Chapter 46: Enhancement of Blade Dao Talent

[Shigure]: Sure, where shall we meet?
[Chiming]: Let's meet at that shop in the leisure district. Here are the coordinates. I've booked a private room, password 1888.

Mo Xuanyu closed the chat interface and left his personal space for the leisure district.
Following Chiming's directions, he arrived at a high-end-looking restaurant and was guided by a service robot to the private room.

Inside the room, Chiming looked somewhat helplessly at his members, who were devouring their food like starving ghosts.
"Could you guys at least try to leave a good impression on our guest?"
"We can't help it, President! We're starving, we just can't get enough!"
Rona and the others chorused, sweeping through the dozen dishes before them like a whirlwind.

Ever since returning from the Nora world, their entire group had advanced to Tier 2, after which they had rushed straight to the skill hall to upgrade, leaving them with no time to eat.
Chosen Ones always had massive appetites, and after leveling up, they felt hungry enough to devour an entire ox—otherwise, how could these shops in the leisure district possibly make any money?

"Forget it, eat up quickly. I'll order a fresh table later," Chiming sighed.

However, Mo Xuanyu arrived faster than Chiming had anticipated. As the door pushed open, Mo Xuanyu paused at the chaotic sight inside.
He took two steps back and checked the room number.
That was correct.
"Perhaps I've come at a bad time?" Mo Xuanyu looked at them again.
"No, er... wait... huh? Have I seen you somewhere before?" Chiming, flustered and stammering halfway through his explanation, suddenly froze in place.

Not just him; the sushi on Rona and the others' chopsticks dropped onto the table with a soft plop.
They didn't even have time to wipe the grains of rice from the corners of their mouths, simply staring dumbly at Mo Xuanyu.

The healer swallowed the roasted meat in her mouth and said in disbelief, "President, did I wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? Am I seeing an NPC wander into Sacred Geometry?"
"It doesn't seem to be a hallucination..." Rona pinched her own cheek.
"Ouch! Do me a favor and pinch your own face next time!"
...
The scene descended into momentary chaos.

Fortunately, Chiming had extensive experience and quickly realized that Mo Xuanyu must have used an item before entering the world that elevated his initial identity and concealed his Chosen One information.
Right, but not entirely right.

Mo Xuanyu took a seat, and Chiming hurriedly called someone to replace everything on the table.
Rona and the others were chased by Chiming into a small corner, where they continued to eat with aggrieved expressions.

"Now, let's talk business," Chiming said formally, pouring Mo Xuanyu a cup of tea.
Mo Xuanyu nodded and took out the Flame Warrior's class scroll.

After repeatedly verifying the various data of the Flame Warrior, Chiming made an offer with a slightly excited expression:
"We can offer up to 12,000 points. What do you think?"

A thoughtful look flashed in Mo Xuanyu's eyes. In fact, his own valuation of the Flame Warrior was relatively high, around 15,000 points.
Because the rarity of this class was A-grade, which was fundamentally different from the Sun Knight, and the innate divine-attribute traits possessed by the Flame Warrior made it well worth the price.

Seeing that Mo Xuanyu remained unmoved, Chiming took a deep breath and placed a scroll in front of Mo Xuanyu.

[Basic Scroll: Heart of the Blade]
Introduction: Upon using this scroll, the Chosen One's blade-mastery talent will gradually increase.
Quality: Blue
Rating: S
Instructions for use: This scroll must be used before the Chosen One masters specialized blade skills, such as Swordsmanship Mastery or Saber Technique Mastery; otherwise, it will have no effect on the Chosen One.

Mo Xuanyu raised an eyebrow slightly; he hadn't expected Chiming to pull out such a scroll.
"Your development direction should lean towards close combat, right? If you haven't mastered a specialization skill yet, this scroll will be of great help to you."

Recalling the terrifying combat power Mo Xuanyu had displayed on the battlefield like a reaper of lives, Chiming wasn't entirely certain whether Mo Xuanyu had advanced to specialization yet.
This basic scroll only worked on Chosen Ones who had not yet mastered specialization skills.
It was like the foundation of a building; if you didn't lay it properly while constructing, it would be too late to try and make up for it later.

Here, it is necessary to mention the upgrade logic of Sacred Geometry.
When a Chosen One upgrades a skill such as "Swordsmanship Mastery," Sacred Geometry directly imprints the most universal sword techniques and maneuvers in the universe into the Chosen One's soul and body.
The beauty of this upgrade method was that it could ignore all so-called talent limitations, narrowing the gap between geniuses and ordinary people.
Even if you were a clumsy blockhead with no talent for swordsmanship, as long as you had enough points, you could transform into a swordsmanship expert overnight.

However, this method also had certain flaws: the techniques and sword forms imprinted by Sacred Geometry for you tended to be rather "mediocre."
The mediocrity here required quotation marks, as it was only relative to other Chosen Ones.
The reason it became mediocre was simply because too many Chosen Ones had mastered it.
In other words: taught by the same master, you couldn't break the moves!

At this point, the role of talent gradually manifested.
Sacred Geometry not only accelerated the growth rate of these geniuses, but they could also modify the sword techniques based on their own talent and comprehension, infusing them with their personal characteristics and escaping the dilemma of mediocrity.
With the exact same Swordsmanship Mastery Lv. 1, a genius could always play out fancy variations, and even defeat higher-level, mediocre Chosen Ones across tiers.

Fairness did not exist in this world, and Sacred Geometry merely gave mediocre people more opportunities, but it also depended on whether you could grasp them.
For example... [Basic Scroll: Heart of the Blade].

"I'll take this scroll."
Mo Xuanyu's slight smile made Chiming heave a sigh of relief; if Mo Xuanyu already had a specialization skill, he honestly wouldn't have been able to produce another good item on short notice.

In the end, Chiming completed the transaction with Mo Xuanyu for 10,000 points plus the basic scroll.
Both parties got what they wanted, and the costs paid were within their acceptable ranges. It was a win-win situation.

"Ahem, let's eat. Do you like these dishes? Or should I order something else? What are your favorite flavors?"
"It's all good, no need to add anything." Mo Xuanyu put away the scroll and picked up the chopsticks from the bamboo tube beside him. He happened to be hungry as well.
"Hehe, Leader, you don't mind us joining, do you?"
The healer and the others nearby hadn't had enough yet, and seeing this, they brazenly crowded over.
Because the impression Mo Xuanyu had left on them in the Nora Kingdom was too profound, they hadn't even managed to change how they addressed him.

Hearing this, Mo Xuanyu gently patted the seat beside him and said warmly, "Come and sit."
So gentle! So elegant! So lovely!
The Crimson Lotus members almost started fighting over the spot:
"Rock, paper, scissors!" x5 times
"Yay, I won!"
Healer Hill cheered, sitting down beside Mo Xuanyu and curiously asking for his Chosen One code name.
"Just call me Shigure."

Mo Xuanyu ate a piece of tuna sushi. The flavor was unexpectedly good, surpassing some of the seafood he had tasted before.
For a dish like sushi that required little technical skill, the quality and freshness of the ingredients were paramount.
And since Sacred Geometry connected all the myriad worlds of the universe, what kind of high-end seafood couldn't be caught?
As long as you gave enough points, forget about bluefin tuna—they would drag a Deep One out for your hot pot, and Godzilla sashimi wasn't entirely out of the question.

"Thank you for the meal today. I'll treat next time we meet," Mo Xuanyu said with a smile at the restaurant entrance.
Chiming waved his hands repeatedly. "No worries, this doesn't cost many points."

After Mo Xuanyu's figure vanished down the street, Rona still looked somewhat astonished. "It's simply incredible. Shigure actually defeated the Sun King. He must have been ranked first at the time, right?"
"We need to work hard too, so we don't get left too far behind," Chiming encouraged the group.

Meanwhile, Mo Xuanyu didn't return to his personal space just yet. Instead, he headed to the skill upgrade hall, where he discovered that Sacred Geometry also provided a more expedited simplified room.
In the simplified room, Sacred Geometry released factor gases to help Chosen Ones minimize upgrade trauma and improve efficiency.
However, this method could only be applied to certain basic skills.
For class skills or specialization-level skills, auxiliary pods were still required.

Carrying his room card to the basement level, Mo Xuanyu unlocked a simplified upgrade room and used the [Basic Scroll: Heart of the Blade] he had just acquired.

[You have acquired the skill: Heart of the Blade.]
Heart of the Blade: Lv. 1 (Passive Skill)
Special Effects: Blade weapon affinity +10%, Blade weapon power +10%, Flaw insight +10%.
Simultaneously, as the skill level increases, the Chosen One's blade-mastery talent will continuously improve.

[Levels 1-30: Each upgrade of this skill will consume 500 points.]
"Upgrade to Level 30." Mo Xuanyu never hesitated when it came to investing in the future.

Heart of the Blade: Lv. 30 (Passive Skill)
Special Effects: Blade weapon affinity +20%, Blade weapon power +20%, Flaw insight +20%.
"It only adds 20% at level 30? No wonder the price was so cheap."

[Levels 30-50: Each upgrade will consume 1,000 points. Do you wish to upgrade?]
[Current remaining points: 2,500 points]

Mo Xuanyu shook his head and closed the light screen.
Without rushing to leave, he opened his personal attribute panel.
He hadn't paid attention before, but now he noticed that all four of his attributes had reached Level 20, making him eligible to claim extra attribute rewards.

After some careful selection, Mo Xuanyu made the following choices:
Strength: Instant explosive force +10%.
Agility: Physical coordination +10%.
Constitution: Cellular activity +10%.
Intelligence: Mental energy recovery rate +10%.

All of the above choices were intended to complement Mo Xuanyu's expertise in close-quarters combat.
The focus of Constitution was to increase cellular activity, granting faster stamina recovery and regeneration rates.
The focus of Intelligence was to increase the efficiency of his healing abilities.

Stepping out of the skill upgrade hall, Mo Xuanyu clenched his fist, feeling his palms itch with eager anticipation and a strong desire to test his strength through combat.
Combat was strictly prohibited in the vast majority of areas within Sacred Geometry; accidentally damaging public property would result in fines starting at a minimum of 10,000 points.
The only place where Chosen Ones could let loose was the "Duel Arena."

Mo Xuanyu arrived at the Duel Arena. The participants here were at least Tier 2 Chosen Ones; Tier 1 Chosen Ones were not qualified to step onto the stage.