After sorting out Luo Qingben, Shen Long immediately started training in his sword art again. Just by simply changing his way of thinking, his swordplay had already improved significantly. The two swordplay styles now interweaved with other. Instead of cancelling each other out, they added more variety to the sword art, as well as complementing each other.
He was, however, still not satisfied. He had yet found the perfect equilibrium point between the two. In order to fully master the first stance, he needed to do that. Only when the two opposing elements are perfectly balanced, a melody would be heard. (Elements don't just refer to water and fire, but also all naturally incompatible things)
Feeling more confident than before, he continued to practise. The aura of his swordplay was undoubtedly getting stronger, and the sense of balance was a lot more obvious than before. He chose to train smartly. Instead of training thoughtlessly, he would always do some self-evaluation after each attempt. This way, he would maximize his efficiency, and it was much easier for him to identify his mistakes.
Suddenly, he heard Luo Qingben's scream while he was reflecting on his sword art. Immediately, he dashed towards him as he was truly worried about Qingben. He hastily ran there as he shouted, "What happened Qingben? Are you alright? I will save you!"
"Hahaha. Nothing! You just got fooled! Hahaha! Get rekt bro!" Luo Qingben roared with laughter as he made a peace sign with his finger. Shen Long was speechless as he slowly walked back to the weapon rack. Shen Long inwardly cursed but he kept a smile on his face. He didn't want to scare off Luo Qingben as he was no different to a kid.
Shen Long continued to train in his sword, but he heard Luo Qingben's screaming again. Shen Long slapped the ground as he rolled his eyes. Despite Shen Long knew that he was probably lying again, he still went back to check on him.
Upon seeing Luo Qingben's irritating smirk, Shen Long was tempted to punch him in the face. Luo Qingben continued to spout out some annoying words as Shen Long dispirited walked back. Shen Long recalled a bedtime story that his Mother used to read to him. In fact, the storyline of the story and this was nearly identical.
That story was, of course, "The boy who cried wolf" It depicts a young shepherd who repeatedly tricked his nearby villager that the wolf was attacking his flock. Out of kindness, the villagers would rush there to help every time, only finding out they had been tricked. On the third time, the shepherd was actually in trouble as the wolf was finally here.
He called for help, but no villagers came to help. In the end, the child was eaten by the wolf. The villagers thought that it was another false alarm, as usual. This story teaches people about the problems with lying, and how liars are rewarded. The next time Luo Qingben called him randomly again, Shen Long planned on explaining this story to him, to educate him.
Shen Long started training again. He actually made a lot of progress today. His sword art was constantly improving, and he was more confident than ever. As Shen Long reflected on his sword art, trying to figure out the reason for his flaws, he seemed to have understood the problem. The merging point seemed impossible to find, but in theory, it should just be the mid-point of the two styles.
As he was about to try it out, he heard Luo Qifeng's screaming again. Although he didn't mind walking over, this was probably the worst timing ever. He might forget the spark of insight if he decided to walk towards Luo Qingben. However, his consciousness was telling him that Luo Qingben was actually in trouble.
His screaming sounded more intense, and his pitch was much higher. Shen Long's paranoid forced to check on Luo Qingben, only to find out that he got pranked again by that little kid. Shen Long explained the story to him patiently as he expressed his anger through simple, formal words. Instead of cussing, he substituted the words with "nicer" alternatives.
"You little piece of poo. Have some respect for your flipping Senior, alright? I've already done you a huge favour. So don't ever do this poo again, okay? Or your Big Bro will be mad at you." Shen Long gave him a killer glance as he bitterly walked back to the training area.
Luckily, he still remembered his new insight as he excitedly tested it out. To his surprise, it actually worked quite well. Although the sword art wasn't perfect, the balance between the two was. Shen Long wanted to punch himself in the face as he couldn't believe that it took him this to long to figure out. In fact, going for the middle point of the two styles would be the most common way to tackle the problem of balance.
Shen Long, however, didn't do that. It took him more than two weeks to just "perfect" the First Stance. After repeated practise, he was confident that he had completely mastered the first stance of the [Melodies of the Nine Sole Swords]. Shen Long felt that he had grasped the "trick" of all nine stances after realising the "balance" point was just the middle point.
"Haha! I'm actually a genius. I was just exploring different ideas, and it was deliberate. This was too simple for me. Hahaha." He was smirking lightly, just like Luo Qingben just now. Shen Long enjoyed acting like this when he was alone, as it made him feel slightly smarter and better. In front of others, he wouldn't dare to brag as he knew he was still garbage.
To some extent, Shen Long knew his standards well. He knew how smart he was, but he still enjoyed being arrogant while alone. This personality of his was actually fairly healthy. It helped him to develop confidence (not for socializing). As long as others didn't see this side of him, his "split" personality actually had no disadvantages.
Since it was still early, Shen Long decided to cultivate his Qi to Early Demigod Realm. He still didn't understand why Daoist Fireblade told him to delay his Qi cultivation a few days ago. He still obeyed his instructions, so he chose to cultivate it now.
After reading through the Seventh Level of the [Moonlight Script of the Nine Dragons], he first cultivated to the sixth level again and then started the Seventh Level. The Qi cultivation didn't really comprehension; it only needed time as one had to continuously strengthen his Qi, as well as finding all the acupoints.
His aura as a cultivator had increased as the aura emitted became more profound. After going through the Seventh Level once, he could a feel an enormous difference in his body. His Qi was much refined, and the colour of his Qi also changed to orange. He now understood why it was almost impossible for cultivators of Saint Realm to beat a Demigod.
There was a drastic difference between every large cultivation realm (Peak-Qi to Early Saint; Peak Saint to Early Demigod) whereas the difference in each small realm was much smaller. Shen Long now stood a chance against Zuo Qifeng, and he still had 2.5 months left.
He was brimming with determination as he wanted to beat the sh** out of him. Only then, he would feel satisfied. He would prevent corruption of the JUSTICE Department if he as able to triumph over Zuo Qifeng. Zuo Qifeng was the boss behind the scenes, so technically he was the reason for the corruption. He was also the one who tortured Luo Qingben, so Shen Long definitely won't let him off the hook.