Blade Arts Beginner

After returning to the cave and sealing the entrance with a wooden stump, Ling Li finally let out a sigh of relief.

In his current state, if even a magical beast—or even an ordinary wild animal that did not qualify as a magical beast—came looking for him, all he could do was wait for death!

After confirming that he was safe, Ling Li sat down on the ground without a care for his appearance, gasping heavily. Even though he had escaped danger, his hands were still trembling slightly. Taking a trip to death's door was definitely not a pleasant feeling.

"Hiss..."

Once he calmed down, the wound at his waist began hurting again. Ling Li bared his teeth and sucked in a cold breath. Fortunately, this body's recovery ability was extremely strong, and the wound at his waist had stopped bleeding in a short time.

To be honest, Ling Li himself was still too weak. His mind had never endured such a shock, and it was far too fragile. He simply could not suppress the fear in his heart. If not for Dark Night, he would not even have had the ability to resist.

Still, although Ling Li felt lingering fear, he did not regret it at all. If he feared everything and dared not try anything, without even the heart to become strong, how could he ever become strong?

So what if he lacked strength? Was any strong person born invincible?

"Looks like I need more practice, especially with blade arts. Forget those flashy techniques for now—I need to get proficient in simple attacks like slashing, chopping, and thrusting..." Ling Li thought to himself, then shook his head. "Forget it. I'll build a fire first and have something to eat. I haven't tasted magical beast meat yet..."

A First Tier magical beast was equivalent to a human Dou Zhe, and Ling Li was also a Dou Zhe. Although magical beasts of the same rank were somewhat stronger than humans, Ling Li's strength should have surpassed that of an ordinary Dou Zhe. With a sharp weapon like Dark Night, if Ling Li had even a little foundation, he would never have been so wretched when he encountered that Ink Leopard earlier.

"Huh, a Magic Core? Could this be from that magical beast?" After going through immense effort to start a fire, Ling Li looked at the small ink-colored crystal stored separately in the System Space and cried out in surprise.

Magic Cores, also known as Demonic Crystals, were condensed energy bodies found within magical beasts. They were filled with violent and chaotic energy, making them completely unsuitable for direct absorption. However, they could be used in pill refinement and medicine-making, or embedded into weapons to increase their power.

Their widespread usefulness ensured that Magic Cores were not cheap. Leaving aside all other factors, a First Tier Magic Core was worth at least three hundred Gold Coins. On the Dou Qi Continent, twenty Gold Coins could support one person's food and expenses for an entire year.

He had not expected the Ink Leopard he had just slain to possess a Magic Core. Looking at it this way, he had made an absolute killing from that exchange. After all, not every magical beast possessed a Magic Core. Within the Monster Beast Mountain Range, there were countless cases of people paying a huge price only to gain nothing.

"I wonder if I can eat Magic Cores directly..." Ling Li took the Magic Core from the System Space and thought to himself.

The energy within a Magic Core was extremely violent. Even cultivators who had reached the Dou Wang realm did not dare devour them directly. If the violent energy within caused one's Dou Qi to become chaotic, the consequences would be no joke!

The Magic Core from the Ink Leopard was ink-black and only the size of a pigeon egg. The dark crystal held a trace of transparency, and a sliver of light shining in through the cave entrance revealed a faint gleam on its surface.

The instant the Magic Core entered his hand, the Dou Qi within Ling Li's body began to boil and spatter as if water had been poured into concentrated sulfuric acid! A longing born from instinct surfaced in his heart.

"Can this thing really be eaten?" Ling Li was delighted. Without thinking too much about it, he tossed the Magic Core into his mouth and swallowed it whole.

He did not know whether this body would be in danger from devouring Magic Cores, but Ling Li knew that in his current condition, he was hungry and injured at the waist. Never mind leaving this damned Monster Beast Mountain Range—even casually encountering a First Tier magical beast would leave him in deep trouble. Staying in this cave would be safe, but he would starve to death sooner or later. And even if he left the Monster Beast Mountain Range, so what? What would he rely on to survive?

Rather than starve to death here, he might as well be bold and devour the Magic Core. At worst, he would give it a try and die.

After the Magic Core entered his stomach, Ling Li could feel every cell in his body cheering. Pure energy rapidly surged from his abdomen, traveling through the meridians in his body before finally flowing into the sea of Qi in his Dantian. The wound at his waist, where the Ink Leopard had clawed him, was also rapidly healing.

At the same time, the Energy value on the system panel began rising from 599. It continued for two minutes before stopping at 699.

"A First Tier Magic Core can add 100 Energy..." Ling Li smacked his lips. That was not bad. In other words, if he had four hundred and fifty First Tier Magic Cores, he could directly advance to the Dou Shi realm.

If Second Tier Magic Cores worked the same way, would that not mean he only needed to keep swallowing Magic Cores to reach the peak without obstruction?

Shaking his head, he realized that strength was not what he lacked right now—he simply could not bring it out. Though all things were meaningless before absolute strength, without overwhelming power, one had to rely on skill. If he could skillfully wield a weapon like the Tang Dao, staying alive should not be a problem.

After resting for a long while, Ling Li stood up once the wound no longer hurt. He took Dark Night from the System Space, planted his feet firmly, and began practicing basic movements such as chopping, slashing, thrusting, and lifting. Although these movements were simple, Ling Li had never learned them and could only follow his own impressions. Repeatedly swinging a blade was also physically exhausting.

No one knew how much time had passed. The fire in the cave had long since gone out, and only the sounds of a blade slicing through the air rang out again and again in the darkness.

Ling Li did not know how many times he had swung his blade or how long he had practiced. Whenever his arms became so sore that he could not continue, he would lie down and rest. After sleeping, he would switch to another move and continue swinging his blade.

Because of his unusual constitution, whenever Ling Li collapsed from exhaustion, all he needed was a night's sleep for the fatigue in his arms to disappear after waking. Moreover, after each rest, although his Energy value would decrease by a few points, he did not feel hungry at all. This saved him the trouble of going out to look for food.

One day? Ten days? Or several months?

Ling Li did not know how long he had practiced. He only felt that his blade swings were becoming more and more proficient, that he could swing more and more times, and that his speed was growing faster and faster. From the sluggish swings at the beginning, he could now unleash more than twenty slashes in a single second.

Among all martial arts under heaven, only speed was invincible. Ling Li did not know any blade forms or principles, so he could only begin with speed.

"Clang!"

The sound of the blade cutting through the air abruptly stopped in the darkness. Ling Li's hands lost their strength once more, and Dark Night fell to the ground. Just as Ling Li was about to lie down and rest, a series of system notifications sounded.

"Congratulations, Host, for obtaining the skill Blade Arts!"

"Congratulations, Host, for raising the skill Blade Arts to Beginner!"

"Blade Arts... Beginner?" Ling Li did not think further before drifting into a groggy sleep.

When Ling Li woke up again, sunlight was already streaming in through the cave entrance. The cool breeze blowing through the cracks in the wooden stump slowly restored his awareness.

Shaking his head and rubbing between his brows, Ling Li looked at his information panel:

Host: Ling Li

Cultivation: One-Star Dou Zhe (1/1000)

Attribute: Dark

Bloodline: Devouring Spirit Clan (First Grade: 30/1000)

Skill: Blade Arts (Beginner: 0/10)

Weapon: Dark Night (Yellow Grade High Rank: 0/1000)

Ability: Devouring Spirit Demonic Core (Development: 1/3)

Ability Skills (1/3):

Devour LV.1 (70/100) (Can evolve at LV.10)

Shadow Transformation (Locked)

Dark Realm (Locked)

Other: System Space (Activated)

Energy: 10

"Blade Arts at Beginner? Not a bad feeling." Ling Li picked up Dark Night from the ground and tried using the basic moves he had practiced over the past few days. There was not the slightest sense of awkwardness.

After obtaining the Beginner level of Blade Arts, Ling Li felt that his connection with Dark Night had become even closer, as though the blade had become an extension of his arm.

Ling Li felt that if he encountered that Ink Leopard again, he might not be able to deal with it easily, but he definitely would not be as wretched as he had been that day.