Free Web NovelChapter 85: Chapter 81: System, Add Points
"Class dismissed, students."
"Goodbye, Coach Su!"
A chorus of uniform farewells erupted in the Sword Hall, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar voices.
As usual, some of the older students fled the Sword Hall the moment class ended, while others hid in corners and began practicing their swordsmanship in silence.
Only the new students, unaware of Coach Su’s fearsome reputation, sat on the floor after class and started whispering about him.
Several days had passed since the special organization announced the revival of Spiritual Qi.
For Su Xing, life hadn’t really changed. The only difference was the growing number of students signing up for sword lessons. His daily income of Sword Dao Points had increased from six or seven to eight or nine, sometimes even reaching ten a day.
This gave Su Xing something to look forward to. Watching his Sword Dao Points accumulate brought him an indescribable excitement.
The only downside was that among all the new students, he hadn’t found a single one the system recognized as a Sword Disciple.
This was quite a disappointment for Su Xing, and it made him realize that Lu Anning’s talent was truly one in ten thousand.
Additionally, with the increase in students, the online class model was no longer sustainable. More and more parents and students were demanding a return to in-person classes.
Su Xing didn’t really care whether classes were online or in person, so when enough people suggested it, he went with the flow and switched the teaching format back to offline lessons.
It just meant buying a few more training swords, that’s all.
Su Xing walked over to the sword rack, sword in hand, and leaned it against the frame. A pale blue panel suddenly materialized in his vision.
[Sword Saint Profession System]
[Name: Su Xing]
[Age: 22]
[Profession: Swordsman, Sword Hall Coach]
[Sword Disciple: Lu Anning]
[Professional Skills: Myriad Sword Convergence lv1 (489/30,000), Pierce lv2 (745/3,000), White Blade Stance lv1 (1,432/30,000), Spirit Sword lv1 (132/100,000), Sword Wander lv1 (1/2,000), Sword Collapse lv1 (1/2,000), Wither Point lv1 (1/2,000)]
[Sword Dao Points: 18]
Over the past few days, besides earning Sword Dao Points from teaching, Su Xing had also evolved three of his sword skills to their Tier Two forms.
Since each level up for these skills only cost one Sword Dao Point, Su Xing, who was now earning eight or nine points a day, found it to be an excellent value.
These three skills were "Basic Sword Dao Footwork," "Collapse," and "Point."
"Basic Sword Dao Footwork" advanced to become "Sword Wander."
This was a Body Technique-type skill. The body follows the sword, allowing Su Xing to be more agile in combat.
Although Su Xing had always favored a head-on, aggressive combat style, speed and flexibility were indispensable parts of any fight. Even if you don’t use them, you can’t afford to not have them.
"Collapse" advanced to become "Sword Collapse," and "Point" advanced to become "Wither Point."
One was a burst-type direct damage skill. It felt very powerful, but due to its low level, it wasn’t very useful to Su Xing at the moment.
The other was a control skill. As long as the tip of his sword touched an enemy, it would cause them to undergo woodification. The skill seemed excellent, but likewise, its low level meant it probably wouldn’t be very effective in a real battle.
Upgrading these three sword skills made Su Xing feel his physique had become noticeably bulkier, and his strength had also increased significantly.
This change helped Su Xing decide on his future upgrade strategy: for now, he would ignore his three main combat skills and instead focus on bringing up his lower-level ones.
After all, while his own power hadn’t yet reached Tier Four Peak, he had already killed two Tier Four Peak High Priests.
Su Xing was confident that as long as no Tier Five opponents appeared, he could absolutely guarantee the safety of himself and those around him. He no longer needed to desperately raise the floor of his power level as he had before.
Coupled with the surge in his Sword Dao Point income from the Spiritual Qi revival announcement, Su Xing could now evolve a skill in just one or two days. The value proposition was far higher than leveling his high-tier skills.
If Su Xing earned eight or nine Sword Dao Points a day, it would still take him two days to level a Tier Three sword skill just once.
Leveling a Tier Four sword skill was even more outrageous, requiring a full thirty Sword Dao Points, which meant it would take three or even four days for a single level.
But if he leveled a Tier Two sword skill, he could evolve it to Tier Three in just two days.
Given this difference in upgrade efficiency, Su Xing, not being a fool, naturally knew he should bring up his four Tier Two sword skills first. It was undoubtedly the fastest way to increase his overall power.
Once all his sword skills were at Tier Three, Su Xing would then consider which one, along with White Blade Stance, to push to Tier Four.
After all, maintaining a balance between Sword Techniques, stances, and breathing rhythm was something Su Xing had learned from the old Sword Hall master.
Currently, he only had one skill each for stance and breathing rhythm, so they had to be prioritized for upgrades no matter what. As for the Sword Technique, he would have to choose one from "Myriad Sword Convergence," "Pierce," "Sword Collapse," and "Wither Point."
Just as he was thinking this and about to head back to his room to prepare for the skill breakthrough, he heard one of the students who had been watching him suddenly ask a question:
"Coach Su, you seem really strong. Are you a Martial Artist?"
The speaker was a new male student who looked to be about middle-school-aged. He watched Su Xing with curiosity.
Su Xing glanced at him. Class was already over, so he wasn’t angry at the student’s sudden interruption. He just smiled and said:
"I am indeed a Martial Artist."
Many of the older students who hadn’t left yet heard Su Xing’s words. Out of fear of their coach, none of them spoke up, but they all complained inwardly:
’I was already practicing here before the Spiritual Qi revival was even announced. He never said he was a Martial Artist back then, but now he’s putting on airs.’
The older students, having experienced Coach Su’s intimidating presence, didn’t dare say this out loud, but the new students had no such reservations.
Another boy, also looking to be around middle school age, walked right up to the boy who had asked the question and said:
"Xiaoshu, why are you asking Coach Su that?"
"Look how remote this Sword Hall is, and it only has one coach. How could the coach of a place like this be a Martial Artist?"
"I heard my dad’s friend’s friend’s son started practicing boxing, and he actually has some talent. They say he might even become a Martial Artist!"
"..."
"It’s a shame I don’t have any Sequencer aptitude. If only I could become a Martial Artist too..."
The boy’s voice trailed off as he evidently got lost in his own fantasy. Seeing this, Su Xing just smiled and said:
"Yu, you have an extra hundred sword swings tomorrow."
"What! No way! Please, no... Coach Su!"
The boy called Yu immediately started wailing. Only now did he realize what a foolish mistake it was to mock his own coach.
But Su Xing acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, simply turning around, saying, "Hurry on home," and disappearing from the training hall.
Ever since the Spiritual Qi revival was announced, "Martial Artist," "Sequencer," "Spiritualist," "Confucian Scholar," and "Extraordinary Being" had become the hottest buzzwords on the internet. His own students mentioned them often, just like today.
The world was changing so drastically that Su Xing often had the strange feeling he had transmigrated all over again.
Fortunately, this feeling only lasted for two days before disappearing.
Su Xing found that his own life hadn’t changed at all—it was still the same routine of teaching, allocating points, and practicing his sword. He quickly regained his usual calm mindset.
’Time to allocate my points.’
Su Xing twisted the lock on his door, pushed it open, and walked inside.
With the CLICK of a switch, the light from the Bai Ze lamp instantly flooded the small, sun-starved room.
Su Xing pulled out a chair and sat down, carefully studying his four Tier Two skills, considering which one to upgrade first.
After a long while, Su Xing suddenly murmured to himself, "Maybe I should upgrade Pierce."
Pierce was a skill he’d had since the system first awakened, yet it was still only Tier Two. However, that wasn’t the reason he decided to upgrade it now.
It was because the final move Su Xing had used to kill the Corpse High Priest was Pierce.
Su Xing had keenly sensed that the grievous wound effect of Pierce also seemed to work on the spatial repair mechanism.
It was just that "Pierce" was currently too low-level, so its effect on space wasn’t very obvious. Plus, the spatial marker had shattered right at that moment, so Su Xing wasn’t entirely sure if his perception was correct, which was why he used the word "seemed."
But even a mere possibility was enough to make it worth prioritizing for an upgrade.
The next High Priest he faced would likely be the Space High Priest. After all, it was a choice between two options; besides the Space one, the only other one left was the Collapse High Priest.
Thinking of this, Su Xing’s gaze focused on [Pierce lv2] and he muttered inwardly:
’System, allocate points.’
As soon as he thought it, a confirmation window popped up on the system panel in his vision.
[Sword Saint Profession System]
[Sword Dao Points: 18]
[Spend 15 Sword Dao Points on Pierce? Yes/No?]
Su Xing closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Only then did he say aloud:
"Yes, allocate the points."
WHOOSH! The eighteen Sword Dao Points on the Sword Saint Profession System instantly dropped by fifteen. A series of system notifications chimed as one panel after another popped up before Su Xing.
[Your professional skill "Pierce lv2" has been upgraded to "Pierce lv3"]
[Your professional skill "Pierce lv3" has been upgraded to "Pierce lv4"]
[Your professional skill "Pierce lv4" has been upgraded to "Pierce lv5"]
[Your professional skill "Pierce lv5" has been upgraded to "Pierce lv6"]
In just half a minute, the original Pierce lv2 shot up as if on a rocket. The proficiency suffix changed one after another—lv2, lv3, lv4, lv5, lv6 (Perfected)—until it finally reached the state of perfection.
The Sword Saint Profession System seemed to pause as if to catch its breath. Then, the word "Pierce" began to blur, as if the black ink of the characters was melting, only to be kneaded and reshaped by a pair of invisible hands into a brand-new name.
[Your professional skill "Pierce lv6" has advanced to "Mountain Breaker v1"]
