In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.
Inside the Study Space.
[ Ding! Congratulations, you have learned Instant Strike. +100 credits, +1 achievement point ] [ Ding! Through constant training, your physical constitution has improved. +100 credits ] [Instant Strike (Beginner): Training progress: 1%.]
"I finally made it to the beginner level!"
Qin Qi looked at Instant Strike on the Proficiency Panel, excitement stirring in him. He had spent ten days training.
He had finally reached the beginner level!
"Those novels make reaching the beginner level sound easy, but it's actually the hardest part!"
"Plenty of people practice a skill their whole lives and never even reach the beginner level!"
Qin Qi could now truly feel how much reaching that level was worth. Take playing Honor of Kings, for example.
Getting to Glory rank didn't mean you'd reached the beginner level. Only when you became the number-one player on the peak leaderboard would you have made it!
"And reaching the beginner level in ten days is already impressive. No one in a hundred years will be your equal!"
Tang Jiaren looked at Qin Qi and nodded in satisfaction.
"Wait... Granduncle, why do you always say 'in a hundred years'? What about the people from a hundred years ago?"
Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren, puzzled. Whenever Granduncle praised him, he always called him a once-in-a-century genius.
What about the geniuses from two hundred years ago?
"The genius from a hundred years ago was a young Daoist from Mount Longhu. His name was Zhang Zhiwei."
"Back then, the Tang Sect and Mount Longhu had a friendly match. That kid's talent... to put it bluntly, was greater than yours."
Tang Jiaren looked at Qin Qi. When Zhang Zhiwei was a boy, he could already take on men from the middle-aged generation and beat them.
Even the older generation couldn't claim they could take the kid down. And after he reached adulthood, he became even more formidable.
"Oh, then that's fine."
Qin Qi said, "Granduncle, what about before the Old Heavenly Master?"
"Before him, there were two people widely recognized as the strongest fighters in the world: Zhang Zhiwei's master, Zhang Jingqing, and the head of the Sanyi Sect, Zuo Ruotong."
"They were also the most talented people of their era, growing stronger from their youth all the way into old age."
Tang Jiaren answered.
"Oh."
After hearing Tang Jiaren's words, Qin Qi felt that being a once-in-a-century genius was already pretty impressive.
Young people shouldn't be so hung up on reputation. There was no need to compare himself to anyone.
"Granduncle, enough about that. Now that I've reached the beginner level in Instant Strike, could you tell me about the next stage of training?"
Qin Qi brought the subject to an end and asked.
"There's not much more to say about Instant Strike. From here on, you just have to train hard. It takes time and effort; there are no shortcuts."
"Or rather, taking it one step at a time is the biggest shortcut there is."
Tang Jiaren thought for a moment before replying.
"But I can tell you about the stages of Instant Strike: Ten Strikes in an Instant, a Hundred Strikes in an Instant, a Thousand Strikes in an Instant, and Ten Thousand Strikes in an Instant."
"These stages are measured by attack speed and power. Beyond them, the requirements get higher."
"You can't just be fast and ruthless; you also have to be precise. The moment you strike, you have to hit every part of your enemy's body."
"At the same time, your Tang Sect Observation must spot the weak points in your enemy's defenses in that instant."
"Then you attack those weak points!"
Tang Jiaren said, "That's the secret art of Instant Strike, but your foundation isn't strong enough yet. You can't pull it off."
"The secret art of Instant Strike really does sound difficult."
Qin Qi thought carefully about what Tang Jiaren had said. To target every part of an enemy's body in an instant—
He would need to land at least a thousand strikes in an instant, or even ten thousand. Right now, Qin Qi had only just learned to land ten strikes in an instant.
And after hitting the enemy, he would still have to spot the tiniest flaw. It wasn't as if striking a weak point would make red damage numbers pop up.
He would have to judge from the feel of the impact, the subtle differences in the opponent's energy fluctuations, and all the other fine details.
The difficulty was like searching through a pile of sand and finding a transparent grain in the blink of an eye.
And even after finding it, he would have to attack before his enemy could react.
"Granduncle, could you demonstrate it for me? I want to see what it looks like."
Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren and asked curiously.
"Hmm... Actually, I don't know the secret art of Instant Strike either. My skill isn't high enough."
"But your other granduncle, my junior brother Tang Bingwen, does. Don't let the fact that he has only one eye fool you."
"His eyesight is better than anyone's, and his Instant Strike is the best of all."
Tang Jiaren gave an honest smile, scratched his head, and replied.
"Tang Bingwen, the head of the Tang Sect."
Tang Bingwen's image came to Qin Qi's mind. He was the one who had led the Tang Sect into that battle all those years ago.
"All right. Starting tomorrow, come learn Catkin Step from me. It's a real skill too, and it'll take you a while to master."
Tang Jiaren said with a smile.
"Okay."
Qin Qi nodded.
A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Qin Qi had reached the beginner level in Catkin Step too, earning 100 credits and 1 achievement point.
At the same time, he noticed something.
His body seemed to have changed. His explosive power and flexibility had grown stronger!
He was almost like a snake!
At first, neither Qin Qi nor Tang Jiaren noticed anything amiss. They both thought it was the result of training.
After all, Instant Strike and Catkin Step could improve explosive power and flexibility. But during the training over the following days, Tang Jiaren realized something was wrong.
Qin Qi's explosive power and flexibility were improving far too quickly, well beyond what normal training could achieve.
After investigating, they concluded that the change was probably an effect of the Spirit Ring Qin Qi had absorbed earlier.
"Based on what you've told me, after absorbing a Spirit Ring, your Martial Soul can change depending on the Soul Beast."
"But your Martial Soul is Qi itself. In other words, your essence, energy, and spirit have all changed!"
"Your body is gradually gaining a snake's explosive power and flexibility, while your Qi has gained the snake's venom."
"Your spirit hasn't changed, but you absorbed the snake's spirit and made it into an attached pet."
After looking into it, Tang Jiaren offered his theory.
"Have you felt any discomfort?"
Tang Jiaren asked.
"No, I feel fine."
Qin Qi moved his body around. Nothing felt wrong.
"Okay. Let's keep an eye on it for a few more days."
Tang Jiaren replied.
A few more days passed, and Qin Qi and Tang Jiaren confirmed that the absorption had no side effects.
Qin Qi had absorbed only the parts that benefited him. The useless parts had all been filtered out.
One day, after class, Teacher Zhao found Qin Qi and told him that the Junior Spirit Master Academy sparring match would begin the day after tomorrow.
It would be held at their academy, and she told Qin Qi to get ready.
"Get ready... Hmm, get ready for what? To prepare a victory speech?"
After hearing Teacher Zhao, Qin Qi froze. He was supposed to fight a bunch of people who didn't even have Spirit Rings.
What did he need to prepare for? To recite a poem after defeating them and set the mood?
"Ahem, just go through the motions."
Teacher Zhao forced down her embarrassment, put on a serious expression, and replied.