Chapter 17

: Year-end Bonus
Translator: 
Nyoi-Bo Studio 
 Editor: 
Nyoi-Bo Studio
The group returned to the Southwind Ridge. They kept such a low profile that they barely drew any attention. Fan Tu was about to report to Gao Yue the good results they’d yielded, but Jiang Chen said he wanted to surprise her.
Without any rest, Jiang Chen picked out the medicinal materials for refining Hua Yuan Pills and then went to the alchemist room in the east courtyard to refine the panaceas.
The process was quite smooth. Jiang Chen hardly sweated. He opened the furnace. After the heat went out, three Hua Yuan Pills appeared in front of him. Jiang Chen bottled them and returned to his room. After telling the servants not to disturb him in the next a few days, he swallowed a Hua Yuan Pill. The process to break through to the Gathering Yuan State from the Condensing Qi State was to convert the genuine Qi to genuine Yuan.
It would take a long time without the help of Hua Yuan Pills and the success rate couldn’t be guaranteed. The effect of Hua Yuan Pills was to make this process shortened to only a few days, regardless of talents. And the success rate was very high.
As soon as he swallowed down the panacea, Jiang Chen started to feel some obvious change instantly. The genuine Qi in his body started to boil. He felt extremely hot. A short while later, his clothes were already soaked with sweat.
Jiang Chen tried to concentrate. He was manipulating the genuine Qi through his meridians.
The consequence would be terrible if he fainted. The converted genuine Yuan would pierce his meridians and destroy his internal organs. A while later, Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes. He touched his chest in disbelief. He made it!
He had achieved the Gathering Yuan State. The genuine Qi inside of his body had been changed into genuine Yuan. He had planned for three days to achieve it. But at the moment he made it in fifteen minutes, which was almost a miracle.
The holy pulse!
When Jiang Chen got the key point, he instantly felt refreshed and his face lit up with pleasure. The holy pulse helped the Hua Yuan Pill to function faster and had the genuine Yuan under control perfectly. Everything was so smooth.
If my holy pulse had been fully recovered, would it have taken effect instantly when I swallowed the pill down? Oh no, if the holy pulse had been fully recovered, I wouldn’t have needed the Hua Yuan Pill and would have achieved the Gathering Yuan State directly! Jiang Chen was thinking.
Jiang Chen went out of the room. The servants, who were told that he wouldn’t leave the room in days, didn’t understand what had happened. He didn’t explain, but gave them a mysterious smile and then went to the yard where Fan Tu was living.

Uncle Fan, practice the sword with me.

He had to adapt to the strength of the Gathering Yuan State and enhance his swordsmanship until he obtained entry level. To achieve entry level, he had to master the Sword Point. Only when you have mastered the Sword Point can you use your sword by following some method.
In short, although Jiang Chen mastered all sword movements in the Sword Method of the Holy Spirit immediately, he wasn’t experienced enough since he hadn’t gone through any practical fight. When you are fighting with people, the enemy won’t let you exert every movement perfectly. He will try to stop you instead and give you a fatal strike when he sees your weak point.
But once you master the sword point, you’ll be able to control your sword at will when you are facing the constantly changing situation in a practical fight.
This requires experience in practical fights. Jiang Chen finally had time to do it after having achieved the Gathering Yuan State.

Young Lord! You are already in the Gathering Yuan State! Gosh, how fast it is!

Fan Tu was greatly shocked. He kept shaking his head and said,
No, no, Young Lord. I am skilled in fist methods and I have a higher state than you. I won’t be able to help you a lot even if I fight with you. But I’ve got an idea.
Fan Tu then left the yard and brought a Wind Move Guard a while later. The guard was tall and mighty. The shining armor and the cloak that fell to the ground made him look awe-inspiring.

Young Lord, his name is Jiang Wei. He is in the peak of an initial state and is good at the sword method.
Fan Tu said.

Young Master Chen.
The Wind Move Guard Jiang Wei looked emotionless, as fierce as his sword.

Let’s start.
Jiang Chen nodded and didn’t waste time on talking.

Young Master Chen, please try to stab me with full strength.
Jiang Wei said.

OK.

Jiang Chen was holding the sword in his left hand. He raised the sword and started to pierce. The sword was moving so rapidly and fiercely that in just one second it had been under Jiang Wei’s nose. Jiang Wei stepped back and raised his sword to move toward Jiang Chen.
The swords hit against each other with a ringing crash.

Young Master Chen, has anyone taught you how to use a sword?
Jiang Wei stopped and asked, confused. He could see that Jiang Chen’s movement was almost flawless, both his motion and his vigor. But he instantly felt himself stupid to have asked it. Jiang Chen’s father was the renowned Windblade. The son of course had be influenced by what he constantly saw and heard. It wouldn’t have been necessary to teach him hand by hand.

Jiang Wei, what the young lord needs is experience in practical fights,
Fan Tu said.

Got it.

After having made this clear, Jiang Wei held his sword in front of his chest and glanced at Jiang Chen. Then his sword started to attack like a quick snake. Jiang Chen was surrounded by the aggressiveness aroused by the sword and was almost unable to find any place to hide. Jiang Chen kept calm. He stepped forward out of instinct and attacked with his sword from a tricky angle.
Jiang Wei’s eyes lit up. He raised his expectations on Jiang Chen’s move. With a twist of the wrist, his movement suddenly changed. At the same time, Jiang Chen’s movement was also changing.

Young lord is doing great even in a practical fight. This is unexpected.

Fan Tu couldn’t help admiring him. He knew that Jiang Chen started only a short time ago and this day was his first time to fight with a sword. But he didn’t look like a newbie at all. What was horrifying was that Jiang Chen had just started and he still had much room for improvement.
In a half day, Jiang Chen and Jiang Wei had fought for three rounds. Jiang Chen showed great improvements in each round. In the third round Jiang Wei had to take advantage of his higher state to avoid his failure.

You are indeed the Windblade’s son!
Jiang Wei’s indifference was replaced by admiration.
He said,
Young Master Chen, although I use swords, my skills are not very brilliant. I can offer you no more help.

Jiang Chen had sensed it. He was no match for Jiang Wei if it was a serious fight. But at the moment they were having a competition of swordsmanship, which made it totally different.

Uncle Fan, find me someone else. Let’s do it together.
Jiang Chen knew he could improve the most in fights.
Fan Tu nodded and found him another Wind Move Guard who used sword.
In the next a few days, Jiang Chen kept training the use of sword like this.
On the fifth day, Jiang Chen was already fighting with five Wind Move Guards.
The spacious yard was even a bit narrow for a fierce fight. The five Wind Move Guards’ cloaks were moving rapidly. Their swords were moving even faster, like five rays of aurora attacking Jiang Chen from different directions.
Jiang Chen was very cool-headed. The sharp tip of his sword kept moving quickly. In a second there were several changes with the movement of his iron sword.
The swords kept hitting against each other, as if they were playing a symphony. Jiang Chen finally broke the deadlock. His sword moved with him and he defeated the five guards one by one.

Congratulations on your improvement, Young Lord.

Jiang Wei half-knelt down. He didn’t have to do that, but he was sincerely willing to do it. The other guards also knelt down one by one.

Good. Thank you for your work these days. I’ll award each of you a golden beast head.


Thank you, Young Lord!

Jiang Chen laughed loudly from his heart. Maybe he didn’t have such a high talent like the Sword Master did, but he was a fighting genius, who could improve rapidly in practical fights. People with this kind of talent were really brilliant in the Sacred Zone. Their speed to improve was astounding.
It’s a pity that the Wind Move Guards are having second thoughts. If not, they would have tried to kill me with full strength and I would have been able to have more improvements.
It was just a thought. There was no way for the Wind Move Guards to do that. They wouldn’t be able to bear the consequence once anything went wrong.

Young Lord, today is the day to give out year-end bonus.
Fan Tu came to him in haste.

Uncle Fan, are you ready?
Jiang Chen asked.

Yes!
Fan Tu nodded with strength. He couldn’t wait any longer.