Jia Qingshan Returns

Wu Ming had never expected that the Spiritual Guidance Technique he had sought for so long would appear like this.

The time needed to convert Spiritual Force remained unchanged, but the efficiency had tripled. This was definitely the effect of a Guidance Technique!

But... what was the principle behind it? Was it a lingering effect of the Void Silence state, or simply mental exhaustion? If it was the former, that would be troublesome.

Though he said that, Wu Ming still felt that the Spiritual Guidance Technique had little to do with the Void Silence state. After all, the latter was far too special. It had never even been mentioned in the original novel and had no universal applicability at all.

I've already used up today's Spiritual Force training time. If I want to test it, I'll have to wait until tomorrow. Forget it. Rest comes first.

He had already researched enough for the day. It was nearly three in the morning, leaving him only three hours to sleep, and Wu Ming naturally would not waste such precious rest time.

Before going to sleep, he even considered whether he should sleep a little longer the next day. Facing the day's training with abundant energy was far more important than getting up on time.

At six in the morning, Wu Ming opened his eyes right on schedule. The exhaustion in his body had vanished completely, and he did not feel the slightest bit sleepy.

Hm? I only slept for three hours, yet the result was almost the same as usual? Could this also have been brought about by the Spiritual Guidance Technique?

Or could it be...

Wu Ming frowned slightly. Recalling his sleep from the night before, he felt as though his consciousness had completely sunk down. He had dreamed nothing, and not a single thought had surfaced.

Rather than being related to the Spiritual Guidance Technique, this state resembling deep sleep felt more like an effect brought about by Void Silence.

After all, their natures were extremely similar. Both caused consciousness to fall into complete silence. The only difference was that this time, his consciousness had not left his body.

Naturally, this deep sleep had not fully stimulated his body's potential. It merely had an extraordinary effect on restoring his energy.

Actually, this isn't bad either. If I only need three hours of sleep a day, I'll have more time to train.

Wu Ming quickly relaxed his brow. He had always gladly accepted things that had no drawbacks and only benefits.

As for how long this deep-sleep state would last, or whether it would vanish along with the lingering effects of Void Silence, he did not care.

If he gained it, it was his fortune. If he lost it, it was fate. Enjoying the present was what mattered most.

Since Spiritual Force training had to be reserved for the night, Wu Ming continued to complete his daily training step by step during the day.

However, he now carried the Dragon Sparrow Saber with him every day, and the focus of his training gradually shifted toward saber techniques.

In his eyes, learning fist techniques was merely for tempering his physical foundation. Saber techniques were the true core of combat!

How could he fight those thick-skinned monsters barehanded? He would not even be able to pierce their scales, and facing a single monster might exhaust all his strength.

But if his weapon was sturdy and sharp enough, he would not need much strength to easily break through a monster's defenses, greatly increasing his killing efficiency.

That was precisely why weapon techniques were the true mainstream among Martial Artists on Earth in the future.

So, even though he had long since memorized the Five-Elements Blade Art transformed from Xingyi Quan, and had incorporated the essence of every school of Internal Martial Arts into his saber techniques, it was still not enough.

Although his current saber techniques were exquisite, he still needed to assess the situation with his brain during battle before issuing commands.

But true battles often happened in the blink of an eye, leaving him extremely little time to react. No matter how fast his mind processed things, it could not compare to his body instinctively making a move.

Therefore, he had to practice all kinds of moves relentlessly, striving to integrate them into his body's instincts. That way, he would not need to think during battle—his body would naturally make the most appropriate response.

In the future classification of move mastery, this state was considered Basic Level.

However, the instinctive command of moves Wu Ming pursued had already reached the peak of Basic Level. Perhaps it could be called the realm of "Basic Mastery."

The next stage of technique was naturally the Microscopic Level. This level was not actually difficult for him. With the control foundation brought by Hidden Strength, he would learn it quickly.

The only stage that could pose some difficulty was Perfect Level. This stage required controlling the environment and turning any terrain into home ground, which had already exceeded the scope of Hidden Strength's control.

However, with the assistance of Spiritual Force, Wu Ming was still confident he could master it.

Only the final stage, the "Intent Domain Level," left him without the slightest clue. The original novel's description had been far too vague. He only knew that one had to comprehend nature from heaven and earth, but not the specific details of that comprehension.

But Intent Domain was still too distant for him. Wu Ming's greatest goal now was to master Perfect Level techniques before the Beast Tide arrived in September.

To reach that point, he would inevitably need arduous training combined with a great deal of actual combat.

Fortunately, Basic Level training did not strictly require opponents. So, after honing his saber techniques to Basic Mastery, he planned to take the initiative and hunt mutated creatures and even monsters everywhere to gain combat experience.

Thus, Wu Ming's daily training consisted of constantly refining his saber techniques, striving to make his body's instincts adapt to every kind of move as quickly as possible.

However, saber techniques alone were not enough to improve actual combat ability. Movement techniques were also of paramount importance.

He was already thoroughly familiar with the Plum Blossom Stakes at the rear mountain training grounds. He could walk from one end to the other with his eyes closed, and they no longer provided much training effect.

So he considered switching to a more demanding training method. He quickly came up with one: have people throw stones at him and train his evasion by dodging the flying gravel.

At first, he assigned the task to Ruan Qingzhu and the others, having the three surround him and toss pieces of gravel at him from different directions.

This method truly worked. At the beginning, Wu Ming was even a little flustered, but with the assistance of Spiritual Force, he quickly learned how to dodge, and his movements gradually became more fluid.

Then he stopped using Spiritual Force assistance and trained his evasion purely through physical reactions.

With the powerful boost of the Close-Combat Grandmaster, he rapidly absorbed his previous experience. In less than two days, his movement techniques had actually reached a level comparable to using Spiritual Force assistance.

Wu Ming was having a great time, but Ruan Qingzhu and the other two were exhausted. They now had to throw stones for several hours every day, which had seriously affected their daily training.

After thinking for a moment, he simply went to the training field in the front courtyard to find martial arts school students to help him train.

Since they did not know one another, Wu Ming sought out Jia Mengyun, whom he had met on his first day, explained his training idea, and stated that he was willing to pay the students who participated.

After the two discussed it, they set the rate at one hundred yuan per hour, for around two to three hours a day. That was already a generous rate at the time, especially for students who had never worked before.

Sure enough, once Jia Mengyun spread the news, applicants came pouring in. After screening, they selected eighteen students who met the requirements. Every one of them had undergone the RR Virus transformation.

Wu Ming then began his pleasant training routine, practicing saber techniques for several hours every day on the rear mountain before coming to the training field for evasion training.

Considering the students' arm endurance, he divided the movement training into three sessions, one hour each.

Thanks to switching back and forth between Weapon Master and the Melee Grandmaster Set, Wu Ming improved rapidly in both saber techniques and movement techniques. He could see obvious changes almost every day.

Time quietly passed. On February 17, Jia Yi and Ruan Qingzhu both broke through to Quasi-Martial Artist physical fitness, while Zhu Hongyu was still dozens of kilograms short.

Wu Ming then summoned the three of them and revealed the information about the Genetic Energy Cultivation Method. Only then did they understand that there was actually another path beyond Internal Martial Arts.

He gave the Five Hearts Toward Heaven method to Jia Yi and Ruan Qingzhu, telling them to focus on comprehending it according to its records. As for Zhu Hongyu, she could only continue tempering herself for another two days and wait until her body met the standard before he taught her.

Two days soon passed, and Zhu Hongyu finally reached the Quasi-Martial Artist level as well. After receiving the cultivation method, she happily returned to her dormitory to study it. The rear mountain training grounds finally became quiet, with only Wu Ming remaining there each day to practice saber techniques.

Time soon reached the end of February.

During this period, Wu Ming progressed rapidly. His saber techniques could no longer merely be called proficient. They moved as his heart desired, followed the blade naturally, and allowed him to make the most perfect response without thinking.

At this point, his saber techniques had finally entered the Basic Mastery stage, and he could now look ahead to the Microscopic Level.

Good fortune came in pairs. Not long after Wu Ming's saber techniques broke through, inspiration suddenly struck him during evasion training. He understood the final key and successfully pushed his movement techniques into Basic Mastery as well.

Then, on the morning of February 28, a figure wearing a Zhongshan suit stepped through the martial arts school gates once more.

The school master, Jia Qingshan, had returned!