Chapter 14: Making Analogies (Seeking Collection, Seeking Recommendation)

Since there were no culinary arts or medicine skills that could be upgraded by using the secret books, could he, who didn't have any knowledge of knife techniques, use the "Knife Techniques Secret Book" to learn them from scratch?

Rather than thinking about it, Ye Weiming instantly turned this idea into action and opened the "Knife Techniques Secret Book" using the method he used to open the "Culinary Arts Secret Book".

Ding! You haven't learned any knife techniques, are you sure you want to use the "Knife Techniques Secret Book"?

Yes/No

As expected, it works!

Ye Weiming immediately chose "No". Although it seemed to work, the system notification didn't specify what kind of consequences this action would bring. Based on Ye Weiming's analysis, the worst-case scenario would be merely wasting a secret book, and it shouldn't bring any harmful effects to him. But since he was conducting an experiment, he obviously wouldn't risk his most valuable insights.

He set aside the secret book of Du DaJin's knife techniques and took out a "Knife Techniques Secret Book" he got from a bodyguard, the kind which increases proficiency by 200 points.

He directly chose to use it without a second thought, and then...

Ding! By studying the "Knife Techniques Secret Book", you gained 50 points of culinary skill proficiency!

Gained proficiency through association?

So that's possible!

Even though this experimental secret book was associated with culinary skills and the proficiency was reduced to a quarter of the original, it provided a new way of leveling up.

Without any hesitation, Ye Weiming quickly exhausted the remaining 2 copies of the "Knife Techniques Secret Book", 4 copies of the "Fist Techniques Secret Book", and 2 copies of the "Stick Technique Secret Book".

Ding! By studying the "Knife Techniques Secret Book", you gained 400 points of proficiency in the "Sword Technique of the Yue Maiden"!

Ding! The "Sword Technique of the Yue Maiden" has been raised to level 7!

Ding! By studying...

After several consecutive associations, in addition to the promotion of the "Sword Technique of the Yue Maiden" to the 7th level, the proficiency levels of his other two skills also received minor increments, bringing them a step closer to leveling up.

Even though the effect of gaining proficiency through association was to randomly add experience value to a skill, it was somewhat inclined towards martial arts. One of the "Stick Technique Secret Book" added 40 points of smelting proficiency, much to the amusement of Ye Weiming.

After using up all the secret books in his possession, the proficiency levels of Ye Weiming's martial arts skills became...

Breathing Techniques (Inferior)

Level: 6

...

Proficiency: 1654/3200

...

Sword Technique of the Yue Maiden (Inferior)

...

Level: 7

Proficiency: 50/6400

Power +70%, Precision +70%

...

Eight-Step Chasing Toad (Beginner)

...

Level: 3

Proficiency: 818/1000

Movement technique+60

With the advancement of his swordsmanship level, a faint and indescribable sense of enlightenment arose in Ye Weiming's heart. Even without the attribute boost, he was confident that, given the same circumstances, he could perform much better than before.

His other skills were also one step closer to leveling up.

Meanwhile, twenty-one slots had been freed up in his backpack. Ye Weiming continued his work, picking through the corpses.

However, the loot from the corpses, including those of the guards and Du Jiamu himself whom Ye Weiming had prioritized, was less than satisfying. On average, he needed to search through three bodies just to acquire one secret book of insights. Most were related to survival skills, and even the occasional mental method related to martial arts offered pitifully scant increases in proficiency.

And thus, hidden weapons have become nonexistent.

Those weaklings and civilians without any martial arts skills had all been killed using some sort of claw technique!

As Ye Weiming tended to the bodies and collected the books, he didn't mind the seemingly useless secret knowledge books and continued to stuff them into his backpack enthusiastically. Soon, he had ventured deeper into the compound, which was supposed to be the living quarters of the escort agency's family. But there were no living women here now, only female corpses.

Ding! You have received one "Tailoring Insights" Secret Book.

Ding! Your proficiency in tailoring has been increased by 135 points.

...

After clearing out the female corpses from one room and efficiently making use of the acquired secret books, Ye Weiming scanned his surroundings. Finding no more bodies, he was about to leave when a system alert suddenly sounded.

Ding! Passive skill "Corpse Inspection Law" activated. You discover a curtain near the bed trembling slightly without any wind, as if someone is hiding behind it and breathing.

This system alert made Ye Weiming frown, but he did not miss a beat and pretended to leave casually, only to swiftly draw his sword two steps later. In the depths of the night, his Dragon Spring Treasure Sword transformed into a streak of silver light, thrusting straight towards the curtain behind him, the sword's edge scraping against the air and letting out a sharp hum!

"Rip!"

Almost simultaneously, as Ye Weiming turned his back to unsheathe his sword, the curtain was abruptly torn in half, revealing a figure dressed in black. This figure jumped up, narrowly avoiding Ye Weiming's stab to the chest, while simultaneously clawing at Ye Weiming's throat and the wrist holding the sword. His attack was extremely swift and ferocious.

Realizing he was up against a tough opponent, Ye Weiming adjusted his angle of attack, transforming his stab into a thrust aiming straight for the foe's throat. His movements were as smooth and flowing as water, utterly devoid of abruptness, just like this second move was the natural extension of the first.

Indeed, the switch to the move "Sweeping Away Grass to Search for Snake" was exactly what Ye Weiming was supposed to do. This was a feint in the Yue Maiden sword technique. Though it seemed swift and fierce, it contained delayed force and can transform midway, exhibiting complete control. The system merely informed him that there was someone behind the curtain, and given Ye Weiming's current strength, he couldn't discern any further information.

It would be unfortunate if the person hiding behind the curtain turned out to be an orphan from the escort agency who had survived the massacre, only to be mistakenly killed by Ye Weiming.

Plus, according to the standard plot of martial arts dramas, the ones who usually survive such disasters are potentially main characters!

Ye Weiming wouldn't want his rashness to snuff out the life of a budding star in the martial world.

Fortunate then that he was capable of such smooth transitions even when facing a formidable opponent, without falling at a disadvantage in terms of movements.

Seeing Ye Weiming's graceful transition, the figure in black couldn't help but gasp quietly. He then made a tremendous effort with his waist, dramatically dodging Ye Weiming's throat-slashing move, before delivering a fierce kick towards Ye Weiming's chest, with all his strength behind it.

"Damn!" Blindsided by the swift change of move, Ye Weiming was left with no time to retract his sword. With a swear, he quickly focused his internal strength onto his left arm, raising his hand to block the incoming kick.

"Bang!"

Their fists and feet collided. Ye Weiming was forced back three steps owing to the shortage of true qi resulted from his sudden tactic shift, whereas the figure in black used the momentum to pivot and crash through the window behind, leaving a "What watch?" behind as he fled into the distance.

"Hold it right there!" Ye Weiming was not about to let him escape that easily. He immediately activated his "Eight-Step Chasing Toad" movement technique to give chase.

However, what surprised Ye Weiming was that his foe's movements were almost as good as his own. Even when Ye Weiming maximized his Eight-Step Chasing Toad technique by channeling all his inner strength into his legs, he still couldn't catch up. But the gap between them was closing, and the fleeing figure seemed to be panicking, leading him towards the corner of the back courtyard of the escort agency.

Under the moonlight, Ye Weiming saw something that resembled a door standing there, but it was definitely not a backdoor. If the figure mistook it for a rickety wooden door and charged at it...

At this thought, a hint of schadenfreude crept onto Ye Weiming's face.

However, the smile only stayed on his face for less than a second. The figure had no intention of breaking through the front door but instead jumped up towards the courtyard wall when he still had some distance from it. He reached out his clawed hand and grabbed onto the bricks on top of the wall, swiftly flipping over to the outside of the courtyard.

Ye Weiming, who was close behind, leaped with all his might but was only able to jump half as high. Seeing that he was about to smash his face into the courtyard wall, he quickly reached out his left hand to push against the wall, allowing him to drop safely back inside the courtyard.

There was nothing he could do. The Eight-Step Chasing Toad, as impressive a low-level movement technique as it may seem with speed that is comparable to many mid-level techniques, had an obvious flaw due to its significant speed boost.

That top flaw was that it was not meant for jumping high!