Level up!
Lin Yuan lit up with delight, but he did not let his guard down. He pulled the metal short spear out of the Ferocious Gray Rabbit and swiftly left.
The first rule of the Wilderness Zone: never expose yourself to danger!
Although no exceptionally dangerous fierce beasts roamed the Gray Rabbit Plains, the smell of blood had already spread. There was no guarantee he would not hit that particular jackpot.
Cautious by nature, Lin Yuan would never let himself stand beneath a crumbling wall. He immediately left at top speed, only stopping once he reached a safe area several kilometers away.
"All right, let me see what this Game Panel of yours can do!"
He sat cross-legged inside a cave and looked up at the Game Panel before him, which only he could see.
Player: Lin Yuan Level: 1 Experience: 0/2 Talent traits: none Available draws: 1 ...
Killing a Ferocious Gray Rabbit had finally brought his experience above zero and successfully raised him to level one.
He had earned one chance to draw a talent trait!
Without hesitation, he started the draw—
Whoosh!
A special trait draw-pool page appeared on the panel. Countless shimmering images of traits flashed in alternating colors, like divine rainbow radiance illuminating all the heavens.
At last, the light faded, and an exclusive trait gleaming with golden light slowly appeared.
You have obtained the gold talent trait—Swordsmanship Mastery!
A gold talent trait!
Swordsmanship Mastery!
"Struck gold on the first shot?"
"I actually drew a gold talent trait!"
Lin Yuan sprang to his feet, his face brimming with excitement.
A golden legend...
Although he did not know how the Game Panel ranked talent traits, surely a magnificent gold talent trait could not be bad?
Has my luck turned around?
Or does the first draw get a beginner's luck bonus?
Lin Yuan had no way of knowing.
After all, the Game Panel did not seem particularly intelligent. It only followed the most basic rules, leaving him no way to find out.
But that did not matter. What mattered was the effect of the talent trait—Swordsmanship Mastery!
First talent trait: Swordsmanship Mastery. Effect one: you possess innate sword bones, granting you near-divine talent and comprehension for swordsmanship and Sword Dao skills. Effect two: you possess a clear sword heart, born with a flawless sword heart that can reveal every demon and lurking fiend, countering all illusion arts that create illusory realms.
"How incredible..."
It felt as though wisdom had poured into his mind from above, as though inspiration had suddenly blessed his soul.
After integrating the talent trait Swordsmanship Mastery, Lin Yuan instantly felt that the sword in his hand had become one of his limbs. He wielded it as effortlessly as his own arm, without the slightest resistance, and even felt as though he could lift something heavy as lightly as a feather.
Innate sword bones!
A clear sword heart!
These two innate secret arts instantly transformed Lin Yuan from an ordinary swordsmanship novice into a peerless Sword Dao prodigy.
The talent trait took effect passively, as though it were an ability he had been born with. Without needing insight or guidance, he naturally understood everything.
"My swordsmanship..."
"Has it reached the micro-insight realm?"
Lin Yuan had always used a sword. Perhaps Heaven had arranged it all in its unseen way.
But his previous talent for swordsmanship had actually been quite ordinary. Even after practicing for over a decade, he knew only basic sword moves.
Within the starry sky martial arts system established by the Azure Star Human Federation, weapon techniques were also a vital component.
"Those who practice weapon techniques must first achieve initiation, emphasize the basics, then attain mastery, seek subtlety, and obtain perfection. Only when their technique approaches the Dao and they realize unity of Heaven and humanity may they glimpse the Heaven and Earth Great Dao and comprehend the wonders of the universe..."
This was the General Outline of Weapon Techniques, developed over centuries by countless Starry-Sky Warriors of the Human Federation. It contained the core principles of every weapon technique, from sabers, spears, swords, and halberds to axes, battle-axes, hooks, and forks.
It also implicitly laid out the main stages of weapon techniques on Azure Star—
Initiation, basic stage, mastery stage, subtlety stage, perfection stage, Dao entry stage, unity of Heaven and humanity...
Whether swordsmanship, saber techniques, or the fist, leg, staff, and spear techniques practitioners trained in, all followed this complete system of weapon stages.
Initiation was the simplest. It referred to beginners who had only just started learning weapon techniques. Once they became proficient in a weapon's individual moves, they qualified as having achieved initiation.
In the Era of Stellar Changes, martial arts students had to choose a weapon technique to study upon entering high school, as a means of protecting their path of cultivation.
Specialist weapon instructors taught them the standard moves and mainstream fighting methods for various weapons.
Most could achieve initiation within a year.
After the initiation stage came the basic stage.
Taking swordsmanship as an example—
At the basic stage, one could fully master an entire basic sword manual, link moves smoothly, understand basic methods of exerting force, and establish a rudimentary framework for offense and defense.
By then, one had already developed an initial measure of combat ability, setting one apart from ordinary people who had never practiced martial arts.
After three years of high school training, most martial arts students remained at the basic stage in their weapon techniques.
Previously, Lin Yuan had only barely reached basic-stage swordsmanship before finding it difficult to advance another inch.
That was because the next level, the mastery stage, already took one beyond the level of ordinary students and into the domain of true Starry-Sky Warriors!
Those whose weapon techniques reached the mastery stage had thoroughly grasped multiple sets of sword moves. They could dismantle and combine moves at will, exert force smoothly, greatly increase the speed and power of their strikes, and attack and defend freely in close combat.
They had already broken free of rigid traditional routines and could flexibly adjust their sword moves to their opponents' changes. They could unleash one hundred percent, or even one hundred and twenty percent, of their strength, greatly increasing their combat power.
Only the fourth realm above that was the subtlety stage!
"Subtlety-stage swordsmanship has already reached the realm where swordsman and sword become one. Executing sword moves feels like extending your own limbs, following your intent with incomparable fluidity and natural ease. You can also perceive the finest details of sword moves and spot openings in an enemy's techniques. Wherever your sword light points, it finds a weakness..."
Lin Yuan murmured to himself, the delight in his eyes plain to see.
With a single awakening, his swordsmanship had attained mastery!
What incredible innate sword bones!
What an incredible clear sword heart!
Merely integrating it for the first time had utterly transformed his swordsmanship realm. He had broken through two stages in succession and directly mastered subtlety-stage swordsmanship, greatly increasing his strength.
Truly worthy of a gold talent trait!
Truly worthy of the Game Panel!
And this was only his first talent trait.
It was already this powerful, far exceeding his expectations.
He could not imagine how great a surprise the later traits would bring him!
"Hm?"
"It only takes two experience points to reach level two, too?"
"Leveling up in this game is pretty easy..."
Lin Yuan glanced at the figures on the Game Panel and could not help letting out a breath of relief.
Looks like a simple, fun, hot-blooded leveling game that delivers pure satisfaction...
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