Power Stacking

Most of the martial artists present were still at the ninth rank of the Martial Path. Quite a few had only become disciples not long ago. For most of them, having human-tier weapons and armor was already a rare luxury; as for earth-tier treasures, they did not even dare dream of them.

Yet Liang Bo had directly obtained a mid-grade earth-tier suit of armor. Such a gain naturally filled them with envy.

Still, after hearing that Liang Bo was a direct disciple who had only joined this year, some whispered resentfully, "Hmph, what is there to be proud of? After next June's sect tournament, this brat's status as a direct disciple will be revoked. He can be smug now, but he'll be crying then."

"Exactly. Those senior disciples are all absurdly strong. This brat is unlucky too—he had only been in the sect for half a year when he ran into the sect tournament. His seat as a direct disciple probably won't even be warm before he gets kicked off it," someone said with glee at his misfortune.

Of course, such people were only a minority. After their envy subsided, more people immediately picked out individual side halls to try their luck, hoping to see whether they too could unlock a treasure.

Unfortunately, if treasures were so easy to unlock, they would hardly be worth much.

"Liang Bo, you're incredible! You even solved a test like repairing an incomplete martial skill." After everyone had dispersed, Du Chi gave Liang Bo a thumbs-up.

Liang Bo smiled. "Not bad. I was lucky—that was the only reason I happened to solve it."

"Liang Bo, keep boasting. Lucky? Why don't I ever get luck like that? By the way, who left the treasures in this side hall?"

Liang Bo recalled, "I think it was a senior who called himself Wine Daoist."

"Wine Daoist?" Du Chi frowned as he thought. A moment later, he suddenly said, "I remember now. So it was him!"

Seeing his reaction, Liang Bo became even more certain of his earlier guess about Du Chi's identity. This fellow definitely had some extraordinary elder holding an important post in the True Martial Sect. Otherwise, he could not possibly know the sect's affairs so well.

"Liang Bo, this Wine Daoist is an extraordinary figure. He is also one of the True Martial Sect's seven publicly known Heavenly Origin Realm experts, and his cultivation and strength are immensely formidable. So this side hall was a treasure trove he left behind—no wonder the treasures inside reached the earth tier. No, Liang Bo, you struck it rich today. You have to treat us!"

"No problem!" Liang Bo readily agreed.

He had indeed struck it rich today. The armor left behind by Wine Daoist was called the Red Dragon Armor. It had been crafted by a master refiner from the hide of an earth-tier demonic beast, the Red Dragon. Its material was extremely soft and its weight exceptionally light, yet its protective effect was excellent. Ordinary Human Origin Realm martial artists could forget about piercing the Red Dragon Armor with their attacks.

However, that did not mean Liang Bo could ignore the attacks of Human Origin Realm martial artists after putting it on. For one thing, the Red Dragon Armor could only protect most parts of his body; places such as his eyes, mouth, nose, and palms could not be covered. For another, even where the Red Dragon Armor offered protection, it could only ensure that an enemy weapon did not pierce through it—it could not guarantee he would suffer no internal injuries.

It was like chain mail in his previous life. It could ward off ordinary swords and blades, but it was difficult for it to withstand heavy weapons such as spiked maces.

Even so, once he wore the Red Dragon Armor, Liang Bo's defensive abilities would increase dramatically.

"By the way, when treating people in True Martial City, I can pay with silver, right?" Liang Bo asked.

"Of course. Don't tell me you thought every shop in True Martial City required contribution points? How could that be?"

"As long as I can use silver, that's fine!" Liang Bo relaxed. Not long ago, he had fleeced Sima Kai for one hundred thousand taels of silver, all of which he had exchanged for banknotes accepted throughout the country. Treating everyone was nothing at all.

Liang Bo immediately returned to his residence and called Zhao Wu, Xiao Qing, and Xie Jia over. Together with Du Chi's three attendants, they found a restaurant in the city and enjoyed a hearty meal.

Not long after returning to his residence, someone delivered the two martial skills and the body-tempering art Liang Bo had exchanged for. He immediately began cultivating them.

He first spent some time adding the Mysterious Yellow Body Tempering Art and Flowing Light to his character interface. Then Liang Bo activated the modifier and transferred all the proficiency from the Heavenly Wind Wishful Steps to Flowing Light. His character interface immediately became:

Liang Bo--

[Cultivation]: Fourth Rank of the Martial Path

[Techniques]: True Martial Canon 1/40 Mysterious Yellow Body Tempering Art 0/10

[Martial Skills]: Purple Lightning Blade 20/20 Flowing Light 15/20 Vast Sky Fist 0/30 Meteor Arrow 0/20 Cloud Dragon Evasion Method 0/20 Crane Form Fist 0/10

[Secret Arts]: Eye of Truthpiercing 20/20

[Skill Points]: 0

Next, he focused most of his efforts on cultivating his primary martial skill, Wave Stacking.

The core principle of this martial skill was the stacking of power in blade techniques.

Specifically, at the instant a move was unleashed, it struck the same point repeatedly in rapid succession. This created the effect of the previous strike not having fully dissipated before the next one arrived, causing the power before and after to stack together like overlapping waves.

In this way, a single slash that might originally contain only three thousand jin of force could, after multiple successive stacks, surge to five or six thousand jin—or even greater power. That was why this martial skill was called Wave Stacking.

Of course, making the power of successive strikes stack was no simple task. First and foremost, one needed suitable moves.

Not every blade technique was suited to stacking power. Some moves emphasized variation, feints and substance intertwined, illusion and reality melding together. Such blade techniques were unsuitable for stacking power.

Other moves focused primarily on raw power. Though suitable for stacking, they had too few variations and could instead easily be exploited in actual combat.

Wave Stacking contained a total of thirty-six moves. Every move had been meticulously designed, balancing both stacked power and flexible variation, thereby raising the might of the blade technique to its utmost limit.

Beyond the moves themselves, the accompanying techniques for using inner force were even more important. They were also the most crucial aspect of this martial skill.

Many martial artists cultivated this martial skill without even entering through its gate. They were essentially blocked at the application of inner force, unable to gain entry. Moreover, even among those who mastered the martial skill, the increase in power they could achieve in practical use varied greatly.

According to the manual, after mastering the first level of the martial skill, one could stack two successive moves. Total power could reach at most 1.7 times the original, while those with weaker increases could only reach 1.3 times the original—a difference of a full forty percent.

After mastering the second level, one could stack three successive moves. Total power could reach at most 2.4 times the original, while those with weaker increases could only reach 1.6 times the original.

After mastering the third level, one could stack four successive moves. Total power could reach at most 3.1 times the original, while those with weaker increases could only reach 1.9 times the original.

As for how great the increase in power would be after mastering the later levels, Liang Bo did not know. After all, he had only exchanged for the first three levels so far and knew nothing about the later ones.

However, judging from the first three levels, every additional level mastered should increase power by at most 0.7 times and at least 0.3 times.