"It's over now... right?"
Every student stared wide-eyed as Li Qingshan sheathed the blade and walked over, unable to let out the breath they were holding.
His white Martial Dao uniform, soaked through with blood, clung to his skin, the contours of his muscles clearly visible.
The blade in his right hand was smeared with filthy blood, drops falling one by one from its tip to trace a line of red across the floor.
His handsome face was long since masked by gore, the bloodthirsty grin at the corner of his mouth especially savage.
Liang Mingyu's face filled with terror, and he backed away several steps.
"Wh-what do you want!"
Baffled, Li Qingshan shot him a glance.
But that casual glance was something else entirely in Liang Mingyu's eyes.
Blood ran down from the other's forehead, sliding along the brow into two red streaks.
Beneath those dark-red blood-brows, a frigid gaze stabbed out, sharp as a blade's edge, shattering his nerve in an instant.
Liang Mingyu's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the floor, crying out:
"Don't come near me!"
Hm?
Li Qingshan was dumbfounded and looked at Wan Keshan, the picture of innocence.
"Trash. If you've no nerve, then get out of the Martial Dao Class!"
Wan Keshan's furious bellow jolted Liang Mingyu back to his senses.
Looking at the silent Liang Mingyu and the still-unconscious Liu Jingya on the floor, he'd already struck the two of them off his list.
Fear was no disgrace, but lacking even the courage to face it left one unfit to remain in the Martial Dao Class.
"Teacher, the blade."
Li Qingshan held out the hilt to Wan Keshan.
Wan Keshan's brow furrowed.
The blade had been drawn from Wolfsbane's innards; it bore not just blood but all manner of filth, giving off a foul stench.
And not just the blade — even Li Qingshan himself reeked something fierce.
In the end, Wan Keshan could only wave a hand.
"Fine, the blade's yours. Today's lesson is over. Go to the locker room and wash up properly, quick."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Li Qingshan brightened, not the least bit put off, and jogged toward the locker room with the blade in hand.
As he left, the breath the students had been holding finally let go.
Gazing at Wolfsbane's gruesome corpse, the talk gradually rose, the mood slowly warming.
In this moment, the savage beast didn't seem so frightening anymore.
Because Li Qingshan was more frightening still!
The discussion grew noisier and noisier.
Wan Keshan made no move to stop it; his gaze swept the excited faces and a satisfied smile appeared.
Though the "first lesson of the Martial Dao" had been cut short by Li Qingshan, the lesson's purpose had been achieved.
Better than ever before, even!
Yu Lei looked toward where Li Qingshan had vanished, then withdrew her gaze.
She walked up to Wan Keshan, pressed her lips together, and said:
"I let you down, Uncle."
Hong Qian, right behind her, jolted at the words, his eyes darting back and forth between Yu Lei and Wan Keshan.
Wan Keshan's face twitched, and he said sternly:
"At school, it's 'Teacher'!"
That said, his gaze swept over the two of them, his voice easing a little.
"Facing a savage beast for the first time, holding up under the pressure and meeting its menace head-on — the two of you did very well."
Yu Lei might be his niece, but she'd never seen a savage beast before either.
Set against past Martial Dao classes, the two of them were absolutely among the best.
"Teacher, then what about Li Qingshan?"
Hong Qian looked a good deal better now, but what he wanted most was the teacher's verdict on Li Qingshan.
"Li Qingshan..."
Wan Keshan mulled it over a moment, then shook his head.
"Him? Hard to say."
He'd never met anyone like Li Qingshan in his life — how was he supposed to judge?
In the locker room,
steam filled a single shower stall.
Li Qingshan stood quietly under the showerhead, letting the water wash over him, his attention on the Panel.
[Li Qingshan]
[Realm: Body Forging 9/100]
[Technique:
Radio Calisthenics Set No. 36 — 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 8/1000 (Mastery)]
[Function: Martial Dao Space Lv1 (1/100)]
[Available Time: 1 year]
[Time Flow: 1:10]
The Martial Dao Space had unlocked, and at the moment it did, the relevant information surfaced in Li Qingshan's mind.
The Martial Dao Space was a mysterious realm for cultivation that automatically recorded projections of every monster that died at his hands.
The freshly unlocked Space was only Lv1; experience and available time were equal, both gained by hunting and killing monsters.
Spending available time, however, didn't affect the Space's experience.
Inside the Space, his projected consciousness had no stamina cost; he could fight freely and hone his combat skills to his heart's content.
Once a monster projection was slain, it could reassemble again at no cost.
Not just combat skills — techniques could be cultivated in the Space as well.
Though it was only projection-cultivation and his body's Body Forging progress wouldn't rise, his technique proficiency gains were unaffected.
"More importantly, there's no stamina cost inside the Martial Dao Space!"
Li Qingshan's eyes brightened as he began to calculate.
Every practice of 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 demanded everything he had, a full hour each time.
And at his old recovery rate, he could only practice twice a day.
Two days, four sessions, just to gain one point of proficiency.
But inside the Martial Dao Space,
he could practice nonstop for twenty-four hours — six points of proficiency in a single day.
And there was the time-flow ratio between reality and the Space.
A 1:10 flow — one day in reality was ten days in the Martial Dao Space!
"Which means, if I spend a whole day inside, I could gain 60 points of proficiency?"
At the thought, Li Qingshan's breathing quickened a little.
From one point every two days to sixty in a single day — a full hundred-and-twenty-fold difference!
In just over half a month, he could push 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 up another grade past Mastery!
Which meant his cultivation efficiency would double yet again!
From the ordinary high schooler he'd been when he first transmigrated to the "class number one" Martial Dao freshman he was now, what he'd relied on was the technique level he'd raised, bit by bit, through effort.
In fact,
Li Qingshan suspected that in the whole class right now, not one person had trained 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 to Mastery.
After all, even Zhao Hongzhou had drunk plenty of nutrient fluid, let alone Yu Lei, Hong Qian, and Liang Mingyu.
And even so, Li Qingshan, who'd never drunk a single bottle, still came out a head above them.
"Teacher Wan said he saw a sliver of hope for the New Continent in me — could it be because he saw my technique level?"
Li Qingshan felt he was onto something.
Wan Keshan had every student's file; he surely knew Li Qingshan came from Public Rearing, and combined with the test scores, it wouldn't be hard to spot.
"Right now it's only a sliver of a chance — but what about after the technique rises another grade, or even two?"
For a while Li Qingshan's thoughts ran wild,
but the cold text on the Panel quickly pulled him back to reality.
[Available Time: 1 year]
"No — only one year of available time definitely isn't enough for another grade."
Every grade-up of 《The Starry Sky Beckons》 raised cultivation efficiency exponentially.
But the difficulty of leveling rose just the same.
From Entry to Skilled, and Skilled to Mastery, had taken Li Qingshan two years all told.
Without the Martial Dao Space, filling the current Mastery bar would have taken three years at least.
As for another grade up?
Li Qingshan didn't know what the next grade's bar looked like, but his remaining available time was definitely not enough.
"Hunt and kill monsters to gain cultivation time in the Space, and raise its experience in the bargain."
"But where do I even find monsters?"
"Forget it. I couldn't handle even one Wolfsbane as I am now; no use overthinking it."
Li Qingshan rubbed his temples and let his mind go blank.
He closed his eyes and quietly felt the water washing over him.