Chapter 132 Collect
In the study in Edgar’s residence, Fang Xingjian sat there flipping through a sword arts manual.
No matter what, Edgar was still considered an aristocratic clan, and while it was not a clan that was highly regarded, they had collected various secret manuals for Nurturing and Training martial arts.
Since Fang Xingjian was looking to collect sword arts, he started browsing through them.
Just as he was looking through the secret manual, the door to the study opened and Edgar’s clan head walked in. When he saw Fang Xingjian at the desk, he face turned pale and he got a huge shock. Fang Xingjian’s sword arts, which was truly unfathomable, had left too deep an impression in his heart. The wounds which he had received from Fang Xingjian the other day had yet to heal either.
Fang Xingjian did not even lift his head, but stared at the secret manual, saying, “I’ve done a check on you. It’s true that you’re unaware of many of the messed up stuff.”
It was true. Based on Fang Xingjian’s investigations, while Edgar secretly backs up the Venomous Serpent Gang, it was primarily to amass wealth through them and make connections, as well as to gather some materials for cultivation.
And as for the dark and ruthless things done secretly by the Venomous Serpent Gang, they tended to take the approach of hoodwinking those above and deluding their subordinates. Edgar did not know anything.
In fact, as an aristocrat, why would Edgar hanker after the small money from forcing people into begging and girls into prostitution? Those were merely the selfish actions made by Venomous Serpent Gang’s echelon in order to satisfy their own wallets.
Hearing Fang Xingjian’s words, Edgar let out a sigh of relief. However, he was still unwilling to concede verbal defeat as he said, “Fang Xingjian, you broke into Kirst City, killing without a care. Even if you’re a Knight, we can’t let this go. I’ve already reported this to the association and to the academy. You can just wait to be put through investigation.”
This was the advantage a Knight has. If Fang Xingjian had not the status of a Knight, he would have probably been arrested, encircled and attacked by countless people, or surrounded by the men from the City Guards Institution.
But him being a Knight made everything different. Other than the Royal Knight Association, there was no one else in the Empire who could pry into his conduct and responsibility.
Moreover, those he had killed were merely a bunch of hoodlums. It may cause a huge ruckus if this were to happen on Earth, but in the Miracle World, they were but numbers in the eyes of those aristocrats and Knights.
Hearing Edgar’s words, Fang Xingjian shook his head, “While you did not take the initiative to commit acts of evil, you were indulgent to allow the gang to amass wealth. The reason the Venomous Serpent Gang were able to commit so many acts of evil eventually goes down to you, but I won’t kill you. These few days, you can just help me get some stuff done.”
Edgar’s face was flushed red from anger. He was just about to retaliate when he recalled the other party’s abilities, recalled his rumored relationship with the Governor Devitt. The fury on his face gradually turned into bitterness.
High level of sword arts and have strong backing. He could not afford to offend someone like this.
“What is it that you want?”
“Nothing much.” Fang Xingjian closed the secret manual he was holding as another Nurturing sword technique appeared on his Stats Window. “I’ll be returning to the academy in five days time. In this five days, you’ll need to do your best to gather sword arts manuals and materials for casting.
“The sword arts manuals must not be repetitive. As for the casting materials, they must be in great varieties. Just get a little of each will do.”
When Edgar heard this request, he found it a little weird, “What kind of sword arts manual are you looking for?”
“It doesn’t matter, as long as they are sword arts manual.” As he spoke, Fang Xingjian’s silhouette had turned into faded shadows, and eventually disappeared.
“I’ll come by everyday at this time. Edgar, don’t let me down.”
Not knowing since when, Fang Xingjian had already left.
Edgar let out a sigh relief, thinking to himself that Fang Xingjian’s requirements were not very high. He just need to send someone to get the job done.
On the other hand, Fang Xingjian’s silhouette dissipated with the wind. Encompassed by a slight breeze, he arrived at the rooftop a few thousand meters away within a few blinks of an eye.
Not killing Edgar with his sword meant that Fang Xingjian did not have to be faced with the countless Kirst’s aristocrats’ fury.
But at the same time, when he arrived at this conclusion, he noticed that the constantly changing mental cultivation method on the Stats Window had also come to a stop.
Now, on his Stats Window, his mental cultivation method had turned into ‘Universal Sword Dom***’ followed by a row of blurriness.
Fang Xingjian thought to himself, ‘The physical body requires slow and gradual cultivation to change it, but the cultivation of the spirit is something that can be comprehended in a short moment.
‘But on the contrary, being able to firm up my heart through small actions and experiences would also mean that I would be able to gradually change my thoughts through unyielding persistence. This would be the training after the initial comprehension.
‘And although I have achieved the comprehension, I have now lost the pressure from the city’s aristocrats. This pressure was the motivating factor, but now that it’s gone, it’s as if I am short of the tempering, and thus the progress of my mental cultivation method has come to a stop.’
It was like how a millionaire suddenly achieved enlightenment one day and decided to become a buddhist monk. This was considered a mutation of one’s spiritual state.
But this was also segregated into different levels. It was easy to give up on the secular world and step into the world of buddhism, but the same could not be said for the other mental states. For example, it was impossible for a person to suddenly achieve enlightenment one day and gain the aspiration to be able to rule over the world like the Emperor.
To be able to attain the same mental state as that of an Emperor, the mental state of a pinnacle character in the human world, it required one to take a step at a time towards the path to becoming an Emperor, to be able to bear the weight and responsibility of the world, and to be able to look down on all lives in the world.
It was definitely not something which could be comprehended just by playing some role-play games and reading novels or mangas about Emperors, just like how it was for one to be able to enter the world of buddhism.
Fang Xingjian’s mental state worked in this manner as well. It was not something which could be achieved by just saying a few words or thinking a few thoughts. He must put it into practice, live up to it. One would only be able to achieve a certain mental state by putting thoughts into actions. The higher the level of the mental state, the more this was so.
However, Fang Xingjian knew that there was no way he could turn back to slash Edgar, since he had not committed any great crimes of evil. Therefore, it would be useless even if he had killed him. It would only be slaughtering the innocent and cause unrest in his heart.
He could only spend the next few nights in Kirst City to search for villains to slash and, at the same time, head to Edgar’s place everyday at the same time to gather sword arts and check on the materials.
However, it was rare enough for there to exist the Venomous Serpent Gang in Kirst. There would not be so many great villains in real life.
Five days later, Fang Xingjian had collected fifteen sets of Nurturing sword techniques which Edgar had spent money to purchase from the various martial arts schools in the area.
…
Five days later, in the study, a whole table of various materials were set out before Fang Xingjian. Most of them were ores, while the rest were plants, vegetations or bones of beasts.
Fang Xingjian casually picked up a small piece of ore. Streams of white colored light formed on his palms, and at the next moment, a thin layer of fog appeared on the ore’s surface. Amidst Fang Xingjian’s gaze of anticipation, the ore started to crack and peel off.
Shaking his head, he threw the ore away and picked up another metal.
Fang Xingjian was trying to see if there were any materials that could withstand his Effulgence Weapon, allowing him to follow in accordance with the records of the Ether Divine Art, speeding up the formation of the Effulgence Weapon through smelting materials.
However, throughout these five days, despite trying the various materials Edgar had brought him, none of them succeeded.
Only until he tried out this piece of metal did a hint of astonishment appeared on Fang Xingjian’s face.
The metal piece unceasing trembled, then started to release high temperature.