Rapid Progress, Internal Energy Breakthrough, Swordsmanship Perfected

The next day, most of the bruising and swelling on Ji Boying's face had faded.

Junior Disciple Sister came looking for Ji Boying early again.

But she arrived later than usual today and failed to catch the slacking Ji Boying as she had hoped.

Ji Boying had returned to his usual diligence. Before dawn had even broken, he was already up practicing his swordsmanship at the crow of a rooster.

By the time Yue Lingshan arrived at Ji Boying's little courtyard, the sun was still low and the weather had yet to grow hot, yet Ji Boying was already drenched in sweat.

She hurriedly pulled Ji Boying over to sit down, wiped away his sweat, and applied the ointment to his face again. Ji Boying merely sat there silently with his eyes closed, relaxed as he enjoyed Junior Disciple Sister's attentive care.

Afterward, he pulled Junior Disciple Sister along to practice swordsmanship for a while, offering Yue Lingshan some pointers on her swordplay before continuing to throw punches at the wooden post.

As he trained, he listened to Junior Disciple Sister tell him some amusing stories. It turned out Senior Disciple Brother had angered their master again.

After that day's sparring match, Linghu Chong and the other senior disciples had all declared their willingness to diligently cultivate their martial arts, which greatly pleased Yue Buqun.

As Senior Disciple Brother, Linghu Chong had cultivated the best swordsmanship, so he asked Yue Buqun for another sword technique to practice.

After much hesitation, Old Yue ultimately decided to give Linghu Chong some face and passed the Xiyi Swordplay on to him.

He had expected Linghu Chong to practice properly, but who would have thought that fellow would get drunk in the middle of the night? The next morning, Yue Buqun caught him still reeking of alcohol. Yue Buqun was furious and confined Linghu Chong.

As Yue Lingshan spoke, she still tried to make excuses for Senior Disciple Brother. "Actually, it can't all be blamed on Senior Disciple Brother. He likes wine—it's simply in his nature. It isn't that he doesn't want to practice. He just happened to receive a jar of rare fine wine and couldn't resist drinking it. It was a fine brew from Chang'an Restaurant, something that's hard to find around here."

Ji Boying did not care whether Linghu Chong was right or wrong. Now that he had been confined, he would presumably be able to focus on his cultivation.

Besides, given Linghu Chong's personality, he had probably long grown accustomed to being punished by Yue Buqun since childhood.

Ji Boying focused all his attention on his Fist Technique.

"Proficiency +1"

"Proficiency +1"

"Proficiency +1"

Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist: Proficient (1/300)

It had leveled up!

Ji Boying rejoiced inwardly and threw a couple of empty punches.

He could feel that his hands had grown much stronger. As internal energy flowed into both hands, it circulated through his meridians more quickly as well.

The force unleashed through internal energy had become more refined. The Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist appeared to consist of utterly ordinary moves, but each strike actually contained the force to split stone and shatter jade.

It was both fierce and condensed.

Keep training!

Ji Boying eagerly continued punching the wooden post.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Proficiency +1"

"Proficiency +1"

The days passed quietly, one after another.

Every morning, Yue Lingshan came to Ji Boying's place to receive some guidance on her swordsmanship.

Although Yue Lingshan's swordsmanship was indeed advancing at a tremendous pace,

Ji Boying could still guide her strikes like an elder teacher.

Such mastery of Mount Hua Swordplay left Yue Lingshan both shocked and deeply impressed.

After practicing swordsmanship, Ji Boying continued practicing his fists.

At first, Yue Lingshan sat there each day watching Ji Boying practice his punches, occasionally chatting and telling jokes.

A few days later, she had become completely convinced of her Junior Disciple Brother's abilities and began cultivating diligently alongside him.

Ji Boying practiced his punches with repeated bangs while she sat cross-legged nearby to cultivate her qi. Gradually, even those banging sounds no longer disturbed her, and her Stillness Cultivation improved as well.

Half a month passed quickly.

Ji Boying had long since cultivated his Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist to the proficient level.

Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist: Proficient (23/600)

But Ji Boying's greatest gain was not the improvement in his Fist Technique.

His Mount Hua internal cultivation had broken through, while his Mount Hua Swordplay had finally reached the perfected level.

Name: Ji Boying

Skills: Mount Hua Breathing Technique: Proficient (1/600), Stone Splitting Jade Breaking Fist: Proficient (23/600), Mount Hua Swordplay: Perfected

Talent: Skill Simplification. Spend Simplification Energy Points to simplify skills.

Energy Points: 0. The system automatically restores 1 point each month. Points are automatically cleared and refreshed at midnight on the first day of every month.

The breakthrough in his internal cultivation made his internal energy more abundant and his stamina more enduring. Both his qi-gathering speed and recovery speed had increased.

Yet progress in internal cultivation was gradual, something accumulated over long periods of time.

It was the perfection of his swordsmanship that delighted Ji Boying the most.

It turned out that once swordsmanship reached perfection, there was no longer any need to train proficiency.

This meant Ji Boying had thoroughly absorbed every last bit of value this set of swordsmanship possessed.

Every move and every stance came naturally to hand, each one flowing as smoothly as he wished.

If Ji Boying wanted to, he could even perform this swordplay backward.

After Ji Boying had thoroughly mastered this foundational Mount Hua swordplay, it had also laid the foundation for his Mount Hua Swordplay.

When learning other Mount Hua sword techniques, he would be able to grasp them more quickly.

As for whether practicing them would increase proficiency faster, or whether he would directly begin with a foundation of proficiency, Ji Boying would need to learn another sword technique before he could verify it.

Just as Ji Boying was rejoicing, two unexpected visitors arrived outside his courtyard.

Linghu Chong's smile froze as he watched Yue Lingshan wipe Ji Boying's sweat away. It felt as though someone had clenched his heart in their fist.

His chest rose and fell, yet he felt unable to breathe.

As he suffered through it, he saw his Junior Disciple Brother turn toward him with a broad smile and greet him heartily.

"Yo, Senior Disciple Brother, Second Senior Disciple Brother, you're here. Senior Disciple Brother, you've been released? What brings you to visit your junior brother today?"

Yue Lingshan was also overjoyed to see them. Like a chirping lark, she proudly babbled, "Senior Disciple Brother, do you know how diligently I've been practicing lately? My swordsmanship is really good now!"

Linghu Chong took several deep breaths to calm himself.

He only felt ashamed that he had harbored such improper thoughts toward his Junior Disciple Sister and Junior Disciple Brother.

The two of them getting along so well as senior and junior disciples was precisely what he, as Mount Hua's Senior Disciple Brother, ought to be happy to see.

His Junior Disciple Brother was tall and handsome, extraordinarily talented, and diligent in cultivation. Not one of those qualities could Linghu Chong compare with. Moreover, he and Junior Disciple Sister were close in age. The two getting along well was only natural—he should not have felt jealous.

Linghu Chong quickly smiled. "I was confined for half a month, so all I could do was practice. My swordsmanship has improved quite a bit too. But let's not talk about cultivation today. I came because I have something to ask of Junior Disciple Brother."

Ji Boying found this strange. What could Senior Disciple Brother possibly need to ask of him—and why had he come together with Laodeno?

Linghu Chong chuckled, rubbed his hands together, and approached somewhat sheepishly.

"Junior Disciple Brother, could you lend me some silver?"