【Mountain-Crushing Fist — the intent is like a mountain; a punch thrown as though a great mountain topples】
【First Glimpse: +3 Strength】
【Fluent: +6 Strength】
【Refined: +9 Strength】
【Proficient: +12 Strength】
【Transcendent: +20 Strength】
"So martial techniques come in five stages..."
Yang Ling instinctively glanced at his own attribute panel.
Name: Yang Ling
Class: Martial Artist
Level: 8
Strength: 11
Agility: 5
Spirit: 10
Martial Art: Vajra Wisdom King Art (first-rate art, Beginner)
Experience: 10/100
Mountain-Crushing Fist (Beginner)
Proficiency: 0/100
HP: 110
"An internal art's heart method uses experience; a martial technique uses proficiency — but both need only 100 to start."
"Earlier, Wu Que's Black Tiger Fist was Proficient, and Zhang Hao's Zhang Family Leg Art was Proficient too."
"And Huineng's Stele-Splitting Palm and Gale Step were both Proficient."
"By the boosts, the first four stages should be reasonable in difficulty, but the last — Transcendent — is clearly very hard to reach, which is why it grants a full +20 Strength at once."
"Never mind all that. Start cultivating!"
Yang Ling closed his eyes, running the Mountain-Crushing Fist's method through his mind again and again.
The next second, he suddenly set his stance and began to practice, deliberate and by the book.
Time passed second by second.
Roughly an hour went by.
A sheen of sweat had appeared on Yang Ling's brow.
Just then, a warm current entered his body.
"Something's happening!"
He glanced at the attribute panel.
【Mountain-Crushing Fist, Proficiency: 1/100】
"The Vajra Wisdom King Art gains 1 experience in about fifteen minutes — why does an ordinary martial technique take a whole hour to gain 1 proficiency?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Yang Ling's eyes.
By rights, the Mountain-Crushing Fist should cultivate faster than the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
It was, after all, just an ordinary fist art.
"Never mind. Just cultivate."
Yang Ling couldn't be bothered to dwell on it and kept practicing with focus.
Now and then, when tired, he rested a while.
Before he knew it, the rooster crowed outside.
Yang Ling came to with a start and checked the attribute panel again:
【Mountain-Crushing Fist, Proficiency: 6/100】
"6 proficiency? It doesn't have a cap like the Vajra Wisdom King Art?"
Yang Ling was rather pleased.
To verify this, he had no thought of resting and kept cultivating the Mountain-Crushing Fist.
An hour later, the proficiency rose another point.
Before he knew it, it was noon.
【Mountain-Crushing Fist, Proficiency: 12/100】
"Sure enough..."
Yang Ling murmured:
"Cultivating a fist art has no cap. In other words..."
A sharp gleam crossed his eyes; he instinctively clenched his fist:
"If I just drill hard every day, in seven or eight days I can fill the 100 proficiency and reach First Glimpse?"
Yang Ling's heart filled with drive.
Only, having gone a night without sleep, he was a little tired.
"Cultivating the Vajra Wisdom King Art seems to restore energy quickly. If I could use it in place of sleep, I'd have all 24 hours to level up..."
No sooner thought than done — Yang Ling began cultivating the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
An hour and more later, he'd gathered another 5 experience.
【Vajra Wisdom King Art, Experience: 15/100】
Yang Ling slowly opened his eyes, feeling utterly refreshed, as though he'd slept ten hours.
"That's the feeling!"
Yang Ling was a little exhilarated.
He wolfed down two flatbreads and went back to cultivating the Mountain-Crushing Fist.
He couldn't get into the vein these days anyway — perfect for pushing the Mountain-Crushing Fist's proficiency.
For four whole days, Yang Ling didn't step outside.
"Phew!"
Finishing a set of the fist art, Yang Ling felt thirsty and took up his cup for a few gulps.
He glanced at his attribute panel:
【Vajra Wisdom King Art, Experience: 35/100】
【Mountain-Crushing Fist, Proficiency: 99/100】
"Just 1 proficiency short."
Yang Ling wiped the water from the corner of his mouth and went back to practicing.
Before he knew it, an hour passed.
The Mountain-Crushing Fist's proficiency quietly reached 100.
Phew!
Yang Ling's fist suddenly carried a few measures more force; a single punch split the air with a louder crack!
"Breakthrough!"
Yang Ling immediately checked his attributes:
Name: Yang Ling
Class: Martial Artist
Level: 8
Strength: 14 (3)
Agility: 5
Spirit: 10
Martial Art: Vajra Wisdom King Art (first-rate art, Beginner)
Experience: 35/100
Mountain-Crushing Fist (First Glimpse)
Proficiency: 0/1000
HP: 110
"Those 3 extra points of Strength — that's from the Mountain-Crushing Fist."
"To think a mere four or five days got me to First Glimpse. But..."
Yang Ling noticed the Mountain-Crushing Fist's proficiency requirement had become 1000.
"So to reach Fluent, I'd have to grind day and night for forty or fifty days?"
"Refined won't need 10,000 proficiency, will it? That'd take over a year..."
"And Proficient — wouldn't that take a dozen-odd years, day and night at that?"
Yang Ling's burning heart was suddenly doused with cold water.
He finally understood why the likes of Wu Que had only cultivated their techniques to Proficient.
These fellows must have trained a dozen years and more.
But to reach Transcendent — that would take over a hundred years.
You'd die of old age before you got there, unless...
"Unless you have extraordinary talent. If I can gain 10 proficiency an hour, my progress is ten times faster..."
"The Mountain-Crushing Fist isn't even the main thing. By this reckoning... the Vajra Wisdom King Art's experience is probably on the same scale as proficiency."
"It has only four layers, but each day's cultivation is capped — only 5 experience a day."
"Layer One needs 20 days."
"If Layer Two also needs 1000 experience, that's 200 days."
"Layer Three... two thousand days."
"Layer Four... twenty thousand days."
"Haha, how many twenty-thousand-days does a life have?"
Yang Ling couldn't help laughing aloud, rather helplessly.
"But 「Divine Realm」 should have some external aids that speed up proficiency and experience gain..."
Yang Ling's mind stirred.
This guess wasn't groundless.
It came from having played so many games.
In games, there had to be some such setting for it to make sense.
"If only I had a way to sound out a local native Martial Artist about the state of the jianghu, to see how others cultivate..."
After a moment's thought, Yang Ling shook the stray thoughts from his mind.
At the very least, in a month or two he could cultivate the Mountain-Crushing Fist to Fluent.
And in another thirteen days, he could master Layer One of the Vajra Wisdom King Art.
By then the Mountain-Crushing Fist would grant +6 Strength.
And the Vajra Wisdom King Art would give 5 Free Attribute Points, plus +15 Strength and Agility each while active, plus 100 more HP.
Those numbers were, frankly, monstrous.
At least in a backwater like Qingshan City, they'd be more than enough.
"Still, leveling up is the most solid thing — every level gives 1 point of Strength."
"The native Martial Artists don't seem to have this edge; they can't level up, and all their attribute points come from arts and techniques."
"So it really does come down to mining and grinding experience."
"I love mining most of all."
Yang Ling took up the refined steel pick by his bed, hooked it at his waist, and pushed open the door.