Opening the attribute panel, Lin Xiao's gaze swept over all the techniques. He skipped past the Yang Sha Technique and Yin Sha Technique, as he had no need to improve his inner cultivation for the time being. What he lacked now was not power, but martial insight.
It was worth mentioning that after becoming the Hall Master of Great River Hall's Sixth Branch, he had obtained the complete Three Rivers Heart Method. All eight levels were now in his hands, but he did not want to practice this heart method for the time being.
What mattered most to him now were these three saber techniques and the Lightness Skill, Flying Heaven Steps. The Yin Sha Maiden had already passed on her best technique, Flying Heaven Steps, to him. Lin Xiao had been deeply impressed by this Lightness Skill. He estimated that the entire Great River Gang did not possess such exquisite footwork.
In this low-martial world, the upper limit of martial power was only the peak of the second tier, so techniques were naturally limited to the Two-Star level. The strongest were Two-Star Peerless Grade martial arts, and the grade of a martial art corresponded to the level of martial power.
According to this classification, when the One-Star High-Grade Three Rivers Heart Method was cultivated to the eighth-level mastery, setting aside other martial arts, one's inner cultivation alone would be equivalent to the late first tier. By the standards of this world's martial world, that was equivalent to the level of a third-rate martial artist.
It sounded rather low, but merely entering the third-rate ranks was already quite impressive. It meant one was already a notable figure in the martial world.
Below the third-rate level was the amateur level. Anyone below that threshold was included among them. They made up the largest group in the martial world, and also the most mixed-up one.
There were still 26 Potential Points on Lin Xiao's attribute panel. Since he now knew how Potential Points were accumulated, there was no need to save them. He had to use them to turn them into his own strength.
Three Rivers Saber was a One-Star Mid-Grade saber technique with four levels in total. As a martial art that was almost at the lowest level, raising it by one level consumed very few Potential Points. Raising it from the entry level to the second level required only one Potential Point, while raising it from the second to the third level required only three. However, raising it from the third level to the fourth-level mastery required five Potential Points—one more than he had expected.
Lin Xiao himself had practiced this saber technique to the second level for quite some time. After previously killing Yang Sha with one slash and surpassing his limits, he had directly raised it to the third level. In other words, he was only one level away from mastery.
His mind settled on the green plus sign beside Three Rivers Saber. With a thought, five Potential Points transformed into an unknown energy that surged into his body. Countless visions of practicing the saber instantly appeared in Lin Xiao's mind, as though countless versions of himself were painstakingly cultivating this saber technique. In this wondrous state, his understanding of the technique surged like a tide. Before long, he broke through his current limits and entered the realm of mastery.
The most miraculous part was that the enhancement from Potential Points did not merely improve his understanding and experience with the saber technique. The Potential Points also transformed into a warm current that flowed through his entire body, actually increasing his body's memory of the technique in synchronization with his experience. It was as if he had truly practiced this saber technique for many years, relying on bitter cultivation to reach mastery.
With Three Rivers Saber reaching mastery, its might naturally increased greatly. But Lin Xiao was still not satisfied. His gaze fell on the other two saber techniques below: the One-Star Mid-Grade Dark Cloud Saber and Riptide Saber Technique.
These two saber techniques were still at the second level, but he had practiced them for a long time. He estimated that they were not far from the third level. According to the attribute panel's rules for improvement, the experience one already possessed in a technique could actually reduce the Potential Point cost.
For example, raising a technique from the fifth level to sixth-level mastery might require 10 Potential Points. But if one remained at the fifth level and painstakingly practiced for a long time, already nearing completion, then using Potential Points to improve it would cost fewer points—perhaps seven, five, or even just two or three would be enough to break through that realm.
Lin Xiao had encountered precisely this situation. Dark Cloud Saber and Riptide Saber Technique, like Three Rivers Saber, were on the verge of advancing. Thus, he spent only one Potential Point on each, giving them a small push that raised both saber techniques to the third level. He then spent another five Potential Points on each, raising both saber techniques all the way to fourth-level mastery.
At this point, the three saber techniques had cost him a total of 17 Potential Points. He now had nine Potential Points remaining.
After thinking it over, he spent another seven Potential Points on the Lightness Skill, Flying Heaven Steps, raising it to the second level. The remaining two Potential Points could not be used on anything.
At this point, Lin Xiao's cultivation was another notch stronger than before. Most importantly, all three saber techniques had reached mastery. Although One-Star Mid-Grade martial arts were clearly mismatched with his current cultivation, with two full centuries of inner power driving them, they could not be weak no matter what. He might have struggled against experts of the same rank, but bullying the weak was still no problem.
This was also one of the reasons Lin Xiao did not leave with the Yin Sha Maiden. After leaving with her, he would have to face famous experts of the martial world. By staying in the Great River Gang, he would only have to deal with the other two major gangs in Linjiang Prefecture. The three gangs fought every year, with slaughter breaking out every day—perfect for him to farm Potential Points here.
Seven days later, Lin Xiao had initially adapted to his current power. He accepted a mission from the gang, mounted a horse, slung a Hundred-Forged Fine Steel Saber over his back, and left the headquarters with more than a dozen men.
To accumulate Potential Points, he naturally had to kill. But the headquarters was deep in the rear, and aside from the occasional assassin or spy, there was little fighting. If he wanted to accumulate Potential Points, he had to go to a branch hall on the border between the Great River Gang, the Iron Boat Gang, and the Salt Gang. Battles took place there every day, making it perfectly suited for farming Potential Points.
The horse was a fine steed named Snowy Flight, bestowed upon him by the gang leader. The saber was a Hundred-Forged Fine Steel Saber. It had been forged from fine steel through a hundred rounds of repeated tempering. Even ordinary steel, after so many rounds of forging, would be no weaker than an ordinary divine weapon. All of these had been rewards from the gang leader.
After all, the value of the Yang Sha Technique manual he had contributed to the gang was simply too high. It was a Two-Star High-Grade inner cultivation method. Even the Great River Gang's former guardian cultivation method had only been Two-Star Low-Grade. That was a difference of two full grades. To be honest, giving him the position of vice gang leader would not have been excessive.
However, he had only recently joined the gang, and Lin Xiao himself had taken the initiative to ask for a less prominent position, so he had first been made a Hall Master. But the gang leader had promised that, once some time had passed and Lin Xiao was willing, he would reopen a hall and let him become its new hall master, making him part of the gang's new upper echelon.
Lin Xiao did not care much about this. He was not interested in becoming a hall master, let alone the gang leader. He only wanted to farm some Potential Points and make himself stronger.
In this low-martial world, with the Great River Gang's information network, Lin Xiao knew that this world was basically an ordinary little low-martial world. There was nothing particularly valuable that he could bring back to the Primordial Gate. In that case, cultivation was extremely important. No matter what, he had to build up an ocean-deep reserve of inner power and bring it back to nourish his true body.
Before, when he had descended into the void, his true body had possessed top-tier divine techniques and abundant Lineage resources, but his cultivation was actually not very strong. Not only had he barely reached the third tier, but the true essence he cultivated was also far from pure.
That would have been fine in the past. But if he chose the path of a Descender traveling through the void, this level of cultivation was definitely insufficient. Lin Xiao planned to use the Primordial Gate after returning to compress his true body's cultivation to the standard level of the Primordial Gate. He would not care even if that caused him to fall a tier.
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