Coiling Dragon Sword

Guan Ning's current situation was very similar to "man and sword as one." You could say he had touched the threshold.

Even if it was only the threshold, it was still a qualitative change.

"Truly astonishing." Feng Mu praised him. "Sigh, let me give you a hand. Whether you succeed or not is up to your own fortune."

As he spoke, the long sword in Feng Mu's hand took on an eerie quality. Each move, each stroke, appeared like a goat leaping onto a cliff, always emerging from an unexpected angle.

This was a sword art at the perfection level. Feng Mu was one of the few instructors in the Training Camp who had mastered a sword art at this level, and both his students ranked in the top thirty.

It was precisely because of Guan Ning's attainments in swordsmanship that the Training Camp had assigned Feng Mu to be his instructor.

Once Feng Mu began demonstrating his perfected sword art, Guan Ning found it extremely difficult to keep up. When Feng Mu's sword came at him without warning, Guan Ning could figure out how to respond, but the Qingming Sword was always a step too slow. If Feng Mu hadn't held back, Guan Ning would already have been covered in wounds.

After another fifty or sixty exchanges, Feng Mu saw no sign that Guan Ning was making further progress. Knowing he had reached his current limit, Feng Mu stopped prolonging the exercise and stepped back, leaving the sparring circle.

"Teacher, what is it?" Guan Ning asked in confusion.

"Let's stop for now. I understand your situation." Feng Mu spoke calmly. "You've touched the threshold of swordsmanship perfection, but you haven't accumulated enough to take that crucial step yet. You must train hard from now on and cross it as soon as you can."

"What? Teacher, you're saying I've already touched the threshold of man and sword as one?" Guan Ning looked incredulous. He knew that even most War Gods hadn't reached that stage.

"Don't get so worked up. From the look of you, you've only touched the threshold. Is that really worth making such a fuss over?" Feng Mu was also deeply shocked, but seeing Guan Ning's reaction, he couldn't help but dampen his excitement.

"But this is..." Guan Ning couldn't understand Feng Mu's sudden outburst and started to protest.

Earth Humans had no clear, practical secret techniques to guide them. They could only rely on painstaking practice and sudden inspiration to master a sword art at the perfection level. Guan Ning was different. With the Dugu Sword Art, it was as if someone were guiding him step by step. As long as he kept moving along the path, he would reach his destination. And with his soul's transformation, his comprehension had continued to improve, so it wasn't surprising that he had touched the threshold of perfection.

Feng Mu cut him off before he could finish. "We can talk about that later. For now, I'll tell you about the devices unearthed from the ancient ruins."

On the Nine-Story Tower's ninth floor, Feng Mu introduced the facilities to Guan Ning. "The most important things here are, of course, the Challenge Room, Trial Room, and Gravity Room on the ninth floor. These three rooms were all built around treasures unearthed from the Ancient Civilization Ruins.

"The seventh and eighth floors also have plenty of training rooms. For example, there's a Gravity Room modeled on the ancient one by our Earth scientists. It isn't as effective as the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room, but it's still much better than having no Gravity Room at all."

The two walked across the ninth-floor hall toward the training rooms.

"From the first through the thirtieth of every month, students use the Trial Room and Gravity Room for training. Each day, the hour between noon and one in the afternoon is set aside for rest. New reserve students are usually tested during that hour," Feng Mu explained.

Feng Mu led Guan Ning to a room. The device by the entrance automatically scanned and identified them.

Beep!

The door opened automatically.

"This is the Gravity Room, the one discovered in the Ancient Civilization Ruins," Feng Mu explained.

Guan Ning examined the room carefully. Its walls, floor, and other surfaces were made of an alloy patterned with yellow and black. The strange alloy gave the entire room an unusual feel.

"Our Earth scientists still haven't figured out this alloy," Feng Mu said, pointing at the wall. "Even someone Beyond War God can't leave a single mark on it."

Guan Ning noticed a fist-shaped indentation, about five millimeters deep, on the wall beside them.

"You spotted it, too!" Feng Mu said proudly. "That fist mark was left by Hong, the strongest person on Earth. Among those Beyond War God, only the head instructor could leave a mark on this wall. Even Thor couldn't do it."

Guan Ning touched the fist mark on the wall, thinking, Hong truly deserves his reputation as the powerhouse who led humanity through the apocalypse. Without a teacher to guide him, he still managed to cultivate to such a level. His talent is terrifying.

"Bang!"

Guan Ning punched the wall, but it didn't budge. He felt for himself just how tough the metal was.

"Now you understand how great the gap between you and the head instructor is, don't you? Almost everyone who comes here gives it a try, but no one else can do what the head instructor did."

"Beep!" Feng Mu said, then activated the Gravity Room.

"Your physical fitness is at the Elementary War General Level. Nine times gravity should be close to your limit."

As the device started, Guan Ning felt an invisible force instantly envelop every part of his body. He could clearly feel the immense pressure on his muscles, bones, and internal organs—even every cell.

His body began to move in a strange rhythm of its own, while the muscle cells within him tried to disperse the force under his control.

"How does it feel?" Feng Mu watched Guan Ning with ease. That much gravity was nothing to her as a War God.

Guan Ning didn't answer. His face had gone somewhat pale, but before long, his complexion began to return to normal.

How is this possible? Could I be seeing things?

Feng Mu's eyes widened in astonishment. The last time she had looked like this was when she discovered Guan Ning had touched the threshold of "man and sword as one." She hadn't expected to be surprised twice in such a short time.

"Not bad. Having every cell in my body immersed in gravity feels wonderful. No wonder the students here never want to leave. My body hasn't reached its limit yet. Teacher Feng, set it to twenty times gravity."

Nine times gravity might be the limit for an ordinary Junior War General, but Guan Ning had mastered a special defensive technique for his body. Nine times gravity was still within his limits.

Feng Mu instinctively followed Guan Ning's request and adjusted the Gravity Room to twenty times gravity.

Nine, ten, eleven... twenty.

Guan Ning's vision went black, and he dropped to one knee. His heartbeat boomed like a drum, and the sound of his blood flowing was as clear as a river.

Guan Ning struggled to his feet, his face deathly pale and his body swaying.

Seeing that Guan Ning had reached his limit, Feng Mu switched off the device. "Well? Do you understand how important the Gravity Room is now?"

"Warriors absorb cosmic energy and turn it into Genetic Origin Energy. Then they let their bodies absorb the Genetic Origin Energy to improve their genes and strengthen their bodies!" Guan Ning nodded. He'd known this for a long time, but only after trying it for himself had he realized how precious the Gravity Room was.

"During ordinary training, only a small portion of your muscle cells are involved. But in the Gravity Room, every cell in your body is working, so your training naturally progresses faster."

From Feng Mu's explanation, Guan Ning learned that access to the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and Trial Room was allocated according to each student's ranking the previous month.

Although he'd read the original story, too much time had passed. He remembered only a few major events, not details like this.

"Ranked first: in April, ninety hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and ninety hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked second: in April, sixty hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and sixty hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked third: in April, forty hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and forty hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked fourth through tenth: twenty hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and twenty hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked eleventh through thirtieth: six hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and six hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked thirty-first through fiftieth: four hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and four hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked fifty-first through one hundredth: two hours in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and two hours in the Trial Room."

"Ranked one hundred and first to last: one hour in the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room and one hour in the Trial Room."

Although he'd known already, hearing that he had only one hour of access left Guan Ning at a loss for words.

One hour?

What could he do with that?

At the thought of the ninety, sixty, and forty hours the top students got, Guan Ning nearly drooled.

"All right. The higher your ranking, the better your rewards. You probably already know how the rankings work, so if you want more time, work hard."

Guan Ning left the Gravity Room with Feng Mu. They happened to see Luo Feng following Jiang Fang as they arrived.

"Teacher Feng." Jiang Fang greeted Feng Mu with great respect. Not only was Feng Mu her senior, but she was also one of the strongest instructors in the Training Camp.

"Teacher Feng." Luo Feng cupped his hands respectfully as well.

"Mm." Feng Mu nodded.

"Teacher Jiang." Guan Ning greeted Jiang Fang with a bow.

"How was it?" Luo Feng asked, clearly curious about the Ancient Civilization Gravity Room.

"Don't worry. It won't disappoint you." Guan Ning left him hanging, then hurried to catch up with Feng Mu.

"Your Black Dragon Ranking is one hundred and eighty-fourth. Starting next month, hunt monsters on even-numbered days. On odd-numbered days, practice your swordsmanship for eight hours a day in the replica Gravity Room. No exceptions."

After leaving the Nine-Story Tower, Feng Mu began arranging Guan Ning's training schedule.

"The replica Gravity Room only goes up to three times gravity, but that'll be enough for you. Your swordsmanship fundamentals are excellent; you just haven't accumulated enough yet. So for now, practice with everything you've got. Train like a madman—either make it or break it."

"I'll test your progress every half month. If you don't meet my standards, I'll make you regret it."

When Guan Ning returned to Jiangnan Pavilion, the fourth building had already been completed. As expected of my great China, the "infrastructure powerhouse."

They had built an entire pavilion in just two days. It was classically elegant, and you couldn't tell it had only just been built.