New Skill

Extending Divine Sense outward was also extremely useful in battle. By observing an enemy's minute movements, changes in airflow, and shifts in techniques, one could achieve precise pre-cognition.

At the same time, it could reveal flaws in an opponent's moves, allowing one to break them with the smallest possible cost.

At the Martial Disciple stage, Inner Breath could not leave the body, so techniques such as Fist Wind, Sword Qi, and Saber Qi could not be used. That was why Chen Mo was able to achieve precise pre-cognition.

Once one reached the Martial Artist stage, however, things were different. After opening up the Dantian, Inner Breath would grow stronger. Combined with the corresponding martial skills, it could leave the body and form Fist Wind, Sword Qi, Saber Qi, and the like.

This knowledge about Martial Artists was all in the textbooks, and Chen Mo understood it very well.

Inner Breath had many uses. Besides strengthening the body, it could be used for ranged strikes or infused into weapons, increasing not only their hardness but also their sharpness.

Those Abyssal Fierce Beasts all had tough hides or scales. Without the enhancement of Inner Breath, it was difficult to break through their defenses.

If you could not break their defenses, how were you supposed to kill fierce beasts?

Sharper weapons could also pierce their defenses, but they were expensive—ordinary Martial Artists could not afford them, let alone ordinary people. Besides, they would not be sold to ordinary people anyway.

A Ninth-grade Martial Disciple possessed a thousand kilograms of strength. Even with ordinary weapons, they could break a fierce beast's defenses—but only scratch its skin, like giving it a scrape with a spoon.

Some might say that even scraping could eventually wear a fierce beast to death.

That was wrong!

Anyone who compared stamina with a fierce beast had something wrong with their head.

If you had to use your full strength every time just to break through a tiny bit of a fierce beast's defense, how long could your strength last?

Ten minutes?

Half an hour?

Once you were exhausted, it would be the fierce beast's turn to kill you.

Countless pioneers had paid with their lives to tell people this: if you were not a Martial Artist, you could only be food for fierce beasts.

That was why Great Xia Nation had a rule: those who were not Martial Artists were forbidden from leaving the city to hunt fierce beasts.

Were there no fierce beasts that Martial Disciples could kill?

There were, of course there were. They were simply rather rare.

There were all kinds of fierce beasts outside the city. Who could guarantee that they would encounter a weaker one?

Martial Disciples had no ability to protect themselves outside the city. Moreover, beyond the city walls, there were not only fierce beasts, but Martial Artists as well.

Sometimes, Martial Artists were even more terrifying than fierce beasts.

Chen Mo naturally understood that before he could protect himself, he would never leave the city.

He was still young. He had not lived enough yet. He still had family, and he could not make them grieve.

Once he had understood things well enough, Chen Mo opened his System Panel.

[Host: Chen Mo]

[Talent: Diligent Heaven Rewards (one part effort, one part reward; once proven, forever proven)]

[Realm: Sixth-grade Martial Disciple (Dantian shattered) Vitality Value: 61 Spiritual Power: 100]

[Cultivation Method: Basic Stance Training Minor Accomplishment (172/200)]

[Martial Skills: Basic Fist Technique Minor Accomplishment (42/200) Basic Saber Technique Minor Accomplishment (33/200) Basic Movement Technique Beginner (89/100)]

[Special Skill: Spiritual Perception Beginner (1/500)]

[General Proficiency Points: 0]

The System Panel had undergone new changes. His martial realm had broken through to Sixth-grade Martial Disciple, his Vitality Value had increased by 10 points, and he had gained a special skill: Spiritual Perception.

At the Martial Disciple stage, 10 points of Vitality Value counted as one minor realm. More than 10 points meant advancing one grade as a Martial Disciple. With 61 points of Vitality Value, Chen Mo was therefore a Sixth-grade Martial Disciple.

Chen Mo focused his thoughts on the Spiritual Perception skill, and a detailed description appeared before his eyes:

[Spiritual Perception: First, it can sense all objects and energy fluctuations within three meters of the user, but cannot interfere with them; second, it allows internal observation of one's own body, revealing the internal condition of any organ, including the viscera, meridians, bones, and muscles.]

He had already tested it before, and it was more or less as described.

Finally, he tried maintaining Spiritual Perception continuously and discovered that it could last for 100 seconds. In other words, one point of Spiritual Power could sustain it for one second.

Restoring Spiritual Power, meanwhile, required an hour.

After sorting out the changes to his body, Chen Mo heard his mother, Lin Fang, call out.

"Little Mo, keep an eye on your sister. I'm going downstairs to buy groceries."

"Okay, Mom. I'll watch her."

After Lin Fang left, Chen Mo told his younger sister to play by herself for a while, then tore off the gauze taped over his abdomen.

The wound was only the size of a thumb. Such a wound basically did not require stitches, so once it healed, there would be no stitches to remove.

It would heal in two or three days. Stitching it up would instead hinder the healing; only large wounds would warrant stitches.

When Chen Wan'er saw her brother tear the gauze off his wound, she immediately hurried over.

"Brother, why did you tear off the gauze? What if it starts bleeding?"

Meeting his sister's round, wide eyes, Chen Mo smiled and said:

"Big brother's wound has already healed, so we need to tear off the gauze. It won't bleed. Look, there isn't even a wound underneath anymore."

Chen Wan'er leaned closer and indeed saw the smooth skin beneath the gauze, without the slightest damage. To make sure it was real, she even reached out to touch it. Only after finding that there truly was no wound left did she relax.

"That's wonderful! Big brother, your wound is gone!"

Chen Wan'er clapped her hands excitedly. She would never think her brother was lying to her; instead, she simply felt that this was a good thing.

Chen Mo was in a good mood as well, so he played with his little sister.

Half an hour later, Lin Fang returned from buying groceries.

Chen Mo told her the news.

"Really?"

Lin Fang found it hard to believe when she heard it.

"Of course it's real. If you don't believe me, look at my wound."

Chen Mo lifted his shirt for Lin Fang to see.

Like Lin Wan'er, Lin Fang looked first, then reached out to touch it. Only then did she confirm that it was true and finally feel at ease.

"Oh, right. Your homeroom teacher called just now. He told me to have you message him and let him know whether you'll be going back to school next Monday?"

"Mm! My body has recovered already. I can't fall behind in my classes."

"Alright, then. You decide."

After saying that, Lin Fang went to the kitchen to cook.

Once inside the kitchen, she secretly wiped away a tear. Thinking of how her son's Dantian had been destroyed, her heart ached unbearably.

The happier her son was now, the more diligently he trained in martial arts, the more her heart hurt.

She dared not imagine how despairing he would be when he learned that his Dantian had been destroyed and his path of martial arts severed.

For now, she could only bury this secret in her heart.

Lin Fang stopped thinking about it and began preparing dinner seriously.

Once the meal was ready, Chen Mingyuan returned as well, and the family ate happily together.

When Chen Mingyuan learned that his son's injury had healed, he was overjoyed. But when he thought of his son's future, his mood fell again.

Chen Mo naturally understood what his parents were thinking, but he said nothing and pretended not to know.

After dinner, the family went downstairs to the residential complex's square for a walk to aid digestion.

After making one round, Chen Mo told his parents that he wanted to practice his stance training.

Neither of them stopped him, letting Chen Mo cultivate as he pleased.

Chen Mo's injury had already healed, so they had nothing left to worry about.

Chen Mo walked to a less crowded spot in the square. By now, the sky had darkened, but the streetlights provided enough illumination that he could still see clearly.

When he reached that corner, he saw several elderly men practicing stance training there as well.

Chen Mo did not go over to disturb them. He found an open space for himself, adjusted his body, mind, and breathing, and began practicing Basic Stance Training.