Leap Forward

Song Mingyue held a wooden sword. Beside her, Gao Wu copied her stance and gripped his sword the same way.

"No. Your sword hand is too relaxed." Song Mingyue glanced at Gao Wu and immediately spotted the subtle flaw in his grip.

"Hm?" Gao Wu looked puzzled. "Didn't you say not to grip the sword too tightly?"

He had always focused on the Nine Dragon Forms under the old man's guidance, with fist and foot techniques as secondary training. He had never really practiced weapons.

The old man had said that weapons were merely extensions of the body. Once his martial cultivation reached a certain level, he would naturally be able to master weapons with ease.

Training with weapons as a child could easily lead to warped fundamentals.

Not until today had Gao Wu formally begun learning swordsmanship from Tie Dalong. Just as the old man had said, once his fists and legs were well trained, taking up a sword was not difficult.

After practicing swordsmanship all morning, Tie Dalong had mainly guided him through the various subtle changes in the sword forms. He had never said there was anything wrong with Gao Wu's grip. Why was it suddenly unacceptable when Song Mingyue saw it?

Ignoring what Gao Wu was thinking, Song Mingyue said directly, "You must grip the sword tightly. But your fingers, wrist, and forearm cannot stiffen up, and you cannot use brute force. Those are two different things."

She could spot Gao Wu's minor problem at a glance because her mental strength was powerful. Moreover, they sparred every day, so she was very familiar with the strength of his muscles.

Tie Dalong could not see it because there was nothing visibly wrong with Gao Wu's grip. Such an extremely subtle detail could only be noticed when Tie Dalong actually fought Gao Wu with a sword.

"A sword is an external object. If a Martial Artist wants to efficiently transmit force through an external object, he must grip the hilt tightly." Song Mingyue said, "Tie Dalong is a Warrior. He can use source power to communicate with his sword and has unique sword-control techniques, which is why he overlooks such minor details."

Gao Wu nodded, accepting her instruction. For some reason, he felt that Song Mingyue was absolutely right. Perhaps it was because she could consider problems from a Martial Artist's perspective, while Tie Dalong, as a Warrior, was somewhat lacking in that regard.

Following Song Mingyue's requirements, he practiced the Dragon-Roaming Sword once. It mainly consisted of the four sword forms Riding the Wind, Breaking the Waves, Piercing the Clouds, and Splitting the Stone.

"Tie Dalong didn't hold anything back. The Dragon-Roaming Sword mainly lies in its footwork and movement technique, emphasizing that the sword should be like a roaming dragon, with the body following the sword."

Song Mingyue had also learned the Dragon-Roaming Sword. This military sword art was not a secret at all among wealthy clans and great families.

When many people practiced the same sword art, it naturally branched into all sorts of different styles. The Tie Family had studied the Dragon-Roaming Sword for generations and had developed its own unique techniques.

However, the mysteries of the Tie Family's sword art mainly lay in changes at the source-power level. At the Martial Artist level, its sword techniques would not differ much from the ordinary Dragon-Roaming Sword.

Her attainments in swordsmanship were more than enough to guide Gao Wu.

"The key to Dragon-Roaming Steps is for the five toes to exert force first, then the sole, then the calf, thigh, and spine. The strength of the entire body merges into one great dragon, while the sword in your hand becomes that dragon's claws, fangs, and tail..."

Using her wooden sword, Song Mingyue traced upward from Gao Wu's sole, drawing a line that ran through his entire body. This was the path through which Dragon-Roaming Steps exerted force.

With her clear explanations and hands-on guidance through the changes in force, Gao Wu practiced swordsmanship with Song Mingyue for two hours and felt that his swordsmanship had advanced greatly.

Tie Dalong was like a teacher lecturing in class, while Song Mingyue helped him understand the teacher's lessons by working through all kinds of problems with him.

One was theory, the other practice. Combined, they allowed Gao Wu to quickly grasp the basic changes of the Dragon-Roaming Sword.

At nine-thirty that night, the two of them went to Bailin Lake as usual to challenge the Strange Spirit.

As the weather grew colder and colder, the bridge was completely deserted, making it more convenient for them to act.

Ten days of training had given Gao Wu and Song Mingyue a tacit understanding in their cooperation.

After soaking in the icy lake water for several minutes, they quickly climbed ashore. After seeing Song Mingyue off, Gao Wu returned to his dormitory and opened the Boundless Merit Book, only to find that his mental strength had not increased.

This should have been bad news, but Gao Wu instead let out a sigh of relief.

His mental strength had already reached eight points. With the same training method, the increase in mental strength should have steadily diminished.

If his mental strength could still keep growing, it could only mean that the Strange Spirit was also continuously growing stronger.

Fortunately, that had not happened.

Having obtained the Blood Dragon Agent, Gao Wu temporarily had nothing else to worry about. Every day, he simply recorded videos, cultivated, cultivated, and cultivated.

With Song Mingyue accompanying him in sword practice every day, Gao Wu improved rapidly in the Dragon-Roaming Sword. Tie Dalong was quite satisfied with this.

Over the next few days, the only idle thing Gao Wu did was visit Houzi and Wang Tiesong in the hospital, helping them cast the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation several times.

Modern medicine was highly advanced, and treating Houzi's and Wang Tiesong's injuries was not difficult. The real issue was that using the serums had damaged the foundation of their bodies.

After Gao Wu repeatedly empowered them with the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation, both showed obvious improvement and regained their vitality. Gao Wu was not sure whether it was the Divine Mantra's power, their youthful constitutions, or the doctors' skill.

No matter what, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation could do them no harm... Gao Wu's thoughts were simple. If he could help, he would help as much as possible.

During this period, his Advanced Martial Artist certificate also arrived. Several school leaders were delighted by the news and even specially arranged a speech for Gao Wu, putting up a large photo of him on the display board at the school entrance.

To show its importance, the school even gave Gao Wu a three-thousand-yuan bonus!

As the only high school student at No. 9 Middle School to become an Advanced Martial Artist, Gao Wu truly became the idol of the entire student body.

Although defeating Bai Xiang and the others had been impressive, not everyone acknowledged that sort of achievement.

Advanced Martial Artist was undoubtedly a hard metric. Everyone understood the weight carried by an eighteen-year-old Advanced Martial Artist!

When the students shouted the nickname "Gao Sheng" again, there was now a little more heartfelt admiration in their voices...

The happiest person was actually Shen Yue. Advanced Martial Artist greatly increased Gao Wu's value, making it more beneficial for Shen Yue to manage the account.

As Gao Wu's best friend, Shen Yue's status also rose with the tide. Among the third-years, he could practically swagger sideways...

Come Sunday, No. 9 Middle School faced a weak team from Beiming Middle School. Huang Long alone tore through the opposing side and earned best player of the match. Gao Wu had no chance to take the field at all.

Gao Wu did not mind. His strength was growing every day, and he was in his best state. He did not care much about those few match points.

Instead, the audience kept shouting "Gao Sheng," hoping that Gao Wu would take the stage and compete.

It was not that No. 9 Middle School's students particularly liked Gao Wu. It was simply that he was at the height of his popularity recently, and everyone wanted to join in the excitement.

The following week, No. 9 Middle School once again faced a weak opponent, and Huang Long easily brought the match to its Termination.

As time dragged on and Gao Wu did not take the field to maintain his popularity, this time no one in the stands shouted Gao Sheng.

No matter how an individual understood or viewed time, no one could stop the surging river of time from rushing onward...

Gao Wu only felt a moment of daze, and a week had already passed. It was the weekend match day again!

Getting out of bed, he casually pulled open the curtains and saw a dim sky outside. The campus was unusually quiet, while Bailong Mountain in the distance loomed as a dark mass, its rolling contours only faintly visible.

For some reason, however, Gao Wu felt calm and peaceful, with an indescribable sense of security and ease.

Opening the Boundless Merit Book, he saw a row of data clearly displaying his tremendous progress of late.

Strength 9.3, Mental Strength 8.5, Agility 7.8, Constitution 10.1.

Just yesterday, he had digested the last Blood Dragon Agent. After a night of deep sleep, he was now in his best condition.

Thirty Blood Dragon Agents had more than doubled his strength, while his mental strength and agility had both risen enormously. Even his strongest attribute, constitution, had increased by 0.1 points.

The Blood Dragon Agent's effects had far exceeded Gao Wu's expectations.

He had to admit that modern genetic medicine was exceptionally powerful and remarkably effective.

Song Mingyue's instruction and learning swordsmanship from Tie Dalong had further awakened his potential. The two nutritious meals at noon and night also provided him with sufficient nutrition.

Every night, he fought the Strange Spirit. Over twenty days, his mental strength had risen another 0.5 points. The Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation had risen in level along with it.

Everything about him was interconnected. Triggered by the Blood Dragon Agent, all aspects of him underwent further evolution and improvement.

Of course, such excellent results also owed much to the empowerment of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation. Yet the wonders of the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation could not be reflected by a constitution of 10.1 alone.

Compared with a month ago, his combat power had at least doubled. To him, such an increase was nothing short of earth-shaking. It was enough for him to contend with Dongjiang's top peers.

Once he injected ten Flying Squirrel Serums, his strength would surely rise another level.

By then, he should be able to contend with Dongjiang's top Martial Artists. He might even have a chance to fight for the Xuetao Cup championship.

Tonight's match against Fourth Middle School's Martial Arts Team was against a first-rate powerhouse with no fewer than two Advanced Martial Artists. It would be the perfect chance to test his mettle!

Gao Wu clenched his fists tightly, feeling the overflowing power within his body. His blood boiled, and he could hardly wait to find someone and fight a great battle right then...