Top-Tier Blade Art: Beginner (Part 1)

Huang Yu's face instantly flushed with an awkward pink. He gave a sheepish laugh, shrank his neck, and dodged Wang Ruiming's nearly flaming glare.

"Fifth place, 138 points..."

"..."

"Fifteenth place, 128 points, Xue Jun."

"Sixteenth place, 125 points, Wang Ruiming."

As the scores were read out, some rejoiced while others grieved.

Wang Ruiming's earlier smugness had long since vanished like smoke, leaving only shock and suspicion at Li Wen's "meteoric rise," frustration at falling short of his own expectations, and a bitter fury at being ruthlessly deceived by the "study snake" beside him. All he wanted was to throw his head back and howl.

Ring ring ring—

The morning dismissal bell dispelled the classroom's mix of joy and oppressive tension.

[Occupation: Scholar Lv3 (193→217/400)]

Li Wen packed his books, his gaze sweeping over the occupation panel floating in midair, where the experience bar had quietly climbed another notch.

The Lv3 experience bar was already over halfway, nearing 218 points. He let out a long, slow breath, stretching his slightly sore muscles from sitting too long.

Tomorrow was the official final exam. With six consecutive subjects, and if he could replicate today's math performance in all of them... charging [Scholar] up to Lv5 was no mere fantasy.

Thinking of Lv5, a blazing fire of anticipation kindled in Li Wen's eyes.

He knew that Lv5's [Absolute Focus] would be a qualitative leap! Not only would the comprehension boost surge to a terrifying 50%, but more importantly, it would gain controllability for the first time.

He could finally decide how long to activate this powerful skill, no longer trapped in the dangerous situation where he had to be forcibly interrupted to stop, or risk having his mental energy drained dry.

This would be his most crucial trump card for the upcoming final martial arts assessment and the approaching Flying Star Class selection.

But what stirred his heart most right now was the afternoon's training. He clenched his fist, feeling the power surging through his body.

"Rainbow Light Blade Art... today, I will step through its gate."

Silently reciting this goal, battle intent blazed in Li Wen's eyes. He strode out of the classroom with long, firm steps, heading resolutely toward the martial arts training room.

Time was tight, the final exam imminent. Every improvement was critical.

The afternoon sunlight slanted through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows of Qingshi No.3 High School's library, casting long, neat grid shadows across the training room's polished floor.

The air was thick with the smell of dust dancing in energy beams, mingled with sweat and the faint metallic tang of cooled metal.

This was the battlefield Li Wen had chosen—the training room on the library's top floor. Less than two days remained until the blade-edge moment of the final exam.

"Hoo—" Li Wen took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, clearing his mind of distractions.

His left hand gripped the cold sheath of the standard-issue quick-draw blade, while his right hand rested steadily on the handle wrapped in non-slip cloth.

His legs bent slightly, muscles tensing in an instant like a spring compressed to its limit.

"First form—Long Rainbow!"

The thought flashed like lightning. The moment the command was issued, his body had already turned into a blur. His legs exploded with astonishing power, propelling him forward in a sudden rush.

"Shiiing~"

A faint but razor-sharp sound of air being cut rang out.

The quick-draw blade, which had been resting securely in its sheath, was now drawn at a speed almost too fast for the eye to follow. A cold gleam traced a brief but clear line through the air.

The motion was clean and crisp—draw, sweep, all in one fluid motion. This speed far exceeded the limits of any form he had executed with advanced blade arts.

The power of a top-tier blade art lay not only in the refinement of its techniques but also in its perfect fusion with body movement.

As a pinnacle technique, the Rainbow Light Blade Art's core was the pursuit of ultimate speed—the blade must be as fast as light, and the body must move like the wind.

Only by reaching the state of "body moves, blade follows; blade turns, body shifts" could one ultimately point toward the martial artist's supreme realm of "mind, body, and technique united."

This blade art turned speed into the foundation of offense and defense—striking to tear the sky apart, retreating to vanish without a trace. Only by moving freely between the two could one stand undefeated in true combat.

"Still a far cry from the instructor's speed during the demonstration... but,"

Li Wen stood still, finishing the form, carefully savoring the muscle memory and airflow feedback from the burst of movement. His eyes were sharp.

"It should be more than enough for the day after tomorrow's final exam."

The final exam was a showcase, a proof, a necessary battle to seize a top-ten spot in the class and win the prize money.

A brief rest was for a more concentrated explosion. Li Wen adjusted himself briefly, and once his breathing steadied, he immediately threw himself into the next round of practice.

He cast aside all distractions and began to practice the remaining sixty-three forms of the Rainbow Light Blade Art one by one.

For the first fifty forms, thanks to his painstaking breakdown under the holographic projection and the passive effect of [Once Proven, Forever Proven], he had long memorized them by heart.

Though his execution lacked the natural grace and overwhelming momentum of that blue-clad senior, it was still smooth and accurate, the movements on point—barely meeting the threshold for entry.

However, starting from the fifty-first form, the difficulty skyrocketed! His movements began to stall, his steps grew heavy.

His body's movement speed couldn't keep up with the blade path he envisioned in his mind, or the subtle variations in the blade techniques made it impossible for his footwork to perfectly match.

The further he went, the harder it became—especially the last dozen or so forms: the fifty-eighth, "Star Breaker"; the fifty-ninth, "Cloud Chaser"... the sixtieth, "Dark Shadow."

Either the blade was half a beat too slow, its trajectory off by a hair; or his footwork was a fraction too heavy, missing the optimal point of power release.

His body and the blade were like gears that hadn't yet been broken in, always lacking that final bit of perfect meshing.

Failure after failure lashed at his heart like an invisible whip. An indescribable restlessness began to pile up in his chest, as if tiny sparks were darting about.

Fine beads of sweat seeped out on his forehead. Every repeated mistake drained the stamina and focus he had built up over the afternoon.

"Huff... no rush." Li Wen took another deep breath, forcibly suppressing that agitation.

The [Once Proven, Forever Proven] passive was his greatest reliance at this moment.

"Can't get flustered. One form at a time. As long as I succeed once, my body won't forget. As long as I can succeed once!" He repeated this in his mind like an anchor of conviction.

He adjusted his strategy, no longer wasting time practicing the entire set. Decisively, he singled out those stuck, unexecutable moves and hammered them over and over.

Focus—channel all his spirit into a single goal.

The entire afternoon, the training room felt like an isolated island where time had accelerated. Only Li Wen's endlessly repeating silhouette remained, the light whistle of the blade cutting air again and again, and the nearly inaudible patter of sweat hitting the floor.

Sweat soaked through his training vest, clinging to his back and outlining the lean, tough contours of the youth.

His breathing grew heavy, his movements trembling slightly from fatigue, but those eyes—because of his utter concentration—blazed with startling brightness.

The golden glow of sunset gradually filled the training room, painting everything in warm colors, yet mercilessly reminding him of time's passage.