Chapter 48: The Spirit of the Sword
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The woman gave Hong Feiyu a ferocious stare, then set her eyes on Jiang Chen, quite unkindly as well. She said, “Stay away from my brother!”
“What?” Jiang Chen was confused. He might be able to understand what she meant if Hong Feiyu were a woman. But he was a man…
He didn’t know that since Hong Feiyu had made many mercenary friends before, Hong Youjun thought he was playing with her brother and only wanted to take advantage of him, too.
“Sister, Jiang Chen is different. He instructed Sister Wen Xin’s swordsmanship in the Martial Saint Mountain today. You can ask her if you don’t believe me,” Hong Feiyu said.
Hong Youjun got along well with Wen Xin. That was why Hong Feiyu called Wen Xin “sister” instead of “princess.”
“He instructed Wen Xin?”
Hong Youjun didn’t believe him. Wen Xin’s talent for swordsmanship was even better than hers. What gorgeous skills could this ordinary-looking youngster before her have?
“I use swords as well. How about a fight against me?” Hong Youjun said.
Hong Feiyu was dumbfounded. He had seen Jiang Chen’s skills and knew his sister could beat him easily.
Obviously, his sister had misunderstood him. She thought if he was able to instruct Wen Xin, he must have great swordsmanship.
“Sister, your state is higher than his,” Hong Feiyu said.
Hong Youjun was in the completened middle stage of the Gathering Yuan State, but she didn’t believe him and said angrily, “You even have the nerve to lie to your sister. If I don’t give you a good lesson, you will never stop making friends with the riff-raff.”
“You! Leave the Hong Mansion immediately!” Hong Youjun pointed at Jiang Chen and shouted decisively.
Jiang Chen said, “Your brother might have a good talent for sticks.”
“What?” Neither Hong Youjun nor Hong Feiyu understood what he meant.
“If you keep treating your brother this way, he will only go from bad to worse and never stop doubting himself. That’s not the way to be a good sister.”
“You don’t get to teach me how to be a sister!”
If Jiang Chen were someone else, Hong Youjun might have listened to him, but Jiang Chen’s comment seemed very harsh to her.
“I’ve asked you to go, but you don’t want to. So let me help you out.”
Hong Youjun’s almond-shaped eyes were cold. When she drew the sword from the sheath, an icy radiance was emitted by the sword. It was a spiritual sword!
If Jiang Chen countered her attack with his iron sword, it would definitely be broken by the spiritual sword. So he had to take the Redcloud Sword out.
“A spiritual sword?”
At this moment Hong Youjun started to somewhat believe what her brother had told her.
Especially after Jiang Chen switched the sword into his left hand and started to manipulate his spiral genuine yuan, he was pushing forward in an aggressive manner and his sword was giving off a domineering feeling.
“Stop!”
Hong Youjun’s arms tingled with Jiang Chen’s attack, and the spiritual sword in her hand was still shaking.
“Jiang Chen, you were concealing your strength!” Hong Feiyu eased up and was pleasantly surprised. He said excitedly, “Have you mastered the sword point? Like Yang Jianwei?”
“Yes.” Jiang Chen had not only mastered the sword point, but he didn’t say anything more.
Hong Feiyu was excited to learn that. He had no good feelings at all toward Yang Jianwei. At that moment, he could hold his head high since he had made a friend stronger than Yang Jianwei.
“Looks like you are indeed different from the previous guys.”
Hong Youjun had changed her view toward him. She asked, “You just said my brother might have a good talent for sticks?”
People will listen to you as long as you have enough strength.
“Your brothers’ long arms can reach down to his knees, which is a big advantage. Even if he doesn’t have enough talent, he has a great physical advantage.”
Jiang Chen hadn’t given Hong Feiyu advice simply because he felt sympathy for the latter, but for a good reason that he had observed.
Long arms that could reach down to the knees were one of the characteristics of stick masters in the Sacred Zone.
Hong Youjun hesitated for a moment and then nodded at her brother.
After getting his sister’s consent, Hong Feiyu picked the stick up excitedly, but didn’t know what to do with it.
“Do what feels right and give me an all-out strike!” Jiang Chen said.
“Okay!”
Hong Feiyu shouted loudly and brandished the stick toward him.
The stick swooshed through the air. It hit the ground after Jiang Chen’s dodge and the stones on the ground were smashed by it.
“What do you think?” Hong Feiyu felt nervous. He looked hopeful and eager.
So did Hong Youjun. She cared for her brother a lot, but just wasn’t patient enough.
However, Jiang Chen looked sullen, which gave the two siblings a bad feeling.
“I know…” Hong Feiyu lowered his head with frustration.
Jiang Chen suddenly burst into laughter. “Ha, I’m kidding. You have great talent.”
“Seriously?” Hong Feiyu was about to cry. He was almost dancing with joy.
“How great is he?” It was not easy to fool Hong Youjun. She wanted to hear more details.
“It’s not true that stick-fighting techniques are only fierce, not smart. In fact, they are more clever than swordsmanship techniques. If your brother had attacked me with only brute force, it would mean he wasn’t meant for sticks.”
“But he instinctively opened his hands and grasped the two golden points of the stick when he threw the stick over. You have to know that it was his first time to use a stick and he knew how to swing it.”
Jiang Chen’s comment was well-founded, which convinced Hong Youjun. She was finally relieved and smiled.
“Feiyu, I’m going to talk to our father immediately. We’ll find you the best stick master.” Hong Youjun left quickly after she finished talking.
“Okay!”
Hong Feiyu was excited. He had finally found his talent and could get rid of the nickname of “long-armed idiot.”
And all this could be accredited to Jiang Chen.
“Although skill is the key point of stick-fighting techniques, you’ll benefit greatly if you can use them with powerful methods and a strong genuine yuan,” Jiang Chen said.
Jiang Chen wanted to present Tai Ji Wan to him, but unluckily, Hong Feiyu’s meridians weren’t strong enough for it at that moment.
I’ll wait until he achieves the Mental Wander State. It will depend on his own efforts whether or not he can make any achievements.
Jiang Chen had only showed him the way. How far he could go would depend on his own efforts.
At dusk, Jiang Chen borrowed a long knife from the Hongs and went to the Martial Saint Mountain again.
The Martial Saint Mountain was quiet at night. It was a famous meeting place for lovers, but there were also people like Jiang Chen who came to see the spirit of the sword.
Ten-odd people were sitting cross-legged under the first sword trail in the Two Saints Square. With even breathing, they were trying to take the spirit of the sword into their souls.
This had to do with one’s talent.
Those who had much talent could take in the spirit of the sword smoothly and strengthen their swordsmanship, but those who didn’t have talents could comprehend nothing.
Jiang Chen could gain some insight even during the crowded daytime, let alone at this quiet moment.
Without the disturbance of the crowd, he comprehended the spirit of the sword of the first trail effortlessly.
Soon, he vaguely reeked of the aggressiveness of the sword. The early form of the spirit of the sword was evolving to a more mature spirit.
The swordsmen around him looked at him enviously. They knew from the appearance of Jiang Chen that he had gained insights from the spirit of the sword.
After a long while, Jiang Chen opened his eyes and smiled with satisfaction.
The early form of the spirit of the sword had matured!
But to his disappointment, he found the other two trails couldn’t help him further, since the spirit of the sword was the limit of these three sword trails.
Fine. I shouldn’t be too greedy.
Jiang Chen recalled the knife trail splitting the mountain that he had seen in the daytime. He picked up the long knife he had brought with his right hand and headed for the knife trail.