"Light Shadow Slash" (Part 2)

"It's nothing more than slightly higher consumption and slightly lower power. Besides, I won't be using this low-grade Combat Skill for long. It's just a transitional measure for the early stage!"

"Once I kill more monsters during the Monster Trial and earn enough money and contribution points, I can test my elemental aptitude and buy a better, more suitable Combat Skill to learn."

That was right. The battle qi manuals and Combat Skills here could be bought and sold, though they could not be passed on to others. This was considered a privilege for trainees like them.

Out in the wider world, it was not easy for ordinary families without connections to learn Combat Skills and battle qi manuals. Unless they paid more than ten times the price to obtain them from the Warrior Academy, or pledged loyalty to a noble and received them from their lord, they could only consider joining the army and exchanging military merits for them!

The Scribe in charge of registration and several older trainees nearby were stunned by Fengyun's magnificently foolish words.

Training in Combat Skills was no trivial matter. Although "Light Shadow Slash" had been adapted from "Phantom Slash," that did not mean it could simply be practiced as "Phantom Slash"!

This was, after all, a Combat Skill involving the circulation of battle qi. It would have been one thing if a level three or four warrior had said such words, but how did a little brat like him dare say them!?

Moreover, even if beginner warriors had condensed battle qi, their physical condition limited how much they possessed. Every bit of battle qi had to be used with careful calculation to maximize their chances of surviving a battle.

Slightly higher consumption and slightly lower power—this so-called "slightly" could mean the difference between life and death!

Otherwise, why would the Scribe in charge of registration have advised him to switch to "Phantom Slash"?

These were lessons bought with countless living lives. The fact that "Light Shadow Slash," an attribute-based Combat Skill, had been placed in the low-grade Combat Skill section already explained many things.

Yet neither the Scribe recording the information nor the other trainees nearby offered Fengyun any further reminders. The Scribe merely silently registered the battle qi manual and Combat Skill he had chosen.

After all, they were not acquainted. The taboo against saying too much to someone you barely knew applied everywhere. Offering one reminder was already kindness enough.

This was not some melodramatic storybook where Fengyun refused to appreciate the advice, yet others insisted on making him switch, as though he had no choice but to do so!

Over the next five days, aside from his regular basic training, Fengyun devoted all his remaining energy to the "Blood Courage Manual."

Thanks to having once been a level one mage, he had considerable experience with refining and controlling energy. In less than three days, he condensed his first strand of battle qi.

As he gathered the battle qi at his fingertips, a trace of joy appeared on Fengyun's face. Having once wielded extraordinary power, he had more than once considered refining magical elements again to obtain magic power after his magical cultivation had been dispersed.

This was the instinctive thirst for strength shared by male creatures!

But in the end, he had forcibly suppressed that impulse through sheer willpower.

He redirected that urge into training his body, using physical exhaustion to dispel the dangerous thoughts in his heart and avoid exposing his identity.

But now, he had once again gained extraordinary energy of his own—battle qi!

Ah, in a world like the Coiling Dragon World, where strength was supreme, only possessing extraordinary energy could give someone a sense of security!

It's a pity that my current identity prevents me from directly choosing a Light Attribute battle qi manual suited to my own attribute. Otherwise, cultivation would definitely be more effective and much faster!

Now that I've condensed battle qi, I should visit Black Mountain more often over the next few days and delay the moment others discover that I've cultivated battle qi.

According to the information I got from Black Mountain, cultivating battle qi in three days would fit my genius persona well enough. But as an undercover agent, keeping a low profile is the proper way.

It would be more suitable to reveal my battle qi cultivation when we gather to head for the Monster Mountain Range in a couple of days!

For now, I'll focus on practicing "Light Shadow Slash"!

I hope this Combat Skill won't disappoint me!

The material planes of the Coiling Dragon World were as numerous as stars, and their cultivation systems were immensely varied. There were battle qi, magic, druids, and all sorts of other paths. But at the later stages, there were no longer so many flashy distinctions. What mattered was comprehension of laws.

The comprehension of laws could be considered lofty. If one gathered insights into the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind and fused them together, one could even become an existence like a Primordial Master.

But it could also be considered basic. Taking mages as an example, magical incantations were the most fundamental manifestation of laws. Even a simple Fireball Spell or Water Arrow Spell contained low-level laws such as the fire element and water element!

As for warriors, the best path to comprehending laws was through Combat Skills—Combat Skills of various attributes!

However, compared to a mage's magic, Combat Skills were mostly geared toward bringing out one's own strength and techniques. Comprehending laws through Combat Skills was far from easy.

Furthermore, unless a Combat Skill possessed exceptionally distinct characteristics, the laws comprehended through it would generally only be the most basic elemental laws.

The reason he had taken an interest in the Combat Skill "Light Shadow Slash," aside from reinforcing his persona as the successor of Light and the fact that the skill suited his own attribute, meaning it truly would not conflict with his attribute and prevent him from mastering it, was that he remembered the Law of Light having a profound mystery called the Light Shadow Profound Mystery!

Although ever since he had begun cultivating, he had already confirmed through his frantic research into Shadow Hand that laws were not something one could grasp whenever one wished, like the protagonists of storybooks.

Still, one had to have dreams. If he wanted to become strong, he would have to study such things sooner or later anyway!

And for something like this, the sooner the better!

Two days later, the trial team led by Black Mountain and two other instructors from the Training Camp set out. Along the way, Fengyun kept asking Black Mountain for guidance on the cultivation insights behind "Phantom Slash."

Yes, "Phantom Slash"!

There was no helping it. Hardly anyone in the Training Camp practiced "Light Shadow Slash."

After all, there were so many low-grade Combat Skills in the Training Camp. Unless trainees had tested their affinity and confirmed that they possessed an affinity for the Light Element, there was no need to choose a troublesome and unrewarding Combat Skill like "Light Shadow Slash."

And without trainees who practiced "Light Shadow Slash," naturally there were no instructors who had studied "Light Shadow Slash."

On top of that, "Light Shadow Slash" and "Phantom Slash" were highly similar. Thus, if he wanted advice on cultivating the Combat Skill, he could only seek guidance from someone who practiced "Phantom Slash."

In this situation, there was no need to trouble a second person over the same matter.

Black Mountain, one of their own and the instructor of Blood Courage Battle Qi, became his first choice.

Seeing Fengyun come to seek advice again, Black Mountain chuckled. "Little Yun, your basic swordsmanship has already become quite proficient."