Chapter 10: Air-Cutting Slash and System Limits

He acted immediately.

Gao Wen reopened his badge ability; when he focused his gaze on himself, the familiar pale blue screen reappeared before him:

【Name—Gao Wen】

【Potential—Silver】

【Rating—Iron: A standout among trash, still trash, with latent abilities unexplored within the body.】

“Silver-level potential?”

“My physique has reached Level-5, and I’ve awakened the Balanced keyword—my body has already undergone one transformation.”

“It’s possible even the Silver-level potential is a result of this transformation, but further verification is needed.”

“And even if I fully develop this body’s latent potential, will it only reach Silver?”

“What other methods exist to further enhance potential?”

After much thought yielded no answers.

Gao Wen’s gaze dropped to the rating, murmuring:

“Iron standout…”

“So my current combat power is already at the threshold—take one more step, and I could reach Bronze rating?”

“My main task for now is still to become familiar with this body.”

Thinking this,

Gao Wen closed the system interface, stepped out of the captain’s cabin, and onto the deck.

At this moment,

Night had deepened, and the sea breeze carried a chill.

The pirates who had been resting on the deck had all returned to their cabins.

Gao Wen slowly drew his longsword and began swinging it slowly, following the sword techniques he remembered.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

…

Silver light flashed across the deck, accompanied by the occasional whistle of air splitting—Gao Wen’s sword strikes grew faster and faster.

The original owner had trained in the most orthodox knightly sword art: no flashy moves, but each technique was balanced and steady, laying an unshakable foundation.

Yet in Gao Wen’s hands, it became something entirely different.

Fierce and swift, stripping away all unnecessary techniques and variations, relying solely on his extraordinary speed for direct, brutal strikes—this was sword art born for killing!

The Speed Boost’s enhancement wasn’t limited to attack speed—it had also greatly increased Gao Wen’s own movement and neural reaction speed.

Even with his original body, he couldn’t have fully utilized Speed Boost’s effects.

But now, with his physique also raised to Level-5, Gao Wen was different.

His base stats had nearly doubled, fully capable of withstanding such bursts—especially with the Balanced keyword’s bonus.

Constitution, strength, and dexterity grew in perfect sync, placing his body in a state of flawless balance.

Every single base stat could be pushed to its absolute limit, with virtually zero strain on his body.

“My judgment was right!”

“Constitution, agility, strength—they reinforce each other. To fully unleash their power, all three must advance in perfect harmony to achieve the perfect state!”

Amidst the swirling blades of light,

Gao Wen’s eyes grew brighter; as he practiced each technique, he felt a deep sense of ease, every cell in his body thrumming with excitement.

Power surged endlessly within him!

Finally…

Hiss!

As Gao Wen swung his sword, a silver-white air-cutting slash shot free, severing the ship’s railing, then continued flying dozens of meters before slowly fading.

“Air-cutting slash?!”

Gao Wen stared at the smooth cut on the railing, his excitement impossible to suppress.

“So these universal sword techniques—even without system keywords—can be mastered through practice?!”

“Thank goodness I chose Speed Boost—after all, the other two skills could be learned through hard training alone.”

Gao Wen silently thanked his luck, then calmed himself and resumed practicing his sword art.

As he became more familiar with his skyrocketing base stats, his swordplay grew fiercer and swifter—until on the deck, only the whistle of blades slicing through the air remained, his figure invisible.

The crew, awakened by the commotion, watched the flashing silver light and flying sword energy, swallowing hard.

“So fast!”

“That flying sword energy—that’s the Air-cutting Slash, only mastered by Sword Masters!”

“I’ve only ever heard of this ability in legends!”

They exchanged glances, and in each other’s eyes, they saw unmistakable awe.

Who else on this ship could possess such power but Captain Gao Wen?

…

…

…

“Huh~”

Gao Wen exhaled a warm breath, ending his training—only then did he notice the red sun rising on the horizon.

He had trained all night, drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through.

Yet his body felt no fatigue; instead, during this intense training, he felt power continuously surging from within.

As if something dormant within this body had been fully awakened!

At this moment, Gao Wen was certain: his Silver-level potential was tied to his physique’s growth and the Balanced keyword—likely the latter.

After all, mere physique improvement alone could never cause such a fundamental transformation.

“If Silver-level potential can achieve this, what would Gold, Legendary, or Mythic levels look like?”

Gao Wen murmured, gripping his longsword tighter.

“As long as I keep training, I will go farther—even challenge those legends.”

Gao Wen had this confidence—then he felt his skin sticky and foul; the impurities and sweat expelled during his physique’s transformation had mixed, emitting a nauseating stench.

He turned and walked back into the cabin, washed up quickly, changed clothes, and returned to the deck.

The pirates were already lined up neatly on the deck—even without Gao Wen’s prompting, they had begun practicing sword techniques on their own.

Last night, they had witnessed Gao Wen’s sword art: his ghostlike speed, his Air-cutting Slash—they had inspired longing, and now they trained harder than ever.

Soon, the deck echoed only with the clashing of blades.

Gao Wen nodded silently, corrected a few men’s stances briefly, then let the pirates train freely.

By nightfall, their training ended.

But to Gao Wen’s surprise, the experience they provided began to dwindle.

With over fifty men training on deck, according to previous ratios, they should have yielded over ten experience points per day.

Yet today, both physique and sword art gains were a pitiful single digit.

“What’s going on?”

Gao Wen frowned slightly, glanced at the resting pirates, and quietly opened his system panel:

【Name—Jia Bu】

【Potential—Iron】

【Rating—Iron: Sword apprentice, potential exhausted.】

“Potential exhausted…”

Gao Wen read the rating’s description and slowly understood.

How could a person’s ability grow without limit?

Over time, everyone eventually hits a wall—no matter how hard they train, they can’t advance further, not even maintain their current state.

Iron-level potential means growth can only reach Iron-level.

For a crew of nothing but Iron-level trash, hitting their limits came far faster than Gao Wen had imagined.

It was clear: the shrinking experience was only the beginning—his gains would keep declining.

“I need to speed up recruiting new members.”

“If all else fails…”

Gao Wen’s eyes flashed with cold intent.

He knew he wasn’t a good man—but he couldn’t bring himself to target civilians.

After all, they were already suffering souls, and penniless ones offered no profit—but others were different…

“Steal men from rival crews!”

(End of Chapter)