Chapter 1: Task Progress: 999,999%

Tianxuan Continent.

Here, the mountains are spiritual and beautiful, vast and boundless.

Qingzhou is one of the Nine Provinces, with many practitioners.

A peculiar point to mention is that the practitioners here are primarily sword cultivators.

Qingzhou is a great province that belongs to the sword.

In Qingzhou, the proportion of sword cultivators exceeds eighty percent of all practitioners.

Even the martial artists and commoners in the secular world have a unique preference for the sword.

The favorite toys of children are small wooden swords, and the favorites of men are fencing and great precious swords.

Even women have a special fondness for the back of a white-clad swordsman standing in the spring breeze.

The most famous sect in Qingzhou is the Qinglian Sword Sect, located on Qinglian Mountain in the center of Qingzhou.

And the three hundred large and small sects scattered throughout Qingzhou, divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers, are all affiliates of the Sword Sect.

All disciples within these sects fantasize about becoming true-disciples of the Sword Sect, which would surely be infinitely glorious.

The Qingyang Sword Hall in Anning County is one of them, belonging to the lower hundred sects.

August.

It is early morning, the sky is not yet fully bright, and in the haziness, sounds of breaking through the air come in bursts.

Swish!

Swish, swish!

On the training ground of the Qingyang Sword Hall, a youth is practicing swordplay earnestly.

Thrust, hack, point, lift, flick, collapse, intercept... one can see him fully focused, practicing every move and stance with extreme seriousness.

The early morning is slightly cool, yet drops of sweat drip from his forehead.

One can see that although he practices earnestly, he goes over and over only the thirteen most basic sword techniques.

These thirteen Basic Sword Techniques are the most fundamental methods of using a sword, possessing nothing profound.

In a place like Qingzhou that reveres the sword, even commoners in the secular world have learned them in their youth.

And the first-generation master of the Qingyang Sword Hall was an outer-sect disciple of the Sword Sect, so naturally, there is a sword technique inheritance—the Blazing Sun Sword Technique.

The Blazing Sun Sword Technique has fierce moves and decisive killing power; once mastered, one can slash out Red Flame Sword Qi, which is terrifying in power.

Compared to the Basic Sword Techniques widely spread among the commoners, it is unknown how many times more brilliant it is.

Other disciples in the Sword Hall have long since set their minds on the Blazing Sun Sword Technique, studying it diligently day by day.

Even secular martial artists in the pugilistic world will study some casually circulated sword techniques.

As for Basic Sword Technique? Hah!

Since there is already the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, who would still want the Taizu Long Fist? The youth is named Lu Li, and he is extremely handsome, very good-looking.

If one were to use a word to describe his appearance, perhaps only Principal Gu's "plain and unremarkable" would suffice.

He practiced swordplay alone for a full hour, and only when the morning sun rose did he stop to rest.

At this time, the number of disciples on the training ground gradually increased.

"Senior Brother Lu."

"Greetings, Senior Brother Lu."

"Senior Brother, are you still practicing Basic Sword Technique today..."

The other fellow disciples around were not surprised to see Lu Li on the training ground.

Over these past few years, Lu Li would come to the training ground very early every day to practice.

Seeing Lu Li, they all came over to pay their respects in a formal manner, and Lu Li also nodded slightly toward these junior brothers and sisters.

Yet, this seemingly intimate and harmonious fellowship faintly revealed a trace of indifference and alienation.

Having finished practicing his sword technique early, Lu Li set off to return to his own courtyard.

Watching Lu Li's figure gradually walk away, the disciples began to discuss in low voices.

"Hey, it's been almost a year, right? Why is Senior Brother Lu still practicing Basic Sword Technique?"

"A year? That's because you've only been here for a year!

I came earlier; three years ago he started acting crazy, ignoring the exquisite Blazing Sun Sword Technique and running off to practice Basic Sword Technique."

A youth with thin cheeks said bitterly.

Someone familiar beside him heard this and teased: "Zhou Tai, I remember you were following Lu Li to practice Basic Sword Technique back then, why aren't you practicing it now?"

The thin man named Zhou Tai snorted and said: "Don't talk about me.

Didn't you follow along and practice it too? Back then, Lu Li was exceptionally gifted; it only took him ten breaths of time to perceive the Qi sensation of the Qi Refining Technique.

Seeing him suddenly abandon the Blazing Sun Sword Technique to practice Basic Sword Technique, everyone thought he had discovered some secret.

Among us disciples at the time, who didn't follow along and practice it?"

"As a result, I practiced it for over half a year, my martial arts didn't improve in the slightest, and even Lu Li's cultivation realm was wasted.

Later, we found out that when he went traveling with his parents back then, they encountered a Demon Beast, and only he survived, so he has been crazy ever since."

It turns out that Lu Li began to focus on practicing Basic Sword Technique three years ago, even leading a trend of basic practice at the time.

But by now, most disciples consider that period a dark history; whenever they recall it, they feel it is unbearable to look back on, and are even eager to distance themselves from Lu Li.

However, Lu Li has persisted until today, and has become a foolish and crazy person in the eyes of the disciples.

Although the disciples find it difficult to humiliate him to his face, there is no shortage of discussion behind his back.

Complaining about Lu Li daily has become one of the group's pleasures, and some have even opened a betting pool to wager on how long Lu Li can stay crazy.

"But, I think Senior Brother Lu is very normal in daily life, and he has even given me pointers..."

A junior sister mumbled.

"Junior sister, you don't understand; this kind of condition is the most serious of all.

Think about it, what normal person practices Basic Sword Techniques every single day? Don't be fooled by how he seems fine on the surface; if he ever has a flare-up, it will surely be terrifying."

Zhou Tai also said, "Besides, I suspect the things he points out to you are just entry-level skills; what could be so brilliant about them?"

"His cultivation realm is still stuck at the Initial Realm from three years ago, and his sword techniques have also remained stagnant, yet we have been improving all along and have long since surpassed him."

"A month from now is the Slaying Demon Assembly organized by Moonlight Tower, and our Sword Pavilion only has three spots for it.

Master said that in three days, there will be a competition to select the participants, and I wonder if Lu Li even dares to step up and compete."

... Qingyang Sword Hall covers a large area. After leaving the training grounds, Lu Li turned through two or three corridors and arrived at his own courtyard.

This is an independent courtyard where Lu Li lives alone.

On one hand, it is because his late father was a sworn brother of the Qingyang Sword Hall master, Jiang Yebai; on the other hand, it is because Lu Li bought this quiet side courtyard himself.

Lu Li has heard some of the discussions among his fellow disciples, but he does not care about them.

As the saying goes, do not argue with petty people, and do not debate the merits of things with fools.

In fact, to avoid wasting breath on these people, Lu Li specifically wakes up an hour early to practice his sword.

Because the others have no idea that he suddenly switched to practicing Basic Sword Techniques because of a prompt that suddenly appeared in his mind three years ago.

Lu Li was born into the Tianxuan Continent carrying memories of his past life.

In his past life, he was a child of a wealthy family; his parents had their own careers and were together in name only, staying married only for certain reasons.

To put it bluntly, his parents "each played their own games."

As for Lu Li, he was merely a link to maintain the two major conglomerates.

From childhood to adulthood, he felt almost no warmth from his family, only the cold, inexhaustible numbers in his bank account.

Lu Li scoffed at this.

But after coming to this world, although Lu Li's parents were not as wealthy as in his past life, they let Lu Li experience what the word "home" truly meant.

When he fought with other children, his father would teach him Basic Sword Technique and tell him to fight back.

This was true fatherly love.

By comparison, what joy was there in those cold banknotes? When he scraped his knee, his mother would gently blow on it and say tenderly, "Don't be afraid, Mother will blow a breath of immortal energy on it and it won't hurt anymore."

Sure enough, after his mother blew on it, it really didn't hurt anymore.

Lu Li was amazed; was this the power of love? It was only when he grew a few years older that he learned his mother knew Qi Healing Technique!

She was a physician.

And his father was a sword cultivator.

This world has cultivators!

Although his parents' realms were not particularly high.

Just like that, Lu Li spent thirteen happy years.

Three years ago, Lu Li's family went out for an excursion, but they happened to encounter a demon cultivator passing through, and even with his parents joining forces, they were no match for the demon cultivator.

When Lu Li woke up, he was already lying inside Qingyang Sword Hall.

The Sword Pavilion master, Jiang Yebai, had saved him, but his parents had been killed by the demon cultivator.

That day, Lu Li cried until he nearly fainted.

The warmth of home had left him once again.

It was on that same day that a system prompt appeared in Lu Li's mind.

Lu Li smiled bitterly to himself; so it really is the Qidian Orphanage, huh? Even after transmigrating, one must have both parents die to awaken a system? However, the system did not bind to Lu Li directly, but instead set a requirement for an assessment.

While in the Initial Realm, practice the Basic Sword Techniques to the level of Mastery!

Only by meeting this requirement would he be qualified to receive the system's recognition.

From then on, Lu Li switched to practicing Basic Sword Technique.

The practice of any sword technique can be divided into Entry, Minor Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, Perfection, and the legendary "Unity of Man and Sword," which is Mastery.

【Current task progress: Basic Sword Techniques (99.999999%/100%)】 Lu Li looked at the progress bar in his mind and muttered, "Don't be like the Pinduoduo system and add another decimal place..."

When he practiced the progress to 99%, he had already reached the Perfection realm.

But this final Mastery is extremely difficult to achieve.

Every time he thought he could meet the requirement, another decimal place would appear at the end.

From 99.9% to 99.99%... This made Lu Li suspect that this system might be fake!

Could it be a "fake one compensated by ten," and he'd end up with eleven fake systems? Lu Li rubbed his throbbing temples, lay back on the rocking chair, and closed his eyes to calm his mind, letting his thoughts wander; this was also a way for him to relax.

Every time he practiced the sword, it was very mentally draining.

Thousands upon thousands of repetitions had long since made his muscles familiar with the Basic Sword Technique.

Continuing mechanical practice would not bring about an improvement in his realm.

Therefore, every time Lu Li practiced, he would be fully focused, carefully experiencing the sword moves and concentrating on his insights.

And after practicing, his mind was even more exhausted than his body.

Thus, Lu Li could only practice twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening.

Any more than that, and he couldn't handle it.

"The morning practice is finished; I need to rest for a while and practice again in the evening.

If I'm lucky, I might reach the requirement tonight.

Even without the system progress, I feel like I'm about to break through the Perfection realm; one foot is already stepping into the level of Mastery."

"Three days from now is the day of the sect selection; I must awaken the system before this date at the latest to see what it can bring me.

I must participate in the Slaying Demon Assembly at Moonlight Tower."

"Demon race... blood debts must be paid in blood."

Lu Li thought to himself.

The day passed without incident, and it went by very quickly.

By the time evening arrived, Lu Li practiced his sword again.

This time, the setting sun was like blood, casting him into a dancing dark silhouette.

As twilight descended, Lu Li's sword moves became increasingly agile.

With his mind free of distractions, he thrust his sword out with a *swish*, feeling his body, mind, and technique become one.

The long sword in his hand was like an extension of his limbs, moving exactly as he willed.

It was as if a layer of window paper had been poked through, and Lu Li suddenly had an epiphany.

His Basic Sword Techniques had finally broken through to Perfection, reaching the realm of Unity of Man and Sword.

【Congratulations to the host for completing the mission, the Heavens Sword Dao System is now activated!

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