"Spirit Calming Incense?"
Chen Yiming didn't know there was such a thing. It worked just like the sleeping pills in his previous world.
However, he did not need such things for the time being. Daily cultivation was the way for him to accumulate Skill Points. He could clearly see the effects of his training, having obtained Skill Points every once in a while.
Wang Bowen gestured for him to look at the trainees who were practicing and sighed.
"Most of the trainees did not start out treating their training the same as going to work. Instead, they are feeling limited by their innate abilities. They have been stuck at a hurdle for a long time without making any progress, and are slowly feeling lost and losing their confidence."
"You've only joined the school for a month. At the early stages, you can easily overcome the hurdles and achieve a breakthrough. But sooner or later, you'll be stopped by a hurdle like them."
"When faced with such a situation, everyone has their own way of dealing with it. Others can't teach you how to overcome the hurdle, in the end, you will have to rely on yourself."
Wang Bowen admired Chen Yiming's attitude towards cultivation, which was similar to his own, so he told him about the things to take note of after breaking through.
He flicked his wrist, testing out his sword. He smiled and said, "I haven't used a wooden sword in a long time. It's light and I'm not used to it."
"I will suppress all aspects of my body's strength, speed, and reaction to the level of the first transformation. You can use all your strength."
Chen Yiming appreciated his kind intentions and announced as he drew his sword, "Senior Brother Wang, I'm starting."
He stepped lightly on the ground and used less than a tenth of his strength to attack first with a stab.
Wang Bowen swung his wooden sword horizontally and blocked perfectly, easily deflecting the impact of the stab. He took a few small steps back as he defended against the stabbing attacks that were coming in waves.
"Your strength, speed, and attack rate are just above the level of the first transformation. Can you go any faster? Don't worry about hurting me."
Wang Bowen was still able to divert his attention to make a comment as he defended.
His body had undergone eight transformations and was as hard as steel. Other than his eyes, ears, and a few other parts of his body, Chen Yiming's attacks wouldn't even be able to break his skin.
The two of them switched between attacking and defending rapidly. One moment, Chen Yiming was attacking, and the next moment, Wang Bowen was attacking. Chen Yiming increased his power slightly, by about 1%.
In the blink of an eye, the two exchanged dozens of blows. In the end, they even used the Mantis Snake Sword Technique.
After dodging the Mantis Snake Sword Technique's eighth move, Shadow Stab, Chen Yiming stumbled to pretend that his stamina had depleted and quickly pulled back.
"Senior Brother Wang, let's rest for a while. I can't go on," Chen Yiming panted and raised his hand, indicating a pause in their fight.
He had calculated the duration his body could last for him to show that he had only just achieved a breakthrough. Wang Bowen was forced to stop before he could have a good fight.
The two sheathed their swords and stopped. Wang Bowen praised him, saying, "Not bad, your body is just above the level of the first transformation, but your swordsmanship is exquisite."
The two had exchanged dozens of blows, and what surprised Wang Bowen was that he had gradually raised his power beyond the limit of the first transformation, but there were still no changes in the power balance. They still managed to trade blows.
"It's not that. It's just that Senior Brother is suppressing his power, so his hands and feet are tied down. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't be his match," Chen Yiming said humbly.
Of the two wooden swords, there was clearly a greater number of marks left on Wang Bowen's sword.
This meant that when the two of them fought at the same level, Wang Bowen was at a disadvantage in terms of swordsmanship. Chen Yiming was in control of the tempo most of the time.
Wang Bowen did not think much of it. He believed that because he had suppressed his power, his body was unable to adapt in such a short period of time. This resulted in him not being able to perform as well.
On the other hand, Chen Yiming had figured out the level of Senior Brother Wang's swordsmanship. Both of them had reached the level of accomplishment in their mastery of the Mantis Snake Sword Technique. However, there was a huge gap between Senior Brother Wang's swordsmanship talent and his Level-1 swordsmanship talent.
This allowed Chen Yiming to easily gain the upper hand at the same cultivation level.
He suddenly recalled a joke from his previous life about the difference in scoring 100 points.
You scored 100 points because you could only score 100 points, while I scored 100 points because the total score was only 100 points.
Taking advantage of the break, Wang Bowen calmed his mind and reflected on the fight several times. He realized that something was amiss.
His talent in swordsmanship was not the best, and could only be considered average in the school. To be able to achieve his current achievements, it was mainly due to his top-notch physical ability. The hurdle of body tempering was simpler to overcome for him than for others.
However, he shouldn't have been at a disadvantage when competing with Chen Yiming at the same cultivation level. Chen Yiming had only joined the school for a month, while he had been in the school for almost ten years.
This meant that Chen Yiming's talent in swordsmanship was higher than he had expected. If that was the case, he would have to treat Chen Yiming as someone of the same level.
A thought suddenly surfaced in Wang Bowen's mind.
In order to further strengthen their relationship, he could consider recommending him to the Master so he could go through the core disciple assessment earlier.
There were a total of nine core disciples. Not all of them got along, and instead, they were divided into three factions.
Wang Bowen was the leader of one of the factions. Chen Yiming, who had the potential to become a core disciple, had been assigned to him. Their relationship had been close since the beginning.
While Wang Bowen and Chen Yiming sparred, the other trainees were no longer focused on the cultivation class. They were secretly observing the fight.
Zhang Youde's sparring partner happened to be his underling.
At this moment, he could no longer suppress his anger. He could no longer maintain the confident and steady image of a leader, and beat his underling until he begged for mercy.
On the surface, Chen Yiming's performance was on par with Wang Bowen, who had suppressed his power to the same level. In that case, he would be able to hold his own against ordinary trainees who had undergone the second transformation, or even overpower them.
After all, there wasn't much of a difference in raw strength between the first and second transformations. It wasn't like the third transformation, which brought about a huge improvement.
The purpose of Zhang Youde joining the martial arts school was to make friends with capable people outside his clan, and to expand his connections so that he could secure his position in the clan.
Now, an opportunity had fallen from the sky, but it had been destroyed by his underling. How could he not be angry?
He had a feeling that if he could become sworn brothers with Chen Yiming, he might even be able to work his way to the position of clan leader in the future.
In a corner of the courtyard, Liang Lele was fighting Zhao Jingru so fiercely that she was forced to retreat.
Taking advantage of the other party's lack of focus, she experienced the thrill of overpowering her opponent. After all, Zhao Jingru was slightly stronger than Liang Lele, and Liang Lele would usually be on the losing end.
Zhao Jingru's heart felt empty, as if she had lost something important.
She came from a small merchant family and had more or less come into contact with information about the upper class since she was young.
She had an attractive appearance and a talent for martial arts. She had been the center of attention until she entered the martial arts school.
She, who was already so outstanding, naturally thought that only men who were more outstanding than her were qualified to be her partner.
Thus, her eyes had always been fixed on a genius like Eldest Senior Brother Zhang Yixuan.
However, she also understood that she stood almost no chance with a genius like Zhang Yixuan who had already made a name for himself. Her true goal was those rising new stars who were full of potential.
Chen Yiming had completed his first transformation in just a month and was able to fight on par with Wang Bowen at the same cultivation level. Chen Yiming met her standards perfectly.
However, Chen Yiming had risen too quickly. Every time he made a move, it would change everyone's impression of him. While she was still maintaining her cold and aloof goddess image, the other party had already risen to a position that she couldn't reach.