The next morning, just as the sky began to lighten.
Chu Jin was awakened by a series of heavy knocks at the door.
Bang!
Bang!
Each time the courtyard gate was struck, its frame trembled slightly.
Chu Lie had just stepped out of his room when Golden Crocodile Douluo pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard.
He wore a gold outfit suited for movement and carried two enormous black iron chests.
"Up?"
Chu Jin walked out of his room.
"Up."
"Eat."
Golden Crocodile dropped the iron chests to the ground.
With a boom, several cracks spread across the courtyard's stone tiles.
"Third Training Ground, Consecration Mountain. Half an hour."
After saying that, he turned and left without another word.
Chu Lie looked at the shattered tiles, his eyelid twitching.
"Does Second Worship always speak this briefly?"
"Probably."
"What's in those two chests?"
Chu Jin stepped forward and opened the first chest.
Inside lay four sets of black weights, neatly arranged.
They could be fastened around the wrists, ankles, waist, and back.
Gravity Soul Guidance Patterns were carved into the surface of each weight, making them far heavier than their size suggested.
The second chest held a pitch-black Heavy Halberd.
The Heavy Halberd had not yet been sharpened. Its entire shaft was made of Dark Iron, and it was as long as Chu Jin was tall. It weighed five hundred jin.
Chu Lie stepped forward and ran his hand along the shaft.
"Fine material."
"The Dark Iron alone in this halberd is worth at least a thousand Gold Soul Coins."
Chu Jin tried lifting the Heavy Halberd.
After absorbing his First Soul Ring, his physical strength had grown again. He could now lift a five-hundred-jin Heavy Halberd without trouble, but fighting with it for a long time would still be a heavy burden.
"Second Worship is planning to train you to death."
Chu Lie sounded worried, but there was a spark of excitement in his eyes.
As a blacksmith, he knew that anyone who could casually give away a Dark Iron Heavy Halberd would certainly have plenty of resources for further training.
Half an hour later, Chu Jin arrived at the Third Training Ground on Consecration Mountain.
The training ground lay halfway up the mountain. A waterfall dozens of zhang high thundered on one side, while a steep stone staircase with a thousand steps stretched along the other.
Golden Crocodile was already waiting in front of the waterfall.
"Put on the weights."
Chu Jin fastened the weights around his wrists, ankles, and waist in turn.
The moment he settled the final weight, the one for his back, his body sank noticeably.
Three hundred jin in total.
With the five-hundred-jin Heavy Halberd, the burden came to eight hundred jin.
"Climb the stairs first."
Golden Crocodile pointed to the thousand-step staircase beside them.
"Walk to the top, then come back down."
"You can't put the Heavy Halberd down along the way."
Chu Jin didn't ask how long he had to finish.
He hoisted the Heavy Halberd onto his shoulder and stepped onto the first stair.
The first hundred steps were fairly easy.
By the two-hundredth, his breathing had already grown heavier.
Each step tugged his ankle weights downward, while the weight on his back felt like a massive boulder pressing down on him.
The Heavy Halberd rested across his shoulder, constantly shifting his center of gravity.
With his Double Pupils activated, Chu Jin could clearly see where his movements were going wrong.
His left leg was slightly stronger.
The right side of his waist and abdomen slackened for an instant whenever he turned.
The spot on his shoulder supporting the Heavy Halberd was too fixed. Over time, it would impede his circulation.
As he climbed, Chu Jin adjusted his movements.
By the five-hundredth step, sweat had soaked through his clothes.
Xiao Jin followed beside him.
At first, it was completely at ease, even racing back and forth around Chu Jin. But when it saw him slowing down more and more, it put aside its playful mood and obediently stayed by his feet.
Seven hundred steps.
Chu Jin's legs began to tremble.
Eight hundred steps.
His breathing grew ragged.
At the nine-hundredth step, he had to pause after every stride.
Golden Crocodile remained at the top of the mountain.
He didn't urge Chu Jin on or offer to help.
By the time Chu Jin reached the final step, he could barely keep his hands around the shaft.
"Put it down."
Golden Crocodile spoke.
Chu Jin gently lowered the Heavy Halberd to the ground.
Golden Crocodile frowned.
"I said put it down. I didn't say set it down gently."
Chu Jin paused to catch his breath.
"The training ground's stone tiles will crack."
"They can be repaired."
"What if the Heavy Halberd gets damaged?"
"If a Dark Iron Heavy Halberd breaks just because you dropped it, you might as well throw it away."
Chu Jin thought it over, picked up the Heavy Halberd again, then let go.
Boom!
The shaft crashed against the stone steps.
The stone surface caved in noticeably.
"Down the mountain."
Golden Crocodile turned and headed down.
Chu Jin hoisted the Heavy Halberd onto his shoulder again.
The descent was even more difficult than the climb.
He had to constantly control his forward-leaning center of gravity. The slightest mistake could send him tumbling down the steps.
Halfway down, his right leg briefly lost its strength.
His whole body pitched forward.
Golden Crocodile didn't look back.
Chu Jin slammed the butt of the halberd against the ground and forced himself to steady his body.
His Double Pupils rapidly adjusted the force in his waist, abdomen, and legs.
He straightened up and continued down.
Golden Crocodile spoke only when they returned to the training ground.
"Being born strong only means you have a higher starting point."
"Strength you can't control is nothing but brute force."
"Your biggest problem right now is that your body has grown too quickly."
Chu Jin removed the weights and listened closely.
Golden Crocodile came to stand in front of him. His thick hand pressed against Chu Jin's shoulder, spine, and several points around his waist and abdomen.
"Over the past few months, Xiao Jin has constantly been nourishing your body."
"Your muscles and bones have grown faster than they would through normal cultivation, but your control hasn't kept pace."
"To put it simply, you used to be able to handle a horse. Now you've suddenly been given a thousand-year Soul Beast. It runs faster and has more strength, but if it goes out of control, it's also more likely to throw you to your death."
Chu Jin nodded.
"How do I train?"
"Train until you can command every ounce of strength in your body."
Golden Crocodile walked beneath the waterfall.
Water plunged from dozens of zhang above, crashing against the rocks with a deafening roar.
He planted the five-hundred-jin Heavy Halberd in the middle of the waterfall.
"Go in."
Chu Jin stepped into the pool.
The icy water quickly rose past his knees.
The closer he got to the center of the waterfall, the stronger the force became.
As soon as he reached the Heavy Halberd, water came crashing down over his head.
Bang!
Chu Jin instantly lost his balance and was swept into the pool.
Xiao Jin stood on the bank. It had originally wanted to go in with him, but the moment it saw Chu Jin swept away, its raised front paw froze in midair.
It silently took a step back.
Chu Jin stood up in the water and headed back toward the waterfall.
The second time, he braced his stance in advance.
When the water came crashing down, his body still shook, but at least he wasn't swept away right away.
"Grip the halberd."
Golden Crocodile's voice cut through the roar of the waterfall.
"Hold it steady, point straight ahead."
Chu Jin gripped the Heavy Halberd with both hands and slowly raised its tip.
The five-hundred-jin weight, combined with the force of the water, kept dragging the tip downward.
The veins in Chu Jin's arms bulged rapidly.
After holding on for ten breaths, he lost his grip on the Heavy Halberd.
He was swept into the pool again.
"Keep going."
The third time.
The fourth time.
The fifth time.
Chu Jin returned to the foot of the waterfall again and again.
By noon, he could remain standing under the water, but he still couldn't keep the Heavy Halberd steady.
Golden Crocodile didn't ease up on the training.
He let Chu Jin rest for half an hour, then began teaching him the basic techniques of the halberd.
"A halberd can thrust, chop, sweep, lift, hook, and lock."
"It looks like there are many variations, but they still come down to just a few fundamentals."
Golden Crocodile casually picked up an ordinary iron halberd.
His movements weren't flashy.
The first move was a thrust.
As the tip shot forward, the air let out a muffled boom.
The second move was a horizontal sweep.
The entire training ground seemed to be struck through the middle by a giant beast. The wooden stakes several zhang away all snapped at once.
The third move was a downward chop.
The iron halberd stopped above the ground without truly landing, yet an unseen force had already pressed a crack into the earth.
Chu Jin activated his Double Pupils and watched closely.
Golden Crocodile brought the strength of his entire body into every move.
His feet, legs, waist, abdomen, back, shoulders, and arms all exploded with force in the same instant.
Not a hint of strength was wasted.
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