Chapter 4

"In my early years, I came across a wandering monk who had imparted me this set of blade techniques. It could be counted as third rate martial arts. But, don't held it in low regard. It has its own share of merits and was valuable enough to be collected in some prestigious sects. You can read it first and then practice those postures painted within on your own. After that, If you remained determined to practice it, come and look for me. Nonetheless, you need to return the brochure to me regardless your decision to practice it or not."

"Alright!"

Le Xaan realized that this was something Zaner thought the world of.

Even though Zaner Hueo handed it to him, Le Xaan didn't believe that he could simply teach himself the set of blade techniques.

When one practiced martial arts, many minor problems called for corrections. With only a book, a practitioner could go nowhere.

"Thank you, Elder Zaner!"

Le Xaan took the book meticulously from him.

Then, he went back to his bedroom and closed the door. He lit the candle and read the brochure under the candlelight.

A while later, he discovered that the so-called blade style consisted of only three moves, all for attacking enemies.

Defensive and evasive moves were not included but for offensive ones.

The first move is Tiger Anger.

The second is Tiger Power.

The third Tiger Roar.

The three ones looked simple to grasp, depicting three types of slashing trajectories with a blade.

Giving it a cursory glance, Le Xaan roughly understood the gist of them. The three moves, for sure, were simple, but their effectiveness was hinged on the practitioner's proficiency as well as his strength and swiftness.

When one executed a move, his strength and speed, in turn, depended on his full-body muscular coordination.

Thus, the set of blade techniques was fitted with a mental scripture.

With the mental scripture, one would be able to calm his mind while executing the three moves, bringing them to their peak potential in efficacy.

When the techniques matched the scripture well, one's mind and body would become fused as one.

The mental scripture was divided into three layers.

One's mastery in Black Tiger Blade Style could be considered perfect once they trained in the mental scripture up to the 3rd layer and the proficiency in the three techniques became maximum.

Le Xaan gently closed the brochure.

Le Xaan kept turning over the key points in practicing the set of blade techniques in his mind and tried to deepen his memories.

Then, he called out inwardly.

"Deepblue."

Immediately, the Deepblue Cheat Tool's window reappeared before him.

Within the blue frame were dozens of small boxes.

In the grid located at the first row and first column, his current status was displayed.

'Le Xaan ---

Martial Arts:

Black Tiger Blade Style: Inexperienced.'

"Sure enough... it's not my illusion!"

Le Xaan felt like his body went rigid, not out of fear, but out of excitement.

This world was too treacherous, after all.

His original plan was to idle away his life and enjoy all the world had to offer. Yet, now he found himself seemingly in a snake nest, at the risk of being taken a bite by one of its inhabitants anytime. Then, he would end up a footnote in some legend, a minor character that had already faced his mortality.

"But now, I have a new bit of hope... if the cheat tool work..."

Le Xaan worked to hold himself back and recall the functions of this cheat tool.

He then remembered that the only function that this cheat tool boasted was to modify the levels of the martial arts that a game character had mastered.

It could elevate the mastery levels of any martial arts to the ultimate pinnacle, yet not useful on other attributes such as the HP, Strength, Speed and the like.

"The only thing modifiable was the Black Tiger Blade Style, but how can I start to modify it?"

Le Xaan started to rack his brains.

He was all alone in his bedroom, holding the brochure in his hand, while he was focusing on the Deepblue Cheat Tool in front of him.

He studied every detail of the cheat tool window attentively. Soon, he spotted a small button at the rear of the window.

On the button, it read: Start to Modify.

"Yes, it's this."

Le Xaan focused his mind, imagining that his finger pressed on it.

The Cheat Tool box flashed straight away.

He suddenly felt like he could modify anything on the window as he would.

It's a wonderful feeling, but Le Xaan did not fixate himself on it for too long, but rather on the Black Tiger Blade Style.

The word 'Inexperienced', as he focused on it, flashed into 'Novice'.

Le Xaan felt exalted at the change, and then refocused on the Blade Style.

Very soon, the word changed into 'First Level'.

And then, 'Second Level', followed by 'Third Level'.

"Great!" Le Xaan was greatly joyful and found the cheat tool indeed useful.

He was about to relax himself a bit.

Abruptly, the text at the rear of the 'Black Tiger Blade Style' flickered once again, changing into 'Fourth Level'!

The 'Black Tiger Blade Style' actually rose to the fourth level!

Bang!

The moment the change of the text took place, Le Xaan felt like his mind was blown up.

His head was so painful that it was about to crack. And his body was shivering violently as though it had been stricken by a bolt of lightning.

He lay on the table for quite some time before he was able to raise his head in great difficulty.

He felt that his nose was wet and caught a whiff of a bloody scent.

Le Xaan reached out to feel it and pulled back his hand. It was some dark-red blood.

His head was dizzy, and he was sore all over his body. He was too feeble to even stand straight.

He found the skin on his hand ashen, and he was about to drift into a slumber anytime, with his eyes narrowing uncontrollably.

"It was a clear indication of depleted bodily energy!" Though he had no knowledge of medicine, Le Xaan was familiar with some of the basics.

All of his vitality had been completely exhausted.

He barely propped himself up, his hands supporting on the table. He put away the brochure and was about to lie down flat on the bed for a rest.

"Qiki!"

"Young Master? What's up?"

Qiki queried from outside the door.

"Go... and ask the kitchen to prepare a bowl of date and millet gruel for me. Remember add a piece of Ginseng to it as well. The Ginseng shall be over ten year in age."

Le Xaan said these words with great difficulty.

This was part of his exclusive privileges as a scion of a wealthy family.

Ordinary people would not be able to afford even a young Ginseng, let alone one aged more than ten years.

Qiki replied with an acknowledgment and then rushed to the kitchen.

Le Xaan lay on the bed for a long time but still felt weak and dizzy with his vision darkening.

Nonetheless, when he reached out his hand, tons of memories flooded him of using a blade and made him feel like a seasoned bladesman.

And he seemed to know like the back of his hand all that was written and painted on that brochure.

He fully mastered the three moves and understood how to employ the mental scripture to unleash the moves to their full potentials.

"So I make it?" Le Xaan closed his eyes, feeling joyful beyond compare.

His attempts paid off.

Although his bodily energy was exhausted totally, his mastery had almost reached the pinnacle in the set of blade techniques, which had already exceeded his anticipation.

"But, the Black Tiger Blade Style obviously only had three levels. Why would I attain the Fourth Level? "

This was something puzzling.

Yet, Le Xaan was now familiar with the Fourth Level and felt as though he had created it on his own.

The underlying principles and logic were nothing the world's people could get their heads around in the Fourth Level.

It combined modern mechanics into the set of blade techniques.

Though he was only a cleric in his previous life, he learned about engineering mechanics and biomechanics when attending college.

While he was still pondering, Qiki returned with a bowl of porridge.

"What a coincidence! The kitchen had prepared red date porridge for Third Young Lady, but it was Lotus Seed and Red Date Porridge. And I additionally added a piece ginseng into it. Young Master, would you care for some? "

Qiki asked softly from outside the door.

"Yes. Come in."

Le Xaan responded in a low voice.

Upon hearing this, Qiki opened the door and walked in before laying her eyes on the bloodstains around Le Xaan's collars.

 "Young Master, what happened to you?" Qiki was astounded, and the bowl she held nearly slipped from her hands.

Le Xaan put on a wry smile.

"I am okay."

"But you have spat blood!"

Qiki's face turned bloodless from the shock.

"I am fine, don't worry..." Le Xaan reassured her.

Qiki hurried to walk over.

"Young Master, eat some porridge first."

She patiently fed Le Xaan the porridge, bit by bit.

As he ate, Le Xaan felt a lot better.

Meanwhile, he went over the details of the Black Tiger Blade Style in his mind.

Strangely, he found these details resembling part of his memories, and he could understand every key point effortlessly. He believed that he would be able to execute the set of blade techniques with ease.

If his body did allow him, he would go for a blade and practice the martial arts.

After finishing feeding him, Qiki set off to find the family's private doctor. She was still concerned about Le Xaan's health.

The family's doctor was a long-bearded, lanky old man.

In the wake of learning of Le Xaan's symptoms, he rushed to Le Xaan's bedroom with a large medicine box on his back.

He checked Le Xaan's body attentively before relaxing his brows.

"Nothing serious. Just your bodily energy is depleted. Take a rest for a few days and the you will recover."

He tore up a paper and then began to swiftly write down a medicine recipe on it.

"Purchase and consume the medicines on the recipe. Take them twice daily. Within ten days, Young Master, you will make a full recovery."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Le Xaan heaved a breath of relief. This diagnosis was in line with his own judgment.

Before long, Le Finn came over along with his second and third concubines.

"What happened to you?" he queried.

Le Xaan's mother passed away from an illness a long time ago.

It was Le Finn's second concubine who had brought him up.

Louir Cayv, Le Finn's second concubine, was a warm-hearted, gentle woman, who treated Le Xaan almost as her own child.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just exhausted my vitality from practicing martial arts too hard." Le Xaan explained.

He was the family's eldest son, who would take over the family's businesses in the days to come. Thus, his physical health was something that Le Finn prioritized above all else.