"Wind? Rain?"
His unfocused pupils suddenly contracted.
He waved his hand, and the Slender Willow Sword in his grasp thrust forward in an instant, raising a gust of wind. The raindrops blowing toward him were caught by the sword wind and sent flying backward, as if a powerful gust inside the room were blowing them out.
The moment he swung the sword, two bursts of hidden force naturally surged from his body's core, making the Slender Willow Sword faster and more powerful!
"Hahaha... I did it!" Feng Qingmo stood with his sword lowered as rain blown in by the gale immediately soaked him. He didn't care in the slightest, though, and instead burst out laughing.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
Standing before the window, Feng Qingmo swung the Slender Willow Sword in his hand. Even the fierce gale couldn't drown out the sword's piercing whistle as it cut through the air.
Streaks of sword light flashed, like thunderbolts on the horizon, shining again and again.
Only when the clouds parted and the rain stopped, and the pale light of the waning moon spilled across the earth, did Feng Qingmo finally stop practicing his swordsmanship.
Over the course of this hour or so, he had completely mastered the second level of the Wind-Washing Sword. His swordsmanship had finally advanced another step, reaching the perfect level.
His Force Amplitude had also reached 2.7!
More than an hour of continuously unleashing his strength had left his whole body weak and sore. As soon as he stopped, he nearly collapsed to the ground.
After resting for a while, he began using the Guidance Technique to cultivate Genetic Energy. His cells immediately rejoiced, greedily devouring the cosmic energy.
"I got the manual on March 21. Jia Yi gave me two months at the time, and today is April 22. It's only been a month... I'll finish this week of training, then go back and find Li Ping..." He forcibly suppressed the urge to return to the Base City immediately and claim his reward.
He had originally planned to find some powerful monsters during this training trip to test his sword, hoping to master the second level within seven days. He hadn't expected to master it by chance on the very first day.
Over the following days, he stuck to his plan and continued seeking out high-level beast general monsters to fight.
Through those battles, not only did his swordsmanship reach the perfect level, but his movement technique also advanced straight to the peak of the perfect level. He even incorporated his Force Application Technique into his body's defense.
Only when his Communication Watch notified him that his time was up did he set off back to the Training Camp, his backpack full of monster materials.
Training Camp, Central Building, Li Ping's office.
"Looks like you got quite a bit out of this wilderness training," Li Ping said with a teasing smile as Feng Qingmo entered after knocking. "You're not here to tell me you've already mastered the second level of the Wind-Washing Sword, are you?"
In his view, the two months Jia Yi had allowed was already giving Feng Qingmo plenty of credit, especially since it hadn't even been a month and a half yet.
As far as he knew, the fastest anyone in the world had mastered the second level of this sword technique was five months. That person hadn't mastered the third level, but had since become a High-level War God and was renowned throughout the world.
"Teacher Li, did you put a surveillance camera on me?" Feng Qingmo saw Li Ping teasing him and decided to joke back.
The smile on Li Ping's face froze. He asked uncertainly, "Did you really master the second level?"
"Yes." Feng Qingmo answered solemnly. "I mastered it six days ago, but I was in City 0313 at the time, so I waited until I got back to come find you..."
"Six days ago? April 22?"
"That's right."
"You got the manual on the evening of March 21, right?" Feng Qingmo nodded. Li Ping murmured to himself, "So that means you mastered the second level of the Wind-Washing Sword in just over a month?"
He sprang to his feet. In his excitement, he even leaped over the desk and hurried to Feng Qingmo's side.
"Come on, let's test it right now." He tugged Feng Qingmo along.
Li Ping's tremendous strength nearly made Feng Qingmo stumble. He followed along helplessly, at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
The two arrived at the Combat Room, and Li Ping used his access privileges to open the door.
The room was laid out just like the Trial Room, except that it had an extra sofa, on which sat a dark blue helmet.
They sat on the sofa and put on the helmets.
An endless expanse of silver alloy stretched around them. The only structure in sight was an arena.
Two figures appeared on the arena at the same time.
"Requesting a punch strength test," Li Ping called out.
With a swish, a Punch Strength Tester appeared at one side of the arena.
"Use your Force Application Technique and show me your strongest punch," Li Ping said to Feng Qingmo.
Feng Qingmo nodded, walked up to the Punch Strength Tester, and calmly threw a punch. Two bursts of hidden force naturally surged into his arm.
Thud! The punching pad rocked slightly.
"Punch strength: 27,023 kilograms. Force application level: 2.7."
The electronic voice immediately announced the punch strength and force application level.
"Hey! You really did master it, kid!" Li Ping smiled.
"Come on, choose a weapon and spar with me. I want to see your swordsmanship and movement technique."
He raised his head and called out, "Choose weapons and combat suits. Select a battle setting... a dilapidated city street!"
A large selection of weapons and combat suits appeared before Feng Qingmo. He chose a well-fitting Combat Suit and a Slender Willow Sword. Glancing at Li Ping, he saw that he had chosen a long saber.
Once they had both made their choices, the scenery shifted with a swish. They stood on a broad street.
The road was littered with garbage, abandoned cars, buses, and other debris. A gust of wind swept past over the uneven pavement, lifting several newspapers into the air and sending them fluttering.
"Come on, don't hold back!" Li Ping approached slowly, holding his long saber. "My movement technique is at the perfect level, and my saber technique is at the perfect level too. But my force application level is a little higher than yours..."
Feng Qingmo fixed his bright eyes on Li Ping as he approached. When the distance between them closed to less than ten meters, he moved!
A streak of sword light flashed, as swift as a flash of lightning, reaching Li Ping in an instant.
Clang! Li Ping raised his saber and blocked the strike.
Feng Qingmo's sword changed direction three times as it neared Li Ping, and the saber in Li Ping's hands shifted three times to meet it.
His first strike missed. Feng Qingmo launched into his sword technique, unleashing the perfect-level skill he had honed over the past few days as he attacked Li Ping without holding back.
At first, Li Ping only defended. But after a few exchanges, he was shocked to realize that he was being suppressed. He had no choice but to rely on his slightly greater strength and meet Feng Qingmo head-on, hoping to use his power to turn the tide.
Feng Qingmo had less experience than he did, and his force application was slightly weaker, but their swordsmanship and movement techniques were on about the same level. No—not about the same. Feng Qingmo's swordsmanship and movement technique were better than Li Ping's!
The discovery sent waves crashing through Li Ping's heart. He had trained for over twenty years and gone through countless life-or-death battles to reach his current level. Yet this kid before him had only passed the Martial Artist Combat Assessment on February 1. Even if he had started training in earnest after passing the Quasi-Warrior Assessment, he had only been at it for a little over four months!
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew from behind Feng Qingmo. Li Ping, facing him, couldn't help narrowing his eyes slightly.
Feng Qingmo took advantage of the wind, shifted his step, and moved behind Li Ping with a movement technique as elusive as the wind. The Slender Willow Sword drifted like willow fluff in a breeze, its path extraordinarily unpredictable.
Li Ping was startled. He couldn't turn around in time, so he reversed his saber behind him and swept it upward from below.
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