After upgrading his gym equipment, Shen Long started training his sword art again. Shen Long was still unaware that he was basically hated by ever male disciples in the palace. Shen Long concentrated on his sword art as he repeatedly practised. Occasionally, he would walk around the room and ponder upon his sword art; sometimes, he would start talking to himself, trying to comprehend the sword art more.
Back on Earth, even though Shen Long played the piano, he was never devoted to it. He never enjoyed playing the piano, and he treated it like a laborious chore. He started to regret it now. Maybe with more musical knowledge, it would be easier for him to grasp the concepts behind the sword art. After all, the manual was called the [Melodies of the Nine Sole Swords], and many of its ideas were based on music.
Shen Long was sure that there was a method to combine "legato" and "staccato" together. Despite his half-hearted attitude while learning, he still remembered some stuff from the music theory exam. There was actually a term that's basically legato and staccato combined. It's called portato. Of course, Shen Long didn't know that as he continued to attempt recalling his memories.
(There actually is a term called portato. I didn't make that up, nor did I misspell it.)
Actually, even if Shen Long figured out the name of the term, it still wouldn't benefit him in any way. Well, besides the emotional boost. Even if he finally remembered that the technique was called portato, he still couldn't achieve it. Ultimately, portato playing in music was to a smooth phrase that was played with staccato (detached notes). Even on the piano, it required some techniques and skills, so imagine how difficult it would be for Shen Long to achieve the same effect with his swords.
Shen Long also wielded twin swords, so he had to master the technique on both hands as well. As the saying goes, "Harder path, higher level". Shen Long's hard work would eventually pay off. Not only that this manual was already extremely overpowered (and difficult), if Shen Long could utilize the technique for two swords at once, Shen Long would be able to dominate most cultivators.
Plus, using twin swords was actually a really smart idea. After comprehending the concept, all it needed was practice. Shen Long still used the same amount to understand the manual, but he just needed to spend a bit more time practising. Comprehension was always the hard part; as long as Shen Long put time and effort in, mastering the skills after thoroughly understanding the sword art was fairly easy.
Shen Long continued to train, and it wasn't long until Daoist Fireblade arrived. Just like before, Daoist Fireblade refused to give Shen Long any proper tips, but only very broad advice. However, Daoist Fireblade still constantly supplied Shen Long with precious materials. Shen Long's spiritual energy was increasing day-by-day, and Shen Long didn't even realise his improvements.
Shen Long still had no clue regarding the usage of spiritual energy. Only after he mastered the Second stance of the sword manual would he start cultivating the Spiritual Manual. The spiritual technique was only supplementary, and Shen Long shouldn't over-rely on it too much. After all, Shen Long wasn't an undead who solely focused on spiritual energy and magic. As a human, normal cultivator, he should stick with Qi and proper sword art.
The coaching session quickly ended, and Daoist Fireblade brought Shen Long to visit Luo Qingben. Shen Long had never actually toured his Master's palace, so he was quite shocked upon seeing the number of rooms there were in his castle-like residence. Luo Qingben was currently lying on a wooden-bed, in one of his Master's Guest room. The design was quite plain, but the size of the room wasn't small at all.
In fact, it was even bigger than Shen Long's residence. Shen Long wanted to ask if he could live with his Master, but then he quickly retracted this thought. Firstly, it was slightly weird for Shen Long to ask to live with Daoist Fireblade. Even though they had a Master-Disciple relationship, it was still quite bizarre for him to ask that. Secondly, it would probably cause lots of rumours to be spread around if they did live together.
Luo Qingben appeared fine as he seemed to be enjoying his sleep. Shen Long planned on telling his Master to leave as he didn't want to accidentally wake Luo Qingben up. Who knew that Daoist Fireblade would actually slap his face to wake Luo Qingben up? Seeing his Master slapping Luo Qingben mercilessly, Shen Long felt guilty and terror.
He was shocked that his Master would slap Luo Qingben all at a sudden. He felt slightly guilty as he did nothing to stop his Master. His eyes almost popped out as he leaned back slightly when he heard the slapping sound. Luo Qingben suddenly stood up as he shouted.
"Good afternoon! Master Fireblade and Senior Brother Long! How are you doing?"
Shen Long's eyebrows twitched upon hearing his tone. He spoke in a robotic way, and it scared him slightly. He thought that his Master would be able to treat his illness, who knew that Daoist Fireblade actually would make it worse!? Shen Long frowned as he just nodded lightly in disappointment. He almost coughed out blood as he saw his Master was about to slap him again.
"Stop joking around!" Daoist Fireblade's shout was followed by a hard face-slap sound. Luo Qingben scratched his head lightly as he quickly apologized. Shen Long rolled his eyes like a grumpy teenager as he just got played by Luo Qingben. Shen Long was actually quite surprised about his change in personality. Before going crazy, Luo Qingben was a quiet, formal person. Now after his "treatments", he seemed like a completely different person. He was more playful, lively and also annoying.
Daoist Fireblade explained how he treated him and Luo Qingben's staus right now. Luo Qingben had more or less recovered already, but his personality was heavily influenced after the torturing event, matching Shen Long's predictions perfectly. His memory had also all returned, so his hatred towards the Justice Department now was extremely deep.
However, this torture was actually a blessing in disguise. Luo Qingben was directly promoted to an inner disciple. Even better, Daoist Fireblade also permitted him to ask him for guidance once every month. Although his treatment wasn't as good as Shen Long's, for an inner disciple, it was more than good. It was impossible for an inner disciple to be personally coached by Daoist Fireblade, so Luo Qingben actually wanted to thank Shen Long a lot as he basically gave him that opportunity.
After a while, Daoist Fireblade sent the two off as he went back into meditation. Shen Long and Luo Qingben headed to the restaurant to get some food. They originally planned to play basketball, but it was way too dark. Since there was no electricity nor any torches near the court, it was basically impossible for them to play.
Shen Long passed Luo Qingben the menu, and the scene of Shen Long forcing him to eat "Grilled fish" came to Luo Qingben's mind. He just laughed as it seemed like history was about to repeat itself.
"Let's have some meatballs, Senior Brother Long!" Luo Qingben jokingly said. Now that Luo Qingben no longer had an excuse to joke around, Shen Long gave him a deadly stare.
"Sure, you go order your meatballs then. You pay, alright?" Shen Long scolded him jokingly. After this incident, their friendship was more solidified. Probably it's also because Luo Qingben became much more talkative, so it was easier for Shen Long to speak to him. Shen Long initially planned on telling him to drop the formalities, to stop calling him "Senior Brother", but then he decided to not say it.
Being called "Senior Brother" made him feel cooler. He enjoyed this sort of respect, even though they were friends.