Night fell.
Luo Mu returned to his courtyard.
He sat on a stone bench.
Gazing at the bright moonlight, he began to recall everything that happened today.
Especially the battle with Feng Qing He.
With his Dao Force, he could naturally have ended it in an instant.
But to test some things.
He had to spend some extra time.
"Obvious advantages, but also quite a few drawbacks."
Luo Mu's eyes were deep.
First was the "Unsurpassed Dao Scripture". The sword art was incredibly powerful, no less than an ordinary Xuan-rank Upper-grade art, but the speed was a bit slow. Against someone like Feng Qing He, who excels at body techniques.
It was hard to keep up, and he could easily dodge.
"I need to cultivate another fast-sword-flow martial art, or perhaps a body-technique one."
Secondly, the "Mysterious Yang Invincible Body Technique".
A thought moved within him.
Pale red gāng qì appeared on his body's surface.
This was only the initial gāng qì. So, Feng Qing He's sword art could actually break through it.
However, he had gathered the gāng qì that was spread throughout his body to one point, greatly increasing his defense, and thus blocked that sword strike.
"If I cultivate it to perfection, then even if it is dispersed throughout my body, I can easily block it."
Luo Mu thought to himself.
The benefits of a powerful physique were fully evident in these recent battles.
Even if his speed was lacking.
As long as his physique was strong enough, he could remain unmoving and adapt to any situation, even seize opportunities to counterattack.
"Once I return to the Academy, I'll exchange for some "Supreme Yang Essence". If my luck is good, it shouldn't be a problem to reach perfection."
From his trip to the outpost, he had gained about 70,000 contribution points.
He should be able to exchange for a lot of "Supreme Yang Essence".
"Also, to increase my Dao Force, I have to cultivate more Xuan-rank sword arts."
Luo Mu stood up.
"Unsurpassed Dao Scripture" has reached its limit. There is no meaning in practicing it further.
After reviewing, there seem to be many, many areas to improve.
Furthermore—
Luo Mu remembered the conversation at the tavern while eating.
He asked about the situation in the Inner Palace.
Cheng Qing Man said that with his current martial foundation, even if he stepped into the Spiritual Sea, he could only rank in the top thirty for a short time.
Chang Le Academy.
It encompassed seven large counties. You can imagine how many monstrously talented prodigies there are.
In this generation, those in the Inner Palace who have awakened their martial Dao forces.
It's estimated to be about thirty.
And these people have already broken through to the Spiritual Sea Realm, and they are cultivating Xuan-rank Upper-grade martial arts.
Their strength is incredibly powerful.
"This is the gap between the Inner and Outer Palaces."
Luo Mu's eyes narrowed slightly.
The Outer Palace's Martial Arts Pavilion doesn't have Xuan-rank Upper-grade martial arts, the highest is just the Middle-grade.
Upper-grade martial arts are second only to Earth-rank.
You can imagine how precious they are. Even the Academy wouldn't easily teach them.
It requires meeting certain conditions.
This also means that in terms of martial arts, he cannot easily catch up.
Bang, bang, bang!
Suddenly, the courtyard door was knocked on.
Luo Mu's eyebrows raised.
Who would come looking for him in the middle of the night.
Could it be Cheng Qing Man again?
He opened the door.
It was indeed her.
Cheng Qing Man was holding a pile of secret manuals in her arms.
Without waiting for Luo Mu's consent, she directly ran into the courtyard and placed all the secret manuals on the stone table.
"This really tired me out!"
Cheng Qing Man gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, picked up a teacup, and without caring if Luo Mu had used it, she drank it down in one gulp.
"These are?"
Luo Mu was surprised.
"Gong Shu said that after awakening your Dao Force, you need to learn more sword arts to grow your Dao Force. So I searched through my family's martial arts library."
"Unfortunately, my father and ancestors were all rough and tough guys. They either used axes or hammers, very few sword arts, only these few, and the grades aren't particularly high."
"Luo Shi Di, make do with these for now."
Cheng Qing Man took a deep breath.
"Sword arts?"
Luo Mu was startled, then approached, his pupils slightly constricted.
There were a total of fifteen sword art secret manuals on the stone table.
All were Xuan-rank or higher.
Ten Xuan-rank Lower-grade, and five Xuan-rank Middle-grade.
If this were in the Academy.
No, you can't compare it to the Academy. The prices of martial arts in the Academy are all greatly reduced.
They are benefits for the students.
In the outside world.
Forget about Xuan-rank Middle-grade.
Even Lower-grade.
Even Human-rank would be precious enough.
Enough for many families to use as their ancestral martial arts.
But now, Cheng Qing Man had brought out fifteen at once.
"Cheng Shi Jie, is there anything you need me to help with?"
He was currently lacking in sword arts, so he naturally wouldn't ignore it, and he got straight to the point.
"Look at what Luo Shi Di is saying. You're so distant. We're considered friends now, right? Friends naturally need to help each other!"
Cheng Qing Man plopped down on the bench, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Now I'm helping you. In the future, if I run into trouble, I believe Luo Shi Di will definitely help me."
When she said that, it was already very direct.
It's an investment in your future.
Hearing that.
Luo Mu smiled.
"Cheng Shi Jie has such confidence in me, aren't you afraid of getting nothing for your efforts?"
"Of course I have confidence! I'm in the Inner Palace and have seen many geniuses, even prodigies."
Cheng Qing Man's eyes narrowed into beautiful crescent moons. "Although some people are stronger than you now, I feel that as long as you're given enough time, surpassing them is a piece of cake!"
"You're definitely going to become a top-tier expert like my father in the future."
"No, maybe even stronger!"
Luo Mu was slightly startled.
He didn't expect Cheng Qing Man to think so highly of him.
But thinking about it carefully, it seemed normal.
After all, awakening his martial Dao force at the True Aperture Realm was truly rare. Anyone would hesitate to ignore it.
"Then thank you, Cheng Shi Jie."
Luo Mu pondered for a moment, then smiled.
Fifteen Xuan-rank sword arts in total, with five Xuan-rank Middle-grade ones.
This was a big deal.
Even if he exchanged for them in the Academy, the contribution points he had wouldn't be enough.
"Hee hee!"
Upon hearing Luo Mu's answer, Cheng Qing Man immediately beamed.
Although she was a genius, she didn't completely inherit her parents' talent. She was only a regular genius, so her future achievements would be limited.
But it's okay.
If you can't be a big leg yourself, you can hug someone else's!
Especially one that's going to be thick and long in the future!
"Then I won't bother you anymore!"
Cheng Qing Man stood up.
Knowing that Luo Mu was probably focused on the sword art manuals now.
There was no point in staying long.
"Go slowly."
Luo Mu nodded.
His eyes were indeed on the manuals.
Seeing this.
Cheng Qing Man rolled her beautiful eyes.
Big martial arts fanatic!!!
Carefully closing the door.
Cheng Qing Man placed her hands behind her back, her slender fingers intertwined.
She started humming a tune.
The smile on her face became even brighter.
The moon is so round tonight.