"A quarter of an hour..."
Chu Mu pursed his lips, subconsciously recalling the state he had been in while empowered by the "Spiritual Radiance."
Having been fully prepared this time, the experience was undoubtedly far more profound than the previous two.
Under the influence of the Spiritual Radiance, his intellect seemed to have been suddenly elevated to a new level. The simplest example was his reading and literacy studies over the past half-month. He had learned to recognize many characters, but his understanding of their meanings was superficial at best.
It felt like in his past life, even as a university graduate, if you handed him the *Classic of Poetry* or even the *Analects*, he might recognize every character, but once they were formed into a sentence, he would only have a partial understanding of most of it.
But while empowered by the Spiritual Radiance, everything taught and discussed in the classroom—whether he had understood it or been confused by it—was rapidly absorbed and integrated, becoming his own knowledge.
If Chu Mu had to learn all this by himself, he estimated that even with a dedicated tutor, it would have taken him several days of focused study, and he still might not have succeeded.
Yet under the influence of the Spiritual Radiance, it had taken less than half an hour.
Such intellect was truly terrifying.
WHOOSH...
A cold wind gusted through a crack in the window, its chill striking his face. Chu Mu instinctively tightened his clothes, finally snapping out of that state of heightened intelligence.
Chu Mu let out a long breath and shook his head. 'That feeling is just too captivating.'
Once you've experienced such extraordinary wisdom, who would ever want to return to being dull?
After resting for a long while, Chu Mu slowly rose, picked up the long saber that lay beside his desk, pushed open the door, and stepped unhesitatingly into the wind and snow.
He had been in this world for over a month. If learning to read was his initial preparation for integrating into this world, then this Sword Technique was his only source of confidence in facing this strange new era.
Although, Chu Mu had no idea if the few moves of this Basic Blade Technique could truly be his foundation.
But...
In this unfamiliar era, he had no other source of confidence to rely on.
When one carries a sharp blade, the will to kill naturally arises. In this strange... and cruel era, nothing was more reassuring than one's own Martial Arts.
"Spiritual Radiance..."
Chu Mu chanted inwardly, and an indescribable depth instantly appeared in his bright eyes.
The blade's edge bloomed amidst the swirling snowflakes.
The long saber weighed several pounds. With Chu Mu's current strength, whenever he executed a move, the inertia of the falling blade was something he could only barely control, even after more than half a month of practice.
But now, empowered by the Spiritual Radiance, the weight of the long saber in his hand seemed to have visibly lightened.
He went from struggling to stop its momentum to wielding it freely, as if it were a toy in his hand.
This transformation, which seemed to take only a moment to an outside observer, was the result of countless thoughts blossoming in Chu Mu's mind.
All the knowledge from his past life in the information age regarding sword techniques and martial arts, both real and fake, came flooding back.
His painstaking practice in this life, honing each and every move in the courtyard.
His burgeoning intellect unraveled these truths and falsehoods, experimenting, learning from trial and error, and summarizing the results, ultimately deepening Chu Mu's comprehension of this Basic Blade Technique.
And all of this was reflected with extreme clarity on the Light Curtain Panel.
As he swung the blade, the Skill Level for the Sword Technique Skill, which was in the Beginner's Practice stage, began to increase at a visible rate.
The real-world manifestation of this was his increasingly proficient mastery of the blade.
Finally, as if in a moment of sudden enlightenment, the unseen barrier dissolved as a matter of course. The blade, which had been moving so wildly, came to an abrupt halt, and then... was slowly lowered...
The wind and snow continued to fall. Chu Mu stood silently, the depth in his eyes having faded. His gaze, however, was now fixed on the Light Curtain Panel.
[Name: Chu Mu.]
[Skills:
Basic Blade Technique (Initial Glimpse) 1/500]
[Spiritual Radiance Value: 0%]
'Thirty minutes... over half an hour... is that the limit?'
This session empowered by the Spiritual Radiance was naturally different from the last. The first time, it had caught him off guard, so he had become too engrossed. This time, however, he had approached it with the intention of experimenting.
He had spent less than half an hour in his room studying with the aid of the Spiritual Radiance.
Afterward, he had napped for about an hour, recovering his energy before coming out to practice his sword.
This time, his Spiritual Radiance Value had been completely depleted. Based on his earlier calculation, the duration had clearly exceeded half an hour.
This time, his body didn't feel completely drained like it had the first time.
But mentally, it seemed he couldn't quite take it...
His head was groggy, and sharp pains stabbed through it from time to time. This was, he figured, the effect of excessive mental exhaustion.
Chu Mu rubbed his forehead, let out a long breath, silently sheathed his long saber, and slowly walked back into his room.
With a harsh CREAK, the door closed. The flickering candlelight was extinguished, and amidst the wind and snow, night slowly gave way to dawn.
By morning, the heavy snowfall had finally stopped. Qinghe County was now completely wrapped in a layer of silver.
The weather was cold, but the foot traffic on the streets hadn't diminished much. The common folk, trying to make a living, didn't have the luxury of complaining about the weather.
In his room, Chu Mu rose early as usual. A night of sleep seemed to have restored his spirit. Although his head still throbbed with a faint, sharp pain, it was undoubtedly much better than before he went to bed last night.
Gazing at the Light Curtain Panel, where his Basic Blade Technique had broken through to the Initial Glimpse stage, Chu Mu couldn't help but feel a strange excitement.
His hands started to itch with the urge to practice. He glanced at the snow that had stopped falling outside, grabbed his sword, and walked into the courtyard.
The moment he gripped the hilt, Chu Mu instantly noticed a difference.
Familiarity!
He had swung this blade countless times, but he had never felt this strange sense of familiarity with it before.
Chu Mu savored the feeling for a moment before slowly drawing the blade from its sheath. As he gently stroked its body, that strange sense of familiarity grew even stronger.
After a moment of silence, Chu Mu swung the blade fiercely. The next second, its edge stopped abruptly in mid-air.
Chu Mu saw it clearly. He had brought the blade down with his full strength plus its own inertia, yet when it stopped, it barely trembled. If he hadn't been observing so closely, he might not have even noticed.
Chu Mu could hardly hide his astonishment. He knew that even after twenty-some days of hard practice, his control over his Power had always been tenuous at best.
A single breakthrough had transformed him so completely!
Chu Mu scanned the small courtyard, his eyes quickly locking onto a large tree on one side.
He walked over quickly and swung the blade, leaving a clear mark on the tree trunk. The accumulated snow fell from the branches, but Chu Mu paid it no mind, his gaze fixed on the cut he had made.
The blade moved again. The Power striking the trunk sent more snow scattering from the leaves, but Chu Mu remained oblivious, his eyes locked on the marks left by the blade.
The two cuts were infinitesimally close; without careful inspection, it was hard to even tell there were two marks instead of one.
Chu Mu pursed his lips and swung the blade again. The three cuts converged, and the gash in the tree trunk visibly widened.
"Off by a hair's breadth..."
Chu Mu brushed the snow from his clothes, muttering to himself...
...