Once the idea took hold, it was like a seed planted in their hearts, quickly taking root and sprouting.
There were only seventy-odd days left anyway. If they worked hard, maybe they really could get into a Middle Magic Academy...?
It was just a bit less sleep, surely it wouldn't hurt much.
Thinking of their classmates who were still slacking off at home, a flicker of excitement rose within them.
Work hard for seventy days! We’re going to a Middle Magic Academy too!!
A strange fire ignited in their eyes. After a mutual glance, they all stood up and began heading home.
Jiang Lin felt a strangely heated atmosphere rising in the classroom. He looked around at the others with some confusion.
Then, he led Little Black toward the school playground.
He still had a skill to collect from the Temple side.
But there was no rush for that yet; he would learn the skill Anya had given him first.
He first went to the swordsmanship classroom to snag a wooden sword. Then, he went to the playground and slowly began trying out the skill-learning method he had memorized by rote.
However, the process was not smooth. Controlling the magic essence within his body with such precision proved to be quite difficult.
Several attempts ended in failure.
Consequently, Jiang Lin turned his gaze toward Little Black.
After being stared at by Jiang Lin for a long time, Little Black said speechlessly,
"What are you looking at me for?"
Jiang Lin’s expression was sincere.
"Senior, I'm having some trouble with the magic essence circuit construction step..."
Seeing Jiang Lin actually address it as 'Senior,' Little Black fell silent again.
"Try moving the magic essence upward and downward simultaneously... no, no, you should do it like this..."
"I see! Senior is truly knowledgeable! But what about stabilizing the circuit in the next step? I seem to have run into another problem..."
"..."
Jiang Lin practiced and attempted continuously, while Little Black pointed out his issues with piercing accuracy. This accelerated Jiang Lin's progress—which would have been incredibly slow on his own—to a terrifying speed.
This high-level combat technique required channeling magic essence through the acupoints corresponding to the 'Seven Stars' within the body, then forming the corresponding magic formula.
To reach the entry level, Jiang Lin needed to move magic essence to form the correct magic formula within the Tian Shu point, which corresponded to the Baihui point, and then flow it into the blade in his hand.
Under Little Black’s constant corrections, the process of trial and error that Jiang Lin would have had to endure was completely bypassed.
Ultimately, with Little Black’s meticulous guidance, a skill that might have taken Jiang Lin a year or two to initiate on his own was successfully initiated within four hours!
【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash (Uninitiated) → (Initiated)】
Even for rankless or low-level skills, it used to take Jiang Lin at least a month or two to go from starting to initiation.
Not to mention that this high-level skill was infinitely more difficult.
It had to be said that as an evil god, Little Black was simply too knowledgeable, possessing a sharp eye and terrifying insight.
This was an ability that many swordsmanship masters did not possess.
The sun had already set, leaving only a bright moon hanging in the sky.
This world didn't have the air and light pollution of his previous life, so the stars in the sky were clearly visible.
It was just that the moon was particularly bright tonight, overshadowing the faint glow of the stars.
In the middle of the empty playground, light-attribute magic essence glowed within Jiang Lin, forming a specific circuit. It traveled through his hands into the wooden sword, forming a magic essence circuit on the wood as well. It briefly condensed some of the light elements from the air before being released.
A dazzling light erupted from the tip of his sword. Within the glow, a star seemed to shine, pure and divine.
Then, the light detached from the blade and flew out, slashing forward. It traveled two or three meters before dissipating into the air.
This was the sign of having initiated the 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】.
Seeing this, Jiang Lin’s excitement was beyond words.
In the three years since coming to this world, this was the first time he had truly stepped onto the path of sword and magic!!
Perhaps many years from now, he would still remember this moonlit night with one person, one cat, and a wooden sword.
The higher the proficiency of 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】, the more acupoints would be opened, and the more stars it would contain, increasing both attack power and range.
The initiated level produced one star, as he had now; proficient produced three, perfect produced six, and the superlative level produced seven. As for the superlative peak, the power and distance would increase drastically, though the number of stars in the sword light would remain at seven.
Now, he only needed to wait a few more days and save up some daily quest rewards to raise this skill to the maximum level.
After all, he didn't know many skills yet, so it would eventually randomly select the 【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】 skill.
Having learned a new skill, Jiang Lin was in a great mood. He took Little Black home, finished dinner, and began his cultivation.
"Aren't you going to practice more to consolidate it?" Little Black questioned.
"No need, I have my own ways." Jiang Lin shook his head.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, another night had gone by.
Little Black practiced the simple breathing technique, while Jiang Lin practiced the Paladin Breathing Technique.
Faint ripples of magic essence rose around the person and the cat as the magic essence of heaven and earth slowly flowed into them.
To Little Black’s shock, Jiang Lin had gone another night without sleep!
Is this kid not tired?
Or has his breathing technique reached the superlative level as well?
But how could such a degenerate person push the Paladin Breathing Technique to the superlative level?
Faced with Little Black’s confusion, Jiang Lin gave a small smile.
"A genius, naturally, cannot be measured by common logic."
But then he paused, and his face darkened.
"Wait, what do you mean by calling me a degenerate? I’m clearly a pure, kind, sunny, and cheerful young man!"
Little Black remained silent at Jiang Lin’s answer, merely staring at him with its small eyes, its thoughts written all over its face.
"Hey, what’s with that expression?"
Jiang Lin found it hard to imagine a cat could have such rich facial expressions.
He ignored Little Black and checked his daily quests instead.
【Daily Quests】
【1. Killing for Pleasure】
【2. Malicious Fun】
【3. Cruel Slaughter】
They were exactly the same as before.
However, to Jiang Lin’s surprise, the second quest, Malicious Fun, was actually completed?!
【2. Malicious Fun】
【Requirement: Destroy a person's mental defenses】
【Reward: Mental Power +1000】
【Completed, reward pending】
Jiang Lin felt strange.
What happened? I haven't even done anything yet?
...
However, everything had to be traced back a few hours.
Dean was Jiang Lin’s classmate, also from the tail-end class.
Yesterday, he was one of the people who had stayed behind to work hard with Jiang Lin until sunset.
He had already reached level 4, but his theory exams and practical tests were somewhat unsatisfactory. While the probability of him getting into a Middle Magic Academy wasn't zero, it was still very small.
Thinking that even if he gave it his all, he couldn't compare to the geniuses in the field of adventurers—that he would work his whole life only to remain obscure and mediocre—he had always followed the principle of slacking whenever possible.
After all, hard work didn't guarantee success, but lying down was definitely comfortable.
But over the past two days, the changes in Jiang Lin and Tie Chen had caused his mindset to shift slightly.
Seeing Jiang Lin, the student at the bottom of the class, practicing his breathing technique so hard and making significant progress—rising from level 2 to level 3—he felt a slight stir in his heart.
Seeing Tie Chen, the top student in the class, also working hard to improve himself in hopes of entering a Middle Magic Academy through his own efforts, the flame in his heart was also ignited.
He and Tie Chen were on good terms, having grown up on the same street; he could even see Tie Chen’s window from his own house.
Naturally, he was unwilling to fall behind.
However, tonight, he was destined to be unable to sleep.
Because he saw that the light in Tie Chen’s bedroom window was still on!!
As the saying goes, a roommate’s snoring is as quiet as a mosquito, but the sound of them secretly turning pages is deafening.
Seeing Tie Chen still grinding through problems late at night, he naturally refused to be left behind.
So, he made a secret resolution: He would sleep only after Tie Chen went to sleep!
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Spurred by Jiang Lin, Tie Chen had also begun to reflect.
Old Jiang probably wouldn't go as far as not sleeping at all, but he definitely slept very little.
There weren't many days left anyway; missing a bit of sleep didn't matter.
With an adventurer's body, pulling a few all-nighters wasn't a big deal.
However, just as he was studying in the middle of the night and felt a bit sleepy, he looked out the window and was suddenly jolted awake.
What?! That guy Dean isn't sleeping either!!
No, I can't fall behind!!
I’ll sleep after Dean sleeps!!
Thinking that if he slept, Dean would continue working hard while he was unconscious, a sense of urgency rose in Tie Chen’s heart.
And so, this night was destined to be restless...
...
As the first light of dawn appeared, the two who had stayed up all night felt satisfied with their progress despite the dark circles under their eyes.
However, when they looked at each other’s windows again and saw the other still buried in their studies, a sense of urgency rose once more.
This isn't working... if I stop, I'll be overtaken...
I can't stop!
If I don't work hard, I might even be overtaken by Jiang Lin...
At the thought of being overtaken by the dead last in the class, both felt a sense of humiliation and defiance. They gritted their teeth and stared at each other’s windows, waiting for the other to sleep first.
Consequently, Jiang Lin’s system received the feedback.
【Daily Quest: Malicious Fun, Completed】
...
Although he didn't know who had been broken this time, since he didn't have to do anything himself, Jiang Lin was happy to take the win.
While still at home, he collected the reward.
In the next moment, the familiar pain arrived.
His sea of consciousness was violently filled, and Jiang Lin’s mental power grew at a rate visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, the magic power he could mobilize increased accordingly.
【Mental Power: 2300 → 3300】
His mental power was now somewhat exaggerated, especially for a level 3 paladin. Having such a value was quite terrifying, comparable to a mage of the same level.
【Seven Star Holy Glow Slash】, a high-level combat technique, was a skill that consumed mental power.
It required basic mental power as a guide to inject magic power into the constructed magic circuits to form the corresponding skill effect.
Of course, increasing the magic injection would make the skill more powerful; as for the upper limit of magic injection, that depended on the adventurer’s personal control and proficiency with the skill.
For example, current Jiang Lin could not inject all of his magic power into a single attack even if he wanted to.
The condensed magic power would explode due to unpracticed control, resulting in the skill failing at best, or self-injury at worst.
...
Bringing Little Black to school again, Jiang Lin once more encountered a nest of ants crawling over food scraps in front of the bun shop.
This time, before Little Black could say a word, Jiang Lin stepped on them with his large foot and gave it a grind.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Little Black’s face was dark.
It didn't understand why a degenerate like Jiang Lin would awaken the paladin class.
Jiang Lin took a bite of his bun.
"I'm eliminating pests for the people. What do you know?"
"They clearly aren't pests. What are you eliminating?"
Jiang Lin cleared his throat and said,
"While they may not be harmful to us humans, since they exist in this world, they must have natural enemies or creatures that view them as enemies.
"I may not be eliminating pests for humans, but from the perspective of their food, I am!
"Even if they are herbivores, I am protecting plants and the environment!"
Hearing this, Little Black was filled with confusion.
Listen to yourself. Is that even human language?
So no matter what, you're always on the side of justice, right?
Jiang Lin didn't dwell on the issue too much. Seeing the system notification that the quest was completed, he happily walked toward the school.
Back at school, he couldn't wait to draw today's skill.
【Reward collected, random skill proficiency reached maximum level】
【Selected skill: Breath Concealment (Perfect)】
In the next moment, Jiang Lin felt himself return to that space where he had once learned Breath Concealment.
Last time he was here, he had pushed Breath Concealment to perfect proficiency. This time, his goal was to bring it to the superlative level.
Breath Concealment, as one of the essential introductory skills for the assassin class, was a rankless skill. It involved controlling one’s own aura and didn't involve much use of magic essence.
Time flew by. Jiang Lin once again transformed from a youth into a middle-aged man, and meanwhile, the Breath Concealment skill was practiced to the peak of the superlative level.
【Breath Concealment (Perfect) → (Superlative)】
A massive amount of memory flooded into Jiang Lin’s mind in an instant. However, he was starting to get used to such volumes of memory.
He didn't have much of a reaction.
After only a brief moment of daze, he digested the superlative-level Breath Concealment.
At the same time, his body underwent slight changes, as the muscle memories that had become instinctual were carved into his current body.
Upon reaching the peak of the superlative level, Breath Concealment seemed to have become his instinct, able to be released at any time, in any state.
Unlike before, it no longer required a dedicated effort to activate during intense combat.
Perhaps it would be useful in future battles to hide his presence, preventing opponents from predicting his next move.
As for whether it was useful, he would find out in today’s duel with Anya.
...
Next, Jiang Lin collected the stamina attribute.
【Stamina】: 3500 → 4500
The familiar pain pulsed through his body. Jiang Lin’s physical body strengthened rapidly, already approaching the physical strength of an average level 4 paladin.
Normally, for an average adventurer to increase their HP attribute, they needed to exercise constantly or consume heavenly treasures to see slow improvements.
It could be said that a large portion of the time normal adventurers spent cultivating was dedicated to training their bodies or mental power.
With the system's help, Jiang Lin bypassed these processes and was increasing his basic stats at a terrifying speed.
Jiang Lin estimated that if he maintained this momentum, by the time the mid-term exam arrived, he should be able to reach the physical strength of a level 7 or 8 paladin and the mental strength of a level 5 mage.
Although his level might not keep up, his base stats would grow at a frightening pace.
In the mid-term test, he would have a fighting chance!
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