A Hair's Breadth Away

"A Quarter of an Hour..."

Chu Mu pressed his lips together and unconsciously recalled the state he had been in just now under the support of "Spirit Radiance."

With ample preparation, his experience this time was undoubtedly far deeper than the previous two.

Under the support of "Spirit Radiance," his thoughts and wisdom seemed to be abruptly raised to another level. The simplest example was the reading and literacy he had been doing for most of the past month. He had recognized quite a few characters, but as for their meanings, he had only swallowed them whole like dates.

It felt just like in his previous life—even after graduating from university, if someone gave him a copy of the Book of Songs, or even just the Analects, he would recognize every single character in it, but once those characters formed a sentence, he would inevitably only half-understand the vast majority of it.

Yet under the support of this "Spirit Radiance," everything taught and explained in the schoolroom, whether Chu Mu had understood it or been puzzled by it, was integrated at extreme speed, becoming knowledge that belonged to Chu Mu himself.

If Chu Mu had to learn this process on his own, he estimated that even if he hired a scholar to tutor him specially, he would need several days of quiet study no matter what, and even then he might not necessarily complete it.

Yet under the support of this "Spirit Radiance," it had taken less than two Quarters of an Hour.

Such wisdom was truly terrifying.

Huff...

A gust of cold wind poured in through the crack in the window, the chill hitting him in the face. Chu Mu unconsciously tightened his clothes, only then returning to himself from that leaping wisdom.

Chu Mu let out a long breath and secretly shook his head. That feeling was far too intoxicating.

Having experienced wisdom that transcended the ordinary and shed the mundane, who would be willing to return to dull-wittedness?

Only after resting for a long while did Chu Mu slowly rise, pick up the long blade placed beside the table, push open the door, and step into the wind and snow without the slightest hesitation.

He had been in this world for more than a month. If reading and learning characters were Chu Mu's initial preparation for integrating into this world, then this blade technique was Chu Mu's only confidence in facing this unfamiliar era.

Even though Chu Mu did not know whether the few moves and forms of this Basic Blade Technique could become his confidence.

But...

In this unfamiliar era, he could not find any other source of confidence.

With a sharp blade in the heart, killing intent arose on its own. In this unfamiliar... and cruel era, nothing could make a person feel more at ease than martial force that belonged to oneself.

"Spirit Radiance..."

Chu Mu silently recited it, and in his bright eyes, an indescribable depth instantly appeared.

The blade edge also bloomed amid the snowflakes that filled the sky.

The long blade weighed several jin. With Chu Mu's current strength, every time he used a move, the inertia of the falling blade edge—even after more than half a month of practice—could only barely be controlled.

But now, under the support of "Spirit Radiance," the weight of the long blade seemed to grow visibly lighter in Chu Mu's hand.

From being unable to rein in its remaining momentum, to being like a toy in his hand, controlled at will.

This change, to the outside world, seemed to take only a short moment, but in Chu Mu's mind, it had gone through who knew how many blossoming thoughts.

All the knowledge about blade techniques and Martial Arts from the information age of his previous life, true and false alike, gathered together.

In this life, in this courtyard, he had bitterly practiced and pondered each slash and each form.

His blossoming thoughts stripped away the cocoons from all these truths and falsehoods, experimenting bit by bit, making mistakes, summarizing and concluding, and ultimately strengthening Chu Mu's comprehension of this Basic Blade Technique.

And all of this was also reflected with utmost clarity on the Light Screen Panel.

From the moment the blade edge swung, the proficiency of the blade technique skill at the beginner stage began to increase at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Reflected in reality, it was an increasingly skilled grasp of this blade.

In the end, as if he had suddenly seen the light, that boundary in the unseen naturally dissolved as water flowed into a channel. The blade edge, which had still been utterly unrestrained, suddenly came to a halt, then... slowly lowered...

The wind and snow remained. Chu Mu stood silently. The depth in his eyes had already vanished, but his gaze was fixed on the Light Screen Panel.

Name: Chu Mu.

Skills: Basic Blade Technique (Initial Understanding) 1/500

Spirit Radiance Value: 0%

"Two Quarters of an Hour, more than half an hour... is the limit?"

This time, the support of "Spirit Radiance" was naturally different from before. Before, it had caught him off guard, so he had been far too immersed; this time, he had carried the purpose of experimentation.

In the room, he had used "Spirit Radiance" to support his reading and learning of characters for less than two Quarters of an Hour.

After that, he had also taken a short nap for almost more than half a double-hour, and only came out to practice the blade after recovering his spirit.

This time, the "Spirit Radiance Value" was directly exhausted. Judging by the calculation just now, the time had clearly exceeded two Quarters of an Hour.

This time, his body had not been directly hollowed out like the first time.

But mentally, he seemed somewhat unable to hold on...

His head was groggy and heavy, with stabs of pain from time to time. If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably the reaction of excessive mental consumption.

Chu Mu rubbed his forehead, let out a long breath, silently sheathed the long blade, and slowly stepped into the room.

Accompanied by a piercing creak, the door closed, the swaying candlelight went out, and the night slowly advanced toward dawn amid the raging wind and snow.

By early morning, the snowflakes filling the sky finally ceased. This Qinghe County city had already been completely wrapped in a layer of silver.

The weather was cold, but the flow of people on the streets had not decreased by much. People at the bottom had to scrape together a living; they had no right to complain about the weather.

In the room, as usual, Chu Mu had also gotten up early. A night's sleep seemed to have restored his spirit as well. Although his head still faintly throbbed, compared to before he slept last night, it was undoubtedly much better.

Looking at the Light Screen Panel, where his Basic Blade Technique had already broken through to the Initial Understanding stage, Chu Mu could not help feeling an inexplicable excitement.

For a moment, his hands itched unbearably. He glanced at the heavy snow outside the window that had already stopped, grabbed his Saber, and walked into the courtyard.

The instant he merely gripped the hilt, Chu Mu sensed something different.

Familiar!

Although he had already swung this blade countless times, he had never felt this inexplicable sense of familiarity before.

Chu Mu savored it carefully for a moment before slowly drawing the blade from its sheath and gently stroking the blade's body. That inexplicable familiarity grew even stronger.

After a moment of silence, Chu Mu suddenly slashed out. In the next second, the blade's edge abruptly came to a halt in midair.

Chu Mu saw it clearly. With that slash, under the force of his own strength plus the inertia of its weight, the blade had suddenly stopped, yet its trembling was almost imperceptible. If Chu Mu had not been observing closely, it would even have been difficult to notice.

Chu Mu could hardly hide his astonishment. One had to know that even after more than twenty days of bitter practice, his control over force had still always been somewhat strained.

One breakthrough, and it was as if he had shed his mortal body and remade his bones, reaching such a level! Chu Mu looked around the small courtyard, and his gaze quickly locked onto the large tree at one side of the yard.

He strode forward quickly and swung the blade's edge, leaving a clear mark on the trunk. The piled-up snow fell, but Chu Mu did not feel it in the slightest. His gaze was already fixed on that saber mark on the trunk.

The blade's edge moved again. The force struck the trunk, making the snow on the leaves scatter once more, but Chu Mu still noticed nothing at all, his gaze fixed deathly on the saber mark left by the blade's edge.

The difference between the two saber marks was likewise almost imperceptible. In fact, without looking closely, it was somewhat difficult to tell that they were two separate saber marks.

Chu Mu pursed his lips and swung the blade again. Three saber marks converged, and the notch in the trunk had evidently widened a little more.

"A Hair's Breadth Away..."

Chu Mu patted the snow and frost that had clung to his body, murmuring to himself...