[Flick Finger]: With a flick of the finger, you smash through obstacles; from a distance, you strike acupoints as if your finger were there in person. [Acupoint Divine Abilities]: Heavenly Leak (Initial Completion), Point Kill (Initial Completion), Flick Finger (Initial Completion).
Flick-Finger Divine Ability!
Lu Ming was overjoyed. He hadn't expected to develop such a divine ability.
This Flick-Finger Divine Ability wasn't the legendary Peach Blossom Island technique he'd heard about in his previous life. It didn't require using stones or other objects as projectiles!
Instead, it let him harness his momentum and project his force through the air to strike acupoints!
In other words, he no longer needed to get right up close to his enemies to hurt them.
Most importantly, this divine ability could work in tandem with Point Kill. As long as his momentum surpassed his opponent's, a single point from afar would kill them instantly!
It was an undeniably powerful divine ability.
Delighted, Lu Ming couldn't resist wanting to try it out. He looked around. The Grand Martial Arts Arena was crowded with martial artists, so it was best not to reveal his abilities.
He suppressed his impulse, returned to the Iron Stake Area, and continued training.
He soon discovered that he had also just reached the entry level in the Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms. His movements had become smooth and practiced.
"Four days of sudden enlightenment, and I've finally reached the entry level!" Lu Ming nodded to himself. As another second-rate acupoint technique, the Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms was about as difficult to learn as the Cloud-Piercing Finger.
It had taken him more than ten days to reach the entry level in the Cloud-Piercing Finger. With the Enlightenment Pill, he'd managed it in four days with the Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms, cutting the time down severalfold.
By that measure, if he had enough Enlightenment Pills, he had a good chance of cultivating the Cloud-Piercing Finger to Minor Completion before the Grand Examination.
Lost in thought, he put away the short stick. Once he had reached the entry level, he would still receive the extra bonus even if he stopped practicing the technique.
So he needed to switch back to the Cloud-Piercing Finger and try to reach Minor Completion as soon as possible.
"But if I spend all my time practicing the Cloud-Piercing Finger, I won't have time to train my lightness skill or develop a Leg Dao Divine Ability."
A thought flickered through Lu Ming's mind, and he hesitated.
He would need to think it over. For today, he would practice the Cloud-Piercing Finger; he couldn't waste his training time in the Iron Stake Area.
[Acupoint Divine Ability evolution in progress (20/100000)...]
After practicing the Cloud-Piercing Finger once, Lu Ming looked at the information from the Divine Ability Panel and smiled wryly.
As expected, the total experience needed to develop a fourth Acupoint Divine Ability had risen to one hundred thousand.
In the past, that amount would have been enough to make him give up before he even started.
But then he thought of how Zhao Zhiqiu had asked him a few days ago to protect Zhao Ming, earning him two hundred taels of silver in a single job.
As his cultivation improved, Lu Ming realized, making money would become easier. In the future, he could collect plenty of acupoint techniques and gain their bonuses.
Besides, sudden enlightenment could double his cultivation experience, making Enlightenment Pills indispensable. As a Heavenly Secret Pavilion informant, he could buy them with silver.
All things considered, developing a fourth Acupoint Divine Ability wasn't as difficult as he'd imagined.
Of course, it was out of the question before the Grand Examination.
For now, he was practicing the Cloud-Piercing Finger mainly so he could reach Minor Completion as soon as possible and meet the goal Wei Jinlin had set for him.
Lu Ming had a feeling that the technique Wei Jinlin planned to teach him next was no ordinary one. He only needed to meet the goal before the Grand Examination.
And if Wei Jinlin waited until just before the Grand Examination to teach him that technique, it would mean the technique wasn't meant to help him prepare for the exam!
Lu Ming had vaguely heard that the Military Service Bureau's Grand Examination was only the first round of selection. Most people couldn't even get into a Third-Rate Sect, so their path ended there.
But anyone who managed to join a Ranked Sect, whether third-rate, second-rate, or first-rate, would have a chance to advance further.
That meant joining an Orthodox Great Sect! It was the ultimate purpose of the Military Service Bureau's existence.
If the technique Wei Jinlin wanted to teach him involved an Orthodox Great Sect, Lu Ming would give it everything he had and seize the opportunity.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother!"
Just as he was practicing, a few urgent shouts suddenly came from outside the Military Service Bureau.
At the same time, a jumble of footsteps approached.
Dozens of young martial artists surged into the Grand Martial Arts Arena like a rising tide, their faces panicked and their blood and energy in disarray.
"What's going on?!"
Wei Jinlin dropped down from the high platform and surveyed the young martial artists. At last, his gaze settled on an old man with blood at the corner of his mouth and a feeble aura.
Wei Jinlin's eyes narrowed.
The old man was none other than Xu Shou, Director of the Military Service Bureau in neighboring Black Mountain County!
"Senior Brother, we were supposed to arrive yesterday. But that monster also stole and ate the demon corpses used for special training by the Military Service Bureaus in Black Water County and Cloud Peak County, so we agreed to come together."
Xu Shou coughed as he spoke, and a few drops of blood came up.
Wei Jinlin frowned deeply. "All three Military Service Bureaus' disciples are moving here? Hmph, fine. But did you run into rebels or something? Why are you in such a sorry state?"
Xu Shou hurriedly replied, "Each of us brought only fifty elite disciples. We'd never make things difficult for you, Senior Brother. One hundred and fifty disciples should be able to fit here.
"But on the way, we ran into that monster. Our two fellow directors from Black Water County and Cloud Peak County joined forces to hold it off, so I hurried ahead with the disciples.
"Now..."
Rumble!
Before he could finish, a distant boom echoed from outside the Military Service Bureau.
Wei Jinlin's gaze turned fierce. "Two Military Service Bureau directors joined forces and still couldn't stand against that monster? I want to see for myself what level it's reached! Arrange things for the disciples here. I'll be right back."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he shot away, rising smoothly to the clouds. His figure streaked through the air, leaving a series of afterimages before vanishing from sight.
By now, the Grand Martial Arts Arena was packed with local and visiting martial artists. They stared at one another, at a loss.
Xu Shou strode up to the high platform and called out:
"Disciples of the Red Cloud County Military Service Bureau, I'm Xu Shou, Director of the Military Service Bureau in neighboring Black Mountain County!
"Because of the monster rampaging through the area, the three Military Service Bureaus in Black Mountain County, Black Water County, and Cloud Peak County have all moved their disciples here to train.
"We ran into the monster on the way. Your Director Wei has gone to help. There's no need to worry.
"You may return to your own courtyards and rest for a while, or stay here if you prefer. Resume training once Director Wei returns."
As he spoke, more and more disciples arrived. Their faces were ashen, their legs trembling; some had even wet themselves, and the air reeked of urine.
After hearing Xu Shou's words, many Military Service Bureau disciples left the Grand Martial Arts Arena and returned to the main compound. Others, curious, struck up conversations with the visiting martial artists.
Seeing how complicated the situation was, Lu Ming worried it might disrupt his state of sudden enlightenment, so he left the Grand Martial Arts Arena as well.
Back in his own courtyard, he could hear the commotion outside the Military Service Bureau. His heart sank.
He hadn't expected the monsters to grow so bold. This time, they'd not only dared to attack a Military Service Bureau convoy, but even three directors together had been unable to stop one.
Xu Shou had suffered a minor injury and brought his disciples here to seek refuge, while the other two directors had stayed behind to hold the monster off.
"Phew. Since it won't affect me here, I'll keep training!"
Lu Ming steadied himself and calmed down. A trace of resolve appeared in his eyes as he decided to continue practicing.
Only by growing stronger could he withstand all kinds of danger.
"Let's try the Flick-Finger Divine Ability first."
The thought flickered through his mind. Remembering the Acupoint Divine Ability he'd just developed, he couldn't resist flicking a finger toward the Stone Tablet Nine Palace Stakes in the middle of the courtyard.
Smack!
From a distance of one zhang, the stone tablet hanging from a wooden stake—his target—shattered instantly, breaking into pieces as stone dust flew everywhere.
Lu Ming stared in slight astonishment, then his heart surged with excitement. From more than three meters away, he'd destroyed the stone tablet with nothing but the force of a flicked finger!
From what he could sense, the Flick-Finger Divine Ability could strike anything within ten zhang!
Because he was now at the Flesh Refining stage, the range of not only his Flick-Finger Divine Ability but his other divine abilities as well—such as Earth Splitting and Mountain-Pushing—had all expanded to ten zhang.
Ten zhang was more than thirty meters.
With the Flick-Finger Divine Ability, he could now kill enemies from more than thirty meters away, push aside a mountain more than thirty meters high, or create a fissure spanning more than thirty meters!
Of course, the Flick-Finger Divine Ability gave him that power, but he still had to practice to improve his accuracy.
Fortunately, the key to mastering the Cloud-Piercing Finger was accuracy and control. So by practicing it, he could improve the accuracy of the Flick-Finger Divine Ability too.
Unable to contain his excitement, Lu Ming kept flicking his fingers across the courtyard.
For a while, sharp cracks rang out all around as he struck and shattered every Black Leak Point.
At one moment, he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of rising, as if his field of vision had widened and the world had grown clearer.
"This is..." Lu Ming stopped abruptly, astonished and delighted as he savored the extraordinary sensation.
Just then, a message appeared on the Divine Ability Panel:
[Heavenly Leak increased from Initial Completion to Minor Completion.]
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