Chapter 266: Jia Shan's Class – Part 1
Chapter 266: Jia Shan’s Class – Part 1
After Zhao Bao had guided the converted orcs further north, the Ma Clan’s elders returned to Siren City.
That day, there was a commotion in front of the west wall. The moat mysteriously expanded and connected to the Blood Sea.
Jia Wenhe and Ju Shoufen went out to investigate the moat, but they didn’t find anyone in the area.
All elders, aside from Jia Shan, went out to patrol the west wall again.
Meanwhile, Jia Shan had gathered every yin slave, Zhao Yun, and Wei Yuan on the training field in front of their mansion. Then, he began teaching everyone about basic swordsmanship. Even Miaomiao was dragged to attend the class since Jia Shan didn’t want him to waste his time sleeping or having sex all day.
“Let’s start from the basic! Since you already have a firm foundation, you can start by swinging the wooden sword in front of you a hundred thousand times without using Qi!”
“Eh!?”
Wei Yuan, Zhao Yun, and several yin slaves were reluctant to follow Jia Shan’s instructions. Only Kang Yan, Ju Chen, Ma Xingjuan, and Jiang Lan simply shrugged and began swinging their wooden sword.
“As for you, Miaomiao! You’re the strongest swordsman among the group, so that’s a million times for you!”
“Eh!? But master, I can get a lot stronger if you let me sleep-“
“Shut it and do it now! No complaint!”
Miaomiao wanted to tell his mentor that he had another method to train, but he didn’t have an opportunity to speak. Thus, he followed Jia Shan’s instructions and began warming up.
The sword-swinging practice was at a slow pace at first as everyone wasn’t accustomed to physical training outdoor.
Still, everyone quickly adapted to the changes. At first, all lazy yin slaves swung one or two times per second. But after two minutes, they began swinging 200 to 300 times per minute.
Kang Yan and Jiang Lan started their mini-competition. Within one breath, they swung their wooden swords 70-80 times, leaving several after images. Ma Xingjuan and Ju Chen demonstrated her innate talent and maintained the pace of 50 times a second without breaking a sweat.
As for the freak, Mao Miaomiao, he maintained the pace of 50 times a second, but he increased his speed after a minute of warming up. By the time he realized it, he already maintained the speed of 90 to 100 slashes per second without effort.
Jia Shan had been grinning from ear to ear, feeling proud of his disciples. Still, he believed that Miaomiao could do better.
“Stop using only diagonal slash! Let me see your horizontal slashes, thrusts, crossovers, shoves, and rotations! Begin!”
They were basic sword movements that every martial artist had learned. Even a spear user like Ma Xingjuan could perform the moves without trouble.
However, their speed significantly decreased after they mixed other movements into the drill. Their stance and form changed as each person had a different background and different training methods.
Jia Shan walked toward yin slaves, whose stance and form became awkward. He smacked their shoulder with his sword to warn them.
“Redo that again! Don’t try to swing faster for the sake of swinging. Imagine an opponent in front of you and strike as if you want to kill them! Maintain your stance and flow!”
Wei Yuan and everyone reduced their speed and maintained the pace of 5 to 10 swings per second. Yet, the exercise strangely exhausted them even though they hadn’t used a strand of Qi.
The only four persons on the field who hadn’t broken a sweat were Kang Yan, Ma Xingjuan, Jiang Lan, Ju Chen, and Miaomiao.
As Kang Yan and Ma Xingjuan had practiced these basic movements countless times, everything was just a warm-up exercise.
Jiang Lan and Ju Chen had superior physique and bloodline. Combining with their talent, their form kept improving as they continued practicing swinging their wooden swords. Without trouble, they could keep up with the two geniuses.
As for Miaomiao, he had the advantage of his abnormal bloodline and physique like Ju Chen and Jiang Lan. In addition, he had plenty of experience using swords in real combat. The basic sword-swinging practice was nothing to him.
After one hour of endless swings, the five elites maintained the speed of 70 moves per second. Wei Yuan and Zhao Yun were even as their average speed was 50 per second. As for Pan Xiaofan and others, they took it slow and corrected their forms, but they were 50% slower than Wei Yuan.
The result satisfied Jia Shan. Everybody here had their unique talent.
“Alright. Enough empty swinging. Now, add Qi to your swings and increase the speed by two folds!”
Everybody’s faces changed. The order seemed simple, but the exercise was challenging.
The difficult part wasn’t the sword-swing, but the durability of the wooden swords in their hands, which were on the verge of breaking apart. They had already reached their limit after being used to cut empty air almost 10,000 times with inhuman speed.
Kang Yan, Wei Yuan, and Ma Xingjuan’s presences changed. They circulated their Life Qi into the worn-out sword as if it was a part of her body. Then, they decreased the movement’s speed for precision and correct forms.
Zhao Yun and former JY disciples tried to enhance their weapon with their Qi, but their wooden swords exploded as they inserted too much energy.
Meanwhile, Ju Chen and vampire girls injected their blood into their wooden swords, refining them into low-grade magic swords. Their movement speed got faster right away.
Jiang Lan used another method. She covered the wooden sword with pink miasma and coated it with her natural aura. When she moved her sword, it left a trace of pink gas, which hid her presence and her next movements. Then, her sword practiced turned into illusion sword swings.
On the other hand, Mao Miaomiao had another idea. He injected the wooden sword with his wood element Qi, repairing its durability. His speed and form didn’t change after he had reinforced the sword.
Everybody’s actions showed their level of fundamentals and experience. Kang Yan, Wei Yuan, and Ma Xingjuan had the right approach and firm swordsmanship foundation. Ju Chen and the vampires were flexible, and Jiang Lan was the most creative.
Zhao Yun and some of the succubi lacked real combat experience, but Jia Shan couldn’t blame them.
From a glance, Miaomiao’s form was firmer and his swings were stronger than Kang Yan. Even the yin slaves admired how their husband managed to maintain the sword condition with his power and speed.
Yet, Jia Shan wasn’t happy with Miaomiao’s decision and performance. Since the latter had the most combat experience, he should have been more flexible and efficient than others. However, Miaomiao kept making the same mistakes, which would hinder his growth as a swordsman.
“Stop!” Jia Shan walked toward Miaomiao and bonked him with his wooden sword. “You, how many times have I told you that you have to treat the sword as a part of your body, not a tool?”
“But I’m treating it as a part of my body!”
Jia Shan bonked him again, “No! You don’t understand shit!”
“OW! Why!? What did I do wrong!?”
Jia Shan sighed. He extended his domain power and seized Killer Queen, who had been sleeping on top of the pylon tower. Then, he tossed the sword to the training field.
The sleeping katana woke up after her handle had been touched by the old man. She screamed and screeched, wanting to chop Jia Shan to pieces. However, while KQ was in her katana form, no one could hear her voice.
Jia Shan pointed at KQ, “How about this, try using that precious sword of yours to cut Kang Yan’s wooden sword. Kang Yan, try using your wooden sword to cut that weapon into two!”
“Huh?”
Miaomiao and others were confused, but Kang Yan widened her eyes. The latter stuttered, “M-Master Jia, if I do that, my husband’s weapon will be destroyed!”
“EH!?”
Everyone was shocked and confused by Kang Yan’s proclamation. Wei Yuan even asked her, “How can your wooden sword possibly destroy a heaven-grade treasure? That’s impossible.”
Kang Yan had a bitter smile on her face, “When one reaches a certain stage of sword mastery, even a twig can be as strong as an immortal-grade weapon…”
“What!?”
Jia Shan smirked, “Now, Miaomiao. Grab your favorite weapon and clash your sword with Kang Yan’s wooden sword. This will teach you a lesson how you shouldn’t treat swordsmanship lightly.”
“…”
Miaomiao had been listening to the conversation. He had already guessed what might happen after this, so he raised his hands over his head and resigned, “I understand, master. It’s my fault. Don’t destroy my weapon, please.”
The girls still looked baffled. None of them understood anything.
Jia Shan laughed and turned to the confused girls, “Okay, I’ll explain,”
The elder took out a normal iron plate armor and leaned it against a boulder nearby. Then, he placed a few refined stones to create a make-shift barrier array to cover the plate armor.
When the array was finished, he turned to the girls, “Do you think you can destroy the armor behind this array using only a worn-out wooden sword?”
Everyone but Miaomiao and Kang Yan shook their heads.
Jia Shan glanced at Kang Yan, “Show them.”
Kang Yan sighed. She simply walked toward the array and swung her sword once. However, her slash was formless and slow.
Yet, the array and the plate armor were cut in half!
Everyone widened their eyes in shock. They stared at Kang Yan as if they were looking at a monster.
“Hey, I barely sensed her Qi. But how!?”
“Was that slash empowered by an element Qi?”
“I don’t think she used any technique or Qi at all.”
Kang Yan turned to her colleagues, “All I did was tracing the line of death, but I used a few strands of Qi to sustain the wooden sword as if the sword were my injured arm.”
“???” Everybody still didn’t get it, but Miaomiao almost screamed in astonishment.
Miaomiao didn’t miss the hint – “Tracing the Line of Death”
Jia Shan took over the explanation since Kang Yan was not good at explanation, “When you reach the state when you can become one with your weapon, you will be able to see the Flow and the Points and of Death. Your friend just traced the flow with her wooden sword, and here is the result.”
Everyone still didn’t understand, but Miaomiao inwardly screamed like a crazy fangirl. He remembered an Anime heroine and an Anime protagonist who had Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.
“Everything in this world, including humans, had a Point of Death. However, it is invisible to mortals and most immortals since it requires innate talent, dedication, hard work, and the right understanding of how the WEAPON FLOW works”