Slots

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye, and everything went unexpectedly smoothly.

After the sword embryo incident that day, Leng Shuangyu's firm stance seemed to have worked. Nothing similar happened afterward.

Unable to concern himself with such matters, Li Mu focused solely on practicing his swordsmanship.

Practicing the sword was tedious, but not dull. On the contrary, watching the progress on the Great Expansion Sword Register slowly rise gave him a strong sense of accomplishment.

It even gave him something to look forward to during the day while he worked.

After swordsmanship reached the Proficient level, every fifty points of proficiency gained increased his vitality by 0.1.

Li Mu became even less willing to slack off.

That day, daylight soon passed.

Cool moonlight filtered through the gaps in the banyan tree's canopy-like branches and leaves, scattering across the ground in fragmented patches of mottled light and shadow.

Having finished his sword practice, the youth's clothes were soaked with sweat, revealing a lean body that had begun to show faint lines of muscle. He breathed lightly.

Li Mu looked toward the dormitory building ahead, where only a few candles remained lit, though he was actually looking at the information displayed by the Great Expansion Sword Register.

[Dripping Water Swordsmanship: 501/1000 (Proficient)]

[Vitality: 6.7↑]

"After ten days of hard training, my proficiency has finally passed the halfway mark."

"And this... vitality of 6.7?"

"I've already surpassed Wang Que, and the gap between Cao A-Man and me is gradually shrinking too."

Li Mu smiled in satisfaction.

Ever since reaching the Proficient level, he had checked his own vitality every so often, then compared it with Wang Que's and the others'.

This kind of comparison was incredibly addictive.

"This afternoon, I remember their vitality values were..."

Li Mu recalled them, several people's vitality information flashing through his mind.

[Wang Que, Vitality: 6.5↓ (Vitality depleted)]

[Cao A-Man, Vitality: 9.0↑]

[Li Lanqiao, Vitality: 6.2↑]

[Hui Zhen, Vitality: 6.0↑]...

"Over these ten days, the others haven't changed much. Their martial training has shown an upward trend in vitality, but it hasn't turned into actual points. After all, they haven't taken Blood-Nourishing Powder, and their swordsmanship hasn't entered the Proficient level."

"Only Wang Que. In just ten days of indulging in wine and women, his vitality has already dropped by 0.3? What a waste of Blood-Nourishing Powder... His swordsmanship hasn't reached Proficient either."

Li Mu was now certain that he could easily crush Wang Que.

Not only were their vitality levels rising and falling in opposite directions, but with such a vast gap in swordsmanship proficiency, Wang Que was no match for him.

"Still, this rate of improvement is too slow. I'm still 2.3 vitality points behind Cao A-Man."

Someone like Cao A-Man, born with immense strength and abundant vitality, was truly difficult to catch up to.

Li Mu lowered his head and looked at his body, which was noticeably a little stronger than it had been a month ago. He could not help sighing.

After his vitality surpassed 6.0, his body had finally begun to undergo more tangible changes.

First came the increase in strength. He could now easily lift a fifty-jin stone lock, and circulating his vitality felt much smoother.

With his formerly frail body, that would have been impossible.

The fat around his abdomen had, without him noticing, slowly condensed into lines of muscle.

The further he progressed, the greater the changes would become. Li Mu worried that he would soon be unable to hide it anymore...

Suddenly, faint giggling drifted over, accompanied by approaching footsteps.

"Brother Tuo, be gentler. Don't rush..."

That voice... was Si Xiaoshuang's?

Li Mu frowned slightly, wondering whether he should avoid them.

But it was already too late. A burly man, his arm around a petite girl, abruptly stumbled into the shadows beneath the tree.

"Little beauty, tonight, you belong to me, Zhao Tuo."

"Brother Tuo, when it comes to my assessment slot, you have to..."

"Don't worry. Tonight—tonight, I'll speak to my brother about it."

A moment later, the two finally left. Seemingly wary of being seen, they departed separately in different directions.

"..."

Li Mu rose from the bushes nearby. The sudden erotic scene had made it inconvenient for him to make any noise.

He had not expected Zhao Tuo and Si Xiaoshuang to get together.

Everyone knew Zhao Tuo was lustful. He often went to the laundry room for women, then boasted about it while drinking with the others at night, spreading the tales everywhere.

But Si Xiaoshuang had been close to Wang Que, and now she had latched onto Zhao Tuo as well.

"Assessment slot?"

Remembering their conversation, Li Mu could not help frowning.

He had assumed that they were all sword-wiping slaves, possessing nothing of value. From his usual observations, apart from Wang Que being more ruthless in hoarding money and perhaps using silver to pull strings, he had overlooked the matter of female slaves.

Unexpectedly, Si Xiaoshuang had already taken another path.

If it came down to hard strength, Li Mu truly feared no one.

But if things continued like this, would the slots not all be decided in advance? Then what about him...

"Don't rush. First, find out how many slots there are."

Li Mu took a deep breath, then looked again at Zhao Tuo's unsteady gait.

That fellow had wine and women tonight. Was he in poor condition?

Tonight, he was going to speak with Instructor Zhao Meng about the slots?

Perhaps there were other secrets...

Should he follow him?

"Forget it..." Li Mu was somewhat worried about being discovered, so he turned to leave.

Smack!!

Zhao Tuo staggered back several steps from the slap, his face quickly swelling red.

Yet he did not dare make any move. He merely covered his face and lowered his head to receive the scolding.

"You dare bring up assessment slots to me?! You are not to interfere in this matter in the slightest, do you hear me!"

"Manager Leng will personally inspect them. She wants to select talented and capable people, not women you slept with!"

"She's fighting fiercely with that person right now, and this is precisely when she needs people. It wasn't easy for us to secure five slots this year. If we control the assessment candidates, where does that leave her authority as manager?! Would she still tolerate the two of us brothers?!"

"What an idiot!! Worthless trash—you'll die on a woman's belly sooner or later! Tell me, how long have you been stuck at the bottleneck of the first vitality barrier?"

Zhao Meng was furious. He glared at his own younger brother, bitterly disappointed that he had failed to live up to expectations.

Inside the roughly three-zhang square brick house, an oil lamp burned quietly, casting the tall shadows of the two brothers.

"At the servants' martial exhibition half a year from now, do you still want to take over my position as instructor?

Do you think no one else wants to rise through the ranks? Do you think Leng Shuangyu will save you a place out of consideration for me?!"

"If I enter the inner courtyard in the future, I'll have to take the lead on every escort mission. If something happens... do you understand?"

Zhao Meng slapped the table. Spiderweb cracks instantly spread across its surface before it exploded with a boom, sending wood chips flying.

The oil lamp clattered to the floor, its light suddenly swaying to one side. Zhao Meng's face was almost entirely swallowed by shadow.

Zhao Tuo had never seen his elder brother this vicious. His face turned pale as he hurriedly said, "Brother, I know I was wrong. From today onward, I'll definitely work hard. But without great medicine, the threshold for the second vitality barrier is truly too difficult for someone of my aptitude..."

"Great medicine—I'll fight to obtain it for you..." Zhao Meng closed his eyes slightly and let out a long breath.

After all, Zhao Tuo was his own younger brother. Their parents had died early and told him to look after his brother, so he had to fulfill that responsibility.

"You have indulged in wine and women, leaving your vitality seriously depleted. Starting today, you are not to touch a drop of alcohol or a single woman. Train properly. If I secure great medicine for you and you are still like this, I will enforce the family rules." Zhao Meng snorted coldly.

"Rest assured, Brother. I'll turn over a new leaf and completely reform." Zhao Tuo replied hurriedly.

"Hidden Sword Manor belongs to the Ye family. For outsiders like us to squeeze our way in and gain resources and status, first, we must demonstrate our value; second, we must continually show our loyalty... Even Leng Shuangyu is no exception. You must understand that."

Only after giving his younger brother a fierce glare did Zhao Meng flick his sleeve and leave.

Creak.

Bang!

The door opened, then slammed shut heavily. A tall figure stepped out and walked into the night.

In the shadows by the base of the side wall, Li Mu's eyes widened as he silently watched Zhao Meng return to the neighboring room.

He had still been uneasy, so he had followed them over to learn what was happening. After all, it concerned his own fate.

The residences of Myriad Swords Tower's servants were far better than those of the slaves. Most had their own small brick houses, built in clusters of twos and threes directly opposite the sword-wiping slaves' dormitory.

Avoiding the night patrols of the timekeeping servants, Li Mu had quietly followed him here.

Even Zhao Meng had only reached the second vitality barrier. He was not powerful enough to sense someone outside the wall, especially with Li Mu being so careful.

Hearing Zhao Tuo packing things up inside and sighing repeatedly, Li Mu silently rose. After checking that no one was around, he slowly made his way back toward the dormitory building along the shadows.

Once he safely returned to his small partitioned room, Li Mu let out a breath of relief.

Ever since he had dealt with the Wild Village brothers last time without any consequences, he had found himself growing bolder and bolder.

It was his first time tailing someone and eavesdropping... yet it had gone so smoothly, even Li Mu had not expected it.

Most importantly, he had obtained vital information, which put him somewhat at ease.

"Leng Shuangyu's prestige is still quite high, and Instructor Zhao Meng is sensible as well..."

"Going by this, I should still be able to compete for one of the five assessment slots..."

Li Mu pondered this as he closed his eyes.