In another world, Lu Mingfei is learning card making.

Of course, while the main selling point is Chu Zihang's swordsmanship, they certainly couldn't let him draw his sword and wreak havoc as soon as he stepped onto the stage—in fact, they designed a story to show Chu Zihang's status as the protagonist.

Lu Mingfei was intrigued and read through the story with renewed focus. The plot was quite simple:

In the second year of the Yuanhe era, the Huashan family hosted a disheveled gambler and prepared a lavish dinner for him. That night, thieves robbed the Huashan family. To repay their kindness, the gambler shielded the Huashan family's young son under a bell and used his own body to block the thieves' blades.

However, in order to bring it to the stage and to reduce the workload, this backstory was told in less than half a minute.

On stage, there are only a few actions: receiving guests, feasting, and resting at night. The story is almost entirely told through the narration of other people.

But because of Chu Zihang's presence, the audience below the stage were all captivated, and some even took out their notebooks to write down the background story.

—Lu Mingfei couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Judging from their expressions, they definitely wouldn't limit themselves to just 'dictating' one story. They would probably expand on this story in many more ways...

"But this has nothing to do with me. This is something that Chu Zihang should be troubled with." Lu Mingfei curled his lip slightly, focusing more intently on the upcoming battle on the stage.

The gambler, played by Chu Zihang, faces a host of villains.

This is a completely different field from the fighting techniques that Lu Mingfei has mastered. The short stick and the samurai sword are completely different things—not to mention anything else, just the addition of a blade is a huge change.

Even a dull blade can easily slice through flesh on the fragile human body. If it's a renowned sword with a history of fame, coupled with skill worthy of its reputation, it's enough to make one person fight against a hundred!

"Okay, this claim of one against a hundred is definitely exaggerated. For example, the enemy might be unarmed civilians, or they might be unskilled..." Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, but his attention became even more focused on observing.

Chu Zihang gripped the knife with both hands, adopting a stance that should be described as the "middle position," facing the three equally deadly blades before him.

His clothes were pure white, and the blade in his hand was also pure white, while his three opponents were dressed in black, and the blades in their hands were also pure black.

At first glance, Lu Mingfei didn't understand why it was designed this way, but when the three attacked, and Chu Zihang neither retreated nor dodged, but instead used his robe slash to fight back, Lu Mingfei finally understood:

"So it was to display the number and location of the stab wounds?"

Looking at the clear white lines on the black clothes, Lu Mingfei was secretly surprised.

In this field of close combat, Lu Mingfei was not a complete novice: he could clearly see that Chu Zihang's speed and reaction completely overwhelmed the other three.

Furthermore, his offensive and defensive philosophies are not entirely based on katana techniques: often, his attacks employ the mindset of street fighting, striking where the opponent must defend, even at the cost of his own injury, to achieve greater results...

"But that's what makes it interesting."

Lu Mingfei stared intently at Chu Zihang's movements. The thin kimono couldn't completely conceal Lu Mingfei's eyes—through his understanding of the techniques, Lu Mingfei quickly discerned the direction of Chu Zihang's muscles, the position of his bones, and even built a model of him in his mind.

He swore by his LV2 wand combat skills that this model was absolutely identical to Chu Zihang's body in the real world.

Of course, what happens offstage doesn't affect the people onstage. Chu Zihang maintained his movements, cleanly and decisively cleaving the enemy in two from head to toe. The white lines on his black clothes were perfectly straight; even if you tried to draw them with a ruler, it would be difficult to create such straight lines.

Then came the reverse kasaya slash, a diagonal upward thrust, the wooden katana seemingly cleaving through the wind and tearing open the fluttering collar, cutting straight through the enemy's body—

Even though he knew it was a performance, the man in black retreated in fear, patting his body as if the attack had really hurt him.

"As expected, attacks with blades and attacks without blades are actually two completely different things..." Lu Mingfei pondered what had just happened.

The trick is actually not hard to understand: the human brain is easily deceived, especially when attention is highly concentrated.

While they were intently pondering how to "act" next, Chu Zihang's actions and expressions made them believe that the knife in Chu Zihang's hand was real.

"But this shows that Chu Zihang is indeed very skilled in Japanese Kendo... almost as high as three or four stories." Lu Mingfei muttered to himself, making a knife gesture with his hand from below the stage.

Unbeknownst to him, a spark had already ignited in Lu Mingfei's mind. As his mental energy circulated, the model in his mind began to dance in accordance with Chu Zihang's movements on the stage.

The blade sliced ​​through the air, creating crescent-shaped gusts of wind that, in Lu Mingfei's deductions, displayed an astonishing power—

Even after the performance on stage had ended, Lu Mingfei was still lost in thought:

"Oh, no, that's not right. If we think about it that way, we need to add magic—but I don't even know how magic works, or what the consequences would be if it were overused... I shouldn't be thinking like that..."

In an instant, the image of a wielding blade in my mind lost its astonishing power. But compared to before, it became more lifelike. The contraction and pulsation of every muscle, the support and movement of every bone, were exactly the same as in reality.

—And this means that it can now be reproduced in reality.

General Skills:

……

3. Kendo (lv0, 0%)

Lu Mingfei, through observing Chu Zihang's swordsmanship and simulating, reproducing, and deducing it using a spark technique, ultimately developed his own swordsmanship. It emphasizes body movement, utilizes sharp blades for lethality, and incorporates short staff fighting techniques, providing a significant advantage in close combat.

Uh, why the third one? Because we already have the second skill:

2. Music Theory (lv2, 11%)

This is the product of mastering numerous scales and instrumental techniques, a culmination of comprehensive understanding, symbolizing an aptitude for music. Currently mastered instruments include: violin, cello, piano, bugle, trumpet, kazoo…

If we had to pinpoint just one technique, Lu Mingfei would only be at level 1, with only the piano and violin reaching level 2 – mainly because locally, only these two instruments could he find teachers who could teach him advanced techniques.

So the question is, what level of skill would a level 2 player possess?

Lu Mingfei stepped onto the stage using the wooden steps and picked up the violin from beside the piano.