Chapter 56: Great Accomplishment

On this day, all the students were extraordinarily diligent, as if they had grown up overnight.

In the combat fundamentals class, when Mr. Zuo entered the battle hall, the students were shocked.

“Mr. Zuo, what happened to your left arm?” Yu Nan, the class leader, asked.

Mr. Zuo’s left forearm was missing, having disappeared just below the elbow.

“It’s nothing. Thankfully it’s not my right arm—otherwise, I’d have to retrain my swordsmanship with my left,” Mr. Zuo replied with a nonchalant smile.

His composed demeanor calmed the students. Although they had already learned about the death of one of their classmates, seeing Mr. Zuo’s severed arm had a more profound impact on them.

The instructor for the combat basics course was always the most powerful cultivator in the school.

Considering even Mr. Zuo had lost an arm, one could only imagine how brutal the battle that day had been.

“Today, during self-study, you will all practice individually while I observe and provide guidance from the side!” Mr. Zuo announced.

His wound was severe; although he had taken a healing pill, it had only controlled the injury, and full recovery would take time.

To avoid delaying the students’ studies, he insisted on teaching, albeit he could no longer personally demonstrate the techniques.

Li Zhen chose a corner of the combat room, standing at attention with the Xingrui E07 model longsword in hand.

He had noticed that after the Demon-Worship Cult’s attack, several of his classmates were using tier-one inferior-grade longsword magical artifacts like he was, instead of simply practicing with ordinary swords.

Yu Nan and Han Wenqin’s tier-one inferior-grade longsword magical artifacts were of higher quality than the Xingrui E07 model.

Li Zhen didn’t seek them out for a fight; his mind was wholly absorbed by swordsmanship insights and experiences.

Though these experiences only involved Thunderclap Sword techniques, their impact on his swordsmanship was profound.

Before, even with expert guidance, he had only received pointers addressing specific shortcomings in his technique.

This time, however, it was different. He felt as if he were standing on the shoulders of giants, gaining a deeper understanding of basic swordsmanship.

Yet, due to his suddenly advanced theoretical knowledge, he found himself momentarily unsure how to make a proper strike.

Li Zhen stood in the combat room, the only student not moving a muscle, which naturally drew Mr. Zuo’s attention.

Mr. Zuo said nothing. He knew Li Zhen well; Li Zhen’s swordsmanship was undoubtedly the best in the entire class.

If this progress continued, next year Li Zhen would be able to represent Second High School in crucial competitions, vying for honor on behalf of his school.

Li Zhen finally moved. With a step forward, he executed a ‘Bow Step Thrust’.

It was the first form of an ordinary beginner’s sword technique, but as he thrust out with his sword, it carried an indescribable power.

He then performed a ‘Turning Back Slash’ followed by a ‘Bow Step Horizontal Slash’. One by one, he executed the forms of the beginner’s sword technique.

As he practiced, his understanding of this sword technique gradually merged with his movements.

He felt he could now fully control the power of his sword; the first thrust used seventy percent of his power, while the next was restrained to thirty percent. No matter how he adjusted the power of his sword movements, it didn’t affect the execution of the technique.

Clarity arose within him. His sword technique had broken through to the ‘Proficient’ level.

This level was the same as Coach Wu’s mastery, a achievement that had taken the coach over ten years of arduous cultivation to reach.

Li Zhen, however, did not stop practicing the beginner’s sword technique. After completing it once from start to finish, he no longer bound himself to the specific forms.

Before his eyes, apparitions of past adversaries materialized, yet these were merely phantoms spawned from his imagination.

His sword still moved in grand, sweeping arcs—typical of the rudimentary sword technique—but now it embodied the essence of the fundamental martial posture, transcending mere form.

Each strike borne from his blade, though rooted in the novice technique, displayed power undeniably linked to its origin. Had lesser cultivators, with their rudimentary grasp of the technique, attempted such strokes, they would be hard-pressed to harness even a fraction of the sword’s true might.

While Li Zhen’s sword maneuvers diverged from the standard forms of the beginner’s repertoire, each move executed with unerring precision, unleashing the full potential of the technique, as if each strike carried a hundred percent guarantee of success.

“A remarkable mastery of the rudimentary sword technique!” Mr. Zuo murmured to himself.

Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that among his first-year students, one could achieve such prowess in the Xian Nation’s foundational swordsmanship. The level of mastery displayed here was one he himself had only attained.

Li Zhen, too, sensed the leap in his swordsmanship. This ability to execute the fundamental sword technique at the ‘Remarkable’ level was a direct result of integrating the insights gained from the Thunderous Sound Sword strike.

Further progress in swordsmanship will not come as easily, he realized. The next step was the highest tier: ‘Perfection’. With this clear goal in mind, he no longer felt lost in the practice of swordsmanship, no longer stumbled forward in blind groping for improvement.

Mr. Zuo said nothing, quietly noting Li Zhen’s exceptional performance.

As the other students diligently practiced their swordsmanship, none noticed Li Zhen’s extraordinary skill.

Mr. Zuo refrained from praising Li Zhen on the spot because he didn’t want him to become the next Cheng He.

Once, Cheng He had been so full of promise, with his mid-grade fire spiritual root naturally placing him above his classmates. However, his hasty use of a large number of pills had destroyed his foundation. Then, a demonic assassin had broken his resolve, leaving him now barely functional.

If Mr. Zuo were to acknowledge Li Zhen’s superior swordsmanship here, news would spread, inevitably attracting the attention of the Demon-Worship Cult.

In truth, Li Zhen himself had realized his mistake in standing out too much. Initially, he had been absorbing the experiences and insights from his newly acquired brain, failing to notice this issue. Looking back now, he felt a shiver of fear. It was fortunate that today was different from usual—thanks to Teacher Zhang’s warning, not a single classmate had slacked off, and all were earnestly cultivating. Thus, none had discerned the level of his swordsmanship.

Resuming his practice, Li Zhen now took care to rein himself in, deliberately maintaining a modest, intermediate level of proficiency.

Having observed this, Mr. Zuo decided that there was no longer any need to speak with Li Zhen.

The day’s classes had come to an end. Han Wenqin went to find Rong Honghui, while Li Zhen headed towards the Going Beyond Swordplay by himself.

He clearly possessed a flying magical device, yet he was not allowed to use it.

Upon reaching the dedicated practice room at the sword training hall, he set aside all reservations. His Xingrui E07 type longsword began to flash out with each quick strike.

Mastery-level swordsmanship allowed him to experience the joy of the art. Within five meters, he felt a sense of control over life and death, a confidence born from his advanced skill.

Curator Zhang was in his office. The sword training hall had opened as usual today, and after being occupied with matters outside, he finally had a moment to oversee operations.

As always, he accessed the surveillance feed for Li Zhen’s private practice room to check on his progress.

When the video screen lit up, an expression of disbelief crossed his face.

What he saw was Li Zhen wielding mastery-level swordsmanship.

Li Zhen’s swordsmanship had been honed exclusively at the sword training hall. Although Second High School offered foundational combat courses, access to their training rooms was limited. The sword training hall provided far more opportunities for practice.

“How could he have made such remarkable progress?” Curator Zhang murmured to himself.

Before, Li Zhen’s minor achievements in swordsmanship had already marked him as a prodigy among his peers. But in just a short span of days, he had surpassed the proficient level to directly attain mastery—his skills had skyrocketed.

The thrill of rapidly advancing in swordsmanship left Li Zhen exuberant.

Although his progress in swordsmanship had slowed to a crawl, he could still sense his incremental improvements.

“Behold my sword!” Curator Zhang’s voice rang out, followed by the swift arrival of his blade.

Li Zhen reacted with lightning speed, turning and thrusting his sword to force a defensive response.

Curator Zhang’s eyebrows furrowed slightly; even in their initial exchange, he could tell Li Zhen had become significantly stronger. It wasn’t just his swordsmanship that had improved—Li Zhen’s reaction time was noticeably quicker.

Take, for instance, that swift counter-thrust. Due to Li Zhen’s rapid reflexes, despite being the attacker, Curator Zhang was compelled to immediately change his tactics.

Faced with a sword technique at the mastery level, Curator Zhang had no choice but to meet it with equal seriousness. More crucially, he had intentionally suppressed his cultivation to the early stages of Qi Refining, which almost put him at a disadvantage.

“Excellent!” He sidestepped the thrust, countering with an upward flick of his own sword. Simultaneously, he increased his cultivation to the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

With such a worthy opponent, Li Zhen grew even more animated. His figure stepped forward and back, each advance like a surging river, each retreat smooth as a receding tide leaving no trace.

What pleased him most was that with Curator Zhang as his sparring partner, his swordsmanship improved at a faster pace.

He had already gained invaluable insights from his experience with the Thunderous Sword technique—a single strike that far exceeded the realm of merely perfect mastery, transcending to an entirely new echelon.

Though it was just one extraordinary sword move, the wisdom derived from it was like a brilliant guiding light, illuminating the correct path for Li Zhen’s initial steps in swordsmanship.