Chapter 174

"Remember your words; that is all for today." Su Chen nodded. "Familiarize yourself with your body first; true cultivation begins tomorrow."

Su Chen said this and turned to leave the room, leaving Shi Yi alone to experience his body, which had become somewhat unfamiliar.

That day, Shi Yi felt the troubles brought about by his sudden surge in power.

He could never control his strength well and made many jokes.

The next day, Su Chen brought Shi Yi to an open space in the mountains.

There were many wooden stakes in the open space, and an axe was stuck into one of them.

That axe was pitch-black all over, with a wide blade; it was not suitable for chopping wood, but rather for combat.

"I forged this specifically for you based on your strength. From today on, it is your weapon." Su Chen pointed to the axe. "Go, pick it up."

"Yes!"

Shi Yi responded and walked over, full of confidence.

He now felt he had boundless strength; let alone an axe, he felt he could lift a thousand-pound rock.

He walked to the axe, gripped the handle with one hand, and pulled with force.

The axe did not move at all.

"Huh?"

Shi Yi was stunned.

He did not believe it, took a deep breath, bent down, gripped the handle with both hands, and exerted force suddenly.

"Rise!"

The axe still did not move, as if it had taken root in the ground.

"How can this be?" Shi Yi was full of disbelief.

He clearly felt he was full of power; why couldn't he even lift an axe?

Su Chen watched from the side, not surprised.

"You have brute strength now, but you have no idea how to use it."

He walked to Shi Yi's side and said: "Watch closely, I will now teach you the first form of the *Thirty-Six Axes of Heavenly Gang*."

As his voice fell, Su Chen's aura changed abruptly.

Shi Yi felt the kind and amiable senior instantly become overbearing; an indescribable, terrifying aura radiated from him.

Su Chen bent down, gripped the handle with one hand, and lifted the axe with ease.

Immediately after, Su Chen's movements changed, and he swung the axe in a posture that seemed very strange to Shi Yi.

Shi Yi felt that within the axe swing Su Chen performed, there seemed to be something indescribable, but he was not clear on what it was.

"Boom!"

At the same time, as Su Chen swung the axe, a giant tree in the distance suddenly split in two.

It was cut neatly down the middle as if it were a block of tofu, the cut smooth.

Shi Yi's mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg.

He stared blankly at the split giant tree; was this the power of an Immortal?

"Did you see clearly?" Su Chen withdrew his hand, and the aura on his body returned to normal.

"I... I saw clearly..." Shi Yi answered stutteringly.

"That's good." Su Chen nodded. "From today on, what you must do every day is practice this movement. When you can pick up that axe and perform this form completely, you will have entered the path."

After speaking, Su Chen put the axe back on the wooden stake, found a rock to sit on, and watched Shi Yi.

Shi Yi looked at the axe and recalled Su Chen's earth-shattering axe swing just now; raging flames ignited in his eyes.

He tried to pick up the iron axe again and again, but every time, it ended in failure.

He began to imitate Su Chen's movements, not holding the axe, but simply simulating the movement with his body.

However, no matter how he imitated it, it felt wrong.

What he performed was just a shell with form but no substance, completely lacking the feeling Su Chen had.

"Wrong, it's not like this..."

"When the senior swung, it seemed... it seemed like his whole body was exerting force..."

Shi Yi gestured while thinking bitterly.

He spent the entire morning immersed in it, forgetting time, forgetting fatigue; his mind was filled with Su Chen's axe swing.

Su Chen watched him with interest at first, then simply closed his eyes to cultivate.

At noon, Su Chen reminded him to eat.

After lunch, he did not stop for a moment and ran back to continue practicing.

Soon, a day passed.

Shi Yi still could not pick up the axe.

However, he was not discouraged and continued to practice the next day.

Thus, in the back of the Qingxi Sword Sect, a thin youth repeated a monotonous movement day after day, tirelessly.

Sometimes, some disciples of the Qingxi Sword Sect would sneak over to watch the fun.

"Look at that fool; the Immortal senior has taught him for so long, and he can't even pick up an axe."

"Exactly, and he's there gesturing every day like a lunatic; I really don't know what the senior sees in him."

"In my opinion, he's just a piece of trash, wasting the senior's painstaking efforts for nothing."

Shi Yi heard these taunts and discussions, but he paid them no mind.

In his world, only Su Chen's movement remained.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

Shi Yi still could not pick up the axe.

Every day, besides eating and sleeping, he spent all his time practicing that movement.

Thousands of repetitions made his arms, shoulders, and waist ache immensely; sometimes he couldn't even lift them.

But he never thought of giving up.

Because he could feel that with every practice, his body was undergoing subtle changes.

His muscles became firmer; his tendons and bones became more flexible; his control over strength became increasingly refined.

It was just that, to pick up that axe, something still seemed to be missing.

The attitude of the Qingxi Sword Sect disciples toward him also changed from initial mockery to secret admiration.

After all, someone who could persist for half a month doing the same dull thing every day was worthy of a bit of respect, even if he were a fool.

Master Qinghe also came to look a few times, and every time he saw Shi Yi's desperate appearance, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

He also felt suspicious in his heart: was Disciple Wu Chen's technique too difficult?

It had been a month, and he hadn't even entered the path; could this child really do it?

Only Su Chen remained calm and composed.

He sat to the side every day, seemingly closing his eyes to cultivate, but in reality, every move Shi Yi made was under his spiritual sense observation.

He knew very well that Shi Yi's aptitude was indeed poor.

The *Thirty-Six Axes of Heavenly Gang* emphasized "momentum"; this divine physical cultivation technique was created based on the opening-heaven intent of the Great God Pangu.

To achieve something, one must comprehend that momentum of daring to swing an axe to open the heavens.

And Shi Yi's comprehension made it very difficult for him to understand the mysterious and profound thing that was "momentum."

Therefore, Su Chen simply let him use the most foolish method, through thousands of repetitions, to let him remember that feeling himself.

That afternoon, Shi Yi collapsed on the ground again, gasping for breath.

He looked at the axe on the wooden stake, and for the first time, a trace of confusion and frustration appeared in his eyes.

"Could it be that I really can't do it?"