Methods for Rapidly Increasing Proficiency

A few minutes later, Chen Mo had perfectly mastered the techniques of this saber cleave. The methods of exerting force were already etched into his mind, allowing him to unleash his strength to the utmost, while the two-handed cleave had become instinct.

Now, he did not need to activate Spiritual Perception or make any preparations. He could unleash a perfect-level two-handed cleave at any moment.

Chen Mo paused to rest, carefully savoring what he had gained.

He knew the reason he had perfected the two-handed cleave so quickly was that his talent, Diligent Heaven Rewards, had taken effect.

Once proven, forever proven—this was not merely a saying, but a conceptual-level ability.

Without Diligent Heaven Rewards, even with his Spiritual Perception, it would have been impossible for him to perfectly master the two-handed cleave so quickly.

After all, the body required long-term, relentless practice before it could turn a move into instinct.

Otherwise, there would not be the saying: train through the bitter cold of winter and the blazing heat of summer.

Without the solidification provided by Diligent Heaven Rewards, Chen Mo would have needed a vast amount of time to practice. Otherwise, his mind might understand, but his body would not.

Take Chen Mo himself, for instance. When he had first used Spiritual Perception to practice saber cleaves, he had clearly known exactly where the problems lay.

So he adjusted his posture again and again. With every adjustment, his talent solidified that posture, ensuring he would not repeat his previous mistakes. Each attempt improved a little over the last.

Once all the mistakes were gone, perfection came naturally.

"I wonder, if I only practice a single move, will the proficiency of Basic Saber Technique increase?"

With that thought, Chen Mo immediately opened the System Panel and saw that the proficiency of Basic Saber Technique had long since changed.

It had increased by 10 points, becoming (43/200).

"Ten points at once. Not bad, not bad! Keep going!"

Chen Mo was immediately filled with drive.

"Sure enough, Spiritual Perception plus Diligent Heaven Rewards is the best cultivation method!"

Stacked together, the effect was heaven-defying!

It was countless times better than blindly working hard.

Together, the two were practically heaven-defying comprehension. He could not only quickly learn cultivation methods and martial skills, but also train them to perfection in a short time.

This was simply too wonderful.

With his heart brimming with delight, Chen Mo continued practicing the variations of the saber cleave.

The variations of the cleave included one-handed and two-handed diagonal cleaves, one-handed straight cleaves, jumping cleaves, and more.

It was precisely because there were so many variations that his Basic Saber Technique proficiency had increased by 10 points.

His talent was taking effect, and the results of his training were obvious. Chen Mo decided to use this method to cultivate.

He would practice one move at a time until it reached perfection. Finally, he would link the moves together, and the whole technique could reach perfection in a short time.

It was far better than practicing the entire sequence from beginning to end.

Some might say that since he had Diligent Heaven Rewards, why not simply practice directly? Why spend energy analyzing every move one by one? With this talent, as long as he had enough time, he could train to perfection anyway—it would merely take a little longer.

Moreover, the energy and time spent analyzing moves were no less than the time spent practicing them directly.

That argument was wrong.

Chen Mo had tried it. Performing Basic Saber Technique once from beginning to end only increased proficiency by a single point and took roughly ten minutes.

Yet analyzing one move, from beginner level to perfection, also took only around ten minutes. The proficiency gained was not one point, but several points—sometimes even more than ten.

By comparison, analyzing moves offered much better value.

When it came to higher-level cultivation methods, whose proficiencies numbered in the thousands or tens of thousands, practicing the entire sequence once meant gaining only one point. If a technique had that much proficiency to gain, it would have to be practiced that many times.

And it would take even longer.

Take Basic Stance Training, for example. It had thirty-six forms. Completing a full set took an hour, yet only increased proficiency by one point.

But last night, Chen Mo had merely perfected the first move. It had increased his proficiency by 5 points and taken just over ten minutes.

In comparison, analyzing moves and understanding their principles brought far greater rewards.

Furthermore, once he understood a move's principles and the process of exerting force, he would naturally understand its weaknesses as well. That could prove immensely useful in battle.

There was another reason Chen Mo was unwilling to practice from beginning to end, over and over again.

This kind of practice only added one point of proficiency each time, and the insights gained were too few. But when he focused on just one move while analyzing it, the insights were visible to the naked eye.

Take the stance training he practiced. Discovering one problem in an hour and discovering more than ten problems in a dozen minutes were simply incomparable.

The difference was far too obvious!

If he did not possess the special skill Spiritual Perception, he would naturally train honestly from beginning to end, again and again.

In truth, there was no need to argue about it. What method to use and how to cultivate were Chen Mo's own business. He could cultivate however he wished.

Back to Chen Mo: since he had already perfected the two-handed straight cleave and had that foundation, with only slight adjustments, he could perform a two-handed diagonal cleave.

This time took even less time.

In under ten minutes, Chen Mo had trained the two-handed diagonal cleave to perfection.

Next, Chen Mo began practicing moves such as straight cleaves and diagonal cleaves with his left and right hands.

It took him more than an hour before Chen Mo trained the cleaving move of the Basic Saber Technique to perfection.

Meanwhile, the proficiency of his Basic Saber Technique had changed on his System Panel:

Basic Saber Technique Minor Accomplishment (95/200)

When he had gotten up that morning, his proficiency had been (33/200). It had increased by 62 points in a single hour—this was the true value of the Analysis Method.

If he trained it from beginning to end, one round every ten minutes, he could only gain 6 points in an hour—merely one-tenth as much as the Analysis Method.

Satisfied, Chen Mo sheathed his saber, wiped the sweat from his body with his clothes, and headed home.

"Little Mo, finished working out?"

"Yeah, Grandpa Zhang!" Chen Mo replied with a smile.

Grandpa Zhang lived downstairs from Chen Mo. He usually exercised in the mornings, and Chen Mo ran into him often, so they were quite familiar with each other.

"I heard you're taking the Martial Examination this year, is that right?"

"That's right!"

"Oh my, so is my grandson! He says he's confident he can get into Martial University! Are you confident? Want my grandson to give you some pointers?"

Whenever he mentioned his grandson, Grandpa Zhang could not have been prouder.

Of course, offering pointers was merely polite talk.

"No need for that. I have my own pace. Grandpa Zhang, I've just finished working out and I'm starving. My mom is waiting for me to go home for breakfast!"

With that, Chen Mo quickly left.

"That kid has no manners at all!"

Grandpa Zhang had failed to show off his grandson in front of Chen Mo, and it left him deeply displeased.

He knew about Chen Mo's martial arts aptitude too. It was far inferior to his grandson's, which was why he had spoken to Chen Mo in the first place—so he could put him down while he was at it.

Elsewhere.

Chen Mo naturally knew that Grandpa Zhang's grandson, Zhang Hongda, attended the same school as him. Zhang Hongda had better aptitude than Chen Mo and was already an Eighth-grade Martial Trainee.

However, Zhang Hongda considered himself a genius and carried his own pride. He looked down on Chen Mo, and whenever they met at school, he acted as though he did not know him.

Even when they ran into each other in the residential complex, he would not greet him.

Chen Mo had no intention of making a fool of himself by going up to curry favor with Zhang Hongda.

As for Grandpa Zhang, Chen Mo only greeted him out of courtesy whenever they met.

He had no desire to listen to the man boasting about his grandson every day.

The two families had no dealings with each other. At most, they were acquaintances who nodded when they met.

Chen Mo's response had already been very polite.

Unlike Zhang Hongda, who was unwilling even to say hello.

"What do other people have to do with me?" Chen Mo cast aside the stray thoughts and hurried home.