Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Limitless Sword Path
Xiaoyao Lang ignored the proprietress and the group went straight into the shop to stay.
Ma Pingchuan: "Xiaoyao, Xiyu Manor is not far from here. Qiuxia will accompany me to escort you. You can stay in the shop and watch the luggage!"
Xiaoyao Lang: "Alright! I'm hungry too. You guys go and come back quickly."
Qiu Xia: "Palace Master, you must be tired after such a long journey. You should rest here. I will escort them on another trip."
Yu Linglong nodded and said, "Alright, be careful on the road, and come back quickly!"
Qiu Xia smiled and said, "Don't worry, Palace Master!"
With everything prepared, Ma Pingchuan and Qiuxia, along with their two brothers, rode off to Xiyu Manor. Xiaoyao Lang and Yu Linglong stayed at the inn to rest.
Yu Linglong entered the room, sat on the bed, and meditated, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing. At this moment, Xiaoyao Lang pushed open the door and entered.
Xiaoyao Lang said boldly, "Palace Master, have something to eat. You must be hungry after not eating all the way!" He then handed over a stewed chicken.
Without opening her eyes or saying a word, Yu Linglong placed the stewed chicken on the table.
Xiaoyao Lang smiled at Yu Linglong and said, "Palace Master! Come and try it! It's very fragrant!"
Yu Linglong said coldly, "I'm not hungry, you can leave now."
Xiaoyao Lang felt that the voice was cold, straightforward, and ruthless.
Xiaoyao Lang: "Alright!" Then he turned and left.
Yu Linglong's cold voice rang out again: "Take your things with you too."
Xiaoyao Lang turned around and said, "Take it away? You really don't plan to eat any!"
Yu Linglong said calmly, "What I'm saying shouldn't be hard to understand, right?"
Xiaoyao Lang felt utterly humiliated and cursed inwardly. He had gone to great lengths to get her this chicken because he was worried she would go hungry, and instead of thanking him, she treated him with such coldness. Without giving it much thought, Xiaoyao Lang carried the chicken back to his room. As he closed the door, a sword suddenly slipped through the crack.
When Xiaoyao Lang opened the door, he saw an old man with white hair standing there, holding a long sword in his right hand and a bundle in his left. Xiaoyao Lang looked puzzled and asked boldly, "Who are you? What do you want?"
The old man said leisurely, "Who I am is not important! What's important is that you're in a bad mood right now and need me to drink with you!" He then looked at Xiaoyao Lang.
Thinking of Zui Mochou, Xiaoyao Lang said, "Interesting, come in!"
After the old man entered the room, he stared at the chicken on the table and swallowed hard.
Xiaoyao Lang laughed and said, "Eat if you want! I'll go find two jars of wine."
The old man, without any hesitation, tossed aside his bundle and set aside his longsword, then promptly twisted off a chicken leg and ate it with relish. As he ate, he muttered, "Mmm, so delicious! Why doesn't the chicken I usually eat taste like this? Strange!"
A short while later, Xiaoyao Lang, carrying two jars of wine, pushed open the door and entered.
The old man asked in surprise, "You've taken two jars, can you finish them all?"
Xiaoyao Lang declared, "I'll drink my fill, or I won't drink!" He then tossed a jar to the old man, who caught it with one hand, channeled his inner energy, and the seal on the jar opened on its own. He then lifted the jar and began to drink.
The old man chuckled, "The wine isn't quite as good, but it's still passable."
Xiaoyao Lang took a big gulp, nodded leisurely, and said, "It seems so, not as good as what I drank before!"
Then he remembered chicken with wine, and upon closer inspection, he found that there was only a chicken butt left on the plate. Out of desperation, he took another big gulp.
Seeing this, the old man blushed and said slowly, "The chicken was too delicious. I've always been greedy and couldn't control myself! So..." He touched his big belly as he said this.
Xiaoyao Lang laughed heartily, "Hahaha, I like to be friends with anyone who is good at eating!"
The old man laughed and said, "Great! Since you consider me a friend, I must give you something in return!" He then opened his bundle, took out a sword manual with the words "Limitless Sword Technique" written on it, and threw it in front of Xiaoyao Lang.
Xiaoyao Lang asked with a puzzled look, "Limitless Sword Technique! What is that? Is it a work of the Legalist school?"
Upon hearing this, the old man nearly died of anger, shouting, "The Limitless Sword Technique is just a sword move!"
Xiaoyao Lang still didn't understand: "Sword techniques?"
The old man nearly went crazy: "Sword techniques!"
Xiaoyao Lang: "Moves?"
The old man, unable to bear it any longer, put down the wine jar, drew his long sword, and with a hiss, in the blink of an eye, the upper half of the jar in Xiaoyao Lang's arms was neatly sliced off as the sword went into its sheath.
Xiaoyao Lang stared at the altar in his hand, wide-eyed at the old man. He had no idea how the old man had used his sword to slice through the altar.
Looking at the stunned Xiaoyao Lang, the old man said leisurely, "This is swordsmanship!"
Xiaoyao Lang put down the wine jar and asked softly, "May I learn?"
The old man replied, "Of course! But whether you can learn it is hard to say! Judging from your aptitude just now, I guess you can't learn it! If not, I'll give you something else."
The carefree young man said arrogantly, "Old man, I haven't even started learning yet! And you're already discouraging me like this!"
The old man laughed and said, "Alright, alright! Then you can watch and learn. After a day, let's see if you can learn the move I just used!"
The old man chuckled to himself as he drank his wine. That move he had just made was not the first move in swordsmanship. It involved drawing the sword, pointing the sword, slashing the sword, and sheathing the sword, all in one move. It was impossible to do without learning the basics.
Xiaoyao Lang picked up the book and began to read. The first chapter read: "The Way of the Sword: The sword moves without a Way, thus it is without limit. Without limit and without Way, the sword is without limit." Xiaoyao Lang pondered this sentence for a long time. Below it read: "Eight Essentials of Swordplay: The body is as light as a feather, the mind as still as water, the eyes observe the subtle details, the ears hear the whole scene, the sword is swift without a shadow, the sword is accurate without a trace, the heart that holds the sword is clear and righteous, and the heart that draws the sword is without emotion."
The old man shook his head and said, "I told you to learn swordsmanship, not calligraphy. These were all written by that cold-faced man. What's there to think about?" After saying that, he raised the jar and poured a large amount of wine.
Xiaoyao Lang then began to study the swordplay. It was marked with "Starting Sword Stance," followed by nine diagrams and explanations of how to draw the sword. He then looked at "Holding the Sword Stance," with three diagrams and three explanations. Xiaoyao Lang asked somewhat doubtfully, "The old man's sword-drawing technique should be in the 'Starting Sword Stance,' so why isn't it there?"
Little did Xiaoyao Lang know that he had never even learned how to hold or wield a sword. If he directly learned the moves, he would only be imitating the appearance, and the power of the sword technique would be greatly reduced.
Xiaoyao Lang continued reading, "Sword Movement Style," again with nine diagrams and nine solutions! Xiaoyao Lang muttered to himself, "Why are there only nine? Can't it also be used for thrusting, slashing, and cutting? Why isn't there any!" He then looked at "Rising and Holding Mutual Movement Style," also with nine diagrams and nine solutions. Next, he looked at "Limitless Style," with no diagram and no solution! "How can this be? There's nothing there!" He then looked at "Sheathing Sword Style," with nine diagrams and nine solutions.
Xiaoyao Lang was puzzled. Why was there nothing in the "Wuji Style"? He then recalled the words from the first book: "The way of the sword is that the sword moves without a way, thus it is Wuji. Wuji has no way, therefore the sword is Wuji!" He muttered to himself, "Oh! I understand. Wuji means all-encompassing, whatever you can think of, you can use! You can observe moves with moves, you can control forms with forms, and you can also create forms. So, if the opponent has no moves and no forms, then let's try making a move! Yes!"
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he finished reading the book, though only glancing at the title! He only skimmed over the detailed illustrations. Now that he understood the meaning of the "Limitless Sword Technique," he began to examine the illustrations more closely.
At the gate of Xiyu Manor, Ma Pingchuan and Qiu Xia stood waiting. At this moment, Ling Xueyan came out with several people.
Ling Xueyan said to Ma Pingchuan, "You must be Young Master Ma! I am Ling Xueyan, the daughter of the Manor Lord."
Ma Pingchuan smiled and said, "So it's Miss Ling, my apologies! I am indeed Ma Pingchuan, here to deliver the horse as agreed."
Ling Xueyan: "Young Master Ma, please come inside the manor for tea and rest. I have already informed my father that the horses have arrived."
Ma Pingchuan: "Thank you for your trouble, Miss Ling. However, I have important matters to attend to and cannot delay. I hope Miss Ling will understand."
Ling Xueyan smiled and said, "Alright then, please lead the horse and follow me." With that, she led the way into the side garden.
Upon arriving at the garden, Ling Xueyan said, "Please wait a moment, Young Master Ma, I will call my father here immediately."
Ma Pingchuan: "Thank you for your help, Miss Ling!"
After Ling Xueyan left, Qiu Xia looked at the vast manor and exclaimed, "Brother Ma! This manor is huge!"
Ma Pingchuan laughed and said, "This is just a side garden; I estimate the main courtyard will be even larger!"
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