A Precious Sword for a Hero

"Golden Ginseng Oral Liquid—cell fluid from crushed Golden Leaf Ginseng of the Otherworld mixed with Strange Beast meat powder. It contains extremely high energy and can be absorbed orally, making it very suitable for Martial Artists."

Song Mingyue handed Gao Wu another exquisitely packaged box of oral liquid. "All physical and mental evolution is inseparable from energy. The Flying Squirrel Serum's modification of the nerves requires an enormous amount of energy. This box of oral liquid should roughly meet those energy requirements..."

"Thanks. You really thought of everything." Gao Wu had already accepted so much that this little bit made no difference.

He would not use money to quantify these things as Song Mingyue did. In his eyes, Song Mingyue, who could do all this for him, was his best friend.

There was no need for him to stand on ceremony now. Only by raising his strength as quickly as possible could he help Song Mingyue and live up to what she had given him.

Just as Song Mingyue valued herself at a hundred billion, Gao Wu felt that he too would become very, very expensive in the future.

For all these favors he owed now, he could repay them tenfold, a hundredfold. Mm, he was simply that confident.

As usual, Gao Wu and Song Mingyue went to the first-floor training hall to spar.

To Gao Wu's surprise, Song Mingyue handed him a sword—a real sword forged from metal. She drew her own blade and casually spun it in a flower of steel. The blade, bright as autumn waters, turned into a sheet of dazzling sword light in the air.

The sword had a long, slender blade, a squared loop-shaped guard, a black hilt, and an integrated matte-black alloy scabbard. It possessed a powerful sense of unity, like a work of art.

Gao Wu accepted the sword with both hands and immediately felt it sink in his grip. This exquisite, gorgeous weapon weighed a full twenty kilograms.

Ordinary people generally used practical combat swords weighing around one or two kilograms. Martial Artists were far stronger than normal people, but the swords they used were mostly under five kilograms. This sword weighed twenty kilograms.

Although his punching power could now reach thirteen hundred kilograms, it was still difficult for him to wield such a heavy sword as he pleased.

A sword was not the same as a barbell. A sword had to be swung with full force. No matter how well its center of gravity was balanced, precisely controlling such a heavy weapon was no easy task.

"The blade was forged from titanium-tungsten alloy. It is ninety-nine centimeters long, highly durable and tough, corrosion-resistant, and heat-resistant. The hilt is nineteen centimeters long and was integrally cast with carbon-fiber particles to prevent slipping. The sword weighs nineteen kilograms, or twenty-nine kilograms with the scabbard. The scabbard has a magnetic clasp and can be worn with a special belt."

Song Mingyue said, "I had this sword custom-made for you. It is still somewhat heavy for you now, but considering that your strength will continue to grow, I left some room for that.

"This sword is mainly for training, so being heavier makes it more suitable. After you inject the Flying Squirrel Serum, you will need the sword even more to unify body and mind."

In truth, this was a Level Three sword. It used special materials from the Otherworld and could gather mental power to converge source power. Martial Artists could not gather source power, so using such a sword would be extravagantly wasteful.

To help Gao Wu sense source power sooner, she had spent a fortune to have this sword custom-made for him. There was no need to explain any of that to Gao Wu.

"Good friend!"

Gao Wu was deeply moved. Song Mingyue had been far too thoughtful! He truly wanted to give his buddy a huge hug!

A bond worth a hundred billion really was valuable! He was about to fall in love with Song Mingyue!

He often browsed weapon websites. There was no need to ask—such a high-end sword had to cost at least three hundred to five hundred thousand.

He drew the sword and examined it closely. The intricate patterns on the guard actually formed his name: Gao Wu.

"There is an electronic tracker embedded in the guard. It can be linked to your phone to prevent it from being lost." As Song Mingyue explained, she took out Gao Wu's phone and operated it for him, binding the tracker to his phone account.

"Wow, so thoughtful!" Gao Wu was even more touched. Losing a sword worth several hundred thousand would hurt far too much.

Gao Wu drew the sword and gave it a light swing. As the blade cut through the air, it felt smooth and steady. Its center of gravity was twenty centimeters ahead of the hilt, making it extremely comfortable to control.

It had no flaws aside from being too heavy.

Over the past month, he had injected Blood Dragon Agent every day and grown nearly another four centimeters. His height had surpassed one meter ninety, and his reach had increased as well.

Long arms combined with a long blade were an enormous advantage in actual combat.

He practiced a set of Dragon-Roaming Sword. Because the sword dragged heavily at his hand and was exceptionally sharp, Gao Wu performed every move slowly.

Song Mingyue watched for a while, then joined the sparring with a wooden sword in hand. Their two swords met and crossed, exerting force back and forth. Song Mingyue was calm and relaxed, while Gao Wu was extraordinarily cautious.

The sword was too sharp. It would be bad if he carelessly injured Song Mingyue.

It was precisely because of this mindset that Gao Wu focused on his sword more intently than ever before. The problem was that Song Mingyue's sword became faster and faster, leaving Gao Wu with no choice but to keep up.

After sparring like this for ten minutes, sweat had appeared on Gao Wu's forehead and heat coursed through his entire body.

Seeing this, Song Mingyue sheathed her sword and retreated. Gao Wu also let out a breath, his body and mind relaxing at the same time.

"When wielding a sword, the heart should be wholly focused. Human thoughts are complex, and stray thoughts are like dust flying on the wind, impossible to settle. Only when facing extreme circumstances does a person's attention become exceptionally concentrated, leaving no room to think of anything else," Song Mingyue said calmly.

She knew that Gao Wu could not master the sword, so she had deliberately used some extra force to pressure him. To avoid hurting her, Gao Wu would inevitably become extraordinarily careful.

By creating this special situation through external pressure, she allowed Gao Wu's mind to enter a state of extreme focus, greatly improving the results of his sword practice.

After sparring several more times, Gao Wu felt that his swordsmanship had improved greatly. It was simply too exhausting to train this way. It felt like dancing on the edge of a cliff, and both his body and mind endured tremendous pressure.

Back in the tea room, Song Mingyue turned on the projector and played footage of Gao Wu's two fights that day.

The projector cast a huge high-definition image on the wall, displaying every detail of both sides in battle.

Seeing his own heroic bearing in combat, Gao Wu felt rather pleased with himself.

Even in such fierce battles, he had managed his expressions quite well. He had not made any twisted, ferocious, terrifying faces.

In comparison, Han Song was much worse at expression management. Especially in the instant before Gao Wu's palm blade struck him, Han Song sensed something was wrong, and the features of his old face shrank into a knot from terror. In the slow-motion footage, he looked ugly and somewhat ridiculous...

Unfortunately, Song Mingyue paid no attention to his handsome appearance. Instead, she pointed at the battle footage and said, "In both of your fights this afternoon, you took the initiative to lure the enemy in deep, relied on your body to endure their attacks head-on, then counterattacked with the momentum. You made use of your physical advantages well. Your Dragon-Roaming Palm was also used quite well..."

Song Mingyue divided the video into frame-by-frame images as she explained it to Gao Wu. Her assessment of him was as objective and fair as possible.

Gao Wu had been feeling rather proud of himself, but after hearing Song Mingyue's analysis, he lost his spirit. Indeed, Song Mingyue had hit the nail on the head.

The reason he had been able to defeat Han Song and Yang Lin was mainly because he could take a beating. Han Song had also learned nothing from the past. Yang Lin had already suffered the same loss before him, yet Han Song still stepped into the same pit.

It was not that Han Song was stupid. Gao Wu's body was simply too tough.

He had taken eight strikes of Tiger-Form Cleaving Power in succession and still managed to control his body, with strength left to counterattack. That was something Han Song could never have imagined.

Then again, that was how fights between Martial Artists went.

The gap between them had not been that great to begin with. His physical advantage was enough to crush Han Song. Even if Han Song had not fallen for it, three exchanges would have been enough to wear him out completely, leaving Gao Wu free to deal with him however he wished.

After reviewing the battle, the two went to Bailin Lake together.

By mid-December, after several sharp drops in temperature, a thick layer of ice had formed over Bailin Lake.

Gao Wu and Song Mingyue walked to the center of the lake. Gao Wu drew his sword and cut a triangular opening in the ice, flipped the triangular slab aside, then he and Song Mingyue dove into the depths of the lake.

Three minutes later, Gao Wu carried Song Mingyue as they burst from the surging lake water onto the ice.

After resting briefly, Gao Wu returned the slab of ice to its original place.

The nighttime cold would quickly freeze this patch of ice over again. That way, no one would notice that it had ever been opened.

Aunt Lan watched the dripping-wet Song Mingyue get into the car. She nodded at Gao Wu outside, expertly started the vehicle, and slowly drove away.

Gao Wu's figure quickly vanished from the rearview mirror. Aunt Lan sighed softly. "Mingyue, you have invested too many resources in Gao Wu."

"He is extraordinarily important to me." Song Mingyue did not explain anything, only emphasized Gao Wu's importance.

"You have diverted too much capital. It has already affected the company's normal operations." Aunt Lan was somewhat helpless. Her daily work was to help Song Mingyue manage the company and the various assets left behind by her mother.

During this period, Song Mingyue's use of various advanced medicines had already been a massive expense. Adding Gao Wu's various expenditures, they had spent more than ten million in total in just one month.

Most of the assets Song Mingyue's mother had left behind were fixed assets. Suddenly withdrawing so much cash had made even Aunt Lan feel the pressure.

She felt that many of these expenses were entirely unnecessary. In particular, the enormous investment of resources into Gao Wu was somewhat too extravagant.

Even the wealthy and powerful great Lineages of Dongjiang rarely invested so many resources into their direct descendants.

"Sell the apartment in the city center first. It should fetch around twenty million as well," Song Mingyue said.

"This..." Aunt Lan hesitated. That large flat was in an excellent location, had an even better layout, and still had room to appreciate in value. It was an exceptionally high-quality asset.

Disposing of it just like that was somewhat too wasteful.

Song Mingyue understood what Aunt Lan meant. She said calmly, "I will leave Dongjiang next year. There is no use in keeping these properties."