The training lasted for five minutes. Bloodstains from the knife handle seeped into the dirt beneath Li Fan's feet, forming a small dark red patch.
Yin Tie, fearing that Li Fan would push himself too hard and cause irreversible damage to his hands, called a halt to the training.
"What is this?"
Li Fan asked curiously, looking at the wooden basin Dilu brought over.
"It's herbal water. Soak your hands in it, and it can quickly heal contusions," Da Ju explained.
"Won't it hurt?"
Li Fan asked tentatively.
"It won't hurt. I'll help you."
As Da Ju spoke, he gripped Li Fan's wrists with his two cat paws and pressed them into the basin.
Splash! A little water flew out.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Li Fan let out a pig-like scream.
"Hold on, it'll be over soon."
Da Ju showed no mercy, instead increasing the pressure of his paws.
The clotted blood from the contused areas on Li Fan's palms dispersed in the basin, mixing with the pale green herbal water and quickly turning gray.
The intense pain lasted for about ten seconds before greatly subsiding to a bearable level.
"Li Fan, next I'm going to demonstrate the optimal attack range for the Spirit Blade Slash. Watch closely."
Yin Tie held up the Jawblade I and shouted.
"No problem."
Li Fan sat cross-legged on the ground, intently watching Yin Tie's movements.
After a few slashes, the Spirit Gauge filled up.
Whoosh! With a swing of the blade, a circular spirit blade cut across the surface of the wooden post, leaving a not-so-deep mark.
"Spirit Blade Slash! Second Form!"
Yin Tie paused intentionally for a moment before shouting again. The Jawblade I swung out another circular spirit blade, this time from right to left.
"It doesn't seem... particularly special, meow."
Dilu commented.
"So strong. So Spirit Blade Slash really doesn't bounce off..."
Li Fan's exclamation of admiration was so profound that even Da Ju didn't understand it.
The reason for his surprise was the discrepancy between the game and reality.
In the game's settings, the Spirit Blade Slash did not bounce off. It ignored sharpness and carapace hardness, directly cutting through monsters' bodies, almost like a dimensional slash.
However, through constant exposure to the Monster Hunter world, Li Fan knew such an effect was clearly impossible in reality.
He had even tested this during his earlier training.
The Spirit Blade Slash, enveloped by spirit energy, did indeed have stronger cutting power when activated, but it was still blocked by the hard wooden post.
He had concluded that the Spirit Blade Slash did not bounce off, and it was merely a game mechanic to ensure a smooth gameplay experience.
But the two Spirit Blade Slashes Yin Tie had just performed had overturned Li Fan's conclusion.
It was true that the Spirit Blade Slash did not bounce off, but as the name suggested, this characteristic was only present within a very small range along the outer edge of the blade where the spirit blade was attached.
"No wonder Instructor Yin Tie said he was demonstrating the optimal attack range for the Spirit Blade Slash..."
Li Fan immediately understood the purpose of this demonstration.
"Controlling the release distance of the Spirit Blade Slash is not a basic weapon assessment requirement. It's an advanced technique for using the Long Sword. Don't worry if you can't grasp it quickly; it's a skill that requires long-term training and practical application."
After speaking, Yin Tie sheathed the Jawblade I.
"Is this move very difficult to master, meow?"
Dilu hadn't understood at all.
It felt like Yin Tie had only performed two Spirit Blade Slashes, and they had merely grazed the wooden post, lacking the force of Li Fan's previous blade cuts that had embedded themselves.
"Extremely difficult, especially when facing monsters."
Li Fan offered a fair assessment.
After soaking his hands in the herbal basin for about five minutes, Da Ju observed the color of the medicinal water and indicated that Li Fan could take them out.
Li Fan raised his hands. The minor contusions on his palms had already healed, and the deeper ones had completely scabbed over.
The herbal remedy here was truly potent.
As Li Fan looked at his hands with a sigh of emotion, Yin Tie announced the formal end of the instructor's training.
"It's over already?"
Li Fan was surprised. Including yesterday, he had only been in training for less than three hours.
"What else? What else can I teach you?"
Yin Tie spread his hands.
"Ancient hunting techniques from Kokoto Village, or style hunting from the Guild?"
Li Fan asked tentatively.
His impression of Yin Tie had greatly improved.
"Don't joke around. That's all lies, you know."
Da Ju said helplessly.
"What about the Iai Slash and the Foresight Slash?"
Upon hearing this, Yin Tie and Da Ju both froze.
"Where did you hear about these two moves?"
Yin Tie's tone became serious.
"A hunter who called himself the Long Sword Master told me."
Yin Tie pondered for a moment, but there was no information about a "Long Sword Master" in his mind. He asked, "Is your understanding of Long Sword usage learned from this Long Sword Master?"
"Sort of."
"Sigh... The two moves you mentioned do exist, but they are peak-level techniques for using the Long Sword. Most five-star hunters can't even perform them perfectly in a training environment, let alone in actual combat."
Yin Tie explained.
The Iai Slash and Foresight Slash were that difficult?
Li Fan truly hadn't expected that moves he could learn upon character creation in the game were considered legendary skills here.
"Don't be discouraged. I know the Foresight Slash. It's just a bit inconvenient to demonstrate with this bad leg. Once you've mastered controlling the release distance of the Spirit Blade Slash, I might be able to teach it to you, but you have to promise me one condition."
"What condition?"
Yin Tie said solemnly, "Absolutely do not attempt to use these two moves during actual combat with monsters."
"This is for your own good. Little Dilu, you need to help supervise."
Da Ju added.
Li Fan wanted to ask why, but thinking about the application scenarios of the Iai Slash and Foresight Slash, he immediately understood Yin Tie's intention.
In the game, a failed move might at most result in running out of health and getting carted.
But here, a failed move could result in a hearse carrying you away.
Moreover, considering the difficulty of execution, even five-star hunters found it hard to perform in a training environment. The difficulty of using them in combat was likely astronomical.
"Okay, I promise."
Seeing Li Fan's assurance, Yin Tie's serious expression relaxed slightly.
"By the way, I'll be going to the village outpost irregularly for guard duty. If you need me, you'll know where to find me."
Yin Tie reminded him.
"Instructor Yin Tie is also participating in the village defense team, meow?"
Dilu asked.
"Of course. I'm the only seven-star hunting instructor in the Guild. What's a Zinogre to me? Back in the day, I climbed a snowy mountain with my bare hands and fought a colossal beast..."
Yin Tie began to recount his past glories with great bravado.
"Instructor Yin Tie... your prosthetic leg is leaking oil, meow."
Dilu noticed black oil flowing from the joints of his prosthetic leg and reminded him.
"I told you long ago, cheap things are no good."
Yin Tie bent down to adjust it, complaining to Da Ju.
"Well... I found this prosthetic leg by the Guild entrance. I had the blacksmith fix it up a bit. It's good enough that it works."
Da Ju felt Yin Tie had set his expectations too high.
"Instructor Yin Tie, since you're so short on money, could you sell me one of these training posts made of Yuncheng wood?"
Li Fan asked.
The eyes of the man and the cat lit up.
"Sure, how much can you offer?"
Yin Tie, ignoring his leaking prosthetic leg, asked excitedly.
"Let me see... I have 28z in this pocket... and 33z in this one. Oh! And a Power Seed kernel. That makes a total of 185z plus a kernel, and a Sonic Bomb crafting recipe. Oh! And there's even..."
"Stop 'oh'-ing. If you pull out any more, my training ground will become a junk pile. Before I change my mind, quickly pick one and load it onto a cart to take away."
Yin Tie grabbed the loose change and collection of junk Li Fan was pulling out, hoping the young man would disappear as quickly as possible.
"Instructor Yin Tie, I'll remember this favor! It's beautiful! This is good stuff, come here quickly!"
Li Fan, being sensible, called out loudly.
With a cloud of dust, Taimai quickly arrived with a small cart.
"It's so heavy... meow!"
Li Fan's hands hadn't fully recovered, so the task of loading the cart naturally fell to Dilu.
Seeing this, Da Ju sighed in resignation, walked to the side, hugged the wooden post, and with a gentle lift of his cat paws, loaded it onto the small cart.
"You have to work hard too, Little Dilu."
Da Ju said, flexing the muscles on his forearms.
Dilu looked at his own soft front paws and nodded, "I'll try my best, meow!"
Watching the small cart, which looked like it might fall apart at any moment, drive away, Da Ju asked, "What do you think of their potential? Could they become a legendary hunter combination?"
"It's too early to say, but at least they won't be idiots who get themselves killed as soon as they get their Hunter's Guild badge."
Yin Tie replied.
Returning to the small wooden house with the training post, the setting sun cast an orange-red glow everywhere.
After placing the training post outside the door, Li Fan began practicing controlling the release distance of the Spirit Blade Slash.
This involved accurately hitting objects with the thin outer edge of the spirit blade when the Spirit Blade Slash was activated.
If the distance was too far, the Spirit Blade Slash would miss. If it was too close, it would either bounce off or embed itself in the wooden post.
For Li Fan, who hadn't even fully mastered spirit energy absorption and lacked strength, the training process was extremely difficult.
Yet, he thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Dilu, watching from the window, couldn't help with the training, so he prepared the basin of herbal water in advance.
In the evening, Eudora arrived at the cooking pot in front of the wooden house, carrying a small astronomical telescope, meat, and vegetables, ready to prepare dinner.
She was quite surprised to see a training post by the door.
Half an hour later, Eudora rushed to the wooden house and shouted, "Li Fan! Dilu! Dinner is ready! If you don't come out now, there won't be any left!"
Click! The door opened, and Li Fan emerged, his hands wrapped in thick bandages.
"Are you injured?"
Eudora asked, confused.
She remembered Li Fan only saying he was going for basic Long Sword training.
"Yeah, I trained a bit too intensely... By the way, did you buy an astronomical telescope?"
Li Fan raised his hands high and sat on the small wooden stool in front of the cooking pot.
"You recognize good quality. They say celestial phenomena are closely related to the appearance of Elder Dragons, so I bought one. You're quite capable too, getting a training post."
Eudora praised him.
Although there were many hunters in the village, no one had ever recognized the value of such things along the way.
"This training post was practically given away. I owe Instructor Yin Tie a great favor."
"Consider it... a sponsorship for our investigation agency?"
Eudora didn't know the source, but she felt it was necessary to record any material donations.
When the investigation agency grew stronger in the future, they would express their gratitude.
"It should be. Oh, right, to establish an observation room, we'll need to open a skylight in the attic roof."
Li Fan didn't know much about celestial phenomena, but he could help plan the placement of the telescope.
"That makes sense. I'll go to the village tomorrow and find a craftsman to look into it."
The training post could be left outside to brave the elements, but an astronomical telescope was a precision instrument and needed to be housed properly.
In his current state, Li Fan couldn't do strength training. So, while Dilu served him food, Li Fan ate only half his fill before returning to his room and falling asleep.
The next day, after removing the bandages, his palms were only left with a few shallow bruises, all other injuries having healed again.
He wondered if this rapid cycle of cracking and healing would have any impact on his body.
Li Fan gazed at his palms for a moment before noting the question in his small notebook on strength training.
After collecting his Poké Balls, he went to the village and had a free bowl of venison rice for breakfast.
With his pockets empty, Li Fan felt it was time to set out and hunt a Kulu-Ya-Ku.
He sat in the barbecue shop and began planning the composition of his hunting party.
Eudora had a three-star Hunter's Guild badge and could submit contracts according to the procedure. Her hunting skills were likely among the top tier of three-star hunters.
Furthermore, she had just bought an astronomical telescope and was surely short on money, so he had to bring her along.
The Great Jaggi, Kuku, hadn't participated in a joint hunt before. Its actual performance was unknown, so this was a good opportunity to observe it.
As for Xiong Da, the investigation agency couldn't be left unguarded, so he would be responsible for staying behind.
The importance of the Lightbulb warning was paramount; it had to be brought!
Taimai was a bit tricky... Never mind, once the camp was set up, it could be put into a Poké Ball and wouldn't be eaten.
After careful consideration, Li Fan finalized the hunting lineup.
Eudora was also very willing, so they split up to make preparations. After meeting at the village entrance in the afternoon, they set off towards the location specified in the contract.
To accommodate Eudora's walking speed and to lighten Taimai's load, Li Fan also chose to walk.
After walking for three hours, seeing that they were alone, Eudora took out the familiar White Rabbit armor from the bag carried by Taimai.
"Don't worry, the trade caravans have stopped supplying goods to Kala Village now. There won't be anyone on this road anymore."
Eudora reassured him.
"Thank you."
Li Fan accepted it with mixed emotions.
Even though it was broad daylight, if a monster were to attack, there wouldn't be enough time to put it on.
Li Fan knew this wasn't Eudora having some strange fetish, but genuine concern for his safety.
After putting it on, Li Fan asked, "Can a five-star monster have such a significant impact on a village that even supplies are cut off?"
"Let me put it this way: if Kala Village were any smaller and didn't have a Hunter's Guild branch, it might have been abandoned by now, with everyone fleeing to nearby villages for refuge."
Eudora explained.
"No wonder the village chief values the presence of hunters so much."
Li Fan seemed to understand the old man who handed out "Chosen One" medals to everyone he met.