Volume One, Chapter Four: Ah Cheng, Are You Serious?
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As they chatted casually, Guan Tieyan paused mid-smoke and asked, “What do you need from me?”
“Oh, I wanted to ask if you have a heavy sword I could borrow,” Ye Cheng replied.
“A heavy sword? What do you need it for?”
“For training!”
“Training?”
Guan Tieyan’s smile slowly faded as he asked gravely, “Ah Cheng, are you really determined to take the martial arts exam?”
Ye Cheng answered calmly, “Uncle Guan, don’t you believe I can pass?”
After a moment’s thought, Guan Tieyan suddenly burst into hearty laughter. “You’re an adult now; you know what you’re doing. Back then, I promised your late father I’d take care of you until you reached adulthood. Now that you have, I’ll support you fully!”
He then asked, “So, what kind of heavy sword do you want? Four hundred jin? Five hundred jin?”
Ye Cheng considered and said, “Make it a thousand jin to start.”
With the heavy sword technique he was practicing, he could now lift up to a thousand jin with both arms.
Training with the heavy sword technique meant pushing oneself to the limit, demanding the highest standards.
“What? A thousand jin?” Guan Tieyan thought he misheard.
He clearly recalled recently forging a new dumbbell for Ye Cheng weighing three hundred jin each.
Ye Cheng had grimaced when lifting it.
Why ask for a thousand jin heavy sword if you can’t even lift that much?
Besides, when did Ye Cheng start training with the heavy sword? How come he never told me?
Ye Cheng nodded seriously, “Today a thousand jin, and I’ll increase it in the coming days.”
His goal was to wield a ten-thousand-jin Xuantian heavy sword at the college entrance exam a month from now.
Guan Tieyan, worried, cautioned, “Ah Cheng, I know you’re pushing hard as the exam approaches, but there’s an old saying: ‘More haste, less speed.’ Sometimes forcing yourself too much backfires...”
Ye Cheng smiled, interrupting, “Uncle Guan, didn’t you just say you completely trust me? I know what I’m doing, so that’s what matters.”
Looking at Ye Cheng’s face, Guan Tieyan sighed inwardly.
The martial arts exam had become Ye Cheng’s obsession; if it made sense, it would have made sense when he discovered those four F-grade talents in first year.
Why wait until now?
There’s still a month. If he can’t pass, he should give up.
Then following me in blacksmithing wouldn’t be a bad alternative.
With that thought, Guan Tieyan stopped insisting and pointed to a large black iron bar on the ground.
“This blank was just forged, weighs exactly a thousand jin. The material’s good; it can be forged into a hundred-tempered weapon. Come back in two hours to pick it up after I shape and polish it a bit—it’ll be ready to use.”
Ye Cheng glanced at it; the blank resembled the Xuantian heavy sword about seventy percent, equally rough and wide, and the weight was just right.
What a coincidence!
Tailor-made!
He beamed at Guan Tieyan, “No need to polish, this is perfect.”
He stepped forward to take it.
“Hey, Ah Cheng, are you serious? Be careful...” Guan Tieyan’s face turned pale with alarm, afraid the heavy sword would fall and injure Ye Cheng.
But at that moment, Ye Cheng had already gripped the hilt, activated the heavy sword technique’s secret art, and in a flash lifted the sword.
He even swung it a few times with force, feeling quite good.
“Ah, this...”
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Guan Tieyan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
He actually lifted it!
When did this kid get so strong?
“Well then, Uncle Guan, I’ll head back now,” Ye Cheng said with a smile, walking out of the forge, while Guan Tieyan remained dumbfounded, staring after him.
“What happened to him?” Guan Tieyan snapped back to reality, about to chase after him to ask.
Just then, a worker called out, “Boss, the furnace is at the perfect temperature now. Where are you going?”
They were in the middle of forging; if they missed this window, they’d have to wait.
“Oh, got it,” Guan Tieyan withdrew his gaze and returned to the shop to continue forging.
...
Ye Cheng took the heavy sword and returned to the backyard.
Without delay, he followed the method described in the heavy sword technique, channeling his qi and blood to begin practice.
The moves in the heavy sword technique were extremely simple—mostly chops, stabs, blocks, horizontal, vertical, slanting, and pulling motions.
But wielding these movements freely was no easy task; the primary requirement was great strength.
Also, the correct way to use the heavy sword technique was with one arm.
The other arm would be free to use other martial skills to assist in combat.
Right now, Ye Cheng could only lift the sword with both hands—he hadn’t even reached the beginner level.
So he needed to practice diligently to achieve single-arm sword use.
In the next few hours, Ye Cheng immersed himself fully in training.
At first, he could only hold the sword with both arms for about a minute before needing to rest.
After an hour, he could hold it for two minutes.
He began practicing swings.
Another hour later, he could hold the sword horizontally for five minutes!
His strikes went from slow to swift, becoming increasingly skillful.
The intense training drained his energy rapidly.
When tired, he sat cross-legged to rest and wait for his strength to recover.
He repeated this cycle.
By midnight, he could swing the sword continuously with both hands for five minutes!
But he was so exhausted that he couldn’t move a finger, lying on the ground gasping for breath.
“Huff—can’t move at all. Better take a nap first,” Ye Cheng muttered, dragging his heavy steps back to the hall and closing his weary eyes.
He only intended a short rest but unexpectedly woke up the next morning.
He had anticipated soreness from yesterday’s frenzied training.
To his surprise, there was none.
Instead, he felt vigorous, as if he had boundless energy.
“The advancement in my realm has greatly enhanced my body’s recovery ability,” Ye Cheng thought.
“After unlocking the strength shackles, it’s time to tackle the constitution shackles next.”
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Strength, constitution, agility, and spirit are known as the four fundamental shackles limiting martial development.
Training, in essence, is about breaking higher-level martial shackles and achieving self-improvement.
A warrior with a high talent in one shackle who specializes in it is called a specialist in that system.
Ye Cheng is currently a strength specialist.
Strength affects physical attack power, which is easy to understand.
Constitution influences physical defense, combat endurance, stamina, and injury recovery speed—very important.
Agility affects movement speed, attack speed, physical reflexes, and accuracy.
Spirit is quite special; it governs controlling others with mental power or killing directly with soul arts.
In Western cultivation systems, spirit influences the combat power of summoners and mages.
Not every extraordinary person trains all four systems—everyone’s talents differ and energy is limited.
Most only cultivate one system.
Ye Cheng’s goal, aided by the system, is to become a master of all systems!
...
A new day began.
Ye Cheng had a hearty breakfast and resumed his training.
Today’s goal was to swing the heavy sword with both arms continuously for ten minutes.
“Let’s begin!”
The backyard was filled with the whooshing sound of wind.
By afternoon, his realm broke through to the pinnacle of the Tempered Body stage.
Ye Cheng planted the heavy sword in the ground to rest, his mind swirling.
In just two days, he had achieved the feat of advancing from mid-stage to late-stage and then to the pinnacle.
It was both exhilarating and bittersweet.
The past three years had been truly frustrating!
“After training, my arm strength has risen to fifteen hundred jin. The thousand-jin heavy sword is no longer suitable; I need to ask Uncle Guan for a new one!”
Ye Cheng grabbed the old heavy sword and went to find Guan Tieyan to exchange it for a fifteen hundred jin one.
Guan Tieyan, still working overtime, was even more stunned when he saw Ye Cheng put down the thousand-jin sword with one arm and then lift the fifteen hundred jin sword with both arms.
He immediately pulled Ye Cheng aside and asked, “Kid, tell me honestly, what happened? How did you get so much stronger all of a sudden?”
Ye Cheng grinned mysteriously, “Uncle Guan, I had an epiphany!”
“An epiphany?” Guan Tieyan scratched his head, seeming half convinced.
He had heard of such things, though mostly in legends.
They say some people suddenly soar overnight, leaping from martial apprentice to grandmaster.
Others quickly comprehend extremely profound martial arts.
That feeling is indescribable, very mystical!
Since it can’t be explained, no need to pry further.
“All right, all right!” Guan Tieyan said, letting Ye Cheng take the fifteen hundred jin heavy sword.