章 6: Nurturing
The Meng family's ancestral mansion bustled with activity as people lined up to collect their treasured pills.
"That's plenty."
"So many pills were given out?"
The clansmen who obtained the treasured pills were astonished. A woman held her seven-year-old daughter's hand and received her daughter's monthly cultivation resources. She was also shocked. "Previously, my daughter only received three taels of silver a month and a Lifeblood Pill. Now, she's getting 30 taels of silver and 10 Lifeblood Pills? She can consume a Lifeblood Pill once every three days?"
Her daughter was only seven. She didn't focus on cultivation and was given only the most basic resources the family clan gave the younger generation. Yet, her quota had increased tremendously.
"Everyone, the clan leader has personally announced that from this month onwards, all clan members below the age of 20 will receive ten times the amount of pills and silver every month." The clan members who were responsible for distributing the resources also began to explain. This soon spread, turning the clansmen in the Meng family ancestral mansion ebullient.
The family clan juniors were divided into five levels according to their cultivation progress.
For example, Meng Wenying and Meng Chuan were at the top of the list. They were specially nurtured.
There were also the second and third levels…
And now, the most ordinary juniors received 30 taels of silver and 10 Lifeblood Pills a month.
"Clan Leader, the clan has at least 2,000 people who are between the ages of 6 and 20. Can the family support such levels of distribution?" asked one of the old servants worriedly. Clan Leader Meng Yanping stood in the distance and watched clansmen collecting their quotas. He said calmly, "Don't worry. The clan's savings are enough to handle another ten years of such distribution."
The old servant was a little worried.
The income of a Godfiend clan was astonishing, but its expenses were similarly huge. Now, the clan was desperately trying to groom a new generation of cultivators. They were nurturing them with everything for the next ten years! They were throwing resources at the younger generation in hopes of producing a sapling who had a chance of becoming a Godfiend.
…
At the Mirror Lake Meng Manor.
Meng Dajiang led a dozen people back to the manor.
"Master." The servants were very respectful.
"Where's Chuan'er?" Meng Dajiang asked.
"Young Master is at the training grounds," the servants replied respectfully.
Meng Dajiang frowned and looked up at the sky. The sun was setting in the west and it was almost five in the evening. "Why is he still practicing at this time?"
He led an entourage to the training grounds. He vaguely heard the sound of a saber whistling through the air. He waved his hand and ordered in a low voice, "Wait here." With that said, he quietly walked closer. He looked through the windows surrounding the training ground. He saw a young man's blurry figure hidden within the saber flashes, practicing the Falling Leaf Saber.
"Qian Fang." Meng Dajiang beckoned for a middle-aged man not far away. Qian Fang—who was an old servant who served Meng Chuan—quickly walked over.
"Tell me," Meng Dajiang said with a suppressed voice, "how long has Chuan'er been practicing his saber art today?"
"Master, Young Master started practicing his saber art early in the morning. Besides eating and resting, he hasn't stopped!" Qian Fang said immediately.
"He practiced for so long?" Meng Dajiang frowned.
"Even after soaking in a herbal bath at night, the Young Master will continue practicing his saber art in his courtyard for two further hours." Qian Fang couldn't help but say, "For the past few days, other than eating, sleeping, painting, taking a medicinal bath, and undergoing Marrow Cleansing cultivation… he practices his saber art for roughly twelve to fourteen hours every day."
"For the past few days?" Meng Dajiang murmured. In the past few days? What could have agitated his son so much into such crazy training? The engagement annulment?
"Yes, for the past few days!" Qian Fang said. "Just before that, Young Master was still in a good mood. He even got me to buy some Godfiend biographies and didn't cultivate so crazily. But I've no idea what happened over the past few days. My attempts in persuasion fell on deaf ears."
…
A while later, at the training ground.
Meng Chuan was immersed with the Falling Leaf Saber technique.
"Chuan'er." Meng Dajiang's voice rang out.
"Dad." Meng Chuan stopped and saw Meng Dajiang leading more than ten people over.
Meng Dajiang smiled and said, "Chuan'er, the clan has decided to spend more effort in nurturing you. From today onwards, these eight Marrow Cleansing and three Mortal Shedding warriors will be your sparring partners."
"Don't I have bodyguards to spar with?" Meng Chuan was surprised.
He already had eight Marrow Cleansing guards and two Mortal Shedding guards. They would occasionally accompany him during his saber training.
"They are guards. These are warriors who specialize in sparring. For example, among these eight Marrow Cleansing warriors, there's one who's skilled in archery, and another who's skilled in projectiles. It will be of great help to your cultivation," said Meng Dajiang. "Besides, as your guards, we can't let them spar with you often, right?"
Meng Chuan nodded.
The guards were paid employees with well-defined job scopes. It was fine if they occasionally sparred with Meng Chuan, but doing so too often would result in exploitation complaints.
"There's no need to explain how much help these three Mortal Shedding realm experts can provide you. This"—Meng Dajiang pointed at a thin, mustached man—"is Brother Wang Chang, a senior at the Impervious realm."
"Senior Wang." Meng Chuan immediately bowed respectfully. A Impervious realm expert enjoyed high status in Eastcalm City. Wang Chang was second in command at an escort company in the city.
"There's no need to be this polite, Young Master Meng." Wang Chang smiled.
"From now onwards, six Impervious realm experts will spar with you every month. Each of them will accompany you during cultivation for five days, two hours a day," said Meng Dajiang solemnly. "The family paid a great price to hire six Impervious realm experts to spar with you. You need to make good use of this opportunity."
"Yes." Meng Chuan was also shocked.
Impervious realm experts were all important figures in the Eastcalm Prefecture. Time was precious; they couldn't spend a month training beside him daily. They had plenty of things to do after all. They were already generous if they were willing to spend two hours a day for five consecutive days sparring him. Yet, the family hired six Impervious realm experts… Meng Chuan was guaranteed a Impervious expert to spar with every day.
"Chuan'er, one must have great ambitions. There's no need to worry about not having a wife. You have to cultivate hard. Don't underachieve the family's expectations." After speaking, Meng Dajiang walked out.
There's no need to worry about not having a wife? What did father mean by that?
"Dad, what do you mean by not needing to worry about not having a wife?" Meng Chuan asked immediately.
"I don't want your imagination running wild," Meng Dajiang said and left the training ground.
"What imagination?" mumbled Meng Chuan before looking at the nearby sparring experts. His eyes lit up.
Saber techniques were meant for killing.
With a sparring partner, the training results would be much better. Even though he had sparring partners in the past, how could it compare to what he had now? He had sparring partners ranging from the Marrow Cleansing realm to the Impervious realm!
…
From this day onwards, Meng Chuan began practicing his saber art before dawn and enjoyed the benefit of having sparring partners in the morning.
When it was in the afternoon or night-time, he cultivated alone. He also needed to focus and reflect on the actual combat training he had in the mornings.
…
As Meng Chuan's state of mind changed, he could sense the unique individual charm in each of the Falling Leaf Saber's 81 stances since he fully immersed himself into the technique. He soon discovered the method to the secret technique, Third Autumn Leaf.
He gradually realized that the beauty of the 81 stances could be combined after practicing them one after another.
For example, the first stance was the Saber Drawing Stance. It was incomparably sharp and mighty. The second stance—Whirling Moon Stance—was bizarre and ethereal. When he switched to the third stance—Cloud Opening Stance—it transformed from ethereality and bizarreness to a sudden killer move. He would then switch to the fourth stance.
One move after another.
It was like a boulder rolling down a mountain; its speed would increase faster and faster.
The moves surged with unstoppable momentum as they followed one after another like torrential waves.
If the 81 stances can really be combined into one, allowing its might to reach the peak, I would be able to "naturally" produce the secret technique as described in the manual! It was because he understood this point that Meng Chuan was so obsessed with practicing his saber art.
If the "beauty" of the 81 stances combined into one, the blade would slice through the wind's trajectory, and its trajectory would perfectly connect.
The speed and transformation of the saber art formed a rhythm. It was like a song of nature.
A painting formed when the beauty of each move was combined..
Because he vaguely came into contact with this realm, Meng Chuan's yearning for success grew.
Day after day…
The beauty of Meng Chuan's saber art became increasingly perfect as he removed the flaws.
The rhythm of the saber art became more melodious as the staccato rhythm declined. The trajectory of the saber strokes were refined even further.
Meng Chuan could acutely feel his improvement. He felt that he was getting closer to that realm.
The vegetation by the side of the training grounds gradually turned green, a sign that March was fast approaching. As usual, Meng Chuan was cultivating. He gradually approached that realm, getting closer and closer.
Whoosh.
As Meng Chuan cultivated, his long pursuit for aesthetics was finally over. Flesh, bones, tendons, and heart—his technique had merged with his body. His saber art reached the state of being one with body and mind. He could sense the blade in his hand slicing through the resisting wind clearly! His body, mind, and saber united as the blade tore through the air with terrifying speed.
When Meng Chuan used his saber art, a clone would appear more than a hundred feet away. The two existed simultaneously.
A faint saber arc could be seen midair.
Only then did the first Meng Chuan dissipate.
I-I've comprehended it? Meng Chuan stood in his spot, stunned.
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