Dawn broke as the cocks crowed for the third time.
Chu Fan rolled out of bed, every muscle and bone in his body aching unbearably.
He lifted his shirt to find his arms and chest covered in bruises—remnants of the beating he had taken from Liu Da and his cronies.
Strangely enough, he had slept soundly through the night, not even a nightmare to disturb him.
He washed the two sweet potatoes Granny Wang had given him and put them in a pot.
He then took a wheat cake, crumbled it, and added it to the pot to cook.
Normally, he would have split such large sweet potatoes into two meals, and he certainly wouldn't have spared a whole wheat cake to go with them.
But today he had to train hard in the Firewood Splitting Saber Technique. He needed a full stomach to have enough strength.
When the sweet potatoes were cooked, Chu Fan stared at the sweet potato and wheat porridge in his bowl, momentarily stunned. 'This is basically a diet meal from my past life.'
Chu Fan shook his head with a bitter smile and glanced at the Map of Mountains and Rivers in his Consciousness Space.
The Spiritual Essence on it was still 0.1, showing no change whatsoever.
After he wolfed down his meal, the Spiritual Essence finally changed…
[Spiritual Essence: 0.2]
It increased!
The Spiritual Essence increased by 0.1!
'Just as I thought!'
Seeing the change in Spiritual Essence on the Map of Mountains and Rivers, Chu Fan's expression flickered.
'So the Spiritual Essence really does come from food...'
'But what exactly is this Spiritual Essence for? And can I absorb it from other things? I have no idea.'
He found some rags, wrapped his injured right hand, and headed straight for Granny Wang's house.
The old woman was already up and about. When she saw Chu Fan, a smile blossomed in her wrinkles. "Fan, not going fishing today?"
"Not today," Chu Fan said. "I'll help you split the rest of your firewood."
"Oh! In that case, thank you for your help!" Granny Wang nodded and went back inside.
Chu Fan stretched his limbs a bit and looked at the firewood pile in the courtyard.
He still had over a hundred coins at home, along with seven wheat cakes and a few small fish.
Even if he didn't go fishing for the next few days, he wouldn't starve.
Besides, he could always earn some food by helping people split firewood.
[Skill: Firewood Splitting Saber Technique (Small Success) (Trait: None)]
[Progress: (199/300)]
Chu Fan estimated that at his current level, he could get the three hundred Experience Points in less than two hours.
He didn't know what Realm came after Small Success.
But he knew that every breakthrough to a new Realm brought immense changes, filling him with anticipation!
With his hand wrapped in strips of cloth, the spot where yesterday's blisters had burst didn't hurt too much.
Chu Fan took a deep breath, Firewood Splitter in hand. With a flash of cold steel, the firewood split on impact...
[Firewood Splitting Saber Technique Experience Points +1]
It took four swings to gain a single point.
Chu Fan didn't mind. He simply stared at the logs on the ground, imagining them as the heads of his enemies, Liu Da and Huang Shouliang. His blade flashed, and the wind howled with the Force of his swings.
'Just as I expected…'
After his Sword Technique improved, the Experience Points accumulated even faster!
As he was chopping wood, he suddenly heard footsteps. Granny Wang approached, holding two fragrant, roasted sweet potatoes.
"Fan, take a break and have something to eat."
The kind old woman handed the two roasted sweet potatoes to Chu Fan.
Chu Fan took the sweet potatoes, smiling wryly to himself.
'These are good, but eating too many will make you gassy.'
Once Granny Wang turned away, he quietly slipped the sweet potatoes into his pocket to save for lunch.
...
Twilight began to fall.
KACHA!
At the main gate of his neighbor Mr. Zhao's house, as Chu Fan's final swing landed, his Firewood Splitting Saber Technique reached its next milestone.
[Skill: Firewood Splitting Saber Technique (Perfection)+ (Trait: None)]
[Progress: (1000/1000)]
...
The instant his Firewood Splitting Saber Technique broke through to the limit of the Perfection Realm, Chu Fan felt a tremor run through all his meridians, like an electric current coursing through his body.
The feeling of enlightenment was far more profound than the changes he'd felt going from Entry-Level to Small Success, or from Small Success to Great Success!
His right arm, in particular, was overcome by waves of a tingling sensation.
He closed his eyes and focused. Hundreds of Sword Techniques flowed through his mind. Each movement, which once seemed random, was now reflected with perfect clarity, as if in a mirror.
Myriad afterimages of the blade crisscrossed and overlapped in his mind, finally merging into a single, piercing slash of light that seemed to split the very void in two!
When he opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashed within them, just like the slash of light from his mind.
A cold wind suddenly whipped through the courtyard, as if it had been cleaved in two by that formless Sword Qi!
The thrill of his Sword Technique advancing so far was as intoxicating as fine wine.
"Entry-Level, Small Success, Great Success, Perfection… Are these the cultivation Realms for a skill? Perfection must be the limit, right?"
Chu Fan suppressed his excitement and casually picked up another piece of wood to split…
With a crisp CRACK, the log split apart.
The accumulation of practice had indeed resulted in another qualitative leap after that final Experience Point was gained.
He had only used seventy percent of his strength in that swing, yet it was sharper and more precise than before.
The speed of his swing was thirty percent faster.
The power behind it was also thirty percent stronger.
Holding the splitter, he felt a deep connection, as if it were an extension of his own body—a state of unity between man and blade!
He remembered splitting firewood as a frequent chore, but it had never felt so effortless and simple!
That his Firewood Splitting Saber Technique could advance so far in a single day made Chu Fan beam with joy.
Suddenly, he saw a hairy drain fly flutter past…
With a flick of his wrist, Chu Fan's Firewood Splitter arced out like a white rainbow piercing the sun.
TSS!
With a faint sound, the drain fly was neatly sliced in half by the passing blade, its two halves fluttering to the ground!
Chu Fan stared down at the fly's bisected body, his heart pounding. 'Such a precise and swift Sword Technique would have been unthinkable before!'
If he had a sharp Long Saber, he was confident he could even take on Liu Da, who had been practicing Martial Arts for half a year!
However, the Firewood Splitting Saber Technique couldn't be considered true Martial Arts, after all…
And he didn't possess the legendary Qi Blood Power either.
To deal with Liu Da and his cronies easily, he would need to learn a true Martial Art, one that could temper his body and circulate his Qi Blood Power.
Now that his Firewood Splitting Saber Technique had reached the limit of the Perfection Realm, even his casual swings were beyond what an ordinary person could achieve.
'Perhaps this is enough to get into the Seven Stars Gang?'
Chu Fan glanced at the sky. Though his palm stung fiercely, he paid it no mind, raising his Firewood Splitter to continue chopping.
Yet, after splitting more than a dozen logs in a row, the progress bar for the Firewood Splitting Saber Technique on the Map of Mountains and Rivers panel didn't budge at all.
Previously, whether at Entry-Level, Small Success, or Great Success, a new progress bar would always appear once the old one was filled.
It seemed "Perfection" was likely the end of the line for this skill.
Suddenly, Chu Fan's gaze locked on!
[Skill: Firewood Splitting Saber Technique (Perfection)+ (Trait: None)]
On the panel, right after "Firewood Splitting Saber Technique," a small "plus" sign had appeared.
He had been so focused on the numbers changing that he hadn't noticed this detail before!
With a flicker of thought, Chu Fan focused his mind on the "plus" sign.
[Firewood Splitting Saber Technique has reached the limit of Perfection. Consume ten points of Spiritual Essence to perform a Breaking Limit. A Trait will be generated afterward. Insufficient Spiritual Essence. Unable to perform Breaking Limit!]
Breaking Limit?
'A skill trained to the limit of Perfection can consume Spiritual Essence for another breakthrough?'
'Could this be the true purpose of Spiritual Essence?'
Chu Fan felt his heart pound and his blood race. For a moment, he was speechless with excitement.
Unfortunately, his Spiritual Essence was only 0.2. Despite his fervent hopes, all he could do was stare at the "plus" sign and sigh in helplessness…