Fang Yue was secretly chatting with Niu Niu when Chen Mu suddenly spoke beside them.
"Little Ye, go punch that solid stone. I want to see what kind of foundation you have."
Me too?
"This... doesn't seem like a good idea."
"What's wrong with it?"
Chen Mu furrowed his brow and raised his voice a little. "Don't hold back. No matter how poor your foundation is, I'll still train you with everything I've got."
Chen Mu's voice drew the attention of the teenagers practicing their punches, and they all turned to look.
Shi Wuliao and the others, waiting at the entrance, noticed the commotion inside. They craned their necks and gathered around to watch.
Niu Niu stopped punching and stepped aside, looking at Fang Yue with curiosity.
He wanted to see just how strong the person who had scored the first kill against a [Weird] was.
Fang Yue, however, felt a little vexed.
Seriously, why couldn't you understand what I was saying?
Niu Niu had 3 points of Might, while I had 32. You want me to punch that stone in front of him? Isn't that just rubbing salt in the wound?
At Chen Mu's urging, Fang Yue still walked over to the solid stone.
The Analysis Pupil suddenly activated.
"Name: Gray Solid Stone." "Description: A gray solid stone, over two meters tall and dark gray in color, with a slight metallic sheen. It looks very sturdy." "Remark: A sturdy rock!"
Fang Yue looked it over carefully and saw that although Niu Niu had thrown a lot of punches at it, he hadn't left a single mark.
Taking a deep breath, Fang Yue didn't hesitate. He set his stance, raised his hand, clenched his fist, and then... punched with all his might!
Bam!
His fist hit the solid stone like it was a flimsy wooden board. It met no resistance at all and sank straight into the stone.
Crack, crack, crack!
As Fang Yue's fist drove farther in, the solid stone warped, and countless cracks spread through its interior.
Boom!!
With one final crash, the solid stone split apart in the middle, leaving Fang Yue's unharmed fist exposed to the air.
At the sight, the entire place fell silent.
"Is that still a fist?! That hit harder than a bomb!"
Niu Niu stared blankly at the shattered stone, dazed and completely stunned.
He had Innate Divine Strength and 3 points of Might. He'd pounded the stone like a torrential downpour, but it hadn't budged. All he'd managed to do was scrape his knuckles.
Fang Yue, on the other hand, had thrown just one punch, and the stone had split apart!
How big did the difference in Might have to be for something like this to happen?!
Niu Niu looked at Fang Yue in horror. He could only feel that he—and everyone else—had completely underestimated Fang Yue.
No wonder Brother Ye had scored the first kill against a [Weird]. He was terrifyingly strong!
Niu Niu wasn't the only one stunned. Shi Wuliao, standing at the entrance, was also rooted to the spot.
"Holy crap! What kind of freakish strength was that?!"
Shi Wuliao was dumbfounded.
Before coming here, he'd asked around for information about the village.
That kind of solid stone was standard training equipment in the village, and it was incredibly hard. Without 10 points of Might, there was absolutely no way to break it.
Even with 10 points of Might, all you could do was leave a mark.
They said that only powerhouses at the level of the Vice-Captain or Captain could completely break a solid stone.
Could it be... Brother Ye was actually as strong as a Vice-Captain?!
The game had only been live for a few hours, and this guy was already terrifyingly strong!
The other teenagers came to their senses as well. They gasped and started chattering excitedly about Fang Yue.
Chen Mu and the instructor exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with delight.
What a perfect gem!
"Captain Chen, I have a favor to ask! Could you let me train him?"
Chen Mu laughed. "I won't hide it from you. Even if I wanted to agree, I couldn't. Lord Han personally entrusted Little Ye to me."
"...If it was Lord Han's order, then I won't say anything more."
The instructor looked regretful. He simply had someone bring over a new solid stone, then had Niu Niu continue training.
Compared to before, the instructor was clearly much stricter. It seemed he was taking his frustration out on Niu Niu.
Niu Niu endured the grueling training with mixed pain and pleasure, watching his attribute points slowly rise.
He understood what the instructor was thinking, too. But comparing yourself to others was enough to drive you mad.
Compared with a monster like Brother Ye, my Innate Divine Strength really isn't all that impressive.
While Niu Niu suffered through his training, Chen Mu had already led Fang Yue away to a wooden hut.
Chen Mu stared at Fang Yue with excitement, circling him three times.
"Little Ye, your foundation is incredible. Can you tell me what your attributes are right now?"
"32 Might, 32 Force Discharge."
"32 points?! And your two attributes are so evenly matched!"
Chen Mu was astonished once again.
Those attributes already rivaled the powerhouses in the village who were at the Vice-Captain level.
But they were all martial artists.
Fang Yue, on the other hand, hadn't even learned any Martial Arts.
"The future looks bright! So bright!"
Chen Mu excitedly clapped his hands. It took him a while to calm down.
He took two manuals from inside his clothes and handed them to Fang Yue.
"I thought your foundation wasn't good enough, so I planned to have you train in basic Martial Arts before teaching you saber techniques. But it looks like there's no need for all that now."
He was finally going to learn Martial Arts!
Fang Yue excitedly took the manuals from Chen Mu's hands.
Spark Saber Technique, Spark Heart Method.
He stared at the manuals for a while...
"Name: Spark Saber Technique." "Rank: Postnatal Third-rate." "Requirements: 30 Might, 20 Force Discharge, Spark Heart Method." "Description: Use a human soul as a guide to ignite a spark, then let the spark coil around the blade. This is the Spark Saber Technique." "Effect: Increases Might by 10 points and increases damage against [Weird] creatures." "Remark: A trash saber technique that would burn through several lifetimes."
The first two requirements were green, meaning he met them.
The last one, Spark Heart Method, was red, meaning he didn't meet it.
In other words, he had to learn the Spark Heart Method before he could use this saber technique.
What's more, the technique consumed human souls—that is, Lifespan—to activate. The cost was considerable.
Apart from killing [Weird] creatures, Fang Yue still didn't know of any other way to increase his Lifespan.
Compared to all that, the Third-rate rank of the Spark Saber Technique didn't concern Fang Yue as much, although he didn't know what Third-rate meant either.
He turned his gaze to the next manual.
"Name: Spark Heart Method." "Rank: Postnatal Third-rate." "Requirements: 20 Might, 30 Force Discharge." "Description: Use a human soul as a guide to absorb the energy of heaven and earth and temper the body. This is the Spark Heart Method." "Effect: While active, increases Might by 5 points and Force Discharge by 5 points, and increases the power of the Spark Saber Technique." "Remark: A trash heart method that would burn through several lifetimes."
He could learn the Spark Heart Method right away, but... the system's assessment of these two manuals didn't seem very high.
Was this what Chen Mu had called his treasured secret?
Fang Yue looked at Chen Mu in confusion. The other man smugly stroked his chin.
"Surprised? That's right, both of these are Postnatal Third-rate—the genuine Martial Path inheritance!"
No... From Chen Mu's expression, it seemed like these manuals were supposed to be impressive?
"Other than the two other captains, who also have Postnatal Third-rate Martial Path techniques, everyone else in Ancient Moon Village practices Crude Martial Arts that don't even qualify as a proper style. Now do you understand how valuable these manuals are?"
Before you continue