Chapter 55: Comprehending the Sword

Returning to the inn, Ye Chen found Xiong Er already settled in their room.

That fellow was sprawled across the bed, which was completely covered in glistening spirit stones, each one twinkling with a dazzling light.

"Yo!"

Seeing the scene, Ye Chen settled onto the edge of the bed with an air of self-awareness.

"Little fatty, you've quite a few spirit stones there!" Ye Chen remarked, conveniently snatching a few pieces and tucking them into his own robe.

At this, Xiong Er's chubby little face immediately darkened.

"I see your Xiong family is quite prosperous!" he continued, reaching for more spirit stones, but Xiong Er was prepared this time, sweeping the entire pile on the bed into his storage bag with a wave of his hand.

"This is just what I borrowed from my second grand-uncle; don't even think about touching it," Xiong Er grumbled, stuffing his storage bag back into his crotch.

Hearing this, Ye Chen couldn't help but cough dryly, touching the tip of his nose.

These two days of auction had been a significant help from Xiong Er. Without him, they wouldn't have been able to bid on that iron whip and the Tian Gang Stick Method. Xiong Er's willingness to empty his own pockets had genuinely moved him.

"Rest assured, I'll return every single piece later, not one less."

"Of course you have to return it, we even have an IOU."

"Tsk!"

Ye Chen wasn't overly concerned about that. He sidled up to Xiong Er, poked him with a finger, and asked with a knowing wink, "I heard that your Xiong family mines a considerable number of spirit stones from that natural spirit stone mine mountain every year. Is that true?"

At these words, Xiong Er's small face filled with resentment. "Don't even mention that spirit stone mine mountain. Because of it, my Xiong family has stirred up quite a bit of trouble. The spirit stones we mine aren't even enough to pay for our clan members' medical expenses."

"That can't be right!" Ye Chen said, his face full of disbelief. "In the Southern Border of Da Chu, besides the Qi family, who else dares provoke your Xiong family?"

"There are many," Xiong Er grumbled. "The Qi family comes looking for trouble every few days, and those individual rogue cultivators, each one is a ravenous wolf that can't be satisfied. Just like that old man Black Mountain who came to the auction, he causes problems every three days. Give them more? My Xiong family can't afford it. Give them less? That group of evil wolves becomes restless. If grandfather wasn't still alive, my Xiong family would have been annexed long ago."

"Every family has its own difficult scripture to read," Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh. Don't look at the outward prosperity of the world's families; in reality, a tall tree attracts the wind.

"Just bear with it slowly!" Ye Chen shook his head helplessly, turning to leave Xiong Er's room.

Returning to his own room, Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the bed.

With a quiet spirit and condensed qi, the Savage Wild Refinement Method immediately began to circulate.

*Ka ba!*

*Ka ba!*

Very quickly, the sound of bones colliding echoed from within him. True fire enveloped his entire body, meridians, and bones. The tearing pain forced him to let out a low roar, but fearing he would alarm Xiong Er, he forcefully suppressed it.

Three hours of Savage Wild Refinement and then three hours of spirit liquid nourishing muscles and bones. After a full six hours, he finally let out a long, turbid breath.

"The eighth level of Qi Condensation is thoroughly consolidated." Twisting his somewhat stiff body, Ye Chen felt a sense of ease throughout.

Very quickly, he flipped his hand and took out the Tian Gang Stick Array.

"Fifty thousand spirit stones." Thinking of the price he had bid for the Tian Gang Stick Array, Ye Chen couldn't help but feel a little pain in his heart. But for Huzi to have a decent stick profound art, he felt that no amount of money spent was too much.

The ancient scroll of the Tian Gang Stick Array was still sealed. He lightly broke it open.

Only now, by the weak candlelight, did he carefully comprehend the mysteries of the Tian Gang Stick Array.

He didn't know until he looked, but this glance brought him great benefit.

Sticks and spears were similar, two of the most difficult weapons to cultivate among the many spirit tools. And the Tian Gang Stick Array not only detailed the mysteries of the stick but also explained many methods.

The Tian Gang Stick Array was divided into attack arrays and defense arrays, belonging to a profound art that combined attack and defense. Cultivated to great perfection, one could rely on the stick's virtual shadow to strike out gang arrays. It was absolutely one of the rare profound arts among stick profound arts.

Ye Chen's eyes shone with various colors, secretly saying that the fifty thousand spirit stones were not spent in vain.

Several hours of comprehension, and he had barely broken a thread of the mystery contained within the stick. Although the stick was difficult to cultivate, once cultivated to great perfection, it was absolutely not inferior to any other spirit tool cultivation profound method.

"Truly not bad." Thinking to himself, he flipped his body and jumped up, then took out a long stick from his storage bag.

*Buzz!*

*Buzz!*

Very quickly, the sound of buzzing echoed in the room, the sound of the long stick cutting through the air echoing continuously.

The method of the Tian Gang Stick Array flowed through his mind, and he was immersed in the mysteries of the stick.

He didn't know when, but the speed at which he danced the long stick constantly increased.

And at this moment, with his body as the center, streaks of stick virtual shadows appeared. Although these stick shadows were chaotic and unorganized, upon closer inspection, they clearly followed the trajectory of the long stick's dance and arranged themselves.

Again, he didn't know how long passed, but the stick shadows became more and more numerous, and already formed a weak stick array around him, like a covering of gang qi.

At this point, he only retracted his method, letting out a long, turbid breath.

"The profound law of the stick is indeed not ordinarily difficult to cultivate." Actually using the stick to display divine ability, Ye Chen discovered that cultivating the stick was far more challenging than he had imagined, which was likely why many cultivators were unwilling to cultivate the stick.

However, after this session of cultivation, he wasn't without gains.

"The Tian Gang Stick Array can use dancing stick shadows to form a stick array for both attack and defense. So, if I use a sword, can I also use dancing sword shadows to form a sword array for both attack and defense?"

He sat at the head of the bed, pondering carefully, hoping to find common ground between the stick and the sword from the Tian Gang Stick Array. If so, he believed his defense and attack would both be greatly enhanced.

An hour of deep thought, and he increasingly felt that this method was feasible.

No sooner said than done, he leaped up again, and with a *zheng* sound, drew out his sharp Chi Xiao sword.

Drawing the sword, retracting the sword, revolving, slanting chop, reverse chop...

His movements were all performed according to the method of the Tian Gang Stick Array, not fast, but very slow.

One set of actions connected to another set, his eyebrows sometimes relaxed, sometimes tightly furrowed.

He discovered that although the stick and sword indeed had common ground, they also had many differences. Using the profound law of the stick to cultivate the sword was clearly very difficult to make progress. He was in the process of finding where the stick and sword shared different tunes but worked towards the same goal, in order to comprehend a Tian Gang Sword Array similar to the Tian Gang Stick Array.

*Zheng!*

*Zheng!*

The Chi Xiao sword continuously sounded with *zheng* sounds. Each time it was swung, a sword shadow would appear.

And the speed at which he danced the sword also constantly increased with the passage of time. With him as the center, the sword shadows gradually increased, but they still appeared chaotic and unorganized. Although they only possessed the prototype of a sword array, their defense and attack strength were too low and easily broken and blocked.

Near dawn, Ye Chen finally retracted the Chi Xiao sword.

*Hu!*

Again, a turbid breath was exhaled. He flipped his body and jumped onto the bed, hugging the back of his head with both hands, lightly closing his eyes. The profound law of the stick and the profound law of the sword cycled and replayed in his mind.

Comprehending the Tian Gang Sword Array from the Tian Gang Stick Array was clearly not a matter of a day or night.

He was very clear about this point. The appearance of a profound art was not achieved in a single move; it required time and actual combat to temper, just like a blacksmith forging a sword requires thousands of refinements to forge a good sword.

"The world's weapons, each have their strengths, yet they also take different paths to the same destination." He didn't know when, but Ye Chen opened his eyes, a look of sudden enlightenment in his eyes.

"Knives, spears, swords, halberds, sticks, hammers, axes, bows, all have common ground, yet also take different paths. Since the predecessors could comprehend the Tian Gang Stick Array, I can also ponder out the Tian Gang Sword Array. Time is not the problem; what is needed is comprehension."

()