Real Skill

Real Skill

"Did I survive?"

Chu Mu stood rooted to the spot, staring at the blade in his hand, its edge riddled with savage notches. His mind was still filled with the clash of metal on metal from moments ago.

The Hanging Ball Array he had simulated had been child's play under that storm of attacks.

Chu Mu could hardly believe that he had actually survived such an assault!

Looking again at the chaotic, clamorous scene in the Dense Forest, Chu Mu suddenly felt as if he had lived through another lifetime.

"Mu Ge'er, Mu Ge'er!"

Xu Yuan came running over with his saber, his face full of concern.

"I'm fine."

Chu Mu continued staring at the notched long saber in his hand. He counted them—eight notches.

That meant that in the span of just a few breaths, he had exchanged eight moves with that Shaonian! Though "exchanged moves" was not quite accurate. It would be more precise to say that he had struggled to block eight attacks from that Shaonian, then survived by sheer luck with the support of the other Patrol Inspectors.

Terrifying! That was the only feeling in Chu Mu's heart at that moment.

Chu Mu even felt that if the Shaonian had not been so young, if his body had not yet fully developed and his strength had not been sufficient, Chu Mu might not have been able to block even a single blow!

That Shaonian definitely possessed Real Skill.

Chu Mu was certain of it.

But as that thought occurred to him, his pupils suddenly contracted.

No, it seemed that the Shaonian was not the only one with Real Skill. The several attackers he had seen just now had all been agile and capable.

Chu Mu swept his gaze around. This wave of attacks had inflicted heavy casualties on the Patrol Inspectors, but as for the results...

Everywhere he looked, there were injuries and deaths. It seemed that their gains were pitifully few.

Were the hunters in the mountains all this strong?

"When did you learn Martial Arts, kid? Your saber work isn't bad!"

As Chu Mu pondered, a clearly surprised voice rang out beside him.

"Squad Leader, Squad Leader."

Chu Mu cupped his fists.

Wu Shuo looked Chu Mu up and down. "You hid that well!"

"I just practiced on my own. I haven't practiced for long."

Wu Shuo praised him. "Not bad. Polish that saber technique a little more, and you'll rank among the best in our Patrol Inspectorate."

Li Gang spoke coldly at an inopportune moment. "The saber technique is passable, but your strength is too weak. Otherwise, you could have held that little Rebel back just now instead of letting him escape."

Wu Shuo's expression shifted slightly, but he quickly recovered and laughed heartily. "Squad Leader Li, your standards are too high. Not everyone in our Patrol Inspectorate has Martial Arts as good as yours."

With that, Wu Shuo glanced at the head Li Gang was carrying. "Kill a few more, and we'll have to start calling you Squad Leader Wu."

Li Gang's expression immediately changed from cloudy to sunny, and he chuckled.

Chu Mu, meanwhile, examined the head in Li Gang's hand. Its face was still youthful, looking no more than twenty-some years old.

Chu Mu's heart tightened, and he asked tentatively, "May I ask, Squad Leader, how strong was this Rebel's Martial Arts?"

"Strange, now that you mention it. Those few Rebels just now were all quite skilled!"

Li Gang frowned. "I've never heard of any experts in Qili Village..."

Hearing this, Wu Shuo's expression changed as well. "We need to report this to the Thousand Household immediately."

"Right. I'll go now."

Li Gang's eyes lit up at once. Carrying the head, he hurried away.

Watching Li Gang rush off, then glancing at Wu Shuo's already darkened face, Chu Mu pressed his lips together and said nothing.

"I'd say you've only practiced the saber forms taught by our Patrol Inspectorate, right?"

Wu Shuo's sudden remark made Chu Mu's heart tremble. He looked at his superior's superior with unconcealed anticipation.

"Hahahaha..."

"You little rascal!"

Wu Shuo laughed heartily, but then his tone suddenly changed. "Come to think of it, I've known your father for many years. You could count as half a nephew to me."

"It's just a pity..."

"Forget it. Let's not talk about that."

"This was given to me by the Thousand Household in those days. Unfortunately, I have no talent for Martial Arts. After practicing for so many years, I still haven't accomplished anything."

"You seem to have decent talent. You managed to learn all those basic forms from our Patrol Inspectorate. Giving this to you means it's gone to the right person."

As he spoke, Wu Shuo pulled a booklet from his robes and tossed it into Chu Mu's hands.

"Practice hard. In this world, learning Martial Arts gives you a far better path than studying books."

Wu Shuo patted Chu Mu on the shoulder, left him with that sentence, and walked away.

Chu Mu stood there dazed, clutching the booklet. This sudden, heaven-sent surprise had struck him senseless.

What had he wanted to risk everything for? Power and status?

No. He wanted power and status because without them, the Chu Mu of today could not even come into contact with Real Skill!

But now... had Real Skill really fallen into his hands this easily? Chu Mu could hardly believe it, yet the clear feel of the booklet in his hand proved that this was no illusion.

"Mu-ge, take a different saber."

Another voice rang out, finally pulling Chu Mu completely back to reality.

Following the voice, he saw that it was not Xu Yuan, who had been following him around like a shadow, but another Patrol Inspector with an equally youthful face.

If Chu Mu remembered correctly, his name was Li He. Like Chu Mu, he had recently joined the Patrol Inspectorate because his father had died in the line of duty.

Chu Mu accepted the long saber he offered and swung it twice. It was one of the standard sabers issued by the Patrol Inspectorate, with nothing particularly different about it.

Chu Mu asked in confusion, "Where did you get this saber?"

"I saw that Mu-ge's saber was full of notches, so I went over there and picked it up."

Li He pointed at the corpses not far away, then hurriedly added, "The saber I gave Mu-ge is my own. The one I have now is the one I picked up."

"It's fine."

Chu Mu waved the long saber, then looked toward the several Patrol Inspectors from his squad who had followed over. Without exception, their gazes held noticeably more fawning—and fear—than before.

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, though he felt somewhat relieved. Before long, however, his attention was completely drawn back to the booklet in his hand.

Real Skill! The Real Skill he had dreamed of day and night! The first thing that entered Chu Mu's sight was the title formed by three large characters: "Body Forging Art."

Chu Mu carefully opened the cover. What met his eyes was row upon row of densely packed small characters, interspersed with diagrams of the human meridians. The diagrams also bore written annotations.

After flipping through several pages, Chu Mu carefully closed the booklet and put it inside his robes.

Given the circumstances, this clearly was not a good place to read it in detail.

Besides, there were many explanations of meridian diagrams inside, and that knowledge lay beyond Chu Mu's understanding. It would probably not be something he could figure out in a short while.

After safely putting away the booklet, Chu Mu finally looked toward the surrounding Dense Forest.

The sudden clash had long since ended.

The dozen or so attacking Rebels had all withdrawn at the first touch, without the slightest intention of lingering in battle.

What they left behind was naturally a scene of utter ruin.

Within the range of Chu Mu's vision alone, nearly ten corpses could be seen, while the wails of the wounded rang out without end.

No one from Chu Mu's squad had been killed or wounded this time, though that was only to be expected.

After all, from what Chu Mu had seen, this ambush was completely different from the one they had suffered beneath the mountain earlier.

This time, when they were attacked, the Patrol Inspectors had launched an effective counterattack under the lure of the generous reward.

Those who died were mostly the Patrol Inspectors who had charged to the front, ready to risk everything.

Even someone like him, who had charged in from the rear, would probably not have escaped unscathed if his comrades had not come to his aid in time.