Task

Wen Xu: ...

"Actually, I had no choice either, so... could Little Martial Granduncle think of a solution?"

Lu Nian, the martial nephew secretly peering through the crack in the door: ...Little Martial Granduncle, you mustn't let Little Martial Uncle sweet-talk you into a trap! Everyone on Artifact Refining Peak has suffered from Little Martial Uncle's pitiful-act routine!

Yet things went against his wishes. Little Martial Granduncle was still too innocent. Lu Nian silently clenched his fists. It was all because his voice carried too little weight; he had no ability to protect Little Martial Granduncle.

Wen Xu was forced into becoming an unofficial member of Artifact Refining Peak. Of course, he did not believe Senior Brother Zheng truly had no way to solve the problem of the forging furnace about to explode, but... this really was a good place to practice swordsmanship.

Though Wen Xu looked as bright and refined as the moon after rain, he was actually someone who could endure hardship.

His martial foundation was indeed exceedingly weak, so weak it could practically be ignored. But he was clever. Wind was everywhere, and on this mountain, he was the person most sensitive to it.

Naturally, when his strength ran low, he could ride the wind with his sword, preserving as much stamina as possible and allowing the Nine-Turn Sword Technique to keep circulating. And when his strength was abundant, he could wield his sword against the wind, tempering his body to the greatest extent.

Wen Xu immediately understood that he needed to forge a tougher body to adapt to the leap in his cultivation. But on a deeper level, it was to better perceive the wind, let it pass through his body, and comprehend its power.

After practicing his sword for five consecutive days, Wen Xu finally grasped a hint of the Nine-Turn Sword Technique's entry point. He could finally draw in the wind brushing past his body with nothing but the swing of his sword.

Wind was everywhere. Most of the time, it was gentle, warm, and sluggish. But a sword was a sharpened weapon, a weapon that could wound on both sides. When the wind became sharp enough, when it bared its edge fully, it could—become a Wind Blade.

Wen Xu thought, perhaps I could try practicing with a saber.

On Artifact Refining Peak, the one thing they did not lack was weapons of every kind. Wen Xu did not need any high-grade spirit saber either; he simply picked up a random saber from Artifact Refining Peak's junk heap and began practicing.

But he soon discovered that Chen Zui had been right. He truly was not suited to practicing with a saber.

In his hand, the saber was not nearly as obedient as a sword.

Then what about a spear? A staff? An axe? A hammer?

Wen Xu experimented with the eighteen kinds of weapons. Some felt fairly natural in his hands, while others were wholly unsuitable. In the end, the sword was still the most convenient for him. But if one spoke of the weapon that used wind to its utmost, it was not the sword, but the bow and arrow.

More precisely, the bow. The arrows used for shooting did not need to be physical objects at all; they could be entirely replaced with narrow, sharp Wind Blades. What was more, that jade slip about setting formations with wind was actually more compatible with a bow and arrow in his hands.

At the very least, Wen Xu was not a swordsmanship genius, so the speed of his strikes was far inferior to wind arrows. Even the only artifact he possessed, the Windfold Fan, could not compare to the combination of bow and wind.

But the bow also had a disadvantage: drawing it and firing took time. During that time, he had no way to defend himself. It was more of a weapon for team cooperation.

Scholars often said that a gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall. If there was no danger, one could slowly draw the bow, take aim, and shoot; archery was the most suitable martial activity for a scholar.

But now, he was no longer a scholar. He was a cultivator.

Wen Xu did not like relying on others. He preferred possessing the absolute strength to protect himself.

So, between the sword and the bow, perhaps he could make some adjustments to the Windfold Fan. Wen Xu thought, perhaps I can learn about artifact refining and try modifying the Windfold Fan myself.

Just then, he suddenly received a Communication Talisman from Bian Chunchou. "Aaaahhh! Wen Xu-Xu, I did it! I broke through! I really am an ordinary little cultivation genius!"

Wen Xu froze with the Communication Talisman in hand, then laughed. Who praised himself as a genius? Only Bian Chunchou would do that.

Task

"Congratulations."

"Hehe, I've also broken through to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining. Master even praised me for having talent." Bian Chunchou cupped his face and smiled smugly, his delight completely undisguised. "Now I won't fall behind, and I've even found a way to temporarily balance water and fire! Aren't I amazing?"

"Very amazing. Extremely amazing." At least, if it had been him, he likely would not have found a practical and effective solution as quickly as Bian Chunchou had. "But temporarily?"

Bian Chunchou immediately began gesturing animatedly. "It's a kind of water-fire... um, dynamic balance. Because I still need to cultivate and advance, the Qi Sea in my Dantian needs to keep expanding, and the Fire-Water Spiritual Root naturally needs to improve along with it. So I have to constantly maintain this dynamic balance. By temporary, I mean that I still need to control it myself for now. But I think that once I reach a certain point, when my body and Spiritual Root adapt to this state of dynamic balance, they'll be able to maintain it on their own, naturally and spontaneously."

"Do you know what muscle memory is?"

Wen Xu shook his head.

"It means that when you swing your sword once, ten times, you still need to rely on your mind to wield your spirit sword the next time you practice. But ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, a million times—when an action happens continuously, your body remembers it. The next time you use it, your body acts faster than your mind. That's called muscle memory."

Bian Chunchou continued speaking in an endless stream. "The circulation of spiritual power and the cultivation of Spiritual Roots are both parts of the body. So when this dynamic balance has been maintained countless times, my body will remember it and begin operating it on its own. But for now, I still need to control it myself."

"Huh? What's wrong, Wen Xu-Xu? Did I explain it wrong?"

Wen Xu immediately shook his head. "No, you explained it extremely well. I have to thank you. I know how I should practice my sword now." He had gone down the wrong path.

"Huh?"

Wen Xu thought, I really overthought things. Every time I practiced my sword, I kept thinking about how to draw in the wind, how to make the wind cooperate with the sword, how to let the sword display greater power with the wind's support—and every time, I couldn't stop myself from thinking.

Thinking too much naturally meant he could not immerse all his attention in practicing the sword. He had even felt that the sword did not suit him and run off to try all sorts of other weapons. But in truth, with an impure mind, practicing anything was useless.