I did it!
Fang Yue was overjoyed, then suddenly thought of a problem.
It was only at night, with [Night's Breath] boosting him, that his attributes were this high and he could learn Martial Arts.
So what was he supposed to do during the day?
Fang Yue shamelessly asked Captain Chen for another manual.
"Mortal Martial Arts? You've already inherited my saber technique. Why do you need Mortal Martial Arts?"
"Uh... for reference."
Captain Chen scoffed.
"What's there to learn from something so worthless?"
"Captain Chen, just give me a manual. Any one will do. Ideally, it shouldn't have any attribute requirements, and training it should increase my attributes too. Ideally..."
Captain Chen frowned.
"Little Ye, have you ever heard the saying, 'Too many things at once, and you'll master none'? Learning a Martial Art is only the beginning. Truly mastering it and becoming proficient—that's the hard part."
Well, judging from Captain Chen's attitude, Fang Yue could forget about getting anything out of him.
In truth, if he hadn't had Lord Han as a backer, Fang Yue wouldn't even have been qualified to approach Captain Chen, let alone shamelessly ask him for this and that.
Captain Chen gave him a few instructions, then left.
The wooden house belonged to Captain Chen.
It had two bedrooms, a living room, and a courtyard. The courtyard even had equipment for practicing Martial Arts. It could easily be called a mansion.
But Captain Chen was a native of Ancient Moon Village, and he had several houses of this size. He was letting Fang Yue stay in this one for the time being.
He lived with his family in an even larger house in the north of the village. He told Fang Yue to go to his house or find him at the Guard Team if he needed anything.
Fang Yue inspected the rooms and found dust everywhere. A pile of miscellaneous things lay in a mess in one corner. At a glance, the place looked more like an abandoned storeroom than a house.
At least it kept out the wind and rain, and it had a stove for cooking. It was fully equipped, but everything was caked in dust and needed a thorough cleaning before it could be used.
Fang Yue was lazy, and he felt some resistance toward this kind of dirty work.
It wasn't that he wouldn't do it. He just preferred to put it off if he could.
Back in his room, he sat down again and silently thought, "Attributes."
"Name: Night Dawn."
"Realm: Mortal."
"Status: Normal."
"Life Value: 100/100."
"Strength: 32(+20)."
"Force Dispersal: 32(+20)."
"Talent: Night's Breath (Human Grade High Rank)."
"Skills: Analysis (Human-grade Low-tier), Spark Saber Technique Level 0 (Postnatal Third-rate), Spark Heart Method Level 0 (Postnatal Third-rate)."
"Lifespan: 11 days, 10 shichen."
Following the information in his mind, Fang Yue circulated the Spark Heart Method.
The lifespan in his human soul immediately began to burn. He felt something in his body that represented vitality, something mysterious and intangible, being ignited like a rope and slowly burning away.
At the same time, an invisible sensation of energy from the surroundings flowed toward the dantian in his body.
Unfortunately, as much of this energy flowed in, just as much flowed back out. It was like trying to hold water in a leaky bucket; hardly any stayed.
Fang Yue carefully felt the tiny amount of Internal Force he had gathered, his feelings complicated.
At the same time, he sensed that his body had undergone some kind of transformation. As Internal Force circulated through him, his body felt incredibly light.
"System notification: Congratulations, player, you have unlocked [Internal Force Value]. Current Internal Force Value: 1/1."
"System notification: Congratulations, player, you have successfully completed one cycle of the Spark Heart Method. Spark Heart Method has increased to Level 1."
"System notification: Congratulations, you have broken through the [Mortal] realm and advanced to the [Postnatal Third-rate] realm. Reward: Life Value +100."
Life Value +100!?
Fang Yue was delighted. That doubled it!
So breaking through a realm increased Life Value. No wonder he'd never heard of anyone else increasing their maximum Life Value, no matter how much they trained.
And his heart method had reached Level 1. Was he really that talented? Had he already advanced a level?
Fang Yue took a closer look and finally understood what Level 1 meant.
So reading a manual and learning a Martial Art only meant learning it in theory.
Only after reaching Level 1 had he truly mastered it. Only then could he break through and enter the realm of Martial Artists.
But the Spark Heart Method had changed in no way when it reached Level 1. There would probably be a change when it reached Level 2, but getting there wouldn't be easy.
Fang Yue picked up a wooden stick from the corner and used it as a saber as he practiced the Spark Saber Technique.
His human soul immediately began to burn, then stopped just as quickly.
Fang Yue had only raised the stick into the opening stance when he had to stop.
When he performed the Spark Saber Technique, the Internal Force from the Spark Heart Method was automatically drawn in, and then...
"System notification: Internal Force depleted."
No wonder this lousy saber technique required learning the Spark Heart Method first. Without the heart method, he couldn't even use the technique.
Helpless, Fang Yue sat back down and patiently practiced the Spark Heart Method.
His human soul burned furiously. After more than ten cycles, his Internal Force finally climbed to 15.
Fang Yue went outside into the courtyard and walked up to the grimy Solid Stone.
He performed the Spark Saber Technique again.
He raised the stick into the opening stance, and his Internal Force surged.
Then came the first move: Spark Saber Slash!
He raised the wooden stick high above his head.
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out. His human soul burned furiously, igniting the sparks in the air.
The sparks exploded into a raging blaze, engulfing the wooden stick.
The courtyard lit up in an instant, and the flames scorched Fang Yue's hands.
Damn! Next time I test the saber technique, I'm using a real saber!
Gripping the stick tightly with both hands, Fang Yue gritted his teeth and brought it down.
BOOM!!
The wooden stick shattered, sending charred splinters flying everywhere.
The Solid Stone, however, only burst open with a large chunk missing, its surface scorched black.
The "weapon" had fallen apart before he could even use up all the force. Naturally, that had greatly reduced the technique's power.
Still...
"System notification: Congratulations, player, you have successfully performed Spark Saber Technique. Spark Saber Technique has increased to Level 1."
Whatever. He'd learned it. Tomorrow, he'd ask Captain Chen for a real saber and keep practicing.
Fang Yue now had 32 Strength, with the Spark Heart Method adding 5 and the Spark Saber Technique adding 10.
That meant he could reach 47 Strength at his peak. And with the Spark Heart Method and Spark Saber Technique complementing each other, their power would multiply.
With combat strength like this, what did he have to fear from the strange?
The skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and I was feeling invincible again!
Fang Yue was secretly thrilled—until he saw the pitiful 0/15 Internal Force Value. His expression froze.
His peak combat strength was impressive, but with this much Internal Force, he'd probably be done after one slash.
No, he might not even manage a full slash. When he'd swung the stick earlier, he'd already felt his Internal Force running out faster than he could sustain it.
He glanced over his attributes.
"Name: Night Dawn."
"Realm: Postnatal Third-rate."
"Status: Normal."
"Life Value: 200/200."
"Internal Force Value: 0/15."
"Strength: 32(+20)."
"Force Dispersal: 32(+20)."
"Talent: Night's Breath (Human Grade High Rank)."
"Skills: Analysis (Human-grade Low-tier), Spark Saber Technique Level 1 (Postnatal Third-rate), Spark Heart Method Level 1 (Postnatal Third-rate)."
"Lifespan: 10 days, 5 shichen."
Fang Yue looked at his attributes with satisfaction. Then he suddenly felt that something was off. He took another look, and his face changed dramatically.
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