Saber Techniques and Gifts

"Grandpa's inheritance?" Fang Ping'an's pupils contracted slightly. He couldn't help asking, "Dad, when you gave me those four hundred thousand Star Coins, didn't you say they were the last of your savings?"

Back then.

His business had failed and left him drowning in debt. At his most desperate, the "wastrel father" in his eyes had reached out and transferred four hundred thousand Star Coins to his account, allowing him to make a comeback.

That was why!

Even though, for decades, he had continued to believe his father had squandered his grandfather's fortune, he still respected him and had brought him home to live out his retirement.

"That was my retirement money, and the money for our Fang family's home. I wasn't dead yet, so why would I tell you?" Fang Zhiyuan huffed.

"Then what about back then?" Fang Ping'an was puzzled.

"Back then, you graduated from a vocational college in your twenties. After listening to your grandfather's wishes, all you could think about was returning to New Moon." Fang Zhiyuan shook his head. "Did you ever stop to think how much that would cost? To establish yourself there, you'd need at least a hundred million Star Coins. If you wanted to marry and have children, it would cost even more."

"Your grandfather left a little over eight million Star Coins in total."

"Yes, he told me to give it all to you."

"But what made you think a martial arts vocational college graduate in his twenties could multiply that money dozens of times over in the business world?" Fang Zhiyuan snorted. "If I'd given it all to you then, forget returning to New Moon. Do you think you'd be where you are today?"

"Besides, didn't I give you a chance to try?"

Fang Ping'an calmed down.

That was right!

When he had just graduated from vocational college, his father had given him a million Star Coins, saying it was the "inheritance" left after he'd spent the rest of his grandfather's money. At the time, he had resented his father, thinking him a wastrel.

Back then, his ambitions had been sky-high. He had set his sights on whatever could make big money: futures, energy, precious metals, stocks... He had made quite a bit at first, turning over a million Star Coins into more than eight million through speculation.

His father had warned him that paper profits weren't real profits and told him to get out while he could.

But he hadn't listened. In the end, he had traded futures on leverage and even borrowed money... He had lost everything and ended up drowning in debt.

His father had given him another 400,000 Star Coins to pay off his debts.

Only after that crushing setback had he finally settled down and begun working for others for nearly ten years... After gaining enough experience, he had finally chosen to open a supermarket and slowly built it up to what it was today.

If his father had given him all the money back then, he might have suffered an even greater fall and never recovered.

"Ping'an."

"Your grandfather didn't have much faith in me back then, and I didn't amount to much either." Fang Zhiyuan sighed. "I really wasn't capable. I tried hard too, but later I realized that rather than forcing myself, I was better off letting myself be... Returning to New Moon wasn't something I could do."

"I didn't want my child to carry that much pressure either."

"You're better at making things happen than I am, but you're also more impatient." Fang Zhiyuan looked at Fang Ping'an. "So from the time you went out on your own, I told myself that you would decide how high the two of us could rise, but I would make sure we didn't fall too far."

"That's why I didn't gamble or visit prostitutes."

"I saved all the money and told everyone I'd spent it, so those relatives wouldn't come asking for handouts." Fang Zhiyuan spread his hands.

Fang Ping'an couldn't help smiling, but then his heart ached.

He understood the reasons behind his father's actions.

He also knew how hard it must have been for his father to do all that... Being called a wastrel and a good-for-nothing all his life wasn't something an ordinary person could bear. It took someone with a strong heart.

"Dad."

"If that's the case, why did you bring it all out this time?" Fang Ping'an asked quietly.

"It was your grandfather's money. Your martial arts talent wasn't good enough. Even if you went to New Moon, I didn't think you could establish yourself there, so I kept it from you." Fang Zhiyuan spoke bluntly.

Fang Ping'an didn't argue.

Violence was the source of all social rules. So-called power and money were both products of violence.

And in this era, martial artists wielded the greatest violence.

New Moon was, at its core, a paradise for powerful martial artists... If someone was merely rich, unless their wealth reached an astonishing level, it was extremely difficult to establish themselves in New Moon.

"But."

"That girl Bai Qing did give you some remarkable children," Fang Zhiyuan said with emotion. "Especially Fang Yu... His temperament, willpower, and ability to take action are all first-rate."

"It's a pity he didn't awaken a Void Star Aspect."

"But his talent for technique is extremely high. He probably isn't any worse than the students at those top universities. There's still a chance for everything."

Fang Ping'an couldn't help nodding.

Of his three children, Fang Yu was the most like him... Most valuable of all, Fang Yu lacked the impatience and impulsiveness he'd had back then and acted with composure.

"Martial arts is a great path."

"Now that they're at their most crucial juncture, it's time to stake the Fang family's savings." Fang Zhiyuan spoke slowly. "As for you, don't sell the supermarket yet... No matter how difficult business gets, as long as it can still make money, you can keep it going."

"Once you sell it, all you'll be thinking about is taking another risk on stocks or futures."

No one knew a son better than his father.

Fang Zhiyuan knew his son all too well... What way was there to multiply his capital several times over in the shortest possible time? The capital markets, of course.

Fang Ping'an fell silent.

"Be more prudent. Along with what I gave you, the money you have is enough to support their cultivation for the next year," Fang Zhiyuan said. "Siyue and Xiaolong should be able to sign contracts with a martial artist group, and the school will give them some rewards too."

Fang Ping'an nodded.

Every year, dozens of people in Wuling City awakened Upper Astral Aspects. The eight major martial artist groups were generally willing to sign them early and provide resources to nurture them.

The state also gave out substantial rewards.

But.

At the start, neither the martial artist groups nor the state would invest too heavily in them... After all, across the whole civilization, the absolute number of people who awakened Upper Astral Aspects each year was considerable.

An Upper Astral Aspect only guaranteed a 99 percent chance of becoming an Advanced Martial Artist.

To become a stronger Earth Martial Artist or Sky-Roving Martial Artist, one still had to rely on many factors, including martial arts talent and technique, temperament, and willpower...

Only those who were outstanding in every respect could reach the pinnacle.

For example, half of Wuling City's top martial arts exam scorers over the years had possessed only Mid-Rank Star Aspects. There had even been one who had awakened only a Lower Astral Aspect.

"What about after that year?" Fang Ping'an was deeply worried.

Business was getting worse and worse.

He was worried that if he wanted to sell the supermarket a year from now, he wouldn't get the same price.

"Then we'll see in a year." Fang Zhiyuan shook his head. "What's the rush? You're not young anymore. Sometimes, waiting a little isn't necessarily a bad thing..."

"Once you buy the foundation-building treasures for Siyue and Xiaolong tomorrow, don't rush to give them to them. Wait a day."

Fang Ping'an hesitated, then decided to listen to his father this once. "All right."

"Good."

"Get some rest early." Fang Zhiyuan turned and headed upstairs, speaking as he walked. "Your health comes first. Look at how old you are, and you already have more gray hair than I do..."

Fang Zhiyuan's voice gradually faded.

In the basement, a faint smile appeared on Fang Ping'an's face.

Late at night.

Lying in bed, Fang Zhiyuan wore reading glasses and stared at a graph on his tablet, muttering to himself, "My son really is impatient. Do business? What business?"

"Eight million."

"I spent more than five million of it."

"But I held on to those Galaxy Group shares for decades... Haven't I earned back another few million?" Fang Zhiyuan thought.

A wastrel? That was true!

Lying flat? That was true!

Wanting to rely on his son in retirement? That was true too!

But he had never expected to depend on his son for everything. Share dividends and his pension were what gave him the greatest confidence that he could enjoy his later years.

The 5.1 million Star Coins he had given out today were only the dividends he had saved up over the decades... He still held the shares.

As the largest martial artist group in the entire civilization, the Galaxy Group had extremely stable profits. Its share price therefore fluctuated very little, and its dividends were relatively consistent. Many speculators looked down on it, but Fang Zhiyuan valued it.

"Dad."

"You didn't live to see it."

"I've waited for decades, and finally it's come." The elderly Fang Zhiyuan's eyes suddenly dimmed. "I used your money for what you wanted... I hope you'll watch over your great-grandchildren."

At three in the morning, the alarm rang, and Fang Yu woke up on time.

"My technique has reached Subtlety, and my mental strength is strong enough. Using the Deep Sleep Method taught at school, five hours of sleep is enough to sustain a full day of cultivation." Fang Yu got up and dressed. "I heard that decades ago, when the Primordial Star had just been discovered, some special drugs were developed that allowed Junior Martial Artists and even ordinary people to go without sleep or rest without damaging their minds, so they could maximize their cultivation time."

"They called it 'not wasting life.'"

"Four more hours of cultivation a day meant over a thousand more hours a year..."

That theory had once been widespread.

It had also been highly regarded. Quite a few key high schools and even universities had tried it, sparing no expense to release gas containing those drugs into classrooms, dormitories, and even the air across campus... All so students would have more time to study and cultivate.

It had indeed worked in the short term.

But later, the Blue Moon Alliance had explicitly banned it.

Before one's mental strength reaches an extremely high level, sleep is the best form of rest for a living being... No drug can make up for it, Fang Yu thought.

Besides.

Cultivation also required a balance between exertion and rest. People weren't machines... When martial arts technique reached a bottleneck, hard work and practice alone weren't enough to break through. Relaxing and resting after a long period of arduous cultivation could instead lead to an epiphany and a breakthrough.

If arduous cultivation alone worked, martial artists who had reached Subtlety would already be everywhere.

"Still."

"Hard work doesn't guarantee success, but without it, success is impossible." Fang Yu got up and soon arrived in the basement, where he switched on only the dimmest light.

Stance training.

After loosening up, Fang Yu began using a breathing method in conjunction with the Twenty-Four Basic Fist Forms to temper his body... Two hours later, he moved on to practicing footwork and saber techniques in turn.

Cultivation was divided into training methods and fighting methods.

Both stance training and the Twenty-Four Basic Fist Forms were training methods, mainly used to solidify the foundation. But in a fight to the death, the key lay in fighting methods.

Footwork and saber techniques were both extremely important.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!" Fang Yu held a long saber as flashes of saber light burst forth. His saber technique was elusive and hard to predict.

It was the Flowing Light Saber Technique, one of the two major saber technique manuals he currently practiced, renowned for its speed.

Soon.

Fang Yu began practicing the other saber technique manual, the Thousand Mountains Saber Technique. Every move was executed with precision, and the saber light flowed without end, like massive boulders crashing down in successive waves, seemingly unstoppable.

This saber technique emphasized overwhelming force, suppressing enemies head-on with absolute power.

"Different enemies use different methods, so I have to use different saber techniques against them," Fang Yu thought. "My technique has reached Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety, but that only means my body and mind are one."

"Movement technique mainly involves control over the body, and mine has also reached the Subtlety realm."

"But saber techniques require the body, mind, and weapon to become one. I still haven't reached Subtlety in them," Fang Yu thought. Physical technique was divided into many levels; after all, the human body's potential was limitless.

According to the Martial Canon, if one's martial arts technique reached the extreme of the Inner Landscape, allowing one to unleash the power of every cell in the body, even an ordinary person could burst forth with a thousand pounds of force.

Techniques such as saber and spear techniques, on the other hand, had a much simpler classification.

There were only three levels.

Foundation, Subtlety, and Outer Landscape.

"Reaching Greater Mastery of Minute Subtlety with my body lets me unleash hidden force, greatly increasing the power of my saber techniques." Fang Yu had ambitions of his own. "Once my saber technique reaches Subtlety, my saber will become even more profound, unpredictable, and unstoppable."

At noon, the whole family had a rare lunch together.

"Fang Yu, come with me." Fang Ping'an stood up, and Fang Yu hurried after him.

The two entered the study on the second floor.

"This morning."

"I went to the Galaxy Group's city headquarters." Fang Ping'an pointed to an ornate, large box on the desk and said softly, "This is what I prepared for you."