Upon waking up, Shen Long immediately started heading to the training ground as he quickly packed the Qi Manual into his grey backpack. As he left his inn, he encountered a few disciples who always played basketball with him in the morning.
"Yo Senior Brother Long! Where were you yesterday!? Be prepared! I've got a new move I came up with yesterday. I'm gonna try breaking your ankles today! Are you getting breakfast first? Or are you heading straight to the court?" Luo Qingben asked as he ran towards Shen Long.
"Neither! I am heading to Master's to train. Training is my number one priority at the moment! I probably won't come to basketball every morning anymore, but I'll make sure that I drop by once every in a while! You guys have such a big headstart, compared to me! I just received my first sword yesterday, and you guys had already trained with a weapon for many years!" Shen Long's eyes brimmed with light as he replied.
After chatting with Qingben for a while, he took his leave and started heading to his Master's private training ground. Shen Long wasn't sure if he revealed too many details to him. Although Daoist Fireblade never specifically told Shen Long to keep this matter secretive, Shen Long didn't want rumours to spread among the disciples.
Shen Long received way too many benefits, even compared to other personal disciples. Not just that Daoist Fireblade provided Shen Long with many spiritual herbs, Shen Long even got his own, private training ground! Not even a Challenger would receive benefits like this, and it was completely normal that others would be jealous of him.
Fortunately, Luo Qingben wasn't one of those typical, nosy disciples. He didn't like gossiping, and he paid no minds to others. He spoke to Shen Long as he truly respected Shen Long's skills on the court and his upright personality. Qingben didn't have many friends either due to his antagonistic personality. He was shy around strangers, and he absolutely hated speaking to normal disciples as he thought that they weren't worthy of his time and respect.
It wasn't long until Shen Long arrived at the training ground. Daoist Fireblade made a passage, which was deliberately hidden from others, towards the training ground. This way, Shen Long didn't have to disrupt Daoist Fireblade, and he was able to enter and leave freely.
Instead of starting training with his sword immediately, he first started cultivating his Qi first. The Sixth Level of [Moonlight Script of the Nine Dragons] was actually so much harder, in comparison to the fifth level. Not only it took Shen Long more time to understand, he also became exhausted much quicker.
"What the heck is wrong with this diagram!??? It's so bloody blurry! How am I supposed to know where the Shenqi acupoint is like this!? So all I know is that it's somewhere along my left arm... Seems like I have to play my favourite "guessing game" with this manual..." Shen Long grew slightly angry as he attempted to find out where the f**k the acupoint was.
After fifteen minutes or so, he finally figured it out but his anger didn't pacify at all. This was because the Shenqi acupoint was actually located near his ring finger, but the journal said that it was on his arm, which was extremely vague and inaccurate.
Luckily, Shen Long didn't encounter another problem while cultivating his Qi. His Qi cultivation session ended within three hours as he could no longer exert his Qi out. However, this was merely the start of his day. After taking a short break, he began to start his strength and conditioning session.
Seeing these pieces of equipment, it reminded him of the gym in his clubhouse. However, the ones here were much older, and they weren't made to target a specific muscle group. Shen Long, of course, was well aware of the problem as he knew that his training progress would be severely delayed. Focusing on a specific muscle group could increase the efficiency drastically.
Blacksmith Shen Long was back again. He used the left-over materials from the construction of the basketball hoops, as well as the newly purchased metals of much higher quality. He remodelled the different pieces of equipment into the ones in a modern-day gym. Although they weren't perfect, nor were they perfectly remodelled, they were much better than before. Shen Long was quite proud of himself, as his constructing skills improved yet again.
It only took him two hours to "upgrade" these pieces of equipment. Even though Shen Long wasn't really a gym-lad back on Earth, he still went once every in a while, to bulk up for the basketball season. Shen Long immediately started his work-out session. With his knowledge, his training session would be much more effective than other disciples.
In the cultivation world, most cultivators strengthen their body on a daily basis. However, this wasn't the best way to gain strength. Muscles needed time to repair and grow, and hence alternating the muscle group each day would be the most efficient. Plus, too many cultivators completely neglect cardio training. It was important that one mixed both cardio and resistance training into their training plan, for maximum growth and efficiency.
Following the same workout routine every day could, even, be harmful to the body. Doing many repetitions of one specific movement would damage the joint as it put it under great stress. It was true that the spiritual medicines and herbs could address the issue, but these could simply be avoided by training smartly.
Shen Long was slightly tempted to share his knowledge with Daoist Fireblade so that every disciple here would hold a significant advantage over others. Shen Long, after all, treasured all his relationships. This would indirectly benefit Daoist Fireblade as well, as they were all his disciples after all.
Shen Long put his thoughts away temporarily as it was still noon. After his body strengthening session, he started practising the sword movements one by one. One, two, three times... He maintained his full concentration each strike as the strength continued to increase. His speed gradually decreased as the blade continuously streaked across the black puppet.
His precision and accuracy were increasing as well. After his 1000th chop on the black puppet's neck, he repeated the exact same movement on the second lethal point. His facial expression remained the same throughout, as there were no signs of exhaustion nor boredom. In fact, Shen Long's face was serene and peaceful. His movements became more and more fluid as he continued to practise.
The same continued for the nine other movements. Metallic sounds continued to ring around the room. Although Daoist Fireblade wasn't physically in the martial training grounds, he was well aware that Shen Long had been there since the morning. As a Peak Celestial Immortal, his senses were extremely acute. He could sense Shen Long's effort as he repeatedly heard the crashing sounds.
Shen Long continued to practise for the next four hours without catching a break. Yet, his facial expression still remained the same though his hands never ceased to stop moving. As it was four o'clock, Daoist Fireblade was already there in the training ground, yet he chose not to appear himself, and instead watched Shen Long.
If anyone else was watching the scene, they would definitely think that Daoist Fireblade was a paedophile. Gently stroking his white-haired beard, he was smiling in a creepy way as well. Shen Long, however, was not aware as he continued to focus on his stabs on the puppet.
"Shen Long, don't overwork yourself. Watching you practising really makes me feel so uncomfortable. How can your face not show any emotions whatsoever? It's nice that you appear to be quite calm, and not using brute force while chopping, but can you at least blink once ever in a while!?? But you are definitely the most hardworking disciple I've ever had. I'm proud of you, Long-er!" Daoist Fireblade spoke gently as he nodded his head in approval.
"I'll try, I guess... It's kind of hard to force facial expressions on my face... I just follow my heart and the sword as I practise... I don't really look at my own face in the mirror." Shen Long said as he scratched his head.
Daoist Fireblade broke out into laughter.
"You really are still a kid. Oh well, let's begin our training! Show me your basic ten movements. I'm assuming that you have improved quite a lot as I could constantly hear your hitting the puppet in my meditation..." Daoist Fireblade said in a teasing voice, something he rarely done. After all, he was the owner of the palace and it wasn't proper for him to joke around with his disciples as he needed to maintain his status and authority. Shen Long was clearly an exception.
"I didn't mean to... I thought the training ground was sound-proof... I meant it should be quite far away from your own cultivation room right? I'm sorry... I didn't really..." Shen Long said apologetically as he thought Daoist Fireblade was being serious.
"Never mind that, Long'er. I was just joking around with you. If I can't even isolate the sound of your practise in my meditation session, I won't be your Master, okay? Don't be so nervous! You don't need to be so formal around me. I have long ago treated you as my son and family!" Daoist Fireblade said in a warm tone.
Shen Long's eyes had gone watery as he heard his Master calling him Long'er. Even though he also treated Daoist Fireblade as a family, he still missed his parents a great deal. He had been rather focused for the past weeks on cultivation and basketball, causing him to temporarily forget about his parents. Now that they were mentioned again, Shen Long couldn't help but started sobbing lightly.
"Master... I've long treated you like my family as well. But I really miss my parents... Will I ever have a chance to go back before becoming a Celestial Immortal?" Shen Long said as he continued crying.