Settling Scores

Having arrived in this world only a short time ago and never having come into contact with the outside world, Lu Ming had no idea what level his aptitude truly stood at, hence his question.

"That's hard to say."

"I know what your physical condition was like before. If you hadn't been so weak and frail, you probably would have broken through to the Second Layer of Inner Qi in just a day or two."

"Judging by that speed, your aptitude is quite excellent. You're a genius."

Lu Ming nodded. This matched his own deductions.

"But don't become complacent."

Old Man Zhao's tone shifted. "Fast cultivation in the early stages doesn't prove much. What this world lacks least are geniuses. Some of them are dazzlingly brilliant at the beginning; cultivating and breaking through are as easy for them as eating and drinking."

"But..." He paused here and looked at Lu Ming, the warning in his eyes unmistakable.

"Once they reach a certain stage, they suddenly sink into silence. Some find it impossible to advance another inch, while others fade into the crowd. Though there are all sorts of reasons behind this, it also shows that geniuses are not always geniuses."

"Or rather, they are only geniuses at a certain stage. How far they can go takes a long time to see."

Hearing Old Man Zhao's words, Lu Ming's heart shook. He seemed to sense a hint of cruelty in them. Geniuses emerged in endless streams, a hundred boats racing for the current. Practicing martial arts meant not only competing against oneself, but competing against others.

One could well imagine the hardship involved.

Yet he quickly steeled himself. The thing he feared least was competition.

"Thank you for the reminder, sir. I'll remember it all."

Collecting himself, he hurriedly replied.

Seemingly sensing the change in Lu Ming's mindset, Old Man Zhao nodded in satisfaction. "All right, go read on your own."

"Yes."

Lu Ming quickly slipped into the study.

That afternoon, the fatigue in Lu Ming's body gradually faded as he read. After mooching another meat-filled lunch from Old Man Zhao, he returned to his own courtyard.

He had to continue cultivating.

First, he would thoroughly master the basic saber techniques. Then he planned to formally cultivate the first three forms of the Heavenly Saber Saber Art.

Those three forms were the Gale Style, the Pouring Rain Style, and the Flying Sky Slash.

The Gale Style was a thrusting strike, emphasizing speed and swiftness.

The Pouring Rain Style was a series of rapid chained slashes, emphasizing dense saber momentum, as thick as pouring rain. It could be used for both attack and defense.

The Flying Sky Slash, meanwhile, was an all-out strike that gathered the strength of the entire body after the Pouring Rain Style's chained rapid slashes.

Leaping into the air, he chopped downward from above in a single stroke.

These three moves flowed together, naturally linked by various footwork, movement techniques, and basic saber forms.

Lu Ming carefully recalled the details of the saber art before walking to the center of the courtyard and beginning his practice.

For convenience, he imagined an enemy standing directly before him, someone he needed to attack.

He first assumed the opening stance, spreading his legs and holding the wooden saber horizontally before him. One hand gripped the hilt tightly while the other pressed against the blade.

His sharp gaze watched every movement of his imaginary enemy.

Ha!

Without wasting time, Lu Ming gave a low shout, pushed off with his right leg, and suddenly lunged forward with a thrust.

It was the Gale Style, a move that also carried the intent of probing his opponent.

He imagined that thrust being blocked and hurriedly followed with the second form, the Pouring Rain Style.

The small courtyard immediately rang with a succession of shouts. The Pouring Rain Style's swift slashes demanded speed and urgency. Coordinating with his movement technique, he repeatedly chopped straight down, slashed diagonally, spun and cut upward, swept at the waist, and more, attacking his enemy from every direction.

Every slash aimed to take a life, forcing the opponent into a frantic defense until a flaw appeared.

Then, naturally, he would seize that flaw and follow up with the third form, the Flying Sky Slash.

In the small courtyard, Lu Ming shouted again and suddenly leaped into the air. He switched to a two-handed grip and brought his saber down in a fierce chop.

Thus, the three forms were complete.

Supporting himself on the saber, Lu Ming knelt on one knee, slightly out of breath. The reason was that the second form, the Pouring Rain Style, did not specify how many slashes one had to make. So long as one had sufficient strength, one could keep slashing without end.

He had just unleashed more than twenty slashes.

And this was his first time practicing it. He was mainly familiarizing himself with the moves, so he had not circulated Inner Qi to assist him. As a result, his stamina drained rapidly.

Panting, Lu Ming did not rush into a second round of practice. Instead, he rested while reviewing the areas where he had not performed well.

Overall, it was simply because his movements were not yet proficient, causing many of his slashes to fall short.

That was easy enough to solve. He only needed more practice.

Having found the problem, Lu Ming began practicing a second time, then a third...

Until several days passed.

After many days of practice, Lu Ming became increasingly proficient in everything, including the basic saber techniques. He had even reached the point where they came as naturally as moving his own hands.

Gale Style!

In the small courtyard, Lu Ming once again performed the Heavenly Saber Saber Art. This time, he circulated Inner Qi to support it.

With the aid of Inner Qi, his body instantly became lighter. As his right foot pushed off, he shot forth like an arrow released from the bow, wooden saber in hand as he thrust forward at terrifying speed.

At that moment, a wooden board half a finger thick stood several meters in front of him. As his wooden saber struck, a bang rang out, and the board was immediately pierced through with a large hole.

Pierced through, not shattered. That showed his control over the force of that thrust was exactly right.

Without pausing, he immediately flipped the wooden saber in his hand, turned the edge upward, and slashed up. A gash instantly opened in the wooden board.

Then, borrowing the force of that upward slash, he leaped into the air and switched to a two-handed grip before chopping down.

Bang!

In an instant, the wooden board split apart with a crack, and his wooden saber broke as well.

"Not bad."

Looking at his handiwork, Lu Ming was very satisfied. Though the saber had broken, it also proved that he had mastered the saber art.

Besides, he needed to replace it with a real saber next.

As for how to obtain one, he had already thought it through.

"It's time to settle the score."

Lu Ming casually tossed aside the broken saber and looked toward the layers of buildings across the ditch. He intended to seek revenge on the beggar who had controlled the original owner of his body as a slave.

And while he was at it, get some money to buy a saber.

As for strength, he was not worried about that. From what he knew, that beggar was only at the Inner Qi First Layer, and his moves amounted to no more than a few forms of the Grass-Parting Cudgel Technique.

The man often flaunted those moves before the beggars he controlled.

Therefore, with Lu Ming's current strength, he could completely stand against him.

What was more, he was confident that he would break through to the Third Layer of Inner Qi tonight.

Yes, as his body's functions further recovered, his cultivation speed could no longer be suppressed.

Furthermore, he had cultivated the Heavenly Saber Art to the fifth level, further accelerating the rate at which he refined Inner Qi.

Thus, breaking through again within just a few days was simply a matter of course.

Having made his decision, Lu Ming finished dinner early and entered cultivation.

This breakthrough was still exceedingly easy, as though there were no bottleneck at all. He naturally became a Martial Artist at the Third Layer of Inner Qi.

Lu Ming was not overly surprised by the result. After only feeling out the now deeper Inner Qi within him, he went straight to sleep.

In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived. He did not rush to carry out the decision he had made yesterday, instead cultivating as usual.

However, he added one more task: sharpening a saber.

He found a woodcutting saber. It was somewhat short, and because it had been unused for a long time, it was covered in rust.

But being short had its benefits—it was easier to hide.

As for the rust, sharpening would take care of it.

After sharpening the saber, Lu Ming practiced his saber art with this short blade for the sake of caution. He wanted to familiarize himself with the weapon as quickly as possible, lest it fail him at a crucial moment.

By the time he was thoroughly familiar with it, dusk was approaching. This was precisely the time he had chosen to make his move.

So he hurriedly hid the short saber in his sleeve and walked out.