Volume One: First Signs of Brilliance Chapter Thirty-Nine: Joy Upon Joy

Wang Jue’s entire attention was focused on collecting experience, but to his disappointment, he discovered that the translucent bubbles floating around the other students in the martial arts school had all vanished. A sense of unfulfilled desire welled up inside him.

Standing beside him, Zhao Qingming noticed that Wang Jue seemed not to have heard a word he said, and couldn’t help but ask again, “Wang Jue, did you hear what I just told you?”

“Huh…?” Wang Jue was momentarily stunned. “Master, what did you say?”

He wasn’t lying—he truly hadn’t heard a thing Zhao Qingming said, having devoted all his attention to gathering experience and exploring his newfound cheat skill.

“I was asking if you understood the basic sword technique I just explained.” Zhao Qingming’s expression stiffened, and though he suppressed the urge to give Wang Jue a good thrashing, a note of barely-concealed irritation crept into his voice.

Were it not for the fact that Wang Jue had just joined the school today, Zhao Qingming would have let him sample firsthand the “iron fist of love” for which he was famous. After all, not a single one of the students in this school had escaped a taste of his discipline.

“Basic sword technique?” Wang Jue’s heart tightened as he struggled for a response, but just then, a new message suddenly popped up on the panel before his eyes.

[Basic Sword Technique detected (Not yet initiated).]

Maintaining a calm facade, Wang Jue glanced at his panel.

[Name: Wang Jue]
[Level: Body Tempering Stage 3]
[Talent: Red Grade (Middle) 0/100]
[Technique: Astral Soul Scripture, Level 1 (Unknown) 0/1000]
[Martial Skill: Basic Sword Technique (Not Initiated) 0/10]
[Stellar Points: 2]
[Experience: 134]

As he suspected, a new martial skill entry had appeared beneath techniques on his panel.

With a thought, Wang Jue allocated ten experience points to the martial skill.

In an instant, a flood of knowledge surged into his mind, and his grasp of the basic sword technique advanced well beyond that of a mere novice.

After absorbing this martial skill, Wang Jue watched as the basic sword technique progressed from “Initiated” to “Proficient,” the number at the end rising from ten to a hundred. Realizing he still had enough experience to upgrade the skill once more, he didn’t hesitate and invested another hundred points.

The basic sword technique underwent another transformation, its proficiency leaping directly from “Proficient” to “Mastery!” The required experience to upgrade rose from a hundred to a thousand.

With this second upgrade, Wang Jue’s understanding of the sword technique deepened considerably, reaching a level that rivaled those who had trained for years. The astonishing speed of this improvement filled him with elation—he realized he had found a shortcut to the pinnacle of martial cultivation.

While others toiled through arduous practice, he needed only to collect experience with diligence.

Or rather, not “woolgathering,” but collecting experience!

“Restraint. I need to show some restraint,” Wang Jue silently reminded himself, forcing himself to maintain composure in the face of his newfound, cheat-like life. Only then could he appear truly distinguished.

If not for having just paid the five-thousand entrance fee, it would have been unseemly to leave so quickly. Otherwise, with his mind now consumed by thoughts of where to gather more experience, he would have long since gone to other martial arts schools to “woolgather,” rather than linger at the Extreme Dao Martial School.

“Even if my talent isn’t great right now, when it comes to martial skills, I’m about to become invincible!” The prospect filled Wang Jue’s heart with boundless anticipation.

He was certain that as long as he kept his head down and diligently gathered experience and resources, one day he would ascend effortlessly to the very summit of the martial world, becoming an idol admired by countless young men and women.

Wang Jue knew that unless he could gather enough experience again, his martial skills couldn’t be improved further in the short term. Yet as he looked at the basic sword technique information again, he noticed a green plus sign illuminated at the end.

“What’s going on? I have only 24 experience points left, not even enough for a fraction, yet I can still upgrade?” Wang Jue was completely at a loss.

Who could explain this? It made no sense. Normally, one couldn’t upgrade without enough experience—so why was the option still available?

Wang Jue’s mind raced, burning countless brain cells to no avail. Only when his gaze inadvertently drifted to the Stellar Points above his experience did a realization dawn on him, his eyes sparkling.

Could it be linked to the Stellar Points?

He had known from the start that Stellar Points were astonishingly powerful—a single point had raised his talent by a level, and even the profound and mysterious Astral Soul Scripture had been mastered to the first stage in an instant.

Just these two discoveries had convinced Wang Jue of the terrifying potential of Stellar Points.

“Should I try upgrading a martial skill with a Stellar Point?” The idea excited him, but he quickly dismissed it, unwilling to waste such a precious resource on a low-level skill.

Once he’d calmed down, a lingering fear crept over him.

That was close!

He had nearly squandered a precious Stellar Point on a worthless martial skill. Thank goodness he stopped in time—otherwise, he’d be beside himself with regret.

If Stellar Point acquisition difficulty could be ranked, Wang Jue would classify it as “Nightmare-level.”

At present, he only knew that Stellar Points could be gained from an unknown diamond-shaped gem; whether there were other ways, he hadn’t discovered. As for what that diamond-shaped gem truly was, he had yet to unravel the mystery.

To him, Stellar Points were fiendishly hard to obtain, while gathering experience was effortless—so long as someone was cultivating, he could collect it for free!

Comparing the rarity of the two, Wang Jue decisively abandoned the tempting idea, and looked at the latest changes on his panel with great satisfaction.

[Name: Wang Jue]
[Level: Body Tempering Stage 3]
[Talent: Red Grade (Middle) 0/100]
[Technique: Astral Soul Scripture, Level 1 (Unknown) 0/1000]
[Martial Skill: Basic Sword Technique (Mastery) 0/1000]
[Stellar Points: 2]
[Experience: 24]

After staring for a while, Wang Jue forced himself to close the panel, afraid that if he kept looking he might do something he’d regret.

He exhaled, steadied his excitement, raised the wooden sword he’d been clutching, and began to practice the basic sword technique at the level of mastery.

…

On the other side, seeing Wang Jue silent for so long, Zhao Qingming felt a trace of disappointment, and turned his attention to instructing several students who had quietly gathered nearby to learn the sword.

Suddenly, Zhao Qingming uttered a soft exclamation, sensing a clear shift in Wang Jue’s aura. He halted, turning to look over.

In the next second, his eyes widened, staring at Wang Jue as if seeing a monster. His mouth twitched several times as he muttered, “Am I seeing things? Or have I gone mad?”

In just a few minutes, Wang Jue’s execution of the basic sword technique had advanced from clumsy and disorganized to skillful and practiced.

Zhao Qingming stared, watching the youth wield his wooden sword, and could easily sense the natural, smooth flow in every move.

“Could it be… I’ve encountered a once-in-a-century sword genius?” Zhao Qingming was beside himself with excitement, his gaze fixed on Wang Jue’s every action.

Meanwhile, Wang Jue, oblivious to all this, was still reveling in the enhancement of his basic sword technique. Mastery of the skill had filled in his only weakness, and he could clearly feel the change in his strength.

Indeed, he had grown stronger!

Just then, Wang Jue, aglow with satisfaction, noticed that Zhao Qingming was looking at him with a strangely complex expression. His smile froze and his heart skipped a beat.

Trouble!

He realized he had overdone it, so he subtly reined in his movements and feigned surprise. “Master, why do I feel like some parts of the school’s basic sword technique seem familiar? They’re similar to some of the sword techniques I’ve practiced before.”

“Where did you learn them?” Zhao Qingming frowned slightly. Though basic martial skills weren’t valuable, the techniques taught at Extreme Dao Martial School had been refined by several generations of masters.

In a sense, the basic sword technique he taught here was already a wholly new martial skill—one of a kind.

He could swear that in the entire Peaceful Community, only his school possessed this technique; none of the others had it.

Wang Jue put on a thoughtful air, then said after a while, “No, it’s not the same. I mean, the moves I’ve seen are different from what we have here, but some of the details between moves seem to share certain traces, as if the two were originally one.”

“You’re not talking about the kind of basic sword technique sold outside that nobody would bother to pick up off the street, are you?” Zhao Qingming asked, his expression growing odd.

Wang Jue lied, “I’m not sure. I just remember that’s how our school teacher taught us.”

“School, eh?” Zhao Qingming mused, then smiled. “No wonder you feel a sense of familiarity. That’s quite normal, really. Our martial school’s basic sword technique, while simple, is mostly adapted from the standard moves, so it naturally carries some traces.”

Taking Wang Jue for someone who had previously practiced the basic sword technique, Zhao Qingming’s shock subsided, but he still looked on with admiration. “Still, to grasp it so quickly shows your fundamentals are solid. But don’t grow arrogant. Next, you must focus on experiencing the changes in your internal power as you perform the sword technique—this will help you greatly when you strive to break through as a martial artist.”

Zhao Qingming’s gaze was full of approval. Young people Wang Jue’s age who were willing to lay such a strong foundation were rare indeed; he found himself even more earnest in his teaching.

In contrast, Wang Jue dared not exert himself too much now. His form was decent enough, but in truth, he was just going through the motions.

He had only advanced so quickly thanks to his “point allocation”—a fact he could never explain to anyone, nor did he wish to draw attention for a supposed “martial genius” talent.

Otherwise, someone might recall the time he was tested at age seven and found to have only a low-level red-grade talent. How could someone so lacking in cultivation aptitude possess such frightening martial skills? Anyone could see something was amiss.

Once noticed, he would inevitably become a target.

Without strength, he could only keep a low profile!

Those with high talent and low strength throughout history have met one of two ends: either ruthlessly suppressed, or tightly controlled by others.

Neither outcome was what Wang Jue wanted. In that moment, he made up his mind.

Until he became truly powerful, he would develop quietly, keeping to the shadows…