System: Game World

Tang Ling could tell that it was the sunflower's essence that he was absorbing. After all, he had learned of this method from Forger Wang. Sunflowers possess the energy of the sun and earth and he was cultivating Endless Earth which belongs to the Earth element.

If his hypothesis is correct, it means that his Endless Earth cultivation technique allowed him to absorb the sunflowers' earthly energy which in turn, boost the cultivation method's efficiency.

It wasn't only Tang Ling who had an eccentric way to regenerate Qi and stamina, the other disciples also had ways other than sitting around to replenish their energy.

Feng Cai and Feng Ci both took out a brown pill and swallowed, then sat down to absorb it. The other man also did something similar; drinking from his gourd before sitting down and cultivating.

It would seem that most martial artists, disciples of sects or otherwise, had some kind of methods to accelerate the regeneration of stamina and Qi.

But it would seem that his method of using sunflowers was the most unorthodox. Thinking of this, Tang Ling also thought of the Lone Dawn Gourd, there was only spring water inside but increased his stats by 0.3 Strenght, 0.2 Constitution, and 0.1 Agility for 30 minutes.

Strength and Agility wouldn't help him much but the increase in Consitution would. An increase in Constitution did not only mean an increase in Health but also stamina. As the physique becomes sturdier and stronger, the capacity to store and replenish energy increases accordingly.

Gullug-lug-lug.

"Haaa...."

After resting for fifteen minutes, Tang Ling, like the rest of the group, rose out and started a new training.

"We're now practicing thrusting!"

...

"We're now practicing parrying!"

...

"We're now practicing dodging!"

...

"We're now practicing blocking!"

With every training sets, the rhythm went faster and faster. After practicing the basics, it was time for variations. For example, although slashes were simple, one could strike in every direction. Upper-center, upper left, upper right, middle left, middle right, lower left, and lower right...

Each had its intricacies but there was not enough time for that, knowing how to swing these ways is enough. The experience will cover the shortcomings in the future.

[You have familiarized with sword moves, Sword Intent have reacted accordingly. Progress to LV1 is at 95% (Please note that the breakthrough will be difficult and time-consuming.)]

[You have learned Heavy Hack.]

[Heavy Hack (Skill): Chanelling all your force in one single stroke. This skill has a long wind-up time and makes the user particularly vulnerable to attacks, however, the resulting strike deals massive damage. Able to break guards, parries, and interrupts casts. If it's sufficiently strong, it can interrupt and cause [Backlash] to the target when in the midst of casting.]

[You have learned Swipe.]

[Swipe (Skill): Deals 50% damage in a horizontal line. Short wind-up time. Very fast light attack. While winding-up for the attack, Agility is boosted by 10%.]

[You have learned Firm Stance.]

[Firm Stance: Using the power of Earth, you can pass the pressure to the ground. When successfully blocking, 50% of the attack that passes through [Block] is nullified. Knockback effects are reduced by 30%]

With this, he was able to stand firm against Feng Cai for a couple of minutes.

One had to know that Feng Cai had undergone great training in his childhood. He had great trouble with three northern wolves, meaning that his strength was on par with Tang Ling. But dueling humans wasn't just a matter of physical fitness, it was also a matter of skills.

A farmer may be as strong as a martial artist by farming, but it wouldn't best a martial artist in a fight. That was skills.

Clack! Clack!

Pak!

Tang Ling was finally defeated by Feng Cai after five minutes. They didn't compete on strength, martial arts, or hidden weapons. It was purely a contest of swordsmanship.

Even after using Firm Stance when blocking and Heavy Hack while attacking, Feng Cai seamlessly evaded the attacks, not daring to parry or block his attacks. It was only after Tang Ling began to lack stamina that his hands were no longer firm and Feng Cai used this opportunity to strike at Tang Ling's hands, when he was unprepared, dropping the wooden sword.

"Ugh. I've lost..."

Tang Ling sighed as he gazed over his hand. It was red from swelling from the impact needed to drop his sword.

"You've put a good fight, Brother Tang." Feng Cai took a towel to wipe his sweat, "Pity that you've not used Overlapped Attack."

Tang Ling shook his head, this was just consolation. The spar had been difficult for him; Feng Cai kept disengaging after an engagement. This type of slippery enemy was the counter for Tang Ling whose stance relied on being firm and still. Plus, Overlapped Attack would only be effective against a stationary target. Like Heavy Strike, Overlapped Attack could break an enemy's guard. Heavy Strike was the application of overwhelming force to break guard while Overlapped Attack was the application of technique; the first attack would be blocked but made the blocker vulnerable to the second attack, and third. As long as the opponent couldn't regain their breathing, they would be disturbed and be weakened.

As such, attacks that can disturb the opponent's qi and break guard are highly valued but it would at least need to land in order to be effective. But what to do if you can't even land blows to your opponent!!!

This time, Tang Ling finally understood what other martial artists already took as a given: Under the heavens, only speed is unbreakable.

What can you do with unmatched strength when you cannot even land a hit?

Of course, Tang Ling knew that he wasn't overwhelming stronger than Feng Cai and Feng Cai wasn't that fast either but it was the only analogy he could come with.

The other disciple stayed silent but then approached Tang Ling to give him a piece of advice: "Brother Ling, although I may not be very well-versed in the currents of Jianghu, I think that this advice will help you. Although absolute speed is said to be unbroken, under the heavens, who has absolute speed? There's a limit to everything, more so to humans. Normal humans can run as fast as 100 meters in ten seconds while martial artists can consistently move at 10 meters per second. Even Grandmaster, the nearest to Immortals, cannot compete go after a certain limit. In this world, there is nothing that can reach this supposed 'absolute speed', there's only faster, and faster. What we think as fast is considered normal for high-level martial artists, and what is considered fast to a Grandmaster may only be normal for an Immortal..."

"If you know what you're doing, you could try waiting for an opportunity. A good opportunity. Speaking from experience, I've overcome my adversaries by baiting their attacks. If you are sure that they are coming, then you're prepared and can use it as your advantage."

He then stood quiet for a few seconds and took a stance. Then he made a striking move.

"Do you see that? When I struck, I am also vulnerable. This strike made me open to attacks and a single attack similar in power with the one I made would heavily injure me..."

Tang Ling was enlightened, "I see, brother Zhi, to take an action means not doing another action. Just like spending time with work or family, making a move means foregoing another one for this window of time."

Brother Zhi became a little stumped but finally nodded: "Uhh... Your analogy is a little bit strange but yeah. Doing something means not doing another thing. To attack means to not defend. If your opponent decides to break from their defensive position and come to attack, they expose a gap in their defenses which you can exploit."

Then, Tang Ling got up and trained with Zhi Zhiyan for another hour before it was already night and was now time to return...

[16 hours have passed, rest position. Logging out...]