May. The scorching sun hung high in the sky, and the summer heat intensified with each passing day.

Ever since his Sword Intent had taken root, Yu Fei’s progress, aided by an ample supply of Nourishing Spirit Incense, had been incredibly fast.

"Du Mingxuan, come here! I’ve got something cool to show you!"

During the break between classes, Yu Fei called out to Du, then mysteriously produced a blank sheet of paper and placed it on his desk.

Hearing this, Li Mengyao and Lei Xiaoqiang were drawn over as well.

"Boss, what’s this cool thing? Why so secretive?"

Lei Xiaoqiang thrust his large face forward, craning his head over and shoving Li Mengyao aside.

Li Mengyao’s eyes widened in fury. She glared at Lei Xiaoqiang, grabbed his ear, and started yanking him backward.

"AAAH! Murder! Help me!"

Lei Xiaoqiang’s head was yanked back, but his body wouldn’t budge. He held his position, refusing to let Li Mengyao get closer.

She felt a surge of helplessness. ’I can’t just rip the guy’s ear off, can I?’

Seeing this, Du Mingxuan made some room. Li Mengyao huffily punched Lei Xiaoqiang once before moving into the new spot to get a look.

A few other curious classmates gathered around as well.

Yu Fei was now a celebrity in Class 2-6, and in fact, the entire second year. Ever since he had publicly defeated Jian Dalong in their last duel, his fame had exploded throughout Nanguan Second Middle School. There were even whispers about him at the First Middle School.

After all, Tianning wasn’t a big place.

The strong naturally draw a following, and Yu Fei calmly accepted it all. Now, whenever he walked through the Nanguan Second Middle School campus, people would often greet him.

In his past life, doing well in high school didn’t guarantee success. But in this world, thanks to the existence of martial arts, anyone who stood out in their youth was destined for greatness, as long as they didn’t meet an untimely end.

Yu Fei didn’t mind that a crowd was gathering.

He smoothed the white paper out on the desk, glanced around at the onlookers, and said:

"I’m going to perform a magic trick for you all. Just learned it."

Yu Fei rolled up his sleeves, then opened his hands and turned them over, showing that he held nothing.

Then, he pressed a finger to the middle of the paper and swiped down. The entire sheet was instantly sliced neatly in two.

Yu Fei picked up the two halves and passed them to the students around him.

"Holy crap! How’d you do that?"

"Either he has a blade in his hand, the paper is rigged, or there’s a trick to the desk."

"Okay, so where’s the blade? What’s the rig? What’s the trick with the desk?"

"How should I know? It’s a magic trick. The books say they’re, uh, what’s it called... just a performing art that uses skill, props, and psychology to deceive the eye."

"Then tell me how he did it. If you can explain it, I’ll buy you a milk tea. If not, you’re buying."

"Why should I? I’m not gonna say."

Du Mingxuan remained silent. He didn’t agree with his classmates’ explanations because he didn’t believe it was a magic trick.

He thought he had just sensed Qi Blood on Yu Fei’s finger. ’It’s unbelievable!’

Du Mingxuan looked at Yu Fei with a solemn expression and asked:

"How did you do that?"

Li Mengyao’s thoughts weren’t so complicated. ’Yu Fei’s hands are so beautiful,’ she thought, ’his fingers so long and strong.’ While everyone else was staring at the paper, she was the only one staring at his hands.

"Whoa, that was so cool, Boss! Teach me, teach me! Come on, bro, teach me!"

Lei Xiaoqiang stared at half of the paper for a long time. The cut was so perfectly smooth that after turning it over a few times, he could no longer tell which edge had been sliced.

Yu Fei gave a mysterious smile and said to Lei Xiaoqiang:

"Alright, I’ll teach you. Watch closely."

After speaking, he gestured for Du Mingxuan to come closer as well.

"Xiaoqiang, put the two halves back together, then check the desk and the paper for any tricks."

Lei Xiaoqiang excitedly snatched the two pieces of paper. He ran his chubby hands over the desk a few times, signaling that there was nothing there.

Then he stacked the two sheets neatly on top of each other.

"Done! Now let me check your hand."

He looked smugly at Yu Fei after speaking. To be honest, he also suspected that Yu Fei had to be using some kind of gimmick.

Yu Fei casually extended his right hand. Lei Xiaoqiang grabbed his arm, shaking it up and down, and nearly pulled out a magnifying glass to inspect his palm lines.

"Hold on!"

Lei Xiaoqiang thought for a moment, then purposefully misaligned the two sheets of paper. He took out a pen and drew a slightly curved line across them at a random angle.

"Cut along the line I drew."

He said this with one hand on his hip, looking utterly triumphant. His other hand kept a firm grip on Yu Fei’s freshly inspected right hand to make sure he couldn’t pull any fast ones.

Looking at the antsy Xiaoqiang, Yu Fei extended his index finger and casually swiped it along the black line. In an instant, the two misaligned sheets of paper became four irregularly shaped pieces.

Everyone was stunned once again.

"Amazing!"

Li Mengyao’s eyes were sparkling. ’As expected of the one I li—’

"That’s impossible! How on earth did you do that?"

Lei Xiaoqiang’s face was a mask of suspicion. He repeatedly picked up the pieces of paper to examine them, then glanced back at Yu Fei.

"Bro, you have to tell me! Otherwise, I won’t be able to focus on studying. The curiosity is killing me!"

Lei Xiaoqiang was baffled. He was positive that after his thorough inspection, there were no props or gimmicks on Yu Fei’s hands, the paper, or the desk.

And because of that, his curiosity was completely hooked.

"You want to know? I’m not telling! Haha."

Lei Xiaoqiang stared at the pieces of paper over and over, completely stumped.

Du Mingxuan stared at Yu Fei in astonishment. He was certain Yu Fei had used Qi Blood to do it.

’The thickness doubled with two sheets, so Yu Fei must have increased his Qi Blood output.’

In truth, after grinding hard for a solid week, Yu Fei’s imitation of the Cyan Lotus Sword Intent had become somewhat proficient, allowing him to use it in a rudimentary way.

The paper-cutting "magic trick" was the result of this practical application.

However, the current intensity of his Sword Intent was still very low; he couldn’t cut anything even slightly more rigid.

Last night, he had performed the trick of peeling a potato with his bare hands for his dad and Yu Wei, leaving the father-daughter pair utterly shocked.

For now, though, he was limited to peeling things like apples and potatoes. He couldn’t even sharpen a pencil.

Du Mingxuan, however, had a theory. He pulled Yu Fei aside and asked:

"Is this the Secret Technique Mr. Yan taught you?"

Seeing the envy in Du Mingxuan’s eyes, Yu Fei clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don’t even think about it, man. This Cultivation Technique is incredibly difficult. The training process is absolute torture, and besides, I’ve already used up the last of the medium required for cultivation."

"Mr. Yan said this Cultivation Technique is very difficult to master. Right now, even I only have a sliver of a chance. If I fail, my Qi Blood will be severely damaged."

He wasn’t lying to Du Mingxuan. According to information from Yan Sea, the Green Lotus Sword Nourishing Skill was merely a prerequisite technique for the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation. If the Dao Foundation failed to form, it would backlash against the Martial Artist. Severe damage to one’s Qi Blood was the minimum consequence, requiring at least three months of bed rest to recover.

Yan Sea had explained the risks and asked him again to confirm if he wanted to continue cultivating, telling him it wasn’t too late to back out.

Yu Fei had stated clearly that he would not give up.

’If I fail, it’s just a waste of three months. But if I succeed... It’s the Cultivation Technique of an eighth-realm Grandmaster! I can’t even imagine how incredible the so-called Tribulation Sea Formless Sword Manual must be. Mastering Perfection Sword Intent in the Body Tempering Realm is only a prerequisite for the Tribulation Sword Dao Foundation, and even then, I could still fail.’

Hearing Yu Fei’s explanation, the fervent gleam in Du Mingxuan’s eyes cooled.

He stared at Yu Fei with a complicated expression. "A monster like you only has a sliver of a chance?"

Yu Fei gave a bitter smile. "Man, how big is Tianning County? We might not even be in the top tier locally, let alone the entire city, the province, or even the whole country!"

"We’re all just frogs in a well. We’ve never seen a true genius. I’ll never forget what Mr. Yan said last year about someone who had just begun their journey in martial arts. They refined their skin in a single day and broke through five stages within a month. What an incredible feat!"

Du Mingxuan’s eyes glazed over. He repeated, word by word, "One day? To refine skin? Within a month? And break through five stages?"

"That’s right!" Yu Fei affirmed. "Refine their skin in a day, break through five stages within a month."

Du Mingxuan gritted his teeth. "Damn it! What a monster!"

This was something Yan Sea had told him and Jiang Yifan last year, and no one else.