Chapter 44: Sword Heart and Archery
Li Gang looked at Su Zun and nodded.
Su Zun said with a deep smile. "It is about time that we should start the training."
Li Gang nodded. "I was waiting for that moment."
Li Gang is aware of advantage of self learning and also disadvantage. Although self learning is great and flexible, but it is too slow as compared to learning from someone's explanations. No matter how smart you are, if you have someone to guide, it would always be much more efficient as compared to learning them yourself.
Su Zun immediately waved his hands and the two teleported to entirely different space. He said. "This is the small world owned by Ethereal Sect, called Floating Paradise. Each of the great sects possess at least one of them!"
Li Gang looked at him and asked. "How much does the Ethereal Sect possesses?"
Su Zun smiled. "Five of them. Second only to Celestial Sect, which possesses at least 10!"
Li Gang was surprised at the gap between Celestial Sect and Ethereal Sect. Su Zun looked at him and understood his doubt. He sighed. "Your thoughts are true. Celestial Sect is too strong. If it wishes, it could annihilate the Ethereal Sect but the only reason it doesn't is because it would have to loose at least 30% of it's foundation. In that situation, other sects would team up together and destroy them. This is also why he is cultivating Ji Changchen so diligently."
Su Zun changed the topic. "Tell me, what is it that suits you most in battle."
Li Gang nodded. "It's bow, sword, poisons, and Secret Techniques of all kinds. I don't have Spiritual Imprint, so I can use any attributes!"
Su Zun nodded.
"For next few years, you would practice under me. I will teach you Sword Techniques and although I am not good at Bow, we do have Assassin hall, where you can learn Bow Techniques from the hall master."
Li Gang nodded and bowed. "I am grateful to you, Master!"
Su Zun smiled. "Stop with the buttering. Do you think I am not aware of your personality?"
His face suddenly turned serious. "Don't hide like a coward. If you don't face your weakness, you will never be able to overcome. Get over it and don't run away from it."
Li Gang looked at him deeply and said. "I know what I am doing."
Su Zun replied. "You should be aware."
Soon, the hellish training of Li Gang began.
Su Zun made a proper plan for his training. He first took him to a Mountainous region and said. "The day you broke this Mountain with your Sword would be the day you complete your Sword training."
For intermediate Warriors, breaking a mountain isn't a big deal. Even Li Gang can do with a bit of efforts. But, breaking it with single sword is not that simple. It's similar to how you can punch a glass and break it with ease, but doing the same by throwing a needle is much more difficult.
With the help of his brute strength, and sword intent, he can still slice the Mountain. But, he can't do it from a distance after all Mountain is too huge, and he can't break it if he attacks a particular part of it. He should be able to attack from a large range while maintaining his strength.
What Su Zun wants Li Gang to learn is the next form of Sword Intent: Sword Heart. In this, one's mastery of Sword increases to next level and the user is able to feel the target with just his heart and attack them accurately. It not only increases the strength but also perception.
Su Zun divided the training into three halves:
- perceiving his surroundings while his eyes are closed.
- sharpening his sword by practicing over tough rocks carefully selected by him. Even making scratches on them is difficult for Rank 5s and Rank 6s.
- combining the first two.
In this way, everyday Li Gang wakes up, he does vigorous training from morning to evening and then takes rest. Sometimes he would even skip the rest and train for a week continuously.
In just 1 month, Li Gang was able to make scratches on the Rock but he still faced difficulty in perceiving his surroundings.
In 2 months, Li Gang improved further. Now he was even able to perceive his surroundings. But, he didn't improve more in his Sword.
In 1 year, Li Gang was able to merge the two, but he was still half a point behind learning Sword Heart. Li Gang is aware that he was being taught Sword Heart, and he also knows everything about Sword Heart from Lin Fan's memory. But knowing and doing are two entirely different things.
It is like you know everything about Football, but knowing and scoring goals are two entirely different things.
It took Li Gang 2 more years to finally learn Sword Heart.
On this day, Su Zun looked at Li Gang and sighed as he looked towards the destroyed mountain. "You truly are heaven defying genius, I have never seen and never heard of such talent."
Li Gang looked at Su Zun and asked. "Do you know a way to increase the talent?"
Su Zun looked at Li Gang deeply and said with a meaningful smile. "An Emperor is capable of controlling the concepts itself. They can change the reality and manipulate the whole world, including living and non living beings."
Li Gang's face didn't change at all as if he is aware of everything and anticipated this answer. He has been with Su Zun for 3 years, and knows his personality like the back of his hands.
Su Zun saw his expression and smiled. "It looks like you knew long ago that you have been fooled?"
Li Gang said with disdain. "That old fox is still too naive to fool me. When he said Ethereal Sect has a way to improve the talent, I knew he must be scheming something."
'After getting Lin Fan's memory, I immediately confirmed my guess. But, why would he send me to this place? What is his motive, I can't figure it out.'
In fact, Li Gang was right. An Emperor has the ability to manipulate Concepts itself. Can't he increase the talent of his son with just snap of his fingers? He needs to develop a new Technique just for that? It's too unrealistic. Jiang Fugui used the fact that Li Gang is unaware about Emperors to send him to Ethereal Sect, but his reasons are unknown.
Li Gang thought of something and suddenly asked Su Zun. "Is there a Spiritual Imprint which can tell you your identity at a first glance?"
Su Zun frowned. "It is impossible. Such means are only known to Emperors, it is impossible even for Rank 8s. Why, did you see someone use such means?"
Li Gang's eyes turned deep and he asked. "Do you know about Wanderers?"
Su Zun's face finally changed. He looked at him and immediately asked. "Where did you hear it?"
Li Gang smiled deeply and said. "It seems you do know."
Su Zun replied. "But I may not tell you. They are the taboo of this World, and must be eliminated at all costs."
Li Gang looked at him and still asked. "Can you tell me about them?"
Su Zun casted a deep glance at him. "Even though you are my disciple. I can't tell you. At least not right now. It is a huge taboo of this World."
Li Gang asked. "When?"
Su Zun replied calmly. "There will be a time."
He changed the subject and said. "Let's go, it is about time that you meet your next Master."
Saying that, he left the small world with Li Gang immediately without waiting for Li Gang to continue.
Ethereal Sect, Assassin Hall
There was a slim middle aged man standing, he looked at Su Zun and bowed. "I met the Sect Leader!"
Su Zun looked at a slim middle aged man and said. "Hall Master Ming, I will put him under your care from now on. He wants to learn Archery Techniques. It would be great if you could also teach him assassinations and put him in missions."
Hall Master Ming nodded and said. "I will put him alongside other disciples, and let him learn from them during missions."
Su Zun nodded and after chatting a while, he left.
Ming Chuan looked at Li Gang and asked politely. "Holy son Zhang, what do you know about Archery?"
Li Gang replied politely. "You can just call me Zhang Hao."
"In my opinion, Archery is a means to attack long distances. Archery demands intense focus and concentration. The archer must block out distractions, control their breathing, and maintain mental clarity to aim accurately."
Ming Chuan nodded. "Okay, you are good, Zhang Hao. Come with me." Saying that he started moving.
On the way, he suddenly said. "Archery is a path to harmony and balance. The archer strives to align their body, mind, and spirit, achieving a state of oneness with the bow and arrow. This unity symbolizes the interconnectedness of all things and the pursuit of inner peace."
This caught Li Gang off guard, who was focused on something different. Ming Chuan frowned at his lack of concentration, but still repeated what he said.
Li Gang nodded and said nothing more.
Soon they reached a forest region. It was a vast forest. He looked at Li Gang and pointed in a particular direction. "Take out your bow and aim at that."
Li Gang looked at the direction where he pointed. There was a huge tree, on top of it situated a Bird's nest. The place was around 5 miles away from his current location.
Li Gang took out his bow and aimed at the bird sitting there. Ming Chuan smiled and asked deeply. "What do you see now?"
Li Gang thought about the question deeply and replied with his own question. "What do you mean?"
Ming Chuan said again. "Just describe everything you see."
Li Gang replied. "I don't see anything other than a target. I don't see it as a bird or a living thing. There is only a prey in front of me that I am about to hunt!"
Ming Chuan smiled and said. "Shoot!"
Li Gang shot the arrow and it pierced through the bird killing it completely.
Ming Chuan laughed loudly and said. "I will make sure that your potential doesn't go to waste. You have the potential to reach the pinnacle in Archery!"
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At the same time, somewhere in the Ethereal Sect.
Su Zun was kneeling before a giant statue and said. "Yes, I have a suspicion that this Li Gang has met a Wanderer, and he is also aware about Wanderers. He even asked me about them. He might be aware of his own identity!"
A deep voice came from the statue. "Rest assured, one World can only have one Wanderer. It is impossible for this World to possess more than one. She is not that stupid to waste her energy by putting two Wanderers in the same place. Not to mention, if there were another Wanderer, we would have already found about them from out monitoring. As for him being aware of his identity, don't worry, even if he is aware, he can't escape. You just do what you are told to."
Su Zun nodded. "Yes, I will complete my mission."
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