After finishing his training for the day, Zhao Mu returned to Dormitory 207 and took a shower.
By the time he came out, Meng Qiuqiu and the others had already woken up.
With a towel draped around his neck, Zhao Mu walked over to Meng Qiuqiu.
"Qiuqiu, I need you to take care of something for me."
Meng Qiuqiu immediately sat upright and patted his chest confidently.
"Brother Xiao Mu, just give me the order!"
Zhao Mu handed him the information he had collected about Zhang Yu.
"From now on, send some money to Zhang Yu's family every month. Also, help cover his daughter's medical expenses. Deduct everything from my share."
Meng Qiuqiu glanced through the information and nodded seriously.
Zhao Mu couldn't do anything to change Zhang Yu's fate.
He didn't feel guilty about Zhang Yu's death. After all, Zhang Yu had made his own choices.
However, Zhao Mu still felt that he should do something for the man's family.
It was a matter of conscience.
He knew there were countless unfortunate people in the world, and no matter how powerful he became, he couldn't possibly help everyone.
But if he could help one family, then he would.
He simply wanted to maintain a clear conscience and peace of mind.
"Understood."
Meng Qiuqiu immediately accepted the task and arranged for Huo Jun to handle the matter.
---
The incident involving Zhao Mu and Ge Tianxing quickly spread throughout Qingfeng Camp.
The Discipline Inspection Department even used the incident as a warning to other students.
Tian Lizhen and Sun Jiliang had initially believed that it was merely a case of an experienced veteran teaching a new recruit a lesson.
However, when they learned that Ge Tianxing had deliberately ambushed Zhao Mu and attempted to kill him, both of them turned pale.
The situation was far more serious than they had imagined.
In the end, Tian Lizhen and Sun Jiliang were severely punished by Qingfeng Camp.
The entire incident was also posted on the front page of Qingfeng Camp's campus forum, "Qing Shui."
The post was pinned for three days.
After seeing the announcement, the trainees were stunned.
"A new recruit with only a Level 7 Combat Rating actually killed Ge Tianxing? Do you believe that?"
"I don't."
"Old Ge spent his entire life fishing, only to be blinded by a cormorant in the end."
"Still, what he did was disgraceful."
The incident became a major topic of discussion throughout the Intermediate Camp.
Suddenly, someone turned toward Tian Hu, who was sitting beside a flower bed.
"Tian Hu, don't you also have a grudge against Zhao Mu?"
"Are you planning to find an opportunity to deal with him too?"
Tian Hu raised his head and glanced at the people laughing around him.
He answered calmly.
"I went to find him yesterday."
"I challenged him to a second spar."
The smiles on the trainees' faces immediately disappeared.
"And?"
"I lost again."
Tian Hu admitted it without hesitation.
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you serious?"
"You're a Spirit Power User with a Combat Level of 28! How could you lose to someone with only a Level 7 Combat Rating?"
Tian Hu stood up.
"Once can be an accident."
"Twice is strength."
He looked at them calmly.
"Losing is losing. There's nothing to hide."
He walked past the group.
Before leaving, he casually said,
"Ge Tianxing didn't die unjustly."
The surrounding trainees fell silent.
---
Zhao Mu had no time to care about what other people were saying about him.
For the following two months, he focused on only two things.
Completing missions.
And increasing his Combat Level.
The arrest missions he accepted generally targeted criminals with Combat Levels below 30.
Zhao Mu rarely acted alone.
Instead, he brought Mo Guanguan and the others from Dormitory 207 with him.
Lu Yan's strength had improved tremendously.
His Combat Level had reached 14, making him second only to Mo Guanguan among the group.
Qingfeng Camp had provided him with an Advanced Combat Technique, allowing his strength to increase by leaps and bounds.
However, Lu Yan still had one strange problem.
He was extremely afraid of blood.
Because of his hemophobia, he even had to wear sunglasses when carrying out missions in the middle of the night.
The result was rather amusing.
The originally quiet and somewhat introverted young man suddenly looked like a cold and mysterious male god.
Zhuo Yun, like Zhao Mu, had a Combat Level of 7.
However, his actual combat ability was extremely fierce.
He practiced the Intermediate Battle Tactic, Six Harmonies Destruction Spear, and had already developed considerable proficiency with it.
Even Meng Qiuqiu, whose Combat Level was only 6, played an important role.
He relied heavily on the Ember Remains in his possession and often used his wealth to compensate for his lack of combat ability.
However, most of these missions were still relatively minor.
A Level 1 mission only provided fifty academic credits.
Once divided among five people, the reward was practically negligible.
Zhao Mu wasn't concerned about the academic credits anyway.
What he really cared about was the opportunity to fight.
Real combat was the best way to improve the proficiency of his Seven Kills Battle Technique.
The criminals they encountered had different Combat Levels, and many of them were desperate people who fought without regard for their own lives.
Every battle was dangerous.
There was no hesitation.
No holding back.
In a genuine life-and-death battle, everything could be decided in a single instant.
If you didn't kill your opponent, your opponent would kill you.
Through countless such battles, Zhao Mu's understanding of the Seven Kills Battle Technique deepened rapidly.
Its proficiency eventually reached 482 points.
As his proficiency increased, Zhao Mu's strength also continued to rise.
More importantly, he gradually noticed a subtle change within himself.
During battle, the killing intent in his heart was becoming purer.
It was no longer connected to hatred.
Nor was it fueled by anger.
It was simply a pure and powerful desire to end his opponent as quickly as possible.
That was the essence of the Seven Kills Battle Technique.
A technique built entirely around killing.
Zhao Mu could also vaguely sense a critical point approaching.
Once he broke through that threshold, his Seven Kills Battle Technique would undergo a transformation.
The fighting style that truly belonged to him would finally be unlocked.
---
During those two months, Zhao Mu also exchanged a large amount of Ember Remains for Spirit Sources.
The Spirit Sources were distributed according to the four people's shares in Tiangong Hall.
On top of that, they received mission rewards and the monthly resource packages provided by Qingfeng Camp.
With all these resources combined, Zhao Mu's Combat Level finally reached 9.
He was now only one step away from becoming a Private.
The others were progressing just as rapidly.
Mo Guanguan and Lu Yan continued to improve at an astonishing rate.
It was almost as if increasing their Combat Levels was as easy as drinking water.
Mo Guanguan's Combat Level reached 17.
Lu Yan's reached 15.
Zhuo Yun was even more impressive.
He had actually surpassed Zhao Mu and successfully broke through to Combat Level 10, officially becoming a Private.
There was a simple reason for his terrifying cultivation speed.
If Zhao Mu needed ten Spirit Sources to accomplish something, Zhuo Yun might only need three.
The difference between their cultivation efficiency was enormous.
Even Meng Qiuqiu, who was the laziest among them when it came to cultivation, had been dragged along by Zhao Mu and the others.
Under their pressure, he eventually reached Combat Level 8.
---
Time passed quickly.
Before they realized it, an entire season had passed.
Spring had come and gone.
Autumn had arrived.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Mu had already spent two months in Qingfeng Camp.
During this period, his Demon Clown had never stopped improving the proficiency of his various skills.
However, the further he progressed, the more difficult it became.
By now, most of his skills had reached the later stages of the second tier.
According to Zhao Mu's calculations, once these skills broke through to the third stage, they would become powerful abilities comparable to Advanced Combat Techniques.
In the Xuanfeng Empire, Divine Skills were extremely rare.
They were generally controlled by the most powerful families and existed within the core databases of the military.
Therefore, Advanced Combat Techniques were already considered top-tier abilities for ordinary cultivators.
Even Mo Guanguan and Lu Yan could only obtain a single Advanced Combat Technique from Qingfeng Camp for cultivation.
For Zhao Mu, however, his own skills were gradually approaching that level.
---
Inside a private training room in the Training Hall, Zhao Mu stood shirtless.
Sweat covered his entire body.
He had just completed a one-against-three battle.
The opponents were three combat puppets set to the highest difficulty.
Each puppet possessed strength equivalent to Zhao Mu himself.
Fighting three opponents of equal strength at the same time was extremely demanding.
Every battle pushed him to his limits.
Although the training puppets couldn't compare with genuine life-and-death combat, they were still extremely useful for improving his techniques.
Zhao Mu sat down on a bench.
His chest rose and fell slowly.
He closed his eyes and began regulating his breathing.
With every breath, streams of Qi flowed into his body.
Among all his skills, one had finally broken through to the third stage.
Breathing.
It was the first skill to complete the transformation.
The original Breathing Technique had evolved into the Turtle Breathing Technique.
And now, it had advanced once again.
The third-stage skill was simply called—
Breathing Technique.
Proficiency: 1,230 points.
The Turtle Breathing Technique had mainly focused on helping Zhao Mu calm his mind and greatly increasing his ability to hold his breath.
The third-stage Breathing Technique went much further.
It retained all the advantages of the Turtle Breathing Technique while adding another extremely useful ability.
It could restore physical strength and reduce physical exhaustion.
In other words, Zhao Mu's breathing had become far more efficient.
If he submerged himself underwater now, he could potentially hold his breath for up to half an hour.
More importantly, every breath he took was used to its maximum efficiency.
The oxygen entering his body was utilized more effectively, reducing the number of breaths he needed to take.
This was extremely useful in combat.
Breathing might seem like an insignificant detail.
But in a battle between powerful opponents, even the smallest detail could determine victory or defeat.
The rhythm of breathing affected a person's physical condition, concentration, and combat performance.
Holding one's breath for a short period could greatly improve focus.
However, ordinary people couldn't maintain that state for long.
Eventually, a lack of oxygen would cause dizziness, fatigue, and a decline in combat ability.
The Breathing Technique completely solved that problem.
Zhao Mu could control his breathing rhythm while maintaining sufficient oxygen supply.
His body could conserve energy while his mind remained focused.
The ability seemed simple.
It wasn't an explosive combat technique.
It didn't increase his strength directly.
It couldn't unleash devastating attacks.
Yet its effect during prolonged battles was enormous.
Every movement consumed energy.
Every breath affected the body's condition.
Every moment of hesitation could create an opening for an enemy.
The Breathing Technique allowed Zhao Mu to eliminate one of those hidden weaknesses.
He slowly opened his eyes.
His breathing had already become calm and steady.
The exhaustion from the previous battle was gradually disappearing.
Zhao Mu clenched his fist.
The third-stage Breathing Technique had given him a deeper understanding of his own body.
And this was only the beginning.
If Breathing had already reached the third stage, what would happen when the Seven Kills Battle Technique, his physical abilities, and his other skills underwent the same transformation?
A faint smile appeared on Zhao Mu's face.
The path of evolution had no end.
And he had only just begun to climb.
________________________________________
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