Settling the Score

Lu Ming had been in this world for too short a time and had never come into contact with the outside world, so he had no idea what level his aptitude was actually at. That was why he had asked.

"That's hard to say."

Old Man Zhao pondered for a moment before saying solemnly:

"I know what your body was like before. If you hadn't been so weak, you probably would have needed only a day or two to break through to the Second Layer of Inner Qi."

"And judging by that speed, your aptitude can be called excellent. You're a genius."

Lu Ming nodded. This matched his own deduction.

"However, don't become arrogant and complacent."

Old Man Zhao then changed tack. "A fast cultivation speed in the early stages doesn't prove much. What this world has no shortage of is geniuses. Some of them are astonishingly brilliant at first; cultivating and breaking through is as easy as eating and drinking."

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

"Once they reach a certain stage, they suddenly sink into stagnation. Some can no longer advance even an inch, while others fade into the crowd. There may be all sorts of reasons behind it, but it also shows that geniuses aren't geniuses forever."

"Or rather, they're geniuses only during a certain stage. How far they can go takes a long time to reveal."

After hearing Old Man Zhao's words, Lu Ming's mind trembled. He seemed to sense a trace of cruelty in them. Geniuses emerged one after another, and a hundred boats raced with the current. Practicing martial arts meant competing not only with himself, but with others as well.

The difficulty of it was easy to imagine.

But he quickly steeled his resolve. The thing he feared least was competition.

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

Composing himself, he hurriedly replied.

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

"Yes."

Lu Ming quickly slipped into the study.

In the afternoon, the fatigue in Lu Ming's body gradually faded as he spent time reading. After mooching a meat-filled lunch from Old Man Zhao, he returned to his own courtyard.

He was going to continue cultivating.

First, he thoroughly practiced the basic saber techniques until they were completely mastered, then planned to formally cultivate the first three forms of the [Heavenly Saber Technique].

The three forms were Gale Style, Rain-Pouring Style, and Skyward Slash.

Gale Style was a thrusting strike that emphasized agility and speed.

Rain-Pouring Style was a series of rapid slashes. It emphasized a dense saber momentum, as concentrated as pouring rain. It could be used for both offense and defense.

Skyward Slash was a strike that concentrated the strength of the entire body after Rain-Pouring Style's chain of rapid slashes.

Leaping into the air, he brought the saber down from above in a single slash to the ground.

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

Lu Ming carefully recalled the details of the saber art, then went to the center of the courtyard and began practicing.

For convenience, he imagined there was an enemy directly ahead of him whom he needed to attack.

He began by taking up the stance, spreading his legs and holding the wooden saber horizontally before him, one hand gripping the hilt and the other pressing against the blade.

His eyes focused sharply on the enemy's every move.

"Hah!"

Without wasting time, Lu Ming gave a soft shout, pushed off with his right leg, stepped forward, and suddenly thrust straight ahead.

It was Gale Style, and the move also carried an element of probing.

He imagined that this thrust had been blocked, then hurriedly followed with the second form, Rain-Pouring Style.

The small courtyard immediately rang with a chain of shouts. Rain-Pouring Style's rapid slashes emphasized swiftness and urgency. Combined with movement techniques, he repeatedly brought the saber down straight, slashed diagonally, reversed his body for an upward slash, swept across the waist, and more, attacking the imagined enemy from front, back, left, and right.

Every saber strike seemed intent on taking a life, forcing the opponent to struggle to defend and reveal an opening.

Next, naturally, he seized the opening and followed with the third form, Skyward Slash.

In the small courtyard, Lu Ming let out another loud shout, suddenly leaped into the air, shifted to a two-handed grip, and slashed downward.

With that, the three forms had been completed.

Bracing himself with the saber, Lu Ming knelt on one knee and panted slightly. The reason was that Rain-Pouring Style did not stipulate how many slashes were required. As long as one had enough strength, one could keep slashing.

He had just delivered more than twenty slashes.

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

Panting, Lu Ming did not hurry to practice a second time. Instead, he rested while reviewing the places where his practice had fallen short.

Overall, the problem came down to a single unfamiliar movement, which caused many of his saber strikes to fall short of their mark.

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

After finding the problem, Lu Ming began practicing a second time, then a third...

Until several days passed.

After many days of practice, including the basic saber techniques, Lu Ming had grown increasingly proficient. He had even reached the point where everything came naturally.

Gale Style!

In the small courtyard, Lu Ming once again performed the Heavenly Saber Technique, this time circulating Inner Qi to assist him.

With the support of Inner Qi, his body suddenly became light and nimble. As he pushed off with his right foot, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, wooden saber in hand as he thrust forward at high speed.

Several meters directly ahead of him stood a wooden plank half a finger thick. When his wooden saber stabbed into it, there was a loud bang, and the plank was immediately pierced through, leaving a large hole.

It had been pierced through without shattering. This showed that he had controlled the force of that thrust with perfect precision.

Without pausing, he immediately flipped the wooden saber in his hand, turned the blade upward, and swept it up. A slit instantly appeared in the plank.

Then, borrowing the force of that upward sweep, he let his body leap into the air, shifted to a two-handed grip, and brought the saber down in a slash.

"Bang!"

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

"Not bad."

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

Furthermore, he needed to exchange it for a real saber next.

As for how to get one, he had already thought of it.

"It's time to settle the score."

Lu Ming tossed the broken saber aside and gazed at the layers of buildings across the drainage ditch. He planned to find the beggar who had controlled the original owner and made him a slave, then take revenge.

He would also get some money while he was at it, using it to buy a saber.

As for his strength, he wasn't worried. As far as he knew, that beggar was only at the First Layer of Inner Qi and knew merely a few moves of the Grass-Parting Staff Technique.

The beggar had often shown off this fact in front of the beggars under his control.

With Lu Ming's current strength, he could completely handle him.

What was more, he was confident that he could break through to the Third Layer of Inner Qi that very night.

Indeed, as his bodily functions continued to recover, his cultivation speed could no longer be restrained.

On top of that, he had cultivated the [Heavenly Saber Art] to the fifth layer, further increasing the speed at which he refined Inner Qi.

Thus, breaking through again within a few short days was only to be expected.

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

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

Lu Ming was not particularly surprised by the result. After feeling the now-deeper Inner Qi within him, he simply went to sleep.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. He did not hurry to carry out the decision he had made the previous day, but cultivated as usual.

There was one extra task, however: sharpening a saber.

He found a woodcutting saber. It was somewhat short, and because it had not been used for a long time, it was covered in rust.

But being short had its advantages. It was easier to conceal.

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

After sharpening the saber, Lu Ming practiced the saber techniques with it as a precaution. He needed to familiarize himself with the weapon as quickly as possible, lest he fumble at the crucial moment.

By the time he had become thoroughly familiar with it, it was nearly dusk—the time he had chosen to make his move.

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