Chapter 12: Transformation

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Chen Yiming’s performance was quickly noticed by the other trainees. They soon started talking about it.

A male trainee widened his eyes and exclaimed, “Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Is he a rookie? He’s so powerful! Is he the second Lin Yixuan?”

Lin Yixuan was the eldest senior brother of the Mantis Snake Sword School. He had been accepted as a core disciple the same year he joined the school.

Another trainee beside him let out a breath, and said in disbelief, “This kid is truly terrifying. If you say that he is a core disciple, I won’t even doubt it. That special rhythm is exactly the same as Senior Brother Wang.”

The trainee from earlier spoke up again. “Zhang Youde is in trouble. His swordsmanship was originally the best. Now that such a strong rookie has appeared, do you think there will be a clash between the two of them?”

“Who knows? However, Zhang Youde is an old-timer who has been in the school for over a year. In the future, this rookie might be stronger than him, but I think Zhang Youde is still the better of the two for now.”

In the crowd, a female trainee named Liang Lele teased a tall female trainee beside her. “Why aren’t you doing anything? Weren’t you the one who spoke up earlier?”

The tall trainee, Zhao Jingru, blushed as she replied in a soft voice, “What’s the rush? I was just saying it lightly. Let’s observe the situation first.”

Everyone in the courtyard were martial arts practitioners, so their ears were sharper than the average person’s. Zhang Youde heard every word the other students said clearly.

His expression was gloomy as he spoke fiercely in a low voice, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

When Zhang Youde was chatting with Chen Yiming in the morning, he learned from Chen Yiming that he didn’t come from any martial arts clan, but from an ordinary family. He had trained for several years before meeting the entry requirements for a martial arts trainee.

One of his lackeys saw this and was afraid that Zhang Youde would vent his anger on him. He thought for a bit to come up with a reason and explained, “Brother Zhang, don’t be worried. How could a rookie who can learn once he was taught not be directly accepted as a core disciple by the schools’ head, but sent to the branch school instead? He might be a fake like Liu Qingqing of the Flowing Cloud Sword School.”

Zhang Youde calmed down. That was indeed the case. His judgment was very reasonable.

However, there was something else that he did not understand. Even if the lackey did not understand, he knew that the special rhythm was a sign that the technique was close to the stage of accomplishment.

The lackey raised his voice and continued, “No matter how good your swordsmanship is, if your body isn’t as good as ours, it’s still just for show.”

When the other trainees heard his analysis, they also thought that it was reasonable. They shouldn’t blindly flatter the rookie, since there was an example of Liu Qingqing.

Zhao Jingru, who was blushing earlier, regained her composure and said to her friend, “You just can’t keep your cool. I meant that when Senior Brother Lin Yixuan entered the school back then, he was immediately accepted as a core disciple.”

Wang Bowen found it both amusing and infuriating.

None of these students, including Zhang Youde, had reached the requirement of becoming a core disciple, so they had no idea about the gap between a beginner and true accomplishment.

The Mantis Snake Sword Technique was categorized into the beginner, mastery, and accomplishment stages. Every stage required a different degree of tempering for the body. As those below the accomplishment stage could not completely temper every part of the body, they could only rely on a special concoction to complete the third transformation of the body and obtain the first qualitativeimprovement in cultivation.

Ordinary trainees could only afford to buy this type of secret concoction by risking their lives in the wilderness to earn money before their physical condition deteriorated at 27 or 28 years old. However, buying the special concoction only increased the chances of a breakthrough, but could not guarantee that everyone who used it could achieve a breakthrough.

Therefore, reaching the accomplishment stage of the Mantis Snake Sword Technique basically separated the potential core disciples from the ordinary students.

“What are you looking at? Hurry up and train!”

Wang Bowen walked to the middle of the trainees and berated them. He was truly disappointed in these trainees who only knew how to be jealous of others.

Liu Qingqing’s matter had been spread by people with malicious intentions. There were countless hurdles on the road of cultivation, and no one could guarantee that they would be able to unlock their full potential. This kind of misjudgment happened every year.

Lin Yixuan had been found by the head, Wan Rong, and nurtured from a young age. That was why she was accepted as a core disciple as soon as she entered the school.

When the trainees saw that Senior Brother Wang had gotten angry, which was a rare sight, they quickly dispersed and returned to their positions to resume their perfunctory training. No one dared to disobey Wang Bowen.

“The trainees are not very harmonious. Displaying just a little bit of talent will attract suspicion.”

Chen Yiming practiced his swordsmanship a few more times before sitting on the ground to rest. He sighed to himself.

As someone who could split his consciousness into two, the whispers of the other students could not escape his ears. However, as someone who was living his second life, he did not care about what others thought.

But it also made him alert. He had to hide his cultivation progress and not show off too much.

The him who was ten years old in his previous life had read countless novels where the protagonist did not hide the fact that he had a special ability. As a result, enemies came at them one after another, but the protagonist could always overcome the dangerous situation and kill the enemies.

However, reality was definitely not like that. Even if he brought the system with him when he transmigrated, he would really die if he was killed.

He planned to train peacefully in the school and minimize his involvement in the matters between trainees. He would wait until his body underwent the third transformation and obtained the first qualitativeimprovement before deciding based on the situation.

…

Time flew by.

Just like that, Chen Yiming started his daily life as a trainee at the martial arts school.

When the sky started to brighten, he woke up and headed out. There were cultivation classes in the morning and afternoon. When the sky turned dark, he returned home. This was his routine, rain or shine.

During this time, a trainee contacted him and invited him to work in a small gang. He had refused on the spot.

For ordinary trainees, the school would only impart cultivation techniques and provide a place for them to train. They would have to rely on themselves to find the resources needed for their cultivation.

Many trainees would work part-time — firstly, to make money to buy cultivation resources, and secondly, to improve their quality of life.

However, Chen Yiming was different from the others. What he needed the most was Skill Points. As long as he had enough Skill Points, he could use the points to upgrade his swordsmanship talent. Everything else was secondary.

To accumulate Skill Points, he would need to continue training daily over months and years.

His daily training had changed from the basic sword moves to the Mantis Snake Sword Technique. The Mantis Snake Sword Technique’s level was far above the basic sword moves, and the speed at which he obtained Skill Points had also increased from one point per month to three points per month.

A month passed.

Chen Yiming’s cultivation had undergone a tremendous change.

After his second day as a trainee, he dragged his tired body home and had a simple dinner before going to bed early.

That night, he slept like a log and had no memory of what had happened. When he woke up for breakfast the next day, he accidentally broke his chopsticks.

He was acutely aware of the changes in his body. His strength, reaction, stamina, and other physical aspects had been greatly improved.

He understood that he had unknowingly completed his first transformation in his sleep.

This made him secretly happy. Not only did his Level-1 swordsmanship talent increase his understanding of sword techniques, the tempering effects from cultivating sword techniques were also greatly enhanced.