The Secret Art of the Instant Strike, Subsequent Changes to the Spirit Ring!

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Inside the Study Space.

[Ding! Congratulations on learning Instant Strike. Reward: +100 Credits, +1 Achievement Point.]

[Ding! Through constant training, your physical fitness has improved. Reward: +100 Credits.]

[Instant Strike (Novice): Cultivation Progress: 1%.]

"Finally, I've reached the novice level!"

Qin Qi looked at the Instant Strike entry on his Proficiency Panel, feeling a surge of excitement. After ten days of cultivation, he had finally broken through the threshold.

"Those novels always make 'novice level' sound like such a simple thing, but in reality, it's the hardest part!"

"Many people spend their entire lives practicing a craft and never even manage to enter the door!"

Qin Qi truly felt the weight of that achievement now. To put it in perspective, think of a game like Honor of Kings.

Reaching the rank of Glory King isn't "entering the door"—you only truly enter the door when you become the number one player on the leaderboard!

And reaching the "Proficient" stage? That would probably be equivalent to going pro!

"Ten days to reach the novice level is quite impressive. No one in the last hundred years can compare to you!"

Tang Jiaren looked at Qin Qi, nodded in satisfaction, and spoke.

"Wait... Granduncle, why do you always say 'in the last hundred years'? What about before that?"

Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren with a puzzled expression. Whenever his Granduncle praised him, he always called him a genius rarely seen in a century.

What about two hundred years ago?

"The genius from a century ago was a young Taoist from Mount Longhu named Zhang Zhiwei."

"Back then, our Tang Sect had a sparring match with Mount Longhu. That kid's talent... to put it bluntly, was higher than yours."

Tang Jiaren looked at Qin Qi. Even as a youth, Zhang Zhiwei could pin down the middle-aged generation.

The older generation didn't dare claim they could take him down, and he became even more formidable after reaching adulthood.

"Oh, never mind then."

Qin Qi asked, "Granduncle, what about before the Old Heavenly Master?"

"Before him, there were two people universally recognized as the best fighters in the world: Zhang Zhiwei's master, Zhang Jingqing, and the Sect Leader of the Sanyi Sect, Zuo Ruotong."

"They were the most talented of that era, powerful from their youth all the way into their old age," Tang Jiaren explained.

"Oh."

After hearing Tang Jiaren's words, Qin Qi felt that being a "genius rarely seen in a century" was already good enough.

As a young man, there was no need to care so much about empty fame; there was no point in comparing himself to those monsters.

"Granduncle, let's move on from that. Now that I've reached the novice level in Instant Strike, tell me about the subsequent training."

Qin Qi ended the topic and asked his question.

"There isn't much to say about Instant Strike; what follows is just hard, grinding work. It's a slow process of refinement with no shortcuts."

"Or rather, taking it one step at a time is the greatest shortcut of all," Tang Jiaren mused.

"However, I can explain the stages of Instant Strike: Ten Strikes in an Instant, Hundred Strikes in an Instant, Thousand Strikes in an Instant, and Ten Thousand Strikes in an Instant."

"That is the classification based on attack speed and power, but the requirements get much higher as you go up."

"You don't just need to be fast and ruthless; you must also be precise. In the very instant you strike, you must hit every part of the enemy's body."

"At the same time, your Tang Sect Observation must identify the weak points in the enemy's defense in that split second."

"Finally, you launch your attack directly at that weak point!"

Tang Jiaren added, "This is considered a secret technique of Instant Strike, but your foundation isn't strong enough yet to pull it off."

"The secret technique of Instant Strike really is quite difficult."

Qin Qi thought seriously about Tang Jiaren's words. To hit every part of an enemy's body in an instant, one would need at least a Thousand Strikes or Ten Thousand Strikes, and Qin Qi had only just learned to perform ten.

After hitting them, one still had to observe the subtle weak points. Those weaknesses wouldn't just pop up with red text like a critical hit in a game.

Instead, you had to judge them through the tactile feedback of your strikes, the subtle fluctuations in the opponent's energy, and the observation of every minute detail.

The difficulty was equivalent to being asked to find a single transparent grain of sand in a pile within the blink of an eye.

And once you found it, you still had to launch your attack before the enemy could react.

"Granduncle, please demonstrate it for me. I want to see what it actually looks like."

Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren, his curiosity piqued.

"Hmm... actually, I don't know this secret technique of Instant Strike either; my cultivation level isn't high enough."

"However, your other great-uncle, my junior fellow apprentice Tang Bingwen, does. Don't let the fact that he only has one eye left fool you."

"His eyesight is sharper than anyone's, and he has mastered Instant Strike to the highest level."

Tang Jiaren revealed an honest smile, scratched his head, and spoke.

"Tang Bingwen, the Tang Sect Elder."

Tang Bingwen's image appeared in Qin Qi's mind; he was the one who had led the Tang Sect into the fray during that battle years ago.

"Alright, come learn Catkin Step from me tomorrow. This is a real skill, and you'll need to study it for a while."

Tang Jiaren said with a smile.

"Understood."

Qin Qi nodded.

In the blink of an eye, a few more days passed. Qin Qi had mastered the basics of Catkin Step, earning 100 credits and 1 achievement point.

At the same time, he discovered something.

His physical body seemed to have undergone a change; his explosive power and flexibility had become much stronger!

It was as if he were a snake!

At first, neither Qin Qi nor Tang Jiaren noticed the issue, both assuming it was the result of the training.

After all, Instant Strike and Catkin Step were designed to train explosive power and flexibility, but during the training over the following days, Tang Jiaren spotted the problem.

The rate of improvement in Qin Qi's explosive power and flexibility was too fast, far exceeding the effects of normal training.

After some investigation, they concluded that it must be the effect of the Spirit Ring Qin Qi had absorbed earlier.

"According to what you said, after absorbing a Spirit Ring, your Martial Soul will change depending on the Spirit Beast."

"But your Martial Soul itself is Qi. In other words, your essence, energy, and spirit have all undergone a transformation!"

"Your body is gradually gaining the explosive power and flexibility of a snake, and your Qi has acquired the snake's toxicity."

"Your spirit hasn't changed, but you have absorbed the snake's intelligence as an auxiliary pet."

After his research, Tang Jiaren offered this conjecture.

"Do you feel any discomfort?"

Tang Jiaren asked.

"No, no discomfort at all."

Qin Qi moved his body around, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hmm, let's observe for a few more days."

Tang Jiaren said.

After a few more days, Qin Qi and Tang Jiaren were completely certain that this absorption had no side effects.

Qin Qi had only absorbed what was beneficial to him, while all other useless parts had been purged.

One day after class ended, Teacher Zhao found Qin Qi and told him that the Junior Spirit Master Academy sparring match would begin the day after tomorrow.

The location would be their academy, and she told Qin Qi to prepare himself.

"Prepare... hmm, prepare for what? Prepare a victory speech?"

Qin Qi was stunned by Teacher Zhao's words. He was going to be fighting a bunch of guys who didn't even have Spirit Rings.

What was he supposed to prepare for? Should he prepare a poem to recite after defeating his enemies to set the mood?

"Ahem, just go through the motions."

Teacher Zhao suppressed her embarrassment, put on a serious expression, and spoke.