Abyssal Blade

Beneath a dark-blue corridor pillar, Chu Wen immersed himself in sensing the ripples within it.

The oppressive force around him kept invading his organs, yet it could not stop him from carefully listening to the true meaning of martial arts contained here.

"The Abyssal Blade was created in my final years. Its intent was to slay a Demon Emperor with a single strike. To stand at the abyss and behold the blade—that is the artistic realm this martial skill pursued."

"Alas, if I had been twenty years younger, perhaps I could have perfected this skill. Time truly waits for no one."

"That year, I watched a beast tide slaughter its way through the land. I used Sha Qi as a guide to temper my own killing intent, then forged that intent into blade momentum with a solitary, absolute will, creating the Abyssal realm. We martial artists suffer long in pursuit of martial skills, yet skills that can attain a rank are few and far between. I created this blade for those who came after..."

As the echoes rang on, the scene became clearer and clearer.

Chu Wen saw an elderly man in the twilight of his life facing a beast tide that blanketed the heavens and covered the earth, swinging the blade of his lifetime.

Beneath the endless beast tide, he gathered all his essence, energy, and spirit into one final strike. The blade emerged, and there was no self.

"Farewell, Senior."

Chu Wen slowly rose to his feet. The force radiating from his body had also taken on a faint trace of the Abyssal intent.

Abyssal Blade, beginner (1%)

[Replacement]

Fill it up!

His potential points began to jump wildly.

They did not stop until they reached 17. Beyond that, they could no longer increase.

[You had practiced Abyssal Blade since childhood. After entering the beginner stage, you cultivated day after day and achieved modest success. After several years of effort, your astonishing talent allowed you to reach the mastery stage.]

[Yet after reaching mastery, you discovered that this martial skill was incomplete. Its Abyssal intent was intense, but it lacked a closing form. The further one progressed, the greater the burden on oneself—slaying a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of one's own.]

[In pursuit of its perfect true meaning, you began gradually improving the blade technique. At last, after sixty years, you successfully reached the perfected stage. From then on, the Abyssal Blade no longer had any restrictions. However, your strength was limited, and you could no longer continue advancing.]

Abyssal Blade, perfected (unable to improve)

Chu Wen clenched his right hand, and an invisible momentum began to gather, like an icy prison rising from beneath his feet.

The Burning Blade Technique could at most be considered a basic martial skill. The Abyssal Blade, on the other hand, was a truly ranked martial skill!

Chu Wen could feel that even at the perfected stage, it stood several levels above the Return to Simplicity realm of the Burning Blade Technique!

Originally, he needed an S-rank battle blade to unleash the destructive power of a Battle King. Now, an A-rank battle blade might be enough!

That was the overwhelming strength of a ranked martial skill!

Chu Wen released his hand, yet he could still sense two distinct martial skills flowing through the veins of his right hand. After being replaced, the Burning Blade Technique had fallen back to the minor mastery stage, but if he forcibly activated it, it seemed he could still invoke the artistic realm of Return to Simplicity.

The Primordial Source Pearl's replacement had not confiscated his abilities. It was more like a protective mechanism, preventing his body from bearing excessive pressure from martial sensation!

In other words, the Burning Blade Technique was still his. This change swept away Chu Wen's previous concerns.

He had feared that his strength was merely a reflection in the mirror, a flower in the water—that without the Primordial Source Pearl, he would have nothing.

But the feedback from his body made him understand that he truly had learned the martial skills. The Primordial Source Pearl was merely temporarily limiting his explosive output.

"Perhaps the two martial skills can be combined in the future..."

Improving his realm would raise the upper limit of how much martial sensation he could contain. Perhaps that would allow martial skills of the same type to coexist!

Xu Yunzhong, beside him, suddenly opened his eyes as well and stared at Chu Wen in surprise.

"He reached such an artistic realm just after learning it? If I remember correctly, that corridor pillar contained a blade technique..."

Only now did he begin to take Chu Wen seriously.

He had actually heard of this person before, but had never paid him any mind.

Across the entire Xinhang Martial University campus, the only person capable of stirring his interest was that second-ranked Pan Angyi.

But after looking at Chu Wen again, he lost interest. He was about to graduate, while Chu Wen had only just enrolled. Chu Wen still needed time to grow before he could become his opponent.

"You go ahead. I have no interest in rankings. Only Pan Angyi would rush headlong toward the finish line."

After saying this, Xu Yunzhong closed his eyes again and resumed his contemplation.

Chu Wen did not linger either. Trying to swallow too much would only lead to indigestion. Even if he learned more martial skills here, he had no potential points left to improve them. Learning too many would instead leave behind the hidden danger of martial sensation overload.

Once he had thoroughly figured out the Primordial Source Pearl's operating mechanism, it would not be too late to learn more martial skills. In any case, these martial skills were not going to sprout legs and run away.

Chu Wen continued onward, and the oppressive force around him gradually caused double images to appear before his eyes.

He knew that he probably could not reach the very front. He likely needed the strength of a Battle General just to glimpse what lay there.

No wonder Xu Yunzhong was not in a hurry. The first place was probably still his.

Without any regret, Chu Wen knew that the gap between himself and the first and second places was likely far from small, so he chose to turn back and leave.

Half a day later, he emerged from a boarding point in the corridor, and a message notification arrived on his optical computer.

[Congratulations, student Chu Wen. You traveled a total of 999.3 kilometers in 17 days. You are currently ranked second.]

Pan Angyi had indeed gone a little farther than him.

Chu Wen had estimated that he should be ranked third this time. Xu Yunzhong would definitely be able to reach the finish line.

"Not bad. Third place."

After stretching lazily, he finally caught the sour stench of sweat clinging to his body.

Earlier, in the corridor, he had maintained an intense level of concentration at all times. Now that he noticed his own smell, he decided to head back first for a shower and a change of clothes.

The examination was still ongoing, but news of Chu Wen's temporary second-place ranking instantly spread through the major families.

In an underground secret chamber in a distant nation, several men in suits idly smoked cigars while browsing the news from recent days.

"Beep beep beep."

"Beep beep beep."

The phones around them began ringing frantically.

"Hello, Mr. Yatu? Why are you calling?"

"Dragon Nation? Xinhang Martial University? What happened?"

"Hello, Mr. Somen. Dragon Nation? Xinhang Martial University?"

The agents looked at one another, only to discover that missed calls were continuously scrolling across their optical computers!

"A commoner from Xinhang Martial University has suddenly emerged? Is that real? God... this is a serious dereliction of duty."

Bang!

The tightly shut door was suddenly shoved open. A man in a red uniform strode in and barked angrily, "Quick! Contact the people at the embassy immediately. Hurry and investigate Chu Wen's information. The council families of the Western European Alliance are all pressing us!"

"This is our failure at work. Hurry and retrieve his files!"

"A Chaos Martial Arts Hall key has been detected. Higher authorization is required. We need to apply to the council."

"I'll submit the application..."

The families of the Western European Alliance nearly all maintained cooperative exchanges with the nine martial universities. As soon as news emerged that Chu Wen had taken second place, it was gathered and recorded by every major family almost immediately.

"Chu Wen?"

"Why have we never heard of him before... a native of Jiangnan Base City?"

"No wonder. He was even a temporary worker at the Chaos Martial Arts Hall. He has quite a colorful background."

Some intelligence departments in Dragon Nation also quickly compiled Chu Wen's information.

They were already preparing to recruit Chu Wen. After all, one person could hold two jobs at once; it was no big deal. Some War God-level powerhouses often held several positions simultaneously.

But a person's energy was limited. Whoever made the first invitation would hold an especially important advantage!

"All departments, prepare for a meeting. Xinhang Martial University has produced a super genius with no family ties! We must bring him into Dragon Nation's system! This time, we absolutely cannot let the families of the Western European Alliance snatch him away!"