Chapter 373: Strange Sensation
Chapter 373: Strange Sensation
The next day, Yi Chen woke up completely refreshed and, just like he had promised himself, he devoted himself to gaining as much understanding of the mace as possible today.
He swung it in all the directions he could, changing the pace from faster to slower, all in order to get used to the weapon he had no clue about twenty-four hours ago.
His efforts didn’t go in vain, as by late night, his proficiency bar had increased considerably as his body was getting used to the feeling of handling a mace.
[Basic Macemanship (Progress: 23-> 83 / 1000)]
Satisfied with today’s progress, he devoted the next few hours to cultivation before going to bed with a feeling of accomplishment.
The reason for this feeling was not only the big leap in his macemanship proficiency today but also the system panel that was opened in front of his eyes right now.
== Meridian Refinement Stage ==
Level: Eleventh [7 -> 8 / 40]
Mortal Meridians: 360 / 360
Godly Meridians: 47 -> 48 / 160
Progress: 407 -> 708 / 520
===========================
After entering the Eleventh Meridian Refinement Stage, the time it used to take him to refine one meridian had increased to eight days.
However, thanks to the cultivation buff, he was able to push past that limitation, and it was now possible for him to do the same in two and a half days.
Closing the panel a few minutes later, he finally went to sleep in order to give his mind and body the rest they deserved.
The next few days passed just like this, with Yi Chen dividing his time between raising his understanding of the mace and refining his meridians.
With the passing of each day, his body became more and more familiar with the weight distribution of the mace, and he even started using it as a sword while smashing the surrounding walls and ground incessantly.
Thanks to the self-restoring formation that was cast upon the entire cave, all the damage caused was automatically repaired, and by the time Yi Chen opened his eyes the next day, the cave was back to its original state.
By the sixth day, Yi Chen started noticing that when he used the mace as a sword and swung it around in a similar way, not only would his macemanship progress at a much higher rate, but he would also gain a few points in his swordsmanship.
"Since it’s like this, I might as well make the most of it..." he muttered with a gleeful smile and started mixing all the sword techniques he had learnt with the mace, which, although it looked extremely awkward at first, started looking more and more natural with time.
+2...
+3...
+1...
+1...
Seeing the rapid increase in points naturally drove Yi Chen to his limits as his proficiency in both swordsmanship and macemanship kept getting higher and higher with each hour.
Thanks to this change of pace, by the twelfth day, Yi Chen’s macemanship was already about to enter the Advance Stage.
[Basic Macemanship (Progress: 921 / 1000)]
"By tomorrow, it will change to Advance Macemanship." Yi Chen muttered to himself with an expectant glimmer in his eyes.
Although he was able to achieve it quite easily, that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of how difficult it would have been for him if not for his high understanding of swordsmanship.
It was thanks to this that he was confident that the progress he had made in the last fifteen days was more than enough to satisfy what the instructor was looking for in the candidates.
The grip with which he was holding onto the mace’s handle tightened the next instant as he continued on with his usual barrage of attacks, striking one protruding rock at a time.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The entire cave reverberated with the strikes, a sound that had even started to feel therapeutic to Yi Chen after hearing it hundreds of times in here.
Locking onto the next rock piece that was protruding out from the ground, he struck it with all his might, with the desire to completely decimate it into powder.
However, just before the mace was about to make contact with the rock, a strange sensation passed through his entire body, but by that time it was too late for Yi Chen to pause his strike.
THUK!
To his surprise, instead of the usual forceful feeling he felt in his hands when the mace used to make contact with the rocks, he felt almost no resistance this time.
’This...’
With his brows furrowed, he waited for the dust that had risen to settle, only to witness something he wasn’t expecting at all.
"...How is this even possible?"
He muttered, disbelief evident in his eyes, while staring at the piece of rock, which, instead of being smashed to smithereens as it should have, was cleanly cut in half by the mace.
If not for the fact that he was the one who had made this strike, then even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn’t have believed that the strike in front of him was done by a mace instead of a sword.
’Just how...’
He thought, still trying hard to make sense of how a mace was able to cut the rock in two complete halves.
Picking up the mace, he looked closely at its head to confirm that there were no changes to its shape. There was none, something which only served to further confuse him.
It was at that moment that he was suddenly reminded of the strange sensation he felt just before the strike had landed.
"That sensation just now..."
His eyes widened as he suddenly realised something. "That... could that be a momentary enlightenment while training??"
However, the moment he realised this, instead of being filled with excitement, he tightly grabbed onto his mace. He had no intention of losing this golden opportunity that had been presented to him on a platter.
Therefore, clearing his mind the very next moment, he started striking one stone after another, wanting to experience the same feeling again.
BANG!
BANG!
One after another, he kept striking at the walls and the ground, and several pieces of rock fell off the wall, creating new targets for him to strike.
Each and every strike landed with as much power as possible, but despite that, the earlier sensation didn’t come again.
However, knowing well not to give up, especially during times like these, Yi Chen continued on with his strikes incessantly as it soon crossed a hundred.
Covered in sweat, he was filled with exhaustion, but believing that if he stopped now, then it would be even more difficult for him to get back that sensation, he kept at it, pushing himself one step further with every strike.
And that was exactly when the sensation reappeared.
BANG!
BANG!
THUK!
His entire body shivered from excitement as the sound of a clean cut resonated in his ears, as the stone which he had struck opened up in two clean halves the moment he pulled up his mace.
This time, knowing better, he didn’t waste a second and continued on with the strikes to feel it once again to heighten his understanding of what exactly was different about these strikes.
THUK!
BANG!
BANG!
THUK!
.
.
.
Not minding how unpredictable getting the exact strike was, he continued on with it, as with each successful strike his understanding continued to improve before finally reaching a transition point.
THUK!
THUK!
THUK!
THUK!
The consistent successes raised his understanding of both his sword and mace to a completely new level, as a cracking sound resounded in his mind at that very moment, making Yi Chen freeze in place for a couple of seconds.
When he regained his senses, his head was filled with completely new information, making him understand something that was completely unfathomable to him a few moments ago.
Wanting to test it out, he grabbed the mace with one hand and slowly lifted it up until its head was pointing directly towards the cave’s wall.
Pulling his elbow a few centimetres back, he plunged the mace right into the wall the very next moment.
SIIIK!
The mace went straight into the wall with little resistance, making Yi Chen’s breathing turn heavier.
Pulling it out the next second, his eyes finally fell towards the deep hole that had been formed, its inner walls as smooth as metal sheets.
Seeing this scene, Yi Chen started murmuring to himself, "W-What’s dull can be sharp...what’s sharp can be dull..."
Taking a deep breath to adjust his mind, he continued, "...In the end, nothing is sharp, and nothing is dull."
BANG!
He struck the wall again, causing a deafening sound to resound all around. This time, however, instead of a clean hole, a deep crater had been created in the wall as crumbled rock pieces rolled onto the ground the next second.
"I-I’ve gained a lot..."
Yi Chen muttered to himself while opening his ’Cultivation Arsenal’ the very next moment. Just like he had anticipated, the changes were evident in his eyes.