[Skill]: Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Perfection 0/1000)
When this skill advanced from major mastery into perfection.
In an instant.
Jiang Ning felt the difference.
Countless scenes still flashed through his mind as before.
Every scene that flashed past was every saber strike he had delivered during this period.
Countless angles, countless overlapping lights and shadows, until the dross was cast aside and the essence remained.
At the same time, Jiang Ning felt waves of numbness spread through his arms, as though tens of millions of ants were crawling all over them.
Several breaths later.
All the strange changes had vanished.
Jiang Ning gripped the wood-chopping saber in his hand, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"So this is the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique at the perfection level?"
"It actually has such an effect. I'm clearly holding a wood-chopping saber, yet it feels like an extension of my flesh and blood! I can control it like an arm!"
He casually swung the saber twice.
Swish—
Swish—
The sound of the blade tearing through the air rang out. A faint smile surfaced on Jiang Ning's face again.
His saber swings were roughly thirty percent faster.
And!
Jiang Ning swung his saber again.
Thud—
As the wood-chopping saber came down, the heavy round log lying diagonally atop the stump was instantly severed at the waist.
"And the force behind my swings has increased by around twenty to thirty percent! This improvement is really good!!"
Holding the wood-chopping saber, he nodded in satisfaction.
"If I had a proper saber right now, my combat strength would increase severalfold at the very least!"
At that moment, Jiang Ning felt high-spirited.
He even wanted to go find Xu Yunfeng and have a great battle, cutting him down with a single stroke.
"Not yet! Not yet!!"
Huff—
Jiang Ning let out a deep breath, and his turbulent heart gradually calmed once more.
My current strength of qi and blood is still far below his. Just give me some more time!
He tightened his grip on the wood-chopping saber.
Then he opened his panel and took another look.
[Skill]: Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Perfection 0/1000)
He only needed another thousand experience points for the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique to break its limit!
That would not be difficult for him!
If necessary, he could grind out those thousand experience points in a single day.
Unfortunately!
His source energy points limited what he could do!
[Source Energy]: 6.8
Looking at the source energy points on the panel, he felt a little regretful.
"Once my source energy points exceed ten, at my current rate of gaining 0.4 per day, it will take roughly another eight days! So there's no hurry to grind experience for the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique. But if I go out, I should consider getting a saber for self-defense!"
"To me now, having a saber in hand and having no saber in hand are worlds apart!"
"After all, an inch longer means an inch stronger. How can flesh and blood contend with weapons of steel?"
Jiang Ning's heart stirred, and he added the matter to his schedule.
In the blink of an eye, four days passed.
After completing a set of fist techniques.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +1] [Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Minor Mastery 17/500)
Jiang Ning looked at the prompt before him and shook his head slightly.
"Only when spirit and form are both present can a fist technique reach major mastery! It seems that with my comprehension, there's no way I can achieve that!"
After trying for more than a day, Jiang Ning was now prepared to give up.
He gave up on trying to figure out and comprehend the essence of major-mastery Five Animals Fist on his own.
A few days ago, after seeking guidance from Wang Jin, he had grasped the essence of minor-mastery Tiger Form Fist: softness within hardness, hardness within softness.
Thus, in the days that followed, before his fist technique reached minor mastery, his efficiency in gaining experience through training had soared.
Every time he practiced the fist technique once, he could gain two experience points.
That was precisely why he had managed to grind this fist technique up to minor mastery in only a few days.
Then Jiang Ning clenched his fists again.
The qi and blood within his body surged, instantly flowing through one arm, with strength still left over.
"Now that my qi and blood have reached minor mastery, after Five Animals Fist reached minor mastery, every set of fist techniques I practice can condense three threads of qi and blood power. At this rate, I believe it won't be long before my qi and blood reach major mastery, or even perfection!"
"However, the day the Inspection Office opens is not far off. Even perfected qi and blood counts for nothing. I still need to enter the ranks of Martial Dao, and I still need to perform well in actual combat before I can enter that institution of extraordinary status."
I can't slack off!
He immediately opened his panel and took another look.
[Name]: Jiang Ning [Source Energy]: 8.4 [Skills]: Literacy (First Limit Break 416/2000) (Trait: Photographic Memory) Five Animals Fist (Minor Mastery 17/500) Wood-Chopping Saber Technique (Perfection 1000/1000) Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique (Beginner 91/100)
"Four more days, and I'll have saved enough source energy points to let the Wood-Chopping Saber Technique break its limit."
"As for the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique, it will reach the beginner level tomorrow. This is a method for strengthening the body from within. For ordinary martial artists, it is a path only taken at the fifth rank of Martial Dao. I wonder what effect the Inner Elixir Life-Nourishing Technique will have after reaching beginner level?"
He then closed the panel.
That afternoon, after completing a set of fist techniques.
[Five Animals Fist Experience +1] [Skill]: Five Animals Fist (Minor Mastery 18/500)
Feeling the growth in his qi and blood and physique, Jiang Ning was in a rather good mood. He walked to the side, lifted a bucket of icy well water, and poured it over his head.
"Refreshing!!"
He shook his hair, scattering droplets everywhere.
"Junior Brother Jiang, you splashed water all over me!"
Hearing the voice behind him, Jiang Ning turned around. The newcomer was Cheng Ran, the only person among the martial hall's outer-courtyard disciples with whom he was on good terms.
These days, after arriving at the martial hall, Jiang Ning spent every day either grinding experience or training, then grinding experience and training some more.
After receiving Wang Jin's permission to reside at the martial hall for a long time.
Jiang Ning had not stepped outside the martial hall gates even once, much less joined the other disciples in group meals, drinking, and other activities meant to build friendships.
As a result, he naturally had little interaction with the other disciples.
Especially since Jiang Ning practiced his fist techniques with such diligence, he had even less chance to cross paths with them. Nor would anyone come looking for trouble when they had nothing better to do.
Seeing Cheng Ran approach, Jiang Ning smiled and lightly shook his head again. Droplets from the tips of his hair fell onto the dirt around him, and the water marks were quickly evaporated beneath the scorching heat of the ground.
"Senior Brother Cheng, you came over yourself. You can't blame me for that!"
Cheng Ran said, "Hehe! Wasn't I just joking with you, Junior Brother Jiang?"
As he spoke, he lowered his bucket into the deep well.
"This damned weather is getting hotter and hotter!" Cheng Ran said.
Jiang Ning looked up at the sky. The azure heavens stretched for miles without a cloud in sight.
He nodded in strong agreement. "It seems it hasn't rained even once in more than two months!"
"That's right!" Cheng Ran affirmed.
By then, the bucket he had lowered into the well was already full. With just a few pulls, he hauled up the bucket brimming with cool well water.
"Not just these past two months. Luoshui County barely got any rain during the entire first half of the year!" Cheng Ran said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Ran raised the bucket in his hand and tipped it over his head.
"Ah, that feels good!!!" he shouted wildly.
Then he continued complaining to Jiang Ning, "Brother Jiang, do you know that July is harvest time? When I went on an inspection two days ago, a whole crowd of tenant farmers cried about their miserable plight right in front of me! I couldn't bear it for a moment, so I waived half a year of their taxes. When I got home, my father gave me a brutal beating!"
At this point, Cheng Ran seemed to recall the painful price he had paid that day and bared his teeth slightly.
"Senior Brother Cheng is kindhearted," Jiang Ning said sincerely.
Hearing the praise, Cheng Ran could not help looking a little pleased.
Then he put on an indifferent air, as though neither favor nor disgrace could move him. "Let's not talk about that! Brother Jiang, do you know what major event the martial hall will hold in a few days?"
"What major event?" Jiang Ning asked with some curiosity.
"Have you seen that tiger in the cage?" Cheng Ran asked.
Jiang Ning nodded.
Cheng Ran pointed toward the left side of the courtyard.
"In six days, that fierce tiger will be released into that courtyard!"
"At that time, the martial hall's true disciples will enter the arena, letting us watch the fierce tiger fight at close range. This will be of enormous help for our Tiger Form Fist to break through into major mastery!"
"I heard that Senior Sister Li Qing has recently been in secluded cultivation at home, preparing for her final charge into the ranks of Martial Dao. Senior Sister Li Qing will probably enter the arena that day as well!"
As Cheng Ran spoke, a trace of excitement appeared on his face.
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