Deep Accumulation, Sudden Breakthrough

The sunset glow painted the Martial Arts Room in warm gold, but it could not dispel the silence brought by the emptiness.

The doors to Class 21's martial arts classroom opened and closed several times, while the voices gradually faded.

In a matter of moments, only Li Wen remained in the spacious training hall.

The clatter of equipment and the heavy panting that usually filled the room had vanished. Only the occasional birdsong from outside and the faint sound of his own footsteps echoed through the empty space.

This was exactly the moment Li Wen had been waiting for.

He walked to his usual corner and tightened his grip on the Standard Quick Blade of refined steel that had been with him for so long. The cold touch of the metal made his mind even more focused.

After looking around to make sure no one was watching, Li Wen took a deep breath, quieted his thoughts, and silently activated the Scholar's core skill.

"Activate—[Absolute Focus]!"

Hum~!

An invisible wave, perceptible only to Li Wen, quietly spread out from his body.

In an instant, the world seemed to have been muted. The faint birdsong in the distance, the slight trembling of the window frame, even the subtle sound of blood flowing through his body—all were shut out.

His gaze suddenly turned as deep and still as a frigid pool, clear and concentrated. Every stray thought, every trace of fatigue and emotion was washed away by that powerful focus.

At that moment, only one thing remained in his world—the blade!

In a state of Absolute Focus, every detail of his earlier Tiger Guard Blade Art practice, every successful adjustment, every slight hitch of imperfection, played back in his mind as clearly as high-definition footage.

An unprecedented clarity enveloped his understanding of the blade art.

"So the key to smoothly connecting the Golden Roc Spreads Wings stance is the slight rotation of the shoulder blade..."

"After the blade strikes, the force has to circle back through the wrist, not the elbow. That's what creates the best starting position for the next stance, Spirit Snake Swishes Tail..."

"If I make the distance of the advancing step just a little more precise, I can perfectly turn the impact into killing force..."

Countless flashes of insight sparked in his mind. The bottlenecks that had plagued him for days seemed to melt like snow.

He no longer needed to struggle to recall the diagrams. Guided by his focus, his body naturally searched for the optimal lines of force.

His wrist turned lightly, his feet shifted, and the blade slicing through the air sounded smoother, carrying an indescribable rhythm and power.

He was so immersed that he forgot the passage of time and the toll on his body, devoting himself entirely to demonstrating the blade art.

Chop, slash, lift, thrust, parry, block... He took the twenty-six basic forms apart and put them back together. Each swing carried his newfound understanding, making his practice far more efficient than it had been that afternoon, when he was training on his own.

Blades of light flashed around him, weaving a net of power and technique that grew ever tighter and more lethal.

The focused world persisted amid the humming. Li Wen moved faster and faster, and with ever greater precision.

Whoosh—!

But when another fierce streak of blade light tore through the air as he tried to complete a difficult spinning slash, the wondrous state sustaining him abruptly cut off without warning!

The humming ceased.

As if he had been thrown from warm water into an icy pool, the sudden contrast made Li Wen's vision go black. An overwhelming exhaustion and emptiness swept over him like a tsunami.

The surging strength within him was drained away completely. His arms felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and even his grip on the blade vanished in an instant.

Clang!

The Standard Quick Blade slipped from his hand and crashed heavily onto the floor with a harsh metallic clang that rang far across the silent Martial Arts Room.

Li Wen braced both hands on his knees, barely managing to keep himself from collapsing.

Huge beads of sweat poured from his temples and sideburns like broken strings of pearls, splattering onto the floor and leaving dark wet marks.

His body felt completely hollowed out, every cell crying out in misery.

This sudden, all-consuming weakness was several times worse than the exhaustion he'd felt after practicing with the blade on his own that afternoon!

Using a skill at high intensity while exerting himself to perform an Advanced Perfection blade art consumed a terrifying amount of energy.

Time seemed to freeze.

A good four or five minutes passed before his rapid breathing gradually settled and the overwhelming dizziness began to recede.

He tried to move his fingers, but they still felt indescribably sluggish and weak.

Struggling to his feet, he staggered as if walking on cotton and lurched over to the rest area beside the Martial Arts Room, collapsing onto a cold bench.

After a long while, he managed to rummage through the old backpack tossed beside his feet and pull out a high-energy compressed bar and a small bottle of electrolyte water.

His fingers trembled as he tore open the wrapper. Li Wen practically wolfed down the energy bar.

The hard, sweet, high-calorie lump was his only salvation at that moment.

He chewed desperately, his throat working as he swallowed it down with water.

The intense hunger eased a little, and a faint warmth began to spread through his cold stomach, slowly flowing into the rest of his body.

Only after eating half the energy bar and downing most of the bottle of electrolyte water did that dreadful emptiness—the feeling that he might faint at any moment—finally recede a little.

His body still ached and felt heavy, but at least he had enough strength to move.

Leaning against the cold wall, Li Wen shifted his thoughts, and the familiar pale-blue panel quietly appeared:

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: 18]

[Profession: Scholar lv1 (36/100)]

[Realm: Unranked (Level 6.1)]

[Method: Rending Gold-Sha Method: Basic (Initiation 87/100)]

[Skill: Blade Art · Advanced (Greater Accomplishment 0→50/100)]

"Hiss..." Though he had expected some improvement, when he saw the clear jump in the Skill section, Li Wen still couldn't help drawing a sharp breath. A tired but excited grin spread across his face.

Fifty points! He had leaped straight from the starting point of Greater Accomplishment to 50/100!

That was the result of practicing in Absolute Focus with every fiber of his being!

That was the result of more than two years of nearly obsessive hard work finally paying off!

Of course, the ten percent increase in comprehension provided by Absolute Focus at lv1 had also played a decisive role in catalyzing the breakthrough.

Without it, it might have taken several times longer for all that accumulated effort to fully come to fruition.

The chill of the rest area seeped through his back, easing his aching muscles a little.

Once he felt he had finally regained enough strength to leave, Li Wen put away the remaining energy bar and water bottle, picked up the Standard Quick Blade from the floor, and returned it to the weapon rack.

It was already late. Outside the window, only a streak of dark red remained at the western horizon.

He locked the door to the Martial Arts Room and headed for the school cafeteria. The vast dining hall was now nearly empty, its lights bright but its tables sparsely occupied.

Only one serving window was still lit. Several women in white uniforms were busy cleaning and washing up, carrying away the heavy stainless-steel food trays one by one.

Li Wen walked up to the only open window, his voice hoarse with fatigue. "Auntie, is there any food left?"

Behind the counter, a kind-looking middle-aged woman looked up. Seeing Li Wen's unusually pale face, sweat-damp hair, and thin, frail frame, she showed a flicker of sympathy in her eyes.

She glanced at the scant food remaining and replied, "There's a little left. Just enough for one serving."

As she spoke, she picked up a tray. She heaped the serving spoon noticeably higher than usual, then made a point of adding a few pieces of the remaining red-braised pork and some leafy greens on top of the rice.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Li Wen hurriedly thanked her and took the unusually full tray.

Most of the seats in the vast cafeteria were empty. He casually chose a table by the window and sat down. Seeing the rare abundance of food on his tray warmed his heart.

There was no time to savor it. Hunger and exhaustion drove him to wolf down the food at sweeping speed.

He needed to recover his strength as quickly as possible, because he still had important "homework" to do tonight.

That's right. After dinner, he returned to the martial arts classroom he had left only a short while earlier.

Yesterday, he had gone home early after the afternoon fitness test because it had been his important eighteenth birthday, and his parents had been waiting with cake and dinner.

Normally, especially now that only a few months remained in the final sprint toward the college entrance exams, he would eat a quick dinner in the cafeteria and immediately return to the martial arts classroom for evening self-study.

The school's system was clear:

Cultural courses were compulsory for everyone in the morning;

martial arts training took place in the afternoon;

in the evening, students chose where to study according to their college entrance exam plans. Those aiming for top universities in the humanities went to the cultural studies classrooms for evening self-study;

while those pursuing the martial arts track and aiming for a Martial Arts University almost all went to the martial arts classrooms, which were better equipped and more spacious. So the classroom was not empty at this hour.

When Li Wen returned to the martial arts classroom, things were indeed different from the quiet, solitary evening he had spent there before.

There were nowhere near as many students as during the afternoon's scheduled class, but two or three dozen figures were scattered about, most of them practicing breathing exercises with the basic method.

He went back to his corner, but did not pick up the blade right away.

He had used up far too much energy that afternoon, and Absolute Focus had brought a huge improvement. He needed time to digest the results and let his body recover fully.

He quietly observed his classmates who had chosen the martial arts track.

Many stood in different stances, their breathing long and steady, qi and blood stirring subtly around them.

Judging by their slightly flushed skin and steady breathing, they could clearly maintain this state for a long time.

That was a stark contrast to Li Wen's own condition, in which he could barely keep going after a dozen minutes of practice.

They had no shortage of Qi-Blood Potions to replenish them, enough to keep the basic method running efficiently all evening as they tempered their bodies.

That was the power of resources and capital.

Li Wen's gaze inadvertently passed over a figure at the other end of the classroom—Xue Jun.

The undisputed top student in the class! His Flesh Rank had already reached above 8.0, and rumors said his spear art had broken through the Advanced Perfection bottleneck and entered the Minor Accomplishment level of Peak Technique!

That meant Xue Jun had already touched the threshold of the revered realm that awaited him in the future—the Unity Realm.

The admission threshold for an ordinary Martial Arts University was Initiation in Peak Technique; first-rate martial arts universities required at least Minor Accomplishment in Peak Technique;

as for Huaxia Kingdom's four top martial arts universities, standing at the very peak, the minimum requirement was the Unity Realm!

Creating a Secret Technique of one's own—that was a realm Li Wen had once considered too extravagant even to dream of.

Yet now, as he gazed at the figure wreathed in a faint glow of qi and blood, Li Wen no longer felt the despair and helplessness of the past. Instead, a calm unlike anything he had ever known settled over him.

His cheat did not directly increase his strength, but it had given him the most important weapon of all—the key to breaking through every bottleneck.

The standards of top universities, once so far beyond his reach, were no longer cold, unbreakable laws. They were... goals he could strive to reach!

After resting and digesting his meal for more than half an hour, he felt that much of his strength had indeed returned, so he stood up and took hold of his blade again.

This time, he did not activate Absolute Focus.

The skill took too much energy and placed too much strain on his body. He still couldn't use it repeatedly in a single day.

Even so, after the afternoon's epiphany and the evening's extreme practice, his command of the Tiger Guard Blade Art had already climbed to a new level.

Blade light flashed once more.

His attacks lacked the frenzied sense of "working things out" that had come with extreme focus that evening, but they carried a steadiness and fluidity rooted in his solid progress.

With the foundation of 50/100 Greater Accomplishment proficiency, every movement came more naturally, and each application of force was more precise and efficient.

The blade's path through the air was no longer a rigid, standard arc. It followed the moment, guided by the situation, with a certain agile sense of anticipation.

His chops cracked like thunder, his parries stood like mountains, and his turns swept like a flowing breeze.

The twenty-six blade forms seemed to be taken apart and scattered, then flowed naturally into one another with each change of breath. The transitions between moves grew smoother and more seamless.

He felt that the Advanced Blade Art Mastery realm of "unbroken forms, perfectly rounded and flawless" was no longer beyond his reach. He could almost see its outline.

Immersed in this steady improvement, time flew by.

An hour later, Li Wen lowered his blade and stood still. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead, but his breathing was far steadier than it had been when he finished that evening, and his body felt only normally tired.

[You practiced the Tiger Guard Blade Art for one hour. Blade Art experience +5]

[Skill: Blade Art · Advanced (Greater Accomplishment 50→55/100)]

The results were impressive! Even practicing on his own, he was far more efficient than he had ever been before. It was all thanks to the increase in his comprehension after his soul fused with that of his other life.

His blade practice came to an end. Li Wen did not continue studying the blade art. Instead, he turned his gaze to his classmates, who were still practicing the basic method.

He returned the quick blade precisely to the weapon rack, then went back to the mat.

Holding his breath, he focused his mind, bent his knees and sank into a stance, then formed the opening hand seal of the Rending Gold-Sha Method.

He did not activate Absolute Focus. The skill was too costly for now and consumed too much qi and blood. He did not have enough Qi-Blood Potions to replenish himself.

His familiar breathing rhythm guided his qi and blood, laboriously circulating through his body.

Each deep inhalation directed his meager qi and blood toward every limb and bone; each slow exhalation tried to expel the energy that inevitably leaked away and went to waste as it circulated.

That familiar, sharp, tearing sensation began to spread inside his body, stimulating his bones, muscles, and tendons. It brought a faint warmth of improvement, but also a fierce... feeling of depletion!

If the well-supplied students practicing the basic method were "cruising along a smooth road with the air conditioning on," then Li Wen felt as if he were "pushing a beat-up old car with a leaking oil tank up a steep, rocky mountain road."

More than half of his qi and blood energy leaked away irreversibly during circulation, wasted because his understanding of the method was not yet deep enough and he could not fully control his body.

The inefficiency was disheartening.

His body began to heat up, and sweat seeped from his skin.

The strain on his joints and tendons grew stronger, accompanied by a dull, hard-to-bear ache.

His breathing gradually grew rapid and shallow, and his heart pounded as if it would burst from his chest.

The qi and blood inside him became like a stream about to dry up. Its circulation slowed with every moment, while the resistance steadily mounted.

"No... I can... hold on a little longer..." Li Wen clenched his teeth, the veins at his temples faintly bulging with the effort.

His limit was right before him. Every muscle in his body was crying out, but the stubborn fury in his heart surged up, forcing him to hold his crumbling stance.

A faint sound, like a slight shift in a bone, came from one of his tendons—his body's final warning!

Puh... Hah!!!

A great mouthful of hot, white, foul air burst from deep in his chest. His body abruptly relaxed as if every bone had been pulled from it.

His hand seal collapsed, his legs went limp, and he nearly fell. He staggered two steps, then caught himself with one hand on the floor, panting violently. Every breath scraped across his burning throat like a knife.

After barely fifteen minutes, he had been drained of his last ounce of strength.

The energy and mental effort he had spent in those few minutes felt no less than what he had used during that evening's overloaded Absolute Focus blade practice.

His training suit was already soaked through with sweat, clinging to his body, cold and clammy.

Weary, he wiped the sweat from his face. He almost collapsed, but held himself up through sheer willpower as he struggled to bring up his status panel:

[You struggled to practice the Rending Gold-Sha Method. Method experience +3]

[Method: Rending Gold-Sha Method: Basic (Initiation 87→90/100)]

Seeing his Initiation proficiency jump from 87 to 90, with the Minor Accomplishment threshold of 100 now within reach, Li Wen's exhausted face finally showed a complicated expression, half a wry smile and half relief.

The improvement was real. The fusion of his souls had made his thoughts clearer, which had helped him understand the method more efficiently at the Initiation stage, but...

"Phew..." He let out a long breath, heavy with exhaustion. He looked around at his classmates, still practicing with steady, unhurried breaths and a faint red glow of qi and blood flowing around them. His eyes turned deep.

"Today's rate of improvement... came down to accumulated effort finally paying off. Once the gains from that accumulation are used up, with the resources I have now, my speed will probably soon return to that... pitifully low level."

Immense potential and the constraints of reality intertwined like ice and fire in the depths of his weary body and mind.

He clenched his fist, feeling the frustration beneath his weakness, then slowly opened his hand.

His cheat was unlocked, and the road lay beneath his feet. All that remained was to walk it—harder and smarter than ever.

Outside, the night was as dark as ink, hiding the lone figure of the young man standing there and the heavy yet fiercely burning ambition in his heart.