Every time Ergouzi came to see Li Banxian, he made sure to buy a slab of fatty pork to honor his master.
Although he hesitated a little every time he bought the meat, his heart aching over the silver, he never could bring himself to eat the fatty pork himself.
But his master was an otherworldly expert, a figure like an immortal who had bestowed a mountain of kindness upon him. It was well worth a piece of pork.
“Master, I can crush stones now!”
The moment master and disciple met, Ergouzi naturally shared the joy of his success.
All of his current achievements were due to his master’s excellent teaching.
“How is that possible?”
Li Banxian instinctively felt it was impossible. How could a human’s fingers crush a stone?
He had practiced these shabby cultivation methods himself. Aside from causing a huge appetite and wasting a few extra bowls of rice, they were completely useless.
As for his recurring performance of crushing stones to powder, he knew exactly what was going on there.
But he quickly realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly corrected himself.
“How could it be so fast?”
Li Banxian spoke while picking up a stone from the ground. He placed it on the table for Ergouzi to crush.
“Crush this stone for your master to see.”
Ergouzi picked up the stone on the table, secretly circulating his True Qi.
“Bang!”
Stone fragments scattered everywhere. A bluish stone the size of a chicken egg was squeezed until it shattered into several pieces.
Li Banxian trembled, tugging at his sparse beard, still unable to conceal the shock in his heart.
He had checked when he picked the stone up; it was a real stone, not some prop.
Could he have misjudged it just now and accidentally picked up a fake stone?
Not quite giving up, he picked up a small piece of the stone Ergouzi had crushed, retracted his hand into his sleeve, and squeezed hard.
He squeezed!
He squeezed with all his might!
He squeezed through gritted teeth!
His face flushed red from the strain, but the small stone remained utterly unmoved.
Li Banxian once again sank into deep self-doubt and inner turmoil.
However, his many years of professional integrity allowed him to remain composed, his expression unchanged.
“Not bad! Not bad!”
“Being able to crush stones can be considered a small achievement.”
“However, relying purely on brute force means you still lack refinement.”
Li Banxian felt it was getting harder and harder to deceive this boy, and the pressure weighed heavily on his heart.
“Master’s reprimand is correct. This disciple’s meager skills before master are like… like that firefly competing with… with the light of the sun and moon.”
Although Ergouzi’s cultivation was progressing relatively fast, his foundational reading material was a cultivation method with no beginning or end.
Wanting to mimic cultured people and say a few dignified words to show humility, he could only speak haltingly.
“It is already quite good, but you still need to work hard.”
Li Banxian was, after all, an old fox of the martial world. He quickly pulled himself out of his mental anguish. Now he appeared as breezy and calm as light clouds, displaying the perfect demeanor of an expert.
“How is your practice of the Basic Sword Forms going?”
“I can already use a sixty-jin heavy sword to practice the Basic Sword Forms.” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Ergouzi answered truthfully.
He could now easily lift a five-hundred-jin boulder with both arms.
But to practice those Basic Sword Forms single-handedly and wield the sword freely, sixty jin was a more suitable weight.
Of course, if he circulated True Qi into his sword-holding arm, that would be a different matter.
“Hmm, not bad. You need to continue working hard. When you can use a hundred-jin heavy sword, your master can pass on a sword technique to you.”
Li Banxian offered a few more words of encouragement and sent Ergouzi on his way.
After Ergouzi left, Li Banxian took out an old sword technique manual, spread it out on the table, and began copying it.
The original book stated that one only needed to be able to use a ten-jin heavy sword to begin practicing the technique, but to make things harder for Ergouzi, he had stubbornly changed it to one hundred jin.
As he copied the sword technique now, in order to prevent Ergouzi from learning it too quickly, he multiplied all the requirements and figures several times over.
He did not have many things on hand to deceive Ergouzi with. If the boy mastered everything, he would have nothing left to teach.
Ergouzi returned to the mountain and practiced bitterly every day. The True Qi in his Conception and Governor Vessels gradually filled out, and his strength grew day by day.
Having tasted the benefits of the Origin-Nourishing Foundation-Fortifying Pill, he made another trip to Hong’an Hall in the county seat during this period.
However, he failed to buy any Origin-Nourishing Foundation-Fortifying Pills. These expensive medicinal pills were in high demand, and the shop was temporarily out of stock.
Without the Origin-Nourishing Foundation-Fortifying Pill, he could only cultivate as hard as an ox every day, making do with ginseng stewed with pork.
Perhaps because the medicinal properties were not properly balanced, eating too much ginseng easily gave him internal heat and caused nosebleeds.
Although his strength did not advance by leaps and bounds during this period, it steadily improved, becoming particularly solid.
The weight of the heavy sword he used for practice increased step by step.
Sixty-five jin, seventy jin, eighty-five jin…
Another half a year passed like this. Ergouzi had already attached all the iron pieces he had forged at the beginning onto the sword.
…
Sanchazi Town.
“Master, I can already use a hundred-jin heavy sword!”
Ergouzi carried the heavy sword over his shoulder to report the good news to his master.
Li Banxian’s facial muscles twitched violently. He instinctively wanted to say it was impossible, but fortunately, the words reached his lips and he forcibly swallowed them back down.
After all, a few months ago he had personally witnessed Ergouzi’s ability to crush stones barehanded.
“You can really use a hundred-jin heavy sword?”
Li Banxian still looked with some doubt at the sword-shaped object strapped to Ergouzi’s back, which was bundled with many pieces of iron.
“Yes! I can!”
Ergouzi grunted in affirmation, reaching back to draw the sword. Gripping it in his hand, he casually performed a few basic movements: thrusting, chopping, and lifting.
He looked casual, free, and natural; that sword didn’t even seem to weigh a few taels.
Sometimes, he could even lightly hook the sword with just a couple of fingers.
“Give this sword to your master to see!”
Li Banxian had spent most of his life conning people. Projecting his own ways onto others, he instinctively felt that perhaps there was a trick to the sword.
“Alright!”
Ergouzi casually handed the sword over, and Li Banxian absentmindedly reached out to take it.
However, as soon as the sword entered his hands, it was abnormally heavy, nearly dropping straight to the ground.
Li Banxian could only clutch it desperately with both hands, his old face flushing completely red from the strain.
“Clang, clatter…”
In the end, Li Banxian still couldn’t hold onto the great sword. It fell to the ground, nearly breaking his foot and spraining his old back. This chapter was taken from novelping dot com without permission.
Li Banxian clutched his waist, taking a few deep breaths, secretly relieved that Ergouzi had just turned around and missed his embarrassing state.
“This sword has a crisp sound, and the quality isn’t bad either. Pick it up yourself.”
Li Banxian had spent a long time in the martial world and had seen it all. He quickly suppressed the shock and doubt in his heart, stroking his beard with one hand to conceal his loss of composure.
Ergouzi honestly picked up the great sword and casually held it in his hand. Watching this made Li Banxian secretly gasp several breaths of cold air.
This kid looked honest and simple, yet he was naturally gifted. He had been too careless before.
If he had known Ergouzi could develop such a body of brute strength, he wouldn’t have dared to deceive him so casually.
If one day the deception was exposed and that hundred-jin heavy sword swung down, his old bones wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
But now he was unable to dismount after riding a tiger; he could only adapt to the situation and continue the deception.
Ergouzi certainly didn’t expect Li Banxian’s heart to be going through so many twists and turns.
Since following his master to learn martial arts, he had progressed rapidly and gained much. The various skills he cultivated were all real and substantial, not fake in the slightest. As for his master’s divine abilities, he already revered him as a deity.
“Master, look, is my straight thrust like this correct?”
Ergouzi swung the heavy sword in his hand, thrusting forward several times, but he still felt something wasn’t quite right. He then handed the hundred-jin heavy sword out in front of Li Banxian.
“Could Master demonstrate it for me?”
This made Li Banxian secretly frightened. This was a hundred-jin heavy sword, yet in Ergouzi’s hands it was as effortless as an ordinary wooden sword.
But having just suffered for it, he didn’t dare reach out to take it now. He casually waved a sleeve, indicating there was no need.
“There is no need for your master to demonstrate. You have already practiced quite well.”
What else could Li Banxian say? If he said the practice was wrong, he would have to demonstrate it personally.
Hearing his master’s approval, Ergouzi was naturally overjoyed, but he had lacked confidence since childhood—he was even somewhat insecure.
He still lacked confidence in his Basic Sword Forms.
“Is my thrust like this really alright? Master, why don’t you still show your skill and let this disciple witness it?”
Hearing this, Li Banxian repeatedly waved his hands. Having him demonstrate would be no different from roasting him directly over a fire.
As an old charlatan who had walked the martial world for many years, he deeply understood that the fewer times one made a move, the more mysterious and profound one appeared.
Moreover, such a massive lump of iron—he truly couldn’t lift it.
“There is no need. Your master has cultivated to a higher realm. I reached the state of ‘having no sword surpasses having a sword’ long ago. With a wave of my hand or a lift of my foot, even plucked leaves and drifting petals can wound a man.”
“Taking a head from ten zhang away is as easy as reaching into a bag.”
“Such Basic Sword Forms as these would only disgrace your master’s hands.”
Li Banxian licked his lips, organizing his words in his heart.
“Your Basic Sword Forms are already mastered. Now, your master will pass a sword technique on to you.”
Hearing this, Ergouzi was overjoyed, watching as Li Banxian took a handwritten sword manual scroll out from his sleeve.
“This is your master’s ancestral sword technique. It is vast, profound, and unfathomable. Take it back, study it carefully, and cultivate it. Do not slack off.”
“Thank you, Master!”
Ergouzi happily received the sword manual, thanking him repeatedly. He felt his master was truly good to him, teaching him both ancestral cultivation methods and sword manuals.
Every time he had gifted his master a piece of fatty pork or a jug of aged wine, his heart would ache over those few copper coins. Thinking about it now, he really felt unworthy of such generosity.
Ergouzi tucked the sword manual into his clothes and, carrying a trace of guilt toward his master, finally left Sanchazi Town.
Li Banxian watched Ergouzi’s departing back, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
This time, the sword manual had been modified by him beyond all recognition. You shouldn’t be able to practice it now!