"Whoosh!"
A black streak shot out from Nie Chen's hand in an instant, penetrating a one-inch thick steel plate fifty meters away in the blink of an eye. Nine flies were fluttering behind the steel plate, their movements detected by the subtle shift of Nie Chen's ear. The black streak zigzagged forward, shaving off the left wings of the nine flies in a fraction of seconds. All nine flutters fell down with their left wings severed, among which one died while the remaining eight survived.
"Whoosh!"
The black streak that had clipped the wings of the nine flies suddenly made a U-turn. A slight sound of breaking through the air was heard as it effortlessly pierced another hole in the steel and headed back to Nie Chen.
Reachig out his hand, Nie Chen caught the black streak, which naturally landed in his palm and vanished, leaving in Nie Chen's hand a piece of soft clay.
It was molded into the shape of a throwing knife.
"Why did I fail again?" Nie Chen furrowed his brows in frustration. If that fly hadn't died, it meant he had reached the standard of the Iron Knife Realm!
Under the current circumstances, Nie Chen knew that there was no issue with his power as it had already reached the standard of Iron Knife Realm, but his control was still lacking.
"Failure!"
An indifferent voice rang out. The one who spoke was a stone man not far from Nie Chen. Over the past few years, he had spent the most time with this stone man.
Six years ago, Nie Chen received a mysterious ring. After becoming its user, Nie Chen could enter the inside of the ring where a dilapidated stone man resided. From the stone man, Nie Chen was fortunate enough to acquire a secret method for practicing throwing knives, which embarked him on the years of life as an ascetic monk.
The secret method of throwing knives, according to Nie Chen's knowledge, had five levels: Wooden Knife Realm, Iron Knife Realm, Bronze Knife Realm, Silver Knife Realm, Golden Knife Realm.
When in the Wooden Knife Realm, Nie Chen's throwing knife could penetrate a one-inch thick steel plate and make sudden directional changes between one to ninety degrees! Nie Chen had already reached the Wooden Knife Realm four years ago, and after countless practices in these four years, he was now just a whisker away from the Iron Knife Realm.
If he could not break through to the Iron Knife Realm, Nie Chen was not planning to go out this time!
"Whoosh!"
In an instant, Nie Chen managed to suppress the gloom in his heart, returning to a state of inner peace. The steel plate was healed, and he singled out one of the mud-made throwing knives. A faint dark glimmer covered the mud-made throwing knife as he threw it, and in a blink of an eye, it pierced through the steel plate once again. The flies behind the plate had also recovered. A flash of dark light, and the left wings of nine flies were severed simultaneously. The throwing knife pierced through the plate and returned to Nie Chen's hand.
"Success!"
Nie Chen stooped with excitement. He turned to the stone man who then spoke coldly, "Successful. Congratulations on reaching the Iron Blade Realm. You are now ready to absorb more primordial power."
As the stone man's words fell, strands of white mist descended from the sky above Nie Chen, and gradually entered his body.
Nie Chen was exhilarated. Although the white mist absorption could not drastically increase his abilities at once, it enabled his innate power to become even stronger, which was the only explanation for why he was able to reach this level in just six years, despite his grueling effort.
"Old Stone, can I leave now? I’m practically bored sick here, even the taste in my mouth is bland," Nie Chen asked, patting the shoulder of the stone man.
Without any physical response, the stone man merely allowed it coldly, "You may leave. The power you have just absorbed needs three months to digest. You could take three months off, but you can not completely abandon your practice during this rest time!"
Nie Chen's eyes lit up. Three months? Previously, when he broke through to the Wooden Blade Realm, he could only rest for a month. Usually, after a month of practice, he could only rest for half a day!
"Old Stone, are you sure? Three months? Then get me out quick, haha!" Nie Chen excitedly implored. He just turned twenty last month, and for the past few years, he has been in such isolation, seldom interacting with men, let alone women. This would have surely driven Nie Chen sick even with a resolute will.
"Prepare."
The stone man responded coldly. After it spoke, Nie Chen's figure vanished in an instant. The next second, he appeared in a severely dilapidated small room.
The small room and everything inside it were old, and a thick layer of dust had settled on everything due to a long period of neglect.
"Now that I've reached the Iron Blade Realm, it's time to improve my living conditions," Nie Chen muttered to himself. Despite his previous strengths being sufficient to live a luxurious life, Nie Chen chose not to. If he had indulged in materialistic pleasure, there was no way he could have achieved the Iron Blade Realm now.
Now that he had reached the Iron Blade Realm, he deserved to enjoy life a little. His willpower was far stronger than it used to be; he wouldn't get lost in hedonism!
"I wonder if the school expelled me."
Nie Chen was deep in his thoughts, his hand resting on his dusty old bicycle. An intangible ripple instantly swept throughout the bicycle, with the dust clinging to it falling off at once.
"Miracle, true miracle!"
From the drawer, Nie Chen picked out his Nokia mobile phone which he hadn't used for half a month. He pressed the button and found that even though it hadn't been charged for half a month, it was still powered on.
On unlocking it, he saw a host of missed calls and texts, mostly from his advisor and a couple of friends from the university.
Without replying, he slipped the phone into his shabby pocket and pushed his banged-up bike out of the door. His eyes squinting slightly, the sunlight wasn’t really strong but he hadn’t seen it in half a month, making his eyes a bit sensitive.
"Where did this smelly beggar come from?"
"Hick!"
Riding his ragged bicycle towards his university, Tianhai University, Nie Chen encountered more than a few disdainful comments along the way. While he was somewhat handsome, his plain clothes coupled with his old bicycle would probably earn him a fair share of scornful glances even if he had the looks of a superstar.
Disregarding the gazes and comments of the people, Nie Chen continued to ride his bicycle forward, shouldering an air of serenity. With one hand he held onto the handlebars, with the other he was munching on a big bun.
"Hmm?"
Nie Chen's ears twitched as he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby alley. He usually didn't care to meddle in others' affairs, but this voice was quite enticing, soft and tender. It probably belonged to a beauty.
"A beauty might be worth helping."
A faint smile appeared on Nie Chen's face, as he aimed his bicycle towards the alley. In the alley, three rough-looking youths had a girl backed against a wall, her bicycle cast off to the side.
"Hmm? I've misjudged, she's not just a beauty, but an extraordinary beauty."
When Nie Chen got a clear view of the girl, his eyes lit up. Years of discipline had set his mind in a state where it was hard to be moved, but now his heart rate quickened at the sight of this girl. If a score of seven could be given to a beauty, eight to a very beautiful girl, he would rate this girl as nine!
"Damn it, bullying such a beauty is something I cannot bear!"
Nie Chen forcefully kicked the bicycle pedal, and instantly his old-fashioned large-bulked bicycle crazily charged toward the three hoodlums surrounding the beautiful woman.
"Holy shit!"
"Stinking beggar, are you blind?"
"Damn it, stop right there!"
The three hoodlums instantly started cursing when they noticed the oncoming bicycle. The large-bulked bicycle was far heavier than modern light bicycles, and the impact from such a speed could possibly cripple them!
"Humph!"
Nie Chen didn’t stop at all, the bicycle speed boosted!
"Quick, dodge!"
One of the hoodlums shouted in fear, and the three hoodlums who used to fight frequently darted to the side, showcasing their quick reflexes. But the moment they thought they had dodged the danger, Nie Chen's front bicycle sharply twisted, and then the bicycle rear was violently swung horizontally, crash hitting a hoodlum. The hoodlum was thrown and landed on the ground, his face swollen and blue, blacked-out.
"Bastard, you're asking for it!"
"Damn you!"
The remaining two hoodlums were furious, one of them stood in front of Nie Chen, cursing and kicking at Nie Chen's bicycle with all his might.
"Puff!"
The half-eaten cold bun that Nie Chen had in his left hand suddenly was flung out.
"Poof!"
The stiff cold bun accurately hit the forehead of the little thug, who was immediately knocked out by the blow from Nie Chen's bun!
"Motherf**ker!" The third thug, both startled and enraged, pulled out a dagger and viciously stabbed at Nie Chen. His attack was quick and fierce, aimed directly at Nie Chen's abdomen!
"What's the point of playing with knives?"
Nie Chen's eyes grew cold as his right hand instantly grabbed the thug's wrist. Suddenly, the thug felt as if his wrist was being tightly clamped by a pair of iron pliers. His hand ached, and the dagger he was holding fell from his grasp. A spark flashed in Nie Chen's eyes, and the horizontally falling dagger switched its direction to a vertical fall, but at an accelerated speed!
"Ah!"
The dagger fell onto the back of the thug's boot, the sharp blade piercing through the shoe and piercing the thug's sole, even going through the sole of his shoe!
"Pretty lady, are you okay?" Nie Chen asked with a smile.
"Nie Chen?"
The girl looked a bit frightened and somewhat huffy.
Nie Chen blinked in surprise, "Pretty lady, do you know me?"
The girl stamped her foot a little annoyedly, "Nie Chen, it's really you! I'm Bai Yun, the class president of Class 372. I've been transferred to this school for half a year, and I haven't seen you once in all that time. I've called you no less than twenty times, and you haven't returned a single one!"
An embarrassed look crossed Nie Chen's face - this beautiful girl was his class president. If he had known that he'd have such a beautiful class president when he transferred, he would have returned to school to have a look.
In these few months, Nie Chen had been resting half a day a month, during which he usually only called his tutor and two friends to report his safety.
"Uh... Class President, shall we find another place to talk?" Nie Chen coughed lightly to change the subject, "I'll treat you to a meal, in the cafeteria."
