5: Chapter 5 Is this the power of money? It's so tempting!

Three days later.

At noon, the scorching sun hung high in the sky.

On the rooftop, waves of heat rolled.

Lin Fan stood quietly before a wooden dummy, his eyes slightly closed, his breath faint and steady.

Suddenly!

He snapped his eyes open, a flash of lightning seemingly flickering deep within them.

"Wind Thunder Palm!"

Without any flashy movements, he simply struck out with a light, airy palm.

The strike appeared sluggish, not even stirring a breeze, looking more like a friendly pat between old friends.

Pa.

The palm gently pressed against the chest of the wooden dummy.

Lin Fan withdrew his palm, turned around, and picked up a towel from the ground to wipe his sweat, not even sparing the wooden dummy a glance.

A second later.

Crack!

The wooden dummy, made of hard ironwood, remained intact on the surface, but a crisp cracking sound suddenly erupted from within.

Immediately after, the entire wooden dummy became like a sand sculpture that had lost its support.

Crash—!

It collapsed instantly, turning into a pile of fine wood dust on the ground!

This was the highest realm of the Wind Thunder Palm—Yin Thunder Force!

The palm's force penetrated the body; the exterior remained unharmed while the interior was completely destroyed!

"Wind Thunder Palm, Perfection."

Lin Fan whistled, feeling in high spirits.

Just then, the phone in his pocket vibrated.

"Hello, SF Express. Your package has arrived. Please sign for it."

Lin Fan's eyes lit up.

The saber was here!

Bolting downstairs to retrieve the delivery, Lin Fan impatiently tore open the long, black rectangular package.

As the layers of packaging were peeled away, a chilling coldness rushed toward him.

This was a battle saber styled after a Tang Dao.

The blade was slender and straight, about 1.2 meters long, with a dull silver-gray finish throughout. The edge had been specially treated, shimmering with a heart-pounding cold light.

Although it was a defective product, Lin Fan searched for a long time and only found a pin-sized black dot on the spine near the handguard.

"A fine saber!"

Lin Fan gripped the hilt; it felt heavy in his hand, possessing a great sense of quality.

E-grade alloy was enough to cut through rebar like tofu; even against the bones of a Rank-1 fierce beast, it could easily break through its defenses.

Clang!

Lin Fan casually twirled the blade, a sharp silver line instantly cutting through the air.

"Is this the power of money? It really is great."

Lin Fan stroked the blade fondly, the previous heartache over the cost long forgotten.

With this saber, even if he faced a so-called genius with Rank-5 aptitude like Zhang Qiang, he had the confidence to cut them in two with a single strike.

"Saber in hand, follow me!"

Lin Fan sheathed the battle saber, shouldered it, and turned to head back to the rooftop.

Everything was ready; all that was missing was the final push.

Next would be the most difficult to practice and the most lethal of the basic martial arts—the Lightning Saber!

Early morning, on the rooftop of a low-rent apartment in Xuansheng City.

The pale white horizon was gradually dyed red by the morning glow, and a cool morning breeze swirled the dust on the ground. Lin Fan stood quietly at the edge of the rooftop, holding the e-grade alloy battle saber, his breathing long and steady.

He moved.

Clang!

The battle saber left its sheath with a sharp grinding sound.

Lin Fan's figure turned into a blurred gray line in the morning light as he slashed out wildly with the battle saber. Six biting afterimages of blade light instantly appeared in the air, each as solid as the real thing.

"Merge!"

With a low shout, the six blade lights suddenly contracted, overlapping and merging in mid-air into a terrifying two-meter-long blade qi, which slammed heavily into the hardwood stake used for practice.

Puchi.

The iron-hard stake didn't even wobble; it split neatly down the middle, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

Lin Fan stood with his saber sheathed, looking at the cut with a furrowed brow, letting out a soft sigh.

"Still a bit short."

If anyone else had seen this, they would likely be cursing. In just two days, he had practiced the "Lightning Saber," known for its difficulty, to the Major Achievement stage, managing to strike six times simultaneously and merge them into one. This was an achievement many martial artists who had immersed themselves in saber techniques for years wouldn't even dare to dream of.

But in Lin Fan's eyes, this progress was too slow.

"The mark of Perfection for the Lightning Saber is nine strikes merging into one, fast as a thunderclap. I'm currently stuck at the bottleneck of six strikes; I can clearly feel that my Comprehension Ability of the force-exertion technique isn't thorough enough."

Lin Fan shook his head, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate the "Qi Induction Art."

The surging blood within him rushed like a river, and Origin Qi scoured his meridians wildly. Forty-nine cycles were completed in an instant, but when he tried to push for the fiftieth cycle, he felt a sharp pain in his meridians—a bottleneck.

"It seems the limit of Level 10 Comprehension Ability is here. To break the shackles of the cultivation technique itself, I need higher Comprehension Ability, which means more evolution points."

Lin Fan opened his eyes and brought up the system panel.

Over these five days, he had practically turned into a cultivation maniac.

"Fierce Tiger Fist" Perfection, "Wind Thunder Palm" Perfection, "Lightning Saber" Major Achievement.

Even more terrifying was his realm. With the support of a Perfection-level breathing technique and max-level Comprehension Ability, he had continuously broken through the human body's limits four times, soaring all the way from the First-rank Body Tempering Realm to the Fourth-rank Body Tempering Realm!

This rocket-like leveling speed—not to mention those so-called school geniuses—even the core disciples of great families in the base cities, who were nurtured with exhaustive resources, would take months or even half a year.

"Although my realm is rising quickly, my pockets are cleaner than my face."

Lin Fan patted his empty pockets and gave a bitter laugh.

In these few days, just buying high-energy food to replenish his consumption had drained his last savings. Now, despite his strength, he couldn't even scrape together money for tomorrow's breakfast.

"I have to leave the city."

Lin Fan stood up and cast his gaze toward the north.

That was the North Gate of Xuansheng City, leading to the "Trial Wasteland."

That was the area with the lowest danger rating around the Base City, primarily home to Rank-1 fierce beasts. It was a paradise for novice martial artists to train and make money—and, of course, a place where bones were buried.

Two hours later, at the edge of the Trial Wasteland.

This was an abandoned industrial zone from the old era. Collapsed factories and rusted pipes were hidden by waist-high weeds, and the air was thick with a faint smell of blood and rot.

Lin Fan wore a cheap set of gray combat fatigues, carrying his battle saber on his back, as he crouched and moved through the wild grass.

Although his strength had surged, he didn't recklessly charge ahead in a fit of overconfidence.

"According to the illustrated guide, the most common creature in this area is the Wasteland Lizard, a Rank-1 low-grade fierce beast. They are thick-skinned and hardy, and they like to launch sneak attacks."

Lin Fan's ears twitched slightly.

Level 10 Comprehension Ability brought not only learning ability but also a keen perception of the environment.

Thirty meters to the left, there was movement in the withered grass!

Hiss—!

Almost the instant he turned his head, an earthy-yellow shadow lunged from the grass, opening a mouth full of fangs and pouncing toward Lin Fan's throat with a gust of foul wind.

This was a Wasteland Lizard nearly a meter long, its skin a withered yellow that blended perfectly with the surroundings.

If it were an ordinary First-rank martial artist facing this sudden ambush, they would likely be heavily injured, if not dead.

But Lin Fan didn't even draw his saber.

He smiled—the joy of seeing prey take the bait.

"I've been waiting for you!"

Lin Fan's feet took root, his waist exerted force, and his right punch boomed out.

Roar!

A tiger's roar faintly exploded in the air.

Perfection-level Fierce Tiger Fist!

Bang!

The punch slammed into the Wasteland Lizard's head.

The Rank-1 fierce beast didn't even have time to scream before its head instantly exploded into a mist of blood! The headless corpse twitched twice and slumped to the ground.

[Ding! Killed a Rank-1, Grade-1 Wasteland Lizard. Obtained evolution points: 3!]

"Only 3 points?"

Lin Fan shook the blood off his hand, looking somewhat disgusted. "This thing looks fierce, but it's actually a pauper."

But even a mosquito's leg is meat.

The thick smell of blood quickly spread in the wind.

For fierce beasts with a keen sense of smell, this was practically a dinner bell.