Saber Technique, Minor Mastery!

Saber Technique, Minor Mastery!

In the courtyard.

Jiang Ning picked up another heavy log and set it on the chopping block.

His hand rose, and the blade fell.

Crack—

The wood-chopping saber sank nine-tenths of the way into the log.

Jiang Ning exerted force through his arm again, and only then did the heavy log split in two.

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

Jiang Ning kicked the scattered wood aside and picked up another heavy log.

"With my efficiency, I should be able to grind out all two hundred experience points tonight, right? At Minor Mastery, the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique should let me split firewood with one stroke, shouldn't it?"

With that thought in mind, the goal within arm's reach filled Jiang Ning's hands with even greater drive.

Compared to the Five Animals Fist, the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique was undoubtedly far easier to gain experience in.

Though the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique was trash enough, and its effect on improving his strength was far inferior to the Five Animals Fist.

But before experience points gained at such speed, the technique's shortcomings were entirely acceptable.

Jiang Ning also held certain expectations for this saber technique.

After all, when Literacy had previously broken past its limit, it had granted him a trait—the trait of photographic memory.

So Jiang Ning likewise looked forward to the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique breaking past its limit.

With such expectations in his heart, Jiang Ning gripped the wood-chopping saber and brought it down stroke after stroke.

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

[.]

[Skill]: Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Mastery 86/200)

After glancing at the panel, Jiang Ning stopped to rest for a moment.

While resting, he picked up a book from beside him. It was one he had brought with him when he went out today, specifically so that he could grind Literacy experience during breaks to recover his stamina.

It would not only increase his knowledge, but also slowly strengthen his spirit—what people commonly called mental power.

At the same time, he was also full of anticipation for Literacy's next breakthrough.

[Literacy Experience +1]

[Literacy Experience +1]

[.]

[Skill]: Literacy (First Limit Break 93/2000) (Trait: Photographic Memory)

Jiang Ning looked at his panel and nodded in satisfaction.

Being able to watch himself improve bit by bit, especially when the goal was visible and tangible—when every shred of effort brought a harvest and carried him one step closer to that goal—was something he found rather intoxicating.

Ever since learning that breaking past the limit after a skill reached perfection would grant a trait, the expectations in his heart had only grown greater and greater.

Once he had rested enough, Jiang Ning resumed chopping wood.

With every stroke, every log split apart, he could sense an almost imperceptible change.

His hand was steadier, his blade more accurate, and his exertion smoother.

When the bright moon hung over the treetops, Jiang Ning looked at his panel with barely contained excitement.

[Skill]: Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Mastery 199/200)

"Just one last experience point!"

He placed a heavy log on the chopping block and steadied it.

Then he gripped the wood-chopping saber.

Whoosh—

The sound of the blade rubbing against the air suddenly rang out.

Crack—

The heavy wood-chopping saber nearly cleaved the entire log apart in one stroke, leaving only the slightest connection. This undoubtedly meant the strength in his arm had grown somewhat.

Though the increase was not obvious, it was plainly visible.

After all, having split nearly two hundred logs in a short time, his arm was already somewhat weak, and the web between his thumb and forefinger was numb from the vibrations. He could not possibly bring out the strength he possessed at his peak.

Yet even under such circumstances, the cut from this stroke was deeper than before, nearly reaching nine-and-a-half tenths through.

Then, as he exerted force through his arm, the entire log split completely in two.

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

At that moment, as the notification appeared, quantitative change gave rise to qualitative change. The Wood-Chopping Saber Technique displayed on the panel changed from Mastery to Minor Mastery.

[Skill]: Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Minor Mastery 0/500)

At the same time, the two hundred strokes he had just made flashed through Jiang Ning's mind at high speed.

How each stroke should exert force, where each stroke should land—they were corrected over and over in his mind.

In the end, countless images merged into one: a single stroke cleaving through the air and falling upon a round log.

Jiang Ning slowly opened his eyes, and it seemed as though a flash of saber light passed through them.

The next moment.

He gripped the wood-chopping saber and brought it down upon the firewood on the chopping block before him.

Swish—

The wood-chopping saber tore through the air and landed in the very center of the firewood.

Crack—

With the sound of splitting wood, the firewood that had previously been difficult for him to cut through was cleanly severed in one stroke, split down the middle.

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

"As expected, it's different now!" Jiang Ning gripped the wood-chopping saber in his hand and casually swung it twice more.

Then he grabbed another log, steadied it, and aimed at a black grain running across its surface.

Swish—

The wood-chopping saber fell again.

It landed precisely upon that black line of grain.

Crack—

The log was once more cleanly split in two.

[Wood-Chopping Saber Technique Experience +1]

"The Minor Mastery Wood-Chopping Saber Technique truly is different! Not only is the exertion more refined, but where the eye goes, the hand and saber follow, without the slightest deviation. With such efficiency, I'll be able to grind this skill's experience even faster."

Jiang Ning immediately nodded in great satisfaction.

Then he looked once more at the bright moon hanging high overhead.

"It's getting late!" he muttered. "I can still practice my fist twice more, then I need to sleep!"

Beneath the pale moonlight, Jiang Ning simply found an open patch of ground nearby and began practicing the Five Animals Fist.

With Xu Yunfeng's threat, Cao Bin's threat, and perhaps even the threat of the God-Worship Cult, Jiang Ning did not dare relax in the slightest.

His elder brother had smashed pots and sold iron, even taking on loans, just to send him to the martial academy and give him this chance to leap through the dragon gate.

[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]

[Five Animals Fist Experience +1]

After finishing two rounds of fist practice, Jiang Ning's skin was faintly flushed. Sweat had thoroughly soaked his short jacket, and steam continuously rose from above his head.

"The Five Animals Fist really drains stamina!" Jiang Ning shook his head helplessly.

Already somewhat fatigued to begin with, after practicing the Five Animals Fist twice more, even with the large amount of energy he had consumed that evening and some precious Earth Ganoderma, he still felt waves of weakness filling his body.

He clenched his fist and sensed the power of qi and blood flowing within him.

Jiang Ning nodded slightly. "I've condensed two more strands of qi-and-blood power. This low-grade technique used to lay the foundation of martial arts, the Five Animals Fist, truly is far beyond what the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique can compare with. Improvement may be difficult, but the reward is entirely worth the effort."

[Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Beginner 28/100)

After glancing at the Five Animals Fist's progress, the panel vanished from Jiang Ning's sight.

"More than a quarter of the way there. At today's efficiency, the Five Animals Fist should break through to Mastery in about three more days. By then, the qi and blood in my body will be even more abundant. But three days from now, medicinal herbs will become a problem!"

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning's head began to ache.

The reason he had achieved such efficient progress today was largely due to that wild ginseng.

Only by consuming the wild ginseng and benefiting from its medicinal effects had he been able to support round after round of Five Animals Fist practice.

Without the wild ginseng's support, Jiang Ning felt that he would have to reduce the frequency of his fist practice by at least half, perhaps to only one-third of today's efficiency.

This was not without basis.

The increases in strength, agility, and physique brought by practicing fist techniques were incredibly rapid, far surpassing the so-called fitness training of his previous life.

What was more, it could condense a unique power: qi-and-blood power.

Such a drastic method of improvement would inevitably place a great burden on the body.

Without the support of powerful tonics, one could only control the frequency and slowly hone the physique like water grinding stone. Only then would one avoid training the body into collapse.

And under his current circumstances, how could Jiang Ning endure slowly improving his physique?

Xu Yunfeng's threat loomed close at hand in the short term.

Jiang Ning knew full well that for the sake of climbing higher, earning merit, and joining the behemoth that was the Cao Family, Xu Yunfeng would inevitably grow impatient bit by bit.

Especially once his elder brother lost his official registration one day, Xu Yunfeng would have even fewer reservations.

Under normal circumstances, his elder brother would only lose his official registration after failing the year-end assessment.

But behind Xu Yunfeng stood Cao Bin, and behind Cao Bin stood the Cao Family.

The Cao Family controlled Luoshui County's mines, waterways, and population registries. As one of Luoshui County's local tyrants, its power was difficult to imagine.

Once they started pulling strings, it would take only a few days for his elder brother's official registration to be revoked on grounds such as negligence of duty. He might even be thrown into prison.

Thus, Jiang Ning had no idea how much time remained for him.

In the more than two months since arriving in this world, he had long since accepted his elder brother, sister-in-law, and their family.

He adored Little Doubao even more.

Even if he could now stay at the Blue-Wave Martial Academy long-term and his own safety was no longer an issue.

He could never bring himself to stand by and watch the family of this life suffer such a catastrophe.

So I must speed things up. Only by bringing my fist technique to Great Mastery can I pass Wang Jin's assessment and become Wang Jin's true disciple.

Only then can I protect my elder brother's family!