The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

The park in Lanxing Residential Area is small, nestled between several six-story old buildings, a tiny patch of land.

Several old sycamore trees stood crookedly all around, their leaves rustling in the evening breeze. The streetlights were not yet on, and there was only a faint gray light on the horizon, barely enough to make out the road.

Wu You, carrying the old wooden sword, found a relatively flat cement spot in a corner of the park.

no one.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and went through the basic sword techniques in his mind.

The information is still there, as clear as if it were engraved in.

Footwork, sword grip, breathing, thirteen postures...

He opened his eyes and gripped the hilt of his sword.

Practice footwork first.

The basic footwork is divided into five types: advancing, retreating, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. Following his memory, Wu You stood with his feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and his center of gravity lowered. Then—

Enter.

Step forward half a step with your left foot, then follow with your right foot. Keep your body on the same horizontal line throughout, without bobbing up and down.

retreat.

Step back with your right foot, then bring your left foot back. Maintain the same rhythm and the same weight control.

vertical.

Push off with both feet simultaneously, leaping forward a small step. Bend your knees upon landing to absorb the impact and maintain stability.

横。

Move sideways to the left, then follow with your right foot; move sideways to the right, then follow with your left foot. Each step should be the same distance, and your body should not sway.

斜。

45 degrees to the left and forward, 45 degrees to the right and backward—

Wu You walked over and over again, the soft sound of his footsteps echoing on the cement ground. At first, his movements were a bit stiff, his steps were uneven, and his center of gravity was unstable, almost tripping him a few times.

But after walking it a few times, my body gradually remembered the feeling, and my steps became smoother.

After practicing footwork for about ten minutes, he began practicing gripping the sword.

In basic swordsmanship, gripping the sword isn't simply a matter of grabbing it. The hilt should rest against the palm, the thumb and forefinger should grip the guard, and the other three fingers should naturally hold the hilt—this is the proper grip.

The reverse grip is when the blade is close to the forearm and the thumb is pressed on the guard; this is a grip used for close-quarters combat.

There are also two-handed sword grip, one-handed sword grip, loose grip, and firm grip...

Wu You kept changing his grip, letting his fingers memorize the feel of each way of holding the sword. The hilt of the wooden sword was worn smooth, and his palms felt a little sticky after holding it for a while. He wiped the sweat on his pants and continued practicing.

Breathing techniques are coordinated with movements.

Inhale when advancing, exhale when retreating; inhale when extending, exhale when descending; exhale when thrusting, inhale when retracting.

Breathing must be coordinated with movements; it cannot be disordered.

At first, he kept forgetting, and when he thrust out, he held his breath, and after a set of movements, his chest felt tight.

Later, he slowed down and practiced each move one by one, gradually figuring out the tricks of the trade.

Then comes the basic thirteen postures.

Draw, carry, lift, parry, strike, stab, point, collapse, stir, press, split, cut, wash.

Wu You held the wooden sword horizontally in front of him and began to practice disassembling and breaking it down step by step.

Draw: The sword is drawn horizontally, from left to right, and from right to left. The force should come from the front of the sword, driven by the waist and arm, not just the wrist. He tried drawing it a few times, and the sword made a whistling sound as it cut through the air.

"Draw": To follow the opponent's momentum and use their force against them. The sword is drawn back along the opponent's weapon, causing their force to miss. This was the move he practiced most awkwardly because he had no opponent and could only imagine it.

Lift: Raise the sword from bottom to top, with the tip pointing upwards. Primarily used to break through the opponent's lower body attack.

Parry: Use your sword to block the opponent's attack path. The sword should be angled; do not block directly, otherwise you will absorb all the force.

Strike: Grip the sword with both hands and strike downwards. This is the most powerful of the thirteen stances. Wu You dared not use too much force when practicing it, for fear of breaking the wooden sword.

Thrust: Straight thrust. This includes a front thrust, a horizontal thrust, an upward thrust, and a downward thrust. The sword blade and arm form a straight line; the force originates from the feet, passes through the waist, travels to the shoulder, then to the arm, and finally exits from the sword tip.

Wu You stabbed at the air dozens of times, imagining the monster standing in front of him, the tip of his sword piercing its head.

Point: The sword tip points downwards, like a chicken pecking at rice. It is mainly used to attack the opponent's wrist or the hand holding the weapon.

Beng: The sword is swung horizontally, striking the opponent with the middle section of the blade. The force is short and explosive.

Stirring: The sword tip draws a circle, disrupting the opponent's weapon. This move needs to be coordinated with footwork, advancing while stirring.

Press down: Press the sword down to suppress the opponent's weapon. The force should be deep and not weak.

Chop: A single-handed chop strike, from top to bottom. More flexible than a strike, but slightly weaker in force.

Intercept: to intercept the opponent's attack. It can be a direct intercept, a diagonal intercept, an upward intercept, or a downward intercept, depending on the opponent's momentum.

Wash: Sweep. The sword is swept horizontally, covering the largest area of ​​attack, but the force is also the most dispersed.

Wu You practiced slowly, starting over from the beginning after each round. At first, his movements were very slow, like a movie in slow motion, with each move clearly broken down.

Later, the speed gradually increased, and the movements became more fluid and less stiff.

As darkness fell completely, the streetlights came on at some unknown time, casting dappled shadows on the ground through the gaps in the sycamore leaves.

Wu You was sweating, his T-shirt sticking to his back, but he felt great: those movements were gradually etched into his body, no longer memories in his brain, but muscle memories.

After finishing a set of basic sword techniques, he stopped and glanced at the time.

More than half an hour.

He glanced at the sword manual interface in his mind again.

Basic Swordsmanship (Beginner) (0/50)

It's still 0.

My proficiency hasn't increased at all.

Wu You paused for a moment, then shook his head.

You may not have practiced enough. After getting started, you need more proficiency. It's normal not to learn much in half an hour.

He put away the wooden sword and prepared to go home. He had just taken a step when his stomach growled, and he remembered that Aunt Wu was urging him to go home for dinner early.

It's time to go.

He carried his sword and walked towards the entrance of the residential area. Just as he reached the foot of his own building, a voice came from behind him.

"Wu You? So you live in this neighborhood too."

The sound was crisp and clear, with a hint of surprise.

Wu You turned around.

A few steps away stood a girl with long, straight black hair, wearing a white top and black bottom JK uniform skirt. The evening breeze gently blew the ends of her hair, and the light from the street lamp at the entrance of the community shone on her, enveloping her in a soft halo.

Hua Linlin.

The classmates.

Fragments of memory flashed through Wu You's mind—the boys at No. 5 Middle School had privately ranked the girls' looks in the grade, and Hua Linlin had consistently ranked in the top three.

Boys from other classes often pretend to walk by in the hallway, just to catch a glimpse of her.

Wu You was one of them in the past.

But Wu You was too introverted back then. He would quickly look away if you glanced at him, let alone strike up a conversation. So, during their three years as classmates, the two of them hardly spoke to each other.

"Yes." Wu You nodded. "You live in this neighborhood too?"

Hua Linlin smiled and took two steps forward: "No, my second aunt just moved here and came to visit today. I didn't expect to run into you."

"oh."

Wu You responded with a sound of agreement, then turned to go upstairs without saying anything more.

"Hey—" Hua Linlin called out to him, "Wu You, don't go yet, can you do me a favor?"

Wu You stopped in his tracks.

"I don't know where Unit 12 is," Hua Linlin tilted her head, her tone slightly coquettish. "I've been looking for it for a while, but I still can't find it."

Wu You pointed in a direction: "Go to the end of this road, turn left, then go to the end again, turn right."

He spoke very clearly, every word was distinct.

Hua Linlin glanced in the direction he was pointing, then turned back, her smile unchanged: "But—I have no sense of direction."

She dragged out the last syllable a bit.

"Wu You, could you help me out? Thank you!"

It was clearly a request, but the tone was confident, as if to say: You will definitely agree.

The old Wu You probably couldn't hold on any longer.

With a blush and head down, he led the way without saying a word, then felt helpless and speechless the whole way. When he got home, he regretted that he had acted too cowardly.

But Wu You only glanced at her.

A few words flashed through my mind—high-level skills, manipulative tactics, changing boyfriends faster than changing clothes.

This wasn't something he summarized; it was gossip from the original owner's classmates in his memories. He hadn't taken it seriously at the time, but now—it's probably true.

"I'm sorry," Wu You said, "I have something to do."

Only when a woman is not in one's heart can one draw one's sword with divine power.

He picked up his sword, turned around, and walked into the stairwell.

There was a two-second silence behind me.

Hua Linlin stood there, watching the figure disappear into the corridor. The smile on her face slowly faded, her brows furrowed, and a hint of embarrassment and annoyance flashed in her eyes.

"How utterly clueless about romance."

She muttered something under her breath, then turned and walked in the direction Wu You had pointed. The clatter of her black leather shoes on the cement floor was particularly clear in the night.

The hallway was dark, and the motion-activated lights weren't on yet.

Wu You groped his way up in the dark, his mind still replaying the sword technique he had just witnessed.

Draw, bring, lift, grid...

As he went upstairs, he went through the Thirteen Postures in his mind again, one move at a time, as if he were practicing them in his head once more.

Although the proficiency level is still 0.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

I've only practiced for a little over half an hour, and there's a mechanism for gaining experience points by killing monsters, so there's still a long way to go.