Chapter 43: A New Storm Has Arisen

Four o’clock in the afternoon.

The film crew.

An open area nearby.

Shen He wielded an alloy sword, performing a series of sword moves in the open space. His motions were graceful and effortless, and with his attributes enhanced, his form had become even more flawless—he was the very image of a six-foot-two male model in motion. A male model sword dance—everyone who witnessed it marveled. The actresses standing around broke into applause, their eyes shining as they looked at Shen He. When he finally sheathed his sword, some of them hurried over, wanting to take a photo with him. They took the opportunity to exchange contact information, all for the sake of “keeping in touch” and perhaps fostering a connection in the future.

Surrounded by a chattering crowd, Shen He felt his head was about to burst. He finally understood why Lin Helu and the others went off so far just to find some peace and quiet.

Seeing Shen He encircled by the group, Lin Helu jogged over and said to the crowd, “Ladies, we’re about to start shooting. The director’s calling you!”

Not far away, the director was indeed shouting through a megaphone, “What are you doing over there? Come back, we’re filming!”

Only then did the actresses disperse. Yet as they left, one of them made a sneaky attack, reaching out to squeeze Shen He’s eight-pack abs.

The wickedness of wandering hands!

Shen He looked uneasily at the group, feeling utterly at a loss. No wonder, he thought, that in those old stories, the senior monks always warned the novices that women at the foot of the mountain were like tigers. Indeed, they were as fierce as wolves and tigers. The oppressive feeling they gave was almost on par with that fourth-tier female mantis. Truly terrifying.

Lin Helu, watching the actresses leave, finally let out a long breath. He then turned to Shen He, giving him a thumbs-up. “You’re really picking this up fast! A hundred years ago, if you’d trained for a few years, you’d be a master swordsman by now.”

Shen He just smiled. “That’s a bit of an overstatement. I just have a touch of natural talent.”

Before his eyes, the “Martial Artist” tab opened. Progress had already soared to eighty percent. Two days of standing in the eighth-level stance, combined with learning the basics of swordsmanship in the morning and practicing moves in the afternoon—his progress had skyrocketed. It wouldn’t be long before he reached one hundred percent. He wondered if, at that point, he’d break through to the first tier and receive a reward.

He still had no idea what the “Complete Martial Arts Compendium” actually was. When he got the reward, he’d have to study it carefully.

Lin Helu, sword in hand, said, “Your basics in swordsmanship and moves are just about corrected. Tomorrow you can start learning some sword routines and then sparring practice. But you can’t use your sharpened sword anymore—use a practice sword from tomorrow on.”

Shen He nodded. “No problem.”

Lin Helu sighed, “You’re learning so fast, I figure you’ll pick up the gist of my three junior brothers’ skills as well. After that, it’ll just be a matter of practice.”

Shen He said with a smile, “I really have to thank you all for not holding anything back.”

Lin Helu laughed. “Ten thousand a day for private lessons—if I held back, people would be cursing me behind my back. All right, go home and get familiar with what you’ve learned. Tomorrow we start something new.”

Shen He nodded, greeted everyone, and headed home. As he passed the film crew, he paused and watched for a while. No matter how long he looked, he just couldn’t figure out what kind of show they were shooting.

Perhaps that’s what they call art.

He went home, washed up, and then leisurely made his way to Shen Dali’s house for dinner. After dinner, he rested briefly and then began practicing the eighth-level stance.

Training was just like weightlifting—the more you did, the better it felt.

Night.

After finishing his stance practice, Shen He took a quick shower and then lay down to sleep.

…

The next morning.

Shen He woke up, sat up skillfully, and opened the task panel on his system screen.

[Daily Task One Completed!]

[+3 Free Attribute Points]

[…]

His eyes lit up instantly.

That time-consuming Daily Task One was finally done, and he’d earned another three free attribute points. He could now boost another attribute to ten, reaching first-tier standard.

He was delighted.

He wondered if today’s daily tasks had been updated.

He scrolled down to check today’s tasks.

Sure enough, they’d refreshed!

[Daily Task One: Explore the Surrounding Environment]

[To avoid the impending disaster in Xiangxiang City, you’ve come to a new safe point. You need to explore the area, getting familiar with every escape route.]

[Task Time Limit: 8 hours]

[Task Reward: Vehicle Mastery]

[…]

Shen He blinked at the task.

So proper! Both the task and the reward were so serious. He almost wasn’t used to the system being so straightforward.

And Vehicle Mastery—it really felt like a game skill, a proper, standard game skill.

Even though there were no free attribute points this time, he was satisfied.

Shen He nodded contentedly and kept scrolling.

[Daily Task Two: A New Storm Has Arrived]

[One day, a peaceful village is suddenly attacked by unknown mutant beasts!]

[Run!]

[Quickly find the mutant beast’s weakness, then deal with it, and protect this peaceful village.]

[Task Time Limit: 3 days]

[Task Reward: 3 Free Attribute Points]

[…]

Shen He: “…”

For some reason, he felt the lines for Daily Task Two sounded oddly familiar, as if he’d seen them somewhere before.

Suddenly his eyes widened—he remembered where he’d heard those lines.

Damn, are you Light too?

Seriously?

Seeing the first daily task, he’d thought the system had finally stopped being so abstract. So much for being serious for a minute!

Judging by the task’s difficulty, it seemed moderate: three days to complete—plenty of time. The reward was average, but at least it offered free attribute points. He even had a feeling that these two daily tasks were like episodes in a series—the first had him familiarize himself with the village roads, the next had him deal with mutant beasts. The system really knew how to keep things interesting.

Shen He scrolled down helplessly.

[Survival Guide: You’ve really let me down. How could you sleep so soundly under such perilous conditions?]

[As a man with a golden finger, the fate of 1.4 billion Daxia citizens rests on your shoulders.]

[As the Savior, you must never be so lazy.]

[You’ve violated the Survival Guide—incredible! I can almost see you becoming fertilizer for the soil.]

[…]

Reading the Survival Guide, Shen He almost burst out laughing.

What, are you the weightlifting champion of Daxia or something?

No wonder I’m the chosen one.

The Savior of Daxia.