All Thanks to the System!

Seeing the numbers on the System interface before him, Lin Guanhuo didn't hesitate.

"System, infuse everything!"

[Draw Sword count consumed: 240.]

[Precept Breaking Saber Art proficiency increasing]

[Infusion complete.]

[Precept Breaking Saber Art: Basic Saber Art, First Layer (87%)]

"87%!"

Lin Guanhuo watched the number on the system change and nodded with satisfaction.

Only a month had passed, and that was despite how unskilled he still was at drawing his sword.

He was just a tiny bit away from breaking through to the second layer!

It was common knowledge that Martial Dao cultivation in this world was as hard as ascending to the heavens.

There were quite a few martial arts schools, large and small, in Blackwater City, and he knew a little about them.

An ordinary student at a martial arts school needed at least three to five years of grueling practice just to master a basic martial art.

To reach Minor Accomplishment required even more—a decade or even several decades of patient effort!

Some people even spent their entire lives stuck at a bottleneck!!

And what about him?

In just a month, he had not only mastered a martial art but was on the verge of breaking through to the second layer.

If news of this rate of progress got out,

those so-called Martial Dao prodigies would probably be so ashamed they'd smash their heads against a wall.

"Could it be... I really am a genius?"

He shook his head.

"No, no. It's all thanks to the system. I only made a tiny contribution..."

At the same time, Lin Guanhuo noticed something else.

The back of his hand now seemed to be tinged with a faint, dark sheen.

The color was so subtle that it was almost impossible to notice unless you looked closely.

He tried clenching his fist. His skin tightened instantly, making a tough, leather-stretching sound.

Though the change was slight, it was a sign that his body had begun to transform into something beyond human.

If this unremarkable-looking darkened skin were cultivated to the extreme, it would become "Copper Skin," impervious to blades and spears.

It was also the outward manifestation of the first Martial Dao realm, the Body Tempering Realm.

"Not bad!"

Noticing the change,

Lin Guanhuo's face lit up with delight.

"If I keep cultivating steadily like this, I won't need a powerful lineage or to study under a martial arts school."

"Even on my own, I can become a Martial Artist!"

Another week passed.

Early in the morning, dozens of White Servants crowded together for breakfast in the front hall of the Miscellaneous Room Courtyard.

Breakfast was still corn buns and watery porridge, both hard to swallow.

Even so, each person was only allowed one bun.

Lin Guanhuo sat in a corner and had just picked up a bun, ready to break it in half,

when suddenly,

a hand reached over and snatched the bun right out of his grasp.

"Thanks, Brother Lin!"

A stocky man with a pockmarked face grinned, showing off a row of yellow teeth.

Without even asking whether Lin Guanhuo minded, he grabbed the bun and stuffed it into his mouth. "That last one was too small. I'm still hungry. This bun's pretty good—still a little warm, too."

The man was called Huang Dazui.

He was unhygienic in his daily life, but what people hated most was that he had absolutely no sense of boundaries.

He was always taking advantage of others, as though everyone owed him something.

Several White Servants nearby looked at him with disgust, but no one said a word.

Lin Guanhuo furrowed his brows and glanced at Huang Dazui, who was eating with gusto, but he didn't lose his temper.

In the past, he might have fought the man to the death over this life-saving food.

But now, he secretly treated himself to Braised Beef every night, and he had white-flour buns he'd bought himself to keep as provisions.

He was getting so he could barely swallow these sour-smelling corn buns.

"Slow down, or you'll choke."

Lin Guanhuo said it indifferently, then picked up his watery porridge and took a sip, his expression calm.

Seeing how easygoing Lin Guanhuo was, Huang Dazui grew even more smug. "Brother Lin sure is generous! Not like some people, who pinch every penny and act like eating a bun will kill them."

As he spoke, he deliberately shot a sidelong glance at Xu Dadao and Li Hu.

Clearly, Xu Dadao had refused to let him mooch food off him earlier.

Xu Dadao could tell that the remark was meant to mock him. He clenched his fists in anger and was about to stand up when Li Hu stopped him.

"Forget it, Old Xu."

Li Hu lowered his voice and leaned close to Xu Dadao's ear. "That kid has a cousin who's an apprentice at a martial arts school in the city. I hear he's already a Formal Martial Artist who's entered a rank... Better not stir up trouble."

"Entered a rank?"

Xu Dadao's expression changed when he heard that, and the anger in his eyes instantly gave way to wariness.

In this world,

the moment someone entered a rank, even if it was the lowest, the First Rank Body Tempering Realm, he became a true Martial Artist lord, worlds apart from commoners like them.

"I hear even Foreman Zhao is currying favor with his cousin," Li Hu said with a sigh, sounding helpless. "It probably won't be long before Huang Dazui uses that connection to get into the yamen as a proper Constable with an official post. Then we'll have to live by his whims."

After hearing that, Xu Dadao could only angrily bite into the bun in his hand.

Lin Guanhuo listened quietly from the side.

It seemed the waters in Blackwater County ran deeper than he'd imagined.

Even a small room for Odd-job workers was tangled up in complicated connections.

But he didn't care. As long as Huang Dazui didn't try to shit on his head, all he wanted now was to quietly build up his Draw Sword count and break through as soon as possible.

He knew all too well that people with no real ability who still strutted around showing off often met the most miserable ends.

After breakfast, the day's assignments were handed out.

Today's job was an easy one.

They were to collect corpses from the streets of Blackwater City.

Lin Guanhuo, Xu Dadao, and Li Hu were assigned as a group. They pushed the familiar corpse cart out of the yamen.

The job of collecting corpses was simple: clear away the starving dead by the roadside.

It wasn't tiring work. They didn't have to haul bricks and lumber like they did when repairing the city wall, but it was extremely ill-omened.

No one knew whether the dead had been carrying some plague or Unclean thing.

Half an hour later, Lin Guanhuo and the others drove their cart to the main street of Blackwater City, covering their mouths and noses with cloths.

As the main city of Blackwater County, it was the most prosperous place within a radius of several hundred li.

There were more than a dozen martial arts schools of various sizes that taught their arts, and local Prominent clans monopolized all kinds of resources.

There were also all sorts of weapon shops and Herb shops, making the streets lively.

On the streets, the young masters and ladies of the martial arts schools and Prominent clans could be seen chatting and laughing, followed by crowds of servants.

But beneath the shadows of those tall buildings

lay another scene, one straight out of hell.

Groups of Refugees huddled along the walls. Every one of them was skin and bones, with hollow, numb eyes, like Walking corpses.

Most had fled famine elsewhere, though some were locals who couldn't survive in this Chaotic World and had no choice but to beg along the streets.

Some lay there motionless, a thin layer of snow already settled on them. They had clearly frozen to death the night before.

"What a world..."

Xu Dadao sighed.

He bent down and lifted a stiff corpse. "The rich feast behind vermilion gates while frozen bones litter the roads."