Jínhóng Martial Hall, official disciple area.
Inside a quiet courtyard.
"Hah!"
"Hup!"
A tall, athletic youth wearing a cyan training uniform was dripping with sweat under the scorching sun, practicing his saber techniques without rest.
Yet the weapon he was wielding was merely an artificial tool made of wood.
Even so, every swish and slash of the wooden saber in his hand produced a crisp sound as it cut through the air, forming a continuous stream of motion with an endless array of blade shadows.
Though lacking any real lethal deterrent, the wooden saber still hissed through the air with ferocious momentum and an intimidating aura.
Alas, a wooden saber was still just a piece of wood.
It could never compare to the solid weight and reality of a real metal blade.
There was no helping it, though. Most of the training equipment provided by Jínhóng Martial Hall was made of wood, alongside the knowledge, medicinal diets, and herbal baths provided for official disciples' training.
They simply did not provide metal weapons like broadswords or longswords. Anyone who needed them had to purchase them out of pocket.
This was reasonable enough, as Jínhóng Martial Hall was not renowned for its saber techniques, being famous instead for various bare-handed combat skills and martial arts.
To learn any formidable saber technique, one had to become a personal disciple of the master himself.
Moreover, ironware had been expensive since ancient times. With hundreds of disciples across Jínhóng Martial Hall, the cost of equipping everyone with a broadsword would be unimaginable.
Shen Xiu had heard tales from blacksmith shops outside and knew that even the most ordinary broadsword cost several taels of silver. Before receiving his first month's stipend, where would he have found the extra money to buy a training saber?
For now, however, this wooden saber was merely a temporary measure.
Shen Xiu continued his practice in the courtyard, dancing through the forms for another incense stick's duration.
By now, he was soaked in sweat. The bulging muscles of his physique were packed with explosive power, a fine sheen of perspiration beading across his skin.
Suddenly, Shen Xiu felt a stirring in his heart.
An unbroken, whistling sound ripped through the air. The momentum of the saber in his hand abruptly shifted, accelerating rapidly with the downward stroke as he slashed directly toward the stone table before him.
*Bang!*
A rebound force traveled straight into his wrist, and the stone table cracked apart directly into two halves with a shattering sound.
"The second stage is complete."
The exertion of physical strength left Shen Xiu feeling parched and dry-mouthed, but looking at this sight, a quiet thrill welled up in his expression.
Ignoring the shattered stone table, he opened the attribute interface on his light screen.
【Blood Battle Saber Technique: Stage Two — Initial Mastery 0.1%】
Under the martial arts section, the proficiency for the Blood Battle Saber Technique had shifted from the first stage to the second, reaching the threshold of initial mastery.
It could be considered truly entered.
This made it all the way worth consuming five potent bowls of Peiyuan Broth over the past month, while spending the vast majority of his time on the Blood Battle Saber Technique.
Now, facing any unexpected danger, he should possess at least a shred of self-preservation strength.
Surveying the scene in the courtyard, Shen Xiu couldn't help but think.
Still, sooner or later he had to get his hands on a genuine, flesh-and-blood broadsword.
Musing over these thoughts, Shen Xiu lingered in the courtyard for a moment to catch his breath, drank a few gulps of water, and then headed over to the External Affairs Hall to collect his official disciple stipend of two taels of silver.
Using two taels of silver to buy a broadsword sounded a bit pathetic, but Shen Xiu still intended to check out the blacksmith shops.
Things proved far too idealistic, however. When Shen Xiu rushed to the nearest blacksmith shop, the Hundred-Refined Hall.
He discovered that even the most ordinary broadsword cost around five taels of silver.
The purchasing power of five taels of silver was enough to cover a month's expenses for an ordinary household in Taixi City, yet that was merely the price of a basic broadsword.
Better weapons, like a Ten-Refined Saber or a Hundred-Refined Saber, cost an astronomical sum of silver that left onlookers completely dumbfounded.
Only then did Shen Xiu understand why so many people generally practiced bare-handed martial arts. Another severe problem was likely that they simply couldn't afford a weapon.
Walking along a remote street, intending to check out other shops, Shen Xiu spotted a store at the very end bearing a sign that read Yang Family Blacksmith Shop.
The storefront's decor and the interior size could not compare to the previous shop, the Hundred-Refined Hall. It looked rather shabby, with almost no room for comparison.
Stepping inside, Shen Xiu discovered that most of the items in the shop were ironware like hoes and shovels.
As for the weapons he wanted to find, only a scattered few sat in a corner.
Moreover, their quality was mediocre at best; they looked as though they had been left there for a very long time, coated in a thick layer of dust.
Yet right now, Shen Xiu's purse was light, and he was in no position to be picky.
"Master, how much for this saber?"
Shen Xiu picked up a three-foot-long broadsword, finding its workmanship quite ordinary and rather rough, though the weight was decent.
Seeing a customer step in for business, the burly man who had been hammering a hoe in the smithy immediately rushed over with an excited expression.
"Brother, looking to buy a saber? This blade might look average, but it handles damn well. One price: five taels of silver."
Shen Xiu's mouth twitched, and dark lines crossed his forehead.
The broadsword back at the Hundred-Refined Hall only cost five taels. For this piece of junk to dare fetch five taels—whoever made it certainly had the nerve to ask and sell.
Hearing the price, Shen Xiu put the broadsword down and turned to leave.
"Wait... hold on, brother! Price is negotiable! If you like it, take it for three taels of silver, how about that?"
Seeing Shen Xiu turn to leave with a complete lack of interest, the blacksmith Yang suddenly grew a bit anxious.
He originally originated from making agricultural tools, but in his youth, he had harbored a certain dashing ambition, dreaming of opening a broadsword shop with branches spreading all across the Dajing Dynasty, just like the Hundred-Refined Hall.
So, piecing together saber-making techniques he had learned God knows where, he decisively took the plunge and eagerly forged a few weapons, wasting quite a bit of material.
Little did he know he was merely a dabbler. His saber-casting craftsmanship was bound to be crude, resulting in weapons that ordinary people couldn't use, while martial artists wouldn't deign to look at them.
By now, those weapons had sat on his shop's display table gathering dust for several years, entirely ignored.
Every time his wife caught sight of those armaments, she would grab him by the ear and scold him fiercely. Thinking of all this always filled the blacksmith Yang with bitterness and deep depression.
Now that he finally had a rare customer, how could he bear to let him go?
Naturally, Shen Xiu didn't really want to leave. He had put on that display merely to drive down the price. Hearing the blacksmith's call, he smoothly halted his steps.
"One tael of silver." Shen Xiu stated a price in a calm tone.
The burly blacksmith nearly coughed up blood, his expression twisting as though he had swallowed eighty-two-year-old aged vinegar.
"Aren't you just taking my old life? Even if I melted that blade down and sold it for scrap, it would be worth more than that!"
"Then the master better hold on to your old life. I'm a relatively kind person; I don't like taking lives." With that, Shen Xiu turned to leave once more.
The blacksmith Yang's face flushed red. Watching Shen Xiu's departing footsteps, he stamped his foot and gritted his teeth. "Goddamn it, one tael it is! I must have committed some atrocious sin in my past life to have been fool enough to want to forge sabers."
Shen Xiu stopped in his tracks, bared his white teeth, and smiled. "Can it be any cheaper?"
The blacksmith Yang's face turned beet red, veins bulging on his forehead. He grabbed a hoe from beside him, looking ready to chase the customer away.
It was clear he was furious.
Seeing this posture, the price had surely been driven to the bottom. Shen Xiu smiled, pulled out one tael of silver, picked up the broadsword, and left.