Night fell, and moonlight as white as snow spilled from the horizon, illuminating the bustling Wuji Market. The gentle moonlight made the autumn night sky feel exceptionally cool.

Qin Lu sat at the table in his home, burning the midnight oil by the faint light of an oil lamp.

The few books he had bought from Li Gui’s stall today had completely captivated him.

Like an ignorant child, he eagerly absorbed information about the outside world.

Through his studies, he now had a much clearer understanding of the entire world.

First, this world was vast beyond measure. According to the texts, ancient gods waged chaotic wars during the primordial era, turning heaven and earth upside down.

After the wars subsided, the ancient great deities divided the world into nine great provinces based on mountains, rivers, and distinct regions.

They were:

Central Province, Cloud Province, Li Province, Thunder Province, Chu Province, Chen Province, Extreme Province, Qing Province, and Liang Province.

The great province Qin Lu found himself in was named Li Province.

It was an independent island far from the main continent, located in the southwest corner, facing Chu Province across the sea.

Each great province was immensely vast. For easier governance, regions within them were further named.

Beneath these regions were numerous prefectures, creating a clear hierarchy.

Qin Lu’s current precise location was:

Li Province — Jiuzhen Region — Flowing Cloud Prefecture.

Within Flowing Cloud Prefecture, many powers coexisted, including great dynasties and sects. The Wuji Sect was one of them.

The Wuji Market where Qin Lu currently resided was situated at the westernmost edge of the Wuji Sect’s territory, right next to the distant East Head Ridge Beast Forest.

Besides the dominant Wuji Sect, there were many other small sect powers in the surrounding area. It was said they often had disputes, but no major conflicts had erupted for decades.

Due to its proximity to the beast forest, which teemed with demonic beasts, ghosts, and evil spirits, very few mortals lived near Wuji Market. For a thousand miles, there was no trace of human habitation.

The lack of mortal servants meant the cultivators in Wuji Market lived rather shabby and difficult lives.

As for the loose cultivators gathered here, most were drawn by the presence of high-quality spirit lands, superior for cultivation, which attracted them from various places.

Over time, this led to the formation of the bustling, lively Wuji Market.

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Qin Lu put down the “Introduction to the Human Geography of Flowing Cloud Prefecture” in his hands, clicking his tongue in admiration, his eyes filled with awe.

“It seems there are many interesting places nearby. Once my strength improves, I must go and see them…”

After glimpsing the vastness of this world, a strange urge to travel inexplicably arose in Qin Lu’s heart.

After a brief moment of reflection, Qin Lu turned his gaze to another small booklet on the table.

“Gray Shadow Sword Art”

This sword manual cost only a few pounds of gold, significantly cheaper than the other books.

Such an inexpensive sword technique was naturally not high quality. Its author was merely a low-level cultivator at the Qi Refining stage.

Who knew what confidence he had in his own swordsmanship, that he actually compiled his understanding into this little booklet.

“Let me take a look…”

Qin Lu picked up the booklet and flipped through a few pages.

As he looked, his brow involuntarily furrowed.

This sword manual contained no intricate, complex sword forms, nor any techniques driven by spiritual energy. It only had simplified diagrams with stick figures.

Qin Lu skimmed through the manual quickly.

The first half described some basic sword stances and practice methods.

The latter half wrote about common responses during combat, along with some fighting techniques and sword art tips.

Stick figure pictures holding sticks were interspersed throughout, most depicting various bizarre postures and flashy movements.

Looking at this somewhat haphazard sword art, Qin Lu couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“Practicing this… it won’t drive me insane, will it…”

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Lu shook his head.

“Forget it, forget it. More skills never weigh one down. Might as well treat it as physical exercise…”

Comforting himself with this thought, he began to study it seriously.

His fundamental reason for learning sword arts was simply to make practicing the Soft Wind Technique less monotonous.

Moreover, he had the attribute panel. This weakling sword art might, once its level increased, perhaps unleash unusual power.

A short while later.

Qin Lu closed the sword manual, nodded lightly, and stood up with a confident expression.

He picked up the Shangqing Sword that had been leaning in the corner and strode purposefully into the courtyard.

Standing in the center of the yard, he assumed a stance.

Picturing the stick figure’s sword-holding movements from the manual in his mind, he began to channel spiritual energy and slowly wield the sword.

He swung the sword meticulously, stroke by stroke.

Practicing swordplay under the moonlight seemed picturesque.

But Qin Lu’s clumsy movements, stiff posture, and sluggish form made the whole scene look utterly comical.

It was enough to make one chuckle.

After practicing for a while, a fine layer of sweat broke out on Qin Lu’s forehead.

His movements gradually slowed.

Finally, his sore arms could no longer sustain the complete execution of the sword forms, forcing him to stop.

Qin Lu wiped the sweat from his brow, thinking to himself:

“The original owner of this body was really too deficient. I didn’t notice it before when practicing minor spells, but now, using spiritual energy for these large-movement sword techniques leaves me panting in no time.”

Qin Lu looked at the fat around his waist, his face full of helplessness.

The original owner was a gambling addict who never exercised. Over time, thick layers of fat had obscured what might have been an eight-pack.

He sat in the courtyard for quite a while before gradually recovering, his breathing steadying.

He picked up the “Gray Shadow Sword Art” lying beside him and continued reading.

A moment later, he had once again committed all the key movements to memory.

Qin Lu let out a heavy breath, picked up the Shangqing Sword again, and stood up to practice.

He was no sword prodigy to begin with, his control of spiritual energy was not yet proficient, and his physical fitness was poor. All this made his entry into sword arts extremely slow.

In no time, his stamina was depleted once more.

He still couldn’t complete a full run-through of the sword forms.

But Qin Lu possessed the excellent quality of a modern gamer — the grind!

Since he had a goal, he wouldn’t give up easily. He was determined to push his grinding attribute to the limit.

After resting briefly, he began practicing again.

And so, practicing and stopping three or four times, until the dead of night arrived.

Qin Lu finally managed to execute the complete sequence of the Gray Shadow Sword Art.

Although the movements were somewhat unsightly, he had indeed gone through them all.

Afterwards, the sweat-drenched Qin Lu sat on a stone chair to rest, and with a thought…

He opened his attribute panel.

As expected, the skills column now displayed an introduction to the sword art.

Gray Shadow Sword Art (Novice): 1/100

Closing the panel, Qin Lu looked at the light blue Shangqing Sword beside him, a slight smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“This sword finally has some use…”

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