Heaven-grade Martial Skill

"Brother Jiang, thanks for the Evergreen Green Plant."

"No trouble. You auctioned it for me, I gave you the supply—we're even."

Chen An sighed. "Brother Jiang, now that you've tested as SS-rank talent, just say the word and the Warrior Building will fight to sell for you. This time, I'm the one taking advantage."

Jiang Yan was the type to kill the mood, or rather, he disliked sticky sentiment.

"Then count it as you owing me one. V me fifty, let's see your worth?"

Chen An: ...

That afternoon, Jiang Yan returned to Uncle Wang's place.

"You little brat finally bothered to come back, huh? I thought you'd died out in the Wilderness."

The first words out of the gate were a nagging rant.

Jiang Yan cut off the spell, pulling out the carefully wrapped Evergreen Green Plant. "Uncle Wang, I got this through life and death. Boil it into a soup, and it'll cure your aftereffects."

Old Wang's anger clogged his chest for a moment, wanting to vent but unable to. In the end, he crushed the words back into his mouth, opened it, and just said:

"I'll fry you up a dish."

Jiang Yan shouted through the kitchen door, "And mop the floor while you're at it!"

"Get lost, you disrespectful brat!"

Wang Zhong's cursing voice rang out.

Jiang Yan smiled and went back to his familiar, warm little nest.

Now, his martial artist account had unlocked the right to choose any Heaven-grade Martial Skill for free, plus the three bottles of Body Tempering Fluid in hand. Getting stronger before the College Entrance Exam was no problem at all.

He browsed the official site, filtering the category to saber techniques.

"Sun-Chasing Saber Technique"

"Heavenly Ninefold Strike"

"Life-Severing Thirteen Sabers"

Heaven-grade saber techniques popped up endlessly, dazzling Jiang Yan's eyes.

Back in the day, he'd carved through the Wilderness with just a Basic Saber Technique. Now, with a Heaven-grade Martial Skill, it'd be like a tiger gaining wings.

He looked for a while, sticking to the principle of buying only the expensive, not the right, and zeroed in on the priciest ones.

I've got free choice now—what's wrong with picking a costly one?

"Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash"

"You're the one."

Jiang Yan took a liking to the name's boldness at first glance, skimmed the intro, and picked this skill.

"Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash" had four special mechanics: Thunder Derivation, Thunderfall, Startling Thunder, and Thunder Domain Flooding the World.

Mastery at the Control level allowed deriving thunder, attaching it to the blade.

Mastery at the Subtlety level let the derived thunder be released externally, reaching the level of saber qi.

Mastery at the Great Accomplishment level further amplified the thunder's range and damage.

Mastery at Perfection let him transform into an apocalyptic thunder god—one slash, heaven and earth change color, the entire field shrouded in a thunder domain.

Thunder domain, annihilating lightning blades everywhere—Jiang Yan would become a walking killing machine.

After dinner, Jiang Yan chatted with Uncle Wang.

"Heard you tested as SS-rank talent?"

"Yeah, pretty awesome, right?"

"Heh, no matter how awesome you are, you still call me uncle."

Jiang Yan refused to concede. "Let's keep it separate..."

"Get lost!"

Wang Zhong then brought up Liu Hair-Ren.

"Heard that old bastard got investigated. Probably gonna be locked up for a while."

"Oh? Ever thought about becoming the Principal yourself?"

"You really don't want me to have peace. I'm about to retire, why would I bust my ass to be some Principal?"

"Haha, just joking."

Jiang Yan cracked sunflower seeds, his expression relaxed.

Wang Zhong kicked him in annoyance. "The College Entrance Exam is the day after tomorrow. You're not even a little nervous?"

Jiang Yan spread his hands. "What's the point of being nervous? One crappy life, just go for it."

Wang Zhong felt a bit dazed—he hadn't realized that little kid was already old enough for the College Entrance Exam.

He stopped joking around and earnestly instructed Jiang Yan:

"You'd better be careful in the exam hall. If you run into someone you can't beat, just run. Sometimes luck is part of strength..."

Almost every parent says something like this before the College Entrance Exam—the same in his past life, the same now. Jiang Yan was still Jiang Yan.

This scene played out in every household as well.

That night, Jiang Yan downed three bottles of Body Tempering Fluid, practiced "Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash" for a while, then entered the Divine Martial Space.

He decisively entered the Combat Space.

Thousand Vine Flower Demon: Third-Order Perfected Fierce Beast.

Description: Terrifying vitality.

"Initiate challenge?"

Still not a creature from Blue Star; Jiang Yan had never heard of it before.

Jiang Yan looked at the flamboyantly dressed little flower demon, a bitter smile spreading across his face: "I really have no way to kill you, huh~"

The Thousand Vine Flower Demon possessed nearly unsolvable regenerative abilities. Jiang Yan's blade cutting into her body couldn't inflict any fatal damage at all.

He'd figured it out by now—every creature that appeared in the Combat Space had some freakish ability, except for that utterly ordinary Sharp Ruler Tiger.

One could fly, one could teleport, and one was damn unkillable!

The Combat Space lived up to its name, always picking tough opponents to throw at Jiang Yan.

But Jiang Yan's goal now wasn't to kill this Thousand Vine Flower Demon. His main aim was to digest the medicinal effects through combat and practice his newly learned martial technique.

"You are in intense combat. The effects of the Body Tempering Fluid are rapidly enhancing your physique."

"You used 'Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash.' Your martial technique proficiency has increased."

"You used 'Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash.' Your martial technique proficiency has increased."

Jiang Yan's body grew hot. The Body Tempering Fluid's effects fully kicked in, sending wisps of steam rising from his head like a puffing train.

The Body Tempering Fluid had a remarkable effect on martial artists below the Innate Realm. Even without the System Log's prompts, Jiang Yan could feel his physique rapidly strengthening.

"So hot! So hot!"

Jiang Yan swung his blade fast, the Horizontal Saber blurring into afterimages. The devastating Blade Momentum severed the Thousand Vine Flower Demon's vines again and again, cycling endlessly.

The Thousand Vine Flower Demon's recovery was astonishing—every time its vines were cut, they regenerated instantly. But its offensive power was weak; since Jiang Yan started fighting it, he hadn't died once.

"Hm? Why do I feel like not dying is a rare thing?"

Jiang Yan shook his head. That kind of habit was no good.

He kept swinging his blade and fighting.

After a whole night, Jiang Yan felt his physique had reached an unprecedented level of enhancement. If he tested the strength meter again, he could probably add a few thousand more kilograms.

"Alright. Breaking through to Innate requires comprehending the legendary Qi." Jiang Yan sensed he had reached the critical threshold for breakthrough; he only needed to absorb the first wisp of Qi to step into the Innate Realm.

The Innate Realm was no longer pure physical combat—a far more brilliant martial world was unfolding from here.

Jiang Yan exited the Divine Martial Space and looked at his character panel.

Host: Jiang Yan

Talent: Battle Saint Armor (Evolving)

Realm: Blood Condensation Perfection

Martial Techniques: (Unranked) "Basic Saber Technique" Perfected

(Yellow Grade Low) "Fierce Bull Strength" Perfected

(Yellow Grade High) "Explosive Step" Perfected

(Mysterious Grade High) "Nine Consecutive Steps" Perfected

(Heavenly Grade High) "Abyssal Thunder Annihilation Slash" Proficient

Traits: Heaven Rewards Diligence (Lifebound), Desperate Truth (Blue), Swiftness (Blue), Wind Rider (Blue), Blade Bearer (Purple), Moment of Truth (Orange), Demon's Scale (Purple)

Special: Blade Momentum (Breakthrough available to Blade Intent)

"I'm getting more and more excited for the battle with the Prodigies of the Two Capitals."

Jiang Yan's eyes blazed, shining with a fervent gleam.