Chapter 102: A Bit of Bullying

Lu Guohao, Zhao Shan, and the others, seeing the younger generation working so hard, were also filled with motivation.

After all, they couldn't possibly be outdone by these young people in terms of drive and effort, could they?

Meanwhile, Lu Yu was completely immersed in his blade technique training, oblivious to everything happening around him. The proficiency of 【Basic Blade Technique】 was steadily increasing at a rate of 0.3% per movement.

Half an hour passed, and sweat had soaked his clothes through, sticking them tightly to his body.

An hour passed, and he looked as if he had just been fished out of water, drenched from head to toe.

"Hoo... hoo..." Lu Yu panted heavily; having swung his blade intermittently for an entire hour, even with his stamina, he felt exhausted.

Fortunately, however, there wasn't much proficiency left before 【Basic Blade Technique】 leveled up again.

After another crisp and clean downward slash, a familiar, faint warm current rose within his body once more.

Lu Yu stopped the blade in his hand, let out a long breath, and immediately looked at his skill bar.

【Basic Blade Technique: lv2, Traits: Powerful lv2, Fierce Attack lv2】

No new traits appeared, but this was within his expectations.

"Three more levels to reach level five and complete the Shadowless Quick Blade," Lu Yu thought silently to himself.

At this moment, he felt the Blood Circulation trait of his Taiji Fist slowly taking effect, though for his current state, the speed of stamina recovery still seemed a bit slow.

"Should I raise Taiji Fist to the next Realm?" Lu Yu pondered to himself. His Experience Value was currently quite sufficient; if he raised the Blood Circulation trait to level 2, his rest time might be shortened by nearly half again.

Moreover, raising his Realm would also bring quite a few attribute points, laying a foundation for learning other unarmed martial arts.

Having made up his mind, Lu Yu did not hesitate to invest one point of Experience Value into Taiji Fist. The progress bar moved as if extremely reluctant, inching forward one notch before stopping again; his proficiency had increased by 1%.

"Not bad." Lu Yu nodded. At this rate, it would take a total of 100 Experience Value to raise his Realm.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately poured the remaining 99 points of Experience Value into it all at once.

In an instant, a slight humming sound resonated throughout his bones, and a warm current surged through his entire body. However, compared to the last time he raised his Realm, the commotion this time was significantly smaller.

Besides that, there didn't seem to be any other special changes.

Lu Yu frowned slightly and looked at the skill bar.

【Wang Family Taiji Fist: Entering the Hall, Traits: Prolonging Life lv3, Vigorous Strength lv3, Lightness lv3, Blood Circulation lv2】

Indeed, no new traits appeared, but he could clearly feel that his stamina recovery speed had become much faster.

This made him feel a bit restless, and he even considered whether to strike while the iron was hot and raise Taiji Fist by another level.

After all, the next proficiency stage after Entering the Hall was Great Success.

However, after thinking it over repeatedly, he decided not to rush the upgrade.

After all, 【Phantom Arrow Technique】 had to be raised to the maximum level, his Agility attribute was relatively weak, and it would be best to raise 【Water-Pointing Swimming Dragon Skill】 to the maximum value as soon as possible.

If he were to raise Taiji Fist to Great Success, he feared his Experience Value would not be enough.

After resting for more than ten minutes, Lu Yu stood up from the stool, gripped the hilt of his blade tightly, and slashed forward with force.

At this point, the 【Basic Blade Technique】, having reached level 2, made every move and stance of his quite imposing.

However, after this slash, the proficiency only rose by less than 0.1%... Subsequently, he repeated the other basic movements in turn, and the most the proficiency increased was only 0.12%.

Lu Yu took a deep breath. At his current speed, he could complete one movement in a second or two; in a minute, he could complete 60 movements, which meant his proficiency could increase by about 4-5%.

It seemed like a significant increase, but if he followed the rhythm of practicing for a minute and resting for a minute, he could level up in less than an hour, yet such a training method was truly too exhausting.

Moreover, he knew clearly that once 【Basic Blade Technique】 reached level 3, the time required for leveling up would likely double.

"It seems I still have to go ask Wang Shu for help." Lu Yu silently put away his blade and walked toward Wang Liang.

Not long after, a similar scene played out again. Lu Yu and Wang Liang stood facing each other, each holding a wooden blade.

Only this time, not many people gathered around to watch.

"Come on," Wang Liang said first. Although he didn't consider his blade technique to be exquisite, dealing with a beginner who had only just started practicing blade techniques shouldn't be a problem.

"Um, Wang Shu," Lu Yu scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I feel like my strength has increased quite a bit recently; I reckon I can pull a bow with 300 catties of draw weight now."

"You, you broke through?" The shock instantly appeared on Wang Liang's originally calm face.

Above Body Tempering Third Layer was the Refining Flesh Realm; could it be that this kid had already become a Refining Flesh Martial Artist?

"Maybe?" Lu Yu scratched his head and recalled, "I just remember when I was fighting the horse bandits, the situation was critical, and when I felt like I was in a desperate situation, a powerful force suddenly surged within me, and all of a sudden I had strength."

For one, only by going all out in a spar with Wang Liang could his proficiency increase faster; hiding his strength would be counterproductive. For another, with Wang Liang's discernment, even if he wanted to hide it, it would surely be seen through, so it was better to be honest from the start.

"Could it be that you broke through at a critical moment?" Wang Liang frowned. This possibility was indeed quite high, as he himself had personally experienced similar situations.

Many seniors had also repeatedly emphasized that the human body was like a treasure vault containing infinite potential; the more critical the life-and-death moment, the easier it was for the hidden potential of the human body to be stimulated.

Of course, if those on the verge of life and death lost their reason due to excessive panic, or simply gave up resistance and closed their eyes to wait for death, then the probability of stimulating these potentials was low.

"Don't hold back later; let me see," Wang Liang said.

"Yes, thank you, Wang Shu!" Lu Yu didn't stand on ceremony with him. As soon as he finished speaking, he lunged forward with a stride, his wooden blade thrusting fiercely toward Wang Liang's chest.

"!" Wang Liang's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly held his wooden blade upright in front of him to block this sharp strike.

"Pa!" A crisp and loud clashing sound rang out as the tip of the blade struck accurately against the body of the blade.

Wang Liang's hand was as steady as a rock, like a reef standing on the seashore, unmoved by the crashing waves.

Lu Yu, on the other hand, only felt a wave of intense numbness coming from his hand.

"Not bad," Wang Liang said slowly at this moment. "Your strength and speed have indeed reached the Refining Flesh Realm, especially your strength attribute; compared to those martial artists who have just stepped into the mid-stage of Refining Flesh, the gap is no longer very large."

"Really?" A look of unexpected joy appeared on Lu Yu's face, and he hurriedly asked, "Wang Shu, how big is this gap exactly? What fraction is it?"

"What fraction?" Wang Liang felt a bit surprised by this way of asking, but he still thought about it seriously and replied, "About one-fifth, I suppose."

"One-fifth." A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Yu's face.

Just now, after 【Basic Blade Technique】 and 【Taiji Fist】 were upgraded, he checked his attribute panel and found that there was still no plus sign after his Realm, meaning he had not yet reached the minimum threshold for breaking through his Realm.

According to Wang Shu, the strength value of a martial artist who had just stepped into the mid-stage of Refining Flesh was probably around one hundred points.

By the same logic, the requirements for other attributes should be the same.

And his current Constitution attribute had already reached 97 points; it seemed he would soon be able to meet the attribute value requirements for a 100% breakthrough to the mid-stage of Refining Flesh.

Oh, right, there is also the proficiency of the Basic Blade Technique. Lu Yu hurriedly lowered his head to look, only to see the proficiency had increased by 0.5% all at once!

"Wang Shu, I am going to start attacking with all my strength." Lu Yu said impatiently.

"Come on then." Wang Liang nodded. Since Lu Yu had already reached the Refining Flesh Realm, he would also control his own strength at this Realm to spar with Lu Yu.

Lu Yu rushed forward again like a fierce tiger, the wooden blade in his hand carving a beautiful arc in the air, slashing fiercely toward Wang Liang.

Wang Liang quickly raised his blade to Block, and the two wooden blades collided again, emitting a crisp sound.

This time, it was still Lu Yu responsible for attacking, and Wang Liang responsible for Blocking.

"Wang Shu doesn't seem as relaxed as last time, does he?" Wang Ping stood not far away, watching the two spar, and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Yeah, you can tell, Wang Shu is having a bit of a hard time." The person beside him chimed in.

"Brother Yu's momentum when attacking with the blade is so fierce. It feels like his style when using a blade is completely different from when he uses a spear or a bow." Another person also expressed their opinion.

"Hmm, when using a spear, it feels like he is the same as Wang Shu, as steady as a mountain, but when using a bow, he gives people a sense of extreme, dangerous pressure."

"Indeed, no matter who it is, if they are being Aiming at by Brother Yu with a bow, they definitely won't feel good inside." Several people discussed it, one word after another.

And at this moment, Wang Liang indeed felt a bit strained, and more than that, stifled.

Because he could only blindly defend, and yet the blade was not the weapon he was skilled with; to him, this was like a form of torment.

However, if this could allow Lu Yu to improve rapidly, he was willing to endure it silently.

Just at this moment, Lu Yu suddenly stopped his offensive.

"What's wrong?" Wang Liang looked at him in confusion; this kid didn't look like he was running out of stamina, did he?

"Wang Shu, I think, why don't you use the spear instead." Lu Yu said.

Lu Yu naturally had a clear idea of the situation that Wang Ping and the others could perceive.

Although this way of sparring made his proficiency grow very quickly and he practiced with great motivation, seeing Wang Shu's uncomfortable appearance, he still felt some reluctance in his heart.

After all, his own growth should not be built upon the suffering of others.

Wang Liang was slightly stunned, then a meaningful smile appeared on his face, "Are you sure you want to use a blade to oppose my spear?"

Sure enough, the moment the spear was mentioned, his eyes immediately glowed with a light completely different from before; that was a kind of confidence and love for the weapon he was skilled with.

"Kid, I have to remind you, the saying 'one inch longer, one inch stronger' is not just something said casually."

The spear is hailed as the king of all weapons; once it clashes with other weapons, it can often occupy the upper hand.

Even some exotic weapons that claim to be able to counter the spear can only manage to be not so passive and strained in actual combat.

"Hmm, I'm sure." Lu Yu nodded heavily. He understood Wang Liang's meaning in his heart; short weapons opposing long weapons are inherently at a congenital disadvantage, not to mention that Wang Shu's spear technique attainments are extremely high.

Never mind that his 【Basic Blade Technique】 is only level 2 right now; even if it reached level 5, he probably wouldn't be able to get any advantage under Wang Shu's spear. But he didn't care; as long as he could become stronger by this, that was enough.

"Good, since you insist, then I will use the spear." A hint of a smile appeared on Wang Liang's face.

Thus, amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd, Wang Liang turned around to go swap for a large spear over three meters long.

"Hiss..." Including Lu Guohao and the others, seeing this scene, they couldn't help but break into a cold sweat for Lu Yu. Isn't this obviously asking to be abused?

"Come on." Wang Liang suppressed his laughter and said, "I will first use the strength of Body Tempering First Layer to spar with you; whenever you can touch me, you win."

"Good." Lu Yu's eyes were burning with intense fighting spirit.

However, just as he took a step forward, he heard a "whoosh" sound from the air in front of him, and he hurriedly raised his blade to parry.

With a loud "clang," Lu Yu successfully parried the long spear.

He tried to take the opportunity to enter the inner circle to launch an attack, but who could have expected that the next moment, the spearhead would break through the air like lightning again.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang..."

A series of crisp impact sounds rang out one after another.

Lu Yu was surprised to discover that not only was it difficult for him to move forward even a fraction, but his arm was also shaken until it was slightly numb by the long spear.

Looking again at Wang Liang, who was three meters away, he had a relaxed and comfortable expression, as if the clash just now was just a piece of cake for him.

Given Lu Yu's current level of blade technique, if he really wanted to stab the opponent, where would he need five or six strikes? However, this was indeed a bit bullying.

Wang Liang also felt a bit embarrassed, coughed twice, and said, "Xiao Yu, how about I switch back to using the blade?"