Martial Skill Advancement

The bluestone slabs in the backyard were still damp from the previous night. A few old locust trees circled an open space, forming a natural training ground.

Wang Gan gripped his mountain-cleaving saber tightly, his hunched back suddenly straightening. He set his face, and his entire aura turned as sharp as a blade's edge.

"The moves aren't difficult; the key lies in your momentum and intent to kill. Watch closely."

Qin Meng held his breath, his gaze locked on him.

"In battlefield combat, the focus is on the exertion of blood and energy. The moves must be simple and lethal—there is no room for fancy flourishes," Wang Gan explained in a deep voice as he assumed his stance.

"Beyond strengthening the body, this saber technique teaches you how to exert force, how to channel your blood and energy, and how to pour every ounce of power into the blade's edge—"

He started from the grip, explaining the mobilization of blood and energy and the techniques of force exertion in detail. Every word sounded as if it had been tempered on the battlefield.

With that, Wang Gan exhaled sharply and swung his blade.

In an instant, the courtyard was filled with the flash of steel. A sharp, whistling wind whipped up, carrying a faint, thunderous echo.

The saber technique followed the path of battlefield slaughter—slashing, hacking, lifting, and chopping. Every move was simple yet reached the pinnacle of lethality, without a single wasted motion, all wrapped in an aura of extreme, tragic carnage.

It was as if a fierce tiger had been unleashed from its cage, imposing and mighty.

Qin Meng held his breath, his eyes fixed firmly on Wang Gan.

He did not miss a single movement the old man made, not a single step, not a single shift of the hips, nor the transition between any of the blade's movements.

These details were branded into his mind like a hot iron, reinforcing the explanation he had just heard, as he habitually simulated and practiced them in his head.

Half a cup of tea's time passed in a flash.

Wang Gan suddenly retracted his blade and stood still, his breathing ragged as he coughed and wheezed.

"Cough, cough... I'm old, no longer of any use. Meng, you give it a try and let me see."

Qin Meng suppressed his surging thoughts, gripped his zhanma dao, and stepped into the courtyard.

He focused on recalling the moves he had just witnessed, sank into a horse stance, and swung the blade—

At that very moment, a sudden change occurred.

Deep within his consciousness, the silent ancient panel suddenly trembled, shifting from its upright orientation to spread out into a flat screen of light.

Light bloomed, outlining a transparent figure that appeared on the screen. The figure held a long saber and began to practice, move by move—

It was none other than the evil-slaying saber technique that Wang Gan had just taught!

But what shocked Qin Meng even more was that the saber technique performed by this transparent figure was even more fluid and lethal than what Wang Gan had displayed.

Every movement was precise to the millimeter: the trajectory of the blood and energy, the rhythm of the muscle exertion, the timing and tricks of the blade's transitions...

Everything was presented in a form that felt almost like the "Dao," so clear it made his scalp tingle, and he could even control the speed with his thoughts.

Golden finger..., has it quietly started to take effect?

"Mengzi, don't let your mind wander while practicing the blade," Wang Gan reminded him from the side.

Qin Meng snapped back to reality, answered with a "Yes," and suppressed the joy in his heart. He gripped the hilt tightly again, but this time, he was no longer blindly imitating.

Instead, he practiced it once according to his own understanding to familiarize himself with the blade technique, then used the moves of the transparent figure deep in his consciousness as a reference to constantly adjust the details of his movements, breathing, and even the application of force.

At the beginning of the practice, the moves were clumsy and sluggish, resembling the form but lacking the spirit.

However, with that perfect template as a reference, and given his high level of attainment in blade techniques from his past life, his progress was astonishingly fast.

The trajectory of the blade slicing through the air became increasingly smooth, his footwork grew steadier, and he gradually found the rhythm of generating force from his waist and hips.

Gradually, his movements became fluid, and the speed of his swings increased.

In less than the time it takes to burn half a stick of incense, he had already achieved seven or eight parts of the resemblance to Wang Gan's performance.

"This, this..." Wang Gan watched from the side, his eyes wide.

He remembered clearly that when his grandson Wang Tieniu practiced this blade technique, it took him three full days of teaching before the boy could barely remember the moves.

But this Qin Meng—he had only watched it once on the side, and before he had even begun to offer guidance, he had already memorized the moves and imitated them to this extent?

Yet, what shocked him even more was still to come.

In the courtyard, Qin Meng was completely immersed. The energy and blood in his body surged naturally along with the blade moves, his mind entering a strange state of self-forgetfulness.

Just then, the light screen deep in his consciousness changed again.

Another transparent figure quietly emerged.

This figure was practicing the eight blade breaking techniques that Qin Meng had already mastered to the minor success stage.

Two figures, two types of blade techniques, were practicing simultaneously on the light screen. At first, they were distinct, but gradually, their movements began to overlap and merge.

The force-generating techniques of certain moves verified each other;

The tricks for transitioning certain footwork complemented one another;

The ruthless intent of certain killing moves blended together as seamlessly as water and milk—

A familiar yet brand-new, profound memory surged into Qin Meng's mind like a tide.

His entire body shuddered.

The blade style in his hand changed subconsciously.

It possessed both the ruthless cunning of the eight blade breaking techniques and the fierce, indomitable power of the evil-slaying saber technique.

The whistling of the blade wind suddenly surged, faintly overpowering the momentum Wang Gan had displayed while practicing earlier. The figure of Qin Meng was like a vicious tiger pouncing from the mountain forest; a baleful aura erupted along with the momentum of his blade, chilling to the soul.

That ferocity far exceeded what Wang Gan had demonstrated previously!

Watching from the sidelines, Wang Gan seemed to smell the scent of blood. His hand, resting on the hilt of his blade, tightened involuntarily until his knuckles turned white. A stormy sea of shock churned within his heart:

This baleful aura... it is clearly something only a veteran soldier who has spent years slaughtering on the battlefield could cultivate. Could this kid be a natural-born talent for martial arts?

He watched the figure swinging the blade, and in a trance, it was as if he saw a piece of jade covered in dust, shedding its rough exterior to reveal a dazzling brilliance.

Qin Meng was completely immersed in the world of his saber technique.

He did not even pay attention to the few lines of pale golden text quietly appearing before his eyes:

[Unranked martial skill: eight blade breaking techniques, merging with mystic grade mid-tier martial skill...]

[eight blade breaking techniques - minor accomplishment (430/1000) → 450/1000 → 480/1000]

[Martial skill progress: 47%... 53%... 61%...]

A robust power surged continuously from within his body, coursing through his limbs and bones. Qin Meng's movements became increasingly agile, and his saber technique grew more refined.

He did not know how much time had passed when a sudden, intense feeling of emptiness struck his stomach. His body's energy and blood had been depleted too severely, and his face began to turn pale.

Qin Meng hurriedly sheathed his blade and stopped, walking quickly to a basket nearby to take out an oil-paper parcel—it was the boiled heart of a blood-scaled deer he had prepared beforehand.

He tore open the oil paper and took a large bite.

The coarse meat carried a heavy, gamey stench, but he forced himself to swallow it whole despite the discomfort.

Not long after the exotic beast's heart entered his stomach, a scorching warm current dissolved from his gut, surging like spring water through his limbs and bones. The energy he had consumed practicing his blade was rapidly restored.

"The heart blood of an exotic beast is indeed a potent tonic," Qin Meng muttered to himself. He wiped the corner of his mouth and, with a focused mind, walked back into the courtyard to practice his blade once more.

Deep within his consciousness, the two figures on the light screen had almost completely merged.

The blade light rose again.

This time, his saber technique had completely changed.

It possessed both the indomitable righteousness of the evil-slaying saber technique and the ruthless lethality of the eight blade breaking techniques. The two were interdependent, blending together seamlessly.

The sky-filling blade light formed a web of blades, with blade qi crisscrossing and carving marks of varying depths into the ground, sending dust and gravel flying.

Wang Gan had quietly retreated to the courtyard entrance.

Just then, Wang Tieniu returned from cutting bamboo. The grandfather and grandson stood side by side, both staring with wide eyes at the figure in the courtyard. Feeling that sharpness, their faces were filled with astonishment, and for a moment, they forgot how to speak.

As Qin Meng's understanding of the two saber techniques deepened, the proficiency levels on the light screen increased, and the fusion progress bar began to skyrocket—

[Eight Blade Breaking Techniques - Great Success (5/2000)]

[Evil-slaying Saber Technique - Dengtang (1/200)]

[Eight Blade Breaking Techniques Martial Skill Progress: 72%... 85%... 94%...]

Finally, as he mastered both techniques, at the very moment a certain saber momentum reached its peak, the surging power within his body shattered a certain shackle.

It was like a bursting levee, flooding into his limbs and bones.

His meridians were widened, his bones emitted a faint hum, and his muscle fibers were quietly reinforced.

Two lines of pale gold text shimmered into view before his eyes:

[Martial skill fusion complete.]

[Eight Blade Breaking Techniques has advanced into a ranked martial skill: Evil-slaying Blade-breaking Saber]