At first, Lin Ye’s movements did not draw much attention.
Inside the virtual combat classroom, dozens of students were scattered everywhere. Blades flashed, swords cast shadows, and fists cut through the air as everyone familiarized themselves with the weapon they had chosen.
Li Jun had chosen a sword. At the moment, he was clumsily imitating the moves from the instructional video. Though it wasn’t his first time practicing, unsuited was unsuited.
His movements were stiff overall and lacked coordination. Before long, he was already panting from exhaustion.
“Fuck, this thing is way harder than I imagined!”
He secretly glanced at Lin Ye, only to see his deskmate tirelessly repeating the most basic staff techniques.
Simple. Dull. Tedious.
Li Jun shook his head, still feeling that swinging a sword around looked cooler.
But Li Jun could clearly sense that Lin Ye’s movements were far smoother than his own.
And faster, too.
Time slowly passed.
One hour later.
The sounds inside the classroom had noticeably thinned out.
Many students’ movements began to lose shape. Beads of sweat hung from their foreheads, and their breathing grew heavy.
What virtual space consumed was mental strength, and the fatigue brought by that kind of depletion was even more grueling than physical exhaustion.
Seeing that most of them could no longer keep up with such high-intensity drills,
Chen Meng finally announced—
“Rest for ten minutes!”
To most of the students, the homeroom teacher’s voice was no less than heavenly music.
As if granted amnesty, the students stopped one after another. Quite a few even plopped straight down onto the floor, gasping for air.
Li Jun was as exhausted as a dead dog. Sprawled on the ground, he felt as though his brain was about to turn into mush.
Subconsciously, he looked toward Lin Ye again.
Then, he froze.
Lin Ye had not stopped.
He still stood in that open space, the long staff in his hands slicing through the air again and again.
Whoosh—!
The staff wind howled, carrying a unique rhythm.
His movements were as standard as if measured with a ruler. Every exertion of force, every turn of his body, was incomparably precise.
Li Jun felt a little dazed.
Why did he feel that Lin Ye’s movements had not only failed to slow down, but had actually become faster?
As if he was not being depleted, but accumulating something instead.
“This guy… doesn’t get tired?” Li Jun muttered to himself.
Gradually, the gazes of the other students were also drawn to Lin Ye.
They didn’t understand what they were seeing, but they were deeply shaken.
Murmurs slowly rose. Lin Ye, this middling student in the class, the usual nobody,
had actually made a high-profile showing for once.
Of course, Lin Ye was not deliberately trying to stand out.
On one hand, with the system’s support, these staff techniques were just like true basic attacks.
They required absolutely no thought and no complicated techniques at all.
They flowed out as naturally as drifting clouds and running water.
On the other hand, the mission had yet to be completed, and he was very curious about what effect Staff Momentum would have.
Chen Meng stepped up to a higher point, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.
Most of the students were resting. Even the few top students were merely performing mental visualization to recover their state.
Only Lin Ye, who had chosen staff techniques, was still practicing.
Chen Meng frowned slightly.
He knew Lin Ye was under immense pressure.
To meet the standard in just two short weeks—even Chen Meng himself felt it was impossible.
But disregarding the limits of one’s body and forcing bitter cultivation was a major taboo in martial arts.
Too much was as bad as too little. It was easy to damage one’s foundation.
Just as he was about to speak and scold Lin Ye into stopping, the words stuck in his throat.
Because he realized that Lin Ye’s state was somewhat unusual.
He was not forcing himself.
Lin Ye’s eyes were slightly closed, his expression focused. His entire being was immersed in a wondrous state, as though he heard nothing of the outside world.
The long staff in his hands seemed to have come alive.
Every swing carried a naturally formed aura.
A horizontal sweep, like rolling up a thousand heaps of snow, carrying an overbearing force that pressed forward without retreat.
A thrust, like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave, simple and deadly.
A downward smash, like Mount Tai pressing down from above, filled with a primal aesthetic of violence.
These were clearly the most basic of basic moves, yet in Lin Ye’s hands, they evolved into a heart-pounding sense of oppression.
[Ding! You have completed 2,000 standard staff technique movements!]
[Mission “Ancestor of All Weapons” completed!]
[You have obtained: Skill Point +1!]
[You have unlocked an exclusive passive skill: Staff Momentum!]
[Staff Momentum LV1 (Passive): When you wield a long-handled weapon, each of your attacks will accumulate “Momentum.” When “Momentum” accumulates to its peak, you may actively release it and enter different combat forms, gaining powerful enhancement effects.]
[Currently unlocked forms:]
[Heavy Staff Form: Upon entering this form, each strike of your staff will mobilize the qi and blood throughout your body. Your blows will be heavy and powerful, dealing 120% damage, with a chance to inflict a stun effect.]
[Flourishing Staff Form: Upon entering this form, your staff attack speed will greatly increase, but damage will be reduced to 50% of the base value. You will find enemy openings more easily and launch targeted attacks.]
[Chaotic Staff Form: Upon entering this form, your attacks will become unpredictable and completely without pattern, with a chance to deal critical hits. Current critical hit chance: 5%.]
[Remark: Trample Lingxiao to pieces, unbridled and unruly.]
The instant the system notification sounded in Lin Ye’s mind,
Lin Ye also stopped what he was doing.
He felt that after Staff Momentum had been introduced,
his understanding of the entire staff martial skill had risen to another level.
After reading through the three Staff Momentum forms, Lin Ye felt as though he were playing Black Myth.
It really had that flavor.
At this moment, in the eyes of the onlookers,
Lin Ye’s movements came to an abrupt stop.
The storm-like practice from before had ceased, but at this moment, he was even more oppressive than before.
An invisible momentum silently spread out with him at its center.
Inside the virtual classroom, the originally noisy murmurs strangely quieted at this instant.
Everyone’s gaze involuntarily gathered on Lin Ye.
Li Jun’s mouth hung wide open, his eyes nearly bulging out.
Lin Ye had actually, and rarely, given him the feeling of a “teacher.”
That’s right. Just like Chen Meng, Lin Ye seemed to have changed.
Li Jun’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
Was this fucking still the same deskmate who queued up with him to play games and shouted about becoming a security guard after graduation?
We agreed to be salted fish together, so why do you seem to be secretly grinding harder than everyone else?!
Not far away, the relaxed ease on the faces of several top students who were also resting disappeared.
They might not be able to see the deeper intricacies, but they could sense the change in that aura.
It was something that could only be born after day after day of bitter training, when a martial skill had been integrated into one’s very bones.
But they had never seen Lin Ye possess any attainments in staff techniques before!
Upon the high platform, Chen Meng’s gaze narrowed slightly.
The slight frown he originally wore had now been completely smoothed away, replaced by a trace of surprise.
As an official martial artist who had once been on the battlefield and fought through hundreds of battles, Chen Meng had very sharp eyes.
What Lin Ye was currently displaying was more valuable than anything shown by any of the top students under his guidance.
Could it be that this kid, by some twist of fate and sheer accident, had entered the realm of “Harmony of Intent”?