Sending the Blade

"HAHAHAHA... I'm such a fucking genius!" Liang Bo threw back his head and laughed excitedly.

Why was he so worked up? The reason was simple.

He had suddenly figured something out: when he cultivated internal energy, the proficiency of those martial techniques was completely useless; conversely, when he was not cultivating internal energy, the proficiency of those cultivation arts was equally useless.

In other words, before cultivating internal energy, he could put all his martial technique proficiency into the True Martial Canon. Then, whenever he was not cultivating internal energy, he could transfer all the True Martial Canon's proficiency back into martial techniques.

That alone could save him dozens of skill points!

Moreover, upon further thought, quite a few martial techniques could be handled this way as well. Under normal circumstances, he only needed to retain 1 point of proficiency so they would remain displayed on his character panel. When he needed them, he could raise their proficiency again.

Take archery, for example. Martial techniques of that sort were rarely useful in ordinary times and only came in handy on certain special occasions. So he could simply cultivate it to 1 point of proficiency and leave it there, then add proficiency when he needed to use it.

This would undoubtedly give Liang Bo more ways to deal with enemies while also significantly improving the efficiency of his internal energy cultivation. Clearly, it made better use of his skill points.

Having figured this out, Liang Bo was in an excellent mood.

He glanced at the sky and saw that it was still early, so he simply continued cultivating.

Cultivating internal energy was exceedingly dry and tedious. Generally, one could only rely on accumulation day after day, year after year—continuously circulating internal energy through the body in complete cycles, absorbing thread after thread of worldly essence during the process and converting it into one's own internal energy, thereby strengthening it.

The shorter the time needed for internal energy to complete one cycle, and the more worldly essence absorbed with each cycle, the greater the efficiency of internal energy cultivation.

After Liang Bo switched to the heaven-tier cultivation art, the True Martial Canon, and directly raised its proficiency to 37 points, he immediately discovered that one complete circulation of internal energy now took only about a quarter of an hour. Furthermore, each cycle absorbed at least five times as much worldly essence as when he had cultivated Baoyuan Energy. Overall, his efficiency had increased roughly twentyfold!

This was the advantage brought by a high-grade cultivation art and high proficiency!

At his current rate, he estimated that in half a month at most, his internal energy cultivation would advance to the fourth rank of martial arts!

Feeling utterly satisfied, Liang Bo hurriedly calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and cultivated.

Half an hour later, Liang Bo opened his eyes.

"Young Master, it's time to eat. It's already three quarters into the hour of the Rooster," Xiao Qing's voice came from outside.

Liang Bo stretched his arms and shoulders, got up from the bed, and pushed open the door. He saw Xiao Qing sitting alone outside, though he had no idea how long she had been waiting.

Liang Bo asked, "Xiao Qing, when you were cultivating internal energy earlier, was there anything you didn't understand?"

"No, Young Master. The cultivation art you gave me was written very clearly, so there was nothing I didn't understand. I cultivated for over an hour, and it felt much more effective than before."

"That's good." Liang Bo nodded slightly.

"I'll bring Young Master's meal over," Xiao Qing said, turning toward the kitchen. A short while later, she returned carrying a tray of food.

Liang Bo had cultivated all afternoon and was hungry as well. He promptly picked up his bowl and chopsticks and began eating in great mouthfuls.

"Oh, right, Young Master. Earlier, the Clan Head sent someone to look for you. Seeing that you were cultivating, they didn't disturb you. They only left this blade behind, saying that the Clan Head had given it to you." At that moment, Xiao Qing suddenly brought out a purple long blade from the adjacent room. Its blade was about sixty centimeters long, while the entire weapon was around eighty centimeters long and roughly three centimeters wide. Its spine was thick, and its tip looked exceptionally sharp.

"A blade? Why would the Clan Head give me a blade?" Liang Bo froze for a moment, then put down his bowl and chopsticks and accepted the long blade from Xiao Qing.

The instant it landed in his hands, Liang Bo felt both arms sink.

"So heavy!" He was filled with surprise. This blade probably weighed two hundred jin, didn't it? No wonder Xiao Qing had looked so strained while carrying it. Still, the weight was just right for him.

The blade he had previously used was merely an ordinary long blade forged from refined steel, weighing around thirty or forty jin. Such a weight might have been sufficient for ordinary people, but to Liang Bo, it was far too light. It felt weightless in his hand and could not fully bring out his strength.

This purple long blade, however, was exactly the right weight for him.

Liang Bo examined the blade and saw two small characters engraved upon it: "Purple Lightning."

"Could this blade be called the Purple Lightning Blade? Isn't that the same name as the martial technique I cultivate?" Liang Bo was astonished.

Whoosh! He lightly swung the Purple Lightning Blade, and the surrounding air seemed to split apart, giving off a deep, muffled howl.

"Fine blade!" Liang Bo blurted out in praise. Its weight suited him perfectly, and its center of gravity was just right. Each slash would not affect his body's balance, while the hilt was exceptionally comfortable to grip.

All in all, this blade suited him extremely well. The moment he held it, he felt as if he had fallen in love with it.

Impressive! Liang Bo sighed inwardly. The Clan Head's generosity truly could not be compared to those clan elders. Those elders only knew how to spout flattering words, which Liang Bo had no interest in hearing. But Liang Wen had sent him this fine blade the moment he acted, making it difficult for Liang Bo to refuse.

If his guess was correct, this blade should be a human-tier weapon, worth at least one hundred thousand taels of silver!

There were not many such treasured blades even within the Liang Clan. Moreover, its name was Purple Lightning, precisely the same as the martial technique he cultivated. It was clear that Liang Wen had put considerable thought into this gift.

After pondering for a while, Liang Bo decided to accept the gift. No matter what, he was still a member of the Liang Clan. He might dislike certain people in the clan, but there was no need to deliberately cut off all dealings with it.

However, it was clearly impossible for him to suddenly change his opinion of the clan.

Over the following month, Liang Bo cultivated diligently every day. He spent at least three hours each day cultivating internal energy, another three hours cultivating martial techniques, and only used the remaining time to rest or do other things.

More than ten days later, his internal energy cultivation successfully broke through to the fourth rank of martial arts. At the same time, the proficiency of Cloud Piercing Palm, Dragon-Elephant Blade Technique, and Lion Wrestling Hand all successfully rose to 1 point.

Liang Bo converted the proficiency of Dragon-Elephant Blade Technique and Lion Wrestling Hand into skill points, while retaining Cloud Piercing Palm on his character panel. That way, should he encounter a situation where it was unsuitable to use a weapon, he would still have a martial technique available.