Only I Am A Reader

'Should I start with that one?'

Back at his personal cave, Leo held a wooden sword as he contemplated his first choice. Other than establishing certain facts, the earlier battle had given him a good hint as to how he could go about his secret project.

Contrary to his name and future nickname, the martial art that Cheon Yong used was named after another one of a dragon's rivals. Despite that, Phoenix Flare's heat definitely seemed to suit his developing personality.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Without any further hesitation, Leo started practicing the White Tiger's Transfigurations, trying his best to blend in with the never-ending flow. Compared to the Black Dragon's Transformations, Leo's Swordsmanship allowed him to grasp more of the white tiger's essence.

At the same time, however, Cheon Chang's lacking Swordsmanship made their spars less effective. In the end, both martial arts didn't get too ahead of each other. Still, Leo decided to start with the Swordsmanship that he had a better grasp on!

Swish!

As the white tiger's claws consecutively slashed away, a phoenix's talon broke away the unstoppable flow before the white tiger took dominance once more, reclaiming its rhythm of violence.

Unfortunately, the restored peace didn't remain for long, the wooden sword inconsistently slashed away as both mythical beasts struggled to take control. Expectedly enough, Leo's first test was a horrible failure!

The White Tiger's Transfigurations was undeniably a martial art superior to Phoenix Flare, but it wasn't capable enough to digest the whole thing in one bite. As a martial art chosen by 'Gentle Han' to suit Cheon Yong, its ferocious ability wasn't easy to tame.

'Once more.'

However, Leo didn't simply give up on the first try. He had been waiting for this moment since the very first moment that Cheon Chang gave him the past Heavenly Demon's martial arts. The hesitation to start stemmed from lacking control of Internal Energy, a problem that was finally solved by his sudden advancement.

Using moves of different martial arts in sequence seemed easy in words, but things were different in reality. There was a reason why Martial Artists usually devoted themselves to one or two martial arts throughout their whole life!

To achieve something like that without any trouble, one would need to pause after each move, resulting in something that's unusable in battle. In order to really mix things up, one needed to rely on their Internal Energy to move their muscles and bones against the norm to exchange between non-exchangeable forms.

Swish!

Thankfully, Leo had it easier thanks to the fluidity attribute that the black dragon and the white tiger entailed. It was originally intended so both martial arts could mix up together, but Leo wished to mix more than just that!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

'Let's try something else.'

The Internal Energy of a 2nd rate Martial Artist had removed the physical obstacle, but the sharpness of the white tiger simply didn't mix with the Phoenix's ferocity. No matter how flexible the martial art was, incompatibility wasn't an obstacle that could be crossed by force…

In reality, mixing up martial arts wasn't something a martial arts newbie like Leo could achieve. It required years of mastering said martial arts before it became possible to add any changes. However, he had an advantage that few other people had!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Letting go of the White Tiger's Transfigurations' forms, Leo completely switched over to Phoenix Flare. His understanding of it was lacking, but it wasn't something that couldn't be solved with a round of practice!

[ Reading Attribute, 'Skill Reading', has been activated. ]

After waiting for so long, Leo could finally digest his gains from the Heavenly Demon's Library. Grasping several martial arts in succession seemed like a great boon, but it was actually the opposite. In order not to reach a state of total confusion, Leo had additionally waited till the mastery of his main martial arts reached an unshakeable level, giving him the chance to slowly learn more for the sake of innovation.

[ Reading Attribute, 'Ability Reading', has been activated. ]

Although Leo used the relevant Energy Channeling method for the sake of advancing his second ability, he didn't plan on utilizing it any further than that. It helped him in understanding the technique's nature, but it was useless to him.

Flexible base martial arts, a great number of supplementary martial arts, and 'Skill Reading', only through these three advantages did Leo dare have the ambition of developing his martial arts further. However, he was completely incapable of modifying Energy Channeling methods, he only planned to overlay the techniques. Black Dragon and White Tiger energy were more than enough for him!

'Let's go with that.'

Swish! Swish! Swish

Through his realization of Phoenix Flare's essence, Leo's sword started moving once again as he picked up another martial art to train. Directly linking both martial arts might be impossible, but throwing in a few intermediary layers seemed plausible. In any case, Leo wasn't impatient to achieve success, he was more than ready to conduct several more trials in order to find the correct path!

[ Reading Attribute, 'Skill Reading', has been activated. ]

[ Reading Attribute, 'Ability Reading', has been activated. ]

'It's already…'

Before he knew it, breakfast was delivered in front of Leo's door by the time he comprehended the basis of the second technique. It was time to go back to the training hall.

'Tonight then.'

Sitting down for a quick meditation session, Leo summarized his findings for the day. He already expected it, but it seemed like it would take even longer to achieve his desire. Practicing two new techniques in a row was quite a great mental load. No matter how he planned to go about it, it had to be done over time…

"Since you have already warmed up yesterday…"

Despite arriving later than usual, Cheon Chang didn't seem to mind, picking up his spear as his Internal Energy soared.

"Let's start right away."

Following Leo's advancement, the daily sparring had been elevated to a whole other level.