Mizong Step Reaches Great Accomplishment!

The next morning, at dawn.

A faint light glowed at the horizon. In the quiet bedroom, Li Qingshan quietly opened his eyes.

"Comfortable!"

Turning over and sitting up, Li Qingshan stretched lazily, feeling utterly refreshed all over.

He got out of bed and walked to the bathroom.

Li Qingshan cupped a handful of cold water and splashed it on his face, then looked up at the mirror.

In the mirror, the dark circles under his eyes had long faded. He looked spirited, with droplets of water sliding down his chiseled face.

"I definitely lowballed that last 100 million—with a face like this, I should've asked for at least 10 million!"

Li Qingshan smiled in satisfaction, turned, and walked to the living room.

Staring at the empty living room, he felt a momentary sense of aimlessness.

Recently, he hadn't woken up this early at all, and he had no training plan for this time of day.

His gaze swept to the left wall, where the Chopping Knife leaned against it.

"Blade technique!"

Li Qingshan recalled yesterday's plan, raised his wrist, and tapped open the Communicator, finding the separately saved compressed file.

Wind Shadow Blade!

The materials for Wind Shadow Blade were similar to Mizong Step—text and images paired with video explanations.

But compared to the inhuman entry requirements of Mizong Step, Wind Shadow Blade was much simpler.

The set of blade moves wasn't complicated; its only trait was speed!

In the video, a middle-aged instructor briefly demonstrated the full set of moves, then suddenly accelerated.

"Blade technique at proficiency: Strike Like Wind!"

As the words fell, cold light flashed, like a howling gale, unceasing and relentless.

"Blade technique at mastery: Long Blade Breaks Wind!"

A sound of wind splitting rang out as the long blade cut through the gale, sharp and fierce.

"Blade Light Becomes Shadow!"

The blade light grew faster and faster, leaving trails of afterimages.

Li Qingshan's eyes blurred; he couldn't track the long blade at all and couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

"So this is Wind Shadow Blade at Great Accomplishment?"

In the video, the instructor's demonstration didn't stop, and his movements grew even faster.

"Wind Shadow Follows, blade technique at perfection!"

The blade light whipped up a gale, swirling around his body, as afterimages solidified in the wind.

In an instant, three streaks of blade light, almost tangible, extended from different angles.

It was as if three people were striking with blades simultaneously within the gale.

Li Qingshan blinked, observing closely.

But no matter how he looked, he couldn't tell which was real.

"Or rather, are all three streaks of blade light real?"

Just as Li Qingshan felt a glimmer of understanding, the blade light gradually ceased, the wind shadows dissipated, and the middle-aged instructor sheathed his blade.

"Whew!"

Li Qingshan let out a long breath.

Strike Like Wind, Long Blade Breaks Wind, Blade Light Becomes Shadow, Wind Shadow Follows—

these were the distinct traits of Wind Shadow Blade at the four stages: proficiency, mastery, Great Accomplishment, and perfection.

"First, let's get started."

Li Qingshan calmed his surging emotions, reopened the video, and repeatedly watched the initial blade move demonstration, cross-referencing the text and images to understand and memorize.

Half an hour later, Li Qingshan picked up the Chopping Knife by the wall and turned to head out.

It was still early; only a few elderly people were doing morning exercises in the neighborhood. Li Qingshan found a random patch of grass, drew the blade from its sheath.

After taking a few deep breaths, he began to move the long blade.

Wind Shadow Blade was characterized by speed, but Li Qingshan's movements were exceptionally slow, looking almost no different from the elderly folks exercising nearby.

Chop, hack, slice, lift, parry...

Li Qingshan focused intently, recalling every detail of each blade technique in his mind before executing it with the chopping knife in hand.

Ten minutes later, the full set of techniques was completed.

Li Qingshan paused, then struck out with the blade again.

The same moves, the same techniques.

But this time, the blade's momentum was no longer sluggish—it was sharp and swift.

In less than a minute, the entire set was finished.

"The status panel really is reliable!"

A smile tugged at Li Qingshan's lips as he sheathed the knife and swept his gaze over the panel.

[Li Qingshan]

[Realm: Body Forging 12/100]

[Techniques:

The Thirty-Sixth Set of Broadcast Gymnastics—The Stars Are Calling 22/1000 (Proficient)]

[Martial Skills: Mizong Step 2/1000 (Proficient), Wind Shadow Blade 2/100 (Beginner)]

[Functions: Martial Arts Space Lv1 (1/100)]

[Available Time: 356 days]

[Time Flow Rate: 1:10]

School, Martial Arts Hall.

Wan Keshan walked in through the front door, scanned the room as usual, and finally fixed his gaze on Li Qingshan.

After sizing him up, Wan Keshan gave a satisfied smile and waved for the students to spread out and begin training.

Evening, back at home.

"The break's over. Time to keep pushing."

Li Qingshan chuckled, took out a bottle of nutrient solution, downed it, and continued body forging.

Every session of body forging left one utterly exhausted.

But Li Qingshan relished it, carefully savoring the feeling of his body growing stronger bit by bit.

By late night, the four rounds of body forging were finally complete.

Li Qingshan rinsed off briefly, grabbed the chopping knife, and lay down on the bed.

"Wolf Poison... today I won't just offer my neck for the slaughter."

His spirits high, Li Qingshan closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was back in the Martial Arts Space.

Li Qingshan gripped the knife handle, twisted his right foot, and in an instant spun around to face Wolf Poison.

Wolf Poison let out a low growl, pushed off with its hind legs, and lunged forward.

A hundred meters—Wolf Poison would cover it in two seconds.

Once, those two seconds had been Li Qingshan's "lifeline," letting him dodge Wolf Poison's first pounce.

But now, Li Qingshan realized he didn't have to just dodge!

Instead of retreating, he charged straight at Wolf Poison.

Man and beast, spanning a hundred meters, were about to collide in an instant.

Li Qingshan's footwork suddenly shifted. Mizong Step became instinct, his body veering sharply to Wolf Poison's right as his right hand raised the chopping knife and slashed out in a flash.

Wolf Poison landed, a gash left across its back.

Li Qingshan's expression didn't relax at all, his eyes locked on Wolf Poison ten meters away.

Ten meters—just one leap for Wolf Poison. He'd never dodged its second pounce before.

Wolf Poison snarled and lunged again.

Li Qingshan had no time to think, only to react on instinct, taking a single step.

Their bodies crossed, the massive form sweeping past his vision.

"I dodged it!"

The thought barely flashed through his mind when a claw swiped from behind...

In the bedroom, Li Qingshan opened his eyes, briefly replaying the exchange in his mind, then began another attempt.

Over the course of one night, with an absolute gap in speed, Li Qingshan could only rely on his body's instincts to step and dodge.

If he was lucky, he could evade three to five attacks from Wolf Poison.

If he was unlucky, he couldn't even avoid the second pounce.

Still, compared to before, dying a thousand times in a single night at the wolf's jaws was already a significant improvement.

The extra survival time also allowed the Mizong Step and Wind Shadow Blade to improve faster.

Time passed, day after day.

Li Qingshan traveled between home and school every day, a straight line between two points.

He practiced Body Forging daily—twice at school, four times at home—without ever skipping.

His body grew stronger, and both his Body Forging progress and the proficiency of The Stars Are Calling inched upward bit by bit.

However, the Mizong Step and Wind Shadow Blade improved even faster.

Almost every night, Li Qingshan trained for over twenty hours in the Martial Arts Space.

Worth mentioning, perhaps because he died less often, when he woke up the next morning, though somewhat tired, his mental state was noticeably better than before.

In the blink of an eye, twenty days passed.

In the pitch-black bedroom, Li Qingshan's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp and piercing.