Entering Martial Second Layer

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Ordinary Bandit

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Entering Martial Second Layer

Cultivation technique: Body Tempering Scripture, second layer (five layers total) (Mortal Tier, Low Grade)

Life Source: 0

Equipment: Damaged saber, worn-out shirt, worn-out trousers, worn-out straw sandals

His single point of Life Source had dropped straight to zero.

His Body Tempering Scripture had advanced from the first layer to the second, and his realm had changed from Entering Martial First Layer to Entering Martial Second Layer.

"My strength has roughly doubled."

Qin Shujian picked up the damaged saber from the ground and hefted it, finding it much lighter than before.

There were even faint bulges of muscle on his formerly scrawny arms.

He then stretched and moved around on the spot, gaining a clearer understanding of his own body.

"Every aspect of my physical fitness seems to have improved somewhat, but not as noticeably as my strength."

He pinched his muscles. Even the skin covering them had become slightly tougher.

This was the effect of advancing the Body Tempering Scripture by one layer.

The Body Tempering Scripture seemed to be Liangshan Stronghold's exclusive cultivation technique. At any rate, every NPC Qin Shujian had encountered so far practiced it.

As for what the Body Tempering Scripture did, its name said it all: it tempered the body.

It refined the body and nurtured strength.

Upon mastering the fifth layer, power would permeate the entire body, allowing every move to unleash its full strength.

As for the "Mortal Tier, Low Grade" displayed beside the Body Tempering Scripture, Qin Shujian guessed that it indicated the technique's rank.

By the usual logic, this would be the lowest rank.

Above it, there should be ranks such as Mortal Tier, Middle Grade and Mortal Tier, High Grade.

Even if he had never done it himself, surely he had seen enough to know how it worked?

Qin Shujian did know a little of this standard otherworld— ahem... gaming theory.

As for Life Source...

"Killing an NPC named Zhang Ergou added a Life Source attribute. I probably get it from killing NPCs, but I wonder if killing players works too."

Qin Shujian's mind raced.

"Spending one point of Life Source raised the Body Tempering Scripture by one layer and my realm by one layer. That's basically gaining a level outright. If that's how it works, leveling up in this game is pretty easy."

"After all... these unintelligent NPCs in Liangshan Stronghold probably wouldn't imagine that one of their companions wanted to hurt them."

"I wonder if Zhang Ergou has respawned by now?"

Before he knew it, his thoughts had wandered again.

Suddenly—

Qin Shujian shook his head hard. Thinking about these things now would do him no good.

His immediate priority was to find a way to raise the Body Tempering Scripture to the fifth layer.

That would let him bring his strength to a higher level before the players arrived and escape his role as a cannon-fodder NPC.

Having set a rough goal for his "short-term" future, he was ready.

Qin Shujian gripped his damaged saber and stepped out from behind the boulder.

As luck would have it, another patrolling mountain bandit was approaching from a distance.

Qin Shujian walked openly toward him.

Like Zhang Ergou, this patrolling bandit showed no wariness toward Qin Shujian.

Even when Qin Shujian drew close, the bandit merely glanced at him before walking straight past.

Once the patrolling bandit's back was turned, Qin Shujian clamped one hand over his mouth and nose, locked his other arm around his throat, and dragged him behind the boulder.

Advancing to the Entering Martial Second Layer had doubled his strength.

The patrolling bandit, who was only at entering martial first layer, could barely resist Qin Shujian and was dragged away with ease.

He repeated the same method.

His blade rose and fell.

Blood sprayed again, and another patrolling bandit collapsed, confusion still written across his face.

This time, Qin Shujian had some experience. Although his face still paled at the bloody sight, he no longer staggered and fell to the ground.

But—

The scene was simply too real.

It was so real that the thick stench of blood kept filling Qin Shujian's nostrils with every breath.

He could only silently repeat, This isn't real. It's just a game. All I killed was an NPC, to comfort himself.

Now familiar with the process, he checked his status panel:

Name: Qin Shujian

Identity: Ordinary Bandit

Affiliation: Liangshan Stronghold

Realm: Entering Martial Second Layer

Cultivation technique: Body Tempering Scripture, second layer (five layers total) (Mortal Tier, Low Grade)

Life Source: 1

Equipment: Damaged saber, worn-out shirt, worn-out trousers, tattered straw sandals

Just as Qin Shujian had thought, killing an NPC did indeed add one point of Life Source.

But—

Qin Shujian stared at the cultivation technique field, his brows drawing into a deep frown.

The plus sign he had expected did not appear this time.

That meant he could not upgrade the Body Tempering Scripture this time.

One point of Life Source was enough to raise the Body Tempering Scripture by one layer before. Now I have one point of Life Source again, but I can't upgrade it. Is it because I don't have enough Life Source, or because I can't upgrade it twice in succession?

Qin Shujian pondered.

If it was the first reason, that was fine. At worst, he would have to kill a few more NPCs. He had never really expected a single NPC to be enough to raise the Body Tempering Scripture by one layer every time.

If it were truly that easy, he would probably only need to kill a handful of mountain bandits to max out the Body Tempering Scripture.

But if it was the latter, things would be troublesome.

Because time was what he lacked most right now.

If every advancement came with a cooldown, that would be bad news indeed.

When the fallen bandit disappeared, Qin Shujian made up his mind to keep testing his guess.

After all, any hypothesis needed to be tested in practice.

Fortunately, whatever else Liangshan Stronghold lacked, it had mountain bandits to spare.

At least fifty mountain bandits were gathered on this small mountain.

Soon, Qin Shujian left the spot.

The disappearance of two mountain bandits did not seem to have attracted Liangshan Stronghold's attention.

Or rather, no one even knew that the two bandits had gone missing.

Before long, Qin Shujian encountered another lone bandit, wandering leisurely around the mountain on patrol.

His two previous successes had given him plenty of confidence.

Nothing unexpected happened.

With almost practiced ease, he dragged the lone bandit to a spot that more or less concealed them from view, then finished him off swiftly and cleanly.

After killing this bandit, Qin Shujian checked his stats again.

As expected, his Life Source had risen from one point to two.

But in the cultivation technique field, "Body Tempering Scripture, second layer" still sat there alone, completely unchanged.

The plus sign he had expected had not appeared.

Qin Shujian took a deep breath and steadied himself. He could only attribute it to still not having enough Life Source.

After all—

He did not want to admit that advancing the Body Tempering Scripture might really have a cooldown.

After suppressing his agitation, he immediately chose his next target.

One, two...

Every time he killed a Bandit, Qin Shujian checked his stats. Finding no change, he continued looking for another Bandit to attack.

When he killed the fourth Bandit...

Qin Shujian checked his stats once more, and his expression finally changed.