Martial Arts Prodigy

Chapter 5: Martial Arts Prodigy

Lu Xun's comforting words clearly had no effect. As soon as Ji Li heard it was a ghost, she panicked even more.

Though she was merely a child of the Martial World, she had heard plenty of tales. As a child, she loved going to teahouses to listen to storytellers spin all sorts of interesting yarns, and she had always yearned for such wondrous things.

But now that she had truly encountered one, she was momentarily at a loss.

A ghost! This was a ghost!

Ji Li wasn't exactly cowardly, but she knew her own strength couldn't match the group chasing her. Yet that shadowy figure had effortlessly killed them all!

Unfortunately, she could no longer stop Lu Xun, because the shadow seemed to sense something and began drifting toward them.

Its speed grew faster, its expression more ferocious, shifting from ╭(°A°)╮ to (;′??Д??).

Tell me, isn't that terrifying?

From its hollow eye sockets, large streams of black mist flowed downward, like tears of pitch-black sorrow.

Ji Li gritted her teeth, drew the Wedding Dress Sword from its sheath, and sidestepped to block Lu Xun.

She was a descendant of a righteous Martial World sect. Her parents had taught her from a young age to be a proper female knight, and protecting the weak was the most basic chivalry. Of course, Lu Xun was also easy on the eyes, and protecting beautiful things was human instinct.

The shadow drew closer and closer. When Lu Xun judged the distance was right, he suddenly shouted, "Hold your breath!"

Ji Li was already tense, and Lu Xun's sudden loud voice startled her, making her feel even more wronged.

But she obediently held her breath, because earlier, following Lu Xun's advice, the shadow had simply drifted past them without incident.

The moment Lu Xun and Ji Li stopped breathing, the shadow halted.

It had already looked confused, and now it seemed even more bewildered.

That's just how Clueless Blackies were—as long as you didn't breathe, you could dance right in front of them and be fine.

And once you knew the trick, these things were incredibly easy to kill!

Lu Xun held his breath, approached quickly, raised his hands, and extended two long fingers toward its hollow eyes.

That was where its essence lay.

If he struck true, it would be wounded.

If he thrust deep enough, it might be a one-hit kill!

"Shwish—!" He nearly missed.

The black mist around the shadow began to spread wildly, looking rather ferocious.

With Lu Xun's movement, its form started to twist.

The distortion was severe—even a yoga master couldn't bend like that.

"It didn't die?" Lu Xun blinked, pulled his fingers out, and thrust again.

This time, he got it right.

The black mist rapidly expanded, then burst outward like a dark firework.

The dispersing mist slowly faded away. It was dead.

"[Ding! Killed Mountain Ghost. Gained 666 Experience Points!]"

Lu Xun was overjoyed. Just like in the game, he could level up by killing monsters!

This thing, jokingly called a Clueless Blackie by players, was referred to as a Mountain Ghost by Heavenly Dust. But look at the experience it gave—such an auspicious number. If that wasn't a mobile experience gift pack for lucky players, what was?

He then checked his Character Panel. The Experience Points column now read [666/100], marked with [Upgrade Available].

Even though it said that, Lu Xun had no intention of leveling up immediately.

The reason was simple: he didn't know any cultivation techniques yet.

As mentioned before, Heavenly Dust didn't feel like a game to players; it felt more like a real world.

Players cultivated here as if it were real life. So-called leveling up was merely improving the technique they practiced.

To give the simplest example: if Lu Xun had a Qi Refining Art now, leveling up to one would mean Qi Refining Layer One, and level nine would be Layer Nine.

That was why Lu Xun cared so much about his starting point. Leveling up was the same, but the technique he learned was crucial!

Though it might not show much in the early stages, the difference would be clear in the mid-to-late game.

If he leveled up without a technique, it would be a complete waste.

Having dealt with the Clueless Blackie, Lu Xun clapped his hands together and brought his fingers to his nose to sniff. "Mm, no weird smell, thankfully."

Ji Li watched him take down a Mountain Ghost with her own eyes, her emotions in turmoil.

She even began to wonder—was this man really an ordinary person?

But when she had kidnapped him, he hadn't resisted at all.

Come to think of it, the way he had casually destroyed a Mountain Ghost with a flick of his fingers was actually kind of dashing...

Lu Xun didn't bother explaining. Instead, he was surprised to find that Ji Li's favorability seemed to have risen by several points.

"This girl's favorability is way too easy to farm," Lu Xun thought, a bit baffled.

Anyone watching would think "Heavenly Dust" was some kind of unwholesome game.

Lu Xun stood there for a moment, then turned and headed east.

Ji Li hurried after him. The appearance of the Mountain Ghost still left her shaken, and she couldn't help asking, "You... where are you going?"

"To pick up some gear." Lu Xun smiled.

Ji Li didn't understand at first, but when she looked at the direction he was walking, she realized he meant to loot the corpses.

The group that had been chasing her was all dead, just lying there.

Counting them, there were seven bodies—six men and one woman.

Their expressions were twisted, clearly they had died in agony.

Pale faces, withered skin and muscles.

Ji Li couldn't help shivering. If not for Lu Xun, she might have been among them.

As for why Lu Xun had watched them die... earlier he had glanced over and noticed that several of the seven had "red names," which meant they were all great villains.

Lu Xun had no qualms about the corpses. His eyes swept over them, and information about various items appeared.

"[Silver coins: 97 taels]"

"[A completely ordinary longsword]"

"[An imitation robe from Rainbow Dress Workshop]"

"[A short spear with low durability]"

Lu Xun thought to himself: "Tsk, not only is this spear short, its durability is low too."

All the gear was the lowest grade of Mortal Iron, but at least it was sharp.

In the end, he took all the silver coins, along with a conveniently sized dagger and the most expensive-looking longsword.

The other things could be sold in the city for some money, but they were inconvenient for him to carry.

Weapons like the heavy hammers and iron clubs used by these Martial World types weighed dozens of jin each. How could a level 0 noob like him handle that?

He could swing them a few times, sure, but he still had a long journey ahead.

So he turned to Ji Li and said, "Help yourself."

Ji Li happily picked up the heavy hammer and iron club. She really was strong!

Even though half her face was covered by a veil, her exposed eyes were already curved in a smile, practically radiating the words: "Jackpot! Jackpot!"

She had no designs on the silver coins—without Lu Xun, she'd be dead, so the money was naturally his.

But since Lu Xun didn't want these weapons, she gleefully took them all!

A former young lady fallen to such a state—it was a bit pitiful.

What surprised Lu Xun was that one man's pack contained a manual, a finger technique called "Eagle Finger."

Lu Xun picked it up and flipped through it a few times, and a prompt appeared: [Learn]?

You couldn't just randomly practice cultivation methods, but skills were fine to learn—there was no upper limit. So Lu Xun selected [Yes].

"[You have learned Eagle Finger (Beginner).]"

He stretched out his finger and made two rapid jabs in the air, and it actually looked somewhat convincing.

"Oh ho! My finger's got some power!" Lu Xun was having fun.

All of this caught Ji Li's eye, and her mouth fell open slightly.

"This man only glanced at the manual for two or three seconds, and he's already got the hang of it!?"

Could this be the once-in-a-century Martial Arts Prodigy her parents had spoken of?

"[Affection +1...+1...+1...]"

Lu Xun: "???"

The contract is signed, tips are now open—no need to hold back~