Swordsmanship Great Accomplishment

"It looks like I'll have to wait for the Scholar to level up."

He recalled the perception from his last mental enhancement, and the direct impact of the Scholar class's comprehensive boost to "comprehension"—or rather, to thinking, understanding, and control.

The fifty percent comprehension boost from lv5 [Absolute Focus] had reached its limit; it couldn't help him break through in a short time.

Of course, he could still manage it if he ground away for a while.

But to quickly shatter this bottleneck in his blade technique and reach Great Completion, the Scholar's level had to jump first. Otherwise, this bottleneck might stall him for a long stretch.

As for the technique bottleneck?

Compared to the blade technique—the critical bottleneck that would determine his future ceiling—Li Wen wasn't in a hurry. It would break naturally once the right opportunity came.

Li Wen's focus was undoubtedly on breaking through with the blade technique.

A flurry of thoughts drifted through his mind as Li Wen turned off the alarm a moment before it was set to ring.

He got up, washed up, ate breakfast, and finally headed to school.

Qingshi No.3 High School.

On the first day of the new semester, the entire senior year was thick with an unusual tension and fervor, with chatter buzzing everywhere.

The massive announcement posted at the entrance of the senior teaching building had already made the theme clear: Flying Star Class selection officially begins!

The Flying Star Class—the gathering place for the elite of Qingshi No.3 High School's senior year, a springboard to top-tier martial arts universities.

Sixty spots. The competition was far fiercer than the end-of-term exams.

Today's agenda—the first round of selection: the cultural assessment.

Everyone who had submitted an application at the end of last semester was now arranged in a huge classroom.

Li Wen was among them.

After a winter break spent studying six hours a day with intense focus, Li Wen's foundation in every subject was no longer what it used to be.

Especially Galactic Common Language, which had once dragged him down—he'd made significant progress by targeting it as a priority.

In the spacious, brightly lit exam hall, the test papers were handed out.

As usual, Li Wen first finished the easy questions on the paper, leaving the tough ones for last.

Time flew by under the rustling sound of writing.

"Shhh! There are fifteen minutes left in this exam."

When the warning whistle blew, Li Wen took a deep breath and nudged his intent:

"Activate—[Absolute Focus]!"

The lv5 Absolute Focus descended instantly.

The world fell silent. The test paper before him seemed to zoom in, dissected infinitely.

Words became clear logical chains, formulas flowed like a stream, and all distractions were cast aside.

Li Wen's pen flew across the page, his strokes forceful and steady. His mind raced like a high-speed precision computer, processing each question under the fifty percent comprehension boost of [Absolute Focus].

He was no longer passively answering; it felt more like he was actively dismantling and mastering the threads of knowledge.

The sensation of writing as if guided by a divine hand was stronger and clearer than during the end-of-term exams.

Perhaps because his foundation had improved, this time it took less than fifteen minutes to finish all the remaining tough questions.

Sticking to his principle of not wasting mental energy, he deactivated [Absolute Focus] early.

The same pattern held for the next five subjects.

At five in the afternoon, the final subject's exam finally ended.

Everyone stood up and filed out of the classroom.

"This damn exam was harder than last semester's finals. I couldn't answer half of it."

"Hope the cultural score doesn't drag me down."

Deng Yuefei trudged off with a grim face alongside Xue Jun, complaining about the unreasonable test paper as they walked.

"Cultural scores only count for twenty percent. Stop worrying about nothing." Compared to Deng Yuefei, Xue Jun looked completely unbothered.

Having consistently ranked in the top thirty of the grade in skills, he had every right to say that.

Shaking his head with a smile, Li Wen left the classroom confidently.

He still had to practice the Basic Method in the evening, and since he was out of Qi-Blood Potions, Li Wen didn't go home this time.

After a High-Energy Dinner in the cafeteria, he arrived at the martial arts training room of Class 21, Grade 12—a place he hadn't seen in a month.

Familiar room, familiar faces.

Thanks to the impact of his skill assessment at the end of last semester, Li Wen was no longer the invisible nobody he used to be.

The moment he stepped into the training room, quite a few people took the initiative to greet him.

Li Wen smiled and responded to each one.

Just after finishing the High-Energy Dinner, he planned to sit and rest for a while.

He walked to his usual spot and half-lay down on the bench.

Occasionally, he would chime in with a few words, bantering and joking with the others.

A dozen or so minutes slipped by in a flash.

Feeling that the food in his body had mostly digested and would no longer hinder his cultivation, Li Wen stood up.

He had just reached for the Standard Quick Blade on the weapon rack when he felt a dozen messages pop up on his panel in rapid succession:

[You have completed a Chinese exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You have completed a math exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You have completed a foreign language exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You have completed a history exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You have completed a politics exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You have completed a geography exam with excellent results, Scholar experience +60]

[You achieved first place in this selection exam, Scholar experience +140]

[Class: Scholar lv5 (1280→1780/1600)]

[Class upgrading...]

[Class: Scholar lv6 (180/3200)]

Level up!

Almost the instant the upgrade completed, Li Wen felt a surge of a more vigorous and agile warm current rush from deep within his brow, flooding his entire body.

His mind felt as if it had been washed by clear spring water—his thinking speed, depth of comprehension, and mental capacity all leaped to a new level.

The mental power of lv6 brought changes far more significant than any previous upgrade.

"Now!" Li Wen didn't hesitate for a moment.

He drew the well-worn Standard Quick Blade, and with a flicker of his figure, arrived at an empty, open space.

"Activate—[Absolute Focus]!"

The focus of lv6's [Absolute Focus] in that instant far surpassed that of lv5.

Under the boost of sixty percent comprehension.

Li Wen gripped the blade's hilt, and the myriad essences of the Rainbow Light Blade Art came alive as if awakened.

The subtle stagnations that had troubled him before, the last bit of disharmony in exerting force, the thin membrane of qi and blood flow—

Under this brand-new, highly condensed light of thought, they were as fragile as thin ice.

The blade sliced through the air without a sound!

There were no flashy light or sound effects, only a suddenly condensed edge of utmost sharpness.

Hum!

A sharp, unmatched aura emanated from the blade—no longer the keenness of minor mastery, but the biting cold that truly touched upon major mastery.

The panel information flickered simultaneously:

[You have broken through a blade technique bottleneck, skill advanced!]

[Skill: Blade Art: Peak (Major Mastery 1/100)]

Done!

Blade Art: Peak, Major Mastery realm!

From the moment Li Wen activated [Absolute Focus] to the breakthrough of his blade technique to Peak Major Mastery—

It took only three minutes.

The others in the martial arts classroom had only just begun to sense something unusual and were about to turn their heads when Li Wen had already sheathed the Standard Quick Blade.

The comprehension boost from lv6's [Absolute Focus] was only ten percent more than lv5's.

But the final result reflected far more than that.

If comprehension is insufficient, a bottleneck is like the moon in the water—visible but untouchable.

A sixty percent comprehension boost was terrifyingly effective.

No wonder some geniuses cultivated without any bottlenecks at all.

Additionally, the minimum activation time for lv6's Absolute Focus had also dropped from five minutes to three minutes.