The way a physical class increased their strength was exceptionally simple and brutal.
It required high-frequency, high-pressure, and high-intensity combat.
In battle after battle that pushed them to the brink of death, every single muscle and nerve in the body was tempered to the ultimate extreme.
There were no shortcuts and no stroke of luck.
There were only blood and sweat.
Of course, physical classes also required various special materials to aid their cultivation.
They used red crystals that stimulated blood qi, and the hearts of Night-Claw Demons that ignited potential.
Yet compared to mages, who consumed a pile of sky-high-priced materials in a single training session, it was far less.
This was why the higher the rank, the more overwhelmingly physical classes outnumbered magic classes.
However, physical classes had one path they could never bypass—a teacher.
It required power generation methods, combat techniques, and combat experience.
These things could not be figured out simply by one person training blindly in isolation.
A single bad habit in force exertion could linger for a lifetime.
A tiny deviation in angle could be the distance between life and death.
Without a teacher, there was no inheritance.
Without an inheritance, one could only fumble in the dark.
On this point, Elvia had deep firsthand experience.
As a former powerful princess of the Carter Royal Capital, the knight martial arts she practiced were of a very high level.
They originated from one of only two Title Rank experts in the Carter Royal Capital.
Specifically, it was the Silverlight Swordsmanship created by the Silverlight Knight, Gloster.
This swordsmanship style was widely circulated among the upper-class knight circles of the Carter Royal Capital.
It held an overwhelming advantage over the crude knight sword techniques learned by bottom-tier adventurers.
At the same rank, a knight who had undergone formal Silverlight Swordsmanship training could suppress and beat two bottom-tier adventurers of the same rank.
This demonstrated how powerful it was.
However, that was far from enough.
Compared to what Shadow Blade Lynn taught her, it was weak beyond measure.
Shadow Blade Lynn had not taught her any so-called orthodox combat style.
She hadn't taught her any flashy sword moves, nor had she made her memorize any profound sword manuals.
She simply and brutally corrected her over and over again.
She corrected her every habit and every way of exerting force.
Those seemingly insignificant micro-adjustments made her attacks sharper and her dodges more precise every single time.
Back in Withered Wood Town, she hadn't felt this progress very intuitively.
Although she had successfully forced Lin Gui back and touched the corner of his robes, that was hardly anything to brag about.
Below Legendary, a physical class of the same rank could easily handle an unprotected mage.
A mage's magic was strange and varied, and the magical explosions produced by gathering mana were terrifying in power.
While a spell that took a mage minutes of chanting to unleash could blast a warrior to death,
a warrior could also send a mage to the Netherworld Sea with a single sword stroke.
Even if Lin Gui's magic strayed far too much from traditional mages,
Elvia still could not regard touching the corner of his clothes as her victory.
Yet Shadow Blade Lynn's teachings only fully manifested after she stepped into Coppergate City's arena.
The approach of death time after time allowed Elvia to witness, almost with the naked eye, how terrifying it was to have a High-tier Epic expert personally correct her mistakes.
Her initial opponent was a Mid-tier High Rank slave.
She won.
Then came a High-tier High Rank.
She won again.
Next was a Low-tier Transcendent.
She still won.
Every combat forced her to push with all her might.
Every near-death experience made her body memorize a new instinct.
Those ways of exerting force, dodge angles, and attack rhythms that Shadow Blade Lynn had repeatedly corrected in Withered Wood Town slowly blended into her bone and blood under the pressure of death.
That lasted right up until Lin Gui came to pick her up.
By then, her opponent was already a Mid-tier Transcendent.
It was a narrow victory that nearly cost her everything when she chopped off her opponent's head.
Elvia felt a massive sense of accomplishment that she had not experienced in a long time.
The rapid growth of her strength brought a tangible sense of security.
That was what made Elvia, a coward who feared death to her very core, resignedly obey Shadow Blade Lynn's arrangements.
Even when arranged to participate in increasingly dangerous deathmatches over and over,
she accepted it.
The expectation of growing stronger gradually filled the sense of loss she had felt after falling from grace.
A few days later.
They were in the Withered Wood Wasteland.
They stood on a patch of barren ground surrounded by jagged rocks.
Lin Gui leaned against a massive boulder with his arms folded across his chest.
A tiny spirit sat on his shoulder, crossing her legs with a lazy expression.
Not far ahead, Elvia was being besieged by five wind wolf demons.
They were Hero Rank demons, their dark-teal fur standing upright like steel needles.
They moved extremely fast, their sharp claws ripping through the air with shrill whistles.
But Elvia was faster.
Her figure moved like a ghost, weaving and dodging under the combined assault of the five wolf demons.
Every sidestep dodged a lethal claw just in time.
Every retreat landed right in the blind spot of the next wolf demon's attack.
Her fighting style was no longer her former wide-sweeping, head-on knight swordsmanship.
Instead, it was tricky and ruthless.
Every strike killed in one hit.
She closely resembled an assassin.
Her left hand held a plain gray dagger in a reverse grip.
The blade was entirely ordinary, without the slightest sheen.
That was the Gray Dagger, the reward given to Lin Gui by the Legendary Assassin Hugh, which Lin Gui had passed on to Elvia.
A wolf demon lunged from the side.
Elvia turned sideways, slicing with the Gray Dagger in her left hand.
The sharpness of the blade was beyond imagination, easily cutting open the wolf demon's neck like slicing through tofu.
Blood spattered, and while the wolf demon's body was still airborne, it had already lost all strength.
Her right hand thrust out her rapier simultaneously, sending silvery-white sword energy shooting from the tip.
It was not a wide, fan-shaped wave of sword energy.
Rather, it was an extremely fine silver thread, condensed to near solidity.
The silver thread pierced the skulls of two wolf demons, impaling both before embedding itself in a distant boulder with undiminished force.
The last wolf demon seized the opportunity to lunge from behind.
Elvia didn't turn around; releasing her sword hilt with her right hand, she slammed a backhand elbow into the wolf demon's lower jaw.
The wolf demon's head snapped back violently, exposing its throat.
The Gray Dagger in her left hand stabbed upward with precision into its throat.
With a twist of her wrist, the blade cut horizontally.
The wolf demon's body twitched once and slid to the ground.
Elvia sheathed her sword and stood with her hands lowered.
The corpses of five wolf demons lay scattered around her feet.
Her golden hair was ruffled by the wind, a few strands clinging to her sweaty cheeks.
Her chest heaved slightly, her breathing somewhat rapid.
Yet those golden eyes shone with an astonishing brilliance.
Standing beside the boulder, Lin Gui wore an unhidden trace of surprise on his face.
"The speed at which physical classes advance sure is fast."
He sighed softly in admiration.
"Much faster than me."
Sitting on his shoulder, Shadow Blade Lynn gave a light laugh.
"That's how warriors about to break through a major rank are."
She cast a glance at Elvia not far away.
"Besides, her talent isn't bad—not much worse than those geniuses in the Assassin's Court."
"Most importantly, she fears death."
Lin Gui turned his head, looking strangely at the spirit on his shoulder.
"That's an advantage too?"
Shadow Blade Lynn gave a mocking smile.
"Of course it's an advantage."
"Only people who fear death will desperately seize every opportunity to survive."
Her voice was flat, as if stating something taken for granted.
"An arrogant genius who refuses to bow to anything will often make the wrong judgment out of pride when truly facing death."
"But someone who fears death is different."
"She will struggle, fight desperately, and use any means necessary."
"She will squeeze out all her potential like a rat backed into a corner."
Lin Gui retracted his gaze, bringing it back to Elvia.
She was squatting beside the corpse of a wolf demon, carving open its chest cavity with the Gray Dagger as if inspecting something.
Her movements were practiced, showing no aversion to the pungent stench of blood.
"How much longer until she breaks through to Transcendent?" Lin Gui asked.
"Once she breaks through, how strong will her combat power be?"
Shadow Blade Lynn tilted her head.
"She still needs a few real deathmatches to force out all her potential."
She paused, her tone laced with a hint of playfulness.
"As for combat power... maybe she'll be able to pin you to the ground and kill you."
She added one more line.
"...Assuming you don't use magic as absurd as yours."
Lin Gui didn't respond.
His eyes swept across their surroundings.
The power of the Shroud of the Gloomy Night had transformed into an invisible wall, enclosing this patch of barren land.
A few demons passed by outside, completely oblivious to the slaughter taking place within.
Shadow Blade Lynn was also watching that invisible wall.
Even with her mastery of concealment at its absolute pinnacle, she couldn't help but click her tongue in surprise.
In terms of sheer concealment ability, she was confident she surpassed this absurd spell.
However, she had to admit that in terms of cost-effectiveness,
it was completely incomparable.
Elvia stood up from beside the wolf demon's corpse.
The Gray Dagger in her hand was still dripping blood.
She turned around and wiped a handful of sweat from her face.
Her golden hair stuck to her forehead with blood and sweat.
She looked at Lin Gui.
In her golden eyes, there was a light that had never been there before.
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