"Junior brother, do you know why my father asked me to teach you the Yangwu Sword Technique?" Li Shaozhi lowered his sword, seemingly defenseless, but his aura grew increasingly heavy.
"I don't know!" Qin Mu watched his every move intently, memorizing every detail.
"I am too untalented, and I have no hope of becoming a Grand Scholar in this life. But my Yangwu Sword Technique is still passable. In terms of pure swordsmanship, there are few people in Chang'an who can compare with me!" Li Shaozhi said confidently, his eyes becoming brighter as he spoke. Then he swung his sword upwards. When he swung it, his movements were very slow, as if the sword weighed a thousand pounds.
In Qin Mu's eyes, his sword strike seemed slow yet felt incredibly fast, completely on par with the Xi Yi Sword Technique. This feeling of being both fast and slow was extremely unpleasant. Most importantly, he felt a heavy pressure, a mental pressure, like facing a natural enemy, an indescribable discomfort.
This was only from the side; Li Shaozhi wasn't targeting Qin Mu. One can imagine what the effect would be if they faced each other head-on.
Qin Mu knew that if he used the Xi Yi Sword Technique, he would definitely not be a match for the opponent during the previous sparring session; now that he was facing the opponent, he could only avoid it, or he could only attack back and forth, hoping for a draw.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" The sword energy dissipated, and leaves flew everywhere. Qin Mu found that when he landed, the leaves had all been pulverized.
"You flatter me!" Li Shaozhi said with a smile as he sheathed his sword.
"Senior brother is amazing! Luckily you didn't use that move just now, otherwise I would be lying on the ground begging you not to die!" Qin Mu exclaimed.
"Haha! Junior brother, what you said!" Li Shaozhi burst into laughter at Qin Mu's words. There was no way around it; although he was a junior member, he was almost fifty, and nobody usually joked with him like that.
"I'm telling the truth, I really couldn't withstand that sword strike. Senior Brother's swordsmanship is indeed well-deserved!" Qin Mu said sincerely.
"That's just me patting myself on the back! I can only fight martial artists in close combat. If I were to face a Grand Scholar or a General, I would only be destined to die," Li Shaozhi shook his head and mocked himself.
Seeing that Qin Mu was hesitant to answer, Li Shaozhi didn't mind and said with a smile, "Come, junior brother, let me tell you about my experience with swords. When we use swords, we basically only use our right hand, unlike martial artists who can use their left hand to make a fist, use a shield, or use two weapons. Because we are not as strong as them, what do we do with our left hand? Father told you about fine clothes and delicacies, so fine clothes will come in handy at this time."
As Li Shaozhi spoke, he flicked his sleeve, and Qin Mu saw a righteous aura appear on his clothes. Suddenly, a table next to him shattered into pieces.
"Amazing! This brocade robe can actually contain righteous energy!" Qin Mu's eyes lit up as he exclaimed in amazement.
"Oh no!" Li Shaozhi's smile froze, and he said in a low voice.
"What's wrong, Senior Brother?" Qin Mu asked, puzzled.
"I broke the table!" Li Shaozhi said, like a child who had caused trouble.
"So what if it's broken? Does anyone have to say anything to you?" Qin Mu replied casually. Then, seeing Li Shaozhi nod seriously, he remembered that this elderly senior brother had even older relatives above him!
"It's alright. Anyway, the teacher said she doesn't like these low tables. I'll have someone send over a set of furniture to replace them all, and then the teacher won't notice," Qin Mu reassured her.
“Isn’t this inappropriate? Your master hates receiving gifts the most,” Li Shaozhi said, glancing back at the scene.
“Those are outsiders! Am I an outsider? No! What’s wrong with a disciple offering his teacher a set of inexpensive furniture? It’s perfectly reasonable, isn’t it?” Qin Mu raised an eyebrow.
“That’s true.” Li Shaozhi nodded in agreement.
"Okay, it's settled then. I'll have someone deliver it later. Senior brother, you can receive it then. Now let's continue," Qin Mu decided.
"Okay, right, where were we?" Li Shaozhi asked, somewhat confused.
"You just mentioned brocade robes, Senior Brother!" Qin Mu reminded him.
“That’s right! The materials used for this brocade are exquisite. The silk alone has to be soaked in medicine before being made into cloth. It then needs to be nourished by the vital energy for half a month before finally being made into a garment with gold and silver threads. Only then can it become a brocade garment with silver stars. One piece of cloth can only make one set of clothes at most, and this set of clothes requires four people to work for three years,” Li Shaozhi explained.
"It's so troublesome!" Qin Mu exclaimed.
“Time isn’t the most troublesome thing. The key is that someone has to do it. If it weren’t for the master who wove the gold and silver threads into Dao patterns, the clothes wouldn’t be this powerful. And where would the master find so much time?” Li Shaozhi sighed.
“Yes! Getting a master to help comes at a price.” Qin Mu agreed.
“So, Confucian scholars without brocade robes can only rely on their hands! Although we don’t fight with our fists like martial artists, we have our hands,” Li Shaozhi said, raising his left hand.
"Like when you took my picture, senior brother?"
“That’s right. Without external assistance, the righteous energy dissipates once it leaves the body. So it needs to be condensed within the body and then released in a burst, relying on the rhythm of blood flow.” Li Shaozhi struck out with his palm, and the air exploded like a pool of water. If it weren’t for the milky white color unique to the righteous energy, it would really look like an air cannon.
“However, this also has two drawbacks. The first is the distance. If the distance is too far, the killing power will be insufficient. For the two of us, within three feet is the most suitable range. The second drawback is the consumption. Although it is not as good as using poetry to transform, it is still using the righteous energy in the body to fight the enemy, which consumes a lot of energy. So you have to be aware of this and not make yourself look strong on the outside but weak on the inside.” Li Shaozhi reminded him with a smile.
Following Li Shaozhi's explanation, Qin Mu silently circulated his energy, gathering his righteous qi and compressing it into a ball in his palm before raising his hand and waving it out.
It did resemble an air cannon, or even a Kamehameha. With a single swipe of the palm, "bang!" dirt flew everywhere, leaving a crater the size of a human head in the ground.
Keep in mind that this was inside a courtyard, the soil of which had been trampled and compacted for countless years. To blast a crater the size of a human head open like that required considerable force. Qin Mu was very satisfied with this.
Indeed, as Li Shaozhi said, it consumes a lot of energy and requires time to build up. Perhaps this time will be shortened after you become more proficient at using it.
Gathering, releasing! It feels somewhat like… Qin Mu pondered inwardly, his righteous energy circulating within his body. He could sense the righteous energy being transmitted through the main blood vessels in his arm, and a thought struck him. Then, Qin Mu pointed forward, and a surge of righteous energy shot through the air for ten meters before gradually weakening and dissipating.
"Junior brother, what's wrong?" Li Shaozhi was startled and asked hurriedly.
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