Great Grandmaster and Descending the Mountain

There were still five days until Senior Disciple Brother's wedding, and Zhao Ping'an would set out for South Ridge City tomorrow.

After all, he was one of his closest kin in this world; he might as well wait until the actual wedding day to arrive.

This was also the wish of Master and Mistress, and their lodging and meals in the city had already been arranged.

After dinner, he chatted with Mistress for a while, then returned to his room, where he sat in meditation cultivation until late into the night before falling asleep.

A silent night passed...

Waking up early the next morning, he continued sitting in meditation, cultivating the Primordial Chaos Art, which he had already deduced to a Yellow-grade Art, until sunrise.

The Primordial Chaos Art was deduced from the One Qi Art.

By now, his Game Panel had changed drastically:

[Name: Zhao Ping'an]

[Realm: First Layer of Great Grandmaster]

[Body Cultivation: Eighth Layer of Great Grandmaster]

Cultivation Methods:

[Golden Armor Technique (Yellow-grade Art): 268/1000 (Eighth Layer, Simplified) Continuously ram your body into an iron pillar 100 times to increase training progress by 1 point.]

[Primordial Chaos Art (Yellow-grade Art): 65/1000 (First Layer, Simplified) Sit quietly in meditation to absorb Heavenly Qi for ten minutes to increase training progress by 1 point.]

Martial Arts:

[God Slaying Saber Strike (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 300/1000 (Great Completion, Simplified) Continuously draw a steel saber weighing over ten kilograms 100 times to increase training progress by 1 point.]

[Golden Eagle Soaring Technique (Human-grade Martial Art): 500/500 (Perfection, Simplified) Available for Deduction!]

[Deduction Points: 71%]

(Method for Obtaining Deduction Points: Omitted)

Cultivation Methods and Martial Arts were divided into Unranked, Third-rate, Second-rate, First-rate, Human-grade, Yellow-grade, and so on.

As for what came after Yellow-grade, Zhao Ping'an didn't know, and neither did his Master, Zheng Hetong.

Because the strongest art in the Blazing Blade Sect was only First-rate, and there were only a few of those—they had never even seen a Human-grade Art, let alone anything above Yellow-grade.

The Yellow-grade Golden Armor Technique on the panel had been deduced from the First-rate Bronze Armor Art, promoted to the Human-grade Silver Armor Art, and then deduced again to reach its current form.

To train the Golden Armor Technique, he had even gone down the mountain at midnight to buy several thousand jin of pig iron and had a custom iron pillar made, two zhang long and as thick as a sea bowl.

As for the money, it was the New Year's money given to him over the years by Master, Mistress, and several Senior Brother Sisters.

This world also had a New Year, with a calendar similar to that of his previous life on Earth.

As for currency, there was gold, silver, and copper: one tael of gold equaled ten taels of silver, and one tael of silver equaled one string of copper coins, or 1000 wen.

Over the years, the dozen or so taels of silver he had saved were now spent clean.

But compared to his cultivation, none of that mattered.

The Yellow-grade Art Primordial Chaos Gang Qi, also called the Primordial Chaos Art, had been deduced from the Second-rate One Qi Art, promoted to the First-rate Xiantian True Qi, then to the Human-grade Xiantian Gang Qi, and finally deduced into its current form.

The Yellow-grade Martial Art God Slaying Saber Strike had been deduced from the Second-rate Blade Draw Slash, promoted to the First-rate Blade Qi Across, then to the Human-grade Eight Heavenly Gang Styles, and finally deduced into its current form.

The Human-grade Martial Art Golden Eagle Soaring Technique had been deduced from the Second-rate Swallow Art, promoted to the First-rate Wind Dance Art, and then deduced into its current form.

"It should be enough."

Finishing his morning cultivation, Zhao Ping'an murmured as he looked at the panel, where 71% [Deduction Points] had accumulated. His cultivation had already risen to the Eighth Layer of Great Grandmaster, and the total capacity for [Deduction Points] had increased accordingly. While deducing a Human-grade Art didn't require only 50% [Deduction Points], it no longer needed 100% either.

"Let's give it a try..."

Zhao Ping'an's finger tapped directly on the illusory words [Available for Deduction] on the Game Panel.

A window immediately popped up on the panel:

Consuming 65% Deduction Points, [Golden Eagle Soaring Technique] begins deduction.

Deducing...

Current Progress 1%

As the grade of the art grew higher, the time required for deduction increased as well.

From the initial 1% per second to the current 1% per thirty seconds, the time had increased thirtyfold.

Still, it was a drop in the bucket—in less than an hour, the Golden Eagle Soaring Technique would be fully deduced.

Zhao Ping'an didn't sit around waiting; he got up and headed to the dining hall.

After breakfast, he would set out.

After breakfast, Zhao Ping'an walked down the mountain together with Master and Mistress.

By then, the Golden Eagle Soaring Technique had already been deduced to 82%.

The several hundred meters of mountain path were quickly traversed.

At the foot of Feather Mountain, where the Blazing Blade Sect was located, a small town had already formed. The town had no name, and everyone who knew of it simply called it Blazing Blade Sect.

The small town was completely encircled by a four-meter-high, two-meter-thick bluestone wall, with only two gates.

One led to Feather Mountain at the rear, while the other served as the town's sole entrance and exit.

This world was far from peaceful—not only did Demonic Beasts appear in the wild from time to time, but countless bandits also roamed freely, making necessary defenses indispensable.

All industries within the town belonged to the Blazing Blade Sect, including taverns, inns, medical halls, grain, oil, flour, salt shops, and even a brothel.

Of course, the land belonged to the Blazing Blade Sect, but the shopkeepers weren't necessarily sect members—though they all had some connection to the sect one way or another.

"Ping'an, you take this carriage. Your Mistress and I will take that one. We need to reach South Ridge City by noon."

At the foot of the mountain, Zheng Hetong pointed to an ordinary carriage in front of him and said to Zhao Ping'an. Ahead of them was a noticeably larger and more luxurious carriage.

"Understood, Master."

Zhao Ping'an didn't complain. In this world, horses were expensive—an ordinary horse cost several dozen taels of silver.

A thousand-li steed was worth a fortune.

Only the wealthy could afford to ride in carriages.

Feather Mountain was only thirty li from South Ridge City. At a carriage's speed, it would take about an hour to get there.

Soon, under the driver's command, the two carriages left the town and set off toward South Ridge City.

This thirty-li stretch was the most traveled road by the Blazing Blade Sect. Every so often, someone wearing Blazing Blade Sect attire and carrying a Steel Saber would pass by.

In such a dangerous area, no ordinary bandit dared to linger here.

Only those unafraid of the Blazing Blade Sect would bother with this place—and they had no interest in it anyway.

Shortly after the carriage departed, the martial art's deduction progress on Zhao Ping'an's panel reached 100%.

His Lightness Skill had now become:

[Soaring Dragon Void Steps (Yellow-grade Martial Art): 0/1000 (Not yet mastered, simplified) Running continuously for one thousand meters increases Training Progress by 1 point.]

"Still one thousand meters, not bad. But the proficiency requirement is also one thousand now. That means I'll have to run a thousand kilometers to advance one level of Soaring Dragon Void Steps."

Looking at the training method for his upgraded movement technique, Zhao Ping'an nodded in satisfaction. But after doing the math, he winced a little.

At his current strength, if he went all out, he could cover a thousand li in a single day.

That was running, not using the Lightness Skill to travel. If he used the Lightness Skill, his speed would at least double.