Three seconds later, Li Yao returned. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he was pondering a very profound academic question.
"Master Li Yao, is there anything else you need me to do?"
Xie Anan shuddered and asked respectfully.
After witnessing Li Yao's marvelous training methods, she did not have the courage to call him 'senior brother' at all.
"The official reception of the Skyhill Sword Seminar will not begin until tomorrow," Li Yao said. "I wonder, is there a place nearby where I can stay for the night?"
"Yes," Xie Anan replied in a hurry. "There is a 'Red Cliff Villa' five kilometers away from here. It has a beautiful scenery and an elegant style. Many renowned refiners like to live there. The Thousand Mountain Moon Hotel in the downtown area is the most luxurious hotel in the area. It has luxurious facilities, good service, and convenient transportation, too. I wonder, Master Li Yao, do you prefer a lively place or a quiet one? I'll book a suite for you right now! "
Li Yao coughed and said emotionlessly, "That won't be necessary. I prefer to keep a low profile. A regular motel will do."
"Huh?"
"It will be best if the price is reasonable. Even a special room without windows will do."
"Huh?"
…
Half an hour later, Xie Anan, who had lost her wits, finally returned to the Sword Halberd Bamboo Woods.
The disciples of the noble families of refining had finished their competition and moved to the end of the bamboo woods. Delicacies were placed next to the gurgling stream. They were drinking and chatting with each other. The atmosphere was quite lively.
"What took you so long? You've missed out on a wonderful show! The competition just now was quite thrilling. I was lucky enough to win in the last round! "
Long Yunxin pulled Xie Anan to sit down next to her and picked two shrimps for her. Then, she said angrily, "It is not easy for the rightful heirs of so many sects to gather together from everywhere in the sea of stars. I meant to bring you here to broaden your horizons, but you ran away at the critical moment. Seriously! "
Xie Anan was still in a trance.
What everybody was eating was naturally the best food. There was ice delivered from more than ten world fragments, as well as all kinds of exotic animals.
But for some reason, what Xie Anan saw was Li Yao drinking soy milk. She looked like she was eating a chive pancake.
Frowning, Long Yunxin pinched her ribs softly and asked, "What's wrong? Is your 'expert' friend alright?"
The word "expert" was especially emphasized.
"I-I'm fine."
Xie Anan was back to herself. She calmed herself down and asked curiously, "Sister Long. For a first-rate refiner like you, how do you usually train the perception of your hands? "
"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Our Long Family doesn't have any good training methods for the perception of both hands, but … "
Long Yunxin said with a smile. "Brother Luo from the Luo family of Dongming, and Brother Tu, the host of the Sword Tasting Gathering, both of their families attach great importance to the training of the perception of both hands. Why don't you introduce them?"
Fatty Luo Dong laughed and didn't try to hide anything. She put down her chopsticks and spread out her two white palms. They looked like two huge pieces of white jade.
He said gloatingly, "The refining style of the Luo family is best known for its high hand speed and keenness of senses. The training method is not a secret, either. It is known as' Jade Hands'.
"This is the Virgin Cultivation Method. From the moment the successor is born, they have to grind fine jade into powder and rub it on their hands. Then, they have to soak it in secret medicine. Day after day, year after year, decades after decades, and they can't stop for even half a day. Speaking of which, it's a hard work. Ordinary people can't endure it!"
"As the saying goes, jade can communicate with the soul. This Cultivation method is to transfer the soul of the jade to the hands of the refiner. When the Cultivation method reaches the peak, the hands will naturally communicate with the soul, too. Hahahaha!
"What I'm doing is nothing. It will only cost me some money and effort. The training method of the Tu family's perception of both hands is truly appalling. Brother Tu, why don't you tell Sister Xie about it?"
Tu Yongqing smiled casually and extended his hands, too.
His hands, however, were densely packed and filled with countless slightly sunken holes.
Tu Yongqing said, "The training method of the Tu family's perception of both hands doesn't cost much.
"As you all know, there is a strange fruit named 'Red Caltrop' in the world of Cultivators. It has thorns all over its body, and the thorns are slightly poisonous. When they prick your hands, they will be very painful.
"The disciples of the Tu family train themselves with the Red Caltrop since they were little. They have to hold two Red Caltrops in their hands all the time. They eat, train, and sleep. It is the same every day. One moment of carelessness and they will be pricked. The pain will be excruciating, but they cannot relax.
"As they grow older, the number of Red Caltrops in their hands gradually increases. Later, when they are holding almost ten Red Caltrops in their hands, they are able to move them freely without being pricked. That is a small achievement."
While talking, Tu Yongqing waved his hands. As he expected, almost ten red fruits that looked like hedgehogs appeared in his hands. They were emitting crimson mystic colors.
Nobody knew where he had hidden the Red Caltrops. Exclamations of shock were immediately raised.
Xie Anan's eyes suddenly shone. She said in a hurry, "Brother Tu, your training method is quite marvelous. I wonder, have you ever heard of a similar method where the Red Caltrops are replaced by Purple Ring Sword Ants?"
Tu Yongqing was dazed for a moment. Before he said anything, Luo Dong burst into laughter. "What kind of method is that? The pain of being bitten by a Purple Ring Sword Ant is ten times more painful than being bitten by a Red Caltrop. How can you train yourself if you are bitten by a Purple Ring Sword Ant?
"Besides, the Purple Ring Sword Ants are ferocious by nature. They will not stay in your hands obediently like the Red Caltrops. They will not move when you want them to!
"Besides, Cultivators are all very strong. I'm afraid that after the Purple Ring Sword Ant bites you, you will be able to squeeze it to death immediately. How many Purple Ring Sword Ants do you have to catch every day for your training?"
Tu Yongqing smiled and said gracefully, "I know a thing or two about the method of training the senses of the hands with the help of the strange insects, Sister Xie.
"In the notes of many ancient Cultivators, there are records of the training methods of the strange insects, in which the Purple Ring Sword Ants are used for training. It is one of the most advanced techniques.
"However, the notes of the ancient times are not very detailed. Most of them are hearsay, rumor, or ghost stories.
"In my opinion, it is too absurd to train the senses of the two hands with Purple Ring Sword Ants. What kind of monster can bear such excruciating pain?"
"There are a lot of such bizarre theories in the world of ancient Cultivators. After all, they were the ancient Cultivators. Although they created the splendid civilization of ancient Cultivators, for nature … Their understanding of everything in the universe and the sea of stars was still shallow. Sometimes, in order to attract followers, they would exaggerate things to scare them. Pretentiously shocking words, coupled with erroneous rumors, gradually deifying cultivation. "
"The Cultivators today naturally need to absorb nutrition from the world of ancient Cultivators, but they must not follow blindly. They must absorb the essence and discard the dross.
"Such a method of training the senses of the hands with the Purple Ring Sword Ants must be a bluff of the ancient Cultivators. It must be the dross.
"Sister Xie, listen to me. There are no shortcuts to training. You can't reach the sky in a single step, either. You'd better not believe in such weird methods of training.
"If you want to train the senses of the hands, I can give you a few Red Caltrops and teach you some basic techniques. You can give it a try first.
"But I have to warn you first. It will be very painful if you are pricked by a Red Caltrop! "
Everybody smiled in a friendly way.
Xie Anan's face was flushed. A lot of words were on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't know where to start. After a moment of confusion, she sat back and focused on the shrimp.
When the topic of training was brought up, the banquet became lively again. Everybody talked about how difficult their training was, how they had suffered unbearable pain, and so on.
Xie Anan was annoyed. She found an excuse to leave the banquet and wandered in the bamboo forest.
Before she knew it, she had walked further and further away until she reached the pond where the competition had taken place.
The water in the pond was clear, and the rocks were gloomy. Almost ten rusted sabers and swords were still standing where they were, not yet cleaned up. The chainsword that Li Yao had polished meticulously was standing proudly among the weird rocks, too.
This sword was dim and lusterless. With a single glance, one could tell that it was far from everyone's shining treasured swords. Furthermore, Li Yao had left in a hurry, so it had been left here all this time. No one was interested in drawing it out to compare.
Xie Anan's curiosity was aroused. She drew the chainsword and observed it carefully.
She was born in a noble family of refining. Although her Cultivation was not very high, she had the basic insight. She noticed that, although the chainsword had been polished into a brand-new state, with all the components fitting perfectly, and the rune arrays carved on it were clear, it was indeed a bit dull. It was barely satisfactory and not a masterpiece.
Xie Anan sighed softly. There was no telling what was on her mind as she touched the broad body of the sword.
Suddenly, her eyes froze.
There was something on the body of the sword.
Although he could not see it with his naked eyes, he could sense it with his fingertips that there were many mysterious spiritual tattoos that looked like flowing water on the body of the sword. They intertwined with each other and formed many invisible rune arrays that were nested with each other.
"This is …"
"Twelve-chain Thunder Rune!"
"Master Li Yao has left a vague Twelve-chain Thunder Rune on the body of a chainsword that is made of super alloys with a few of the most common pebbles!"
"How is it possible?"
"Everybody was watching him. Later, when everybody was staring at him, he finished carving the rune without batting an eyelid. Sister Long, Brother Tu, Brother Luo … None of them noticed anything!"
"He — he was right. The gap between their capability is too huge. It was a crushing. An absolute crushing!"
Xie Anan could not help but inject a stream of feeble spiritual energy into the chainsword.
In a moment, a series of secret runes suddenly glittered on the chainsword and constituted twelve complicated rune arrays. They seemed to have been drawn with a single stroke without any hindrance or interruption!
BOOM! BOOM!
Dull thunders echoed in the bamboo forest, as if a storm was about to arrive!
"With the Twelve-chain Thunder Rune, the power of the chainsword is at least twice as strong! Although the runes are too shallow and can only be used once, it is still terrifying! "
Xie Anan was dumbfounded. She suddenly thought of something else.
In the first round of the sword tasting party, a refiner had proposed a rebuttal to Fiend Star's theory, which was about the Twelve-chain Thunder Rune!
"I believe that the Twelve-chain Thunder Rune is only suitable for the ancient sabers and swords that are simple in structure. For the modern sabers and swords that are made of hundreds of components, adding such a rune recklessly will only lead to the conflict of multiple rune arrays. The best outcome is that the rune arrays will be blocked, and the worst outcome is that the spiritual energy in the rune arrays will be disrupted and the magical equipment will collapse directly!
"Therefore, Fiend Star's theory seems to be perfect, but it is just a fantasy in an ideal state. It is impossible to achieve in reality!"
It was the refiner's own words.
Xie Anan shuddered in coldness.
"Is it possible that Master Li Yao is not unversed in theories, but that he truly agrees with Fiend Star's theory but does not bother to compete with him in words. Instead, he is crushing other people's refutation of Fiend Star with his actions?"
"Hahahaha!"
Far away, at the end of the bamboo forest, the elite descendants of the noble families of refining burst into delightful laughter as they talked about something marvelous.
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