A Breakthrough in Comprehension, Modest Potential

[Lifespan: 40 years]

[Skills: Five Animal Frolics (Minor Mastery 36%), Forging (Minor Mastery 1%)]

[Comprehension: 3 (Average)]

Su Mu's lips curled slightly upward. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. After three months of unremitting effort, his forging skill had finally made a breakthrough.

"Going from beginner to minor mastery in forging increased my lifespan by two years."

"More importantly, my comprehension has improved again. It's now three times what it was at the start. From here on, I'll learn any skill half again as efficiently as before."

Su Mu was very pleased. He knew it wouldn't be long before the Five Animal Frolics broke through again. And this time, he had a faint premonition: once it did, his comprehension would likely see a substantial increase.

"What comes after average?"

Su Mu was looking forward to finding out. Over the past three months, he had grown a little taller, and the once skinny-looking boy no longer appeared so sallow and gaunt. He wasn't exactly muscular, but at least he looked much sturdier.

"The Five Animal Frolics has played a big part in that!"

After taking a few deep breaths and steadying his breathing, Su Mu resumed swinging the hammer.

With his improved comprehension, Su Mu's mind had become more nimble. The forging knowledge Master Zhou had explained a few days earlier, which he hadn't fully grasped at the time, suddenly clicked into place.

As the fog in his mind cleared, Su Mu's eyes grew brighter, and his understanding of forging deepened.

Clang, clang, clang!

Sparks flew as Su Mu hammered away at the hoe on the forging stand with ever greater vigor. Once it had taken shape, he gripped it with iron tongs and plunged it into a vat full of cold water to quench it.

Sizzle.

After a series of crisp hissing sounds, Su Mu pulled out the hoe, his face bright with delight, and examined it.

"It's done!"

"Hm? Let me have a look."

At that moment, a voice tinged with surprise called out. Su Mu turned and saw his master, Zhou Shan. He promptly handed him the hoe.

Zhou Shan gripped the hoe with the iron tongs, his expression turning serious. After inspecting it carefully from every angle, he gave Su Mu a slight nod.

"This hoe passes muster. You've made a lot of progress over these three months." Zhou Shan paused. "I'll give you two choices. Starting tomorrow, you can forge farm tools on your own. I can speak to Shopkeeper Li for you."

Su Mu's heart leapt. Being allowed to forge farm tools on his own meant Zhou Shan recognized him as a prospective blacksmith. In a sense, he had graduated.

The smithy paid prospective blacksmiths who could forge farm tools on their own three hundred copper coins a month. If there were a lot of orders, they could earn extra bonuses. During the busy farming season, for example, their pay might reach five hundred copper coins a month.

"The second choice is to keep assisting me when I forge blades."

Su Mu didn't hesitate. "Master Zhou, my forging skills are still shallow. I'm not yet ready to forge on my own. I'd like to keep learning from you and assist you."

Zhou Shan nodded inwardly. He was very pleased with Su Mu's answer. "Good. I'll also mention it to the shopkeeper and see if I can get you a better monthly wage."

"Thank you, Master Zhou!"

"You don't need to thank me. You earned this through your own effort."

That day, Shopkeeper Li Tie met Su Mu alone in the small courtyard. "Master Zhou told me about you. Since your skills are up to the standard for graduating, from now on you'll receive the same pay as the others who forge farm tools: three hundred copper coins a month."

"Graduating in just three months shows you have a good talent for forging. Take this tael of silver as a reward. You're at an age when you're still growing, so use it to buy some meat, eggs, rice, and flour to build yourself up."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, Shopkeeper."

Under the night sky, Su Mu carried the meat and eggs he'd bought in town back to the village. As soon as he stepped inside, a chill inexplicably ran down his back.

"Ding Shisan."

A somewhat chilly voice sounded from behind him. At some point, a tall, slender figure in black had appeared there, wearing a Gray Wolf Mask. The figure produced a token and waved it in front of Su Mu.

Su Mu put down the meat and eggs, then knelt and put on a respectful expression.

"Ding Shisan greets you, sir."

"Get up."

Su Mu did as he was told. The black-clad figure immediately ran a hand over his body. A cold current flowed from the figure's palm into Su Mu, as if searching for something. "Here's your antidote for the next six months."

"This humble one thanks you for your gracious reward, sir."

"I hear you graduated as a blacksmith today... Not bad. Keep it up."

The visitor patted Su Mu on the shoulder, then swept away with the wind at his feet. After a few flickers, his figure vanished into the night like a ghost.

"That man should be a Ranked Martial Artist. I just don't know what rank."

After the black-clad man had left, the respectful look vanished from Su Mu's face. His eyes narrowed as he recalled the man's build, comparing it with everyone at the smithy and everyone in the shops around Scholar Street.

He came up empty. He couldn't find anyone whose build matched the black-clad man's.

"Maybe he's not from Scholar Street..."

Su Mu thought to himself. Though the black-clad man had seemed to be congratulating him on graduating, it was also a warning. He was telling Su Mu that every move he made was under his watch.

Lowering his head slightly, Su Mu looked at the two vials of antidote in his hands. "One dose a month, three pills to a vial. He gave me six months' worth all at once, then went out of his way to warn me before leaving. That guy will probably be leaving this area soon."

"I can keep an eye out and see if anyone from the shops near Scholar Street leaves soon..."

"This might be an opportunity, but I can't rush it..."

...

Time flew by like a white colt flashing past a crack. In the blink of an eye, winter gave way to spring, and another three months passed. Su Mu was thirteen.

[Five Animal Frolics (Minor Mastery 99%)]

Early spring in Qing Province was still cold. Snow began to fall after nightfall, and after returning from the smithy in town, Su Mu practiced the Five Animal Frolics without fail.

At first, the cold raised goosebumps all over Su Mu's body. But once he settled into the routine, he felt a faint current moving through him. Gradually, he stopped feeling the cold; the chill was held back from his body.

After practicing day after day for more than half a year, Su Mu had long since mastered the Five Animal Frolics' every movement. Each one flowed naturally into the next, without the slightest hesitation.

At one moment—

Hum———

Su Mu's entire body shuddered. A familiar warmth suddenly welled up in his abdomen, but this time it was stronger than ever before, almost scorching.

On that cold, snowy night, he was so hot that he wanted to strip off his clothes. He closed his eyes and focused on the warm current as it flowed through his meridians, then slowly rose and surged into the space between his brows.

At that moment—

The bones and sinews throughout Su Mu's body trembled faintly, bringing him an indescribable sense of comfort, as if he had been reborn.

He slowly opened his eyes. Perhaps it was an illusion, but the world before him seemed clearer. He could see each snowflake in the sky more distinctly, and even the spiderweb clinging to the roof's edge stood out in sharp detail.

"This breakthrough caused such a huge reaction and change?!"

Su Mu was astonished. He immediately brought up his status panel to check.

[Name: Su Mu (13 years old)]

[Lifespan: 43 years]

[Skills: Five Animal Frolics (Major Mastery 1%), Forging (Minor Mastery 55%)]

[Comprehension: 5 (Modest Potential)]

After more than half a year of grueling practice, the Five Animal Frolics had finally reached major mastery. Su Mu's lifespan had increased by three years, and, more importantly, his comprehension had risen by two points, from three to five.

His comprehension had transformed at a stroke from utterly ordinary to modest potential!

"No wonder it feels like I've been reborn. Being utterly ordinary was only a little better than most people, putting me around the middle of the pack. Modest potential should put me near the top of ordinary people."

Su Mu suddenly understood. This two-point increase was crucial. It was a quantitative change that had produced a qualitative one, raising his comprehension by an entire level.

Su Mu immediately tried practicing the Five Animal Frolics again. He dipped forward, crossing his claws and pressing them down like a tiger pouncing on its prey. It was one of the Tiger Frolic's moves: Tiger Pounce.

Whoosh——

His claws cut through the air with a faint gust. When he landed, a wave of force rippled outward, and dust rose half a meter into the air around the small courtyard.

Next, Su Mu tried running.

"Deer Frolic, Deer Sprint!"

Su Mu sprang forward in a bow stance, his arms swept back as though he were a deer galloping. A rush of wind struck his face. He moved as nimbly and swiftly as a deer darting through the forest, easily breaking the ten-second mark for a hundred meters.

The enormous change left Su Mu stunned. His body was now worlds apart from what it had been half a year earlier. It was powerful, yet nimble and coordinated. He truly had been reborn.

"My potential is now modest. Among ordinary people, that makes me a genius. If I keep practicing, I'll continue to transform again and again. Just how far can I go in the future?!"

Su Mu's breathing grew ragged with excitement. His half year of practice had taught him that success came from combining effort and talent—but the cruel truth was that the one percent of talent often mattered more than the ninety-nine percent of effort.

"Comprehension is crucial... I need time to grow."

...

The next day, Su Mu arrived early at the forging room and began hammering.

Watching Su Mu's hammer swing with a smooth, flowing rhythm, Zhou Shan was astonished. But even more startling was how, over the past half year, the boy seemed to have built up a great deal of strength.

After watching for a while, a glint flashed in Zhou Shan's eyes. Su Mu's progress over the past six months had been remarkable.

After a moment's thought, he called a halt.

"Su Mu, starting today, you don't need to assist me anymore. Try forging a blade on your own."

Su Mu was overjoyed. Compared to farm tools, blades were the smithy's most profitable business. A blacksmith capable of forging blades received a fixed monthly wage of two taels of silver, nearly seven times that of a prospective blacksmith.

A single ten-fold-forged blade could easily sell for several taels of silver. That was why the smithy gave each master a bonus for forging blades: every ten-fold-forged blade earned an extra three hundred copper coins, the equivalent of a prospective blacksmith's monthly pay.

"Yes, Master Zhou. I'll do my best and won't let you down!"

Zhou Shan's lips curled slightly upward. He was growing more and more impressed with Su Mu.

Footsteps stopped outside the forging room. Sun Li stood there, his face full of envy.

More than half a year had passed, and Sun Li still struggled to forge farm tools on his own. Yet Master Zhou was already letting Su Mu try forging blades by himself!

"No. I absolutely can't let him forge that blade."