Dragon-Phoenix Dance

Dragon-Phoenix Dance

Dragon-Phoenix Dance (Intermediate): An exceptionally profound sword art of the martial world. Its moves appear fierce and sharp, but in truth, they focus on deflecting force and protecting the body. Even when facing an opponent far stronger than oneself, it can still ensure one's safety. Cultivation requirements: Aptitude 25, Comprehension 25, Physique 70, Arm Strength 60.

On the surface, there was nothing wrong with this sword technique's description.

However, with his many years of gaming experience, Ye Weiming knew that no skill was truly flawless. Whenever a description went out of its way to emphasize a particular advantage, its real purpose was often merely to conceal shortcomings elsewhere.

The manual's description for "Dragon-Phoenix Dance" praised its self-preservation capabilities to the heavens, and Ye Weiming believed its defensive power was definitely formidable enough. But its Attack Power was probably nothing to write home about. If it did not have such an obvious flaw, the system would not have rated it as an intermediate sword technique. At the very least, it should have been an advanced sword technique!

Ye Weiming had always believed that when narrow paths met, the brave prevailed. He was not particularly interested in sword techniques that blindly pursued self-preservation.

Yet in response to Ye Weiming's reasonable request, You Jin's answer was, "Once quest rewards have been issued, they cannot be exchanged for any reason."

What a load of crap. You sneaky bastard, you're rotten to the core!

With a casual tap, he learned the Dragon-Phoenix Dance skill. Without even saying goodbye, Ye Weiming headed straight out of the Divine Constable Bureau, leaving the other man only with the back of his head.

A real man never turned back to look at a pervert!

After leaving the Divine Constable Bureau, Ye Weiming went directly to the Armaments Bureau not far away.

The Armaments Bureau was an equipment manufacturing agency directly under the imperial court, mainly responsible for forging military supplies for the army. It housed no shortage of skilled craftsmen. Among them, Armaments Bureau Deputy Director Tie Zhi possessed the most exquisite skills, and he was Ye Weiming's target.

Upon arriving outside the Armaments Bureau, he presented his token to prove his identity. The guard NPC went inside to report his arrival, while Ye Weiming was invited into the gatehouse to wait. A moment later, a man dressed in Emei Sect disciple robes entered the gatehouse. Upon seeing Ye Weiming, he immediately stepped forward with a smile. "Are you Ye Weiming from the Divine Constable Bureau?"

Ye Weiming nodded, then looked at this oddly dressed fellow before him and frowned. "And you are?"

"Wind Thunder Swordsman of the Emei Sect."

He could tell at once from that name that the other party was a player. But did the Emei Sect have male disciples too? Ye Weiming had never seen one before!

Seemingly noticing the surprise on Ye Weiming's face, Wind Thunder Swordsman explained helplessly, "A lot of people think the same way, believing that the Emei Sect only accepts female disciples. Actually, the Emei Sect has male disciples too. It is just that Emei's founding ancestor was a woman, and most of the martial arts passed down are better suited for women. Under normal circumstances, male players would not join Emei, because it is not exactly a good choice."

"Then you..."

"I joined for the Emei Sect's miscellaneous arts." With a slight smile, Wind Thunder Swordsman added, "Male disciples in the Emei Sect are generally responsible for various chores, so there are naturally plenty of instructors for all kinds of life skills, and their professional abilities are extremely strong." After a slight pause, he asked mysteriously, "Brother Ye, have you heard of the Dragon Slaying Saber and the Heavenly Sword?"

Ye Weiming had certainly heard of them. He had even seen the Dragon Slaying Saber with his own eyes.

"But I heard that although the Heavenly Sword belongs to Emei, it is not currently in the Emei Sect."

"I am not talking about the saber and sword themselves." Wind Thunder Swordsman explained, "It is said that the Dragon Slaying Saber and the Heavenly Sword were both forged by the family of Heroine Guo Xiang, the founding ancestor of the Emei Sect. The secret method for forging those weapons has also been passed down within Emei, though no one has yet mastered that supreme skill. We have gone a bit off topic. What brings Brother Ye here today?"

Reminded by him, Ye Weiming finally recalled the matter at hand. "I came today to seek an audience with Lord Tie."

Wind Thunder Swordsman's eyes lit up at once. "This humble one happens to be Lord Tie's disciple. If Brother Ye has something to discuss, why not tell me first? If I cannot resolve it, I can report it to Lord Tie for you. How about that?"

Was Tie Zhi taking this opportunity to train his player disciples?

Ye Weiming did not say much. He directly took out the Green Bamboo Sword. "In that case, I will have to trouble Brother Wind Thunder to see whether the poison on this sword can be removed."

That was right! This was Ye Weiming's solution to the Green Bamboo Sword's side effect. Since using a poisoned weapon would reduce Chivalry Points, would it not be fine if he simply removed the poison from it?

Given the Green Bamboo Sword's attributes, even if its poison damage attribute were removed, it would still be a superb sword.

The idea was undoubtedly wonderful, but the answer he received was, "That is impossible. Forget me—even my master, Tie Zhi, could not do it."

Under Ye Weiming's questioning gaze, Wind Thunder Swordsman explained seriously, "This Green Bamboo Sword was forged using a special process from the Miao Territory. During forging, a secret smelting method was used to fuse specific metal ores with poisons, refining the metal that formed the blade into poisonous iron that was itself highly toxic. The sword is poisonous from the inside out. How could the poison possibly be washed away?"

"That's that vicious?"

Seeing that Ye Weiming did not believe him, Wind Thunder Swordsman proactively sent him a friend request, then sent him a system message. Through your observation, you discovered that the Green Bamboo Sword's forging process used a Miao Territory...

All right, one look told him that this was a system skill just like Autopsy Method. There was absolutely no mistake.

After failing to remove the poison, Ye Weiming left the Armaments Bureau helplessly and sent a mass Carrier Pigeon Message: Does anyone know how to increase Aptitude and Comprehension?

Wind Thunder Swordsman: Read books for Comprehension. No idea about Aptitude.

Noodle Bun: Special martial arts increase Aptitude. Read books for Comprehension.

Jiao Tailang: No idea about Aptitude, but Mount Hua Sect has daily reading assignments that can increase Comprehension. Doesn't your sect have them?

Sanyue:...

Youyou:...

Yin Bukui:...

Xuan Xiaobi...

Zang Yue: I XXXXX, you XXXXX...

Casually blacklisting the foul-mouthed Zang Yue again, Ye Weiming summarized everyone's information. The general situation was this: if he wanted to increase Comprehension, he should read books. As for increasing Aptitude? Sorry, they wanted to increase it too!

When he arrived at the private school in Bianjing City, Ye Weiming discovered that every book there had a clearly marked price.

Hundred Family Surnames: 100 gold!

Dizigui: 300 gold!

Three Character Classic: 300 gold!

Rhymes of Li Weng: 400 gold!

Thousand Character Classic: 1,000 gold!

Great Learning: 2,000 gold!

Doctrine of the Mean: 3,000 gold!

Analects: 4,000 gold!

Mencius: 5,000 gold!

Book of Songs...

Looking at the prices of these Chinese classics, then at the pitiful less than 20 gold in his pocket, Ye Weiming felt terrible all over.

Hundred Family Surnames cost 100 gold, and Thousand Character Classic cost 1,000 gold. Do you charge by the character for reading books here?

And at one gold per character, no less!

Who was it that said scholars were poor while martial artists were rich? Step forward. I promise I will not beat you to death!

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