Authors Note: Okay it's the end of the combined chapters so enjoy!

Chapter 7 - The Pillars Warriors (1)

A serious look overcame Chu Shens face. He looked at the s.p.a.ce in front of him. The leftmost pillar lit up with white light before a shadow appeared before him.

The shadow had a short sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. With such short range weapons it was obvious that this shadow specialized in speed.

Without giving the shadow time to react Chu Shen swung the huge hammer down like lightning. The shadow looked at the hammer and Chu Shen could have sworn he saw a smirk on its face.

The shadow didn’t block the hammer or jump away, it merely stepped slightly to the side. Seeing this Chu Shen smiled.

The hammer hit the ground, creating a dent in the ground. The shockwave from the powerful hit made the shadow pause.

Chu Shen used the hammers recoil to swing the hammer in a circle sideways. Without giving the shadow any room to counterattack the hammer smashed into it, blunt side first.

The shadow flew sideways when it was. .h.i.t, flying outside of the circle of pillars. As the shadow flew out of the circle it merged with the gloominess of the surrounding air. The pillar stopped glowing.

“Impressive, I didn’t think you actually had some skills in using the hammer” Ti Wu exclaimed.

Chu Shen grinned at his master. As far as he knew, Ti Wu was very stingy on praise. His next sentence verified this.

“You are actually able to use the momentum of the recoil to increase your strength. Good, good. It’s too bad you’re not able to control it very well. You also need to work on your speed.”

Actually, it was only natural that Chu Shen was skilled with a hammer. Since Chu Shen knew that his only hope for power was through blacksmithing he had only practiced techniques that could help him during forging.

The first martial art he had learned, quite recently too, was called

This was extremely helpful during forging because of the precision needed but it had one requirement that stopped most people from practicing it.

Tremendous wrist strength.

 It was only natural after all. Just to pick up a hammer required strength. In order to perfectly control a hammer's velocity required more than simply swinging it properly. It also needed the strength to stop or turn the fast moving heavy hammer.

Chu Shen did not have the greatest mastery over this technique, as he was just recently able to practice it. Normally one needed to be of a higher cultivation level to be able to gain perfect master over it. It was only with his inborn strength that Chu Shen was able to advance as far as he did with this technique.

“You’ve pa.s.sed the first pillar. In order to be considered an outer disciple you must beat 3 pillar shadows. If you pa.s.s 6 pillar shadows you will be an inner disciple. If you pa.s.s all 9 pillars you would be a core disciple.”

“What are the differences master?” Chu Shen asked. He had an idea because of his own sect but wasn’t completely sure.

“Do you think all the pillars will be this easy? Dream on! Naturally there are benefits but I will only tell you if you earn them. Now hurry up, I grow weary of watching you prance around on stage."

Steadying his mind Chu Shen nodded to Ti Wu. Recognizing that his disciple was ready to start, another pillar lit up to the right of the previous one.

This time the shadow warrior carried a spear. As soon as Chu Shen saw the spear he started thinking. Spears, the blade was a long range but the shaft was a short range weapon. It was the natural enemy of a mid range weapon like Chu Shen's hammer.

The shadow was cautious, keeping back from Chu Shen. It constantly made little thrusts with the spear though Chu Shen avoided all these with ease.

Finally the shadow committed to a full blow and thrust harshly towards Chu Shen's chest. Barely avoiding the deadly blow, Chu Shen thrust forward with the hammer, almost like he was trying to punch the shadow.

The hammer was barely avoided by the shadow however it did not expect a dart to suddenly embed itself in its head.

The whole point of Chu Shens thrust was not to kill it but to put it off balance. Then when it was off-guard to kill it with an arrow to the face. When the arrow hit the shadow it disappeared just like the other one. 

Ting

A melodious bell like ring sounded out as the metal arrow landed on the ground.