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"Calming Incense?"

Chen Yiming hadn't expected such a thing to exist. Wasn't it much like the sleeping pills from his previous life?

But he had no need for it right now. For him, every day of training was a chance to accumulate skill points. He could clearly see the results of his efforts, gaining skill points at regular intervals.

Wang Bowen gestured toward the students sparring and sighed.

"Most students didn't start out treating training like a job. But their talent limits them. They get stuck at a hurdle for a long time without making the slightest progress, then gradually grow lost and lose confidence."

"You've only been at the school and training properly for a month. The early hurdles have been easy for you to overcome, but sooner or later, you'll hit one that stops you, just like them."

"When that happens, everyone has their own way of dealing with it. No one else can teach you how. In the end, you'll have to work it out yourself."

Wang Bowen greatly admired Chen Yiming's attitude toward training; it reminded him of his own. He went on to explain several things Chen Yiming needed to watch out for after his breakthrough.

With a light flick of his wrist, he spun his sword through a few flourishes and smiled.

"It's been ages since I used a wooden sword. It feels so light I'm not used to it."

"I'll hold back my strength, speed, and reflexes to the level of someone who's undergone one body transformation. Give it everything you've got."

Chen Yiming understood the gesture. He drew his sword and gave a warning.

"Senior Brother Wang, here I come."

He pushed lightly off the ground, using less than a tenth of his strength, and opened with a thrust.

Wang Bowen turned his wooden sword sideways and caught the thrust with a deft block, easily dissipating its force. He retreated in quick, short steps, defending against a tide of thrusts.

"Your strength, speed, and attack rate are just above the standard for one body transformation. Can you go faster? Don't worry about hurting me."

Wang Bowen had enough attention to spare for commentary even while defending.

After eight body transformations, his body was as tough as steel. Apart from a few places such as his eyes and ears, Chen Yiming couldn't have broken his skin even if Wang Bowen had stood still and let him attack.

They switched rapidly between offense and defense, Chen Yiming attacking one moment and Wang Bowen the next. Chen Yiming raised his strength a little—by about one percent.

In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged dozens of moves. Eventually, they even used Mantis Snake Swordsmanship.

After dodging the eighth form of Mantis Snake Swordsmanship, Shadow Thrust, Chen Yiming feigned exhaustion, stumbled, and quickly opened up some distance.

"Senior Brother Wang, let's take a break. I'm done."

Chen Yiming gulped down air and raised a hand to signal a pause.

He had timed how long he could keep going to match someone who had only just broken through. Wang Bowen was forced to stop before he'd had his fill of the fight.

They lowered their swords and stopped. Wang Bowen praised him.

"Not bad. Your body has only just passed the standard for one body transformation, but your swordsmanship is exquisite."

What surprised Wang Bowen was that, over their dozens of exchanges, he had gradually raised his strength to the limit of one body transformation, yet it had made little difference. The fight remained evenly matched.

"Not at all. You had to hold back, Senior Brother, which made it hard for you to fight freely. Otherwise, I'd be no match for you," Chen Yiming said modestly.

Of the marks left on their wooden swords, Wang Bowen's sword clearly had more.

That meant Wang Bowen had been at a disadvantage in swordsmanship when they fought at the same level. Chen Yiming had controlled the pace for most of the bout.

Wang Bowen paid it no mind. He believed that holding back had made it difficult for his body to adjust so quickly, leaving his swordwork less precise than usual.

Chen Yiming, meanwhile, had gotten a clear measure of Senior Brother Wang's swordsmanship. Both had unquestionably mastered Mantis Snake Swordsmanship to an advanced level, but Wang Bowen's talent with the sword fell well short of Chen Yiming's level-one swordsmanship talent.

That meant that, when fighting at the same level, Chen Yiming could easily take the initiative and gain the upper hand whenever he wanted.

A saying from his previous life suddenly came to mind, about the difference between two perfect scores.

You scored a hundred because a hundred was all you were capable of. I scored a hundred because that was all the test was worth.

During the break, Wang Bowen calmed down and replayed their exchanges in his mind several times. He noticed something was a little off.

His talent for swordsmanship wasn't top-tier; at the school, it could only be considered above average. He owed his current achievements mainly to his top-tier physical talent, which made the hurdles of body tempering easier for him than for others.

But he still shouldn't have been completely outmatched in a sword fight with Chen Yiming at the same level. Chen Yiming had been at the school for only a month at most, while Wang Bowen had been there for nearly ten years.

That meant Chen Yiming's talent for swordsmanship might be even greater than Wang Bowen had first estimated. If so, he would have to start treating Chen Yiming as a peer.

An idea suddenly struck Wang Bowen.

To strengthen their relationship further, he could recommend Chen Yiming to his master for an early Core Disciple assessment.

There were nine Core Disciples in total. They were far from a united group, having split into three factions.

Wang Bowen led one of those factions. A promising core student like Chen Yiming had happened to be assigned to him, so they already had a closer connection from the start.

While Wang Bowen and Chen Yiming traded blows, the other students had long since lost interest in the training lesson. They were all sneaking glances at the fight.

Zhang Youde's sparring partner happened to be a younger follower who attended lessons alongside him.

At that moment, Zhang Youde could no longer suppress his anger. Forgetting the confident, steady image he maintained as the leader of his group, he struck until his follower begged for mercy.

On the surface, Chen Yiming's performance suggested he could fight Wang Bowen to a draw when Wang Bowen held himself to the same level. Against an ordinary student who had undergone two body transformations, he might even be able to fight above his level.

After all, the gap in raw strength between one and two body transformations wasn't large. It wasn't like the leap that came with a third transformation.

Zhang Youde had joined the school to meet capable people outside his family and expand his network. Only then could he secure a position of power within the family in the future.

Now his follower had ruined an opportunity that had fallen right into his lap. How could Zhang Youde not be furious?

He had a vague feeling that, if he could become sworn brothers with Chen Yiming, he might even have a chance at becoming head of the family one day.

In a corner of the courtyard, Liang Lele beat Zhao Jingru back step by step.

Taking advantage of Zhao Jingru’s distraction, Liang Lele thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of having the upper hand throughout their bout. After all, Zhao Jingru was slightly stronger than Liang Lele, and Liang Lele usually lost more often than she won when they fought.

Zhao Jingru felt hollow, as though she had lost something important.

She came from a family of small-time merchants and had been exposed to bits of information about high society since childhood.

Good-looking and fairly talented at martial arts, she had grown up as the center of attention wherever she went. It was only after entering the school that she became ordinary.

Being so outstanding herself, she naturally believed that only a man even more outstanding was worthy of being her partner.

That was why she had always set her sights on geniuses at the level of First Senior Brother Zhang Yixuan.

But she also knew she had almost no chance with an established genius like Zhang Yixuan. Her real targets were rising stars with potential.

Completing his First Body Metamorphosis in a month and holding his own against Wang Bowen at the same level, Chen Yiming perfectly fit the criteria for her ideal target.

But Chen Yiming had risen too quickly. Every time he made a move, he overturned everyone's expectations. While she was still maintaining her aloof-goddess image, he had already raced so far ahead that she could barely reach the hem of his clothes.