[ Sword Heart ]

Lu Changfeng called Black Ox over.

Black Ox carried a pile of gifts and began paying visits throughout the Hall of Worship.

It was probably because everyone knew Lu Changfeng was a top-tier saber master who had condensed saber intent.

The Attendants were also very courteous to Lu Changfeng.

Over the course of two days, Lu Changfeng visited every Attendant.

He met all of them face-to-face.

And he truly gained an unexpected harvest.

Among these Attendants, even the one with the poorest bone structure had Grade B Middle, while most were Grade B Upper.

The six Muscle Tendon Realm Attendants all had Grade A Bone Structure.

As for talent, among the more than thirty Attendants, only eight possessed Martial Talent. Liu An and Mo Tian, who had previously completed an Attendant mission together with Lu Changfeng, were among them.

Of them all, the one who surprised Lu Changfeng most was a dejected old man in the Muscle Tendon Realm.

This man called himself Old Luo. He was a Muscle Tendon Realm Attendant of the Wang Family.

Old Luo had the highest bone structure among all the Attendants—Grade A Mid. Besides that, he also possessed a High-grade Talent called [Sword Heart].

This was clearly a sword-technique-type talent.

However, judging from its name, it had a different inclination from Lu Changfeng's High-grade Talent.

Lu Changfeng therefore asked the interface about it.

The interface's reply was that High-grade Talents could continue fusing into Super-grade Talents.

However, a Super-grade Talent required four High-grade Talents of the same type to fuse successfully.

That meant Ye Sheng's High-grade Talent, [Dark Strike], could only be copied once at most.

To advance it into a Super-grade Talent, he would need three other different High-grade Talents related to concealed weapons.

After figuring this out, Lu Changfeng immediately decided that Old Luo's [Sword Heart] would be his next copy target.

Early the next morning.

The Copy Interface refreshed.

Lu Changfeng carried a wine flask and found Old Luo.

In Lu Changfeng's eyes, Old Luo's identity was definitely not simple.

A High-grade Talent combined with Grade A Mid Bone Structure would make him a top-tier genius worth cultivating even in a sect.

Why had he fallen to the point of serving as an Attendant in a mere Wang Family?

After asking around about Old Luo's usual conduct from various sources, Lu Changfeng learned that Old Luo displayed only the strength of an ordinary Martial Master during the Wang Family's Attendant missions. He had never shown any talent in swordsmanship.

This made Lu Changfeng even more certain of his guess. Old Luo had probably concealed his name and was living a life of secluded cultivation—or simply wasting away—in the Wang Family.

Old Luo's usual hobbies were drinking and playing chess.

So today, Lu Changfeng carried a wine flask to find him.

"Oh? It's Saber Master Lu! Come in, come in!"

Old Luo opened the door. When he saw the wine flask in Lu Changfeng's hand, his eyes lit up.

As for the nickname Saber Master Lu, it had spread through the Hall of Worship after the Attendants learned that Lu Changfeng had condensed saber intent.

For some reason, Old Luo remembered this nickname particularly well, and he had formed a deep impression of Lu Changfeng.

"I heard that Attendant Luo is quite skilled at chess. I have nothing to do today, so I came to seek your guidance," Lu Changfeng said after entering.

"Haha, 'guidance' is too serious a word. Since you also love the way of chess, Saber Master Lu, let's have a fierce match!"

Old Luo sat down at the stone table in front of the courtyard, where a chessboard was already laid out.

Lu Changfeng sat down and placed the wine flask on the table.

"You came to play and even brought wine!"

As Old Luo spoke, he took two cups from beneath the stone table and opened the wine flask.

"Hmm, is this Osmanthus Fine Brew from Osmanthus Tower? Fifty taels a flask—top-tier wine! Saber Master Lu, you really are willing to spend!"

Old Luo poured each of them a cup, took an intoxicated sip, and began placing his stones excitedly.

Lu Changfeng smiled faintly. The two of them exchanged moves, and in the blink of an eye, the battle had reached its crucial stage.

It seems the Go classes I signed up for before transmigrating weren't a waste after all. Old Luo's chess skills were too strong. Lu Changfeng could only struggle bitterly, barely avoiding being slaughtered in an instant.

"Not bad, not bad. Saber Master Lu, you dared to come looking for me, so you really do have some skill." Old Luo's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Luo's offensive grew fiercer and fiercer. Lu Changfeng was soon slaughtered until not a single piece remained.

"Farewell. I'll come seek your guidance again next time!"

Lu Changfeng turned and left, leaving Old Luo with a baffled look on his face. "The wine isn't finished yet! You're not going to play another game before leaving?"

Without turning his head, Lu Changfeng waved. "No need. I'm going back to cultivate."

He had already copied the [Sword Heart] Talent. Who had time to stay here and accompany some rotten old man?

Even if there truly were some secrets behind this old man, Lu Changfeng had no interest in digging into the inner world of a rotten old man.

He returned to his own Small Courtyard in the Hall of Worship.

Lu Changfeng drew the Autumn Water Longsword, which had not left its sheath in a long while.

As the treasured weapon's cold light flashed, Lu Changfeng practiced the Gale Sword Technique.

When the Gale Sword Technique reached its profound depths, the Fierce Wind Sword Intent naturally burst forth!

This time, Lu Changfeng's [Sword Heart] and [Swordmaster] Talents activated simultaneously, and his comprehension of the Fierce Wind Sword Intent immediately deepened another level!

After finishing his practice, the interface displayed the changes directly.

The "sword-technique power increased by 50%" after [Fierce Wind Sword Intent] had changed to "sword-technique power increased by 65%."

This was the effect of talent enhancement. With the same sword technique and sword intent, the stronger the talent, the greater the power one could naturally unleash.

"The fusion rules from High-grade Talent to Super-grade Talent have changed. This has disrupted my copying plan."

"Next, I can change my fusion target to Heroic Bone Structure. If the copy target is Grade A Mid, it should take about four years to fuse Heroic Bone Structure."

"Four years is still within what I can afford to wait."

After setting his target, Lu Changfeng began his secluded cultivation. The only cultivation method he practiced was [Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique].

From time to time, he would play chess with Old Luo to build their relationship.

Whenever the Copy Interface refreshed, Lu Changfeng would find Old Luo and copy his bone structure once.

Thus, after three copies, the year-end arrived once more.

Lu Changfeng had stayed in the Wang Family for a full six months. After experiencing several Attendant missions, he could be considered a veteran Attendant.

Over those six months, Lu Changfeng had become extremely proficient in the first layer of [Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique].

He could practice it eight times in a single day.

This was the sign that he could begin cultivating the second layer of [Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique].

Although he was still at Blood Tempering Sixth Level, Lu Changfeng could clearly feel his physique growing stronger. His strength, endurance, and explosive power had all increased tremendously.

This [Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique] was definitely no ordinary cultivation method.

Cultivating the second layer of [Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique] required increasing the weight of the saber to two hundred pounds.

Thus, amid heavy goose-feather snow,

Lu Changfeng left the Wang residence with the saber on his back and headed to the weapons shop.

He spent one hundred and twenty taels of silver to have the shopkeeper add another hundred pounds to the saber.

The shopkeeper clearly recognized Lu Changfeng and secretly exclaimed that he really was a freak.

Still, who would refuse a profitable deal?

This time, it took two days to increase the iron saber's weight to two hundred pounds.

The iron saber was still one point eight meters long, but it had grown much thicker, especially around the spine.

Only with two blacksmiths carrying it together could the two-hundred-pound saber be brought before Lu Changfeng.

Lu Changfeng took a deep breath and gripped the hilt with one hand. The long saber was slowly lifted, and Lu Changfeng once again felt that long-lost, crushing weight.