Changes After Divine Ability Promotion, Acupoint Talent Skyrockets! (Bonus Chapter)

"Chen Ping! Black Mountain County's Military Service Bureau genius this year!"

"Earlier, Zhao Zhiqiu only stepped out of the Grand Martial Arts Arena to recruit those outside martial artists. Chen Ping was the last one he called out."

"What a jinx. Gets Senior Brother Zhao killed on his first day here."

Many people stared at that low-key, humble martial arts genius, their expressions unfriendly.

Lu Ming listened to the surrounding chatter and finally understood who that person was.

Chen Ping! Black Mountain County's martial arts genius.

"If not for me just now, Senior Brother Zhao wouldn't have died. I beg Master Xu and Director Wei to punish me."

Chen Ping's face showed guilt as he stepped forward to confess.

Xu Shou barked coldly, "Just arrived and already stirring up trouble. You—"

"Junior Brother, don't be too harsh on him." Wei Jinlin cut off Xu Shou's words, shaking his head.

"We can only blame that demon's cunning—it even knew to feint east and strike west. Junior Brother, did you see the demon's true form just now?"

Xu Shou's face turned grave. "Senior Brother saw it too?"

At that moment, many young martial artists surged in from outside the Military Service Bureau, led by two middle-aged martial artists with pale, unsteady auras, both wounded. They were clearly the other two Directors of the Bureau.

Wei Jinlin frowned slightly. "That demon is no ordinary threat. This matter must be resolved. Let's go discuss it."

With that, the four Directors left, and the others resumed their training.

Chen Ping's earlier voluntary confession had somewhat changed the local Bureau members' view of him, lessening their hostility.

The many elite disciples from the four Bureaus began exchanging words, using the demon as a conversation starter.

Lu Ming, however, furrowed his brow. Chen Ping appeared humble and upright, but earlier, when Lu Ming observed him through his Heavenly Leak vision, it was clear that Chen Ping had firmly grabbed Zhao Zhiqiu before the demon broke ground, immobilizing him.

When the demon arrived, this man suddenly retreated, leaving Zhao Zhiqiu caught off guard, devoured by the demon, reduced to a dried corpse.

What's more, Lu Ming had seen Zhao Zhiqiu's aura plummet sharply before the demon emerged—he had likely been ambushed by Chen Ping.

Chen Ping must have sensed the demon's approach, struck suddenly to cripple Zhao Zhiqiu so he couldn't escape, using him to draw the demon's attention while Chen Ping fled.

This kid was cunning and treacherous, nothing like the humble, honest person he pretended to be.

Lu Ming silently resolved to stay alert. Uninterested in talking with these people, he quietly slipped away.

"That demon's true form—we've seen it. It's the legendary Earth Dragon Beast, with a blood-drinking habit!"

"I heard the Earth Dragon Beast especially craves the blood of martial arts prodigies. It's suspected to have a related bloodline divine ability, growing stronger by drinking blood."

"So that means the higher one's talent, the greater the danger?"

"Good thing I'm a waste."

Before leaving, Lu Ming caught fragments of the crowd discussing the demon's true form. He saw Chen Feng and the others looking grim, but his own eyes flickered as he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

If that were the case, he should be relatively safe.

His innate cultivation talent was actually quite mediocre. He'd only placed in the top three of the small test thanks to his two divine abilities, Godly Movement and Mountain-Pushing.

Of course, his Divine Ability Panel was also part of his strength and talent.

But that so-called Earth Dragon Beast clearly couldn't detect this extraordinary aptitude.

Otherwise, when he was alone in the courtyard earlier, the Earth Dragon Beast would have come for him instead of Zhao Zhiqiu.

Thinking this, Lu Ming relaxed. Now, the vast Military Service Bureau gathered martial arts prodigies from four surrounding counties.

He was utterly inconspicuous among them, so he didn't need to worry about the Earth Dragon Beast's attack for now.

Still, facing a demon that even Wei Jinlin had to treat with caution, he needed to improve his strength quickly to avoid accidents.

Returning to his courtyard, Lu Ming continued practicing Cloud-Piercing Finger.

"Hm?" The moment he struck, his finger landing on the Nine Palaces Stakes, he immediately sensed a difference.

This time, his attack felt inexplicably smooth.

The blood energy in his body, the muscle control in his finger, and his mental intent all seemed to merge into that single strike. The finger shot out like flowing clouds and water, bringing him an unprecedented sense of exhilaration.

"What's going on?" Lu Ming stared at his hand in surprise. This practice session of Cloud-Piercing Finger felt completely different from before.

His understanding of Cloud-Piercing Finger seemed to have deepened by another layer.

"Let me try Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms." The thought flashed through Lu Ming's mind. He picked up a short staff and began practicing the staff technique within the Nine Palaces Stakes.

As he practiced, he again felt a difference. It was as if he had gained insight into Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms. His movements flowed like water, nearly reaching the minor mastery level.

Yet he hadn't practiced Eighteen Green Bamboo Forms at all since reaching the Initiation level.

It had been a long time—he should have grown rusty instead.

"This..." A guess flashed through Lu Ming's mind.

Suppressing his excitement, he set down the short staff and immediately fetched some leaves and white paper, pressing them tightly together and hanging them on the Puppet Stake.

He hadn't tried training this way since he first reached Initiation.

Now when he practiced, each time he pointed with the Cloud-Piercing Finger, he could break the leaf without damaging the white paper behind it—this was the standard entry-level Cloud-Piercing Finger.

The more he practiced, the more energized he became, a surge of qi flowing smoothly and endlessly through his chest.

Something was brewing faintly inside him, driving him to keep pointing.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

He shattered leaf after leaf. Finally, after dozens of leaf fragments littered the ground, Lu Ming pointed once more.

A wondrous sensation welled up from within, flowing to his fingertips, letting him precisely control the muscles of his fingers and even the subtle circulation of his blood and qi.

Crack!

This time, the Cloud-Piercing Finger struck the leaf—but the leaf was not broken, nor even damaged in the slightest.

Yet the white paper pressed against the back of the leaf suddenly gave a crisp sound, splitting into pieces and scattering in the wind.

"Done! Cloud-Piercing Finger, Minor Success!"

A flicker of surprise appeared in Lu Ming's eyes.

The leaf unbroken while the paper behind it shattered—this was the hallmark of Minor Success in the Cloud-Piercing Finger, signifying that his control over finger force had reached a new level.

This was definitely not the credit of the Enlightenment Pill alone—or rather, it was more than just the Enlightenment Pill!

"I've been taking Enlightenment Pills for five days now. I know the effect of enlightenment well. This special feeling today might be..."

Lu Ming's heart pounded. If his guess was true, then his cultivation talent could be improved by some means!

He moved his mind and suddenly executed the Cloud-Stepping Technique, practicing it once in the courtyard.

The result: the feeling of training in lightness skill was the same as before.

He then used the Nine Palaces Palm, passing through the Stone Tablet Nine Palace Stakes once, and it was equally unremarkable.

"Confirmed!"

Lu Ming stopped his practice and stood upright, ecstatic inside.

Through the test just now, he had determined that his talent in acupoints had suddenly skyrocketed.

And the reason was that his Heaven Leak Divine Ability had advanced from Initial Success to Minor Success!

When the realm of a martial divine ability improved, his corresponding martial talent would surge.

Originally, his talent in acupoints could only be called average, but now, it had perhaps more than doubled.

This was why his Cloud-Piercing Finger, after days of hard training, had jumped directly from entry-level to Minor Success.

Of course, the Enlightenment Pill had contributed, but if his acupoint talent had not improved, he absolutely could not have reached Minor Success so quickly.

"I originally thought I'd have to keep training the Cloud-Piercing Finger nonstop and wouldn't be able to practice lightness skills or evolve the third Leg Dao Divine Ability. But now, reaching the goal ahead of time—everything has taken a turn!"

Lu Ming was overjoyed.

He immediately turned and walked out the door to find Wei Jinlin, a hint of anticipation in his heart, wondering just what type of technique Wei Jinlin was going to teach him.