Thunder Strike!

Chapter 34: Thunder Strike! (Requesting monthly tickets for the third update~)

The next few days.

Fang Qingyu's life completely settled into a routine, a strict four-point, one-line schedule.

Martial Hall, driving for DiDi, fighting gym, and rental apartment.

At the Martial Hall.

Instructor Zheng personally taught him the Thirteen Forms of Hengdao almost every day.

So on the third day.

He successfully activated the professional basic skill "Thirteen Forms of Hengdao."

And he didn't neglect his Stance Training and fist techniques.

His Martial Arts Apprentice experience and four-dimensional attributes all increased to varying degrees.

In the afternoons, he drove for DiDi.

As he became more proficient with accepting orders, he successfully unlocked a new profession.

And just as Fang Qingyu had anticipated, the basic skill he learned was Automobile Driving.

As for electric scooter driving, he also took time to practice it frequently.

He successfully leveled up to Lv.3, reaching the maximum level, and gained one attribute point.

Then came the fighting gym.

These past few days, Lu Chen seemed to have vanished into thin air; he hadn't appeared, nor had there been any news from him.

However, this didn't affect Fang Qingyu's work.

The Security Guard profession.

The profession itself and Alertness both leveled up to 3, maxing out and unable to be upgraded further, granting him one attribute point and one skill point.

As for the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete.

Both the profession and the skill itself leveled up.

Unexpectedly, the profession level 2 was the maximum level.

However, Weakness Gaze could still be upgraded.

From this profession, Fang Qingyu gained another attribute point and another skill point.

Finally, there was Fitness Enthusiast.

The profession itself and Dragon Flag both leveled up to 3, also reaching a bottleneck with no further breakthroughs possible.

He gained one skill point and one attribute point.

In his rental apartment.

Fang Qingyu lay on his bed, looking at his basic status panel.

[Name: Fang Qingyu]

[Strength: 15.3→16.7]

[Speed: 14.5→16.0]

[Physique: 14.8→16.3]

[Willpower: 16.3→17.5]

Over these past few days, Fang Qingyu had accumulated a total of 4 attribute points. He distributed one point to each of his four-dimensional stats, and coupled with the daily practice of his Stance Training and fist techniques, this growth was not surprising.

He then looked at his Martial Arts Apprentice panel.

[Profession: Martial Arts Apprentice Lv.2 (108/200)]

[Talent: Martial Seed (★)]

[Advancement Skill 1: Blood Burst Lv.2 (11/200)]

[Advancement Skill 2: Dragon Hibernation Breath Lv.2 (45/200)]

[Advancement Skill 3: Baji Quan LV.2 (21/200)]

[Basic Skill 1: Hidden Dragon Stance Lv.3 (55/300)]

[Basic Skill 2: Basic Fist Technique Lv.3 (62/300)]

[Basic Skill 3: Thirteen Forms of Hengdao Lv.2 (11/200)]

With three skill points, Fang Qingyu invested one into Blood Burst, upgrading it to level 2.

Another point went into Hidden Dragon Stance.

This brought the progress of his Stance Training and fist techniques to be roughly equal.

The last skill point was added to the Thirteen Forms of Hengdao.

Sharpening a knife requires a strong blade itself.

Fang Qingyu understood this principle deeply.

Moreover, by the time the Hengdao martial methods were released, the DiDi drivers would be close to leveling up as well.

Only two professions remained that he could currently grind.

[Profession: Mixed Martial Arts Athlete Lv.2 (Max)]

[Unique Profession Skill: Weakness Gaze Lv.2 (22/200)]

[Profession: DiDi Driver Lv.1 (8/100)]

[Basic Profession Skill: Car Driving Lv.1 (21/100)]

Fang Qingyu lay on his bed, looking at the pathetic two pages of his status panel.

Still not enough grinding.

However, the DiDi driver job offered flexible hours, and the Mixed Martial Arts Athlete job also had flexible hours in the evening.

If he looked for a job now, it would be a bit easier.

He'd look tomorrow!

The next morning.

Chenfeng Martial Hall.

Instructor Zheng stood by the weapon rack, recording a video on his phone.

Before him, Fang Qingyu stood shirtless, sweat beading on the spine of his dao, reflecting a cold glint.

Morning light slanted across the cold steel, scattering light spots like dancing silver snakes. The dust on the bluestone floor swirled into spirals, lifted by air currents.

The sound of the Hengdao cutting through the air was sometimes a dense, coiling silver python around a pillar, and sometimes a sudden, ripping thunderclap.

Instructor Zheng stared at his phone screen, the muscles of the young man's back undulating like waves with the dao's movements.

Fang Qingyu was practicing the Thirteen Forms of Hengdao.

After he finished practicing.

Instructor Zheng sent the video and typed a line in the chat box.

"See that? In one week, not only did he get the basics of the Thirteen Forms of Hengdao, but he's also achieved minor mastery. And I taught him!"

Then he hit send.

Only then did he slowly put away his phone.

"How is it, Instructor Zheng? Can I learn the martial methods now?"

Fang Qingyu wiped the sweat from his brow and walked up to Instructor Zheng.

"Yes."

Instructor Zheng nodded calmly.

As he walked to the weapon rack and picked up a Hengdao, he said, "In the 37th year of the Jiajing Era, Zhao Polu, a commander of the Qi Family Army, was stationed in Taizhou. Observing the might of a hurricane at sea that snapped masts, he created the Nine Forms of Hengdao Formation Breaking technique. This method uses the waist to propel the dao, its slashes tracing paths like lightning flashes. Because the sound of the blade cutting through the air resembled the crack of thunder, it was named 'Thunder Strike'!"

Fang Qingyu listened intently, savoring the name in his mind.

"Thunder Strike..."

The name was indeed exceptionally resonant.

He just didn't know how powerful it truly was.

This was the first time he had heard of this dao technique; it wasn't as famous as Baji Quan.

"Don't worry, Thunder Strike suits your style perfectly. Its power is second to none among those below the Martial Practitioner level!"

Having spent a few days together, Instructor Zheng understood Fang Qingyu quite well and could tell what he was thinking just by looking.

"Watch this."

As soon as he finished speaking.

Instructor Zheng pointed his Hengdao diagonally at a steel-clad wooden dummy, then suddenly twisted his waist and pushed his hips forward.

The blade swept upwards from below, its edge scraping against the steel plate, producing a string of orange-red sparks. It carved a V-shaped notch, thumb-deep, into the steel shell.

The second move, a horizontal slash, was so fast that only a silver glint flashed. The steel plate cracked open with a thirty-centimeter long seam, revealing the hard Chinese toon wood core inside.

The cut surface was actually scorched black and carbonized, as if cut by a high-temperature welding torch.

Most terrifying was the spinning, chopping motion during the concluding move.

Instructor Zheng used centrifugal force to swing the dao in a full half-circle. The moment the blade cut into the steel plate, the anchor bolts fixing the wooden dummy to the ground exploded with a bang.

The steel-clad dummy, weighing several hundred pounds, slid half a meter sideways.

The steel base scraped across the bluestone ground, leaving trails of splashing sparks.

"."

Fang Qingyu swallowed hard.

Is this a saber technique?!

He couldn't help but look at Instructor Zheng's head again.

[Weapons Instructor]

It hasn't changed.

It's still white.

Could a Weapons Instructor also be a Martial Practitioner?

"Stop thinking about it, I'm not a Martial Practitioner."

Seeing Fang Qingyu's shocked expression, Instructor Zheng's lips curved slightly.

It felt good to receive envious glances in front of a young genius.

"This saber strike was only possible because of its extreme speed."

Instructor Zheng explained calmly, noticing Fang Qingyu's gaze fixed on the cut.

"As long as your Basic Fist Technique and physique keep up, you'll be able to achieve the same effect with this strike. You need to remember, everything you're learning here are killing techniques!"

"Understood."

Fang Qingyu nodded, once again stunned.

The internal combustion engine in his heart was once again fueled with the most potent firewood by this strike.

The last time it was Coach Lin's elbow.

"Then let's begin."

Instructor Zheng began to anticipate how long it would take Fang Qingyu to master Thunder Strike.

She had been hailed as a martial arts prodigy, yet it had taken her over half a month just to get a basic grasp of it.

"Okay."

Fang Qingyu took a deep breath.

The few saber strikes Instructor Zheng had made were replayed frame by frame in his mind.

[Detected Profession Advancement Skill "Thunder Strike" activating (1/100)]