Until the sun dipped below the horizon, the tightly shut courtyard gate was pushed open once more. At Chu Mu's call, several burly men, pushing a cart, followed him into the yard.
"Place the wooden dummy in that corner over there. As for the hanging ball array… hang it from the tree."
Under Chu Mu's direction, the sturdy men immediately set to work—some digging pits, others mixing mortar, and still others hauling materials.
After roughly half an hour, the martial training ground Chu Mu had envisioned took shape within the courtyard.
"Young Master, everything's set up. We'll take our leave now," said the lead man, approaching Chu Mu with a cheerful grin.
"Hmm…"
Chu Mu surveyed the training equipment he'd designed, nodding in approval. He reached into his robes, pulled out a few paper notes, and pressed them into the man's hand. "Good work. It's cold out—buy some wine to warm the lads up."
"Heh, Young Master, you're too generous!"
"We'll be off then."
With a hearty chuckle, the man called out to his companions, and the group pushed their cart out, thoughtfully closing the courtyard gate behind them.
The moment the gate shut, the earlier clamor dissolved into silence.
Chu Mu studied his carefully planned training tools, a flicker of excitement stirring in his chest.
The wooden dummy was modeled after the training posts he'd seen in kung fu films from his previous life.
However, Chu Mu had made slight modifications to suit practicing saber techniques. The dummy stood slightly taller than a man. Though called a "post," it had a head, torso, arms, and legs, forming a complete human shape. Its wooden body was wrapped in several layers of thick hemp cloth, giving it the appearance of a heavily armored statue.
Chu Mu stepped forward, saber in hand, and stood still for a moment. Then, with a swift motion, he drew his long blade and struck.
Chop, slash, thrust, stab…
Each strike was no longer swung through empty air as before but landed solidly on the target.
The layers of thick hemp cloth effectively cushioned the force of the blade's descent, while the humanoid dummy allowed Chu Mu to deliberately target specific areas as if in combat.
After about a quarter-hour of intense practice, Chu Mu finally stopped, sweat dripping freely. The wooden dummy now bore numerous menacing slash marks.
Glancing at the translucent panel in his vision, Chu Mu noted that in just this short session, his saber proficiency had astonishingly surged by five points.
"It really works," Chu Mu said, his face lighting up with delight as he turned to his modified hanging ball array.
The hanging balls were woven from rattan and bamboo strips, roughly the size of a basketball from his previous life, suspended from the tree at varying heights with thin ropes.
Though slightly different from the sandbag arrays he'd seen in films, the principle was much the same.
Setting his saber aside, Chu Mu picked up a wooden blade crafted by an artisan on his request. He weighed it in his hand, then casually struck one of the hanging balls.
As the balls collided, the array of suspended spheres began to swing erratically in all directions.
With each strike of the wooden blade, the balls' movements grew more chaotic, swinging toward Chu Mu from every angle.
His task in the hanging ball array was to dodge, to precisely wield his blade to block the balls, and to avoid being hit.
Unsurprisingly, Chu Mu soon stumbled out of the array in disarray.
"Good thing I didn't use solid balls!" he muttered, eyeing the still-swaying spheres with a wry smirk, feeling a touch of exasperation.
Initially, he'd planned to use solid wooden balls and even intended to upgrade their material as his training progressed.
Clearly, he'd overestimated himself.
Had he used solid balls, he'd likely be wincing in pain now, bruised and battered.
After a moment's hesitation, Chu Mu stepped back into the array. Predictably, he soon retreated in disarray once more.
Licking his lips, Chu Mu pondered briefly before gripping the wooden blade and stepping in again.
Facing irregularly moving targets was an entirely different challenge compared to swinging a blade through the air or striking a stationary object.
As he'd suspected, he couldn't yet fully translate his rudimentary saber skills into true strength.
His flustered performance in the hanging ball array proved that point clearly.
With each attempt, the clumsy figure in the array gradually improved.
Undoubtedly, the most critical factor was mindset.
Panic or reckless fervor led to chaos, rendering even a tenth of his skill useless.
Calming his mind, Chu Mu began to wield his rudimentary saber skills with their intended power.
A single swing, with controlled force, allowed him to dictate the arc of the struck ball's swing.
What remained was reaction.
How to dodge most effectively, how to swing the blade faster and more efficiently, how to better control his strength to make the entire array move with him, rather than being forced to react to its chaos.
For now, this was clearly a tall order for Chu Mu.
But the path forward was clear. All that remained was practice.
If one attempt failed, he'd try twice. If twice failed, then thrice.
If one day wasn't enough, then two. If two weren't enough, then three…
Since arriving in this world, armed with a golden finger that grew stronger through focus, patience was the one thing Chu Mu never lacked.
Within the hanging ball array, in Chu Mu's vision, each swinging ball became a ferocious bandit charging at him with murderous intent. Being hit meant taking a wound.
Though he didn't know if he'd ever face such a scenario, preparation ensured success, while failure to prepare guaranteed ruin. In these uncertain times, with turmoil that could erupt at any moment, these hard-earned skills might one day save his life.
Time slipped by in this relentless training. The sky, already dim at dusk, gradually darkened.
The dull thuds of collisions echoed ceaselessly, and the figure weaving and striking in the array seemed tireless.
Under the moonlight, sweat poured in the winter chill. The once-clumsy figure grew steadier, more orderly. Though mistakes and hits were frequent, progress was visible to the naked eye.
"Hah…"
At some point, Chu Mu stumbled out of the array, gasping for breath. Though exhausted, his face couldn't hide his excitement.
A blade in hand kindles a will to kill.
Now, Chu Mu truly understood the meaning of those words.
Perhaps because he'd immersed himself in the scenario of being surrounded in the array, he now felt an inexplicable urge to face someone in a real fight, blade against blade.
He wanted to test whether these hard-earned skills could truly protect him, could… kill.
In that moment, Chu Mu couldn't help but think of his squad leader, a man with genuine martial prowess.
Imagining a fight, he shook his head after a moment.
Forget the rest—the sheer gap in physical strength alone would crush him effortlessly.
That man's punch was inhuman!
…
*(End of Chapter)*