Chapter 101: Learning Blade Techniques

"Wow, this smells so good!" Lu Jun stared at the cooked beast meat on the table, his eyes shining, and saliva was almost uncontrollably flowing out.

Geng Lian couldn't help but laugh, teasing, "I added quite a few seasonings to it, how could it not be fragrant?" As she spoke, she herself subconsciously swallowed her saliva.

Thinking about it, it had been many years, and she had almost forgotten the wonderful taste of other seasonings mixed together.

"Dad, Mom, let's all sit down and eat," Lu Yu said with a gentle smile on his face.

"Coming right up," Geng Lian replied, turning to walk into the kitchen. Not long after, she walked out carrying a bowl of steaming, fragrant rice.

In an instant, the fragrance of the food originally on the table seemed to be suppressed by the aroma of this bowl of rice.

Lu Jun sniffed the fragrance filling the air hard, his eyes fixed on the bowl of rice in his mother's hands, and he asked curiously, "Mom, this rice is so fragrant! Huh, why is the color of this rice different from the other rice on the table?"

"This is Blood Rice, bought back specially by your older brother, so it is naturally different," Lu Guohao explained with a smile.

"Oh, oh." Lu Jun nodded as if he understood, then licked his lips and asked expectantly, "Mom, can I taste a little bit?"

Geng Lian was slightly stunned at first, then a troubled look appeared on her face.

She had heard Lu Guohao say that this Blood Rice was not ordinary; its nutritional content was equivalent to the meat of an Intermediate Fierce Beast, and the price was ridiculously high—it actually cost ten yuan per jin!

When she first heard it, she thought she had misheard and confirmed it twice before she dared to believe it.

So later, when washing the rice, she couldn't even bear to pour away the rice-washing water, keeping it to use for making soup.

As for this Blood Rice, in her heart, only Xiao Yu in the whole family was qualified to enjoy it.

Lu Jun... it really wasn't that she was biased.

"Jun'er, be good." Lu Guohao's voice sounded at the right moment, "This rice..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Yu smiled and interrupted, "Mom, since my younger brother wants to taste it, why not share some with him?"

"But..." Geng Lian felt both warm and increasingly unable to bear it when she heard this.

"Xiao Yu," Lu Guohao also advised, "This Blood Rice is truly precious. You should keep it for yourself to eat; your younger brother can just eat regular rice."

"Yeah, Brother, I'll just eat this bowl of rice," Lu Jun seemed to have sensed something from his parents' expressions and hurriedly picked up the white rice in front of him, saying with a grin.

Lu Yu smiled and patted his head, saying, "It's fine, it's just a bit of Blood Rice, what's the big deal? Mom, go get another bowl and share some with him."

In fact, although this kind of rice had extremely high nutritional value, it was not suitable for ordinary people to eat. Ordinary people could not only fail to absorb it but were also prone to adverse reactions, wasting such good things for nothing.

Therefore, he planned to buy some three-yuan-per-jin Blood Rice for his family to eat next time he went to Song Family Fort.

If his father could break through to the Refining Flesh Realm in the future, he would be able to eat this ten-yuan-per-jin Blood Rice.

"Okay, okay." Seeing this, Geng Lian hurriedly turned and walked into the room to get an empty bowl.

"Xiao Yu..." Lu Guohao opposite him started to speak but stopped.

Lu Yu waved his hand and said with a smile, "Dad, I'll just eat more beast meat."

Hearing this, Lu Guohao was so moved he didn't know what to say.

"You must remember your brother's kindness," Geng Lian said earnestly as she served Lu Jun a small half-bowl of Blood Rice.

"Yeah!" Lu Jun nodded vigorously, turned to Lu Yu, and said, "Brother, thank you."

Lu Yu couldn't help but feel a bit amused. In his view, wasn't this the most normal thing between family members?

Lu Yu took the bowl with more than half a bowl of Blood Rice from his mother's hand, picked up a mouthful with his chopsticks, and gently put it into his mouth to chew.

In an instant, a sweet taste permeated his mouth, becoming more fragrant the more he chewed, and even after swallowing, the wonderful taste left one with endless aftertaste.

"Mmm! It's so delicious!" Lu Jun couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Is it?" Geng Lian, who was on the side, asked with a smile.

"Yeah, Mom, you try some too."

"No, you just eat it."

"Just try some," Lu Jun said, handing the bowl to Geng Lian.

Geng Lian couldn't resist him, so she tasted a small bite. Upon tasting it, her eyes widened, and she marveled in her heart, this is too delicious, right? By comparison, the bowl of ordinary rice in front of her had almost no taste at all.

"Dad, you have a taste too."

Lu Guohao hesitated for a moment, but eventually tasted a bite.

Watching this scene, a gratified smile also appeared on Lu Yu's face.

Soon, Lu Yu finished the more than half bowl of Blood Rice.

He glanced at his Potential Points and found that they had increased by almost five points.

A bowl of rice was about half a jin, and one jin of Blood Rice could cook about two jin of rice, which meant that one jin of Blood Rice could provide about twenty-plus Potential Points?

"Not bad at all," he thought to himself. After all, even for wolf meat, one jin provided less than ten Potential Points.

Next, Lu Yu entered wolf-down mode, eating nearly a jin of rice and five or six jin of beast meat in one go, only then feeling seven-tenths full.

After this meal, his Potential Points had increased by nearly 50 points.

At this rate, it was estimated that two or three more meals would be enough to gather the Potential Points needed for the next enhancement.

After a whirlwind of eating, only Lu Yu and Lu Guohao were left at the dining table.

"Dad, there's something on the way back that I didn't have time to tell you."

"Yeah, go ahead," Lu Guohao said hurriedly.

"It's like this..." Lu Yu repeated to his father what he had said to Wang Liang before, and of course, included the result of his discussion with Wang Liang.

After listening, Lu Guohao's face turned pale instantly.

He had been overwhelmed by joy at the time, thinking only that with this batch of mounts, it would be much more convenient for people in the Zhai to go hunting in the future, but he hadn't expected such a hidden danger...

"Dad, don't worry too much. If someone really comes looking for us, aren't there still me and Wang Shu?"

"But it's still a bother for you, Dad, to go and notify everyone. In case something really happens, it will allow everyone to be mentally prepared and hide in the tunnels at the first opportunity," Lu Yu instructed seriously.

"Yeah, I will notify them," Lu Guohao nodded with a solemn expression.

"Xiao Yu, would it be better for us not to go out for these few days? If that person really knows our identities, they will likely attack the Zhai within the next two or three days, right?"

"That's right," Lu Yu took a deep breath and said, "Anyway, the food in the Zhai is still sufficient for now. Everyone can take this time to practice martial arts and practice horse riding. It won't be too late to go hunting after this matter passes."

"Mm." Lu Guohao expressed deep agreement with this. This could indeed be considered "sharpening the blade does not delay the wood-chopping."

It was just that he prayed silently in his heart, hoping that person did not know their identities.

After resting for a while, Lu Yu set off for the Warehouse. It wasn't just him; the young and able-bodied men in the Zhai had all come.

Although today had been a close call, the consequences would have been unimaginable without Lu Yu there, so everyone was working extra hard, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

Qin Hai was in a corner, focusing entirely on practicing his Archery alone, not even noticing Lu Yu's arrival.

Lu Yu naturally did not go to disturb him; after exchanging a glance with Wang Liang, the two walked toward the Warehouse.

Following what had been agreed upon earlier, he brought over all the Martial Arts Manuals that had been purchased.

Wang Liang nodded, then looked at the rows of shelves to the east and said, "Didn't you want to learn blade technique? Go pick out a blade that feels right first."

On the several rows of shelves were all kinds of blades, from small Flying Knives less than a palm long, to ones the length of a forearm, to others nearly a meter long, and even Slaughter Horse Blades nearly two meters long.

Lu Yu walked up, picked up blades one by one to weigh them, and finally chose a long blade about thirty jin in weight and over a meter in length.

"This kid, his strength seems to have grown again," Wang Liang muttered to himself.

He also picked out a long blade for himself and led Lu Yu outside.

"Blade technique is simpler compared to spear technique. You already have a foundation in Fist Technique, so it shouldn't be hard to learn. However, my blade technique is just average; I might not be able to teach you much, so you should be mentally prepared."

"Wang Shu, don't be so modest," Lu Yu said with a smile, just about to properly praise Wang Liang.

The latter waved his hand and said, "I'm not being modest. Take blades for example; they are divided into long weapons and short weapons, and short weapons are further divided into single blades and double blades. Different blades naturally require different blade techniques. All I can teach you is the method for using a single blade."

"That's fine, a single blade is enough," Lu Yu said.

Since he had already learned spear technique, there was indeed no need to go and learn long blade techniques.

If he learned the short blade, it might come in handy in narrow alleys if an enemy were to invade the Zhai in the future.

Of course, he did not plan to learn Wang Liang's hidden weapon martial arts for the time being. After all, a person's experience and energy are limited.

"Mm." Seeing that Lu Yu was ready, Wang Liang said slowly, "A single blade, as the name implies, means holding the blade in one hand while the other hand assists and coordinates. Basic moves include chopping, hacking, thrusting, lifting, wiping, blocking, intercepting, and flicking, among others. Next, I will demonstrate them for you one by one."

Lu Yu nodded; facts proved that the basic moves of blade technique were indeed much simpler than those of spear technique.

Take spear technique, for example; one must always guard the center line, which is very hard for beginners to remember.

And blade technique? Perhaps because the blade in his hand had significant weight, every time Lu Yu performed a move, his proficiency shot up.

0.3%, 0.7%, 0.9%, 1.2%...

This made Lu Yu overjoyed. He had originally thought about spending one or two points of Experience Value to raise his blade technique to level one, just like he did with spear technique, but now it seemed completely unnecessary. Save where you can.

Watching Lu Yu's movements look decent right from the start of his practice, Wang Liang did not find it strange.

As the saying goes, the staff takes a month, the blade a year, and the spear a lifetime.

A staff is something anyone can wave around; if one learns it seriously, they can master it in less than a month, as it is the foundation of all weapons.

Learning to use a blade requires a year. As for the spear, that is the hardest to learn; even if one spends a lifetime studying it, they wouldn't dare say they have mastered it thoroughly.

Of course, many people are also fond of the sword; the difficulty of learning the sword is above the blade but below the spear, and it can also be considered a relatively difficult skill to master.

"You keep practicing; if anything comes up, come find me anytime."

"Mm, Wang Shu, go ahead and get busy." Lu Yu nodded; he was full of energy at this moment.

He did not covet speed, striving for every movement to be standard and precise, so each movement basically required about three seconds.

Fortunately, as he practiced, the proficiency gained from each movement gradually increased.

It started at only 0.3%, but now it could basically reach 0.4%, and sometimes even 0.5%.

After a minute, the proficiency of 【Basic Blade Technique】 had increased by 8%. Of course, this was a long blade weighing over thirty jin; for an average person, even waving it once would be exhausting.

So after practicing for two or three minutes, Lu Yu had to stop and rest for a while.

After about half an hour, a faint warm current rose within Lu Yu's body, like a small pebble dropped into a calm lake, creating a ripple before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Basic Blade Technique leveled up?" Lu Yu's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly looked at his attribute panel.

【Basic Blade Technique: lv1, trait, Powerful level 1, Fierce Attack level 1】

【Fierce Attack: For every level the Skill increases, blade speed increases by 30%】

"So it increases blade speed? That's pretty good." A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Yu's face. After all, in all the martial arts of the world, only speed cannot be broken.

Besides that, there was also a "Powerful" trait, which could be considered an old acquaintance.

"Then let's keep practicing." At this moment, many memories regarding blade technique appeared in Lu Yu's mind.

He gripped the hilt tightly with his right hand and suddenly performed a Forward Thrust. His proficiency rose by another 0.2%.

Lu Yu glanced at the proficiency and felt that this growth rate was acceptable.

It looked like this blade technique could be raised another level or two; it wouldn't be too late to spar with Wang Shu when it could no longer be improved.

After all, with a higher level of 【Basic Blade Technique】, the proficiency gained during sparring would also be higher.

"Basic Blade Technique needs to be level 5 to complete the Shadowless Great Fast Blade; still 4 levels to go, keep it up!" Lu Yu cheered himself on silently.

Not far away, Li Yang and the others were sitting and resting after finishing their spear practice; seeing Lu Yu practicing blade technique inadvertently, expressions of envy and longing appeared on their faces one after another.

"Wow, Brother Yu has started learning blade technique again?" one of them exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's really amazing, to be able to learn so many martial arts," another echoed, his tone full of admiration.

"If only we had half his comprehension, learning martial arts wouldn't be so strenuous," someone said with a sigh.

"I don't have high demands, just a quarter of his comprehension would be enough," Li Yang muttered softly, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

Qin Hai also looked in Lu Yu's direction, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

He pondered to himself: Hasn't this guy already learned spear technique? Is he now learning blade technique too?

If you count the previous Fist Technique, how many things has he actually learned?

Moreover, the most astonishing thing was his terrifying Archery; at the mere thought of the scene he saw at noon, even he couldn't help but feel a chill rise up his spine.

"No, I have to work even harder!" Qin Hai clenched his fists tightly, secretly encouraging himself.

After this period of hard training, combined with sufficient food supplementation, he felt that perhaps in these next day or two, he would be able to pull a bow with a draw weight of one hundred jin.