The Surprised Squad Leader, Precious Martial Pavilion, Selling Fierce Beasts

Li Ziyu stared at the blue panel in his mind, his heart surging with emotion.

The blood energy accumulated from killing the Red-Eyed Rabbit earlier, combined with this Shadow Cat, was actually enough to upgrade his martial skill.

He had no idea exactly how much blood energy was needed to upgrade a skill.

But Li Ziyu didn't dwell on it. Without hesitation, he chose to upgrade.

On the panel, the words "Basic Blade Art" transformed into "Intermediate Blade Art"!

The moment the skill upgraded, a surge of heat flooded his limbs and bones.

At the same time, Li Ziyu felt a new set of memories related to practicing blade art appear in his mind—

as if he had possessed them all along.

Li Ziyu picked up his blade and swung it a few times around his body.

Then he adjusted his aim and slashed at a tree trunk over a meter thick in front of him.

A flash of cold light passed.

The meter-thick tree snapped cleanly at the cut, the top and bottom separated.

It crashed heavily to the ground.

The cut surface was smooth and even.

"The system is truly miraculous. This Intermediate Blade Art feels exactly like something I cultivated and advanced myself—no awkwardness or unfamiliarity at all."

"My previous understanding of blade art was far too shallow. Full of flaws, really."

"Now that I've mastered Intermediate Blade Art, my combat power has at least doubled compared to before!"

Li Ziyu's emotions ran high.

If blood energy was like the internal energy in martial arts novels, then martial skills were the external techniques that converted that internal energy into destructive power!

The boost to a martial artist's strength was absolutely enormous.

And martial skills, like blood energy, were extremely difficult to improve—even harder than blood energy!

Blood energy could perhaps be enhanced by consuming rare treasures.

But martial skills relied solely on talent and relentless training!

"With Intermediate Blade Art, if I also had a good weapon, killing a Shadow Cat head-on would be a piece of cake!"

"If Intermediate Blade Art is this powerful, then what about Advanced, the level above it? Wouldn't that be even more terrifying?"

"Holy shit, Captain, what's that moving hill over there?"

"Could it be some new kind of beast!?"

On the towering city wall of Xujiang City, a soldier on guard pointed at a distant moving mound and exclaimed in surprise to his captain.

It was the same three soldiers Li Ziyu had encountered when he left the city.

The squad leader followed the soldier's pointing finger and quickly raised his binoculars to look.

"Stop yelling. What kind of bullshit beast is that? That's a person."

"It's just too many beast corpses piled up—makes it look like a small hill."

The squad leader lowered his binoculars, then smacked the soldier on the head and scolded him.

"Uh... killing that many beasts, this guy's pretty impressive!"

This time, the squad leader didn't argue. Instead, he nodded, his expression turning serious.

"Yeah. I even saw a Shadow Cat corpse behind him."

"A beast like the Shadow Cat—even I have to be careful dealing with it."

"For him to be able to hunt a Shadow Leopard and haul back this many beast corpses... his strength is probably no less than mine."

"No less than you? Captain, you're a Level 1 Advanced Martial Artist! When this guy gets here, we should go greet him."

"But Captain, I feel like this guy looks kind of familiar."

The soldier pointed toward the base of the moving hill.

The squad leader paused, then followed the soldier's finger to look at the figure beneath the mound.

When he made out the face, he froze.

Beneath that small hill was actually the same young man who had just left the city?

At that moment, Li Ziyu happened to glance their way. Seeing the squad leader watching him from the wall, he grinned, flashing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Brother, I guess I misjudged you earlier. I didn't realize you were keeping a low profile—turns out you're a martial artist of no small skill?"

The city gate opened, and the squad leader was the first to walk up.

He looked Li Ziyu up and down, a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"To be able to take down a Shadow Leopard all by yourself, brother—your strength is greater than I imagined!"

"Heh, luck, just luck."

Li Ziyu scratched his head sheepishly and replied with a chuckle.

If not for the Shadow Cat being injured, before he'd mastered the intermediate blade technique, he really might not have been able to kill it alone.

But Li Ziyu's words, in the squad leader's eyes, came across as modesty.

A glint of approval flashed in his gaze toward Li Ziyu.

"Not only are you strong, brother, but you're also this humble—I, Wang Long, admire that!"

"Alright, brother, we won't hold you up any longer. If there's a chance in the future, I'll treat you to a drink!"

Li Ziyu nodded, said his goodbyes to Wang Long and the others, and headed into the city.

"Captain, this kid doesn't look even seventeen yet, right? So young, and he's really a Level 1 Martial Artist!?"

"Didn't he just say he's from Third High School, getting ready for the Martial Arts Exam? Since when did Third High School get this strong?"

Once Li Ziyu had walked off, a soldier sidled up to Wang Long, curiously sizing up Li Ziyu's retreating figure.

Wang Long's gaze turned serious.

"He's probably a hidden genius from Third High School."

"Killing a Level 1 beast at such a young age... looks like this year's Xujiang City Martial Arts Exam is going to be interesting."

Xujiang City.

A three-story building in the bustling heart of the city center.

Li Ziyu stood at the foot of the building, looking up at its signboard, reading aloud as he gazed.

"Precious Martial Pavilion."

"One of the top five martial artist shops in Xujiang City by reputation. Main business: buying and selling beast carcasses, weapons, and martial techniques."

This three-story building before him, ancient and elegant, somewhat resembling the Huizhou-style architecture of his previous life.

Was the shop Li Ziyu had carefully chosen after much deliberation.

He'd originally wanted to find a shop closest to the city wall to sell off these beast carcasses.

But thinking that he'd be frequently heading out of the city to hunt beasts in the future, he decided to find a long-term partner.

The Precious Martial Pavilion was the result of his meticulous online search, checking various reviews, and weighing all considerations.

Word had it that the owner behind it was a Level 2 Advanced Martial Artist with a solid reputation, unlikely to arbitrarily lowball prices.

After a moment's look.

Li Ziyu tightened the massive burlap sack on his back, as big as a small hill, and strode toward the entrance of the Precious Martial Pavilion.

All along the way, his getup had drawn no shortage of stares from passersby.

Though it wasn't uncommon to see martial artists returning to the city after hunting beasts.

But someone carrying back this much was a rare sight.

Not to mention that among the haul was a Level 1 beast—a Shadow Cat.

Many ordinary people had never left Xujiang City in their lives.

They were utterly unfamiliar with beasts.

Having only seen them online or on TV, their curiosity was boundless.

Li Ziyu had been followed and photographed the entire way.

A few decent-looking girls even came up to take selfies with him and ask for his Feixin.

Helpless, Li Ziyu eventually found a secluded corner and stuffed the Shadow Cat's carcass into the sack.

Only then did the onlookers thin out considerably.

After all, while Red-Eyed Rabbits were also uncommon, they weren't unheard of on the market.

Many parents with children preparing for the Martial Arts Exam would, to some extent, buy a bit of Red-Eyed Rabbit meat to supplement their qi and blood.

Li Ziyu walked inside.

What met his eyes was a spacious hall spanning several thousand square meters.

Ancient and elegant, the hall contained partitioned counters.

Inside were displayed all kinds of weapons, pills, and the like.

It was early evening now, and the hall was brightly lit.

Quite a few martial-arts-attired individuals, accompanied by tall, young female sales guides, were either browsing items or sitting in the rest area at the edge of the hall, sipping tea.

The moment Li Ziyu stepped in, he drew the attention of everyone in the hall.

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