23 Basic Saber Art

After he briefly read through the introduction, Zhao Gao closed the manual.

It was not because he did not want to go through the manual in detail, and quickly cultivate. It was because Chiliarch Ling and the others had halted everyone's practice and were gathering everyone to prepare to wash up at the stream.

Zhao Gao hurried to catch up with the rest. He had to suppress his desire to learn the saber techniques quickly.

Upon reaching the stream, Zhao Gao did what he had always done. Stripping down to his bare body, leaving his pants on, he then began to practice the Beginner Combat Technique.

This was the foundation of his ability to control his body's strength quickly. He could not abandon this practice.

After practicing for another one-and-a-half hours, Zhao Gao added a few Freedom Stats Points to both his Essence and Magic Stats.

After enduring the swelling pain of his body, Zhao Gao jumped into the stream and began to wash his body and clothes.

After that, he put on the clothes that had been washed the day before, and started walking towards the military camp.

By the time everyone returned to the camp, Zhao Gao was just in time to follow Chiliarch Ling back to the field.

After that, it was time for dinner.

Zhao Gao finished his dinner within 30 minutes. Then he took out the 'Basic Saber Art' manual and began to study it word-by-word under the glow of the sunset.

As he pondered the moves, he took out his damaged saber and gestured accordingly.

Sweep, Cleave, Plow, Slice, Nail, Slash, Strike.

He simply copied the images in the manual.

He tried his best to copy every movement precisely. Thereafter, he began to familiarize himself with each movement.

He then closed the manual and began to execute all the moves in succession.

The first time, he completed each movement in a clumsy manner.

The second time, he gets a little more familiar with them.

The third time, he began to familiarize himself with all the movements.

The fourth time, he began to connect all the movements together.

As he practiced over and over again, Zhao Gao seemed unaware of the passing of time. He devoted himself fully to learning the Saber techniques.

It was only when the system notification sounded, that Zhao Gao regained his senses.

"Obtained Skill: Basic Saber Art"

Zhao Gao hurriedly opened the system interface and began to check his stats.

"Basic Saber Art: The most basic application of Saber skills, the starting point for all Swordsmen."

"Evaluation: With a simple Saber, you can slash from South to North without blinking an eye!"

Zhao Gao was speechless.

"F*ck… What the f*ck, 'slashing all the way north'! Should I change my name to Chen Haonan?" Zhao Gao hollered in his heart.

The Evaluation always presented itself as something one could complain about.

Zhao Gao decided to ignore the system's crazy Evaluation. He took a look at his stats as he had been saving EXP points since 7 am till 10 pm.

"Storage EXP: 1 851 730"

With just one look, Zhao Gao felt happiness descending on him once again. 1.85 million EXP points! How many levels could he upgrade his Saber skills?

Holding back his excitement, Zhao Gao began to click on the Basic Saber Art.

"Basic Saber Art upgraded successfully: Level 1"

"Level 2"

"Basic Saber Art → Beginner Saber Art"

"Beginner Saber Art: Level 10"

"Beginner Saber Art: Level 11"

——————

"Beginner Saber Art: Level 21: 349 000"

"Remaining EXP: 4645"

The moment he finished upgrading the skill level, Zhao Gao was once again pulled onto the mountain peak.

This time, he was standing at the peak of the mountain with a Large Saber in his hand. He was waving the saber vigorously and practicing his Beginner Saber Art.

Sweep, Cleave, Plow, Slice, Nail, Slash, Strike.

His body and mind consumed every move.

The sharp blade tore through the air with swishing sounds.

One year, two years… until 21 years later.

Zhao Gao's figure on the peak of the mountain became blurred after he finished practicing the Beginner Saber Art for the last time.

In reality, on the field, Zhao Gao suddenly opened his eyes with a cold gaze.

All of a sudden, Zhao Gao began to move.

He gripped the saber tightly in his hand and began practicing his Saber Techniques on the field.

"Swish swish swish…" The cold blade light surrounded Zhao Gao's body.

The swift light of the saber and the sharp sound of air being torn apart indicated that this was not merely a pretty display.

Time passed slowly. Zhao Gao did not know how many times he had practiced this technique. He finished the closing move only when he felt tired.

"Clang!" A crisp sound was heard. Zhao Gao's saber could no longer withstand his destructive power and literally broke into two.

"Whoosh!" Zhao Gao let out a deep breath. When he saw the remaining half of the saber in his hand, he casually tossed it aside.

"Swish… Bang!!" The saber flew out of Zhao Gao's hands. And in a blur, it went straight into the wooden wall of the field. Only the hilt was sticking out of the wall.

Zhao Gao did not care about the commotion he caused. He turned around and calmly walked towards the military tents.

Under the cold moonlight, Zhao Gao's shadow left the lonely field.

——————

Zhao Gao pulled open the tent flap and walked in. His four roommates were already asleep.

"That's good. There's no need for any hypocritical acts, nor do I need to say any pretentious words to them." Zhao Gao secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Then, he walked to his bed. After taking off his armor, Zhao Gao placed it neatly at the side so that he could get dressed quickly the next morning.

As he lay in bed quietly, Zhao Gao recalled the wonderful adventures he had gone through in the past four days. They were more exciting than what he had experienced in his 27 years.

In Zhao Gao's mind, the initial fear of being chosen by the Talent Space had now diminished.

In his opinion, this enlistment had become a "fortuitous encounter".

Here, he could experience a different world, and meet different interesting people.

Most importantly, he could also possess something called 'power'.

Every time he leveled up, his strength would grow stronger.

And the sense of security and satisfaction brought about by this "power" were not things that external objects could give.

Besides, who had never dreamt of 'walking to the ends of the earth with a sword in hand'?

He thought of a line from a Chinese poem, "A lone ranger moving through this earth…."

He imagined himself in a white robe, carrying a sword, standing in a world of ice and snow.

Would that not present itself as a beautiful imagery?

Would that not feel good?

In addition, he might actually evolve into a legendary character in the future!

He could be flying through the sky, plucking the stars and moon, or being eternal.

Would that not be marvelous?

Was that not a "fortuitous encounter" then?

As he went through these thoughts, Zhao Gao drifted off to sleep!

——————

"Dong… Dong… Dong!"

The next day, at 5 am, Zhao Gao and the others were once again woken up by the drumbeats.

Hearing the familiar sound of the drums, Zhao Gao opened his eyes and jumped out of bed.

He quickly put on his armor and ran to the latrine. After settling his 'three urgent matters', he stood in the field and waited.

As usual, while waiting, Zhao Gao upgraded his Character level to refresh himself, and to get rid of his fatigue.

"Character upgrade successful!"

"Current Character level: 6. 53750 EXP points consumed."

"All Stats will automatically increase by 1 point."

"Talent growth: 0.5 points"

In an instant, the familiar swelling pain assaulted his heart again.

However, this pain could no longer bring any discomfort to Zhao Gao.

He had already gotten used to this feeling!