Monster Paradise

After exiting the Hunter Arena, Lin Huang saw that the top news on the game’s page was about him - Player Sword Genius has broken the ice that lasted a hundred years and achieved 80 consecutive wins!

Posted just a couple of minutes before; there were more than a million views on the news with more than 50,000 comments. Lin Huang turned off the page after taking a look.

It was past 10 in the morning, he dropped by the wet market and bought some food to take home and it was past 11 when he got back. After cooking grilled meat for Lin Xuan on the third floor, he got down to the kitchen to make lunch for himself and Lin Xin. Although ordering takeaway food would save a lot of time, nothing could beat a good home cooked meal. Since he was not busy, he chose to prepare lunch himself.

It was almost noon when he finally finished the cooking. After placing the food he cooked and the grilled meat on the dining table, Lin Huang got both kids to come to the dining table. After lunch, he got back to his room and downloaded his battle videos. He played all the videos of him fighting the keepers while writing notes to look for ways to improve himself. All of the videos taken were from Lin Huang’s point of view, the audience could not see everything that had happened, but the official videos were clear to him.

He was surprised as he watched the battle with The Final Fortress where he used the Worldly Purification form twice. He managed to upgrade the sword skill to its ultimate form. The feeling was completely different than before. However, Lin Huang could not tell what exactly was different. He almost got it after repeating the video a couple of times, but he did not manage to grasp what it was.

With doubt, he called Mr. Fu.

”What’s wrong? You’ve accomplished the mission already?” Mr. Fu was surprised that Lin Huang called. Lin Huang last consulted Mr. Fu during New Year’s Eve, when he was only at his 50th winning streak. It had just been four days since New Year’s Eve and also the first time the Hunter Arena had reopened since the new year, and this surprised Mr. Fu.

”Not yet, I’m on No.13 now. I’ve exhausted my Life Power and needed to log out of the game. I have something to ask you, master.” Lin Huang told the reason why he called.

”Sure, do tell.” Mr. Fu nodded and put down his stuff in his hand. Lin Huang told Mr. Fu his struggle while Mr. Fu listened carefully. As he finished, Mr. Fu laughed and said, ”If I’m not wrong, your power realm should be nuance now, am I right?”

”Nuance?” Lin Huang was puzzled.

”The first level of the sword power realm is called nuance. Once you enter that level, you’ll have full mastery of your sword where all forms will be under your control. You’ll have full control of everything you can see with your naked eyes.”

”The unique sense that you mentioned earlier should be the second level of the sword power realm. The second level of the sword power realm is called consonance. It is the resonance you have with your sword. When you reach this level, the sword is no longer a tool but a partner or friend. You can even sense the emotion of your sword.”

”The feeling that you mentioned about the two sword attacks that you performed earlier could have meant that you’ve arrived at the nuance level. With the trigger from the outside world as well as your heightened focus, it caused you to enter the consonance stage temporarily. However, you could take this opportunity to enter the second level of the realm. Don’t go back to the arena for a couple of days. Take this time to train and see if you can break through.” Mr. Fu suggested after listening to Lin Huang’s problem.

”This is what I thought of as well. If I could grab the feeling properly, my skill would be a level higher than before.” Lin Huang wanted to study the feeling before it disappeared to see if he could level-up his sword skill.

”I will send you a few videos about the consonance stage. Maybe they could inspire you.”

Mr. Fu hung up the phone later on. Soon after, he sent more than ten videos to Lin Huang, who downloaded the videos and watched them one by one. After watching the videos, Lin Huang watched his battle videos repeatedly. He had a clear picture in his mind now. Taking out a wooden sword, he leaped from the balcony of the second floor and started training the different forms of Wildfire Sword at the courtyard on the first floor. One… Two… Three times...

He trained until five in the evening before he finally managed to grasp the unique feeling that he felt in the arena. Just like what Mr. Fu said, he could feel it in the sword. It seemed to be different than before and it felt like he was not holding a weapon as it felt more and more like a part of his body. The sword also felt like an individual creature. It was a contradictory condition.

”Is this the consonance state?”

After grasping the feeling, Lin Huang immersed himself into it and started training without stopping. He trained until past ten at night without noticing. When Lin Huang finally snapped out of the zone, he realized that it was late - 10:28 p.m. He went back into the house immediately thinking that the two kids had yet to have dinner.

”Brother, are you done with your training?” Lin Xin was in the living room.

”Yes, I bet you guys haven’t eaten?” Lin Huang asked.

”I saw you training when it was past six in the evening, so I made Lin Xuan grilled meat and heated up the leftover lunch. There’s some in the oven, go eat it.” Lin Xin smiled at Lin Huang.

Lin Huang went into the kitchen and ate the leftovers.

”Is there any news today?” Lin Huang asked while eating as he had not read the news since noon.

”There’s a big one. It said that there’s a person who accumulated 80 consecutive wins in the Hunter Arena in Division7. Everyone on the network is talking about this.” Lin Xin nodded and said, ”They say the last person who managed to get 80 wins was more than 100 years ago…”

Lin Huang nodded without saying anything. He knew that the winning streak would make big news in Division7. Now the news had circulated in the hunter community as well as the Heart Network. It was almost 11 at night when Lin Huang finished eating, he got Lin Xin and Lin Xuan to go to bed. After cleaning the cutleries and bowl, he showered and went to bed alone. In the following days, Lin Huang would start training at seven in the morning right after his breakfast until it was after 11 at night, training for more than 16 hours each day.

Since he managed to grasp the feeling of the consonance stage on the first day, he now had to train with the feeling to perfect the form in the following days. He could clearly feel that he was mastering the consonance stage as time passed. Soon, five days had passed. At midday, Lin Huang stood in the middle of the courtyard and kept a firm grasp on his sword while smirking.

”I have finally mastered the second stage of the sword power realm. Tomorrow I shall continue to battle in the arena. I wonder who my keeper will be, could it be Yu Moli or Ebonella?”