Chapter 11 : Chapter 11
Chapter 11: The Sixth Shock of Flowing Cloud Repels Qin Zhanye!
Li Mu swung the long staff once more.
After the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock, Li Mu used a completely different execution from before to unleash the fourth shock and the fifth shock.
And after the fifth shock—
Even Qin Zhanye had already been preparing to withdraw his force.
Only to suddenly realize that Li Mu had swung a sixth strike.
Qin Zhanye felt his scalp go numb!
There was a sixth strike too??
He had no choice but to get serious. His aura surged upward with a roar, a faint golden sheen appearing over his blade as he swung it up to block.
CLANG!!
Qin Zhanye’s long saber was naturally astonishingly hard.
But when Li Mu’s Black Iron staff collided with the saber, it actually broke apart in the middle with a sharp crack!
The shaft shattered, and the terrifying recoil sent Li Mu flying backward in a flip.
Yet Qin Zhanye actually staggered back three steps in a row.
The entire place fell deathly silent!
Li Mu looked at his slightly trembling right hand. His entire right arm was numb now.
He sighed inwardly.
It seemed he had still overestimated his own body.
With the Divine Weapon Art adding fifty jin, plus the Black Iron staff’s own weight, it totaled a full hundred jin.
The Mountain-Bearing Art allowed him to wield it without issue, and with a powerful cultivation art supporting it, its offensive power could rise to an astonishing level.
But his body still could not endure it.
Qin Zhanye, meanwhile, was even more shaken.
His own cultivation was already at the Yellow Rank, Eighth Grade, and he was on the verge of stepping into the Ninth Grade!
Li Mu, a mere First Grade Martial Artist, stood as far beneath him as heaven and earth apart from mud and clouds!
And yet he had forced him back several steps. What kind of terrifying attack power was that?
“Good! Good!! Did you all see that clearly?!”
Overjoyed, Qin Zhanye pointed at Director Song and the others.
“How much did you comprehend?”
Director Song turned around excitedly and swept his gaze across the teachers.
But almost none of them answered him. They were all still immersed in that brilliant, exquisite strike from just now.
Every one of them was waving an imaginary spear or staff in hand.
As though possessed, they moved in wild, chaotic motions.
Some were even muttering to themselves under their breath.
Professor Xu stepped forward, forcing a trace of a smile onto his aged face as he said to Li Mu,
“Young man, I want to ask you for a favor.”
“Please, go ahead,” Li Mu said with a slight bow.
“Could you come inside and speak with us for a bit?”
“You saw it too. These people are already completely buried in it.”
“A sentence or two from you may be enough to bring about a qualitative transformation in the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock.”
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that if the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock could be widely advanced to five shocks—”
“Then the overall strength of the spear-and-staff martial artists at the bottom ranks of our military district would undergo a tremendous leap.”
“And if it could be advanced to six shocks—”
“It might even affect our military district’s casualty rate!”
“This… this would be a heaven-sized merit, child. I… I will definitely apply for military merit on your behalf!”
By the end, tears had welled up in Professor Xu’s eyes, and his voice was trembling slightly.
Li Mu turned back to glance at Qin Zhanye.
Qin Zhanye gave him a deep nod.
Li Mu smiled.
“Why not…”
Professor Xu’s old eyes brimmed with tears. He grabbed Li Mu’s hand with his rough, weathered palm and, arm in arm with him, walked into the Research Department.
Behind them came Director Song and the group of teachers who all looked half-possessed.
Every last one of them filed into that large conference room.
Qin Zhanye did not go in.
He simply waited outside in silence.
All he could hear from inside was crying at times, laughter at times, clamor at times, silence at times.
More than three full hours passed before Assistant Liu and Li Mu walked out.
Without exception, everyone inside the conference room had fallen asleep.
Assistant Liu looked a little tired as well, but the light in his eyes could not be concealed.
He lowered his voice and said to Qin Zhanye, “Wolf Guard, my apologies. Director Song and the others practiced too intensely and exhausted their minds, so they fell asleep.”
“In my estimation, they will not wake up for at least several more hours.”
Then he looked at Li Mu, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes.
“Student Li Mu, you truly are a staff arts prodigy that appears only once in a hundred years.”
Li Mu hurriedly answered with modesty.
“You flatter me, Assistant Liu. Compared to the mighty figures who created these cultivation arts, I am no more than dust.”
Li Mu was very clear about himself.
These people praised him largely out of personal emotion, because the difficulty of improving this cultivation art was simply too high.
This group understood the profundity hidden within it!
But even if they revered Li Mu as though he were a god,
that still could not change the fact that this cultivation art had limited reach.
Cultivation arts were produced by people. Li Mu’s improvements could not be spread across all of China.
He was limited to this military district and this batch of people, and even then, it depended on how much these producers had managed to absorb.
Even if these few dozen people worked day and night without pause, even to the point of exhaustion, they could only produce a few hundred sets of the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock in a month.
And if only a few hundred people could learn it in a month, how many of those few hundred would survive because of the Flowing Cloud Triple Shock?
Of course, these people could also pass on the Five Shocks of Flowing Cloud they had comprehended to other creators of cultivation arts.
But if it were passed down wave after wave like that, the strength of the cultivation art would inevitably weaken bit by bit until it gradually returned to being a low-grade technique.
This was also one of the great pain points of China’s cultivation arts.
And it was also the main reason why cultivation arts were so much more precious than Spiritual Treasures and weapons.
Unless Li Mu could find a way to spread improved cultivation arts throughout every military district in the country—
and ensure they were implemented effectively—
only then would that be a truly world-shaking achievement!
Assistant Liu hurriedly said, “There is no need to be so modest. Improving a cultivation art that has already been widely spread is far more difficult than creating a new one.”
“The path of optimizing cultivation arts is long and arduous, but even if there is only the slightest room for progress, we will still give it everything we have!”
Li Mu felt a measure of admiration.
After exchanging a few more polite words, Assistant Liu personally escorted Qin Zhanye and Li Mu out of the Research Department.
He even stood at the entrance watching them go a long way off before finally turning around and heading back inside.
“How do you feel?” Qin Zhanye asked with a smile.
Li Mu dug at his ear. “Ah, I just feel like my ear is all empty inside!”
“Hahahaha! You brat, it is only one weapon. I will compensate you for it!”
Qin Zhanye was in excellent spirits and burst into bright, hearty laughter.
Even the adjutant following at his side was surprised. It had been so long since Wolf Guard Qin had laughed like this.
Yet today, he had done it more than once.
Qin Zhanye handled matters with swift decisiveness. After leaving the Research Department, he directly brought Li Mu to the Military Supplies Department.
The Military Supplies Department was divided into several sections.
The Weapons Section, the Spiritual Treasures Section, and the Techniques Section.
Li Mu chose the Spiritual Treasures Section first.
The Spiritual Treasures Section of the Military Supplies Department truly opened Li Mu’s eyes. On the shelves to either side, there were countless mortal-grade and high-grade Spiritual Treasures.
Members of the Abyss-Suppressing Army moved back and forth among them as though they were shopping in a marketplace.
Many Spiritual Treasures had clearly marked prices, but all of them were listed in contribution points and merit points.
So-called Spiritual Treasures were treasure artifacts that possessed special energy and effects.
If used properly, they could often turn the tide and were one of a martial artist’s trump cards.
Contribution points were the currency of the entire military system and could be spent in exchange for supplies from the Abyss-Suppressing Army.
Merit points were the qualification threshold for purchasing them.
For a Spiritual Treasure that required 200 contribution points and 10 merit points,
if your merit points were below 10, then no amount of contribution points would let you buy it.
But Qin Zhanye led Li Mu directly into the Premium Spiritual Treasures Section.
There were far fewer Spiritual Treasures in the premium section than in the first two sections.
There were not many people there, either.
The prices in this section were frighteningly high.
A thousand contribution points or more was nothing unusual, and the merit point requirement was basically never below 300.
“Pick whatever you like!”
Qin Zhanye gave a grand wave of his hand.
Li Mu did not stand during the ceremony and immediately began looking around.
Very quickly, an exceptionally beautiful black-and-red cloak entered his field of vision.
It was neither too large nor too small, and it appeared to be made from some kind of soft hide.
Against the interwoven black-and-red background was a silver ring, giving it a simple yet imposing look.
【Size-Shifting Cloak: Price 3400 contribution points. Purchasable by those with 360 merit points or above.】
“What is this?” Li Mu asked in delight.
Qin Zhanye pulled out a manual from behind the glass display case.
“Size-Shifting Cloak: Warm and durable. It can freely change size, and its maximum size can continue to increase as it absorbs energy from its master’s killing intent.”
After reading that aloud, Qin Zhanye flipped the cloak over and muttered,
“Although it is a growth-type cloak, for a premium Spiritual Treasure, its effect is a bit too one-dimensional. Are you sure you want this one?”
Li Mu nodded.
There was a mysterious energy flowing through the cloak, and it was also extremely beautiful.
Growth-type Spiritual Treasures carried a certain element of gambling.
In the early stages, they offered very little help to their master.
Once they grew, they might surpass the value of premium treasures—or they might fall short of it.
Besides, Li Mu’s Victory Points could modify Spiritual Treasures. To him, every Spiritual Treasure was growth-oriented. As long as he liked it, that was enough.
Qin Zhanye did not waste words. He nodded and directly opened the glass display case.
Then he made a gesture of invitation.
Li Mu lifted the cloak out with both hands.
Its touch was soft and smooth, and a strange energy circulated through it, thread by thread flowing into Li Mu’s body.
Li Mu draped it over his shoulders.
It fit perfectly, neither too large nor too small, with just the right length. If he left it hanging loose, it lightly covered his shoulders and arms at the front.
With only a slight tug, it could wrap around his entire body, and it still felt comfortable.
Li Mu instinctively reached out and snapped the cloak with a shake.
The cloak flew up behind him and in an instant spread out to several meters in size.
With another flick of his hand, it shrank back to its normal size.
Qin Zhanye stared for a moment, slightly stunned, and could not help but inwardly praise Li Mu for his striking appearance.
Li Mu had a tall build, handsome features, and was also a genius in staffsmanship.
As he now swept his battle cloak through the air,
Qin Zhanye seemed to see in advance the image of Li Mu as a youthful war god on the battlefields of the Abyss—spear in hand, astride a swift horse, his battle cloak snapping in the wind.
He nodded in approval.
“Come on. It is time to choose your weapon!”