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The sky was starting to lighten.

Chen Yiming tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

In his mind, a small figure was continuously practicing the basic sword moves one after another, unable to stop. Eventually, the figure even started to execute bits and pieces from the Mantis Snake Sword Technique.

These were the parts he had secretly learned while he delivered food in the past. These were only scattered moves from the technique and did not form anything substantial.

"Could this be the legendary technique of training through dreams?"

He opened his eyes and sat up abruptly.

At this moment, he was no longer sleepy. He threw off the blanket, picked up the wooden sword from the table, and began to practice the incomplete Mantis Snake Sword Technique.

As soon as he raised his hand, he realized that the training in his dreams was real.

On his first try, he could completely replicate the moves he had seen in his memory.

On his second try, he subconsciously incorporated his understanding of the basic sword moves to fill in the missing moves. He created a complete set of moves forming a modified sword technique.

"This… is the incomplete, modified version of the Mantis Snake Sword Technique."

He did not know how powerful his modified sword technique was, but at least for now, he could smoothly execute the finishing moves within the technique.

This boosted his confidence, so he practiced several more times, only stopping when his stomach growled.

After finishing his training, he went to the bathroom to take a shower. He changed into a clean set of clothes before heading downstairs.

Father Chen and Mother Chen were already waiting for him. On the table was a bowl of piping hot noodles, and next to it was a thick envelope containing the registration fee of 30,000 yuan.

Mother Chen picked up the envelope and stuffed it into his pocket, then buttoned up his clothes.

"Keep the money away properly. Don't forget it later."

Chen Yiming pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. He used his chopsticks to pick up the piping hot noodles and stuffed them into his mouth. He finished the bowl of noodles in no time.

Looking at the way he was eating the noodles, Father Chen couldn't help but remind him, "Slow down. You have to do things steadily and not be impatient. During the test later, don't be too concerned about the result. Even if you fail this time, it doesn't really matter. It's not like we can't afford the registration fee, you can still try again next time."

Chen Yiming realized that his parents didn't have much confidence in him, and put down the bowl of half-drunk soup. He picked up the wooden sword, intending to show them the power of the talent system.

Mother Chen quickly stopped him, putting a hand on his arm.

"Your father just doesn't know how to say anything nice, don't take his words to heart. Don't waste your energy now, save your strength for the test."

Chen Yiming thought to himself that if he didn't show off his skills today, he wouldn't be able to breathe freely. His parents would always think that he was only boasting.

He simply picked up a chopstick that was still dripping with soup. Using them as long swords, he executed the spiral-style finishing move (which he didn't know the name of) from the Mantis Snake Sword Technique.

The end of the chopstick momentarily appeared as though it had a propeller added to it. It spun and shot towards the large metal door at the entrance of the house.

"Clang!" A loud sound rang out, and the metal door shook back and forth.

A large hole appeared in the middle of the metal door, and there was a pile of wood splinters on the ground. The chopstick had fallen by the door, and half of it had disappeared.

Father Chen and Mother Chen stood up in shock. Chen Yiming was also shocked by the commotion.

This power was comparable to a bullet from a pistol. If it hit a person, it would probably kill them instantly. Fortunately, no one was unlucky enough to pass by the door just then.

"When… when did you become so strong?"

Mother Chen's mind was buzzing. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed that her son had done it.

Her impression of her son practicing martial arts was still stuck on his lousy swordsmanship which was similar to radio calisthenics.

"The metal door was destroyed by the chopstick. Were the sword moves taught at your school always so powerful?" Father Chen also had a hard time believing what he just saw.

He had previously watched Chen Yiming practicing martial arts with his friends and the neighbors' children. It had seemed like they were just playing around. Compared to that, wielding a hammer would have been more effective.

"This should finally be enough to convince you."

Chen Yiming clenched his fists and pretended to be calm. To tell the truth, he didn't know that it would be so powerful either. He had thought that it would just leave a mark, and that would have been enough to satisfy him.

Mother Chen stepped forward and looked out through the hole in the door. The hole was so big that a fist could fit through it. Troubled, she said,

"What should we do about this? Are there still shops open that sell doors now? With such a big hole, others can look into the house from outside."

"…Stick a piece of paper over it."

Chen Yiming stammered, realizing that the situation was not too good. He had broken the door due to his recklessness.

Father Chen walked over and examined the hole.

"The hole is right in the middle of the door. Why don't we just install a peephole? It might look a little strange and ugly, but it's better than covering it with paper," he suggested.

…

The first rays of sunlight lit up the dark street in the village.

"Dad, Mum, I'm going out."

Chen Yiming got on his bicycle and turned a few corners before cycling onto the main road.

From the street in the village to the main road, he was being watched by many people. However, no one dared to stop him openly in broad daylight.

He noticed that refugees had already set up tents and settled down in many of the street corners. Pots and pans had been laid out, and whole families were huddled up in the corner.

The refugees did not dare to set up tents on the main road, as the city patrols were patrolling there. If they were caught, they would be chased out of the city.

Along the main road, the middlemen were giving out recruitment fliers on every street. They were hiring those who were truly struggling to survive and bringing them out of the city to do high-risk jobs like moving and transporting goods.

However, there were very few people inquiring about the jobs. Perhaps it was because the war had just begun and each family still had sufficient food, so it was not the time to risk their lives for survival just yet.

He rode on, passing by the city park square.

Placed in the middle of the square was a stage of more than 10 meters wide. A yellow-robed girl and a white-robed youth were on the stage, competing with their sword-fighting skills. The surrounding area was filled with many youths who were watching the display. The venue was even playing music, making it very lively.

This was the place where people usually took a stroll after tea and meals. However, ever since the war in the west had started, not many people came to the park.

Chen Yiming couldn't help but feel curious. Thinking that there was still plenty of time before the registration, he rode the bicycle to the square to join in the fun.

With the experience of practicing swordsmanship in his dream last night, he became more and more interested in learning secretly from others. A sword-fighting competition in public was a rare opportunity for him to observe sword techniques openly. Whatever he could learn would add to his own ability. In addition, he was severely lacking in martial arts experience and had never fought with others before. Thus, he urgently needed to learn from others' experiences.

He parked his bicycle in an open area and locked it, ensuring that he could always keep it within his line of sight.

Now that the world was in chaos, there were more thieves than usual. If he encountered a thief stealing his bicycle, he would be able to notice it quickly.

When he came to the side of the stage, he was just in time to see the yellow-robed girl wielding a green longsword and executing a series of footwork that made it difficult to differentiate between illusion and reality.

The yellowy-green figure was everywhere on the stage. At one moment, it appeared behind the white-robed youth. At the next moment, it appeared at his side. When the white-robed youth turned to the side, it appeared behind him again.

The white-robed youth was attacked from all directions. He could only defend with his sword and try his best to predict the attacks of the yellow-robed girl.

However, a long defense was bound to crack eventually. The white-robed youth messed up his footwork, and the opening did not go unnoticed by the yellow-robed girl. She took the chance to strike his sword hand while he could not make a quick turn. His sword instantly fell to the ground.

The white-robed youth did not give up and wanted to switch to his fists to continue the competition. However, his fists were no match for a sword. As soon as he raised his hand, the green longsword was pressed to his throat, blocking off any further movement.

Seeing the white-robed youth's defeat, the audience erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

Clearly, the yellow-robed girl was very popular, and many of the youths in the audience were her fans.