The Might of Innate

Second Day Morning, before dawn, Zhao Ping'an's eyes snapped open.

Long periods of sleeping and waking early had already established a stable biological clock for him; he woke up right on time.

After he washed up and went to the woods behind his house to practice the Turtle Shell Art, he saw from afar, in the open ground from before, a tall figure wielding a long saber.

"Senior Disciple Brother?"

Zhao Ping'an recognized the figure at a glance; it was Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming.

He hadn't expected his Senior Disciple Brother, who had drunk so much wine last night, to be up even earlier than him this morning.

"Is this what a martial artist is like? Truly full of Qi and Blood, with extremely fast metabolism!"

Zhao Ping'an whispered. He didn't go forward to disturb him, but turned and headed in another direction.

"That's! Junior Disciple Brother? I didn't expect him to be so diligent after only a month of practicing martial arts! Truly rare..."

In the quiet dawn, Ji Xiangming also heard the faint footsteps. He casually glanced over and, seeing the small stature, recognized his Junior Disciple Brother Zhao Ping'an at a glance.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away, Ji Xiangming also whispered and continued to swing the long saber in his hand.

He was practicing the Blazing Blade Sect's signature skill, a top-tier saber technique—the Explosive Blade Art.

Originally, this was something he could only learn after reaching the Innate Realm. However, Master Zheng Hetong, fearing something might happen to him while he was out alone, made an exception and taught him the first three stances of the Explosive Blade Art.

These three stances alone had helped him turn defeat into victory multiple times in combat, so he practiced even more diligently.

On the other side, Zhao Ping'an quickly found an Ironwood Tree about a bowl's width in diameter in the woods and drew his Hundred Refinement Blade to chop at it.

The system required the use of a one-kilogram wooden saber. A better iron saber would also work, like the one in his hand, the Hundred Refinement Blade. But this saber weighed a full eighteen jin, which was nine kilograms.

It wasn't suitable for him at his current level; he'd probably be exhausted after just a couple of swings.

The Ironwood Tree before him was perfect as a wooden saber. Not only was its material as hard as pig iron, but its weight was only one-third that of iron.

One kilogram of Ironwood could be carved into a wooden saber a little over half a meter long, which was just right for him, who was only 1.5 meters tall.

However, correspondingly, it was extremely difficult to make.

Zhao Ping'an used all his might to finally chop down the Ironwood Tree, which was about a bowl's width in diameter.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!..."

Deep in the woods, Zhao Ping'an leaned on his saber with both hands, panting heavily.

"It's really damn hard! I'll have to come back this afternoon..."

Looking at the blazing sun rising in the sky, Zhao Ping'an grumbled, shook his head helplessly, sheathed his saber, and walked back. It was time for his morning training.

"Bang! Why should I make a wooden sword myself? I can just have Master help me!"

Zhao Ping'an, who had only taken a couple of steps, turned back. He quickly chopped off useless branches and leaves, then dragged a tree trunk about four meters long and weighing nearly two hundred pounds back.

"Where did Ping'an go? He's not in his room."

In the canteen, Mistress Zhao Xiuyun asked the disciples.

"Don't know."

"Didn't see him."

The disciples shook their heads one after another.

"I saw Ping'an this morning. He went to the Deep Forest on the west side. He should be back soon," Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming said, swallowing his porridge.

"Thump!"

Suddenly, the sound of a heavy object landing could be heard from outside.

"What was that?"

Everyone immediately put down their bowls and chopsticks and rushed out. Outside, Zhao Ping'an was sitting on the ironwood, panting heavily, sweat dripping from his forehead.

The journey had exhausted him. If his cultivation hadn't reached the Warrior realm, greatly increasing his strength and stamina, he would probably still be halfway there.

Even so, he had rushed back and was still late.

"Ping'an, what are you doing? Why did you bring back a log?" Zheng Hetong asked, looking at the sweaty Zhao Ping'an.

"Master, it's nothing. Didn't Senior Disciple Brother give me a Saber Art Manual yesterday? I wanted to practice it when I had free time, but a steel saber is too heavy, so I wanted to make a few wooden swords."

"Wooden swords? You could have just said so! We have plenty in the Blazing Blade Sect's warehouse. Why go through all this trouble..."

"Those swords are too big and not suitable for me. Could you help me make a few wooden swords this long? Just follow the style of this saber."

Zhao Ping'an gestured with the Hundred Refinement Blade in his hand, indicating a length of about seventy centimeters.

"This long? Simple. Give me the saber you're holding, and you stand aside."

Zheng Hetong nodded, looking at the size Zhao Ping'an had indicated.

"Clang!"

As Zheng Hetong drew the Hundred Refinement Blade, his entire aura changed instantly!

He was no longer the gentle and refined person he usually was, but more like a blade master with an imposing aura!

Following that, a faint red aura condensed on the blade of the Hundred Refinement Blade, especially at the tip, which extended a full three inches.

This sent shivers down Zhao Ping'an's spine.

"Blade Qi!"

He had seen this scene many times, but each time it felt so unreal.

This was the mark of an Innate Martial Master, capable of extending their true qi from their weapon, capable of cutting through metal and iron, and extremely sharp.

Then, the Hundred Refinement Blade danced like a nimble butterfly in Zheng Hetong's hands, flipping up and down rapidly.

In just a few minutes, ten Ironwood Blades were completely formed and neatly arranged on the ground.

"Clang!"

The long blade was sheathed!

"Let's go back to eat! After breakfast, Ping'an, you'll clean the courtyard first before going to the training grounds!"

Zheng Hetong handed the Hundred Refinement Blade to Zhao Ping'an and said as he walked towards the canteen.

"Yes, Master!"

Looking at the Ironwood Blades scattered on the ground and the wood chips flying everywhere, Zhao Ping'an immediately nodded.

Three days later, Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming bid farewell to his Master, Mistress, and fellow disciples and descended the mountain.

About half a month later, his Master and Mistress also descended the mountain and returned after twenty days.

From that day on, Zhao Ping'an noticed that the smile on his Mistress's face never faded.

Unfortunately, no one told him what had happened to the little child.

The sun rose and set, time flew by!

Three months later, at dusk, deep in the forest!

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Rhythmic striking sounds echoed continuously.

"Hoo..."

After a long while, a long sigh of exhalation was heard.

"Finally done!"

Three months of good food and drink, coupled with non-stop practice, Zhao Ping'an's height had already surpassed 1.6 meters, and his entire body was covered in solid muscle.

At this moment, his stats on the game panel had changed drastically:

[Name: Zhao Ping'an]

[Realm: Warrior First Level]

[Body Cultivation: Warrior Ninth Level]

Cultivation Methods:

[Turtle Shell Art (Third-rate Cultivation Method): 200/200 (Ninth Level Perfection, Simplified) Can Deduce!]

Martial Skills:

[Blade Draw Slash (Second-rate Cultivation Method): 156/300 (Proficient, Simplified) Use a wooden sword weighing over two kilograms to draw your blade 100 consecutive times to gain 1 point of Training Progress]

[Deduction Points: 100%]

(Method of obtaining Deduction Points: Eating, absorbing External Energy, etc., can all grant Deduction Points! The higher the cultivation, the greater the total amount of Deduction Points! After a cultivation method or martial skill reaches perfection, Deduction Points can be consumed to Deduce and advance the cultivation method!)