Taking Long Xingyu as His Master?

His Innate Internal Spiritual Power was eighty-nine, just shy of ninety. He would definitely raise it, but not now. After all, if anyone noticed, he would have trouble explaining it. It might also cost him the chance to choose a Starshine Unicorn as his mount companion.

Looking at the three free attribute points on his panel, Yue Shen found himself at a loss as to where to put them.

Since he could not raise his Innate Internal Spiritual Power yet, Yue Shen looked over his Status Panel again, searching for another attribute worth investing in.

But after looking through them all, Yue Shen felt even more torn.

To him, the other attributes were either things like stamina and mental power, which grew naturally and were not particularly worth spending points on,

or rather baffling attributes like popularity with the opposite sex and popularity with the same sex.

Besides, apart from his popularity with the same sex being slightly below average, all those attributes were fairly high. Adding points would hardly change much, and he did not feel there was any need to raise them.

Yue Shen had a compulsive streak. Looking at those two spare free attribute points made him deeply uncomfortable.

He went through his Status Panel again and finally found an attribute that was not a round number, did not grow naturally, and did not seem baffling.

[Charm: 98 (ethereal beauty)]

Yue Shen fell silent for a moment, then discreetly raised his charm to one hundred.

He reserved the remaining point for his Innate Internal Spiritual Power. Until he reached the fourth tier and earned more free attribute points, he had no intention of spending it.

Why did he not save all his free attribute points to raise his innate inner spiritual power? Because players could only raise that attribute to ninety-nine.

After all, once Innate Internal Spiritual Power exceeded one hundred, it became a divine physique. Raising it further was not something the system alone could accomplish.

Having resolved the difficult question of where to put his attribute points, Yue Shen ended his meditation.

Although he did not know how much time had passed, he figured he must have been meditating for nearly half a day. Surely the teacher assigned to guide him had arrived by now?

"You're the disciple Deputy Temple Master Han found for me?" A slightly deep male voice sounded behind Yue Shen.

Yue Shen froze for a moment, then immediately turned around. Only then did he discover that a tall man had appeared behind him at some point.

Between the poor lighting in the meditation chamber and the man's much taller frame, Yue Shen could not make out his face at all. But he had an identification tool.

[???]

[???]

[Attitude: impatient]

[???]

Yue Shen: "???"

Apparently, his identification tool was more than just a little useless...

"Hello. Are you the teacher assigned to guide me?" Yue Shen asked quietly.

Although his identification tool had proved unhelpful, if the man really was a Divine Seal Knight, Yue Shen could work out his identity from the attitude field.

Long Xingyu.

After all, in the entire Knight Temple, Long Xingyu was the only person who might feel impatient with a genius whose Innate Internal Spiritual Power was as high as eighty-nine.

"Don't call me your teacher. I don't take disciples," the man said gravely. "And if you fail my test, I'll have the temple assign you another instructor."

Yue Shen was taken aback and instinctively asked, "What test?"

"Last three breaths under my attacks without losing, and you pass," the man said with a trace of disdain, seemingly certain that Yue Shen could never pass this test.

Although Deputy Temple Master Han had described the boy named Yue Shen as unrivaled among his peers, he thought little of that assessment. It was simply that Haochen had yet to come to the temple's attention.

Otherwise, Deputy Temple Master Han would not have thought so. Wearing an "honest" expression, Yue Shen said, "But Senior, you're far stronger than I am. Unless you refrain from using spiritual power, I have no chance of passing."

By now, Yue Shen was certain that this teacher of his was Long Xingyu.

Otherwise, the man would not both refuse to take him as a disciple and set him this test to see how he compared with his son, Yue Shen.

Long Xingyu seemed somewhat surprised by Yue Shen's answer and gave him another look.

The boy before him had the same pale golden eyes and outstanding looks as Long Haochen, but seemed a little more mature in bearing.

He spoke neither servilely nor arrogantly, and maintained the respect due to an elder throughout their conversation.

As for the differences...

Long Xingyu's eyes suddenly brightened slightly. He realized that Yue Shen only fell short of Long Haochen in mental power and Innate Internal Spiritual Power. Moreover, the temple had long since thoroughly investigated Yue Shen's background. There was absolutely no chance of any unexpected complications.

"Of course I won't use internal spiritual power against you. Whether you pass will depend entirely on your combat skills." Long Xingyu's initially stiff tone began to soften considerably.

Then he took two emerald-green bamboo swords from the storage ring on his finger and handed one to Yue Shen.

Purely a test of skill, huh.

Yue Shen pressed his lips together slightly. Having already maxed out all the minor early-stage knight skills and combat techniques, he feared this kind of test least of all.

Unless Long Xingyu played dirty, there was no reason he would fail.

To Long Xingyu, however, Yue Shen's reaction was a display of confidence, which only improved his opinion of the boy.

"The test begins," Long Xingyu said gravely.

Although his impression of Yue Shen had been favorable so far, if the boy's actual ability proved lackluster, he would not waste his time teaching him.

After all, he had spent years teaching Long Haochen. With a great war approaching, he naturally could not spare that much time to train another Long Haochen.

The instant he finished speaking, the bamboo sword in Long Xingyu's hand swept down toward Yue Shen at tremendous speed.

Clang-

Yue Shen held his bamboo sword horizontally and blocked the blow cleanly.

Long Xingyu switched to several other moves, but Yue Shen caught them all with his bamboo sword.

Only two breaths had passed, but Yue Shen's performance had already won Long Xingyu's approval. However, seeing how easily Yue Shen seemed to be handling the attacks, he grew curious and wanted to find out exactly where the boy's limits lay.

Lightning Thrust! Long Xingyu's bamboo sword stabbed toward every part of Yue Shen's body like lightning, sending dozens of sword afterimages at him.

Still, Long Xingyu had clearly restrained the force and speed of this move. In his view, even if Yue Shen failed to block it, he would suffer no more than superficial injuries.

But if Yue Shen could block this move, Long Xingyu would have little need to worry about his basic combat skills.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack-

A rapid series of bamboo sword strikes rang out. Every thrust of Long Xingyu's Lightning Thrust was actually blocked by Yue Shen's bamboo sword.

"Whew..."

Yue Shen panted lightly. He had not expected the test to be this difficult. Fortunately, three breaths had passed, so he should have passed, right?

The test's allotted time was up, but Long Xingyu showed no intention of stopping. With a turn of his wrist, he launched several more attacks.

Yue Shen had no choice but to counter each move and block them one by one.

Since the man had no intention of stopping, he was happy to exchange a few more moves.