Was it possible that if I were to cultivate on my own, I would have to practice from youth until I became a frail old man just to reach the superlative level of the 【Paladin Breathing Technique】?
Jiang Lin was somewhat surprised. He recalled that when he raised 【Basic Swordsmanship】 to superlative, he only seemed to grow from a youth into a middle-aged man; it wasn't nearly as terrifying as this breathing technique.
'The reward for raising a skill to maximum proficiency seems to judge how much mental power needs to be consumed based on my own talent.'
Jiang Lin speculated based on his experience with the two upgrades.
He felt that his mental power depletion today was already quite significant.
If he had to go through that feeling again, he might die from exhaustion.
......
While Jiang Lin was upgrading his skill proficiency, in the eyes of others, he suddenly became mysterious.
After his duel with Anya ended, he stood blankly in place with his eyes closed, seemingly reminiscing about the battle.
At the same time, the aura on his body suddenly began to change rapidly.
From an ordinary student, he became mysterious and unpredictable. His aura grew more and more condensed, as if he had suddenly attained enlightenment.
"Could it be... he gained some insight during the battle just now?!"
Those who saw this scene were shocked.
In the next moment, Jiang Lin's aura suddenly surged and became several points stronger.
"Is this... a level up?!"
Everyone's eyes widened, looking at this scene in disbelief.
Monsa, the swordsmanship teacher, was also quite surprised.
He had heard of people having epiphanies during battle and breaking through skill proficiencies.
But cases of suddenly leveling up in the middle of a fight were rare.
'Hmm... perhaps he was already close to the threshold, and today's evenly matched duel allowed him to successfully complete the final step?' Monsa speculated.
However, Jiang Lin's swordsmanship proficiency was something he couldn't understand.
Judging from his duel with Anya just now, his control over his muscles and his understanding of swordsmanship couldn't possibly be at the proficient level he had shown before; it was at a quite high superlative level.
Clearly, he had broken through to superlative some time ago.
After all, it was impossible for a person to go from proficient to superlative overnight.
Then the truth was clear.
Before this, Jiang Lin... had been hiding his talent!
Although he didn't know the intent or purpose behind doing so, only this reason could explain why Jiang Lin's proficiency had suddenly increased so much!
Monsa recalled the time when Jiang Lin had first enrolled.
In just one short week, he had raised the 【Paladin Breathing Technique】 from a beginner level to a proficient degree.
That kind of talent was even above Anya's!
But after that, it was as if his brain had suddenly broken; the proficiency of his breathing technique stagnated, and his level increases were terrifyingly slow.
Thinking of Jiang Lin's humble background, Monsa made a bold judgment:
Previously, Jiang Lin had been under some unspeakable threat, which forced him to hide his talent!
And today, perhaps that threat had disappeared, allowing Jiang Lin to dare to show the talent he had been hiding all along!
Monsa wasn't the only one thinking this; some of the students in the class who knew Jiang Lin actually had similar thoughts.
After all, the experience of going from proficient to superlative overnight was too sensational.
Perhaps only by joining a secret cult would one have such a cultivation speed.
Furthermore, as a paladin, it was absolutely impossible for Jiang Lin to join a secret cult.
So the only explanation was that Jiang Lin had been hiding his talent before...
'What could that threat be...'
Monsa and the others immediately thought of a recent news report:
A large number of secret cult members were discovered in the slums, and the Temple sent elite forces to annihilate them.
'Could it be... Jiang Lin was being threatened by the secret cult before?'
'Yes, that's very likely!'
"Damn the secret cult for doing this to our classmate Jiang Lin!!"
Many people simultaneously had this thought.
The so-called secret cult was a group of people who worshipped evil gods.
They were tyrannical and cruel, oppressed the common people, and even cooperated with demonic beasts. They were enemies of the human kingdoms and the Temple.
To gain power, they used any means necessary to make sacrifices to evil gods. They were truly loathsome!
While they were making this connection, Zach, the second-ranked student in the grade, had a different view:
'Another breakthrough?'
'I see. He must have picked up some ring and met some old grandpa!'
'He is the legendary protagonist template!!'
Thinking of this, a light known as profound wisdom shone in Zach's eyes.
......
Jiang Lin could never have imagined.
The improvement in talent that he originally wanted to explain as a sudden epiphany had actually been rationalized by his teacher and these students into such a logical-sounding reason.
And they even shifted the blame onto a group of dead people who had been wiped out and could never be verified.
.......
Afterward, the class continued as usual.
Monsa began to critique the battle between Jiang Lin and Anya, while the other students listened intently.
After hearing Monsa's explanation, many students realized just how wide the gap between them and the two was.
It turned out that when swordsmanship reached the highest level, one could control power to such an extent.
'At the time, I only thought their movements were fast. I didn't expect they had time to think about all this...'
'Is this the world of geniuses?'
The explanation ended, and it was time for free practice. Monsa had the students from the two classes pair up one-on-one, letting the students from the elite class guide those from the tail-end class.
Anya, naturally, paired up with Jiang Lin again.
"You've broken through to Level 3?"
Jiang Lin nodded.
As his level increased, his physical fitness and mental power also received a slight boost.
【Level】: 2→3
【HP】: 2000→2500
【MP】: 1200→1300
Previously, these increases would have been considered quite significant for Jiang Lin.
But with the 1,000 points added to each stat earlier, the increase seemed relatively small against the larger base.
The increase in level didn't just bring simple increases in physical fitness and mental power.
It was an increase in nerve reflex speed, dynamic vision, reaction time, muscle control precision, and various other aspects.
In particular, after the magic essence in his body became more abundant, the slow nourishment of his physical fitness by the magic essence would become more apparent.
At the same time, different profession level-ups would bring different improvements to various aspects of the body. For example, a paladin's physical fitness improvement would be greater, while a mage's mental power improvement would be greater.
Overall, however, the level-up provided a comprehensive increase in combat power.
The improvement in the breathing technique would also help Jiang Lin gain a higher speed of condensing magic essence.
Not counting the speed of leveling up, it would also allow him to gain stronger sustained combat capability and foundation in battle.
"Do you want to familiarize yourself with the changes in your physical fitness first?"
Anya asked kindly.
"Thanks for understanding."
Jiang Lin nodded.
.......
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