In Linji City, the only way to cultivate the Martial Dao is to join one of the various Martial Arts Halls.

The Hall Masters and Instructors in the Martial Arts Halls of the Outer City District are mostly Perfect Martial Artists of the Skin Grinding Realm. A rare few are Muscle Strengthening Realm Martial Artists.

The Martial Arts Cultivation Techniques they teach are rather crude. Most of what one can access are Mid-level Cultivation and Skill Manuals. The occasional Superior Cultivation and Skill Manual—even one without a Fundamental Diagram—is already considered a hall’s ultimate technique.

For a more orthodox Martial Dao tradition, one has to go to the Martial Arts Halls in the Inner City.

Some small and medium-sized families, overseen by Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists, also run their own Martial Arts Halls and teach what they know. However, they rarely pass down Superior Cultivation and Skill Manuals that include a Fundamental Diagram.

The Luo Family’s Luo Martial Arts Hall, for instance, is one such case.

The only places to truly access profound Martial Dao lineages are the Martial Arts Halls of the Four Great Clans of the Inner City, the Zheng Martial Arts Hall, and the Demon Suppression Department.

They all possess various Superior Cultivation and Skill Manuals that include Fundamental Diagrams.

These Cultivation and Skill Manuals all originate from the Great Dao Sect in Su State City and are extremely precious.

For the Demon Suppression Department’s Cultivation and Skill Manuals, just a single viewing requires a great deal of Merit.

As for the Zheng Martial Arts Hall, Mr. Zheng also adheres to the principle that the Dao is not transmitted lightly, only teaching his True Disciples.

As for the Four Great Clans of the Inner City, only the most core members of the direct lineage have access.

Although Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang were the core disciples of the Shen Family’s younger generation, shouldering the hope of continuing the family’s legacy, they could not easily pass on the family’s Martial Arts to an outsider.

For them to teach Chen Cheng these two Cultivation Techniques meant they had already made up their minds not to treat him as an outsider, but rather, as a future husband.

In order to curry favor with Mr. Zheng, the Shen Family elders decided that one of the sisters, either Shen Qingyao or Shen Qingshuang, would be married to Chen Cheng.

Normally, for an engagement decided by their elders, Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang should have been quite opposed to it.

But not only were the two of them not opposed, they were even secretly competing with each other, and neither was willing to back down.

Shen Qingyao insisted on moving into the Zheng Martial Arts Hall, and Shen Qingshuang, not to be outdone, even vied to teach him their family’s core Cultivation Techniques.

They did all this for no other reason than to have more opportunities to interact with Chen Cheng than the other, and to cultivate a more intimate relationship with him.

But they never would have imagined that after they presented such precious Cultivation and Skill Manuals, Chen Cheng would actually be so picky, saying something about being used to sabers and not wanting to practice Swordsmanship.

’What kind of logic is that? Does he really think the Shen Family’s Cultivation and Skill Manuals are things you can learn just because you feel like it?’

’Does he really think the two of us would just casually give our Cultivation and Skill Manuals to any other man?’

After all, Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang were both proud to the extreme. For a moment, they felt as if they had offered their hearts to the moon, only for the moon to refuse to shine upon them.

"Junior Brother Chen, you don’t want it? Then give it back," Shen Qingyao said.

Shen Qingshuang also said, "If Junior Brother Chen doesn’t want to cultivate Swordsmanship, we can’t force him."

Having cultivated his way up from the very bottom, Chen Cheng naturally understood just how precious these Cultivation and Skill Manuals were.

His words weren’t a pretense; he was simply speaking his mind.

When cultivating the Martial Dao, everyone has their own preferences when it comes to choosing a weapon.

The saber and the sword are both foremost among weapons, but they feel completely different to wield.

The saber is more direct, possessing a domineering aura of advancing unstoppably, cutting down all in its path.

The sword is sharper and more elegant. As the poem says:

"A knight of Zhao with a simple tassel, his Wu hook-sword bright as frost. Silver saddle glinting on a white horse, he flashes past like a shooting star.

He kills a man in ten paces, and travels a thousand li without a trace. When the deed is done, he brushes his sleeves and leaves, deeply hiding his body and his name."

It is the epitome of unrestrained freedom!

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Cheng suddenly tucked the *Flame Sun Sword Skill* manual into his robes, smiled faintly, and said, "Thank you, Senior Sister Qingyao. I’ll accept this Flame Sun Sword Skill.

And thank you, Senior Sister Qingshuang. If I have the leisure, I’d still like to learn the Green Wave Sword Technique."

An act like this from Chen Cheng was truly without principle.

But this was, in fact, Chen Cheng’s true principle: ’Why would I ever return something I’ve already gotten my hands on?’

’As for not being used to a sword? That’s probably just because I’ve never encountered a profound Sword Technique Manual before.’

’Once I learn Swordsmanship, I can always use it now and then. Who’s to say I don’t have the potential to become a Sword Immortal of my generation?’

’When cultivating the Martial Dao, one must not be prejudiced against any weapon. You have to think bigger! All eighteen kinds of weapons—as long as I can use them, I can cultivate them!

This is what they call ’all paths returning to the source,’ and I am the source!’

This was a principle Chen Cheng had just come to understand.

"Sigh..." Shen Qingyao sighed softly, stood up, and slowly walked toward the hall’s exit. "Junior Brother Chen, you are still so... interesting!"

"Junior Brother Chen, you really never let yourself get the short end of the stick!" Shen Qingshuang, who seemed to understand Chen Cheng a little better, murmured before getting up and leaving as well.

Chen Cheng, however, simply took out the *Flame Sun Sword Skill* manual again and began to study it.

Mu Xiaowan looked toward the hall entrance, then back at Chen Cheng, a sly smile appearing on her stunningly beautiful face.

From the day’s events, she could naturally see that Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang, hailed as the "Peerless Beauties of Linji City," were very likely smitten with Brother Cheng!

Mu Xiaowan was actually happy to see this happen. After all, which outstanding man didn’t have three or four wives?

If Brother Cheng could marry the peerless beauties of the Shen Family, it would only prove one thing: Brother Cheng was far more outstanding than any of the other young talents in Linji City.

As Brother Cheng’s wife, she would have even more reason to be proud!

However, seeing how Chen Cheng seemed completely oblivious to romance, not thinking about matters between men and women at all and always being so polite and formal with Shen Qingshuang and Shen Qingyao, Mu Xiaowan’s delicate brows furrowed. It was giving her a headache.

’They say when a woman pursues a man, there’s but a layer of gauze between them. With Shen Qingyao and Shen Qingshuang being so proactive, this marriage should be a sure thing.’