Zhang Yao had actually broken through to First Rank on the spot.
It truly caught Su Wangchuan by surpriseâand delighted him.
Without intending to, he had cultivated a First-Rank Martial Artist for his own branch helm ahead of time.
Su Wangchuan immediately rewarded him with ten taels of gold to purchase a Second-Rank martial arts manual, and told him to come back at dawn the next day to continue sparring.
Back to his room. Log off!
Su Wangchuan felt invigorated.
With a sufficiently strong physique and defense, plus the ăQingcheng Heart Methodă, and with a full-fledged Martial Artist sparring with him, the training cycle for a body-protection technique really could be compressed drastically. What had once required twenty minutes for a single point of experience, when averaged out now took roughly five minutes per pointâseveral times more efficient.
He had even advanced a realm in less than half a day.
âIf I train seriously for a full day tomorrow, I should be able to raise the ăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă smoothly to âPractice Makes Perfectâ and gain another two points of Stamina.â
Su Wangchuan smiled.
In a single day, three martial arts had advanced realms.
âBeing a Helm Leader has its benefits.â
At the very least, he did not need the Warring States Game Studio to intervene. He could mobilize a large group of Martial Artists himself and complete a high-difficulty mission like âclearing the Snake DenââŠ
This was something that would have required the Warring States Game Studio to mobilize all members of the Land-Clearing Team.
And moreoverâŠ
In the very first Snake Den clearing operation, if he had not brought Yulong Gang disciples with him, and if Captain Zhao Heiniu had not been present, then if the Warring States Game Studio had run into the Snake Elder, how many would have come back alive would have been hard to say.
In a certain senseâŠ
the âarmorâ he had built for himself within spirit realm had already begun to take shape.
The next day.
Su Wangchuan rose early.
He cultivated the ăBlack Tortoise Artă in the bathhouse until seven, then entered the game.
Zhang Yao was already waiting in the courtyard.
âHelm Leader.â
âI have sent word to the brothers in the Yulong Gang. I asked them to help me obtain two Second-Rank martial arts manuals from over there, so I can cultivate the ranked ăGreen Robe Danceă and the Second-Rank ăSwift Sword Artă.â
âMm.â
Su Wangchuan nodded without further comment.
âBegin.â
And so that dayâs training began again.
Su Wangchuanâs realm in his body-protection technique advanced.
Zhang Yaoâs realm in the ăBlack Tiger Fistă advanced.
Maintaining the rhythm of the previous day, Su Wangchuan trained straight into the deep night. Near midnight, he finally heard the system notification.
âDing!â
âăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă has advanced from âMinor Masteryâ to âPractice Makes Perfect.â Reward: +2 Stamina.â
His Stamina rose to 52.
ăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă: Practice Makes Perfect
Current Realm: +15 Defense. Dragon-Elephant Guard. When this body-protection technique is activated, there is a certain probability of avoiding attacks aimed at vital areas and reducing vital-area damage by 40%.
Next Realm: Entry-Level Mastery
Next Realm Effect: +20 Defense. Dragon-Elephant Bearing. When this body-protection technique is activated, there is a high probability of avoiding attacks aimed at vital areas and reducing vital-area damage by 50%.
âZhang Yao.â
âHow has your ăBasic Fist Techniqueă progressed?â
Su Wangchuan smiled as he dismissed the Status Panel and asked him.
Zhang Yao cupped his fists and replied.
âIn reply to the Helm Leader, my ăBasic Fist Techniqueă has broken through to âIntegrationâ!â
Su Wangchuan nodded.
By sparring with him, Zhang Yao had also gained quite a bit. Once he began cultivating Second-Rank martial arts, he would be able to become an elite of the Sanjiang Branch Helm in the future.
âWe will stop here for today. Tomorrow, we continue!â
At first, Su Wangchuan had planned to spend five or six days cultivating the ăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă to âPractice Makes Perfectâ. Yet now, in less than two days, he had already achieved that goal.
He intended to ride this momentum and push the ăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă straight to âEntry-Level Masteryâ. After all, it was only five hundred points of experienceâat most a day and a half.
At the same time, he could help Zhang Yao raise the ăBlack Tiger Fistă to âIntegrationâ as well, gifting him a stroke of fortune.
After logging off in his room, he thought about many other things.
If he found a high-ranked Martial Artist to spar with him and cultivated the Third-Rank martial art ăWudang Sanshouă, could he, like Zhang Yao, advance rapidly, stack attributes, and break through to become a Third-Rank Martial Artist quickly?
âThe sparring partner must also master the ăQingcheng Heart Methodă.â
âAnd they must have at least Second-Rank strength.â
âCaptain Bai?â
That probably would not work.
He did not have the standing to ask a Fourth-Rank martial artist to spar with him.
Captain Bai primarily served the Warring States Game Studio.
Bai Yuhui?
Bai Yuhui might not be able to withstand his ăWudang Sanshouă either.
His physical attack was already fourteen or fifteen. ăWudang Sanshouă added thirty attack. If a double-damage strike triggered, a ninety-point burst could landâand one palm might smash Bai Yuhui into a severe injury.
âThen I definitely cannot practice ăWudang Sanshouă.â
âOr should I simply cultivate the ăBlack Tiger Fistă like Zhang Yao? Or the Second-Rank ăBlazing Legă?â
As he pondered, he gradually fell asleep.
Over the next two days, he devoted himself fully to training, and the ăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă smoothly broke through to âEntry-Level Masteryâ.
âDing!â
âăDragon-Elephant Body-Protection Techniqueă has advanced from âPractice Makes Perfectâ to âEntry-Level Mastery.â Reward: +3 Stamina.â
His Stamina surged to 55.
With the Helm Leaderâs sparring, Zhang Yao also successfully raised the ăBlack Tiger Fistă to âIntegrationâ. Every gesture and movement of his now carried even more of the bearing of a First-Rank Martial Artist.
Just then, in Sanhe Commandery, a piece of news spread through the entire city:
The Caobang hall master âOld Sevenâ had acquired a complete giant bear pelt, a rare treasure. It was laid out in the main discussion hall, lending the place even more dominance. People throughout the prefectural seat discussed it endlessly, praising it without restraint.
âI heard the peltâs color and sheen are superb. Spread out, it is more than two zhang in both length and width! It is a whole tier above the one sold at auction a few years ago.â
âMany gang bosses went to view it and appraise it as soon as they heard. Even some of Caobangâs higher-ups came after hearing the news, wanting to buy it for a fortuneâŠâ
âA fortune! Tsk, tsk! That is the Caobang for you.â
âStrange thing is, Caobang higher-ups offered a fortune and Old Seven still would not sell. He said he would keep it to suppress the hall and display the prestige of the Sanhe Commandery hall.â
âThe Caobang really is loaded⊠If it were me, I would sell it for five hundred taels. Five hundred taels of gold would be enough for wealth and honor for a lifetime.â
âYou can talk all you like, but with bodies like ours, we would not even be enough to fill a giant bearâs teeth.â
âHahaâŠâ
âDrink!â
In a restaurant in Sanhe Commandery, many were discussing Caobangâs giant bear pelt.
No one noticed that at some point, an elderly, hunched figure had appeared at the street entrance, his entire body shrouded in black cloth, as if sick and frail.
When the news about the giant bear pelt reached the hunched elderâs ears, a flash of cold, vicious light passed through his eyes.
âCaobang!â
âHmph!â
âSo it was you who killed the mountain-guarding divine beast of my branch helm.â
The hunched elder soon arrived near the Caobang hall.
A streak of green light slithered down his arm and slipped into the Caobang hall without a sound.
Immediately after, screams rang out from within.
âAh!â
Then everything inside erupted into chaos.
âQuick! Someone come! One of our brothers has been bitten by a snakeâŠâ
âWhere is the snake?â
âIt is gone!â
âForget the snake! Hurry and take him to Divine Physician Shen!â