SWORD OF FLAME

Training

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The Fire God Warrior

Seeing that Fang Yun didn’t believe his words, Fei Hung just smiled faintly.

“You may not believe what this old man says, Fang Yun. But after I adjust your pulse and blood flow, you will be able to prove whether my words are true or false,” said Fei Hung.

Fang Yun didn’t reply. He simply fell silent, staring downward.

“Have you ever studied the movements in this book?” Fei Hung asked.

Fang Yun nodded slowly. “I studied the Fire God Strike, Grandpa.”

“Do you already have all the movements memorized?”

Fang Yun nodded again. “Yes, Grandpa. But strangely, when I used the technique against Chong Li and his friends, my movements felt stiff.”

Fei Hung laughed heartily. “Of course, Fang Yun. That’s because you haven’t yet mastered the inner power of the Fire God that is contained and taught in this book. Even if I used it, the technique wouldn’t work, because I don’t have the same inner power foundation.”

“The Fire God Strike also contains an element of inner power, Fang Yun. The true essence of the technique will only appear when combined with the Fire God’s inner energy,” Fei Hung continued.

“I see…” Fang Yun nodded slowly. “But why does it have to be so complicated, Grandpa?”

“You’re still so naive, Fang Yun. That’s the special thing about the techniques in this legendary book. Only the chosen one can master the Fire God technique and become the next Fire God Warrior,” Fei Hung replied, shifting his seat slightly.

“So, the warriors who fought over this book can be considered fools for competing over something they can never learn. Even if they manage to obtain and study the techniques within using their own inner energy, it would only destroy their own internal power,” he added.

“Does that mean my inner power is already damaged, Grandpa? Since I’ve already studied the Fire God Strike?”

Fei Hung slapped his forehead. He wanted to scream loudly at Fang Yun’s foolishness. “You don’t even have inner power yet, Fang Yun. And you are the one chosen to become the successor of the Fire God Warrior!” he replied, slightly annoyed.

Grinning sheepishly, Fang Yun scratched his itchy head that hadn’t been washed for ten months.

“Sorry, Grandpa, I forgot.”

Fei Hung shook his head. “Turns out there’s someone worse than I was,” he muttered.

“What’s worse, Grandpa?”

“You! When I explain things, you don’t understand, but when I mumble softly, you hear it clearly. Strange,” Fei Hung grumbled.

Fang Yun chuckled at Fei Hung’s complaints, like a wasp craving affection.

“Enough laughing, go take a bath now! You already smell like a living corpse who wet his pants.”

“Okay, Grandpa. But I don’t have any other clothes. If I wash these, what will I wear?”

“There, use those banana leaves to cover your elephant trunk,” Fei Hung replied, holding back his laughter.

Fang Yun walked wearily toward a small river not far from the cave. He never expected he would one day use banana leaves to cover his body.

After Fang Yun left the cave, Fei Hung also slipped out to look for clothes for the young man who, unknowingly, had brought joy back into his life. After all, decades of living alone at the bottom of the ravine had left him deeply lonely. The presence of Fang Yun, whom he now considered his own grandson, rekindled his spirit.

While humming, Fang Yun scrubbed his entire body with river stones until all the dirt and dried blood stuck to his skin were gone. He also washed his hair, which had become as stiff as a broom.

Once he felt clean, Fang Yun took the banana leaves he had prepared earlier and wrapped them around his body.

The sixteen-year-old then returned to the cave after hanging his washed clothes to dry.

Inside the cave, Fei Hung, who had just returned, burst out laughing when he saw Fang Yun wearing nothing but banana leaves. He hadn’t expected his joking remark to be taken seriously. Whether Fang Yun was simply innocent or foolish, Fei Hung placed great hope in the boy.

“Why are you laughing, Grandpa?” Fang Yun asked, genuinely clueless.

Fei Hung tossed some clothes at Fang Yun. “Put these on! I don’t want to share a room with a strange human.”

Fang Yun caught the clothes while grumbling softly. “Weren’t you the one who told me to wear banana leaves? Why am I the strange one now?”

Fei Hung lightly slapped his forehead, shaking his head without realizing it.

After Fang Yun dressed in the clothes Fei Hung had brought, the old man told him to eat first. After that, he would begin the process of adjusting Fang Yun’s erratic pulse and blood flow.

“Do you eat fruit every day, Grandpa?”

Fei Hung shook his head. “Sometimes I go up to your village to ask for food.”

Fang Yun furrowed his brows, staring intently at Fei Hung’s face.

“But I’ve never seen you in my village?”

“Do I have to get your permission first before asking for food in your village?” Fei Hung snapped.

Fang Yun chuckled. “Good point,” he said, scratching his head.

“So you went to my village to get these clothes?”

Fei Hung nodded silently.

“How is my village, Grandpa?”

“Your village is now deserted, Fang Yun. It seems the survivors were too traumatized to return to Lufeng.”

“Then there’s no point in me going back. I’ll just stay here with you, Grandpa. I have no one else in this world. You’re the only one who cares about me.” Fang Yun’s eyes welled up with tears. He wanted to cry, but his pride held him back.

“You can stay here until you’re ready to travel. You must use the martial arts you’ll soon possess to spread goodness.”

“Does that mean I’ll have to leave you?”

“Don’t be a crybaby, Fang Yun! You’re a man who must be ready to set out on your journey to achieve your dreams.”

Fei Hung’s words struck Fang Yun’s heart like a sledgehammer. The young man realized he had a great dream, just as his father had once told him to pursue.

After eating, Fang Yun followed Fei Hung to a pool of boiling water that emitted thick steam.

The old man wrapped his arm around Fang Yun’s shoulder and lightly leaped onto a large rock in the middle of the pool.

Fang Yun was amazed by Fei Hung’s body-lightening skill.

“Sit cross-legged and take off your shirt!” Fei Hung ordered.

Fang Yun obeyed, sitting cross-legged and removing his shirt, leaving only his pants.

Fei Hung then sat behind Fang Yun, placing both palms on the young man's back.

“If you feel something entering your body, don’t resist! Let it flow throughout your entire body. If you fight it, you could become paralyzed. Do you understand?”

Fang Yun nodded.

“I’ll begin now! Are you ready?”

“I’m ready, Grandpa.”

“Brace yourself; the initial surge will be painful. After that, the pain will subside.”

Fei Hung gathered his inner power and channeled it into Fang Yun’s body through his palms.

Instantly, a burning, searing pain shot through Fang Yun’s back. It felt like blazing embers were piercing into him, forcing their way inside.

The boy gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain on his back. Sweat poured from every pore on his body.

The hot steam rising from the boiling water only added to his suffering. He never expected that adjusting his pulse and blood flow would be this agonizing. He wanted to give up, but then his father’s words echoed in his mind.

“I must endure! I must fulfill my father’s wishes!” The determination surged fiercely in Fang Yun’s heart.

Once Fei Hung’s inner power had fully entered Fang Yun’s body, the old man withdrew his hands.

“Now feel your pulse and blood flow gradually stabilizing. Soon you will feel your body becoming much lighter.” Fei Hung let out a deep sigh.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve adjusted someone’s pulse and blood flow, but this is the first time it has completely drained my inner strength,” Fei Hung thought to himself.

Fang Yun closed his eyes and followed Fei Hung’s instructions, feeling a cool breeze flow through every part of his body.

“Let it continue until everything settles. Never fight it, Fang Yun.”

Fei Hung lightly jumped to the edge of the pool, his steps slightly unsteady after using so much energy. He wanted to rest and recover his strength.

“Fire God Warrior, after 140 years since your disappearance and your book becoming the most sought-after treasure in the martial world, you’ve finally chosen a successor,” Fei Hung thought while lying down and resting his head on his arm.

Exhausted, Fei Hung soon fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, the steam from the boiling water thickened, engulfing Fang Yun’s body. He was undergoing a rare natural tempering process. Despite the scalding heat, Fang Yun, who was focusing on his pulse and blood flow, didn’t feel the pain.

Hours passed as Fang Yun endured the process. His body grew lighter, even lifting slightly before settling back down.

When the process was complete, a sudden wave of energy exploded from Fang Yun’s body. Though silent, the blast caused the trees at the bottom of the ravine to shed their leaves.

The massive rock he had been sitting on cracked, and even the cave trembled violently. The hot steam from the boiling water was suddenly absorbed into Fang Yun’s body through every pore.

Fei Hung awoke with a start, thinking there was an earthquake. Fearing the cave might collapse, he ran outside.

He was stunned to see most of the trees in the ravine bare, their leaves scattered.

“If all the trees are bare like this, what will I eat tomorrow and the days after?” he thought.

His eyes then caught sight of several banana trees still standing tall with their fruits intact. “Well, better than nothing,” he muttered.

Fei Hung hadn’t yet realized the trees were stripped bare due to the energy explosion from Fang Yun’s body.

The short old man walked to check on Fang Yun. From a distance, Fang Yun appeared unchanged, still sitting cross-legged. But when Fei Hung reached the edge of the pool, he was shocked.

“What happened to that rock? Why is it cracked all over like it’s just been hit by an explosion?”

Fei Hung analyzed the situation. If it were an earthquake, the trees wouldn’t have dropped their leaves like that, nor would the rock have cracked that way. But if it was an explosion, why was there no sound?

He carefully examined Fang Yun and even squinted his eyes to confirm what he was seeing—the hot steam was being absorbed into Fang Yun’s body.

Fei Hung couldn’t believe his eyes. After blinking and rubbing them several times, he finally accepted what he saw.

After a while, Fang Yun opened his eyes. “Looks like he’s finished the process,” Fei Hung murmured.

Before Fei Hung could leap onto the rock, Fang Yun had already jumped to the pool’s edge with agility that rivaled Fei Hung’s.

Suddenly, the rock where Fang Yun had been sitting shattered into pieces and sank into the pool. Both Fei Hung and Fang Yun jumped back in surprise.

“What the... how did that happen? What did you do to that rock, Fang Yun?”

Fang Yun, not understanding what Fei Hung meant, just scratched his head and shook it. “I only did what you told me, Grandpa.”

Fei Hung could no longer process everything logically. Today’s events were simply beyond reason.

“Forget it, let’s go back to the cave,” he said.

Fang Yun followed behind as Fei Hung hurried back to the cave.

Once inside, Fei Hung grabbed Fang Yun’s wrist and checked his pulse. His face lit up with a wide smile as if he had found a priceless treasure.

“Your pulse and blood flow are now normal, Fang Yun. Now you can store inner power in your body.”

“Really, Grandpa?”

Fei Hung nodded. “It’s getting late. Rest now. Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to cultivate your inner power and how to use it.”

“Will it take long to learn, Grandpa?”

“That depends on your ability to absorb what I teach you. After you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll still have to learn how to unleash the Fire God’s inner power within you,” Fei Hung replied.

Fang Yun nodded, though he didn’t fully understand. He was afraid his grandfather would scold him again like earlier.

The dark night arrived, the dim flame of a small torch slightly illuminating the cave. Fang Yun, still unable to sleep, recalled all the movements of the Fire God Strike from beginning to end.

Slowly, his eyes grew heavy, and he eventually drifted into a deep sleep.

In his dreams, the raid and massacre in his village played vividly. He saw the tragedy that had claimed the lives of his parents in a horrific way.

Fang Yun etched the faces of the rapists and murderers of his parents deeply in his memory. He vowed to avenge them one day.

He woke from his dream, panting as if he had run a great distance. “Father, Mother, I promise I will avenge your deaths and make you proud to have a son like me,” he whispered in his heart.

Fang Yun’s gaze then turned to the small torch, its flame flickering softly in the breeze coming from outside the cave.