My Talent

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mu Xiangli began to practice. Just as he had predicted, when practicing according to the qi circulation path of [Zhui Ming], after the qi flowed through his meridians, it no longer emitted a white glow, but a green one.

"As expected, the color represents the quality." Mu Xiangli circulated his qi and swung his blade, paying attention to the flexibility of his wrist. But unfortunately, there was still only one blade light, and the three blade qis remained as straight as one.

"It seems I must practice them separately first." Mu Xiangli pondered for a moment and decided not to circulate his qi for now, but to focus solely on practicing his swings.

Previously, he had swung his blade thousands of times a day, while paying close attention to whether there was a glow indicating an increase in proficiency.

From the very beginning, when he could only avoid a mistake once every hundred swings, to now, after hundreds of thousands of practices, his proficiency had only upgraded three times.

This was not hard to understand; the requirement for proficiency to upgrade must increase exponentially. A reasonable guess was that with proficiency levels like [Entry], [Beginner], to [Intermediate], delivering three blade glows in one slash should be within his capability.

After careful calculation, Mu Xiangli regained his confidence and focused on swinging his blade.

The Palace Guards on the afternoon shift asked around and learned about the bet.

When the evening shift came, those who had gone out in the afternoon returned and found Mu Xiangli still there. They walked over and smiled: "Still haven't given up? [Zhui Ming] is not that easy."

Mu Xiangli muttered: "Don't disturb me. Are you trying to play dirty?"

"Sure, keep practicing then. You don't have much time left."

Hearing this, Mu Xiangli stamped his foot: "Who are you calling 'not much time left'?"

The men were full of question marks, not understanding which sore spot they had touched.

Mu Xiangli practiced all day. Initially, for every hundred swings, he could only deliver three blade glows once. By the time he had swung ten thousand times, he successfully saw the proficiency upgrade glow in his perception. Now, for every ten swings, he could deliver three blade glows once.

If he had practiced like this before opening his Qi Mansion, his arm probably wouldn't have held up. After learning to circulate qi, his body—whether in terms of strength or resilience—was much stronger than before, and he could still endure it now.

A one-in-ten success rate was enough for him to coordinate with qi circulation and practice the complete [Zhui Ming].

No sooner said than done, Mu Xiangli began a new round of practice.

"This kid is really too desperate, oh? He succeeded!" a Palace Guard watching him suddenly said.

The others looked over.

"Failed again."

"The success rate seems low. So does this count as a win or a loss for him?"

"Of course it's a loss. This level definitely cannot be considered mastering it."

As time passed, Mu Xiangli's success rate grew higher and higher. The Palace Guards, who had previously treated the bet as a joke, gradually became serious.

"Even if he has opened his Qi Mansion, practicing like this is probably too much to bear."

"This kid is truly a madman, both crazy and stubborn. Now he can deliver a [Zhui Ming] slash every three or four swings. Mastering it is only a matter of time. Why don't we just count it as his win?"

The Palace Guards felt a bit of admiration for Mu Xiangli. Given their strength and status, betting with a beginner like him and being too strict would make them look bad.

"Fine, we'll count it as your win."

"Go rest."

Mu Xiangli seemed deaf and blind to them—not because he was ignoring them, but because he truly hadn't noticed.

Qi Beihang finished his work, and seeing that Mu Xiangli hadn't returned, he dropped by to take a look. Finding him still practicing, he was also somewhat surprised.

At this exact moment, the green glow within his meridians during the circulation of [Zhui Ming] appeared completely and clearly, meaning it had been stored.

This was the moment Mu Xiangli had been waiting for, and he delivered a slash.

It was late at night, and although lanterns were hung around the martial arts arena, it was still relatively dark. Suddenly, the arena lit up. Before Mu Xiangli, three intersecting crescent moons seemed to appear, catching the attention of everyone around.

Then, the three crescent moons flew off in three different directions. Everyone could feel their sharpness and coldness, to the point where the hairs on their arms reacted.

Success!

Mu Xiangli let go of his blade and collapsed flat on the ground, his entire body relaxed. He felt the same wild, triumphant thrill he used to get in his youth when he stayed up all night grinding levels in an internet cafe just to stay slightly ahead of others.

Seeing him fall, everyone feared something had happened to him and rushed over.

But when they reached him, this kid suddenly sat up like a dying man experiencing a sudden jolt, startling them. Before they could speak, he cried out: "I won!"

The Palace Guards were speechless. This kid had indeed won, so thoroughly that they couldn't find a single flaw. They had intended to go easy on him, but who would have thought...

"Fine, you won."

"Ah, Master, you're here too." Mu Xiangli grinned and recounted the bet, then boasted: "How is my talent? Is it one-in-a-million?"

Qi Beihang was astonished in his heart, but looking at Mu Xiangli, he knew this kid couldn't be praised too much, so he snorted coldly: "It is merely so-so."

Mu Xiangli stared: "Merely so-so? I don't believe it!"

Not only did Mu Xiangli not believe it, but the Palace Guards didn't believe it either.

If one had to put it that way, then among the many legendary geniuses, this would indeed only be considered normal. However, Qi Beihang was too lazy to explain, and couldn't explain, because once he did, this kid would surely become arrogant. "That is enough for today. You cannot practice anymore. Go back and rest."

Mu Xiangli picked up his blade and stood up. He said to the others, "A bet is a bet," collected his money, and chased after Qi Beihang: "Am I really only so-so?"

The Palace Guards looked at each other. They had thought he was a novice, but instead, they had been stimulated.

Having won the bet, Mu Xiangli had nothing to do, so he ran to the Palace Guards to have them teach him martial skills.

With his current strength, although he couldn't learn extremely advanced and powerful ultimate moves, he learned simple moves very quickly. Before long, he had accumulated a large number of basic martial skills.

Practicing by day and unable to sleep at night, he spent his time writing and drawing, analyzing the function of each qi acupoint in his body based on the martial skills he had learned.

He had asked Qi Beihang during these days. Over countless years, genius martial artists were certainly no fools and had naturally researched qi acupoints. But in the end, unlike his modern way of thinking, their research directions and conclusions differed.

Furthermore, most experts highly valued heritage. The exploration of qi acupoints was considered a very important martial comprehension and would not be easily shown to others. Therefore, there were no famous related books circulating in the martial world.

Thus, Mu Xiangli sketched and pondered: "If I succeed in my research, this book might become a peerless secret manual in the future. If I open a school, this will be the textbook, and I will be like a founding ancestor, revered by everyone."

Thinking about it, his drool almost ran down.

"I shouldn't dream too wildly." Mu Xiangli snapped out of it and wiped his drool. He understood the principle of taking things one step at a time.

Since the last time he was chased out by Zhou Yi's men, he hadn't been to the Yexun Department for a while.

Taking the time to visit, Zhou Yi saw him and actively asked: "Are you planning to participate in the Longwu Academy entrance exam in a while?"

Hearing this, Mu Xiangli understood: "Such a major event, drawing talents from all over Xiyu to Zhaoyang, will definitely attract spies from other countries. I will keep an eye out."

Zhou Yi was pleased: "Talking to you saves me a lot of worry."

Mu Xiangli rolled his eyes.