Chapter 24: What is a Secret Skill?

Liao, as the name suggests, involves a thrust from below upwards towards the target. When the Red Armor Beetle leaps, it is combined with body movement, turning the sword into a liao strike, directly piercing various parts of the beetle, depending on the situation.

Three strikes executed in one breath, though they may not necessarily kill the Red Armor Beetle, can at least severely wound it.

Chu Yunsheng also knew that in actual combat with the beetles, the situation is often extremely dangerous and far beyond what can be anticipated. What he needed to do now was to become proficient in these three moves, to the point where they become second nature, and thus achieve mastery through practice.

There was a famous saying in the Sunlight Era: What is a secret skill? A secret skill is the result of practicing simple moves to their utmost!

What Chu Yunsheng needed to do now was to repeatedly practice these three simple moves to the highest level, to the utmost!

Although each move seemed incredibly simple, to maximize the power of his body and the sword, he had to continuously practice each step until he found the best sword technique for his strength.

To simulate real combat, Chu Yunsheng activated his battle armor, fully equipped, even with a bow and a pistol, to recreate the battlefield scenario as much as possible.

To make it even more realistic, he even tied himself to a wardrobe to simulate being clamped by a beetle, practicing how to swing the sword and channel his energy to strike!

He first practiced the three moves separately, finding the best state for his strength and energy, with no room for shortcuts, continuously slashing, slashing, and slashing again!

The sword follows the body, using the body to lead the sword, to ensure a stable center of gravity;

A stable body means a stable sword;

A stable sword means stable energy;

Therefore, Chu Yunsheng not only had to find the best technique route but also pay attention to the coordination of energy, maximizing the combination of sword technique and energy, and the harmony of energy and sword intent.

He needed to achieve proficient coordination in the five aspects of hand, eye, body, method, and step, from conscious coordination to unconscious coordination!

This required a lot of practice. Fortunately, there were only three moves; otherwise, there would be no significant progress in a short time. Even so, in such cold weather, Chu Yunsheng mechanically practiced until he was drenched in sweat, only just beginning to grasp a slight feeling.

Over these three days, Chu Yunsheng practiced the three sword techniques, even when sleeping, until he could accurately perform them with his eyes closed. However, he knew that this was just the form; the coordination of energy and strength had not yet reached the optimal level.

Only in actual combat could he truly grasp the coordination of energy and strength!

Relying solely on his own strength, even with the sharp Thousand Cleave Sword, it might not perfectly penetrate the double defense of the Red Armor Beetle's protective shield and exoskeleton. Only a sword filled with energy could directly break through the shield and tear the beetle's exoskeleton.

Chu Yunsheng needed a real battle to verify the actual effect and calculate the energy consumption! He had to be meticulous; since cultivating energy, he had always tried to use one unit of energy as if it were two!

Now, he had only three units of energy left. After much consideration, Chu Yunsheng decided to abandon the idea of resting and recovering for eight or nine days at home, as it would be a waste of time. He had to fight to survive, using the energy of the Red Armor Beetles to kill more beetles!

After the initial chaos, the survivors in Shen City gradually formed loose groups. Acting alone, not only was it difficult to deal with the Red Armor Beetles, but even competing for food was extremely challenging, except for Chu Yunsheng, who was an exception.

On the streets, large groups of people could often be seen, holding torches to search for food, no longer just in supermarkets and markets, but even rats in the sewers were dug up and became the last meal.

The beetles were indeed terrifying, but rather than waiting to starve to death in despair, it was better to go out and take a chance. After all, the beetles were not everywhere, and with good luck, one might not encounter any at all. This was one of the reasons why Chu Yunsheng suddenly saw many people on the streets.

They were all driven out by the lack of food!

Chu Yunsheng activated his battle armor, fully prepared, even installing a night vision device on the helmet. This was necessary because his current ability was not yet sufficient to use energy to detect in the dark, so he had to rely on the night vision device. When making the battle armor, he specifically designed a structure on the helmet to fix the night vision device for easy installation.

This appearance aroused the curiosity of many people, but he couldn't care less. With little energy left in his body, he was always on high alert, as the beetles could appear at any time, and he wouldn't have time to activate the battle armor once they were close.

He walked down several streets without encountering any beetles, wondering where they had all gone, when he heard someone shouting ahead, "Run! The beetles are coming! Run!"

The street was filled with the shrill cries and the sound of many people running, making the situation even more urgent and terrifying.

Chu Yunsheng immediately hid in the recess of a building, raising his bow. The panicked crowd ran past him, some even dropping their torches.

There was a cold joke on the internet in the Sunlight Era, which went like this: Two people encounter a tiger, and one says to run, while the other says running is useless because the tiger is faster. The first person replies, "I don't need to run faster than the tiger, just faster than you!"

Although it was just a joke back then, it was now a cruel reality. As long as you ran faster than others, you could survive, and the slowest would naturally be eaten by the beetles.

Chu Yunsheng aimed his icy arrow at the Red Armor Beetle that had already pounced on a human, without hesitation, the Ice Arrow pierced the beetle with its usual invincibility.

Wearing the battle armor, Chu Yunsheng did not appear clumsy but was even more agile, the armor's functions allowing him to leap over three meters in an instant.

After firing the arrow, he immediately retracted the bow, it was time for the Thousand Cleave Sword to take the stage!

There were only two beetles, and even without using the Thousand Cleave Sword, he could solve the problem with a pistol. However, he urgently needed a beetle for an experiment, and the pistol had fewer than twenty bullets left. Who else but the sword?

Chu Yunsheng swiftly passed by the frozen Red Armor Beetle, the Thousand Cleave Sword sweeping across, without even using energy, the sharp blade severed the beetle's head, which had lost its protective shield.

The second beetle saw Chu Yunsheng and immediately dropped the human it had caught, screeching and charging at him. Both were moving at high speed, about to collide!

Chu Yunsheng retracted the Thousand Cleave Sword, raising it high according to the technique he had practiced for a long time, and injected a quarter of his energy. With a loud thud, he struck the charging Red Armor Beetle. The powerful impact sent both the beetle and Chu Yunsheng flying.

Protected by the battle armor, Chu Yunsheng landed and immediately leaped up, unharmed. The beetle quickly recovered, and a quarter of the energy was clearly not enough to break through its defense!

So, half of the energy, he injected again, using the power of the battle armor to leap into the air and strike down. The beetle screamed wildly, using its pincers to strike Chu Yunsheng's Thousand Cleave Sword.

With a crack, the beetle's pincers were deflected, and Chu Yunsheng's Thousand Cleave Sword forcefully broke the pincers, landing on the beetle's head.

At this point, the beetle's protective shield was greatly weakened. Chu Yunsheng roared, injecting half a unit of energy into the sword, and skillfully executed the slicing technique. The beetle's head flew into the air, and a jet of green liquid spewed out, directly repelled by the Six Jia Talisman!

Without using any battle skills, one unit of energy was enough to kill a Red Armor Beetle, this was the power of the combination of the battle armor and the Thousand Cleave Sword!

The Ice Arrow, a type of energy talisman battle skill, could only freeze the beetle due to the attribute advantage, but not kill it. However, the combination of the battle armor and the Thousand Cleave Sword easily achieved the feat of killing a Red Armor Beetle with one unit of energy, and most importantly, he could now engage in close combat with the beetles!

Chu Yunsheng was momentarily stunned!