With the Blade

"So, how did you manage it?"

In Shan Bing’s house, facing the still steaming dishes, Jiang Wenyuan finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

He couldn’t understand, couldn’t imagine, considering he’d been gone for less than a month. How could someone change to such an extent in such a short time? It was almost an impossible feat.

The reason it’s "almost" is naturally because there are still some special methods, like killing a large number of people in a short time to gain Evil Qi, or directly using extremely ferocious weapons... But Shan Bing’s path was obviously not this one. Jiang Wenyuan barely sensed any increase in Evil Qi from Shan Bing.

No, strictly speaking, he should say almost no Evil Qi.

When Jiang Wenyuan realized this, his common sense was severely challenged.

Conventionally, there are generally two ways to enhance one’s strength: one is to hone martial arts, which is a traditional method that yields solid skills, but the drawback is that progress is extremely slow. The other is to use weapons infused with Evil Qi, actively absorbing Evil Qi to gain formidable power while enduring its inhuman violence—of course, most of the time, the strong would use a combination of both methods, but the use of Evil Qi is obviously a larger part.

Everyone uses Evil Qi, including Jiang Wenyuan himself.

"So, what did you use?"

Jiang Wenyuan once again scrutinized Shan Bing from head to toe.

Still, he couldn’t see any Evil Qi; perhaps there was some, but very little. Most Evil Qi experts, even if they can hide themselves in daily life, once they pick up their weapons, the intense killing intent still seeps out, making the surrounding environment feel cold and biting.

But now...

Jiang Wenyuan felt like he was facing a person.

Not an Evil Qi expert, not a fierce War Soldier, just a "person."

This feeling was hard to describe, Jiang Wenyuan didn’t know how to put it into words. If he had to describe it, it was more like the situation just now—this person could wear an apron to be a cook and don armor to be a Warrior. When facing monsters with a sword, he was the most competent Commander, but when he returned home... he was just a person.

If he had to sum it up in a word, the only ones that came to mind for Jiang Wenyuan were Shan Bing.

Not the etymological breakdown or explaining the specific meanings of these two characters, Shan Bing was simply a person’s name, the name of the person in front of him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Shan Bing started scratching his head again.

"You’ve seen the move I used, right? It’s the ’Sun-Piercing Strike...’"

"You really used the ’Sun-Piercing Strike’?"

Jiang Wenyuan furrowed his brows.

"I’ve seen the ’Sun-Piercing Strike,’ this time what you used was noticeably different."

"Of course."

While eating, Shan Bing started laughing.

"This is the serious ’Sun-Piercing Strike.’

"...Serious?"

Jiang Wenyuan became more confused. Was this even a coherent statement?

What does serious ’Sun-Piercing Strike’ mean? So the previous ones weren’t serious?

"Yes, serious."

Seeing Jiang Wenyuan’s continued skeptical gaze, Shan Bing nodded.

"Seriously executing moves, seriously practicing martial arts, seriously living, seriously cooking... as long as you can focus wholeheartedly, just do what you want to do."

"...Is it really that simple?"

Jiang Wenyuan was further confused.

Using his own words, such vague statements, he could easily find a struggling scholar to write two baskets full of them for just a small sum—and yet Shan Bing himself had become like this, what kind of madness was this?

"It seems you don’t quite understand it yet... how about this."

Shan Bing thought for a moment, and simply handed an apron to Jiang Wenyuan.

"Can you cook?"

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Huang Tian awoke amidst a chorus of hymns.

Over a thousand people surrounded him, differing in appearance and even in race, but they all chanted the same words, the same name—they were kneeling, praying, each in their own way, for the return of the exalted Huang Tian.

And so, Huang Tian truly returned, in an unassailable state.

"But it seems I’m missing some memories..."

Fragments of images surfaced in his mind, causing Huang Tian to slightly frown.

Waving a hand, he signaled for the nearby mechanical guardians to remove those annoying things, then lay back down himself.

He tried to recall his experiences.

He was supposed to go back and eliminate those threats, this he remembered well; despite his father’s repeated warnings about the danger of that place, he went... and indeed, that place posed no real threat to him; he quickly grasped the power to kill all ants.

Then... what happened afterward?

The altar beneath him emitted a slight chill, which, after entering his mind, brought back more memories.

Indeed, he had grasped that mighty power; he finally caught that bug lurking in the shadows... but the loser turned out to be him, the despicable insect stole his power and even began to undermine his mental state, nearly destroying his final bit of sanity.

He then opted for an emergency retreat, withdrawing through self-sacrifice.

"No wonder..."

Huang Tian closed his eyes.

If it was just wielding those chaotic powers, randomly waving those things called "Evil Qi," it indeed posed no real threat to him—but if these chaotic forces could be unified, it would equate to progressing from swinging iron lumps to wielding iron blades, which indeed could be considered dangerous.