Chapter 11: The First Volume of the Desolate Wilderness Blade Scripture

The next day, Lin Huang slept in his room the entire day, so much so that he had no idea when Lin Xin left for school in the morning. It wasn’t until Lin Xin returned from school in the afternoon that he finally woke up, and the two of them went downstairs together for dinner.

At the restaurant, they once again ran into Scarface from room 301. Lin Huang greeted him with a friendly smile, to which Scarface responded with a curt nod, his face expressionless.

That night, after Lin Xin had fallen asleep, Lin Huang didn’t wait for Scarface to go downstairs. Instead, he began practicing his swordsmanship alone on the balcony. He had only just completed the set three times when he saw Scarface descend to the lawn and start practicing again.

This time, Lin Huang watched him intently, carefully studying every detail of each movement as Scarface finished his routine three times. Once Scarface returned to the hotel, Lin Huang recalled each move in his mind before beginning his own practice anew.

Throughout the night, he repeated the sword technique over a hundred times, raising the number of fragments he had collected to thirty-six. Over the course of two nights, he had gathered fifty-seven fragments, but it was still not enough to synthesize the skill.

On the third day, Lin Huang once again slept until Lin Xin returned in the afternoon.

“Brother, have you been suffering from insomnia lately?” Lin Xin asked with concern, looking at him.

“Uh, a little.” Seeing her worry, Lin Huang nodded, letting her assumption spare him the trouble of explaining why he slept during the day.

“If you have insomnia, you should get more sleep during the day. I’ll bring your dinner up for you tonight,” Lin Xin said, pleased to be able to do something for her brother.

“No need, I’ve slept enough. Let’s go downstairs and eat together.” Lin Huang felt a warm glow in his heart—his little sister was indeed thoughtful.

“Oh, by the way, the hotel owner said someone delivered a package to our room earlier. I brought it up for you.” As she spoke, Lin Xin retrieved a cardboard box from her storage space.

“A package? I haven’t ordered anything recently.” Lin Huang started to say, but then caught sight of the sender’s name—the Seventh District Branch of the Hunter Association. He immediately realized this must be the reward for killing the Bloodthirsty Breed.

“I wonder what the Hunter Association gives as a reward for taking down a Bronze-level Bloodthirsty Breed?” Lin Huang opened the box with anticipation.

Inside was a black briefcase, on top of which lay an envelope.

He noticed that the case required a four-digit code to open, so he tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.

It was a letter of gratitude from the Hunter Association, commending Lin Huang for his previous actions in slaying the Bloodthirsty Breed. At the end, it revealed the contents of his reward and the code for the briefcase. Upon reading this, Lin Huang’s eyes lit up in delight and he exclaimed, “The Hunter Association is truly generous!”

The code was 7101. Lin Huang entered it without hesitation. With a click, the briefcase opened automatically, and the sight of its contents made Lin Huang’s breath quicken.

“Is this a firearm?” Lin Xin couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, the Black Eagle 33. It’s the latest Black Iron-grade firearm from Desert Eagle Corporation, capable of transforming between a pistol and a sniper rifle. It’s currently the highest-performing Black Iron-grade firearm on the market, and its price exceeds that of some Bronze-grade weapons.” Lin Huang couldn’t resist running his fingers over the black handgun nestled in the case.

The weapon’s ruggedness was no less than his old Gray Eagle 17, and even surpassed it. The gun was constructed entirely from black metal, accented with silver stripes, giving it a bold, cold, yet refined appearance.

After fondling the pistol for a while, Lin Huang reluctantly put it away.

Weapons required life energy to activate their effects, especially firearms, which needed sufficient life energy to generate energy bullets in the chamber.

For now, Lin Huang could only admire the Black Eagle 33. He wouldn’t be able to use it until he reached the Black Iron rank.

“With this Black Eagle 33, once I reach Black Iron, I’ll have blood energy for close combat and firearm support for ranged attacks. My combat power will increase dramatically.” The thought filled Lin Huang with anticipation, but he was not one to get ahead of himself. He understood clearly where his focus ought to be. “For now, I should prioritize assembling the skill card for the ‘Desolate Wasteland Blade Manual’ before the Reserve Hunter Assessment. At the very least, I need some ability to protect myself; I can’t rely solely on the Bloodthirsty Breed.”

After dining with Lin Xin, Lin Huang returned to his room and drank a cup of Calming Tea. He rolled up the living room carpet, moved the tables, chairs, and sofa to the side, and, barefoot, began practicing his sword technique.

Previously, he had always practiced on the balcony, but although it was over two meters wide, he still found it too cramped. The living room provided a much more spacious environment. He moved the carpet and furniture aside to avoid damaging anything he couldn’t afford to replace.

Lin Xin was curious but didn’t interrupt him, instead returning to her room to do her homework.

Whether it was the extra space or some other reason, Lin Huang found his movements more fluid than before, and the rate at which he obtained fragments increased significantly.

He practiced past midnight, repeating the sword technique over a hundred times. The probability of obtaining fragments soared to over sixty percent, and he collected sixty-eight fragments in one night.

This struck him as odd, the increase in probability far too drastic—just the day before, it had been less than twenty percent. What puzzled him even more was that after practicing all night, he felt no fatigue whatsoever. In the past two days, such intensive practice would have left him exhausted and drowsy, collapsing into bed with ease. But now, not only was he not tired, he felt wide awake.

“This feels a bit like I’ve taken a stimulant…” Reflecting on his diet over the past day and comparing it to the previous one, Lin Huang quickly identified the likely cause. “Could it be the Calming Tea? But I’ve been drinking it for days without any stimulant effect, and my sleep was especially good at night…”

With this in mind, Lin Huang poured himself another cup of Calming Tea. As the sweet drink went down, he felt even more invigorated. “It really must be this stuff!”

Just as he made this discovery, he heard a door close in the room opposite. He immediately went to the balcony to continue watching Scarface practice his blade technique, observing even more closely this time.

After Scarface finished three rounds, Lin Huang replayed every movement in his mind, then returned to the living room to practice.

He continued until after seven in the morning, repeating the sword technique over a hundred times. The probability of gaining fragments increased again, exceeding eighty percent, and he collected eighty-eight fragments in a single night.

When Lin Xin woke up and saw Lin Huang energetically practicing in the living room, she assumed he had just gotten up and thought nothing more before heading off to school.

After breakfast, Lin Huang still felt no fatigue. His spirits were high, and his body showed no sign of exhaustion. He drank another cup of Calming Tea and resumed his practice, curious to see if the fragment acquisition rate would climb even higher.

From just before eight in the morning until after five in the afternoon, he practiced the sword technique over a hundred times. When the number of fragments reached eighty-seven, a notification sounded in his ear.

[The number of ‘Desolate Wasteland Blade Manual’ skill fragments has reached three hundred. The rare skill ‘Desolate Wasteland Blade Manual, Part I’ can now be synthesized. Would you like to proceed with the synthesis?]