Forewarned Is Forearmed

Forewarned Is Forearmed

Only when the sun was setting did the tightly shut Courtyard Gate get pushed open again. At Chu Mu's calls, several burly men pushing a flatbed cart followed him into the courtyard.

"Put the Wooden Dummy in that corner. As for the Hanging Ball Array... hang it from the tree."

Following Chu Mu's directions, the burly men immediately got to work—some digging holes, some mixing mortar, some carrying things.

After roughly half an hour, the martial training ground Chu Mu had envisioned appeared in the courtyard.

"Young Master, everything's been set up. We'll be heading back first, then."

The man in the lead walked up to Chu Mu and spoke with a cheerful smile.

"Mm..."

Chu Mu looked around at the training equipment he had conceived, nodded, then took a few Banknotes from his robe and stuffed them into the burly man's hand. "You've worked hard. The weather's cold, so buy the brothers some wine to warm yourselves up."

"Heh heh, Young Master, you're too generous."

"Then we'll be off first."

The man chuckled, called out to the others, and the burly men with him pushed the cart away. At the end, they even thoughtfully closed the Courtyard Gate for Chu Mu.

The earlier clamor also turned into silence as the Courtyard Gate closed.

Chu Mu sized up the training tools he had designed, and a little excitement could not help but stir in his heart.

The Wooden Dummy had been made by Chu Mu in imitation of the training dummies from martial arts movies in his previous life.

It was just that Chu Mu had altered it slightly, making it more suitable for practicing saber techniques and forms.

The Wooden Dummy was slightly taller than a person. Though its name called it a dummy, it had a head, body, arms, and legs, all present, its overall shape humanoid. Several thick layers of sackcloth were wrapped around the wooden body; at a glance, it looked like a sculpture wearing heavy armor.

Chu Mu stepped forward with his saber and stood in place. After a moment of stillness, his long saber left its sheath and swung out fiercely.

Chop, slash, upward strike, thrust...

Every strike was no longer moving through empty air as before, but truly and solidly landing on something.

The several layers of thick sackcloth cushioned the force of the blade's descent very well, and the humanoid Wooden Dummy allowed Chu Mu to consciously simulate attacking different body parts.

After practicing to his heart's content for roughly a Quarter of an Hour, Chu Mu finally stopped and stood upright. The Wooden Dummy before him now bore quite a few savage saber marks.

Chu Mu glanced at the Light Screen Panel. In that short Quarter of an Hour, his saber technique proficiency had unexpectedly surged by a full five points, breaking precedent.

"It really is useful."

Joy appeared on Chu Mu's face. He then looked toward his magically modified Hanging Ball Array.

The hanging balls were woven from rattan and bamboo strips, about the size of basketballs from his previous life, and suspended from the tree with thin cords at varying heights.

Though it was somewhat different from the Sandbag Array he had seen in movies from his previous life, the principle was more or less the same.

Putting down his Saber, Chu Mu picked up a Wooden Sword he had asked the craftsman to make in passing, weighed it in his hand, and casually struck one of the hanging balls.

With the hanging balls colliding, the suspended balls at different heights immediately began to swing without any pattern.

As the Wooden Sword landed on the hanging balls again and again, the force of their swinging grew greater and greater, attacking Chu Mu from all directions.

How to dodge, how to swing his saber precisely to block the hanging balls and prevent them from crashing into his body—these were the things Chu Mu needed to do while standing inside the Hanging Ball Array.

Unsurprisingly, very soon, Chu Mu retreated from the Hanging Ball Array in a sorry state.

"Good thing I didn't use solid balls!"

Chu Mu looked at the hanging balls before him that were still swinging wildly, smacked his lips, and felt inexplicably speechless.

One had to know that according to his initial idea, he had planned to use solid wooden balls, and had even planned to slowly change the material of the balls as his practice progressed.

Clearly, he had still overestimated himself too much.

If he had really used solid balls, he would be grimacing in pain right now, his face bruised and swollen.

After hesitating for a while, Chu Mu stepped into the Hanging Ball Array again. The result was no surprise: very soon, Chu Mu retreated in a sorry state once more.

Chu Mu pressed his lips together, thought for a moment, then carried the Wooden Sword back inside.

Facing targets that moved without pattern was undoubtedly a completely different concept compared to swinging a saber through empty air or hacking at dead objects.

And just as Chu Mu had thought, he currently could not properly turn the saber technique that had already reached Initial Understanding into his own strength.

His flustered, clumsy appearance inside the Hanging Ball Array undoubtedly proved that point clearly.

Through attempt after attempt, the awkward figure within the Hanging Ball Array slowly began to improve.

Without a doubt, the most important thing was still his state of mind.

He could not panic, nor could he let hot blood rush to his head.

The moment he panicked, the moment hot blood rushed to his head, he would be all hands and feet, unable to bring out even ten percent of his ability.

After calming his state of mind, the saber technique that had already reached Initial Understanding slowly began to display the power it ought to have in Chu Mu's hands.

With one swing of the saber, his control over force was enough for Chu Mu to control the arc of the struck hanging ball's swing.

What remained was reaction.

How to dodge in the most effective way; how to swing the saber faster and more simply; how to better control his strength, thereby making the entire Hanging Ball Array move according to him, rather than being forced to move along with the Hanging Ball Array.

But for the current Chu Mu, that was clearly still very difficult.

Still, he already knew the direction he had to move in. What remained was nothing more than practice.

If once did not work, then twice. If twice did not work, then three times.

If one day did not work, then two days. If two days did not work, then three days...

Ever since coming to this world, carrying a Golden Finger that let him grow stronger only through focus, the one thing Chu Mu had never lacked was patience.

Standing within the Hanging Ball Array, in Chu Mu's field of vision, every swaying hanging ball was like a bandit charging toward him with murderous ferocity. Being struck meant he had suffered an injury!

Though Chu Mu did not know whether he would ever encounter such a scene.

But in all things, preparation made success; lack of preparation brought ruin. In this current world, with a situation that might erupt at some unknown moment, the skills he was bitterly training might just save his little life one day.

Time, too, slipped away bit by bit under this kind of practice. The sky, already at sunset and dusk, slowly turned dim.

Dull thuds rang out without end, and the figure shifting and swinging his blade within the Hanging Ball Array seemed as though he knew no fatigue.

With moonlight high overhead, sweat scattered through the winter air. That flustered, clumsy figure slowly became methodical and orderly. Though he still often made mistakes and was struck, his improvement was visible to the naked eye.

"Hah..."

At some unknown point, Chu Mu finally walked out of the Hanging Ball Array, gasping for breath. Though he was utterly exhausted, the excitement on his face was hard to hide.

When a sharp blade rested in the heart, murderous intent arose on its own.

Now, Chu Mu could truly be considered to understand the meaning of those words.

Perhaps because he had immersed himself in a scenario of being surrounded and attacked within the Hanging Ball Array, right now, for some inexplicable reason, he really wanted to fight someone with real blades and real weapons.

He wanted to see whether the skills he had trained so bitterly could truly defend him, could... kill! At this moment, Chu Mu could not help thinking again of his Squad Leader, the one who possessed Real Skill.

He subconsciously placed himself into such a fight, but after only a moment, Chu Mu shook his head.

Putting everything else aside, the difference in physical ability alone was enough to crush him with ease.

The force of that punch was inhuman!...