Improving Martial Skills

When Lin Yi left the secret passage and arrived in the courtyard, the sky had already darkened.

"Hoo..."

Lin Yi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and stretched, his bones popping throughout his body.

[Fate: Know Heavenly Fate, Empathic Corpse Dissection]
[Cultivation Method: Long Rainbow Technique (4th Layer)]
[Proficiency: 1125/1500]
[Cultivation Method: Corpse Kui Rebirth Method (1st Layer)]
[Proficiency: 738/1000]
[Path: Corpse Puppet Path, Martial Path]
[Realm: Corpse Puppet Path 9th Grade, Martial Path Unranked]
[Martial Arts: Reckless Blade (Incomplete) (Entry)]
[Corpse Puppet Arts: Yin Coffin Crafting (Mastered), Puppet Control Art (Mastered), Corpse Obstruction Eye (Mastered)...]

Over these past few days, Lin Yi had been focusing exclusively on the Martial Path.

His cultivation of the Corpse Puppet Path had fallen behind.

For one, the Corpse Puppet Path lacked the experience from Empathic Corpse Dissection and the necessary Yin energy conditions for cultivation, making progress relatively slow.

For another, Lin Yi currently needed a background identity, and becoming a martial artist would allow him to walk about in the name of a martial arts school, which counted as having a backer.

"I won't return to Lian Niang's place tonight; I'll go back tomorrow."

Lin Yi took out the second half of the Reckless Blade manual he had obtained earlier, deciding to practice this martial technique today.

I wonder how much power I can unleash with this technique, given that I haven't even become a martial artist yet.

Martial arts schools did possess techniques, but one only became eligible to learn them after becoming a martial artist.

Of course, it wasn't that the schools were stingy; it was that only by becoming a martial artist could one nurture True Qi within the body to unleash the power of these techniques.

Without True Qi in the body, even if one fully understood a technique, they could not manifest its power, and practicing it would yield little effect.

Therefore, before breaking through the Martial Pass, cultivation methods were the primary focus; at most, one would learn some conventional unarmed combat skills, which were still far superior to those of an ordinary person.

However, Lin Yi was different.

Lin Yi had practiced the Corpse Puppet Path and possessed its True Qi within his body.

He just didn't know if the True Qi of the Corpse Puppet Path could support the use of martial techniques.

Lin Yi took a bottle of Insight Pills from his sleeve, which could improve one's comprehension of martial techniques.

There were seven pills in the bottle, which he had purchased by chance earlier. He had intended to use them when he broke through to become a martial artist and began learning techniques, but he hadn't expected to have the opportunity to use them now.

"Heart hides the edge, intent hides the gleam, the body acts like a hollow valley where energy conceals itself..."

He silently recited the incantation in his heart.

With the empathic experience from Hu Ma, Lin Yi learned the second half of the Reckless Blade manual very quickly.

Nearly an hour later, the word "Incomplete" vanished from the panel under [Martial Arts: Reckless Blade (Incomplete) (Entry)].

This meant Lin Yi had completely mastered the technique.

[Martial Arts: Reckless Blade (Entry)]
[Proficiency: 13/100]

Suddenly, Lin Yi's expression turned to one of astonishment.

The blood and energy in his body surged violently, condensing and flowing through his meridians and bones in a peculiar manner!

Almost by instinct, Lin Yi drew the long blade hanging at his waist and slashed fiercely at the heavy wooden dummy standing before him!

His blood and energy surged like a rainbow, pouring out like a cascading waterfall.

Crack!

The heavy wooden dummy was severed in two with a single strike!

Lin Yi looked at the incredibly smooth cut on the wood in surprise.

He couldn't believe he had been the one to strike it.

"So that's how it is!"

"Martial artists nurture True Qi, allowing them to release techniques using that energy. Since I haven't become a martial artist yet and the True Qi of the Corpse Puppet Path contradicts the Martial Path, I can only mobilize the blood and energy within my body to unleash the power of the technique."

"But the consumption is truly massive!" Lin Yi frowned.

With that single strike, he felt that at least thirty percent of his body's blood and energy had been depleted.

With his current physical strength, he could swing the blade three times at most.

[Martial Skill: Reckless Blade (Entry)]

[Proficiency: 19/100]

The speed at which he was mastering this proficiency was truly remarkable.

Lin Yi shook his head, pushing the thought aside to immerse himself in his cultivation.

He cultivated throughout the night.

Lin Yi lost track of time.

It was only after he had completely exhausted two bottles of pills that he finally snapped back to reality.

[Martial Skill: Reckless Blade (Great Success)]

[Proficiency: 342/500]

Martial skills were generally divided into four levels: Entry, Minor Success, Great Success, and Perfection.

Perhaps it was due to the incomplete nature of the manual and the aid of the pills.

The difficulty of this martial skill was not high, and his progress was lightning-fast.

In just one night, Lin Yi had reached the Great Success stage.

Lin Yi's entire body was soaked in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of water. Disregarding his appearance, he plopped onto the ground and began devouring meat to replenish his depleted blood energy.

"Scholars are poor, warriors are rich... How could an ordinary family ever sustain such consumption of meat and pills?"

A bottle of Insight Pill cost twenty taels of silver on the black market.

Body Forging Pills were cheaper, but still cost ten taels.

Add in the meat required to replenish his blood energy.

Just cultivating a single martial skill incurred such a massive cost.

The resources consumed in just one night were equivalent to the annual expenses of an average family of three.

Lin Yi thought about how, once he became a martial artist, there would be even more places to spend money. The five hundred taels of silver in his small treasury were still somewhat insufficient.

The resource acquisition from [Know Heavenly Fate] is too unstable. I still need to find a reliable way to earn money.

The next day, at noon.

Lin Yi woke up and headed to the Martial Pass.

"Brother Yi!"

"Where did you go yesterday? I didn't see you in the room!"

Upon seeing Lin Yi, Xiao Dong hurried over to greet him.

"I had some family matters to attend to, so I went back for a bit," Lin Yi said.

"Oh." Xiao Dong paused, then continued, "Senior Brother Liu just came by and said that Senior Brother Li and Senior Brother Zhang, who shared our quarters, drank too much yesterday morning and died in a fire at their home!"

Although Lin Yi knew the truth, he feigned a look of shock. "Such a thing actually happened!"

Xiao Dong nodded dejectedly. "Poor brothers. We were fated to practice martial arts together, but now they've passed away before I could even see them again..."

Lin Yi sighed appropriately. "Fate is fickle."

"Indeed. And Senior Brother Wu, who was preparing to break through the Martial Pass on the Martial Practice Platform yesterday, failed as well. I heard the backlash from the failure was severe; his blood energy has dissipated, and he has lost all hope of ever breaking through the Martial Pass for the rest of his life. Senior Brother Liu was furious when he returned..."

Lin Yi was not particularly surprised.

If the man had actually succeeded, Lin Yi would have been the one surprised.

A look of sorrow for a fellow creature appeared on Xiao Dong's face, and he couldn't help but mutter softly.

"Senior Brother Wu had Grade B aptitude. If even such a genius is finished, what chance do we have of becoming martial artists..."

Lin Yi did not have the habit of acting like a mentor. Everyone understood the logic, and empty words of encouragement would only seem hollow and annoying, so he simply pretended not to hear Xiao Dong's muttering.

Everyone has their own fate, and the path lies right beneath one's feet.

One cannot understand until they have experienced it; the outcomes of others cannot influence one's own steps.

Lin Yi thought silently to himself, his eyes growing even more resolute.

Having transmigrated to this world and witnessed the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering power of the Qi Refiners, he wanted to become stronger.

He wanted to find peace regarding his birth mother's resentment, repay the aunt who saved his life, uncover the identity of his unknown biological father, honor the Lin Clan that raised him for sixteen years, and help Yu Qinglian take her revenge...

There was too much Lin Yi wanted to do.

He had no reason to give up.

Not to mention, he possessed the potential to accomplish it all.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A series of urgent knocks suddenly rang out, pulling Lin Yi from his thoughts.

"Brother Yi, I'll go open the door."

Xiao Dong moved first, heading toward the courtyard gate.