Ling Yun

Cloud City in the northern lands, Black Tiger Martial Hall courtyard.

Hah! Ha!

Amid bursts of powerful shouts, dozens of bare-chested youths stood beneath the blazing sun, repeatedly swinging the heavy black iron blades in their hands.

Even though their sweat had already soaked the ground, every one of them gritted their teeth and held on.

A quarter of an hour.

Half an hour.

Yet as time passed, the temperature around them gradually rose as well.

Before long, some could no longer endure, and the arcs of their swinging blades gradually weakened.

At the front of the formation, a burly man with the back of a tiger and waist of a bear watched them with gleaming eyes. Seeing this, a trace of displeasure immediately flashed through his gaze.

"Look at yourselves, all soft hands and weak legs, like you haven't eaten in days!"

"You pieces of trash, listen up!"

"The Tiger Blade Technique is a true martial art of slaughter. Thus, the most important thing is the two words: fierce and forceful!"

With that, he casually flicked his toe, sending a hundred-pound black iron blade soaring high into the air. Then he stretched out his right hand and easily caught it.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the burly man let out a great shout. The muscles in his arm bulged high as he suddenly swung forward!

Whoosh!

Accompanied by a shrill whistle, a bluish stone the size of a millstone before him was sliced in two on the spot as if it were tofu!

A shower of shattered stones shot in all directions like bullets. Several people in the front row failed to dodge in time, and deep red marks immediately appeared all over their bodies!

Yet no one cared about that at the moment. All of them stared at the scene before them with shocked expressions.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, a smug look flashed across the burly man's face. He grinned and said,

"Did you see that? Who could block a strike backed by twenty years of skill?"

"But as long as you train hard, sooner or later, you'll be able to do the same!"

"Now, keep training!"

This display had clearly worked wonders.

Encouraged by the burly man, everyone seemed as if they had been injected with chicken blood, howling as they resumed their training.

Meanwhile, in a corner near the back of the formation, a young figure stood there blankly, looking around in utter confusion.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?

Ling Yun was a little dumbfounded. One second ago, he had been at home enjoying the air conditioning and drinking fatty happy water. The next, he had appeared here.

Looking at the group of burly bare-chested men around him, then at the stone not far away that had been cleaved in half with one stroke, Ling Yun's brain immediately crashed.

Which production crew is filming here? That thing must be made of foam, right?

Yet when he touched the forehead that had been cut by a flying stone, the burning pain clearly told him that none of this was an illusion!

Just then, a wave of unfamiliar memories flooded into his mind. After being dazed for a moment, he finally came back to his senses.

That was right. He had transmigrated!

In this age when transmigration ran rampant, he had also been fortunate enough to become one of its members.

Once he understood what had happened, Ling Yun felt like crying without tears. He had transmigrated just from drinking fatty happy water—who the hell could he argue with about that?

According to the memories in his mind, this was probably a world similar to ancient China.

As for the original owner's identity, there was not much to say.

He was a handsome young man from some unknown mountain village. Relying on the bit of strength he had built through farm work, he had become an ordinary disciple of Black Tiger Martial Hall and could now barely scrape together enough to eat.

"Brother Ling, stop spacing out! Old Devil Ma has noticed you!"

While Ling Yun was pondering, someone beside him suddenly gave him a quiet warning.

Ling Yun instinctively looked up and met a pair of eyes wide as bronze bells.

It was the fierce man who had just split the huge stone with one slash—his immediate superior, Ma Ruhu!

Under the man's gaze, which looked ready to devour someone whole, Ling Yun's body trembled. Almost by reflex, he began swinging the heavy black blade in his hands with all his strength.

Ma Ruhu stared coldly at him for a long while, but in an unprecedented turn of events, he did not say anything. He merely snorted and withdrew his gaze.

Ling Yun inwardly let out a slight sigh of relief. In his memories, this man's methods were exceptionally brutal.

If Ma Ruhu really set his sights on him, Ling Yun would probably be lucky to escape with only a layer of skin peeled off today!

The one who had just warned him was a dark-skinned youth about his age named Fang Yuan.

The two of them came from the same mountain village, so Fang Yuan was one of the original owner's few friends here.

Ling Yun gratefully blinked at him. Just as he was about to say something, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Ding! A low-level martial art has been detected. Moon Spirit Wind Shadow Modifier has activated!"

Then a translucent interface popped up.

Name: Ling Yun

Martial Art: Tiger Blade Technique—Not Initiated (Modifiable)

Modification Points: 3

A system?

After a brief daze, Ling Yun immediately realized that his golden finger had arrived!

They said no transmigration came without a system. The novels had not deceived him after all!

It was just that the name of this system...

Ling Yun's expression became somewhat strange. Wasn't this the modifier he had used all the time in his previous life?

He had not expected that his status as the senior disciple of the Moon Spirit Wind Shadow Sect could not be changed even in this world.

Still, none of that mattered. Ling Yun forcefully suppressed the excitement in his heart and focused on his panel.

The panel was not complicated. In particular, the three words "Modifiable" were practically telling him outright—come click me!

However, Ling Yun looked around. This was clearly not a good place to test it, so he could only suppress the temptation in his heart and calmly follow the group in practicing the blade technique over and over.

Though he could only copy the movements from memory, he still looked fairly convincing.

And so it continued until the sun set, when Ma Ruhu finally emerged from who knew what corner.

He swept his gaze over the clearly exhausted crowd but did not say much more.

After casually giving a few pointers, he strolled off on his own with an eight-character gait.

Only after Ma Ruhu's figure had completely vanished did everyone cheer and scatter in all directions.

Ling Yun also let out a long breath. It was finally fucking over.

Pampered and spoiled in his previous life, he had nearly been worked into collapse by this single day of training.

Just as he was about to leave with the crowd, he felt a weight settle on his shoulder, and a familiar voice sounded beside his ear.

"Brother Ling, you were impressive today. You actually dared to slack off right under Old Devil Ma's nose."

Without turning his head, Ling Yun said, "Fang Yuan, is your skin itching again?"

The newcomer was indeed Fang Yuan. He leaned in with a grin, looked around, then suddenly said with a mysterious expression, "Brother Ling, I feel like I'm about to break through to the first level!"

Ling Yun halted, surprise flashing in his eyes.

The martial art they practiced was called the Tiger Blade Technique, and it was divided into three levels.

Each level required a great deal of time and effort to train.

There were roughly forty ordinary disciples in all of Black Tiger Martial Hall, yet only a handful could successfully reach the first level and become formal disciples.

Just like Ling Yun's predecessor, who had trained day and night for several months but had always been stuck at the final step, unable to break through.

As for becoming a formal disciple, not only would one's status and position rise with the tide, but even the lucrative jobs the martial hall took from outside would be given priority to such people.

To people like them, that truly counted as soaring into the sky with a single leap.

Seeing Ling Yun's expression, Fang Yuan immediately looked smug. He patted Ling Yun on the shoulder and said in an old-fashioned tone, "Little Ling, don't worry. With Brother Fang here from now on, let's see who still dares look down on us brothers!"

Seeing that this fellow's tail was practically about to stick up into the sky, Ling Yun rolled his eyes and smacked the back of Fang Yuan's head.

"Look how pleased you are with yourself. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd become the master of Black Tiger Martial Hall!"

Having said that, he could not be bothered with Fang Yuan any longer and turned to leave.

Fang Yuan rubbed the back of his head, but he did not take it to heart. Grinning, he followed after Ling Yun.

Before long, the two left the place amid playful bickering.

After dinner.

Rubbing his round belly, Ling Yun swayed back to his room.

It had to be said that Black Tiger Martial Hall's treatment was quite good.

Even ordinary disciples like him had their own separate quarters.

After carefully inspecting the room, Ling Yun excitedly rubbed his hands together and opened his panel.