Early the next morning.
Dawn light glimmered faintly on the horizon; in the quiet bedroom, Li Qingshan opened his eyes softly.
"So good!"
He sat up, stretched lazily, his whole body feeling at ease.
He got out of bed and went to the washroom.
Li Qingshan scooped a handful of cold water onto his face and looked up at the mirror.
In the mirror,
the dark circles were long gone; he looked vigorous, droplets of water sliding down a face as sharp as if carved by a blade.
"1 million was definitely too low last time. With a face like this, I should've asked for ten million at least!"
Li Qingshan smiled in satisfaction and walked to the living room.
Looking at the empty room, he felt oddly at a loss for a moment.
Lately he'd never gotten up this early, and he had no cultivation plan for this hour at all.
His gaze swept to the left wall, where the chopping blade leaned.
"The blade art!"
Li Qingshan remembered yesterday's plan, raised his wrist, opened his comm-band, and found the separately saved file.
《Wind Shadow Blade》!
The material for 《Wind Shadow Blade》 was much like 《Phantom Step》's — illustrated text plus video instruction.
But compared to the against-human-nature footwork that began 《Phantom Step》, 《Wind Shadow Blade》 was far simpler.
A set of blade moves, not complicated, with one defining trait: speed!
In the video, a middle-aged instructor demonstrated the full set once, then his movements abruptly quickened.
"When the blade art is Skilled, the blade draws like the wind!"
As the words fell, cold light flickered, like a howling gale, ceaseless.
"When the blade art is Mastered, the long blade splits the wind!"
A wind-splitting sound rose as the long blade cut through the gale, sharp beyond compare.
"Blade-light becomes afterimages!"
The blade-light grew faster and faster, afterimage upon afterimage appearing.
Dazzled, Li Qingshan couldn't track where the blade was at all, and exclaimed despite himself.
"So this is 《Wind Shadow Blade》 at the Greater Achievement grade?"
In the video, the instructor's demonstration hadn't stopped, and his movements grew faster still.
"Wind and shadow as one — the blade art is Perfected!"
Whoosh!
The blade-light stirred a gale around him, afterimages solidifying in the wind.
In a blink, three blade-lights, almost solid, extended from different angles.
As if three people were striking at once within the gale.
Li Qingshan blinked and watched closely.
But however he looked, he couldn't tell the real from the false.
"Or rather — all three blade-lights are real?"
Just as Li Qingshan seemed to glimpse something,
the blade-light wound down, the wind-shadows dispersed, and the instructor sheathed his blade.
"Phew!"
Li Qingshan let out a long breath.
The blade draws like the wind, the long blade splits the wind, blade-light becomes afterimages, wind and shadow as one—
these were the defining traits of 《Wind Shadow Blade》's four grades: Skilled, Mastery, Greater Achievement, and Perfection.
"Get to Entry first."
Li Qingshan calmed his stirred heart, reopened the video, and watched the opening demonstration again and again, cross-referencing the text to understand and memorize.
Half an hour later,
Li Qingshan picked up the blade by the wall and headed out.
It was still early; only a scattering of elders did morning exercises below. Li Qingshan found a patch of lawn and drew the blade.
After a few deep breaths, the long blade began to move.
《Wind Shadow Blade》 was defined by speed, yet Li Qingshan's movements were especially slow, looking much like the exercising elders.
Cleave, chop, sweep up, flick, intercept...
Li Qingshan stayed focused, recalling the details of each move in his mind and rendering them with the blade in hand.
Ten minutes later, the whole set was run through.
Li Qingshan paused, then struck again.
The same moves, the same blade art,
but this time the blade was no longer slow — sharp and swift.
In under a minute, the set was done.
"The Panel really is reliable!"
A smile at his lips, Li Qingshan sheathed the blade and glanced at the Panel.
[Li Qingshan]
[Realm: Body Forging 12/100]
[Technique:
Radio Calisthenics Set No. 36 — 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 22/1000 (Mastery)]
[Martial Skill: 《Phantom Step》 2/1000 (Mastery), 《Wind Shadow Blade》 2/100 (Entry)]
[Function: Martial Dao Space Lv1 (1/100)]
[Available Time: 356 days]
[Time Flow: 1:10]
***
School. The Martial Dao Gym.
Wan Keshan came in the front door and scanned the room as usual, his gaze finally settling on Li Qingshan.
After looking him over,
Wan Keshan gave a satisfied smile and waved for the students to spread out and begin.
***
In the evening, back home.
"The day off is over. Time to get back to work."
Li Qingshan smiled, took out a bottle of nutrient fluid, drank it, and resumed Body Forging.
Every session left one utterly drained.
But Li Qingshan savored it, carefully feeling his body grow stronger bit by bit.
Late into the night, the four sessions were finally done.
Li Qingshan rinsed off quickly, drew the blade, and lay back down on the bed.
"Wolfsbane... today I won't be stretching out my neck for the slaughter."
Li Qingshan brightened and closed his eyes.
When his eyes opened, he was back in the Martial Dao Space once more.
Li Qingshan gripped the hilt, twisted his right foot, and in an instant wheeled to face Wolfsbane head-on.
ROAR!
With a low growl, Wolfsbane kicked off its hind legs and lunged.
A hundred meters — two seconds for Wolfsbane to cross.
Once, those two seconds had been Li Qingshan's "lifeline," letting him dodge Wolfsbane's first pounce.
But now Li Qingshan found that dodging wasn't his only option!
Instead of retreating, he advanced, charging straight at Wolfsbane.
Man and beast, crossing the hundred meters, were about to collide in a blink.
Li Qingshan's steps abruptly shifted; 《Phantom Step》, now instinct, slipped his body eerily to Wolfsbane's right, his blade rising and chopping out in an instant.
SQUELCH!
Wolfsbane landed, a blade-mark left along its spine.
Li Qingshan didn't relax in the slightest, eyes fixed on Wolfsbane ten meters off.
Ten meters — just one of Wolfsbane's leaps — and he'd never dodged its second pounce before.
ROAR!
With a howl, Wolfsbane pounced again.
With no time to react, Li Qingshan could only step out on instinct.
Their bodies crossed; the massive form swept past his eyes.
"Dodged it!"
The thought had barely flashed past when a claw swept in from behind...
In the bedroom,
Li Qingshan opened his eyes, briefly replayed the exchange, then began again.
All night, against the absolute gap in speed, Li Qingshan could only step and dodge on bodily instinct.
With luck, he'd dodge three to five of Wolfsbane's attacks.
Without luck, he couldn't even dodge the second pounce.
But compared to before — a thousand deaths a night in the wolf's jaws — it was already much better.
More time alive also sped up the gains in 《Phantom Step》 and 《Wind Shadow Blade》.
***
Time passed, day after day.
Li Qingshan shuttled between home and school, a straight line between two points.
His daily Body Forging — twice at school, four times at home — never broke.
His body kept growing stronger, his Body Forging progress and 《The Starry Sky Beckons》' proficiency rising bit by bit.
But what improved faster were 《Phantom Step》 and 《Wind Shadow Blade》.
Nearly every night, Li Qingshan trained in the Martial Dao Space for over twenty hours.
Worth noting,
whether because he died fewer times now,
when he woke the next day, though somewhat tired, his mental state was clearly better than before.
In the blink of an eye, 20 days passed.
In the pitch-dark bedroom,
Li Qingshan's eyes snapped open, dazzling.
《Phantom Step》 — Greater Achievement!