Qi-Blood First Stage

"Uh!"

Li Feng's heart gave a sudden leap.

He had just used the Heavenly Dao panel to pay off his Archery debt, bringing his progress to 100%.

He had been worrying about where to find a saber manual to practice next and shore up his weakness in close combat, only to lay his hands on one a moment later.

Had he found a ledger or a map, he would certainly have pretended not to see it. But a battered saber manual was probably just something this gang member had secretly stashed away, and should not bring him too much trouble.

Besides, this was exactly what he urgently needed: genuine martial arts with which to defend himself.

Without changing his expression, Li Feng concealed his movements beneath his broad sleeve and swiftly slipped the booklet into his robes.

Nearby, Zhang San and the others were quietly making a tidy profit. Even if they caught something out of the corners of their eyes, they all observed the unspoken understanding among temporary runners and would not come over to pry.

"Let's go!" called an older White Runner at the head of the group.

After a flurry of work, they loaded all the corpses onto the battered wooden handcart, then pushed it out of the city.

The mass grave lay a short distance outside the city. Once they delivered the corpses, they simply tossed them into a deep pit, not even bothering to cover them.

Wild beasts prowled outside the city at night. All this flesh and blood would feed them nicely, rather than being left to rot and spread disease.

War and chaos raged beyond the walls, and none of them wanted to remain outside a moment longer than necessary. Every extra moment meant a little more danger.

After dumping the bodies, they hurried back to the city at a jog. Only when they stepped through the gates of Blackrock City again did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, as though a weight had been lifted.

"Brother Li, today's job was bad luck. Why not come to the Spring Breeze House with us for a drink and a few songs?" Zhang San suggested with a cheerful smile, brushing the dust off his clothes.

"No, I'm really worn out today. Besides, my pockets are cleaner than my face. I'm strapped for cash, so I'll have to pass on drinking with you."

Li Feng waved a hand. Feeling the Water-Cutting Saber Art manual through his clothes, he was already itching to get home and study it.

Since coming to this world, he had yet to experience listening to songs in a Brothel. Of course he wanted to, but his purse was painfully light.

Although the work of a White Runner was relatively steady, the pay was actually meager. What little money he received barely covered his everyday meals. It was nowhere near enough to splurge on drinks with courtesans.

Besides, treating his sister-in-law's injuries still required a great deal of silver. And if word got back to her that he had gone drinking with courtesans, she would probably skin him alive, even with only one hand.

After politely declining Zhang San and the others, Li Feng forced down his excitement and patiently finished the day's street patrol.

When he finally made it to the end of his shift at dusk, he hurried home.

After opening the door and stepping inside, Li Feng took a deep breath, shut the doors and windows tight, and carefully drew the curtains.

Only after making certain everything was secure did he sit down beside the bed and take out the Water-Cutting Saber Art manual he had looted from a corpse that morning.

After calming his excitement, Li Feng silently called up the Heavenly Dao panel. He had intended to max out the art with a single click, but found that no prompt appeared.

"Almost forgot..." Li Feng tapped his forehead and quickly calmed down.

Although the Heavenly Dao Advance Panel could max out a skill with a single click, it was not without restrictions.

Whatever skill or martial art he learned, he first had to practice it to the beginner level himself. Only after the panel successfully recorded it could he take an advance on its fully mastered version.

Then let's get practicing!

Li Feng opened the slightly battered booklet and studied it carefully by the faint lamplight.

Although the Water-Cutting Saber Art was merely a low-grade martial art practiced by rank-and-file gang members, it still seemed somewhat obscure to Li Feng, who had yet to cross the threshold of the Martial Dao.

Fortunately, the original owner of his body had worked at the City Guard Office for several months. Through constant exposure, he had picked up some knowledge of martial fundamentals.

After studying for nearly an hour and memorizing all the illustrated moves, Li Feng took a deep breath, picked up his standard-issue saber, and went into the courtyard to practice.

Opening stance, rising diagonal slash, horizontal cut, downward cleave, water-cutting...

At first, his movements were terribly stiff, and he had no idea how to channel his strength. Several times, he nearly sprained his wrist.

But he did not stop. Gritting his teeth, he stubbornly persisted, swinging his saber again and again, correcting his posture again and again.

Two hours, four hours, six hours...

Li Feng felt that his stamina had completely run dry. He no longer even had the strength to grip his saber and could only keep practicing on instinct.

Suddenly, a spark of insight flashed through his mind. At that moment, the strength of his arms, waist, abdomen, and legs flowed together as one!

Whoosh—

The blade sliced through the deep night air with a sharp whistle.

At the same time, the panel finally recorded the Water-Cutting Saber Art:

[Heavenly Dao Advance Panel]

[Advances currently available: 1]

[Beginner-level martial art detected: "Water-Cutting Saber Art" (beginner). Take an advance?]

"Finally reached the beginner level."

Li Feng panted heavily a few times. His legs gave way, and he slumped straight to the ground.

"Give me the points! Water-Cutting Saber Art!"

With a shift of his thoughts, vast streams of information instantly poured into his mind.

All of it concerned insights into practicing the Water-Cutting Saber Art. Li Feng instantly understood, absorbed, and thoroughly digested the complex information, as though he had entered a state of utter self-forgetfulness.

The insights into every move and every form did not feel as though they had appeared from nowhere. It was as though Li Feng had acquired them bit by bit through his own practice. They were deeply engraved in his mind, becoming instincts etched into his bones.

Not only that, but as his understanding of the Water-Cutting Saber Art deepened, qi and blood began to surge within his formerly thin, frail body.

This immense qi and blood coursed through every limb and bone, continually strengthening his muscles, tendons, and bones with a series of faint sounds.

"Hah!"

Li Feng clenched his teeth tightly, forcing himself to endure the excruciating pain.

After an unknown length of time, the burning heat and agony within his body gradually receded. An unprecedented sense of fullness and strength welled up inside him. Even the exhaustion from practicing all night was swept away by this newborn power.

He slowly opened his eyes and rose from the ground:

[Advance taken 1: Archery Mastery (100% repaid)]

[Advance taken 2: "Water-Cutting Saber Art," perfection (debt repayment progress: 0%)]

[Advances currently available: 0]

[Current realm: Qi-Blood First Stage]

"Qi-Blood First Stage!"

Li Feng clenched his fists, feeling the power surging through his body. His heart soared with excitement.

He had actually reached the Qi-Blood First Stage!

He had thought the Water-Cutting Saber Art was merely a low-grade martial art, useful at most for self-defense once perfected. He had never expected it to bring him into the Qi-Blood First Stage, or even let him cultivate a trace of Blade Force. Generally speaking, external training primarily developed methods for facing an enemy; only internal training could cultivate qi and blood.

It seemed the Water-Cutting Saber Art was not as simple as it appeared.

Although he had anticipated this early on, when it actually happened to him, Li Feng still felt a sense of unreality.

How arduous the path of the Martial Dao was!

Without a martial instructor's guidance, someone of ordinary talent would often need several years to formally enter the Martial Dao and reach the Qi-Blood First Stage.

Even a gifted prodigy, with a martial instructor's guidance and medicinal decoctions to assist them, would need several months at the very least.

Yet he, Li Feng, had gone from an ordinary man to perfecting a saber art and developing saber force in a single night. His cultivation had risen to the qi-blood first stage along with it.

At the City Guard Office, the formally appointed runners generally had Martial Dao cultivation around the Qi-Blood Second Level, while the temporary White Runners were usually at the Qi-Blood First Stage.

But even the official runners generally only reached minor accomplishment in their external arts, such as saber techniques and fist techniques. Although Li Feng's Martial Dao realm was still below theirs, he might not be any worse than them in an actual fight.

"Now I just need to practice my saber in secret every day and pay off what I owe the panel."

Li Feng let out a long breath of stale air.