Wine Venerable

Inside the hall, Liang Bo, whom Du Chi had deemed insane, was now beaming with delight.

He had just obtained the incomplete fist-type martial skill mentioned in the test question. After roughly learning it and adding it to his character interface:

Liang Bo--

[Cultivation]: Martial Dao Fourth Grade

[Technique]: True Martial Canon 1/40

[Martial Skills]: Purple Lightning Blade 20/20 Heavenly Wind Wishful Steps 10/10 Vast Sky Fist 1/30 Meteor Arrow 0/20 Cloud Dragon Evasion Method 0/20 Crane Form Fist 0/7

[Secret Art]: Eye of Truthpiercing 20/20

[Skill Points]: 7

A prompt then appeared in his mind:

[Detected incomplete ordinary martial skill Crane Form Fist. Spend 3 skill points to deduce it to completion?]

"Only 3 skill points?" Liang Bo was overjoyed. He had originally thought it would take many skill points and had been somewhat reluctant, but if it only required 3, he could earn them back after cultivating for at most twenty days. Exchanging that for a treasure should be worth it.

"Deduce it!" Liang Bo answered in his mind.

The moment his words fell, another prompt sounded in his mind:

[Beginning martial skill deduction!]

Immediately afterward, streams of information flooded into his mind. His body also seemed to fall under the control of some mysterious force, and he involuntarily began practicing a fist technique on the spot. It was precisely the Crane Form Fist he had just acquired, yet its specific moves differed slightly from the original martial skill.

Immersed in the deduction of the martial skill, he seemed to have completely forgotten everything around him, practicing the fist technique over and over without pause.

Once, twice, three times...

The moves he used gradually became different from the initial ones, and those differences grew more numerous. By the end, nearly all the moves he used were completely unlike the original ones, yet the transitions between them had become smoother and more cohesive.

Just as Liang Bo was deducing the martial skill, in a palace east of True Martial City, a somewhat disheveled middle-aged Daoist sat there with a wine gourd in one hand and a black chess piece in the other, frowning in contemplation.

Across from him, a middle-aged man in white saw that he had not made a move for so long and could not help mocking him. "I say, Wine Madman, you've been thinking for so long and still haven't figured out your move?"

"Don't rush me, don't rush me! I'll have it figured out soon." The disheveled Daoist raised the wine gourd and took a large gulp, then wiped his mouth. Just as he was about to speak, his brows suddenly rose. "Eh!"

"What is it?" the middle-aged man in white asked curiously.

"Interesting, interesting! Some little fellow has triggered the formation I left in the Treasure Pavilion."

The middle-aged man in white said dismissively, "So what? The test question you left there has been around for more than twenty years, hasn't it? Though a few people have completed that martial skill during that time, none ever met your requirements. What will be different this time? Don't tell me you have no move to make and don't want to admit defeat, so you're deliberately looking for an excuse to throw the game into chaos?"

The disheveled Daoist snapped, "Nonsense! Do I look like that kind of person?"

The middle-aged man in white replied seriously, "You do. Very much so. Haven't you done this sort of thing plenty of times before?"

The disheveled Daoist rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Fine, I did do it before, but this time is different."

As he spoke, his expression turned serious. He rose from his seat and began practicing a fist technique where he stood, executing every move with utmost care. Had Liang Bo been there, he would have been astonished to discover that the Daoist's fist technique was exactly the same as the one he was currently practicing!

Across from him, the middle-aged man in white also set down his chess piece and said in surprise, "This is the fist technique that little fellow deduced? It really is somewhat interesting!"

After finishing one round of the fist technique, the disheveled Daoist nodded. "It is somewhat interesting. And that little fellow's fist technique is still being deduced and improved!"

"What? It's still being deduced? Could he be planning to deduce this martial skill all the way to the human rank?" This time, the middle-aged man in white was thoroughly stunned.

Although ordinary martial skills differed from human-rank, earth-rank, and heaven-rank martial skills in that they were not further divided into low, middle, and high grades, the lack of such divisions did not mean there were no differences among ordinary martial skills.

If the martial skill the disheveled Daoist had left behind had not been incomplete, it would only have barely reached the level of a high-grade ordinary martial skill. But after Liang Bo's deduction, it had already firmly reached the high-grade ordinary level.

In other words, Liang Bo had not only deduced the originally incomplete martial skill to completion, but had also cast off the old and brought forth the new, making it even more complete on its original foundation.

The middle-aged man in white hurriedly asked, "Which little fellow is it? Xiao Yun? Song Cheng? Or Qin Yuantu? It can't be that little girl Luo Qian, can it?"

The four people he mentioned were the most outstanding among the True Martial Sect's younger disciples. They were known as the "Four True Martial Geniuses," and their cultivation and strength had long since reached the peak of the Human Origin Realm, only one step away from the Earth Origin Realm.

The disheveled Daoist shook his head. "None of those four. It's a little fellow whose cultivation is still at the Martial Dao Ninth Grade. But I've never seen this little fellow before. Could he be a disciple who only joined this year?"

"A disciple who just joined? How could that be?" The middle-aged man in white repeatedly shook his head, clearly refusing to believe that a newly admitted disciple could deduce an incomplete ordinary martial skill to completion, much less cast off the old and bring forth the new to improve it further.

One had to know that deducing a martial skill not only required sufficient personal strength, but more importantly, a deep enough understanding of martial skills, as well as ample experience and knowledge. A newly admitted disciple had not even mastered complete martial skills yet—how could they possibly speak of deducing and improving one?

The disheveled Daoist said, "I find it impossible as well. Forget it, there's no use guessing back and forth. Why don't we go take a look together?"

"Good!" The middle-aged man in white nodded readily.

Outside the Treasure Pavilion, two figures drifted down gracefully.

"Wine Venerable, Sword Venerable!" The middle-aged man responsible for guarding the entrance hurried over and bowed in salute.

"Mmm. Ji Xin, go check who is currently in the Seventh Side Hall," the disheveled Daoist said.

"Yes!" Ji Xin, the middle-aged guard, hurried off to investigate. After a short while, he rushed back and reported, "Wine Venerable, the one currently in the Seventh Side Hall is a disciple named Liang Bo. He is a direct disciple who joined our sect this year."

"He really is a disciple who only entered this year?" Wine Venerable and Sword Venerable exchanged glances, surprise appearing in their eyes.

"Tell us his specific circumstances. Do not leave out a single detail," the middle-aged man in white demanded.

"Yes!" Ji Xin hurriedly said, "This Liang Bo is sixteen this year and comes from Wan City in Nanyang Prefecture. In this year's martial academy competition, he displayed a blade technique at the level of blade and man as one, and his fist-and-kick techniques and movement technique had also reached the perfected basic level. His inner strength cultivation should be at the Fourth Grade. During the second examination, he easily killed a Swift Leopard. After that, he also easily took first place in the arena battles and thus joined our sect. That is all I know. As for anything more, I am not too clear on it."