Zombie Bodyguard-Chapter 1500 - 1497: Assessment

Lin Tian was right; it was an overseas call from England. He didn’t even need to think to know who it was and could guess the reason for the call. It was undoubtedly Charlotte. Upon answering the call, Charlotte’s charming voice immediately came through.

"Master, it’s me."

Lin Tian felt a bit overwhelmed by this title. The Princess was determined not to change how she addressed him. He could only pretend not to hear and asked directly, "Did you get the Sword of the King?"

"Master, you’re so smart, you guessed it right. The Sword of the King has been retrieved, and at the latest, I’ll arrange for it to be sent to you by tomorrow," Charlotte giggled.

"The Sword of the King is in two parts; both have been found, right?" Lin Tian, still uneasy, asked another question.

Charlotte quickly replied, "Yes, Master, it’s just a pity for such a good sword. Once so glorious, now it’s broken."

Lin Tian was more open-minded about it, saying calmly, "Nothing is eternal, including you and me."

After ending the call, Lin Tian breathed out slightly, feeling relieved that the Sword of the King was successfully obtained. It could be sent to Tang City before the sword forging began. After dining out, he returned to his private small building and continued to bury himself in reading books. During this period, Ghost and Yun Xiaotian came to see him, and they were startled by his way of reading.

It was probably faster than others flipping through pages, unique to him. Until evening, Tang Banqing had not returned, and Lin Tian did not know what she was up to. He continued reading, and when the time came, he returned to the guest room.

Bathing, training, blood refining the Crescent Blade—this had become his nightly routine, though he did these without letting Yun Xiaotian see.

The next day, Lin Tian continued reading until he placed the last book back on the shelf. Tang Banqing, who hadn’t been seen for a day and a night, finally returned.

Upon return, she saw Lin Tian stretching and couldn’t help but roll her eyes, saying, "Kid, wasting such a great time, and you’re being so leisurely?"

Lin Tian felt innocent, saying, "I’ve already finished reading."

"All of it?" Tang Banqing asked suspiciously.

Lin Tian nodded affirmatively, "Of course all of it, there are a total of five hundred and twenty-one books on the shelf, including three hundred ancient texts and over two hundred modern books, among which are the notes of predecessors, including Old Tang’s hand-written notes, am I right?"

"You got it all right. But counting is something even elementary school students can do. I’ll test you; any exaggeration will be revealed by the test." Tang Banqing still didn’t believe it. No one would believe that someone could finish over five hundred books.

She gestured for Lin Tian to pick up the brush and paper on the table. Lin Tian chuckled, laid out the paper, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and waited for the "teacher" to test him.

"Fire control, third page of the first volume, middle paragraph, write it down from memory," Tang Banqing said solemnly.

"Fire control," as mentioned by Tang Banqing, was one of the books with the most content on the shelf, divided into three volumes. Lin Tian recalled the page briefly and began writing swiftly.

Though Lin Tian had not practiced brush calligraphy specially, writing with a brush importantly involves wrist strength, with force applied freely and accurately, which makes the strokes full and pleasing, even impressively penetrating the paper.

Therefore, Lin Tian’s brush calligraphy wasn’t unsightly, and he became more adept as he wrote, with the characters flowing beautifully, unrestrained and elegant.

Seeing Lin Tian’s calligraphy, Tang Banqing was slightly surprised. In this day and age, young people who are good at brush calligraphy are rarer than a meteorite’s heart; most people can’t even hold a brush.

"Old Tang, it’s done." Lin Tian finished the final stroke, looked up with a confident smile.

Tang Banqing quickly picked up the paper and started reading carefully, her expression growing more surprised as she read, "Quenching, last paragraph of the twenty-fifth page."

She was somewhat convinced now but couldn’t help but seek further verification, so she asked Lin Tian to write again.

Without minding, Lin Tian took another blank paper and continued writing earnestly. The book "Quenching" documented the importance of quenching in sword forging, and the part Tang Banqing asked to be written described the situation in which Swordsmith Ou Yezi forged the Seven-Star Dragon Abyss Sword.

Swordsmith Ou Yezi opened Ci Mountain to forge a treasured sword, releasing the mountain stream and drawing it to seven ponds arranged in the "seven star" pattern beside the sword furnace. Ou Yezi used the water from the "Seven-star Pond" to quench and forge the sword, crafting three famous swords worldwide: Dragon Abyss Sword, Taia Sword, and Gongbu Sword.

In less than three minutes, Lin Tian had written everything from memory again. Tang Banqing hurriedly picked it up and found it was word-for-word once more, filling her with surprise and delight.

What surprised her was that she fully verified Lin Tian had indeed read all the books. What delighted her was that she had found a treasure. At this moment, Lin Tian was a treasure in her eyes.

However, she still acted as a stern teacher, saying seriously, "Hmm, not bad, a promising seed. But reading is one thing, applying it is another. You can’t just rest on your laurels; you need to ponder the content in the books and convert others’ experiences and the knowledge in the books into your own experiences, absorbing them and applying them. Do you understand?"

Lin Tian naturally understood this principle and replied, "Thank you, Old Tang, for your teachings. I will continue to work hard."

A Swordsmith willing to pass on their skills is a tremendous blessing, and Lin Tian regarded her fully as a teacher, though this teacher’s temperament was somewhat peculiar.

"Oh, by the way, Old Tang, opening the furnace for sword forging is a big matter. Do you need to report to the Pavilion Master of Qingshuang Pavilion?" Lin Tian remembered something and couldn’t help asking.

Last time, Wang Wanxi’s attempt to advance to Innate nearly resulted in an accident; Lin Tian didn’t want the same thing to happen again. In case someone sabotaged the sword forging process or the people from Qingshuang Pavilion intervened, wasting the materials would be unthinkable.

For this sword forging, Lin Tian collected meteorite’s heart, shape-shifting stones, and the Sword of the King. Additionally, Tang Banqing obtained the Fire Suppression Talisman from the Zhang Family, and perhaps Tang Banqing had other rare materials prepared. The first three materials are unique, and Lin Tian couldn’t afford any losses.

Tang Banqing snorted, unconcerned, saying, "I open the furnace whenever I want. I forge swords whenever I want. Last time, they auctioned off the meteorite’s heart without permission. I haven’t even confronted them yet, and you say I have to report to them? No way!"

This statement was made with anger, although the meteorite’s heart was still in Lin Tian’s hands; she still held a grudge. Perhaps this was the true disposition of a Swordsmith—minding only sword forging, with no notions of hierarchy.

Lin Tian’s face darkened, silently sympathizing with the Pavilion Master of Qingshuang Pavilion who he hadn’t met. To have such a "troublemaker" within the sect, being the Pavilion Master must be a headache.

Advising Lin Tian to continue reading until he absorbed and applied the knowledge, Tang Banqing went out again, and Lin Tian resumed "closed-door" reading.

However, unbeknownst to him, while he was "closed-door" reading, the number of Ancient Martial Artists in Tang City not only didn’t decrease but even increased after participating in the auction.