Liu Jinwen and Lu Changfeng’s father were the closest of friends.
In earlier years, Lu Changfeng’s father had also held a civil post in the Inner City Government Office, where they had known each other for decades.
They considered each other the truest of friends.
Because of this, after the Lu Family’s decline, Liu Jinwen looked after Lu Changfeng, ensuring he could keep his small courtyard home and continue his studies in peace.
Seeing Lu Changfeng, Liu Jinwen walked straight up and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Good kid! I haven’t seen you in a few months, and look how much you’ve grown! You’ll be as tall as me before you know it!"
"It’s good you’re practicing Martial Arts. These damn times are getting harder and harder! I was worried I wouldn’t always be able to protect you."
As a Blood Forging Second Heaven Martial Artist himself, Liu Jinwen could naturally tell that Lu Changfeng had already successfully completed his Blood Forging. He felt a surge of emotion.
More than anything, he was gratified.
"Uncle Wen, have you been well? What brings you to see me?" Lu Changfeng asked.
"I’m doing well, nothing’s wrong. I happened to be in the Outer City for a case, so I thought I’d drop by and see how you were doing at the Martial Arts Hall."
"Now that I see you’re doing well, I can rest easy."
A thought occurred to Lu Changfeng. ’Liu Jinwen works in the Inner City and is also a Martial Artist. He might know where I can find a Swordsmanship manual.’
He then asked, "Uncle Wen, my training at the Martial Arts Hall is going pretty well—the Master has even taken me as a Direct Disciple. It’s just... I’ve been wanting to practice the sword lately, but I don’t have a manual for any Swordsmanship techniques."
"Swordsmanship? Aren’t you learning the Palm Technique from Master Zhang? Why learn Swordsmanship?"
Evidently, Liu Jinwen had heard of Zhang Desheng from the Changle Martial Arts Hall.
Liu Jinwen paused, then said, "But I guess it’s your lucky day, kid. I actually have a Swordsmanship manual on me."
"Its rank isn’t particularly high, but it will be more than enough for you to practice with for a long time."
Liu Jinwen took a booklet from his waist and handed it over.
Liu Jinwen himself practiced a Saber Technique provided by the Feng City County Yamen. He had obtained this Swordsmanship manual by chance while pursuing a fugitive.
He found that reading it even helped him improve his own Saber Technique, but he clearly didn’t have time to switch to Swordsmanship.
He had originally planned to find an opportunity to sell this Swordsmanship manual. This was how he always handled the Martial Arts techniques he confiscated during his cases.
The proceeds were split evenly with his men.
Now that Lu Changfeng needed a Swordsmanship manual, he simply gave it to him.
Liu Jinwen had no children of his own and had long since come to see Lu Changfeng as family.
A simple Swordsmanship manual was no big deal.
"Thank you, Uncle! Then I’ll gladly accept."
Lu Changfeng expressed his thanks and, without any pretense, accepted the booklet from Liu Jinwen.
On the cover of the booklet were the two words: Gale Swordsmanship. Lu Changfeng flipped through it briefly and saw that it was a Swordsmanship style that focused on rapid sword strikes.
This was exactly what Lu Changfeng was looking for.
"Alright, a Direct Disciple, tsk tsk. You might end up more successful than your old uncle here. Train hard at the Martial Arts Hall. The Outer City isn’t safe these days, so try not to go out too much. This Uncle Wen is heading back to the Inner City."
"I’ll come see you again next time."
Liu Jinwen turned and left. In the distance, a group of constables was waiting for him by the side of the street.
He could faintly hear Liu Jinwen boasting to his subordinate constables that his nephew was a Direct Disciple of the Changle Martial Arts Hall.
Lu Changfeng watched Liu Jinwen leave before returning to the Martial Arts Hall.
Back on the training grounds, Lu Changfeng found an iron long sword on a weapon rack to the side, then squatted in a corner and openly began to read the *Gale Swordsmanship* manual.
Unlike Blood Forging Techniques, Martial Arts Techniques relied on one’s insight and Talent.
Without sufficient Talent for a particular Martial Art, one’s progress would be extremely slow.
This was where the Middle Grade Talent for Swordsmanship that Lu Changfeng had just copied came into play.
Lu Changfeng only had to read through the twenty-eight basic stances of Gale Swordsmanship once to get the general gist.
He read it one more time and had it all memorized.
Holding the iron long sword, Lu Changfeng began to practice the forms for the first time.
His first practice run was still a bit clumsy.
After just three repetitions, he was already wielding the long sword with impressive form.
When his Second Senior Brother, Zhou Feng, passed by, he clicked his tongue in amazement. ’So Fourth Junior Brother has practiced a Swordsmanship technique like this before,’ he thought.
As far as he was concerned, Lu Changfeng must have been practicing this Swordsmanship for a very long time.
And so, Lu Changfeng extended his daily training time slightly to practice Gale Swordsmanship.
Even though he only added an extra hour to his training, his progress in Gale Swordsmanship grew rapidly with the help of his Talent.
He reached the entry level of the Swordsmanship in five days. Within a month, Lu Changfeng had already brought his Gale Swordsmanship to the Minor Achievement stage.
For an ordinary Martial Artist learning a new Martial Art—especially Swordsmanship, which is considered the most difficult—it would be normal to take anywhere from six months to a year just to reach the entry level.
It was common for them to practice for seven or eight years from a young age and only reach Minor Achievement through some stroke of luck.
With his Swordsmanship at the Minor Achievement stage, Lu Changfeng’s strength had soared. He was still no match for his Second Senior Brother, Zhou Feng, who was at the Blood Forging Fourth Layer.
But against his Third Senior Brother, Luu Ye, who was at the Blood Forging Third Layer, Lu Changfeng could now hold his own for a long time. In reality, Lu Changfeng wasn’t even using his full strength.
If he went all out, Lu Changfeng was confident he could defeat his Third Senior Brother, Luu Ye.
However, although Third Senior Brother Luu Ye had joined the Martial Arts Hall, he spent more of his time taking care of his family’s business. He was often only seen once every ten to fifteen days and didn’t train regularly at the hall.
Otherwise, with his Talent and financial resources, he should have broken through to the Blood Forging Fourth Layer long ago.
Clearly, Luu Ye’s ambitions did not lie in Martial Arts.
After one particular sparring match with Lu Changfeng ended in a draw, Luu Ye sighed in admiration and was seen at the Martial Arts Hall even more rarely...
.....
Being in the same Martial Arts Hall, Master Zhang Desheng also found out about Lu Changfeng practicing Swordsmanship.
Lu Changfeng explained the origin of the Swordsmanship manual, and Zhang Desheng didn’t ask any more questions.
He too assumed that Lu Changfeng had been practicing Swordsmanship for a long time.
He simply praised his decent Talent for the sword and told him to keep it up, but not to forget the main path of Blood Forging. He advised that it was best to complete the Blood Forging Sixth Heaven before the age of thirty and advance to Tendon Transformation.
Otherwise, it would become much more difficult to advance after the age of thirty.
Thus, immersed in training and the rapid growth of his strength, time flew by. In the blink of an eye, another forty-nine days passed.
On this day, Lu Changfeng was pondering how to copy a better Root Bone.
After all, he was already fifteen years old. With a Lower A Class Talent, he wasn’t very confident about entering the Tendon Transformation Realm before thirty.
As he was thinking on the training grounds, his master, Zhang Desheng, made a rare appearance to watch the disciples practice.
The elderly Zhang Desheng had a much milder temperament. As he offered pointers, he seemed just like a kind, next-door grandpa who just happened to be a bit tall.
Lu Changfeng suddenly noticed Zhang Desheng’s Lower A Class Root Bone on the copy interface.
At that moment, the interface prompted him: "Do you wish to copy?"
’I already have a Lower A Class Root Bone. What’s the use of copying another one?’
The interface prompted: "The copy effect still exists. Two Lower A Class Root Bones can be merged into one Middle A Class Root Bone. Four Middle A Class Root Bones can be merged into one Upper A Root Bone, and so on."
’It can do that?’
Lu Changfeng no longer hesitated. He walked over to his master’s side, reached out, and started to gently massage his back. "Master, you work so hard!"
Zhang Desheng was taken aback, but he relaxed and enjoyed it.
"Do you wish to copy?"
’Copy Master’s Root Bone!’
"Copy successful! Two Lower A Class Root Bones detected. Do you wish to fuse them?"
’Fuse!’
"Fusion successful! You have obtained a Middle A Class Root Bone!"
Lu Changfeng once again felt his body undergoing a transformation. The circulation of his qi and blood became more vigorous, and his blood-producing organs grew more active.