Talent: Malice Sense

Yang Feng had urged him to practice Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake more often.

But without the Rebirth Record, Lin Qing felt that practicing on his own was too inefficient.

Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake can wait. There are still four months. I'll have another chance to come across a constable's corpse. Once I copy a Perfect Mastery Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake, the Reexamination won't be a problem, Lin Qing thought.

He had made a point of asking around. To pass the Reexamination, he needed to master at least one form of force—which meant bringing Eight Strikes of the Spirit Snake to Perfect Mastery.

While he was pondering this, Yu Qiuyu approached from a distance. "Lin Qing, Cao Tian! A batch of corpses arrived from outside the city yesterday. You two, come with me!"

"Right!"

The two answered and followed Yu Qiuyu straight to the Cremation Ground courtyard.

Lin Qing swept his gaze over the eight corpses on the ground. Four were elderly, two were young men, and the remaining two were girls who looked fifteen or sixteen.

After circling them, Lin Qing felt a pang of regret. Eight more ordinary people. Martial Artists are far too few in this age.

Since the Rebirth Record had advanced to the second tier, its abilities had improved as well.

Now, he could see what level of martial arts a corpse had attained in life without touching it. He only needed to come within two meters of the body.

Lin Qing took responsibility for the two young men's corpses, along with one of the girls.

Both men looked sturdy, so he had thought they might have trained in martial arts. To his disappointment, they were brothers from a long line of fishermen who had never learned any. Heavy rain the day before had triggered a mudslide that crushed their house and buried the whole family alive. The two girls had died the same way.

Most of their skills were useless to him. Picking the general from among the dwarves, Lin Qing chose one Major Mastery swimming skill and one excellent-grade Aquatic Mastery talent.

He then placed the girl's corpse in the cremation furnace. He had not expected much, but she gave him a small surprise.

Crackle!

Flames rolled over the girl's body, swiftly reducing it to ash. Lin Qing saw fragments of her memories from life.

The images were badly broken, and their contents painfully ordinary. Born into a poor family, she had helped her parents with household chores since childhood. Day followed day in the same pattern until the mudslide came and buried her.

Her entire life had ended after a mere fourteen years, without her ever experiencing anything beautiful. Such was the lot of most poor, suffering people at the bottom of society in this age.

Lin Qing had seen too many memories and learned too much about the lives of the poor. His heart had long since grown still.

Then a series of messages appeared before him.

[Please copy one martial art, skill, or talent]

1. Talent: Malice Sense (excellent)

Grants exceptionally keen awareness of killing intent and malice directed at oneself, causing a faint palpitation and unease before danger arrives.

2. Skill: Wilderness Survival (beginner)

Teaches how to find the most hidden shelters in mountains, forests, and wastelands and recognize traces of wild beasts. Learning it can greatly improve one's ability to survive in the wild.

3. Flora Identification (Minor Mastery)

Learning it allows one to identify more than sixty kinds of wild vegetables and fruits and over twenty medicinal herbs in the mountains of the Shu Region.

4. Skill: Fishing (proficient)

...

At the sight of the first talent, delight rose in Lin Qing's heart. Not every ordinary person's corpse was useless. Some people had unusual constitutions and possessed talents all their own, like Malice Sense.

It was not a martial art, but a talent like this was exceedingly rare and worth more than most martial arts.

With a thought, Lin Qing chose to copy it.

After returning from the Cremation Ground courtyard, Lin Qing's life settled down again.

Aside from eating, drinking, and attending to his bodily needs, he trained in martial arts. Occasionally, he patrolled the Dungeon or handled corpses, and every seven days he sparred in the ring to hone his combat skills.

Life was busy, but Lin Qing enjoyed it. His abilities were growing rapidly, and that gave him peace of mind.

Time flew. In the blink of an eye, three months had passed.

One day,

at dawn, while the sky was still dim, Lin Qing was once again the first to rise and reach the Martial Arts Arena.

Heavy rain had fallen the night before, leaving the morning air wonderfully fresh. Lin Qing took several deep breaths and felt completely alert.

He went to the northeast corner of the Martial Arts Arena, where several wooden dummies stood.

Stopping thirty paces from the leftmost dummy, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few pebbles.

"Go!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Three pebbles flew from his hand and struck the dummy's head, producing three dull thuds.

On the panel, his Locust Stone proficiency rose to 99%.

"Just one percent from Perfect Mastery," Lin Qing murmured.

For the past three months, he had spent an hour every day practicing Locust Stone.

This martial art was simple to practice, yet highly useful.

Once he brought it to Perfect Mastery, he could free up an equipment slot for another martial art.

Crack! Crack!

For a while, Lin Qing kept flinging pebbles at the wooden dummy ahead. Seven or eight out of every ten hit, an excellent rate.

About half an hour later, another pebble flew from his hand and struck the dummy's abdomen.

Thud!

The wooden dummy rocked. On the panel, his Locust Stone proficiency suddenly climbed to 100%, and its level rose to Perfect Mastery.

"Finally, Perfect Mastery."

Lin Qing was delighted. Every bit of strength he gained made him feel more secure.

At Perfect Mastery, Locust Stone can hit whatever I aim at within thirty paces, eight or nine times out of ten.

I wonder what it can do at Limit-Breaking?

As Lin Qing pondered, he equipped the Perfect Mastery Locust Stone with a thought.

In an instant, its level on the panel changed from Perfect Mastery to Limit-Breaking. A wealth of information surfaced in Lin Qing's mind, and his understanding of the martial art deepened at astonishing speed.

"Perfect Mastery reaches thirty paces, but Limit-Breaking can reach fifty!"

Understanding dawned on Lin Qing. He stepped back another twenty paces, then abruptly flicked his hand. A pebble shot out with a whistle, struck the dummy dead center, and landed with a dull crack.

That impact was plainly louder than the earlier ones.

Lin Qing flung several more pebbles in succession. Every one hit its mark.

Delight stirred in him again. The stones were flying faster and striking harder.

Not bad! With the Rebirth Record behind me, even the most ordinary martial art can be transformed in my hands and unleash extraordinary power, Lin Qing thought.

By then, Yu Qiuyu and the others had begun arriving one after another.

"Lin Qing, you really work yourself hard. First here again," Yu Qiuyu said with a smile.

"Exactly. No wonder the Constable Chief chose you as his disciple," Cao Tian added, stumbling over his words. "With your talent and how hard you work, you're bound to accomplish great things someday."

The others looked impressed as well. For three months, they had watched Lin Qing rise early to train every single day.

Lin Qing smiled. "Brothers, you flatter me. I just don't want to let my master down. Come on, Brother Yu. Let's trade a few moves."

"Good!"

They drew their sabers and began sparring in Saber Art on the open ground nearby.

Yu Qiuyu had also learned Lone Swan Reflecting Shadow. They traded blows as saber flashes flickered between them, swiftly passing thirty exchanges.

Then, with a sharp clang, Yu Qiuyu's saber was knocked from his hand. It spun through the air and plunged into the ground a short distance away.