5. {Childhood Sweetheart Trope} - Check

In his room, Su Mo sorted out the scrolls of martial skills with him.

[Punishment Ruler] (Low Lv 1) Ruler must hurt without a visible injury.

[Last Sword] (Low Lv 1) Sword is a lethal weapon. Only the last strike kills.

[Frenzy Fight] (Low Lv 1)

"Time to cultivate my martial skill!"

Su Mo chose the [Punishment Ruler] and carefully read it.

After he understood the details, he walked into the yard.

He picked out a two and a half feet long ruler from the weapons rack. The yard had varied kind of dummies. He erected a dummy filled with sticks and covered in boar hide.

"A Ruler must be swung without hesitation. The contact must produce an impact, not a collision. A Ruler must never slide over a surface."

With these essential points in mind, Su Mo practised every gesture and motion according to the manual.

"Ho! Ho! Ho!"

He struck the dummy very slowly at first but gradually increased his pace. By the end of a 3 hr training, Su Mo could break sticks without leaving a scratch on boar hide three out of ten times.

He stopped practising the [Punishment Ruler] and cultivated the [Refined Art 1.0] to restore his energy.

He rested for a while and read the scroll of [Last Sword].

After practising it for some time, Su Mo switched to [Frenzy Fight]. It focused on unexpected ways to strike with different body parts to create openings and kill using various small weapons like darts, needles and nails.

Five days passed, altering between the practice of different martial arts.

One could hear the rustling of the leaves as Su Mo stood still before boar-hide stick dummy.

Thud.

Thud. Thud.

Su Mo silently but violently unleashed a flurry of strikes with his ruler. Every strike broke the sticks inside the dummy without leaving a scratch on the boar hide.

Crack!

The dummy crumbled into a pile with a cracking sound.

"Hu!"

Su Mo took a deep breath and stood with his ruler straight.

He placed the ruler back in the rack and practised his sword.

Slice!

He cut a two-inch-thick wooden log cleanly without chipping his sword.

"Not bad! I've achieved Minor Proficiency for both!" Su Mo could not stop smiling. He would now able to use both ruler and sword efficiently in combat.

Almost no one in Sunnywood City could achieve Minor Proficiency for two martial skills in only five days. Su Mo was able to do so because transmigration had given him firm comprehension.

"Now's the perfect time to enter Breezewind Mountain. [Frenzy Fight] can only be improved in combat."

Su Mo whispered. Then, he cleaned his yard, packed up and set out.

Breezewind Mountain lay in a mountain range covering about 49,000 square km, and it was 15 km away from Sunnywood City. It was lofty and densely covered in forests.

Many Spiritual Herbs grew there, leading many martial artists in Sunnywood City to venture into the mountains to collect them.

However, opportunities always came with danger. Many martial artists were killed and eaten by the many demonic beasts who lived in the mountains.

Despite the dangers, Su Mo had to take a chance. It was hard to cultivate alone for long periods.

---

Su Mo was walking down a tree-lined path when he suddenly heard a burst of giggles.

He turned around and was stunned by what he saw.

A boy and a girl were cuddling happily with each other under a pavilion beside a pond.

The girl was a beauty. Tall and slim, she wore a purple dress over her fair skin and her loose black hair draped over her shoulders.

She was Liu Yushan, Su Mo's childhood sweetheart and cousin.

Liu Yushan was the eldest daughter of the Liu clan, a small clan in Sunnywood City that depended upon the Su.

Su Mo and Liu Yushan grew up together, so they were close.

Their parents had wanted them to get engaged at the beginning of next year, but Su Mo delayed it.

The young man with Liu Yushan was none other than Su Yu, the martial artist who replaced Su Mo as Su's first genius.

---

Su Mo made eye contact with them.

"Yushan, have you jumped the ship so soon?" Su Mo asked with an amusing expression. He was feeling giddy as the {Childhood Sweetheart trope} came to play.

It was good to read but hurtful to live. Su Mo didn't love her, but still, he thought he had treated Liu Yushan very well. She could have been upfront with him.

Liu Yushan turned her head away with an inexplicable glint in her eyes and said nothing.

Su Yu glanced at Su Mo and coldly smiled. "Su Mo, from now on, Yushan is mine. Leave her alone, or you will have to answer to me."

"Yushan!" Su Mo ignored Su Yu and stared at Liu Yushan.

"Su Mo, did you hear what I said?" Su Yu's eyes were cold, and he said, "A piece of trash like you doesn't deserve her. Only I, a genius, am the best fit for Yushan."

Liu Yushan nodded and said, "He's right."

"Really! Just because of my Martial Soul?"

Su Mo remained calm throughout the ordeal. He would not lack women in future. If you know beforehand that something is not going to work out, you should not care about it.

"Cousin, we don't belong to the same kind of people anymore," Liu Yushan nodded and said.

"True, we do not belong to the same type of people." Su Mo muttered disdainfully, which Lui Yushan overlooked.

"Three days ago, I awakened a Rank 4 Human Class Martial Soul. We will only grow further apart with time." Liu Yushan said pridefully, "Su Yu, the genius of the Su, is my ideal spouse. As for you, my cousin, you're a good-for-nothing. The difference between you and him is extremely apparent."

"A Rank 4 Human Class Martial Soul, hun."

Su Mo was not surprised by her Martial Soul because Liu Yushan was very talented for this small city.

"I see!" Su Mo nodded calmly. Everyone was entitled to a choice. Since she had chosen to abandon him, he would not try to change her mind.

Liu Yushan frowned at Su Mo's unruffled face.

She had thought that he would be devastated and would beg desperately for her, so his calm demeanour bothered her.

"Yushan, remember what you said today. I hope that you won't regret it in the future!"

Su Mo took a deep breath as he said those words and left. He was feeling giddy inside. He was officially set to follow the protag's life of success.

"Regret? How is that possible?" Liu Yushan and Su Yu laughed.

---

Before leaving the Su Mansion, Su Mo inquired about recent bandit activities in nearby villages. After confirming no suspicious transits, sprinted straight towards Breezewind Mountain.

An hour later, he arrived at the foot of Breezewind Mountain.

Breezewind Mountain looked like an enormous monster creeping on the ground, giving off a cold and ruthless aura.

Without hesitation, Su Mo sprang into the mountains.

Before long, Su Mo had run five km into the forest, where the trees towered over him with thick trunks completely blocking out all the sunlight.

"Howl!"

A giant black wolf sprang out into Su Mo's path.

"Evilwind Wolf, Class 1 Lv 1 Demonic Beast!"

Su Mo recognised it. A demonic beast at this level was as powerful as martial artists at Lv 1 Qi Cultivation Realm.

"Well, I'll practice with you!"

Su Mo flew forward like a flying arrow and hit the Evilwind Wolf with his fist covered with genuine Qi.

"Howl!"

The Evilwind Wolf was enraged by Su Mo's attack, roared, and pounced on him. Its sharp wolf claws split toward his head.

Bang!

Su Mo grabbed the claws and pushed the Evilwind Wolf a few meters away.

The Evilwind Wolf was strong, but Su Mo was already a level higher than it.

"Haha! Let's go again."

Su Mo moved forward and continually pushed the Evilwind Wolf back.

Soon, the wolf was injured as Su Mo threw him around. The Evilwind Wolf would die if it engaged Su Mo alone.

"Howl!"

The seriously injured Evilwind Wolf roared and slunk away instead of attacking again.