The next Monday, Chu Yunfan could hardly wait for martial arts class. The package he had ordered had arrived just on time while he was cultivating yesterday. He held his bag close to his body the whole day, unwilling to let it leave his sight. Which was fair, considering how expensive his new "school supplies" were.
"I can't believe you're so excited about a One Star sabre," the Emperor chuckled at his paranoid behavior as he walked to the the martial arts training hall.
As he pushed open the doors and slipped inside, Yunfan suppressed a wave of negative emotions. The last time he had been here, he'd violently, as the kids say, "beaten the shit out of" Feng Deying. Hopefully nothing too eventful would happen today.
"I've just jinxed myself, right now, haven't I?" he muttered quietly to himself.
"Such things do tend to happen when you mention it," the Emperor said ambivalently. "I would not be that surprised if you have, as you say, 'jinxed' yourself."
Returning to the previous topic, Yunfan defensively said, "This thing cost a lot, okay? Of course I'd be extra careful with it-- it'd suck if somehow it got lost or stolen before I even tested it out with a real technique..."
"Who are you talking to?" A voice called out from his side.
Yunfan yelped, jumping a little as he turned to face the person who had startled him. He glared at Gao Hongzhi, who had a beautiful golden spear slung over his shoulders.
"Nobody," he replied. Attempting to divert the topic, he eyed Gao Hongzhi's weapon and whistled under his breath. "That spear looks really expensive."
"It's called the Firebird Spear! It costs 500,000 credits," Gao Hongzhi bragged. "It's one of the top of the line One Star weapons, almost a Two Star weapon!"
Chu Yunfan made a noise of appreciation, before pulling his own weapon out of his bag.
It was a pure black dao that looked thick and sturdy. The pommel and handguard were made from a slightly lighter material, both of which looked synthetic and matte gray. The handle was made from sturdy polished oak, but it was not ordinary oak: it had been exposed to high levels of Qi and undergone material refinement, resulting in something that was still flexible like wood but resilient like iron.
"Is that the Shadowless Sabre?!" Hongzhi exclaimed, his eyebrows flying upwards in surprise.
"Yeah. It's got really good balance, and although it's really difficult to sharpen, it's one of the most durable mass-produced One Star weapons." A flash of pride crossed Yunfan's expression as he flourished the blade. However, his mood quickly soured when he saw Feng Deying exiting the changing rooms holding the exact same dao.
The blond boy also saw Chu Yunfan, similarly noticing their identical weapons. They locked eyes for a brief moment, confusion evident in Feng Deying's eyes; the Shadowless Sabre cost about 90,000 credits, which was cheap in Deying's eyes, but incredibly expensive to Yunfan.
I can almost read his mind: "How did that poor little shit afford a high-quality item?"
Although the Shadowless Sabre was cheaper than most other One Star weapons due to not using very many expensive materials, it was still recognized as a high-quality weapon. Similar to battleaxes, certain sabre techniques utilized the weight of the weapon in order to exert more power or complicated movements-- a heavy sabre made from comparatively cheaper materials rather than a light one could prove to be advantageous. It was respected as a cheap but excellent sabre for beginners. Thus, even the rich Feng Deying had bought it, when he could be buying far better products.
Little did he know, he'd end up wielding the same weapon as the impoverished classmate he looked down upon.
Feng Deying simply sneered at him, before turning away. Evidently, he felt himself to superior to make any comment.
Or he's just too afraid of getting thrashed again, Yunfan mused with some delight.
Gao Hongzhi had been studying both his friend and Deying during this whole interaction. He sighed, looking at Chu Yunfan with a strange expression. "I suppose I won't need to protect you from him anymore..."
The chubby boy firmly patted Yunfan on the back, as his expression turned into a cheerful grin. "I'm glad that you are strong enough to take care of yourself now, it feels like I've watched you grow up right before my eyes."
Chu Yunfan coughed, rubbing his aching shoulder. He needs to control his strength… "I'm two months older than you though?"
Before Gap Hongzhi could reply, Instructor Qin stepped to the front of the training hall. His powerful voice rung out clearly, causing the conversation to fall silent and all the students in Class 7 to turn their heads.
"Today, you will be choosing your weapon; those who don't have their own weapon can take one from the weapon racks along the wall.
"Once you've selected your weapon of choice, you can check the files that have been uploaded to the class materials. Each of the weapons have two main techniques to choose from.
"For now, we will have self-study. I will go around providing help and advice."
The class dispersed, most of them walking towards the weapon racks. Yunfan found a secluded corner and began talking with the Emperor again.
Don't you have any useful sabre techniques?
The regal cultivator scoffs, faintly amused by Yunfan's presumptuous question. "The techniques that I have are far, far, far beyond your current capabilities. Even if I was never a martial master, I know that at your stage, these techniques either will be useless or dangerous to you."
Worth a shot.
"If you want better techniques, grow in strength and challenge the tablets in the inheritance," the Emperor advises, hanging upside down in front of Yunfan.
It would be suspicious if a poor nobody started learning a technique that isn't a publicly available government resource anyways, Yunfan sighed, attempting to comfort himself. People would definitely take note. I guess I'll have to start with a plain technique.
Unable to put it off any longer, he began checking the files available on his holowatch.
The publicly available dao techniques were the Spring Gale Sword— a fighting style oriented around nimble movements and chipping away your opponent's strength —and the Boulder Breaking Sabre— a technique focused on powerful, cleaving strikes that could penetrate strong defenses and deal massive damage.
At first, Yunfan leaned towards the Spring Gale Sword, since his fighting style revolved around ducking and dodging and parrying. His predictive ability and talents in analysis, strengthened by the Divine Idol, would synergize particularly well with the indirect fighting style of the Spring Gale Sword.
However, upon further consideration, he realized that the Boulder Breaking Sabre was far better for him at this point in time.
Why?
The main weaknesses of the Boulder Breaking Sabre was that it was a very straightforward technique that was easy to read. This made it easy to interrupt, block, or dodge. However, thanks to Chu Yunfan's predictive analysis, he could utilize this technique to its fullest and strike the opponent when he forced them into situations where they couldn't defend!
Theoretically.
This could just be a huge waste of time.
But Yunfan recognized that he lacked strength when compared to other martial artists. Even if he caught up with his classmates, the nature of his constitution and the Unshakeable Spirit Energy Formula, he'd always be behind in terms of power. How could he compensate?
With items! A technique that leveraged the weight of the weapon and focused on powerful strikes was perfect to cover Yunfan's current biggest weakness.
He nodded to himself and opened up the file for the Boulder Breaking Sabre technique.