"Is this Advanced Martial Arts Talent?"
Sensing this change, Ryan couldn't hide his joy.
With such terrifying martial arts talent, it was no longer impossible for him to acquire the same level of technique as Lucas.
After all, his talent was now at the same level as Lucas's.
The only thing he lacked was time to improve his technique.
It was impossible for Ryan not to be envious of the strange glaive technique Lucas had displayed during the final moments of their spar.
Despite Lucas's physical strength being inferior to Ryan's, he had still placed Ryan in danger several times through technique alone.
Although this was partly because Ryan had been suppressing his strength in order to hone his saber technique, it was still enough to show how terrifying Lucas's technique was.
Of course, most importantly, weapon technique did not become weaker as one's strength increased.
Even after Ryan advanced further as a Blood Warrior, its effect would not weaken in the slightest.
It was like a permanent amplifier.
That was what Ryan coveted the most.
Having figured this out, Ryan didn't want to waste a moment and immediately threw himself into practicing the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber.
The 1st move.
The 2nd move.
The 3rd move.
...
He practiced all 9 moves of the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber one by one.
All sorts of understandings and insights came rushing into his mind.
Never before had Ryan's understanding of the saber been so clear.
After 1 round, Ryan gained a completely new understanding of the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber.
After 2 rounds, Ryan gained a deeper understanding of the technique.
After 3 repetitions, Ryan had already gained a considerable understanding of many details he had previously overlooked.
After practicing 4 times, Ryan began trying to incorporate his newly acquired understanding into the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber.
...
After 10 repetitions, Ryan's saber technique had undergone a significant transformation.
The technique remained the same, but it had become more fluid, and the transitions between moves were more natural.
...
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the grove, Ryan was practicing with his saber.
The technique he was practicing was clearly the Blazing Heaven Severing Saber, yet it was somewhat different from the version practiced by other Aegis students.
This difference was mainly reflected in the details.
In some movements, the blade was raised slightly higher than usual.
In others, the saber was pulled back farther, shortening the immediate attack range but giving Ryan more room to change direction.
Other movements had been altered only slightly, yet they flowed much more naturally into the next attack.
1 month had passed since Ryan acquired Advanced Martial Arts Talent.
During this month, Ryan's strength had increased again, but his saber technique had improved the fastest, almost at a terrifying speed.
Such rapid progress was understandable.
Previously, Ryan had possessed only Primary Martial Arts Talent.
Through repeated practice and hard work, his saber technique had become better than that of most students in his class.
But compared with someone like Lucas, his technique was still relatively crude.
Now that he possessed Advanced Martial Arts Talent, many of those shortcomings could be noticed and corrected almost immediately.
That was why his saber technique had improved so quickly during the past month.
Of course, he was still far from Lucas's level.
Lucas's current glaive technique was the result of years of training.
Even if Ryan now possessed the same level of talent, he could not reach Lucas's accumulated level overnight.
However, Ryan was not discouraged by this.
He possessed Advanced Cultivation Talent that Lucas did not.
His future cultivation speed was far greater.
As long as Ryan continued improving both his cultivation and saber technique, he was confident that he would eventually surpass Lucas.
...
In the morning, at one of the many open-air training grounds of Aegis Martial Academy, the students of Class Six were practicing against each other in pairs.
The spar between 2 students attracted the most attention.
They occupied a large part of the training ground, but none of the surrounding students showed any dissatisfaction.
Instead, many watched the 2 with obvious interest.
One of them was Ryan.
The other was Damian Reed.
Although Victor had left the academy, he had still left behind some methods to deal with Ryan.
One of them was Damian.
Lately, whenever the class had a sparring session, Damian would approach Ryan, his provocative intent being quite obvious.
On the surface, Ryan appeared annoyed by this provocation.
But inwardly, he was overjoyed.
Ryan's true strength had already surpassed Damian's considerably.
If he used his full Rank 1 Blood Warrior strength, defeating Damian would not be difficult.
However, he did not do that.
Instead, he deliberately suppressed his physical strength and kept it around Damian's level.
He did this for a purpose.
His purpose was to make Damian his "free sparring partner."
Among the students of Class Six, Damian was still one of the best opponents Ryan could find.
Facing him, Ryan could concentrate on honing his saber technique without worrying that the spar would end too quickly.
So for the past month, Ryan had been suppressing his strength whenever he sparred with Damian.
The only thing he did not suppress was his saber technique.
After all, honing his saber technique was the entire reason he continued accepting Damian's challenges.
However, Ryan's terrifying progress over the past month had made Damian increasingly disheartened.
At first, Damian had held an obvious advantage whenever Ryan restricted himself to Damian's level of physical strength.
Ryan could defend, but he was frequently pressured.
After that, Ryan became much more comfortable.
Although Damian could still suppress him at times, Ryan had begun fighting back.
Later, the 2 could fight almost evenly through technique alone.
Now, Ryan could rely on his saber technique...
Clang!
The 2 weapons collided with a loud metallic sound.
Damian's attack carried greater force and immediately pushed Ryan back 1 step.
Seeing this, a hint of joy flashed in Damian's eyes.
Just as he was about to press his advantage and attack Ryan again, his expression suddenly changed.
Ryan, who had clearly been at a disadvantage in the previous exchange, moved first.
Whoosh!