Guidance from Instructors
Early morning.
In the library of the East Sea Spirit Pagoda branch, he borrowed several books on Elemental Control, the basics of spear techniques, and the basics of sword techniques.
Next, he opened the Spirit Pagoda's official account on his phone and looked through the available swordsmanship, spear-fighting, and elemental instructors, among others.
The prices were all half off. The instructors were divided into five levels: white, yellow, purple, black, and red. Of course, above them were some truly extraordinary figures.
One example was Di Tian, the current pagoda master of the Soul Beast faction. It was said that he was one of only two beings on the continent to have reached the Sword God Realm. If one could receive his guidance, the benefits would be immense.
The other was the Snow Empress, who was far away in the Far North. Her Emperor Sword, one of the Snow Empress's Three Absolutes, had been honed over ten thousand years, and she too had stepped into the Sword God Realm, one step behind Di Tian.
Both had existed for hundreds of thousands of years and were renowned as the continent's foremost figures in their understanding of the sword.
However, obtaining their guidance was extremely difficult. Di Tian, for example, was not only the Chief Pagoda Master, but also the Honorary President of All Professions, the Honorary Temple Master of the War God Temple, and a member of the Federation Council.
Di Tian went to the War God Temple to offer guidance once a year, and also gave lectures on forging and mecha design and manufacturing. He could be called the busiest Beast God on the continent.
Compared to Di Tian, his adopted daughter Di Qiu'er had it rather easy. As the Emperor Auspicious Beast, she naturally carried an auspicious presence that could accelerate Soul Beasts' cultivation and promote the growth of heavenly materials and earthly treasures around her.
Now, all the major factions were begging the Emperor Auspicious Beast to set foot in their territories. Wherever the Auspicious Beast graced with her presence, heavenly materials and earthly treasures would spring up one after another like bamboo shoots after rain. She could even raise everyone's chances of experiencing an epiphany.
Thus, humans generally treated the Auspicious Beast as a treasure, each offering food and other good things to entice her into setting foot in their territories.
Of course, the Auspicious Beast's abilities naturally made others covet her as well, such as the Holy Spirit Cult, Shrek, and the Tang Sect.
So several powerful beings guarded the Auspicious Beast year-round, such as:
The Star Dou Great Forest faction sent the Scarlet King, a Four-Word Battle Armor Master with four hundred thousand years of cultivation, to guard her—a Level 98 Four-Word Battle Armor Master.
The Far North sent A-Tai, a Four-Word Battle Armor Master with three hundred thousand years of cultivation, to guard her—a Level 97 Four-Word Battle Armor Master.
The Evil Demon Forest sent the Evil Emperor's second son, an Evil-Eyed Tyrant with three hundred thousand years of cultivation and a Four-Word Battle Armor Master.
The ocean faction sent Lan Fozi, a Four-Word Battle Armor Master with three hundred thousand years of cultivation.
On the human side, the Spirit Pagoda sent Qiangu Qingfeng, a Level 99 Three-Word Battle Armor Master. The War God Temple sent Long Tianwu, a Level 98 Three-Word Battle Armor Master, while the Federation sent Bi Ji's disciple, Ya Li, a Level 99 Four-Word Battle Armor Master.
In this era, Yun Ming had once gone to the Federation to propose to Ya Li, only for the Spirit Pagoda and the Federation to immediately mobilize more than a hundred and fifty powerful Titled Douluo to beat him to exhaustion.
In the end, he could only slink back to Shrek. Damn it! Even three Soul Cores couldn't withstand so many people taking turns fighting him!
Then there was the fact that Ya Li was Bi Ji's disciple. With a powerful healing-type demigod like Bi Ji guiding her, she had now also broken through to God level.
Unfortunately, Chen Jianshu didn't know a single one of these big shots at present. The only big shot he knew was Skyhawk Douluo.
He immediately selected a red-level swordsmanship instructor, spear-fighting instructor, and Elemental Control instructor.
Booking these instructors to teach him required an appointment, and he wasn't sure whether these big shots would accept a lesson request from a minor Soul Master like him.
Besides, a single lesson cost ten million Federation Coins, even after the discount. That was far too expensive... Fortunately, as a Red-Level Core Disciple of the Spirit Pagoda, he was allocated nearly fifty million in cultivation resources each month.
That was enough. Just as he thought it might take a long time to get a response, several messages popped up the next second.
Please report to Training Room One at two this afternoon for instruction. Please report to Training Room One at four this afternoon for instruction. Please report to Training Room One at nine tomorrow morning for instruction.
His requests were accepted in barely five seconds. He was very curious: did these big shots have so much free time?
He immediately checked the time. It was nine thirty in the morning, so he would cultivate first, then see what this red-level instructor was like when the time came!
Time passed quickly as Chen Jianshu cultivated. He arrived at Training Room One, which seemed to be the most luxurious of the training rooms.
He walked inside. The training room was fully equipped, and a tall, black-haired man stood in the middle. He looked closely. Wasn't this the uncle who had guided him in forging back then?
That face... Chen Jianshu turned to look at the mural in the hallway. It depicted Di Tian, the Spirit Pagoda's first Soul Beast pagoda master.
Then he turned back to look at the figure in the training room. They were identical. Not sure, he looked again... It really was damn well Di Tian personally teaching him swordsmanship!
His pupils shook. Wasn't Beast God Di Tian supposed to be busy with countless affairs every day? How had he managed to book the Spirit Pagoda's master as his teacher?
"Come in."
Seeing him planted in the doorway, a low voice devoid of emotion rang out. He could only hurry inside, and the training room door closed automatically.
"Greetings, Senior Di Tian..."
He bowed to him, and saw Di Tian beckon. A wooden sword beside him immediately flew over, and he caught it in his hand.
"First, let me see your swordsmanship fundamentals."
"Okay!"
The calm voice rang out again. Chen Jianshu didn't dawdle. He reached out and gripped the air, and a Dull Blade appeared in his hand.
He then rushed forward and chopped down with the Dull Blade. Di Tian casually blocked it, and the Dull Blade could not advance another inch.
"Too many openings, too many unnecessary movements, and an unsteady stance."
With a nimble flick of the wooden sword, Di Tian knocked the Dull Blade aside, then swept it across and struck the inside of his knee, knocking him off his feet.
Chen Jianshu immediately sprang to his feet with a carp kip-up, switching the Dull Blade to his left hand. A five-foot-long, deep-blue Prototype Archaic appeared in his right.
He slashed horizontally with the greatsword, but it was still easily blocked. The Dull Blade thrust straight forward, and after knocking aside the greatsword, the wooden sword easily parried both blades.
After exchanging blows for some time, Chen Jianshu was panting heavily. Di Tian had remained unchanged from beginning to end; he hadn't even moved his feet.
The moment Chen Jianshu began to show signs of exhaustion, Di Tian knocked both swords aside, raised the wooden sword high, and chopped down.
In that instant, from his perspective, it was as terrifying as facing a primordial beast. The entire world seemed about to be cleaved in two.
In the end, the wooden sword came to rest gently on his shoulder. Chen Jianshu did not recover his senses for a long time.
"I have a clear understanding of your level now. First, solidify your foundation. Your sword hand is steady, but you need to work on your stance."
"You make too many unnecessary movements when you swing your sword, slowing it down considerably. In the time it takes you to swing once, someone else could swing hundreds or even thousands of times."
P.S.: The second update for July 9, four thousand characters in total.