Officially Beginning Saber Practice

In the days that followed, Lu Ming's life became ever more fulfilling.

He rose in the morning to stretch his limbs, then practiced Eight Extremes Fist several times to temper his body. In the mornings, he naturally went to Old Man Zhao to learn characters.

That very afternoon after eating, he had learned all the characters.

What came next was understanding their meanings, which took far longer.

It was not difficult, merely far more complicated.

Of course, he did not neglect cultivating Inner Qi either. That was something he did every night before sleep.

After more than ten days of recuperation, his body had finally filled out. He could be said to be brimming with vitality.

This made his cultivation progress even faster.

His physical aptitude truly was excellent. Even though his bodily limitations prevented him from cultivating for too long each time, they could not stop his Inner Qi from forming at an astonishing speed.

Naturally, the Heavenly Saber Art also deserved much of the credit. After all, it was an Earth-grade cultivation technique. The speed and quality of the Inner Qi it cultivated far surpassed those of Human-grade cultivation techniques.

The Heavenly Saber Art had twelve layers in total. The first six belonged to the Inner Qi Realm. Upon reaching the sixth layer, Inner Qi throughout the body would circulate in a Lesser Celestial Circuit.

Upon reaching that realm, not only would the generation of Inner Qi accelerate, but controlling its circulation would also become far more effortless.

Lu Ming had now cultivated it to the third layer, and his progress could be considered blindingly fast.

Moreover, this was the result of him deliberately holding himself back. The higher one's cultivation technique realm, the faster and fiercer the rate at which it refined Inner Qi.

He feared his frail body would be drained dry.

Thus, he did not continue cultivating the technique further, relying only on the first three layers to refine Inner Qi.

"I should be able to break through now."

That night, in his room, Lu Ming sensed that the Inner Qi in his dantian had reached a critical point. He could enter the Second Layer of Inner Qi.

So he did not delay, hurriedly calming his mind and entering meditation.

As the cultivation technique slowly circulated, a faint pop suddenly sounded from within Lu Ming's body, so soft that one could easily miss it. Then came what seemed like the sound of a teapot pouring tea.

Then he opened his eyes.

"That was it?"

Lu Ming wore a look of astonishment. He had just successfully broken through to the second layer of the Inner Qi Realm.

Yet the process seemed far too simple, completely beyond his expectations. He had even prepared himself to struggle for it.

And that was all?

"The cultivation technique's bonus must have played a big part too."

After carefully examining himself, Lu Ming came to a conclusion: the Inner Qi cultivated by the Heavenly Saber Art was exceptionally sharp and tyrannical.

This gave it tremendous advantages in battle and worked wonders when charging through cultivation realms.

Thus, those who cultivated the Heavenly Saber Art often advanced at lightning speed in the early stages.

However, this also had its drawbacks. Cultivating too quickly meant that one's Inner Qi, True Qi, and the like would lack the depth of other cultivation techniques at the same grade.

He had read all of this in another book obtained from the Stone Coffin.

Ever since learning to read, he had understood the contents he had memorized while leafing through it before.

It was an autobiography recording the life of a man called Old Man Heavenly Saber, along with some of the strange tales he had encountered. Its contents were extremely rich.

It had broadened Lu Ming's horizons considerably.

Unfortunately, he had only skimmed through it at the time and had not turned through many pages completely, leaving the contents fragmented.

So he planned to find time to retrieve the book.

Not dwelling on it further, Lu Ming hurriedly tested the effects of entering the Second Layer of Inner Qi. He found that when Inner Qi circulated, his strength suddenly surged.

Then he tried circulating his Inner Qi and jumping. He found his body much lighter, easily leaping onto a table a meter high.

"Now I'm finally no ordinary person."

After testing himself, Lu Ming was immensely excited. He did not continue cultivating and went straight to sleep.

Tomorrow, he planned to begin practicing saber techniques.

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the next morning arrived, and Lu Ming woke naturally out of habit.

He first lit a fire to cook porridge, then washed up, went into the courtyard to stretch his limbs, and finally practiced a round of fist techniques.

By the time he had finished these basic exercises, the porridge was ready. He quickly finished eating, and after letting the food settle, he prepared to officially begin practicing saber techniques.

His saber had long been prepared, and it was mainly made of wood.

There was no helping it. He could not afford an iron saber for now, so he could only make do with a wooden one.

However, the wooden saber was too light. To increase its weight, he had no choice but to combine two wooden sabers into one, sandwiching a long, thin stone strip between them before wrapping it round and round with rope.

Yet this created another problem. Though the weight had increased, it had also become somewhat bulky.

It looked like a wooden club.

The Heavenly Saber Saber Art was a saber art that pursued speed and sharpness, so a narrow saber half a finger wide would have been more suitable. But again, circumstances were limited.

Without complaint, Lu Ming picked up his homemade wooden saber and swung it a few times to get used to it.

The Heavenly Saber Saber Art had nine forms in total. The first three belonged to the Inner Qi Realm. From the fourth form onward, one needed to reach the True Qi Realm to cultivate and perform them.

Lu Ming had already studied the first three forms countless times and repeatedly simulated them in his mind. He knew them by heart.

But just like Eight Extremes Fist, this only meant his mind had learned them. For his body to learn them, he still needed a bout of grueling training.

In the courtyard, Lu Ming stood with his saber upright, assumed his stance, and began swinging it stroke after stroke.

What he was practicing now was basic saber technique, included within the first three forms of the Heavenly Saber Saber Art. Though those first three forms had only three moves, their contents were extraordinarily rich.

They included introductory basic saber techniques, as well as footwork and movement techniques that matched the saber art.

The changes between each move were even more intricate.

Overall, it was a cultivation technique that progressed step by step.

Lu Ming was rather glad that he had obtained the Heavenly Saber Art. During this time, aside from studying with Old Man Zhao, he would also take the initiative to burrow into his study and read on his own.

As a result, his knowledge had increased greatly.

He had learned that many high-grade cultivation techniques and martial skills did not include the basics. One could only cultivate them after reaching a certain realm.

And he was clearly quite fortunate.

Enough idle chatter. In the small courtyard, Lu Ming continuously swung his wooden saber—sometimes chopping, sometimes hacking, sometimes lifting, then chopping down, picking, intercepting, pushing, and more.

Every move was steady and precise.

Very soon, he finished this set of basic saber techniques in an extremely unpracticed manner. By now, he was drenched in sweat.

"Continue."

Still having strength left, Lu Ming took several breaths and did not stop, continuing to practice.

Only after the eleventh repetition did he stop, utterly exhausted. Practicing saber techniques truly was far more tiring than practicing fist techniques.

But his hard work had not been in vain. After more than ten repetitions, he could perform this set of basic saber techniques with growing smoothness and ever-increasing speed.

Only the transitions between movements remained somewhat sluggish now, but it was not a major problem. He believed a few more rounds of practice would solve it.

After reviewing his performance, Lu Ming ended this cultivation session.

His clothes were now completely soaked through with sweat, and he could not lift his arms with even a trace of strength. He needed rest.

So he boiled water and took a hot bath. Afterward, he drank a bowl of meat porridge to replenish what he had consumed, rested briefly, then headed toward Old Man Zhao's courtyard.

"Why are you here so late today?"

Old Man Zhao still wore that lazy appearance.

Lu Ming smiled. "It's so close. Can't you see me, old man?"

During this time, his relationship with Old Man Zhao had grown increasingly close.

"You little rascal."

Old Man Zhao laughed as he scolded him, then sized him up again and nodded. "Not bad. Ten days ago, you were still a scrawny boy with only a thread of weak Inner Qi. Now you've actually broken through to the Second Layer of Inner Qi."

"And your realm is quite stable too."

Lu Ming had long since grown used to the other man's piercing eye. He asked,

"Then what level do you think my cultivation speed is at?"