Chapter 76: Dawn of Progress
As the first pale hues of dawn stretched across the horizon, the desolate Fei Wu Quarter slowly stirred awake. Golden rays pierced through lingering shadows like spears of light, bathing the broken courtyards and ancient trees in soft, hopeful illumination. The night's cold grip began to loosen its hold on the world, replaced by the warm promise of a new day.
Su Tianhao stood silently beneath the massive ancient tree, Shadowfang resting lightly in his hand. His golden eyes—still sharp and alert from the night's relentless training—now reflected the calm clarity of morning: steadfast and unwavering.
"Slash!"
Su Tianhao's sword sliced through the air with a crisp, clean sound—the movement fluid and impeccably controlled. His stance remained rock-solid, every muscle engaged in perfect harmony as the Shadowfang blade carved a precise, deep groove into the ancient tree's massive trunk.
The impact sent a faint tremor through the air itself.
The weathered bark shattered explosively, sending splinters flying in all directions. A clean, devastatingly precise cut had been carved into the tree's trunk—a testament to Su Tianhao's mastery of the fundamental Slash technique at the Sword Disciple level.
Su Tianhao's chest heaved with controlled exertion, his breathing steady and measured despite the exhaustion threatening to drag at his limbs. He withdrew the blade smoothly from the tree's wounded trunk, the steel gliding through compressed wood with barely a whisper.
"Slash perfection," Su Tianhao said with a small, satisfied smile. He felt oddly rejuvenated despite having trained without rest throughout the entire night—as if the accomplishment itself had breathed new life into his tired body.
He had managed to perfect the Slash technique at the Sword Disciple level in a single night of intensive training—a feat that would shock any sword cultivator if revealed. Such mastery typically required years of dedicated practice to achieve, even for someone as naturally talented as Su Lei, who had been practicing sword arts since age twelve.
Su Tianhao's inherited memories had certainly made the process easier, as if recalling something long forgotten and simply putting dormant knowledge into physical practice. However, his own relentless dedication and stubborn refusal to rest had played an equally significant role in his rapid success.
The memories provided the map, but he still had to walk the path himself.
As he sheathed Shadowfang with a satisfying metallic click, Su Tianhao's mind immediately turned toward the next technique demanding his attention.
'Right now, even though I've mastered Slash, I cannot be considered a genuine Sword Disciple until I've mastered all nine basic sword moves,' he thought with analytical clarity. 'One technique alone doesn't make a swordsman—it makes a practitioner with a single trick.'
With one final glance at the ancient tree—now bearing deep scars from his intense training session like battle wounds earned in glorious combat—Su Tianhao departed the ruined courtyard and headed back toward his own quarters.
He knew that despite his strange rejuvenation, his body desperately needed proper rest to continue making sustainable progress. Even the Heavenly Devouring Dragon physique had its limits.
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As Su Tianhao walked back through the awakening Fei Wu Quarter, warm morning sunlight cast long shadows behind his steady stride. The air filled with the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the gentle chirping of birds greeting the dawn—a stark contrast to the intense focus of his nighttime training.
Upon entering his personal courtyard, Su Tianhao was greeted by the familiar sight of his beloved ancient oak standing sentinel at the courtyard's center. Fallen leaves lay scattered across the stone tiles, carried on the gentle rustle of a soft morning breeze.
"I'm home," Su Tianhao murmured with a faint smile before swiftly making his way toward the bathing area.
After a refreshing bath that washed away the night's accumulated sweat and grime, he changed into a fresh set of azure robes before settling onto his bed. His mind immediately began churning through calculations and plans for his next course of action.
'It's now only twelve days until my public match with Su Jian,' Su Tianhao thought with focused intensity. 'After settling that matter, I must revisit Dragonspire Forest and begin honing my swordsmanship to new heights. Only through genuine life-or-death struggles can any truly significant growth be achieved...'
His golden eyes gleamed with calculative light. 'However, I must first strive to achieve perfection in all nine basic sword moves and become a true Sword Disciple before then. A solid foundation is worth more than rushing ahead with incomplete skills.'
"Slash, Thrust, Cleave, Parry, Draw Slash, Riposte, Reverse Grip, Deflect, and Feint..." Su Tianhao muttered aloud, systematically listing each fundamental technique.
"Now that I've mastered Slash, I should move on to Thrust next and take them one at a time. No shortcuts. No rushing."
Although he could have easily jumped directly to mastering Draw Slash—which would allow him to begin cultivating the Shadow-Splitting Flash technique from the Nine Heavens Sword Scripture—he deliberately chose otherwise.
What good would possessing a powerful technique be without a proper sword dao foundation supporting it? It would be like building a magnificent tower on sand—impressive until the first strong wind came along.
Su Tianhao's eyes burned with quiet, unwavering confidence as he continued thinking aloud. "I should focus on practical sword training with Su Lei during the day, then dedicate each night to perfecting a single fundamental move. That way I'll be killing two birds with one stone—combat experience and technical mastery both advancing simultaneously."
A slight smile tugged at his lips as the training plan crystallized in his mind, each piece falling into place like a master strategist plotting a campaign.
However, before he could sink deeper into his thoughts, he was suddenly interrupted by the distinct shuffle of multiple footsteps and the harsh scraping of metal against stone coming from outside his residence.
Su Tianhao's brow furrowed with displeasure. From the sounds alone, he could tell there were at least three or four unexpected visitors, and that unpleasant metallic scraping noise grated on his nerves.
'What could they possibly want?' he thought with mounting annoyance.
After all, he had just been settling in to catch some well-deserved rest after training through the entire night, only to be immediately disturbed by unwelcome noise.
With a sharp glint flickering in his golden eyes, Su Tianhao rose and strode purposefully from his house, prepared to deal with whoever dared disturb his peace.
However, he immediately came to an abrupt halt when he saw the identity of these visitors and their true purpose for coming.
His irritation evaporated instantly, replaced by genuine excitement.
His eyes lit up brilliantly, shining like the radiant morning sky.
Before his delighted gaze stood a bronze-colored training dummy nearly two meters tall with an impressive, muscular frame—sturdy and remarkably well-refined, resembling the physique of a dedicated cultivator carved from metal. The dummy was designed with intricate patterns and distinctive markings etched across its surface, giving it a unique, almost artistic quality that spoke of master craftsmanship.
This magnificent training dummy was currently being dragged into the courtyard by two young men wearing the Su family disciple uniform. From their unrestricted auras and the visible strain in their movements as they hauled the massive construct, Su Tianhao could easily identify their cultivation levels with a single glance.
'These two are both 7th level Martial Apprentices, yet even joining their strength together, they can only drag the dummy in this laborious manner,' Su Tianhao thought with growing interest. 'I'm afraid this dummy easily weighs over one thousand six hundred pounds... Excellent.'
One had to understand that a 7th level Martial Apprentice possessed approximately eight hundred pounds of raw strength, yet even two of them working in tandem couldn't properly lift the dummy off the ground. The weight was truly impressive—a perfect training tool.
Behind these two struggling disciples followed two additional figures dressed in the Su family servant uniform. Both were young female servants, each carrying an ornate tray in their hands.
Su Tianhao instantly recognized them—they were the servants who had been assigned to bring him meals during his year of isolation in Fei Wu Quarter. One of them was also the young woman who had come to inform him about Ye Shiming and Ye Bao Kang storming into the estate just yesterday evening.
Meeting Su Tianhao's golden gaze, the female servant's face immediately flushed crimson with embarrassment. She greeted him with characteristic bashfulness, her voice slightly higher than normal.
"Greetings, Young Master."
"Greetings, Young Master," her companion also greeted respectfully, adding a slight bow.
In the past, this second servant had consistently looked down upon Su Tianhao with undisguised contempt. Now, when she looked at him, a complicated mixture of emotions swirled in her eyes—regret being chief among them.
'If I had been kind and friendly with him during his isolation period, now that he's suddenly risen in status like a phoenix emerging from ashes, we could have remained friends. My own status would have risen alongside his,' she thought bitterly, feeling the sharp sting of missed opportunity.
However, there was no medicine for regret in this world. What was done was done.
Su Tianhao noticed her complicated feelings clearly, but didn't pay them any attention. Such matters simply weren't worth his mental energy.
He nodded politely in acknowledgment to their greetings before turning his full attention to the training dummy.
His eyes analyzed the construct with practiced expertise.
'This training dummy is definitely not simple or ordinary,' Su Tianhao thought, a visible smile spreading across his features. 'I never expected the Patriarch to arrange for such quality so quickly. His word truly carries weight.'
BAM!
A loud, resonating sound echoed through the courtyard as the two disciples finally mounted the massive training dummy onto the ground before Su Tianhao's residence. Both were breathing heavily from the exertion.
"Where would you like us to position it, Young Master?" they asked respectfully, hands still firmly planted on the dummy to prevent it from toppling.
"I'd like it placed beneath the oak tree at the courtyard's center," Su Tianhao said with a calm, pleasant smile.
'Under that oak tree? Isn't this just punishment?' one disciple thought inwardly.
'That oak tree is at the center of the courtyard. You could have just asked us to take it there directly in the first place,' the other grumbled inwardly.
However, these were purely internal complaints. Even if they harbored resentments, they absolutely didn't dare voice them aloud.
If this were the Su Tianhao from just a few weeks ago, they would have definitely sneered and mocked him openly. Perhaps they would have even abandoned the dummy at the entrance of his courtyard without bothering to bring it inside at all, forcing him to move it himself.
But who was the present Su Tianhao?
He was a talented genius possessing a powerful heavenly constitution. The personal disciple of a mysterious Martial Lord master. Someone who had demonstrated strength equivalent to a 4th level Martial Disciple—far beyond anything they could hope to match. And most importantly, someone now openly favored by the Patriarch himself.
News of yesterday's dramatic events had already spread throughout the entire Su family estate like wildfire, with rumors rapidly leaking out across all of Oakwood City. The story of how Su Tianhao had been saved by the Patriarch from Ye Shiming's assassination attempt, how Su Huiqing had threatened to kill a rival clan's elder and declared readiness to wage war with the entire Ye family, how spatial rings containing fortunes had been confiscated...
And most shockingly of all—how the Patriarch had insisted on gifting both spatial rings to Su Tianhao, only for the young man to refuse such astronomical wealth.
That represented the accumulated fortune of two Martial Masters.
This scandalous tale had become the hottest topic circulating through the Su family estate and beyond. And these two disciples had naturally heard every juicy detail.
So even if they wanted to grumble about the extra work, they wisely chose to hide their dissatisfaction behind polite masks.
However, who was Su Tianhao? He possessed the vast experience and accumulated knowledge of two immortal beings flowing through his inherited memories. How could he possibly fail to see through such obvious, thinly-veiled displeasure?
"It's fine. I'll carry it myself," Su Tianhao said calmly, his words catching both disciples completely off-guard.
"Y-You don't have to, Young Master!" one of them said hurriedly, genuine panic breaking through his professional facade.
"Yeah, you really don't need to trouble yourself with it!" the other chimed in quickly.
If the Patriarch somehow discovered they had failed to obey his son's reasonable request—worse yet, if Su Tianhao had been forced to move the dummy himself—wouldn't they just be inviting terrible punishment upon themselves?
Su Tianhao smiled knowingly, as if he could read their racing thoughts.
"It's fine. I genuinely want to test the weight for myself," Su Tianhao said with a small smile. "Consider it curiosity rather than criticism."
For some inexplicable reason, he found himself in a good mood this morning. Perhaps it was the satisfaction of achieving Slash perfection, or maybe the unexpected early arrival of this magnificent training tool.
Hearing Su Tianhao's reassuring words, both disciples finally relaxed slightly, though wariness remained in their eyes.
"Please go ahead, Young Master," one said with a polite smile.
Su Tianhao nodded and stepped forward with effortless grace.
After positioning himself before the imposing training dummy, he straightened his sleeves with casual precision. Then, with what appeared to be a simple raising of his hands, he lifted the massive bronze construct completely off the ground.
No strain. No visible effort. No dramatic display of power.
He held the over-one-thousand-six-hundred-pound training dummy as easily as one might lift a wooden practice sword.
"What?!" Both disciples shouted in shock, their composure shattering completely.
This was the exact same object they had been desperately dragging with every ounce of strength they could muster, leaving grooves in the earth and gasping for breath. Yet Su Tianhao lifted it completely effortlessly—like picking up a stick from the ground.
In their shock, they seemed to momentarily forget a crucial fact: Su Tianhao was already a Martial Disciple, not a Martial Apprentice like themselves.
A 1st level Martial Disciple possessed approximately two thousand pounds of base strength under normal circumstances. But Su Tianhao was fundamentally different—thanks to the Supreme Dragon Transformation Technique's first layer, his base physical strength actually amounted to a staggering four thousand pounds.
Double what these disciples had assumed.
As Su Tianhao held the training dummy aloft with casual ease, the two male disciples and both female servants couldn't help but stare in undisguised awe. They had all heard rumors of Su Tianhao's incredible strength, but witnessing it firsthand was an entirely different experience.
The bashful female servant's eyes lingered perhaps a moment too long on Su Tianhao's physique, her face growing even redder as unbidden memories surfaced—the sight of his bare upper body from yesterday's confrontation, glistening with sweat in the courtyard torchlight.
Su Tianhao, completely oblivious to the servant's flustered internal state, smiled with satisfaction as he hefted the training dummy experimentally, testing its balance and construction.
"Indeed, this dummy is remarkably heavy and well-crafted," he said, his voice filled with appreciation. "But it's exactly what I need. The Patriarch chose well."
Without visible strain, Su Tianhao began walking toward the ancient oak tree at the courtyard's center, carrying his new training partner as if it weighed nothing at all.
The watching disciples and servants could only exchange amazed glances, their earlier complaints forgotten in the face of such a display.
This was the new Su Tianhao—and he was far more formidable than any of them had imagined.