Chapter 34: Thrusting at Small Balls

Chapter 34: Thrusting at Small Balls

Wang Ruyue staggered back two steps, her face flushed and her breath ragged as she stared at Chen Shouyi, who looked pale and shaken—yet hadn’t even broken a sweat.

She had a certain vulgar phrase on the tip of her tongue but wasn’t sure if she should say it.

What kind of monster comes for tutoring with this level of skill? Did he think the Martial Apprentice Examination was the same as the actual Martial Examination?

If she hadn’t personally witnessed his rapid improvement right under her nose, she would’ve suspected he was a rival here to sabotage her!

"Bring me my real sword," she said coldly.

Chen Shouyi’s face paled in alarm. "Teacher Wang, that could actually kill someone!"

Wang Ruyue shot him a disdainful glance. "What are you imagining? I only have two wooden swords and one real sword. Now that the wooden ones are ruined, what else am I supposed to use for teaching?"

Chen Shouyi gave an awkward chuckle, realizing he’d overreacted.

But with that icy, unapproachable expression of hers, anyone would’ve misunderstood!

Soon, Chen Shouyi retrieved the alloy sword from the weapon rack and handed it to her.

Without another word, the female instructor got straight to the lesson. "Greed leads to indigestion. In swordsmanship, mastery lies in precision. Your Thrusting Sword technique has already developed decent combat effectiveness—both in defense and offense, you’ve become quite flexible. I suggest you focus solely on refining the Thrusting Sword."

"You must’ve heard the saying: ‘In all martial arts, speed reigns supreme.’ The Thrusting Sword, as the fastest sword technique, is one of the primary schools of swordsmanship. Today, I’ll teach you the remaining thrusting techniques: the Knee-Lifting Thrust, the Turning Back Thrust, and the Hanging Sword Thrust."

"As for the other sword forms, a basic understanding is enough for now. I’ll cover them in the next two lessons."

……

Despite the female instructor’s frosty demeanor, her teaching was meticulous, patient, and thorough.

……

By the time Chen Shouyi returned to the hotel from the female instructor’s home, it was already 10 p.m. The package he’d ordered the previous night had arrived.

After collecting it from the front desk, he headed back to his room.

Without bothering to unpack it yet, he immediately unzipped his briefcase and released the Shell Woman.

The moment the tape was peeled off, she erupted into furious screeching.

She had spent the entire day trapped in the pitch-black briefcase, drifting in and out of sleep, her resentment reaching astronomical levels.

Fortunately, no amount of resentment couldn’t be solved with a glass bead.

If one wasn’t enough, then two would do.

After feeding her honey, Chen Shouyi turned on the TV, and the Shell Woman’s earlier grievances vanished without a trace.

……

Only after settling the Shell Woman did Chen Shouyi finally open the package.

He first unwrapped a long, narrow cardboard box, quickly tearing away the outer layer.

Inside the sword case lay a sheathed blade. The scabbard was made of some kind of hardwood, adorned with intricate patterns that gave it an ancient, dignified aura.

Gripping the hilt, he slowly drew the sword.

A pale gray alloy longsword gleamed before his eyes.

Though it was a secondhand weapon, aside from a few sesame-sized nicks along the blade—minor flaws at best—it looked almost brand new, clearly well-maintained.

He fell in love with the sword at first sight.

The entire blade of the sword was about 90 cm long, and with the hilt included, it measured approximately 1.1 meters, weighing around 10.1 kg—far heavier than the practice Wooden Sword.

The blade wasn’t as thin as typical decorative swords either, appearing quite thick and sturdy. Additionally, a Blood Groove ran down the middle of the blade, and Chen Shouyi could faintly detect a trace of bloodlust in the air.

This was a true Killing Sword.

He casually thrust it a few times in the air. Though somewhat heavy, he was surprised to find it unexpectedly well-balanced in his grip.

The shopkeeper had also included a bottle of maintenance oil and a silk polishing cloth.

Chen Shouyi couldn’t resist caressing the blade for a while before picking up the cloth to gently wipe away any sweat stains. Then, he sheathed the sword and placed it back into its case.

Next, he unwrapped another package. Inside were the components of a Recurve Bow, along with a complimentary quiver and 20 metal arrows tipped with Triangular Arrowheads. Chen Shouyi could easily imagine the horrific damage such arrowheads would inflict upon impact.

The Recurve Bow was a takedown model, requiring assembly.

Fortunately, with the help of the included diagram, he quickly pieced it together.

The entire bow measured about 1.7 meters in length, resembling a pair of spread wings. The limbs were made of multiple layers of high-elasticity composite materials, while the grip was a non-slip, sandblasted metal.

Chen Shouyi tentatively pulled the string with force but only managed to draw it halfway.

He realized he had underestimated it. A 500-pound draw weight was already at the Martial Artist level—nearly double that of a 300-pound apprentice-grade bow—pushing close to his physical limits. It was nothing like the training bow he had used earlier.

His expression turned serious. Taking a deep breath, his muscles bulged as he exerted nearly 90% of his strength to fully draw the heavy bow.

After a moment, he slowly released the string.

"An excellent bow, truly excellent!"

Gazing at this lethal weapon, Chen Shouyi felt a surge of excitement. If he had possessed this war bow yesterday, he wouldn’t have needed to engage those two barbarians in close combat, risking his life with nothing but a wooden stick.

...

Before bed that night, he entered the Memory Space to practice the sword techniques he had learned that day.

The night passed without incident.

Early the next morning, he first stopped by a trinket shop to purchase some miscellaneous items, then used the two packages as cover before returning to the Otherworld.

After releasing the Shell Woman, Chen Shouyi immediately headed to the island’s highest peak to survey the surrounding ocean from above. Fortunately, there was no sign of barbarians—not even the canoe he had pushed out to sea was visible.

He let out a sigh of relief. This was good news.

It meant the island was quite remote, with barbarians rarely active in these waters.

Though he had already prepared for the possibility, avoiding conflict was still the best outcome.

After all, not every barbarian was as "weak" as the ones he had encountered yesterday. In this world where the Manifestation of the Supernatural existed and Deities Reside in the World, the disparity in strength between individuals could make them seem like entirely different species.

Returning to his original spot, Chen Shouyi unpacked the two bundles and reassembled the war bow.

Then, armed with both weapons—along with the ordinary wooden stick he used for training—he made his way to the largest tree on the island.

...

Though called the "largest," the tree was only about four to five meters tall.

Its trunk was twisted, its bark dry and dark, with sparse leaves clinging to it like a malnourished, deformed creature.

But for Chen Shouyi's upcoming plan, this tree was already tall enough.

He took out the fifteen elastic balls he had bought at a small trinket shop in the morning, drilled holes into them with a small screwdriver, and then tied them with thin nylon ropes.

Next, he climbed the tree, estimated the distance each elastic ball would hang from the ground, and tied the other end of the ropes to the branches.

...

Half an hour later, all the elastic balls were securely tied to the branches, hanging like pendulums beneath the tree.

He clapped his hands together, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he admired his work.

"Finally done."

Standing amidst the elastic balls, he picked up the wooden stick from the ground, took a deep breath, and swiftly thrust it toward one of the balls.

The next moment, the elastic ball was sent flying by the force, swinging high into the air. Seizing the gap, he immediately thrust at another ball.

Then a third.

This was the most common elastic ball thrusting exercise in the martial arts academy, suggested by the female instructor before he left last night. It trained both the precision of the Thrusting Sword technique and the body's and mind's reaction speed, as well as the ability to track moving objects.

The more balls he struck in succession, the exponentially harder the challenge became.

By the time he thrust at the fourth ball, the first one was already hurtling back toward him at high speed.

Reacting in time, he quickly turned and thrust at the first one again— Only to miss!

Each elastic ball was only the size of a longan fruit, and under threefold gravity, their speed was extreme. Hitting them accurately with a sword was no easy feat.

"I didn’t realize I was still so far behind!"