With the Blade

After a conversation, Shan Bing realized that he might have really attacked the wrong person.

The person in front of him, who claimed to be Cui Yuan, was just an ordinary swordsman living in seclusion in Dengzhou—of course, this was the opponent’s claim of being ordinary. At least, according to Shan Bing’s own judgement, anyone who could stop his "Impact Strike" with sheer force couldn’t be considered ordinary.

However, upon seeing the man’s fist, which was as big as his own head, Shan Bing had to admit that the other was right.

"I’m really just ordinary, can’t you see?"

Perhaps sensing Shan Bing’s disbelief, the giant palm waved again in front of Shan Bing.

"Look again, look again."

"Yes, indeed very ordinary."

Looking at the giant and solid figure, like a Little Giant, through the gaps of fingers, Shan Bing swallowed hard.

When his blood was boiling earlier, all he knew was that this was the enemy. Now, calming down, he realized just what kind of terrifying thing he had charged against.

In his mind, only those evil qi monsters could grow to be so gigantic.

Can a person really reach such levels?

"It’s good that you understand."

The Little Giant in front seemed quite pleased with Shan Bing’s answer.

"You should understand now that there’s no enmity between us, everything was originally a misunderstanding, I have nothing to do with the outside... But I’m very interested in your Sword Technique, that thing called the ’Impact Strike’. Can you teach me? I can exchange it for another technique."

"Of course... eh?"

Shan Bing was tongue-tied on the spot.

He originally planned to agree right away since his move had been broken and he had no real power to resist against this terrifying Little Giant— but who could have thought, before he could speak, the giant would propose an exchange?

It wasn’t a threatening tone, but rather a serious negotiation.

This giant seemed quite friendly.

"But... what can I exchange?"

Shan Bing’s mind couldn’t quite keep up.

Normally, an exchange is like asking sky-high prices while settling for less, but looking at the Little Giant, Shan Bing didn’t dare to open his mouth wide and ask for something grand—mainly because he couldn’t think of anything he truly wanted, fearing asking too much might get him killed, yet asking too little felt inappropriate.

Luckily, the giant seemed to notice Shan Bing’s confusion.

"How about this? One move for one move."

The Giant offered a suitable suggestion.

"Other trades might require us both to contribute something, but only by exchanging ideas would neither of us lose anything. We neither abandon our own thoughts nor fail to learn something new; nobody loses. It’s a win-win situation. What do you think?"

What to think? What else could there be?

This couldn’t be fairer. Shan Bing even felt a kind of wisdom from the giant in front of him.

"So what do you want to learn?"

The Giant spoke again.

"If it’s something I know, I’ll answer."

"Um..."

Shan Bing started pondering.

Clearly, the Giant dared to say so because he was confident in answering most of his questions; perhaps that’s the demeanor of an expert, speaking with such confidence.

So, the problem arises.

With another chance to be guided by a master, which aspect should he seek guidance on?

Shan Bing suddenly felt lost.

If he saw a particular move or technique, he might have the desire to learn. Naturally, if someone pointed out his weaknesses, that would be best—however, if asked to express what he wanted to learn, he suddenly found himself speechless.

What exactly did he want?

He seemed to have never seriously pondered this question.

"I want... to become strong."

Taking a deep breath, Shan Bing finally gave an answer he himself didn’t know how to describe.

"I want to become stronger, but I don’t know how."

"...Hmm?"

The Little Giant in front fell into silence.

"Your question is actually difficult to answer; let me think about it."

The person claiming to be Cui Yuan, or rather Du Chengfeng who didn’t want his identity revealed, began scratching his head.

Originally, he thought this would be a simple exchange; he disguised as Cui Yuan, learned the technique, and after this man named Shan Bing left, he wouldn’t know he was Du Chengfeng. This way, he wouldn’t disturb his happy seclusion—but now, after Shan Bing asked this question, the nature completely changed.

Simply because Du Chengfeng himself was also stumped by the question.

"What should one do to become stronger?"

Du Chengfeng didn’t know if this counted as fate, but the question posed by Shan Bing was exactly what he had been contemplating during this period—of course, there might be a straightforward solution like going out and killing people; if they killed enough, these evil qi masters would surely become stronger.

But Du Chengfeng knew that the question asked wasn’t about that.

For ordinary evil qi masters, killing people might be enough, but Du Chengfeng already understood that the real key lies in the will itself—like following the path of killing for evil qi, it fundamentally boils down to two aspects: killing enough creates fear from both the living and the dead, and simultaneously, killing enough builds enough "killing confidence" in oneself.