Practice with Xu Qu.
Wang Sheng also had a sudden inspiration, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible the idea seemed.
First was the fact that Xu Qu's stay had already become a certainty, so if he could practice against him, maybe he could improve his own Bajiquan and Plum Flower Step skills. Second, as a human Martial Artist, Xu Qu should be able to more accurately judge his own strength, giving him a clear understanding of his capabilities.
"How about it, want to give it a shot?"
Xu Qu didn't expect Wang Sheng to suddenly propose sparring.
But—
"Let's do it, but just so you know, don't let my Third Grade Martial Artist strength fool you. I'm actually quite strong in actual combat. Even without fighting to the death, I can take on a Fourth Grade Martial Artist, so don't blame me if you lose!"
"It's fine, let's go. This spot by old man Ji is pretty spacious, let's do it here!"
Wang Sheng didn't want Xu Qu to be too weak, as it would be difficult to test his strength.
"Okay!"
Initially feeling somewhat fatigued, Xu Qu was instantly energized now—he wanted to prove himself!
Among Martial Artists, there was no nonsense chatting; Old Man Ji stood by as a spectator, and the two of them squared off and started fighting directly.
A few minutes later, Wang Sheng was completely unharmed, while Xu Qu was lying on the ground, groaning in pain.
"You said you were strong, didn't you?"
Wang Sheng was somewhat disappointed. He couldn't say it wasn't effortless, but he really didn't feel Xu Qu was that strong.
Even weaker than the Mountain Lord.
When Xu Qu heard this, he nearly coughed up blood.
He was a Third Grade Martial Artist capable of fighting a Fourth Grade Martial Artist, with thousands of pounds of strength.
But in front of Wang Sheng, that strength seemed non-existent, effortlessly blocked.
And Wang Sheng's fighting technique—it was fast and ferocious, with each punch capable of creating a sonic boom, terrifyingly powerful, he simply couldn't catch them.
Although he didn't use all his cards since it wasn't a fight to the death, he knew that even with full power, he was no match.
The Martial Artist from this small mountain village was frighteningly strong!
"It's not my weakness, you're just too strong!"
That was something Xu Qu had to admit.
Wang Sheng appeared contemplative.
"You say you can defeat a Fourth Grade Martial Artist, is that true?"
Xu Qu felt Wang Sheng was mocking him, but couldn't prove it.
"Of course it's true. You must be at least a Fifth Grade Martial Artist, and even among Fifth Graders, you're strong. Of course, I can't beat you!"
Wang Sheng was satisfied. That's what he was waiting to hear.
Was he already considered a Fifth Grade Martial Artist?
Then all those Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pills hadn't been eaten in vain.
However, although Xu Qu was special, his strength was somewhat weak, and he probably hadn't seen much of the world; his judgment could be biased.
So it's better to demote oneself a bit, consider oneself a Fourth Grade Martial Artist!
That was already two grades higher than previous assessments, any more would be excessive.
"Thanks, take care of your injuries," he said, picking up the Cultivation Technique that had been left on the table before the fight and walking away.
"Old Man Ji, I'll borrow the Cultivation Technique for a couple of days, and then I'll return it to you."
He hadn't been the one to save or shelter Xu Qu, and he wasn't going to keep the Cultivation Technique for himself, but he genuinely wanted to study it, so he could only borrow it for a while.
"It's fine; I don't understand it anyway, so you're helping by looking at it."
Who knows if the Cultivation Technique is truly effective, so let Wang Sheng, as a Martial Artist, take a look.
So Wang Sheng took the Cultivation Technique and left, leaving behind a bewildered Xu Qu.
"Is he just not fond of me, with the so-called sparring just an excuse to beat me up?"
From the beginning, Wang Sheng's attitude toward him was average, now could he no longer hold back?
Xu Qu thought it more and more likely.
In the end, all his emotions condensed into one word, although he dared not say it aloud.
Just disliking him was enough to find an excuse to beat him up; if he had insulted him, who knows what would have happened.
In fact, Wang Sheng wasn't thinking that at all.
Xu Qu's beginning to treat others made him look much better.
At the very least, he wasn't the kind of person burdened with trouble and useless.
His sparring was just to gauge his own strength and see if he could advance his Bajiquan skills.
Now he had achieved both goals.
He could confirm his strength as a Fourth Grade Martial Artist, and his Bajiquan had made some progress.
From "Bajiquan: 8 (25%)" it had become "Bajiquan: 8 (30%)."
Perhaps because Xu Qu wasn't as strong as the Mountain Lord and because the Bajiquan skill level had increased, the progress wasn't as terrifying as after his fight with the Mountain Lord.
However, it was much faster than practicing alone, increasing by 5% in just a few minutes.
"It looks like I'll have to visit old man Ji's home a few more times!"
At this moment, Xu Qu, like the Mountain Lord before, shivered uncontrollably.
Yet he didn't consider as much as Mountain Lord did and was instead bitterly preparing the pills necessary for treatment tomorrow.
…
After Wang Sheng returned home, he took out the Cultivation Technique that Xu Qu had transcribed and looked it over.
He had to say, Xu Qu wasn't sloppy with this task.
He might have thought Wang Sheng didn't need it, probably for the villagers to see, so he also recorded some basic knowledge of Martial Artists.
Wang Sheng needed this knowledge as well.
But after a few glances, he became disappointed.
The knowledge was excessively basic; it was as if he had looked at everything and yet seen nothing.
The chance to learn knowledge representing Grandmasters and above was out of the question.
After reviewing the knowledge below Grandmaster level, Wang Sheng summed it up with one phrase.
"Below Grandmaster, enhance Qi-Blood!"
Although Xu Qu had written a lot, the actual effective content was just these eight words.
Martial Artists below Grandmaster level didn't have all that fancy stuff; the most important thing was to enhance Qi-Blood. Only when becoming a Ninth Grade Martial Artist did one seek the path to Grandmaster, but unfortunately, Xu Qu had no clear understanding of that path, and there were no records.
Seeing this, Wang Sheng immediately lost interest in the Cultivation Technique.
He had Cultivation Techniques to enhance Qi-Blood, with Ba Duan Jin possessing extraordinarily strong effects, completely sufficient for his needs.
Nevertheless, he continued flipping through.
"That settles it; I can completely give up now!"
After examining the world's Martial Artist Skills, Wang Sheng could say with certainty.
Although the initial stages seemed similar, both involving the stimulation of one's Qi-Blood Power, after such a long time, his Cultivation had already deviated from this world's system.
The moment he decided to make Inner Core Skill his Foundation Method, he had embarked on a completely different path.
Like one of the theories in this world's Cultivation Techniques: when Qi-Blood Power reaches a certain strength, a second strand of Qi-Blood Power will emerge, enhancing one's power. After ten strands accumulate, breakthrough to Second Grade Martial Artist...
Wang Sheng, feeling his lone strand of Qi-Blood Power, completely failed to understand.
As for whether or not to cultivate the world's Martial Artist Skills, he saw no need whatsoever.
His path was unique, and even with a progress bar, he couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be conflicts.
He had the bright path of Inner Core Skill; there was no need to take risks.
Wanting everything might end up with nothing at all!
"Better to stick to cultivating Inner Core Skill and Ba Duan Jin!"
Having chosen his path, now let it become a road that reached the heavens!