I became a martial arts saint while playing games.

Hearing his name called, Gu Yan stepped off the stage, went to the weapon rack in the assessment area, and drew a long sword.

Qin Zheng held a single sword, but did not adopt a fighting stance. Instead, he simply pointed the tip of the sword at the ground, appearing relaxed.

In actual combat, if one stands casually like this in front of an enemy without any stance, as if displaying a sense of ease and composure, it likely implies contempt for the opponent.

But Gu Yan knew that this senior brother Qin Zheng was trying to conceal his brilliance by acting casually, so that the candidates could relax as much as possible and show their true abilities.

"Don't be nervous, junior brother," Qin Zheng said. "Just attack with all your might. Treat it like a regular training session."

Gu Yan nodded, sword in hand: "Then be careful, senior brother."

Qin Zheng took Qin Zheng's words of caution as just a polite remark and didn't take them to heart.

But he realized it very quickly, just a second later.

This junior brother told him to be careful... and he was probably serious.

Gu Yan stepped forward, his long sword flashing out.

The moment the sword was drawn, Qin Zheng's calm and encouraging smile vanished instantly. In its place, his pupils contracted sharply, and his expression of astonishment seemed to speak volumes, as if every muscle in his face was silently telling a story—

Holy crap!

The sword strike was incredibly fast. But if that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. However, the sword light trembled, creating seven afterimages. For a moment, Qin Zheng felt as if he were facing seven swords striking at once!

Is this a liberal arts student?

This guy is a liberal arts student?!

In that instant, he had no time to think. He tried to retreat, but felt the sword's imposing aura envelop him, leaving him nowhere to go. He swung his sword to block, but the sword's shadow flickered, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion, and blocking it was extremely difficult as well.

As expected, he blocked with his single blade, but the blade only struck empty air. The longsword, flashing like lightning, was already at his shoulder, its blade just about to sever his arm.

It’s over.

This was the only thought that instinctively flashed through Qin Zheng's mind.

His knife-wielding hand is gone.

While modern medical technology may allow for the reattachment of a severed arm, the costs are enormous, and even if the arm were successfully reattached, it would inevitably cause significant damage to the martial artist's vitality, potentially ruining their martial arts career and leaving them with lifelong regret.

As an entry-level martial artist and a second-year martial arts student, he actually lost an arm while participating in a liberal arts student assessment... This kind of thing is something that Qin Zheng could never have dreamed of, and it is probably unprecedented in the entire Eastern Xia.

But just as the sword was about to strike, Gu Yan slightly lowered his wrist, and the tip of the sword suddenly turned, lightly tapping Qin Zheng's arm with the blunt part of the sword's spine, stopping just as quickly.

Qin Zheng felt the sword's spine slap against his arm and then leave in an instant, withdrawing it swiftly with perfect precision. In the blink of an eye, Gu Yan had already retreated and stood still in place.

His sword flashed out quickly, and he retreated just as fast. The sword strike was like thunder and lightning, returning to its original position in the blink of an eye. The other examinees only saw a flash before their eyes, and didn't even see what happened clearly. In their daze, it seemed as if Gu Yan had never left the spot at all.

Qin Zheng instinctively touched his arm that was holding the knife, and after confirming that his arm was intact, he realized that he had been terrified and was covered in a cold sweat. He couldn't help but feel ashamed.

The martial arts students who came to oversee the assessment had all undergone special selection and training before participating.

Logically, the pace of the practical assessment should be controlled by these senior examiners. They must handle the candidates gently and leniently, stopping short of causing serious harm. If they inadvertently hurt a candidate, that is the examiner's responsibility.

If one is not confident in their own abilities or is unwilling to take risks, then there is no need to apply for this position. Serving as examiners is itself a well-paid job for these senior students.

Candidates should give their all and demonstrate their full abilities during the assessment. Even if they accidentally injure or kill an examiner, they will not be held responsible.

After all, which candidate participating in the assessment doesn't try their best to secure a better future for themselves? It would be unreasonable to require candidates to hold back and be lenient during the actual assessment.

Therefore, even if Gu Yan didn't sheathe his sword and severed Qin Zheng's arm, it wouldn't be his responsibility in principle.

Qin Zheng knew that he had saved his arm entirely because his junior brother had shown mercy. Although he was still extremely shocked by the fact that "this guy is a liberal arts student," he quickly recovered and sheathed his sword, saying solemnly, "Junior brother, your swordsmanship is excellent. Thank you for showing mercy."

Upon hearing this, the other candidates outside the room were completely dumbfounded.

What did this senior brother just say?

Thank you... for showing mercy?

Does this mean that the outcome was decided in the very instant the figure flashed by?

Does this mean that the candidate on the field not only defeated the examiner directly, but also killed him instantly with a single sword strike?

Not only did he kill the examiner with a single sword strike, but he also managed to make the examiner thank him for showing mercy?

A thousand words surged into their hearts, stuck in their throats, rendering them speechless and causing their brains to burn.

Among them, the one whose brain was closest to crashing was none other than Zhou Hao, Gu Yan's best friend who knew him best.

"Holy crap!?"

Zhou Hao's eyes widened.

We agreed to fight again next year, but you just blew the examiner out?

He couldn't understand.

What's going on? Isn't Gu Yan just as good as me, with similar grades?

Could it be that you secretly practiced while I was sleeping at night?

Even so, what kind of training would it take to suddenly reach this level?

The candidates were bewildered, and the examiners were even more bewildered than they were.

Especially Mr. Jiang Yi.

No, you've quietly almost reached the threshold of a second-tier martial artist, and when did you also develop such an amazing swordsmanship?

Gu Yan only made one move, and the sword technique didn't seem to be taught at this school. Jiang Yi didn't recognize what kind of sword technique it was either... but that wasn't surprising.

In ancient times, every sect and school in the world regarded their unique skills as treasures. The larger the sect, the more top-level techniques they had that were not easily taught. Even ordinary disciples could not learn them; only personally taught disciples with the sect leader's permission could practice them.

However, the downside of doing this is that top-notch martial arts techniques are easily lost.

In the old days, everyone in the martial arts world lived on the edge of a knife. Skills were passed down through a single lineage; if a master was killed before he could impart his secret techniques, the skill would be lost forever.

Or perhaps some of the direct disciples or the disciples of the sect leader are dull-witted and cannot learn first-class techniques, or even if they do learn them, they lack a move or two. In such cases, the techniques will be passed down less and less and will gradually be lost.

Or, if a certain successor of a peerless martial art decides to take that secret to the grave, there's no need to say more.

As time went on, the number of unique martial arts techniques in the martial arts world dwindled, with each generation becoming less advanced than the last. Although new first-rate techniques were occasionally developed in later generations, the old traditions inevitably died out, and overall, the number of unique martial arts techniques in the world continued to decrease.

Until the modern era of Dongxia, the old sect order was abolished and a new martial arts order was established. All martial arts techniques are collected and archived by the Ministry of Education, and will not be easily lost again.

Of course, martial arts techniques are not free. The Ministry of Education is not forcibly seizing them; martial arts techniques, like cutting-edge technologies in other fields, are protected by intellectual property rights.

In theory, as long as one obtains authorization and copyright for martial arts, and has sufficient talent and guidance from a renowned master, there is no such thing as an absolute "unique skill" in the world today that can only be learned by disciples of a particular lineage.

However, before the establishment of the new martial arts order, a large number of old martial arts skills were inevitably lost, which is regrettable.

Therefore, in this day and age, even many street-side martial arts schools have purchased copyrights to teach authorized martial arts techniques. Given the sheer variety of martial arts circulating on the internet today, it's impossible for anyone to remember every single martial arts style in the world clearly.

Therefore, it is not surprising for teachers to see students using sword techniques they do not recognize.

But for a liberal arts student to possess such a level of skill and such swordsmanship is truly astonishing.

Jiang Yi began to seriously consider a question.

He thought that perhaps it wouldn't even take a year or two.

Perhaps within this semester alone, Gu Yan's skills will be good enough to take his job away...