Barbarian Hammer King's Thoughts

Over the next few years, Gulanxiu began cultivating in Barbarian Hammer King's courtyard.

It had to be said that Barbarian Hammer King was a truly good teacher to his disciples. Every day, he demonstrated the three Axe Arts to Gulanxiu over and over.

Since Gulanxiu had passed the first three layers of the Sky Bridge with Space Slaughter, the first six forms of Earth-Splitting Thirty-Six Axes posed little challenge for him, and he mastered them quickly.

Barbarian Hammer King focused his guidance on Gulanxiu's cultivation of the other two manuals.

In truth, these three manuals merely broke down the axe techniques in the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet in greater detail. Every six axes corresponded to one axe in the tablet, and mastering all thirty-six axes was equivalent to reaching the level of the eighteenth layer of the Giant Axe Sky Bridge.

What surprised Gulanxiu was that all three manuals had been written by the same person. According to Barbarian Hammer King, that person had since become a lofty Universe Venerable. However, the manuals had been written when he was only a King, so their selling price was relatively low.

Yet even these manuals, which Barbarian Hammer King called relatively cheap, had nearly drained Gulanxiu's entire fortune. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he heard the price!

Barbarian Hammer King had mastered all three manuals long ago, so teaching Gulanxiu was easy for him. However, he didn't hold the rights to their content and couldn't teach Gulanxiu directly. Gulanxiu had to buy them first before Barbarian Hammer King could offer guidance.

With a renowned master giving him one-on-one instruction, Gulanxiu had made rapid progress over the past few years. He had cultivated the fifth axe of both Mountain-Opening and Stone-Shattering. With one more axe in each, he would catch up with his progress in Earth-Splitting Thirty-Six Axes.

Then he could try to merge the three axes into one. That would be the real test. If he couldn't combine them, all his years of hard work would have been for nothing. He would have no choice but to focus on Earth-Splitting Thirty-Six Axes and wait until he reached Peak King before trying to comprehend another path.

If he succeeded, he would be on the right track. His future wouldn't necessarily be smooth sailing, but at least he would have a direction to move toward.

As Gulanxiu cultivated, his thoughts wandered. Just then, he received an email in the Virtual Universe.

A quick look showed it was from Bafen, the Guardian of the Sky Bridge. The message was brief, just a few lines.

"A member of the Virtual Universe Company's Primal Secret Region, Xiusite, has passed the fourth layer of the Dragon Walk Chaos Stele. I hope the rest of you will keep up the good work and achieve even greater results!"

Gulanxiu smiled casually. "The fourth layer? This batch of geniuses has been cultivating for twenty-five years already, hasn't it? Looks like he won't break through the Fifth Layer before leaving Chaos City.

"But things are looking up for me, too. Bafen actually sent me a message as well. He never used to send me any when the others passed a layer!"

Over the years, through his conversations with Barbarian Hammer King, Gulanxiu had learned a bit about the members of this Strongman Battle.

The strongest in this year's Strongman Battle was undoubtedly the peerless genius Yunmiao. She had passed the Fifth Layer of the Sky Bridge as soon as she arrived in Chaos City. After more than ten years of cultivation, she had now passed the Seventh Layer. She hadn't attempted another challenge in recent years, though, so no one knew how strong she was now.

Yunmiao also cultivated both illusion and the Controller path, and she was formidable in both. Unlike Jialai Xi in the original story, who focused on one and treated the other as a support, she was equally skilled in both. Such a combination was extremely rare in the universe.

Aside from Yunmiao, however, this year's Strongman Battle contestants had performed rather ordinarily. There were no other geniuses who stood out. If Gulanxiu hadn't been preparing to cultivate three paths and merge the three axes into one, surpassing Xiusite would have been no challenge at all.

But after choosing to cultivate all three axes, Gulanxiu would have to master Three Axes into One to pass the fourth layer of the Sky Bridge. His strength with each of the three manuals at the sixth axe wasn't enough to get him through.

"I have to master Three Axes into One. I can't let my teacher down!" Gulanxiu secretly steeled himself.

He had seen how much Barbarian Hammer King had done for him over the past few years. Barbarian Hammer King had demonstrated the axe techniques again and again, patiently helping him comprehend them. He had even set aside his own cultivation. This moved Gulanxiu deeply.

For a King-level Immortal, a few decades meant nothing. But those mighty King-level experts stood far above others. How many would care so much about the cultivation of a Cosmic Level disciple?

Even True Evolution King from the original story hadn't guided Luo Feng this closely! True Evolution King was already King-level Invincible, with no room left to advance. He had plenty of time and energy, whereas Barbarian Hammer King had only recently reached Peak King. He was cultivating the path of merging three axes into one, had the potential to become a Venerable, and still had plenty of room to improve.

Gulanxiu thought this over, then did exactly that: a moment later, he plunged into deep cultivation once more.

In the neighboring room, Barbarian Hammer King saw how diligently Gulanxiu was cultivating and nodded. He was quite satisfied with this disciple.

Gulanxiu's cultivation speed still seemed a little slow to him—he was merely a genius seen once in ten thousand years. That sounded impressive, but compared to the lifespan and experience of a King-level Immortal, it was nothing extraordinary.

Still, Gulanxiu's firm resolve and diligence in cultivation reassured him. Of course, Barbarian Hammer King didn't dare expect too much from Gulanxiu's eventual achievements.

In his view, Gulanxiu's level of talent might not be suited to the path of merging three axes into one. It didn't greatly increase one's combat strength early on; its main benefit was that it made comprehending the seventh axe of the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet easier.

But fully comprehending the seventh axe meant becoming a Universe Venerable. Every Universe Venerable was a peerless genius who had dominated an entire era. Even a genius who appeared only once every ten thousand eras had merely a sliver of a chance of becoming a Venerable. With Gulanxiu's level of talent, it was practically impossible.

In fact, with his talent, Gulanxiu would normally become a Marquis Immortal, with a chance to become a King. If he focused on a single path, managing to comprehend the sixth axe of the Giant Axe Chaos Tablet would already be an achievement.

So for Gulanxiu, trying to comprehend the more difficult path of merging the three axes this early on was probably unwise. He could easily waste years and lose heart.

But since Gulanxiu had chosen this method, Barbarian Hammer King wouldn't try to talk him out of it. In his view, being down-to-earth or overambitious were judgments made by outsiders. Neither was necessarily wrong for an individual. As long as someone stayed true to himself and kept moving forward, that was what mattered.

What was truly dangerous was wavering and constantly worrying about what might go wrong.

"Since Gulanxiu has chosen this method of cultivation and is working hard at it, I should prepare a little gift for him. When he leaves Chaos City, I'll give it to him whether or not he's passed the fourth layer," Barbarian Hammer King murmured.

At the same time, he logged into the Virtual Universe and began browsing through the dazzling array of goods...