Volume One, Chapter 3: The Heavy Sword Has No Edge; Great Skill Appears Unadorned
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[Heavy Sword Technique]
[Description: A heavy sword has no sharp edge, yet achieves the greatest mastery through utter simplicity! This is the core principle of the Heavy Sword Technique. It is not that the technique has no moves; rather, it fuses countless intricate forms into the simplest swings and slashes. Every stroke contains infinite truths of the sword dao!]
[This sword technique is both a martial art and a cultivation method. Whether used to slay enemies or practiced alone, it will greatly enhance the user’s cultivation.]
[Host, please raise your cultivation and unlock higher-level power shackles as soon as possible in order to unlock the Heavy Sword Technique’s unique finishing moves.]
[The finishing moves possess devastating power that defies the heavens and can even allow the user to kill enemies several levels above them.]
[The first finishing move, “Mountain Torrent,” will unlock once the user reaches the tenth level of Martial Apprentice and the tenth layer of strength.]
“So the Heavy Sword Technique is also a cultivation method. That’s rather special. The finishing moves have requirements for both cultivation level and strength shackles. Looks like I’ll have to work harder.”
After reading the introduction to the Heavy Sword Technique, Ye Cheng took the Talent Pill from the system space.
[Supreme-Level Strength Talent Pill]
[Description: The only supreme-level strength talent pill in all the heavens and myriad worlds. Upon consumption, it will directly raise the user’s strength talent to the supreme level.]
Ye Cheng asked curiously, “System, how many levels higher is supreme-level talent than SSS-level talent?”
[Host, please understand that SSS-level is merely the highest talent on Blue Star. We measure it against the heavens and myriad worlds, while Blue Star’s cultivation system is as insignificant as a speck of dust.]
[In short, supreme level is the highest talent across the heavens and myriad worlds. No one, in any dimension, can surpass it!]
Blue Star was as insignificant as dust, while across the heavens and myriad worlds, no one could compare!
Was it really that incredible?
Ye Cheng grew instantly excited. Unable to suppress his desire to become stronger, he sat down cross-legged and slapped the Talent Pill into his mouth.
Its fragrance filled his mouth, then surged through his throat, nasal passages, mind, and chest before finally flowing into his abdomen, where it transformed into warm currents that spread through every limb and bone.
“How comfortable!”
Ye Cheng closed his eyes and let out a satisfied groan.
After a long while, the medicinal effects had been fully absorbed. He suddenly opened his eyes.
Whoosh!
A faint radiance swept across his pupils.
He could feel that his entire self had changed.
His vision was sharper, his mind more agile, and his nerves more sensitive…
Most importantly, his understanding and control of strength had undergone a complete sublimation!
This would be crucial to unlocking his strength shackles in the future.
“From now on, I finally possess the capital to compete with all those peerless prodigies!”
Ye Cheng was invigorated as he summoned his entirely new status panel.
[Host: Ye Cheng]
[ cultivation: Late Body Tempering Realm]
[Martial Dao Shackles: First Layer of Strength]
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[ cultivation Method and Martial Skill: Heavy Sword Technique]
[Items: Profound-Heaven Heavy Sword (only advanced items are displayed)]
[Next Achievement: Raise cultivation to the first level of Martial Apprentice. Reward: Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron.]
The panel was quite simple.
His next achievement was to reach the first level of Martial Apprentice, for which he would receive the Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron.
[Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron]
[Description: A divine artifact left behind by the ancient demon-shaman emperor. Place a living creature’s corpse inside the blood cauldron and add spiritual energy; the cauldron will automatically refine a Blood Pill.]
[Blood Pill: A Blood Pill can directly increase cultivation. Its effects depend on the strength of the creature used in its refinement.]
After reading the description of the Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron, Ye Cheng could no longer remain calm.
The Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron could automatically refine Blood Pills without anyone having to tend to it!
And Blood Pills were medicinal pills that could be consumed directly, far more advanced than nutrient solution.
Ye Cheng had seen in videos that nutrient solution was also extracted from mutated beasts.
The extraction process was extremely complicated. It involved more than twenty procedures, along with a series of blending agents and catalysts. Even the slightest mistake would ruin the entire batch.
That was why a bottle of low-grade nutrient solution sold for fifty thousand credits.
Middle-grade, high-grade, and premium-grade varieties were even more expensive.
Ye Cheng was poor and could not afford nutrient solution. Blood Pills would save him a considerable amount of money.
“My goal is clear now! First, I’ll get myself a heavy sword and raise my cultivation to the first level of Martial Apprentice so I can claim the Ancient Shaman Blood Cauldron. Then I’ll leave the city to hunt mutated beasts, collect their corpses, and refine Blood Pills!”
Ye Cheng pondered inwardly.
The path of martial cultivation centered on raising one’s cultivation level, with unlocking higher-level martial shackles as a secondary objective.
If a martial artist were compared to a fighter jet, then vital energy, true qi, spiritual power, and the other vital indicators related to cultivation would be the jet’s fuel.
Only with sufficient fuel could the jet operate normally. Thus, cultivation level was of paramount importance.
The various martial shackles, meanwhile, were like the fighter jet’s auxiliary systems:
the propulsion system, radar system, stealth system…
Fuel alone was not enough. These various systems could greatly enhance the fighter jet’s combat power.
Therefore, cultivation level and shackles complemented each other.
This was the conclusion reached by the predecessors of martial cultivation after several hundred years of practice.
Many martial skills placed strict requirements on both cultivation level and martial shackles.
The basic martial art taught at school, the Stone-Shattering Fist, required the late Body Tempering Realm and the first layer of strength to practice.
Only after reaching that threshold could one fully unleash the fist technique’s power.
Using it reluctantly would produce half the result with twice the effort and merely waste time.
Weapons were generally purchased at the Martial Dao Tower in the city center.
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However, Ye Cheng was penniless, so that route was impossible.
“I’ll have to ask Uncle Guan to help me think of a solution!”
Looking at the equipment scattered across the floor, Ye Cheng had already made up his mind.
After taking a quick shower and changing into clean clothes, he left the house.
Uncle Guan’s name was Guan Tie. He lived at the far end of the same street and was the one who usually forged equipment for Ye Cheng.
In his younger days, he had also been a martial artist, with his cultivation just on the verge of breaking through to the Martial Master Realm.
Unfortunately, during a mission outside the city, a mutated beast had bitten through his right leg, bringing his path of cultivation to an abrupt end.
With no other choice, he changed careers and became a blacksmith.
He opened a humble forge of his own, hired several workers, and processed or forged low-end equipment.
He did not earn much, but whatever money he had left over, he used to support Ye Cheng.
Ye Cheng’s father had been close friends with Guan Tie while he was alive. Before his death, he had entrusted Guan Tie with taking care of Ye Cheng.
Guan Tie had never married in his life and treated Ye Cheng like his own son.
Before Ye Cheng even entered the forge, he heard the clang of hammer striking metal.
The forge usually closed at six, yet it was still operating at nine. Ye Cheng found this rather strange.
“Uncle Guan, you’re still working this late?!”
As he stepped into the forge, a wave of heat rushed over him. The furnace flames were blazing fiercely.
Guan Tie and two similarly disabled workers were hammering away at weapons, all three working bare-chested amid the roaring heat.
Hearing Ye Cheng call out, Guan Tie turned his head amid his busy work and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Ah Cheng, you’re here.”
He pointed toward the heaps of forging materials on the floor.
“We received an order at the last minute. The customer delivered several tons of raw materials for us to process, then they’ll be sent to a higher-grade workshop for forging.”
He gave a weary smile.
“Looks like we’ll be working through the night.”
A martial artist’s weapons were generally judged by the number of times they had been forged, which indicated their value.
Ten-forged, hundred-forged, thousand-forged, ten-thousand-forged…
On the market, a ten-forged weapon could usually sell for more than one hundred thousand credits, while a hundred-forged weapon was worth a million.
Weapons were indeed extremely expensive. Unfortunately, Guan Tie’s skills were limited, and he was only involved in the lowest-end processing stages.
There was little profit to be made.
He worked himself to the bone just to scrape by.
Guan Tie lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.
Then, moving on his stiff prosthetic leg, he led Ye Cheng toward the entrance.
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