Level 56, level 30!

The first kill of the Dongming Ship dungeon has been claimed.

From the bodies of the two women in white, both level forty-five, who were slain by Tang Xuan, several items dropped.

As the pioneers of the dungeon, their rewards would naturally be exceptional!

Everyone’s eyes sparkled as they eagerly examined the loot.

Each woman had dropped a skill book and a longsword.

Both skill books were the same—“Luan Cang Sword Technique (Fourth-grade Sword Technique).”

The longswords too were identical, both being Luan Cang Swords.

[Luan Cang Sword (Green): Attack Power +45.]

Among green equipment, this was of the highest quality; ordinary green items typically offered only +30 or +35 attack power.

Anything with attack power of 40 or above was considered a rare treasure!

Tang Xuan’s own Violet Phosphor Rod boasted a +50 attack power, making it the top tier among green weapons, originally a prized weapon of a Western Beggar Sect elder.

As for the “Luan Cang Sword Technique (Fourth-grade Sword Technique),” upon opening the skill book, it read:

[Luan Cang Sword Technique (Fourth-grade Sword Technique)]

[This is the supreme skill of the Luan Cang Sect, created by its founder. Its sword forms are sometimes singular, sometimes densely clustered; the swordplay flows like the vast sea, with the force of a northern wind howling across the waves!]

[Attack power increases by 25%. Each use consumes 10 points of internal energy. Requires sword-type weapon.]

“A fourth-grade sword technique!”

The women gazed at the “Luan Cang Sword Technique,” their eyes shining.

This was a superior fourth-grade sword skill!

One must understand that Wang Yajun’s master, Ning Zhongze—the renowned “Heroine Ning”—created “Peerless Ning’s One Sword,” famed for its power, yet it too was only a fourth-grade sword technique.

Now, from this first kill, two fourth-grade sword technique books had dropped.

If these appeared in the outside world, game players would fight madly to acquire them!

Except for the first batch of inner sect disciples in each faction, who could learn third- or fourth-grade martial arts, all other players remained outer sect disciples, limited to entry-level martial arts, only second-grade skills.

Only a tiny handful of outer sect disciples ever had the chance to learn third-grade martial arts.

For almost every player, a fourth-grade martial skill was the stuff of dreams, worth fighting over!

Even those first wave inner sect disciples coveted these fourth-grade sword techniques.

“Go ahead and divide them among yourselves,” Tang Xuan said with a smile. Now that he possessed a wealth of martial skills, a fourth-grade sword technique hardly caught his eye.

For his beloved fans—the future wives he had already chosen—there was no need for formalities.

The women’s hearts skipped a beat. They had barely exerted themselves in the dungeon, so they felt shy about accepting the loot, yet it was hard to refuse.

Jiang Wanwan, an old acquaintance of Tang Xuan’s, was the least reserved. With a gentle laugh, she said, “I use Emei daggers, so I don’t plan to switch to sword techniques for now. You all can divide the spoils.”

Her martial skill, “Jade Maiden’s Pure Heart: Rainbow’s Remnant Form,” was itself a fourth-grade martial art—also a gift from Tang Xuan.

Her pair of green Emei daggers were likewise bestowed by him.

As the “old flame,” Jiang Wanwan had never been bashful.

Her fourth-grade Emei dagger technique had yet to reach mastery, so she had no plans to switch to other skills.

Among Wang Yajun, Luo Qingqing, Qin Yanran, and Li Weiwei, it was Luo Qingqing, the one who favored knives, who was first to claim a “Luan Cang Sword Technique” and a Luan Cang Sword.

After joining the Five Venoms Sect, she had focused primarily on poison-making, cultivating venomous insects, and alchemy.

Though she had acquired a superior internal skill from the sect, she lacked other advanced martial arts; her knife technique and footwork were rather ordinary.

Thus, even when she coated her weapons with poison to supplement the damage, it still felt insufficient.

Luo Qingqing was decisive by nature; she felt no need for formalities with Wang Yajun, Qin Yanran, and Li Weiwei. She promptly switched from knife to sword, learned the “Luan Cang Sword Technique (Fourth-grade Sword Technique),” and claimed a Luan Cang Sword.

Li Weiwei’s “Quanzhen Entry Sword Technique,” a second-grade sword skill, had already reached level seven or eight. Once she achieved level ten mastery, she could learn the complete fourth-grade “Quanzhen Sword Technique,” so she declined the “Luan Cang Sword Technique.”

Qin Yanran, disciple of Emei Sect Leader Abbess Miejue, had learned only the “Flowing Cloud Sword Technique (Second-grade Sword Technique),” though Abbess Miejue favored her and would bestow more advanced sword arts upon full mastery.

Therefore, Qin Yanran also declined the “Luan Cang Sword Technique.”

It was Wang Yajun, who had studied the “Lady’s Sword Technique (Third-grade Sword Technique),” who took the remaining “Luan Cang Sword Technique” skill book and a matching Luan Cang Sword.

You must understand: though the fourth-grade sword technique was only one grade higher than the third-grade ones, the increase in attack power was worlds apart.

For instance, the “Luan Cang Sword Technique” boosted attack power by 25% at level one, and the effect multiplied with each level.

Wang Yajun’s “Lady’s Sword Technique,” a third-grade skill, only increased attack power by 18%.

At level one, the gap was not so great, but as the skill rose to level two, three, four, five, and ultimately to mastery, the difference in attack power would grow ever more pronounced.

Similarly, when Tang Xuan had learned the “Five Tigers Gate-breaking Blade: Lost Edition,” a third-grade blade technique, it too only boosted attack power by 18% at level one.

The full fourth-grade version of Five Tigers Gate-breaking Blade, however, offered a 22% attack power increase at level one.

Among fourth-grade skills, its attack power boost was less than the “Luan Cang Sword Technique’s” 25%.

But the full set of Five Tigers Gate-breaking Blade comprised sixty-four moves, and each move increased attack power by 1%!

Likewise, “Jade Maiden’s Pure Heart: Rainbow’s Remnant Form,” a fourth-grade martial art, increased attack power by only 20% at level one.

It was less than the “Luan Cang Sword Technique’s” 25% or the Five Tigers Gate-breaking Blade’s 22%.

However, the Emei dagger technique was a dual-wield weapon, allowing for a higher attack frequency.

And once “Jade Maiden’s Pure Heart: Rainbow’s Remnant Form” reached mastery, beyond the basic dagger technique, the ultimate form—the Rainbow’s Remnant—could be unleashed, causing attack power to soar.

Jiang Wanwan had not yet mastered this skill, so she was unable to use it.

Afterwards,

Tang Xuan led the women out of the dungeon.

He selected “Dongming Ship Dungeon: Normal Difficulty” once again and continued to run the dungeon!

Their levels gradually rose from twenty to twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four…

Eventually, they reached level thirty!

Aside from the initial first kill, which granted the two “Luan Cang Sword Technique” books and two Luan Cang Swords, subsequent dungeon runs yielded only a single green Luan Cang Sword.

As for skill books, none appeared again, revealing just how low the drop rate was outside of the initial clear.

During this period, Tang Xuan finally learned the Shaolin ultimate technique from Shaolin Temple!