Chapter 28: A Massive Boost—Genius, the Outstanding One!

Hum~

Eyes closed, Li Yuan first chose to wield that unranked forging hammer.

After taking down the saber-sickle, he felt a hollowness, as if something had been drawn out of his body, but soon the empowerment from the forging hammer filled that emptiness.

Perhaps because the Soldier Controlling Register had advanced to the second rank, Li Yuan found that wielding weapons now felt less crude, and instead gentler, more intuitive.

Ore selection, iron smelting, forging, quenching and tempering, filing, tempering again, polishing…

The Small Accomplishment forging art unfolded before him bit by bit, flowing into his heart like a trickling stream.

"The empowerment from the saber-sickle hasn't completely vanished… As expected, during the wielding process, my body is also getting used to, even memorizing, these empowerments…"

"So the correct way to use the Soldier Controlling Register is to keep wielding, wielding for a long time, turning the empowerment into the body's instinct?"

"If that's the case…"

Li Yuan pressed down the agitation in his heart, feeling every change and detail, unwilling to miss any chance to explore the Soldier Controlling Register.

This was the foundation of his livelihood.

Whoo!

In the span of a few breaths, the forging hammer's empowerment had completely replaced the saber-sickle's. Li Yuan felt carefully, and that familiar sensation of someone who had smithed for years welled up in his heart again.

As if, in an instant, he had become a seasoned blacksmith.

This kind of enhancement was truly too intense!

"In the span of a moment, to master skills that others would need ten or even dozens of years of hard study to learn—this power is truly, wonderful!"

Li Yuan's heart surged with excitement.

He was the Soldier Controller; the stronger the Soldier Controlling Register, the more he benefited.

"Now is the time to try! Hope everything goes smoothly…"

After familiarizing himself for a moment, Li Yuan decisively chose to wield this second-rank Grand Craftsman's Hammer—he had been holding back for several days now.

Hum!

Closing his eyes, with the experience of several previous attempts, Li Yuan lay straight down on the bed, eyes shut, tensely sensing.

He wasn't sure whether his clever method of mastering Small Accomplishment forging art by wielding the forging hammer could really meet the wielding conditions of the second-rank Grand Craftsman's Hammer.

Only when a hammer shadow flashed across the second star on the Soldier Controlling Register did his heart finally relax.

"It worked!"

The next instant, his face changed drastically.

The information that surged in hit him so hard he grew dizzy and his head swelled, as if he'd drunk too much bad liquor; he even dry-heaved, his vision flickering black.

"Too careless!"

Lying on his back, Li Yuan, whose head was somewhat dizzy, was still shaken to his core.

In just that instant, it felt to Li Yuan as if days and nights had passed; he even felt as if he had really smithed iron for decades!

"Worthy of being second-rank, the gap is just too huge!"

Li Yuan broke out in a sweat, his face slightly pale, but his eyes shone with a frightening brightness.

This harvest was truly too great!

Perfection-level White Ape Cloak Hammer Art, Great Perfection-level forging method, Hundred Soldiers Familiarity, Weapon-type Talent…

Compared to the unranked forging hammer, this Grand Craftsman's Hammer was intense, vast—more than ten times over?

If the former was a trickling stream, the latter was like a breached wave; just a little more, and he would have fainted.

"Use it and act, store it away and hide; the one who wields it has none before him, the one who holds it grows mighty of body!"

Li Yuan flipped himself upright, couldn't help but clench his fists tight, barely holding back from shouting aloud, the joy in his heart so thick it couldn't be dissolved.

At this moment, he finally understood the true meaning of those few words he had heard when Heaven bestowed the Register.

【This hammer once struck a hundred myriad weapons; hold it, and gain familiarity with the flaws of all weapons; hold it, and weapon-type talent grows】

Talent growth!

Li Yuan was very excited.

Zhang Ben and Tang Tong both thought his bone structure was slightly lacking but his talent astonishing; but he knew his own situation best—without the Soldier Controlling Register, he feared he might not be much stronger than Niu Gui.

But at this moment, he saw the hope of altering his talent.

Although for now it was only weapon-type talent, in the future there might well be the possibility of altering his bone structure, or even other talents!

"This is what it means to grow mighty of body!"

Li Yuan let out a long breath, got dressed, and rose.

Taking out the long-handled practice hammer from the Dingxin Dingxin Shitai, he strode quickly to the center of the courtyard; the immense sense of enhancement made him unable to wait to put it into practice.

The Soldier Controlling Register after its advancement did not disappoint him, and wielding the Grand Craftsman's Hammer pleased him greatly. The one flaw was that his idea of swapping out that unranked forging hammer came to nothing.

The Soldier Controlling Register clearly had no such loophole to exploit; he still had to practice it himself to Small Accomplishment…

"Why are you up so late?"

Fatty Sun walked in from San Yuan Wai.

By now the sun was already high in the sky; it was the first time he had ever seen Li Yuan rise this late.

"Went to bed a bit late yesterday."

Li Yuan came back to his senses, restrained the urge to vent, and the desire for an independent small courtyard suddenly surged up strongly.

Whether for practice or anything else, he very much needed a space of his own.

Fatty Sun was in a great mood: "I just came back from the inner court; my brother-in-law is very satisfied with you. Did he teach you a striking method before?"

"…A striking method?"

Only then did Li Yuan recall the booklet on striking methods Tang Tong had given him.

These past few days he'd been busy advancing the Soldier Controlling Register, and with the superior striking method Soldier Dao Combat Hammer in hand, he had almost forgotten about it…

"You haven't practiced it yet, have you?"

Fatty Sun's heart gave a sudden lurch, and he nearly broke out in a cold sweat:

"I've been singing your praises to the skies, you, you better not…"

"I'll learn it right now, right now!"

Seeing his creditor's eyes going red, Li Yuan hurriedly pulled the combat manual from his chest and began flipping through it.

"Combat arts are methods of circulating blood energy, far more difficult than breathing techniques. My brother-in-law only gave you seven days, and you're only starting now—how will you make it in time?"

Fatty Sun stamped his feet anxiously and rolled up his sleeves:

"Forget the smithing today. I'll teach you myself."

"Don't rush me, let me look through it first…"

Li Yuan had already risen into the White Ape Stake, a hammer in one hand and the small manual in the other.

The combat arts of the White Ape Cloak Hammer, like its practice forms, numbered only eighteen moves, each with six variations. The manual was richly illustrated, and the coordination tips for feet, knees, waist, shoulders, elbows, and wrists were extremely detailed—quite intuitive.

Except…

Li Yuan blinked and murmured:

"This isn't hard at all."

"What?"

Fatty Sun, who had just gone to the corner to fetch a hammer, goggled at him:

"Not hard? Do you know how long it took me to learn these combat arts back then? A full three—"

Whooo~

In an instant, from utter stillness to utter motion.

Li Yuan kicked the hammerhead up, his shoulder and arm rotated, the hammerhead let out a "whooo" on the wind, scattering the remaining snow, and the six variations flowed forth in turn.

Not hard—one might even say simple!

The instant he lifted the hammer, Li Yuan had keenly sensed the difference from yesterday.

In his perception, this practice hammer seemed to truly become a part of his body; the combat arts that surfaced in his mind were transmitted to his body without any loss.

Letting him swing freely, flowing as he wished!

"Th-this…"

A sudden gust rose in the courtyard, blowing the accumulated snow into the air. Fatty Sun stood rooted to the spot, not even noticing the hammer drop from his hand.

Combat arts are the essence of a Wu Gong, encompassing blood energy circulation, breathing techniques, practice forms, and stake work—the "mastery" in "easy to learn, hard to master."

Back then, it had taken him a full three years to master these combat arts.

This…

Hoo!

Hoo!

The fierce wind swirled, hammer shadows wreathed his body. All eighteen combat arts—one hundred and eight variations—Li Yuan performed them in one breath, his blood energy flowing within, thoroughly exhilarated.

A few days earlier, he had asked his master what a talent different from innate constitution actually looked like.

Zhang Ben answered: an ordinary person learning martial arts sees with their eyes and feels in their heart that they've got it, but the moment they try to perform it, their limbs feel terribly stiff, and they can't even copy it by imitation.

A truly outstanding person, however, sees with their eyes, remembers in their heart, and can perform it exactly as envisioned, without the slightest deviation!

Relying on the Master Smith's Hammer, Li Yuan seemed to understand somewhat.

"Is this what it feels like to be a genius?"

(End of chapter)