Section Ninety-Four: The Eighteen Bronze Men Chamber

When Tang Tian saw Jing Hao approaching, he stopped in his tracks.

Jing Hao wore a look of deep shame. “I truly made a fool of myself before Brother Tang. Your endurance is astonishing; Jing Hao is sincerely impressed.”

He had actually slept for a full two days and two nights. In all his memory, he had never slept so long. Thinking back to their earlier sparring, he felt a tingle crawl across his scalp. Yet when he later inspected himself inwardly, he was shocked to discover that his true power had made a clear breakthrough. More than that, even his swordsmanship had improved.

This left him both startled and delighted. At his level, even the slightest advance was extremely difficult, and often required immense effort before such a distinct improvement could be achieved.

Compared to that progress, the pain he had endured during their previous bout suddenly seemed far less terrible. And now, seeing that Tang Tian was still training relentlessly, shame rose in him all at once. No wonder Tang Tian’s progress was so astonishing; just this kind of diligence was enough to move anyone.

“Brother Jing Hao is awake?” Tang Tian said with shining eyes.

For some reason, the moment Jing Hao saw Tang Tian’s expression, his scalp tightened. It was pure instinct, beyond his control. He forced a laugh. “Brother Tang, come sit for a bit. Last time we fought, did you by any chance buy any gold cards?”

“Yes! I bought four!” Tang Tian said with a touch of pride. “Only cost me eight hundred points.”

“Only eight hundred points...” Jing Hao’s expression stiffened. Stammering, he asked, “What? You spent eight hundred points?”

“Yes! Two hundred points each.” Tang Tian said with a grin. “Right after I bought them, the shop sent the cards over. I was even thinking how fast they delivered.”

“Of course it was fast.” Jing Hao looked at Tang Tian and opened his mouth, then finally said, “You should have asked me before buying.”

Tang Tian’s smile froze. “Did he rip me off?”

“Not exactly.” Jing Hao explained patiently. “That price is fair enough, but not many people buy them. Generally speaking, even after the deal is done, it still takes anywhere from about a week to a month before it reaches you. The shop must have spent points to teleport them over, afraid you’d regret your purchase. No one else would buy them.”

“Spent points?” Tang Tian was somewhat confused.

“Yes. It’s complicated to explain, and honestly, I don’t fully understand it either. It’s a teleportation method developed by those old monsters in the guild. The speed is very fast, but the cost is huge. You see, each card is two hundred points, and just to send one card over costs fifty points.”

Tang Tian exclaimed, “Then didn’t he lose money?”

“How could he lose money?” Jing Hao said. “A fourth-tier gold card is basically something no one buys. Why? Not because it’s bad, but because you won’t stay at the fourth tier for long. Take you, Brother Tang. At your current rate of progress, you’ll advance to the fifth tier very soon. By then, you’ll begin training fifth-tier martial techniques. Fourth-tier techniques may seem impressive to you now, but once you come into contact with fifth-tier techniques, you’ll find they’re stronger.”

Tang Tian gave an indifferent sound. “It’s fine. I think advancing step by step, mastering each tier properly, will help me even more in the future. Well, it’s like when I used to train basic martial arts. A lot of people said that stuff was useless, but now I think it’s very useful.”

Seeing that Tang Tian did not care, Jing Hao did not press the matter. He was worldly enough to know that everyone’s path and method of cultivation were different, and such arguments were pointless. Besides, the man before him was a genuine tycoon.

“Brother Tang’s spirit has already entered the Silver stage. Many of the functions on the Radiance Card can now be activated. Don’t underestimate the Radiance Card. It was forged by the guild’s old experts, based on a secret treasure. The stronger the user’s spirit, the more functions can be used. Unfortunately, my own spirit has only reached the Bronze stage, so I don’t know many of its functions either. Brother Tang will have to explore it for himself.”

“No wonder I felt like the Radiance Card had become a little more powerful than before,” Tang Tian said, enlightened.

Jing Hao laughed heartily. “Come now, Brother Tang looked unsatisfied last time. Let’s fight again.”

“Really?” Tang Tian widened his eyes, full of delight. Excited, he rubbed his hands together. “Don’t worry, I won’t use too much force!”

The corner of Jing Hao’s eye twitched. Silently, he muttered to himself: clearly I’m the stronger one here...

But then he remembered that last time, it had seemed he himself was the one who had asked to stop. Jing Hao wisely shut his mouth.

Still, that stifled frustration clearly stirred him deeply. Without another word, he drew his longsword.

The two roared together and charged into battle once more.

This fight lasted another day and night.

But this time Jing Hao held out a little longer, about four hours more than before. Soon after, however, he was once again exhausted, collapsing to the ground like a pool of mud, without even the strength to move a finger. Tang Tian, still unsatisfied, chattered endlessly at his side for quite a while. But seeing that Jing Hao could not continue, he could only go away dejectedly to cultivate.

This time, Jing Hao’s slumber was shorter than before. He slept only a day and a night before waking.

This time his sensations were even more pronounced. His sword intent had become more solid, more keen; the roughness from before had almost vanished. Every sword he now unleashed seemed polished by honing, its radiance as smooth as water, without the slightest edge of coarseness.

Unknowingly, his martial techniques had risen to an entirely new realm.

Encouraged, Jing Hao began to seek battles of his own accord.

But after another day and night, Jing Hao collapsed again.

By the time Tang Tian finished meditating, he was once more brimming with energy. Since it was just the right hour for hard cultivation, he entered the light gate and began his bitter training.

As Tang Tian’s martial techniques improved, the hardship beyond the light gate also began to change. Tang Tian now spent more of his time training in Uncle Soldier’s New Recruit Camp rather than beyond the gate. According to Uncle Soldier, that place had only been meant for those without the qualifications to enter the legion.

Now Tang Tian’s grueling cultivation had moved into the recruit camp, and many things had changed. For example, the old hardship training for martial techniques was gone.

Mastery of technique had become the most basic requirement. This change left Tang Tian a little unaccustomed at first, but he had to admit the new training was highly effective. Through the beating sessions, for instance, Tang Tian had learned how to sharpen his instincts.

“Still the same beating training today?” Tang Tian asked, full of fighting spirit.

“No. The beating training is no longer bringing you much improvement in instincts.” Soldier shook his head and opened another world.

Tang Tian only felt the scenery around him shift, and he found himself in a training hall paved with blue bricks.

The hall was not large, about fifteen meters long and five or six meters wide. But Tang Tian’s gaze was curiously fixed on the bronze figures before him. These bronze men were about Tang Tian’s height, each with a different build—some delicate, some rugged—and they stood silently in three rows.

One, two, three, four...

Tang Tian counted them. There were eighteen in all.

“Hey, Uncle, what is this?” Tang Tian asked curiously.

“The Eighteen Bronze Men,” Soldier said flatly. “A masterpiece of the legion’s Number Four Mechanism Master back then. The Eighteen Bronze Men Chamber.”

“The Eighteen Bronze Men Chamber?” Tang Tian looked eager to try. “Are these bronze lumps very strong?”

“In my eyes, of course they’re nothing special,” Soldier said. “But if you asked the recruits of that year to name the three training methods they hated most, the Eighteen Bronze Men Chamber would absolutely be on the list.”

His voice had turned faintly ominous.

“What kind of cultivation is this for? Instinct too?” Tang Tian asked, looking at Soldier. Though he had not been in the recruit camp long, he had already begun to understand the South Cross Legion’s style of doing things. Every training chamber in the recruit camp must serve a specific purpose.

“No. It’s suited to training the Skirt-Skimming Throw.”

Soldier’s explanation stunned Tang Tian. He could not help asking, “The Skirt-Skimming Throw? Uncle, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Among the four gold cards, the Skirt-Skimming Throw was probably the martial technique Tang Tian valued least. Because it required physical contact with an opponent, Tang Tian only learned in actual combat how difficult that was. For example, in his battle with Jing Hao, from start to finish Tang Tian had not even touched a single corner of Jing Hao’s clothes. Jing Hao’s swordsmanship was so superb that the curtain of sword light he laid down left Tang Tian helpless.

In that fight with Jing Hao, the technique Tang Tian used the least was the Skirt-Skimming Throw.

So when Tang Tian heard that Soldier had specially arranged a place for him to train it, he was utterly surprised.

“Yes. The Skirt-Skimming Throw is a rather good martial technique.”

Soldier’s explanation did nothing to satisfy Tang Tian. He asked, “What’s so powerful about it?”

“Borrowing strength to strike back with it.” Soldier said, “That is its greatest strength. It actually contains two key points: first, judging the enemy’s force; second, using the enemy’s force. And both of these must be completed in an extremely short time. The difficulty is very high.”

Tang Tian shook his head. “But it only works if you make contact with the other person’s body. Look at me and Brother Jing Hao fighting—I can’t even get close.”

Soldier said nonchalantly, “With your current strength, of course it is that way.”

“You—” Tang Tian’s eyes widened at once, his expression turning unfriendly.

“Who says this kind of technique can only be used through bodily contact?” Soldier’s tone was full of mockery. “Does his sword have no force? Didn’t you touch it? It’s only because the difference in your strengths is too great, and your understanding of force is not as good as his, so naturally you couldn’t make use of it. But that doesn’t mean this technique is bad.”

Tang Tian thought about it. That made sense.

Brother Jing Hao’s sword carried a power that was concentrated and solid, whereas his own power was comparatively scattered.

“He is sixth tier, you are fourth tier. He is far stronger than you. The only thing you surpass him in is spirit. It was the sharp instinct brought by the Silver spirit that allowed you to endure for so long. So Silver spirit and instinct are your strongest assets right now,” Soldier said seriously. “As a soldier, you must learn how to make use of your strongest point!”

“I’m not a soldier...” Tang Tian said weakly.

Soldier choked for a moment, but very quickly acted as if he had not heard Tang Tian at all and continued, “A Silver spirit can make you more sensitive to everything around you, including force. That is why, as you train martial techniques now, you progress faster. The same reason makes you more sensitive to true power.”

“And in battle, you will be even more sensitive to the enemy’s strength,” Soldier added. “As long as you know how to apply it.”

Then he suddenly bared his teeth in a grim smile. “Boy, welcome to the Eighteen Bronze Men Chamber.”