Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: The Effect of Middle Grade Martial Arts (PK for More Follow-up Reads!) @@novelbin@@

Backyard.

Wang Jin had just stepped out of his own room, ready to continue enjoying his breakfast, when he saw Jiang Ning returning with hurried steps.

He looked surprised, “Why have you come back, boy?”

Jiang Ning bowed with hands held in front and said, “Disciple wishes to request a saber, to carry day and night, in order to become familiar with the feel of the blade.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Jin suddenly remembered Jiang Ning’s process of learning the Five Animals Fist.

After looking at the boxing manual once, he could remember it all, and after watching Wang Jin practice once, he could imitate the movements—his rehearsal of the boxing technique was quite impressive.

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“You sly one, I understand what you’re getting at!”

“Well then!”

“If I don’t let you try, you’ll never be satisfied! It’s good to become familiar with the feel of the blade!”

Wang Jin returned to his room.

Jiang Ning stood in the courtyard, suddenly feeling a bit excited.

He clearly understood the meaning behind Wang Jin’s words.

Although Wang Jin had seen that he wanted to try practicing the Canglang Blade Skill, he had also implicitly approved of his actions of practicing the Blade Skill.

A moment later.

Wang Jin re-emerged from his room, holding a saber, its handle as black as ink.

He then threw the long saber to Jiang Ning across the space, who hurriedly caught it.

“This saber is known as the Ebony Blade. Both the handle and the sheath are made from ebony, and the blade itself is made from steel forged a hundred times, weighing fifteen pounds, and is worth a hundred taels of silver!” Wang Jin declared.

Jiang Ning gripped the ebony blade in his hand and slowly unsheathed it.

A streak of cold light instantly reflected in his eyes.

Like a mirror, the blade shone with a dazzling brightness under the sunlight.

Ssshh—

Jiang Ning flicked the handle, and the long saber slipped back into the sheath.

He then bowed respectfully, “Thank you, Master, for the generous gift of the saber!”

Wang Jin said, “Since you want to try, then go back and have a good attempt! I know you, kid. If you don’t try, you’ll never be content!”

“It is Master who truly understands me!” Jiang Ning chuckled.

“Alright, go back!” Wang Jin waved his hand, “After you try, you’ll understand that it’s impossible for you at this stage!”

“Later on, focus on practicing your boxing. As for this blade, just get used to it in your spare time!”

Jiang Ning bowed again, “Thank you, Master!”

…

After returning to his own yard.

There was still well over half an hour left before 8:00 a.m., the time when the Martial Arts Hall opened.

Jiang Ning slowly drew out the ebony saber in his hands, revealing the full vista of the shimmering blade.

The blade was two feet and seven inches long, weighing fifteen pounds.

Holding it in his hand, Jiang Ning could feel its substantial heft.

Even though, with his current strength of over three hundred pounds in one arm, a fifteen-pound blade neither felt heavy nor light, but just right for him.

“A hundred taels of silver, that’s not cheap at all!”

As he regarded the ebony blade in his hands, Jiang Ning silently marveled.

A hundred taels of silver was the equivalent of a decade’s worth of living expenses for a typical family of three.

Grasping the pitch-black handle, Jiang Ning casually swung it a couple of times.

He immediately felt as if the saber in his hand merged harmoniously with his own being, as if they were blood of the same vein.

He swung it horizontally through the air once more.

Ssshh—

A flicker of cold light passed through the sky, and a falling leaf was instantly split in two by the stroke.

“This feeling… is amazing!”

Jiang Ning couldn’t help but feel captivated.

Holding the long saber, he felt his confidence swell.

Even if Xu Yunfeng appeared before him at that moment, he dared to confront him head-on.

Holding the long saber and standing in the courtyard, Jiang Ning slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind, the Canglang Blade Skill he had carefully reviewed appeared vividly.

After a few breaths.

Jiang Ning suddenly opened his eyes—he had completed mentally rehearsing the skill, and the practice of the Canglang Blade Skill was clearly presented in his mind.

The next moment.

He began to execute the moves of the Canglang Blade Skill from memory, one by one.

Swoosh—

Swoosh—

Swoosh—

The saber frictioned against the air, producing whistles.

Holding the saber, he executed the Canglang Blade Skill.

At this moment, the weapon in his hand did not feel foreign to him at all, but rather intimately familiar.

It was as if he had spent countless years with it; he understood it completely.

Also, he was able to perform the Canglang Blade Skill flawlessly.

The gleam of the saber flashed across the yard, splitting the air with every strike.

At this point, he seemed like a master deeply versed in the way of the saber for many years!

He brandished the saber with ease and satisfaction, without the slightest feeling of awkwardness.

Simultaneously, Jiang Ning also felt it.

As he practiced the Canglang Blade Skill, an invisible force circulated within him, as if pulling at something.

After completing the set of moves.

[Canglang Blade Skill Experience Value +1]

Sigh—

Jiang Ning exhaled a breath of impure energy, his face slightly flushed, his body warmed, with a fine sweat covering his forehead.

He clenched his fist, feeling an almost imperceptible sensation within his body.

“Could this be the birthing process of strength?” Jiang Ning muttered to himself, contemplatively.

[Skill]: Canglang Blade Skill (Unattained 1/10)

He glanced at the panel again, his eyes suddenly brightening.

“It really works! With this miraculous panel, I can indeed master this middle-grade Martial Arts Skill.”

Seeing the change on the panel, he was bursting with motivation.

To attain mastery is to grasp the powerful Nine Layers of Strength.

This meant that, upon entry to the Canglang Blade Skill, the might it unleashes could rival that of the Perfection-level Five Animals Fist, or even surpass it.

After all, the power condensed from middle-grade martial arts like the Nine Layers of Strength would be superior to that from the Tiger Strength of lower-level martial arts.

“Perhaps only when the Five Animals Fist in all its forms is perfected, condensing the Five Beasts Force, can it be comparable to the entry-level Nine Layers of Strength!” Jiang Ning thought to himself.

He felt his body’s changes and brightened even more.

Because he discovered that practicing the saber seemed to consume less physical strength than practicing the Five Animals Fist.

“Let’s practice the saber technique again!”

The thought arose, and Jiang Ning practiced the Canglang Blade Skill once more.

The Canglang Blade Skill, inspired by the relentless waves.

When attacking with this skill, each strike is faster and stronger than the last, an unending onslaught giving no respite.

If defending, the gleam of the saber transforms into an impenetrable curtain of water, allowing no entrance.

On his second round of practice, Jiang Ning felt a deeper understanding of the Canglang Blade Skill.

He also felt even more distinctly the invisible force circulating within his body.

[Canglang Blade Skill Experience Value +1]

[Skill]: Canglang Blade Skill (Unattained 2/10)

Observing the changes on the panel, he felt his body’s changes once more.

Jiang Ning was convinced without a doubt.

Although the Canglang Blade Skill is a middle-grade Martial Arts Skill, the physical effort required to practice it was less pronounced than that for practicing the Five Animals Fist.

This meant that he would accumulate experience value for the Canglang Blade Skill faster than for the Five Animals Fist.

The doubts in his mind were fleeting, for he understood it almost instantly.

Because every time the Five Animals Fist is practiced, it touches upon the foundation of the human body.

Practicing the Five Animals Fist condenses Qi Blood Power and strengthens the physique.

The physique is the foundation of strength.

The Five Animals Fist is equivalent to the fundamental technique before entering the ranks of Martial Arts.

Naturally, the expenditure is significant.

While the Canglang Blade Skill is also a middle-grade Martial Arts Skill, it leans more towards being a Skill.

Therefore, in his view, it is reasonable that it consumes less physical energy.

In Jiang Ning’s opinion, if one had to choose between the two, then even though the Five Animals Fist is a lower-level Martial Arts Skill, its importance far exceeds that of the Canglang Blade Skill.

Without a strong physique and Qi-Blood, all techniques are like castles in the air, collapsing at the slightest touch.

“I must not neglect my Canglang Blade Skill, after all, it is a middle-grade Martial Arts Skill, and any achievement in it will surely make my strength soar!”

“But I also can’t let my Five Animals Fist fall behind. Strengthening my Qi-Blood is the foundation of the human body, and a necessary condition for entry into the Martial Arts.”

Jiang Ning murmured to himself, well aware of the weight of each.