Training Plans

Barbarian Hammer King paused, then continued, "Take you, for example. You're cultivating the Earth Law in combination with Space Slaughter. The Earth Law is powerful and forceful, while Space Slaughter excels at offense. Together, they give you tremendous attack power, but your methods are relatively limited."

"Take the Gatekeeper you encountered, for example. He combined the Earth Law with Teleportation. His attack power wasn't as great as yours, but unless you were fighting on an arena, you wouldn't even be able to touch him!"

Gulanxiu thought it over and nodded. That was indeed the case! His Axe Art was entirely based on what he had seen on the Chaos Tablet, but the Gatekeeper at the Sky Bridge used it differently. Now that Barbarian Hammer King had pointed this out, things were much clearer.

So Gulanxiu continued to ask, "But, Teacher, what does this have to do with what I choose?"

Barbarian Hammer King continued, "It has to do with the upper limit of your future cultivation. Most talented cultivators of the Space Law need to analyze its underlying principles. Once they understand them all, they can advance in all three directions of the Space Law at the same time."

Barbarian Hammer King paused, then continued, "But our Giant Axe Chaos Tablet is different. We don't need to analyze the underlying principles of the Space Law. Instead, we improve our understanding of the Law by cultivating the Axe Art left behind by Giant Axe Founder. There are two ways to cultivate. The first is to focus solely on the direction you're best at and keep advancing along it until you completely master its ultimate move and become a Peak King!"

"The advantage of this method is that you focus only on what you're best at, so you cultivate quickly and can grow stronger faster. But because our lineage doesn't analyze the underlying principles of the Law, even if you reach Peak King, it'll be difficult to understand the ultimate moves of the other two directions well enough to unite the Space Law and become a Venerable. The three directions of the Space Law are inherently opposed to one another. Without understanding their underlying principles, it's difficult to unite them."

"The other method is to advance in all three directions at once and combine them into a single axe strike. Since you've only just begun cultivating, the three directions aren't especially repulsive to one another. Cultivating this way will allow the three directions of your Space Law to naturally unite. Once you reach Peak King, you'll be able to break through to Venerable as soon as you fully understand the other two directions!"

"But the second method is extremely difficult. I don't know whether you can make it work. Your time cultivating in Chaos City is limited. If you can't make it work, you'll only hold back your progress. So it's up to you to decide!"

Gulanxiu understood now. Put simply, the two paths were like cultivation in the Panlong World. One was to quickly become a Highgod and only then fuse the profound mysteries. Your strength would be great in the early stages, but the later stages would be difficult.

The other method was like comprehending and fusing the profound mysteries at the same time in Panlong. The moment you became a Highgod, you'd also reach the level of a Grandmist Overlord. Of course, the difference in combat strength in the Swallowed Star World wasn't as great as in Panlong. Whichever path you took, comprehending one ultimate move put you at the twentieth level of the Sky Bridge. Among cultivators of the same realm, the second path was stronger, but not by much.

With that in mind, Gulanxiu asked Barbarian Hammer King, "Then, Teacher, which path did you take?"

Barbarian Hammer King said proudly, "Naturally, I took the second path. Don't be fooled by the fact that I've only fully understood Space Imprisonment so far. I've cultivated the other two directions to the nineteenth level of the Sky Bridge. Even those Peak Kings who've fully understood all three ultimate moves may not be closer to becoming Universe Venerables than I am!"

Hearing this, Gulanxiu was filled with pride and said, "Since you took this path, Teacher, I can't bring shame to your name as your disciple. I choose the second path too!"

Barbarian Hammer King asked solemnly, "Disciple, have you thought this through? This path is not easy. My talent was even better than yours when I was your age, yet I still went through considerable hardship on this path!"

Gulanxiu replied just as seriously, "Don't worry, Teacher! I've made up my mind! With such a great path to the top right in front of me, I might as well not know about it. But now that I do, if I don't even dare to take it, then I might not succeed on the other path either. How can I reach the peak if I'm afraid to take risks?"

Barbarian Hammer King's eyes lit up. He patted Gulanxiu on the shoulder and said, "Since you have such ambition, I'll do everything I can to help you. You haven't used the points you earned from challenging the Sky Bridge yet, have you?"

Gulanxiu nodded. "I didn't know what would suit me, so I haven't used them yet."

Barbarian Hammer King nodded. "Good. You made the right choice. At your current stage, points are much more valuable than Hunyuan Units. So whenever you can buy something with Hunyuan Units, use those instead. If you don't have enough money, just let me know!"

Gulanxiu said gratefully, "Thank you, Teacher! I'll remember that!"

Barbarian Hammer King nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I recommend three manuals. The first is called Mountain-Opening Thirty-Six Axes, an Axe Art combining earth and Teleportation. The second is Earth-Splitting Thirty-Six Axes, an Axe Art combining earth and Space Slaughter. The third is Stone-Shattering Thirty-Six Axes, an Axe Art combining earth and Space Imprisonment. All three manuals were created by King-level Experts and cost two thousand points each. Buy them and study them to help you comprehend the Chaos Tablet."

After hearing Barbarian Hammer King's advice, Gulanxiu quickly logged into the Virtual Universe and, following his instructions, bought the three manuals!

Seeing his points reduced to a mere fraction in an instant, Gulanxiu felt a pang of heartache.

As he made the payment, he received an email: "Please wait! Your manuals will arrive shortly!"

A moment later, Gulanxiu received a call invitation. He quickly answered, and a stern-looking man dressed in black robes appeared onscreen.

This was Orlando, the Realm Lord in charge of miscellaneous affairs in the Fourth Secret Realm of the Axe Fighting Arena.

Orlando said to Gulanxiu, "Gulanxiu! You have a delivery. Please come receive it!"

Gulanxiu nodded and asked, "Where are you?"

Orlando replied, "I'm outside the public area!"

Gulanxiu answered, "Wait a moment! I'll be right there!"

With that, he hurried downstairs toward the public area. In the Fourth Secret Realm of the Axe Fighting Arena, everyone lived in apartment blocks, both in reality and in the Virtual Universe. Since Gulanxiu rarely came here, and receiving the manuals was more convenient in the Virtual Universe, he'd had them delivered there.

A moment later, Gulanxiu returned with a briefcase containing the three manuals he'd bought for six thousand points.

"How is it? Did you receive the manuals?" Barbarian Hammer King quickly asked when Gulanxiu opened his eyes.

Gulanxiu nodded. "Teacher, I've received them, but I haven't read them yet!"

Barbarian Hammer King shook his head. "You don't need to read the manuals just yet. With your talent, if you study them on your own, it'll probably be difficult to break through within twenty years. I'll demonstrate the Axe Art in all three manuals for you!"