Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
The night passed by uneventfully.
He spent a day in reality and reported to Sun Bingchen during the daytime. Before he slept, he spent another day in the Heavenly Realm. Nothing serious actually happened in the two worlds and his day basically passed quite peacefully.
In the Heavenly Realm, Yan Liqiang was still a servant on Tianqiao Peak. He made inventory checks at the warehouse every day and spent his remaining time cultivating. Yan Liqiang initially thought Manager Qiu would stir things up with him, but it had been tranquil over these few days because Manager Qiu had been sent by Hall Master Su to attend to other matters. Without his presence on Tianqiao Peak these few days, it was peaceful for Yan Liqiang for the time being.
The earth vinegar he made at the Divine Sword Sect was almost ready to be used in a few days time. Gu Zexuan had sold quite a number of them in advance through the method that Yan Liqiang had shared before. Although the goods hadn’t been delivered yet, Gu Zexuan was overwhelmed with excitement. He felt as if he was going to count money until his hands were numb. Based on the sales they were making right now, Yan Liqiang, Gu Zexuan, and Zhao Huipeng could share about four thousand taels of silver. To these few youths, this was a ‘huge sum of money’, and it was enough to make Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng jump for joy.
Similarly, Huo Bin and the rest who were making money along with Yan Liqiang finally had a whole new level of respect for Yan Liqiang through this collaboration. Yan Liqiang gradually gathered a few people around him in the Divine Sword Sect, and he finally gained a foothold as a starting point.
Although he had gained a foothold in the Divine Sword Sect, as a newcomer around Sun Bingchen, he still had to prove himself to the other guards and honor guards. Otherwise, even if he were Sun Bingchen’s attendant with a higher position than the others, he’d still have a hard time working by his side.
In such an environment, it was impossible to stand his ground without displaying some of his capabilities.
Following Liang Yijie’s advice, Yan Liqiang took the opportunity to look around the place where everyone did their morning training at the manor while taking his dog on a walk that night. An idea popped into his mind after he glanced around the venue.
Yan Liqiang woke up early the next day. After completing Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing’s internal and external cultivation techniques, he wore his training attire and went to the manor’s backyard with his dog.
Although it was still early in the morning, there were already people queuing outside the manor waiting to meet Sun Bingchen. However, the manor wasn’t open yet so there was no need to care about them and those who were waiting for their audience with Sun Bingchen knew the procedures here too. They wouldn’t hand over their name card or anything early in the morning. Sun Bingchen’s guards, honor guards, and also Liang Yijie himself were up by now. They were training and building up their strength in the field behind the manor.
There was a garden beside the backyard field. The garden and field were filled with people who were training everywhere. Some were training their fist techniques, some were practicing with their weapons, and some were working on their stamina. On the ground beside the field were some training equipment like stone weights and metal weights for people to use in their physical training regimens. A group of people there were wheezing and panting. It didn’t seem to be too crowded there.
There were only about a hundred people working for Sun Bingchen. Since the backyard was spacious, it didn’t feel crowded.
Liang Yijie was sitting on top of a huge rock in the garden, facing east. He seemed to be doing some breathing exercises to control his Qi.
Almost as soon as Yan Liqiang arrived in the backyard, countless gazes turned in his direction.
However, no one took the initiative to greet him and no one seemed to be acting too friendly toward him. This was the treatment a newcomer would receive.
No one spoke, but many of them were discreetly staring at him. Each of them exchanged glances with each other as they prepared to see what kind of abilities Yan Liqiang would show them.
After wandering half a round in the garden and field, Yan Liqiang went to the pile of stone and metal weights placed beside the field.
Those stone and metal weights were of different sizes and weights, and they were arranged in two rows. The lightest stone weight was fifty jin while the heaviest was several hundred jin.
A few of the guards were topless, showing off their chiseled torsos while lifting and swinging a few stone weights here and there. They appeared to possess a rather good amount of strength. One of them was a heavily-built man who stood at about 1.9 meters. He was holding two metal weights, each weighing a hundred jin. He was swinging them so fast that they appeared to be a blur to the eyes and were generating gusts of wind.
However, among those metal weights, no one touched the heaviest two and they were left on the ground.
The black metal weights weighed three hundred jin each, which was equivalent to a whopping 150 kilograms. Naturally, among Sun Bingchen’s honor guards, some could lift these weights. However, none could probably swing them except for Liang Yijie. Training and building stamina with these stone and metal weights were not the same as weightlifting. Just being able to lift them wasn’t enough. One would have to be able to swing them. It went without saying that those who were inadequate in strength wouldn’t make a fool out of themselves at this kind of time.
When Yan Liqiang came before those stone and metal weights which were used to build stamina and strength, many people who were training at a distance slowed down their movements and squinted as they tried to see just how heavy of a weight Yan Liqiang was capable of swinging. A few of them even gave Yan Liqiang a disdainful look when they saw him was about to do his strength training here.
Damn, how much strength can an underaged brat possibly possess?
Damn straight! This brat’s gotta know that it’s not that easy to work by Lord Sun’s side so that he won’t be insolent in front of his seniors in the future!
A few people in the distance immediately signaled to the burly man who was swinging the hundred jin metal weights with their eyes and the man instantly caught their intentions.
“Ah? So Guard Yan is also here to build your strength…?” The burly man grinned at Yan Liqiang. “Why don’t you give this metal weight a try, Guard Yan?”
After the burly man finished speaking, he immediately tossed the metal weight he was swinging in his hand without even waiting for Yan Liqiang’s response.
The metal weight of a hundred jin made an arc in the air and fell toward Yan Liqiang.
Fortunately, the burly man still had the courtesy to toss the metal weight in a parabolic trajectory instead of throwing it directly to Yan Liqiang. The weight went up into the air before dropping. Although it was heavy, the speed wasn’t fast.
If one didn’t have enough strength, they would naturally evade a metal weight tossed at them instead of reaching out to catch it. As such, Yan Liqiang’s reputation would go down along with this metal weight. He wouldn’t be able to find a valid reason to be upset with himself, and he would probably be too embarrassed to voice a complaint. Not only that, he wouldn’t even have any evidence to use prove things pitted against him. This was the dirty trick of these people who had been soldiers for a long time.
How could Yan Liqiang not understand what these people were thinking?
Yan Liqiang stood still as he watched the falling metal weight of hundred jin. He reached out with one of his hands and firmly grabbed the metal weight by its handle.
Under everyone’s surprised gaze, he weighed the metal weight single-handedly before he shook his head. “Hahaha, well thank you. But this is too light for me so I will return it to you. I’ll look for another metal weight to try!”
While speaking, Yan Liqiang lightly tossed the metal weight back single-handedly.
When the burly man caught the metal weight Yan Liqiang tossed back to him, he stumbled back a few steps from the impact before he regained his footing. The expression on his face instantly contorted.
Under everyone’s disbelieving gaze, Yan Liqiang went before the two metal weights that were three hundred jin each. He effortlessly lifted both of them off the ground with one in each hand.
Yan Liqiang slowly lifted his hands with the metal weight on them. Under everyone’s gaze, he extended both arms straight out as though he was performing the signature Iron Cross skill in gymnastics.
Upon witnessing this scene, everyone in the surroundings fell into absolute silence because they knew that it wasn’t difficult to quickly swing these metal weights. Instead, it was difficult to make slow movements with these weights. On top of that, out of all the movements, extending both arms straight out from the sides of the body required an insane amount of strength.
Under everyone’s gaze, Yan Liqiang continued lifting the metal weights in the Iron Cross stance for about twenty seconds before he started swinging both of them.
Those metal weights immediately seemed as though they had come to life in Yan Liqiang’s hands as gusts of wind could be heard. The wind was so strong that one could feel the pain when it hit against their face. The others who were building up their strength at the side quickly moved away, afraid that they’d lose their little lives if those metal weights slipped from Yan Liqiang’s hand.
Yan Liqiang had never done such stamina training before. At first, he was only planning to show off his abilities here on purpose to intimidate everyone. However, when he really started swinging them, he realized only then that it felt really awesome. It wasn’t strenuous for him. Instead, his entire body felt extremely great, akin to a dusty generator which had been filled up with fuel and re-activated. He could feel everything in his body, like his muscles, tendons, and bones. They instantly relaxed as though he was sitting in a sauna. Energy endlessly bubbled forth from every cell in his body. The energy systems in his body felt as though they had been recalibrated and optimized. The longer he swung, the more energetic he felt.
Yan Liqiang swung the weights for at least twenty minutes. He was perspiring heavily and the pleasure he felt was so good that it made him want to scream.
BAM! At the end of it, he threw the metal weights on the ground. Two pits were instantly made on the originally flat land. Dust and smoke could be seen rising up…
After Yan Liqiang stopped, only then he realized that unbeknownst to him, a huge crowd had already formed around him when he was lost in the pleasant sensation of swinging the metal weights as everyone was watched in disbelief. Even Liang Yijie who was doing his breathing exercise earlier was standing among the crowd. He stroked his chin as he watched him with an astonished look…
The silence among the crowd was rather strange.
Cough…! Cough…! Yan Liqiang coughed twice as he unleashed his skill in pretension. He glanced at those two metal weights on the ground, then slightly shook his head. He lifted his head to look at the sky before he smiled wryly and sighed. “Guess these are a little too light for me, but they will do. I’ve sweated more than enough because I used them longer than I should so I should just go back to take a bath. Let’s go, Goldie…”
As soon as Yan Liqiang finished speaking, he calmly left with Goldie, leaving everyone staring after his fading silhouette.
