it with his narrow eyes, then withdrew his sword. As the blade moved, it seemed to trigger something, and the training dummy scattered into dust!

Clap clap clap clap!

Applause sounded from nearby.

Several people walked over with smiles on their faces. A burly man said, "Group Leader Liu's Thunderclap Sword is truly impressive!"

Yet his tone was far from friendly.

Liu Mingxuan frowned but did not respond. He looked at Lin Yan instead. "You try."

Lin Yan looked around. There was indeed a weapon rack holding battle swords in the training grounds.

But...

Those battle swords were hardly ever used, and they certainly did not possess any Skill Inheritance. Besides, the purpose of his visit was to get in contact with the weapon in Liu Mingxuan's hand.

"Group Leader Liu, may I borrow your battle sword?"

Liu Mingxuan was somewhat puzzled, but he did not think much of it and tossed him the battle sword in his hand.

He merely said, "My sword is heavy."

When Lin Yan caught it, he found that it was indeed very heavy, probably around one hundred and thirty kilograms. Still, his strength could handle it.

He smiled. "It's fine."

Heavenly Gang Battle Sword

Skill Inheritance:

1. Sword Skill: All Things Severed (A-rank) (Fourth Level), skill owner: Liu Mingxuan. Requires 80 points of Soul Power to learn.

2. Thunderclap Sword (D-rank) (Fifth Level), skill owner: Liu Mingxuan. Requires 15 points of Soul Power to learn.

An A-rank Sword Skill should not ordinarily be worth only eighty points of Soul Power. Lin Yan guessed that Liu Mingxuan had not fully mastered Sword Skill: All Things Severed himself, which was why its Skill Inheritance only cost eighty points of Soul Power.

Even so, his thirty-eight points of Soul Power were still far from enough.

You have consumed 15 points of Soul Power and chosen to learn Thunderclap Sword.

A surge of heat flowed from the Heavenly Gang Battle Sword into Lin Yan's body. He focused his mind and calmed his breath as he looked at the battle sword in his hand, countless insights churning within him.

In that instant, his spine tightened completely. The blood and vitality throughout his body gathered, and his power condensed through the battle sword into four layers of hidden force.

He strode forward and slashed. Killing intent even leaked from his eyes.

The Heavenly Gang Battle Sword struck the dummy.

Bang!

It shattered into pieces.

Liu Mingxuan's gaze sharpened, and a trace of surprise appeared on his face. He walked over and picked up a fragment of the dummy. Its broken surface was smooth as a mirror, without the slightest roughness.

This showed that his control over power had reached an exquisite level.

"Not bad." A rare hint of a smile appeared on his face. "Your Thunderclap Sword is only a hair's breadth away from the fifth level, and your control over hidden force is excellent as well."

"All you need to do now is put in some effort. It is no longer anything difficult."

"However, I looked through your file. You're still lacking somewhat in speed. You must train more and cannot slack off. Become a martial artist as soon as possible."

"The world of martial artists is quite different."

Lin Yan handed the Heavenly Gang Battle Sword back and said gratefully, "Thank you for your guidance, Group Leader Liu."

He was also very tempted by Sword Skill: All Things Severed within it, but he did not have enough Soul Power now. He could only look for another opportunity later.

He had deliberately concealed some of his strength and had not displayed the five layers of hidden force at the fifth level of Thunderclap Sword, lest Liu Mingxuan grow suspicious.

"Not only is Group Leader Liu impressive himself, but I didn't expect his student to be so formidable as well. He hasn't even become a martial artist yet, but he has already mastered the D-rank sword skill Thunderclap Sword so skillfully and profoundly."

The burly man standing nearby praised him.

Liu Mingxuan shot him a cold glance and said icily, "Jia Yan, there's no need for your sarcastic remarks. What happened to Gao Han was his own fault. You can't blame me for it."

With that, he turned and left.

The burly Jia Yan angrily waved his fist. He did not spare Lin Yan, who stood nearby, another glance, and he and the others strode away.