Blade Technique Mastery

The days of slaughter were dull and tedious. In the blink of an eye, ten days flowed by like water.

Every day, Song Chen repeated the same routine: leaving the city at dawn, venturing alone deep into the Wilderness to hunt mutant beasts, returning at dusk drenched in blood, taking Spirit Blood Serum at night, then improving his combat techniques and abilities along the way.

The camp staff had grown used to the sight of him coming and going covered in blood. At first, some had been astonished. Later, they had gone numb.

"That First Rank monster is back again."

"How many did he kill?"

"Who knows? It definitely wasn't few."

"I heard he wiped out a whole pack of Mutated Wolves by himself yesterday. More than thirty of them."

"More than thirty? First Rank ones?"

"Two of them were Second Rank."

"...Forget I asked."

Song Chen knew nothing of those discussions, and he did not care. All he knew was that his Killing Value was skyrocketing, and his strength was rising just as crazily.

On the sixth day, someone gave him a nickname.

That day, he encountered a squad on the outskirts of an abandoned village. The squad was being besieged by over a dozen Mutated Hyenas and was on the verge of collapse.

Song Chen happened to pass by and lent a hand. In thirty seconds, all thirteen Hyenas were dead, including two Second Rank ones.

At the time, the squad captain had thought a Third Rank warrior had come to support them. When he discovered that their savior was only First Rank, he froze on the spot, and the blade in his hand nearly fell to the ground.

After returning, they gave him a nickname: Sky Thunder Blade.

The name quickly spread. Nearly every warrior squad active outside the city had heard it.

A young lone warrior whose blade technique flashed like lightning, who possessed a Lightning Ability, and who slaughtered mutant beasts as easily as chopping melons and vegetables.

Some had seen him split open the head of a peak First Rank mutant beast with one slash. Others had seen him charge alone into an encirclement of dozens of mutant beasts, cutting his way in and out seven times.

Still others had seen him save three entire squads in danger, only to drift away afterward without even leaving his name behind.

The three words Sky Thunder Blade became a legend among the low-rank warriors outside the city.

That day, Song Chen left the city as usual.

The sunlight was bright, and not a cloud stretched across the sky.

He arrived at a new area—the abandoned factory district southeast of Evergreen City. He had never been here before, and it was said that quite a few Second Rank mutant beasts were hidden here.

The moment he entered the factory district, he heard the sounds of battle and screams in the distance. He frowned and hurried toward them.

After passing through a stretch of collapsed factory buildings, he saw a squad fleeing desperately. More than twenty Mutated Wolves were chasing them, and the three leading the pack were all Second Rank.

The squad had only five people, every one of them injured. The slowest had already been caught by the wolves. A Second Rank wolf pounced on him, clamped its jaws around his leg, and dragged him to the ground.

"No!"

The others wanted to turn back and save him, but more wolves blocked their path. Just as they were about to be torn apart by the pack, a figure suddenly descended from the sky.

A flash of blade light passed. The head of the Second Rank wolf biting the man flew into the air, blood spraying everywhere.

Song Chen landed on the ground and stood in front of the man. "Go."

The man's leg was still bleeding, but hope flared in his eyes. "Sky... Sky Thunder Blade!"

Song Chen ignored him. He merely looked calmly at the wolf pack before him, his gaze placid.

More than twenty Mutated Wolves. Three Second Rank, with the rest all First Rank. Ten days ago, this might have taken him some effort. But now?

He moved. He was so fast that only an afterimage remained. Blade light unfurled like a bolt of silk, every strike carrying deep-blue arcs of electricity that left streaks in the air.

Over these past days, he had raised the Blood War Blade Technique to the Mastery Realm. Though it was only a C-rank combat technique, once it had been built up to the Mastery Realm, everything changed. Its power was no weaker than an A-rank combat technique at the Proficient level.

The blade moved with his intent, and his intent turned with his heart. He did not need to think; his body would automatically make the most correct response.

With the first slash, a Second Rank wolf's head flew up.

With the second slash, another Second Rank wolf was split in half.

With the third slash, the last Second Rank wolf's heart was pierced through.

The remaining wolf pack finally grew afraid. They turned to flee, but Song Chen gave them no chance.

Lightning erupted. Countless deep-blue arcs bloomed from his body like a massive electric net, instantly covering an area twenty meters around him. The more than twenty Mutated Wolves were shocked until their entire bodies went numb, unable to move.

Song Chen charged into the electric net, his blade flashing repeatedly. Three seconds later, all twenty-plus wolves were dead.

The battle had ended in no more than ten seconds.

The five members of the squad stood rooted in place, dumbstruck. The man whose leg had been bitten even forgot the pain. He could only stare blankly at the wolf corpses covering the ground, his lips trembling as not a single word came out.

The captain was a rather handsome young man at the peak of First Rank. He swallowed with difficulty. "Sky Thunder Blade... thank you."

Song Chen wiped the blood from his blade and sheathed it. "Do you have medicine for injuries?"

The captain froze for a moment, then nodded frantically. "Yes, yes!"

Song Chen nodded and turned to leave.

The captain called out to him. "W-wait!"

Song Chen looked back.

The captain gave him a deep bow. "I will never forget this life-saving grace. My name is Zheng Cheng, captain of the Ferocious Tiger Squad. If you ever need anything in the future, just give the word."

Song Chen waved a hand. "No need."

His figure vanished into the ruins.

Behind him, the five people remained motionless for a long time.

After a while, the man whose leg had been bitten murmured, "So this is Sky Thunder Blade... too terrifying... Captain, you're both First Rank, but the gap is a little too wide."

Zheng Cheng took a deep breath. "From today onward, he is my lifesaver. If anyone dares say even half a bad word about him, I, Zheng Cheng, will be the first to refuse."

At dusk, Song Chen returned to the camp.

Today, he had killed eighty-seven First Rank beasts and eight Second Rank beasts, accumulating another thousand Killing Value. It was not much compared to the previous days, mainly because his luck had not been good and he had not encountered many Second Rank beasts.

He returned to his room, shut the door, and sat on the bed. Closing his eyes, he summoned the system interface.

[Song Chen]

Rank: Peak First Rank

Vitality Value: 9.6

Mental Power: 8.7

System Level: 1 (The system can be upgraded with 5,000 Killing Value)

Ability: Lightning (C-rank; consume 1,000 Killing Value to raise the ability to B-rank.)

Combat Technique: Blood War Blade Technique (Mastery Realm; consume 5,000 Killing Value to raise the realm to the Grandmaster Realm.)

Current Killing Value: 1011

His current vitality was only a single step away from the threshold for a Second Rank warrior: 10.0 Vitality Value. He had used over a hundred bottles of Spirit Blood Serum to build it up to 9.6. The further he went, the worse the effect became, but it had been worth it.

His mental power had also reached 8.7, bringing him close to becoming a Second Rank ability user. That, too, had only been achieved after using more than a hundred bottles of serum.

He opened his eyes and looked at the combat technique panel. The Grandmaster Realm required a full five thousand Killing Value. It was too expensive, and he could not upgrade it for now.

But Song Chen had long experienced the benefits brought by raising a combat technique to a high realm. He definitely had to improve it, and he was looking forward to seeing the power of the Blood War Blade Technique at the Grandmaster Realm.

Then he looked at the ability panel. Frankly speaking, the power of this ability was no longer enough. Compared with the Blood War Blade Technique, it fell far too short. He mainly used it for lightning's control capability.