480 Sword Techniques Originate from the Mouth III

Tang Thirty-Six descended from the stone steps and stood beside that studentcalled Chen Fugui. Looking him over, he nodded, and said, "Your performance wasnot bad. In the future, you will learn the 'Tiger Charging Through the DarkForest'." Chen Fugui was a little surprised at these words, but upon realizing what TangThirty-Six had just said, revealed an ecstatic expression. His voice trembling,he said, "Many thanks to Superintendent, many thanks to Superintendent." Tang Thirty-Six turned around to those several dozen students behind him. "Doyou see? Just like what was said last night, when two armies battle, what'smost important is vigor! Who care if you're not the enemy's opponent! You haveto fight to find out. In addition, before you attack, you absolutely cannotthink of yourself as inferior to your opponent. This is called, 'I would ratherbe beaten to death then scared to death'. It can also be called, 'if you can'tbeat someone to death, you still have to scare him to death'." The students of the Orthodox Academy responded together, their voices ringingin unison. The gazes they aimed at Chen Fugui were filled with envy andyearning. The challenger from the Li Palace Academy was left completely baffled by thisscene. At this sight, he could no longer restrain his question, "What's goingon here? Are we not fighting anymore?" Tang Thirty-Six asked Chen Fugui, "Can you beat him?" Before the match, he had asked this question. Chen Fugui had replied then thathe could only know after fighting. Now that they had fought… He very honestly admitted, "I can't beat him." "Don't be discouraged. You only reached the initial level of Meditation nottwo months ago, it's only right that you're no match for an Ethereal Openingcultivator. It's not like you're some exceptional genius like me or PrincipalChen." Tang Thirty-Six patted him on his broad shoulder and soothed, "Summarize thismatch tonight, and then prepare everything you need for your studies." The spectators thought to themselves, the match just started and barelyanything was done. Just what is there to summarize? The challenger from the Li Palace Academy watched as Chen Fugui walked back tothe stone steps. Quite at a loss for what to do, he asked Tang Thirty-Six, "Andthen? The match had just started and he hadn't even had time to use his sword beforethe shout came to stop. Then…shouldn't it be that they should continue to fight? Tang Thirty-Six looked at him like he was an idiot, saying, "Since he can'tbeat you, he naturally concedes." The challenger this time really did look a little silly. He was in a daze forquite a while before sobering up and asking in disbelief, "No way? It just endslike this?" "What else? Do you want to stay and eat too? Our Orthodox Academy's cafeteriainvited the chef of Clear Lake Restaurant to be cook. A normal person shouldn'teven think about freeloading a meal." Leaving the challenger with these words, Tang Thirty-Six returned to the stonesteps of the Orthodox Academy to prepare for the second match. The challenger from the Li Palace Academy was furious. His Qi suddenly spikedand the sword in his hand became infused with a cold energy. Tang Thirty-Six halted and turned back. Expressionlessly, he declared, "Takeanother step forward and try." On both sides of the Orthodox Academy's gate, two squadrons of Orthodoxycavalry held cold spears in hand as they coldly kept watch. Above the walls of the academy, one could barely make out the presence ofcrossbow bolts. The surrounding crowd of spectators realized what the Orthodox Academy wasprepared to do. The crowd parted with a flurry of noise, which was quicklysuppressed into silence by the murderous intent pervading the scene. "The Orthodox Academy…are you preparing to act shamelessly?" A cold voice came from the street, its owner probably amongst the group ofexperts that had come to challenge the Orthodox Academy. Tang Thirty-Six ignored that person. Walking back to the group of students, helooked at the list in his hand and yelled, "Which one of you is Fu Xinzhi?" One person stepped forward. It was precisely that young scholar who hadappeared so self-confident on that day when the Orthodox Academy was recruitingnew students. Tang Thirty-Six said to him, "Amongst your schoolmates, your cultivation isstrongest. Put up a good performance and show those outsiders the true strengthof our Orthodox Academy!" Fu Xinzhi clasped his hands in respect. He slowly took out his longsword fromits sheath. As he walked onto the field, his bearing was quite calm. That challenger from the Li Palace was still standing there, no one paying himany attention whatsoever. Standing there by himself, he seemed rather pitifuland rather ridiculous. He was clearly the victor of the battle, but where was the slightest bit ofhappiness from victory? He shot a hateful stare at Tang Thirty-Six, and then, with a sweep of hissleeve, departed. The next to come after him was similarly a swordsman at the middle level ofEthereal Opening. As for which school he was representing, Tang Thirty-Sixcould no longer remember. He could only remember that Chen Changsheng hadexplicitly told him last night that Fu Xinzhi's opponent could only be thisswordsman. Chen Changsheng had even written a few very detailed notes on thelist, saying just how Fu Xinzhi should attack and the maximum number of attackshe would be able to use. Time passed rather slowly, or the first match had ended too quickly. It wasstill early morning, and although it was still the height of summer, it wasn'tvery hot. Fu Xinzhi gripped his sword and stood on the flat ground in front of theOrthodox Academy. A cool breeze swept over him, wafting up his sleeves andgiving him an unearthly feeling. His opponent was also a swordsman. With the sun shining on his blue garmentsand the chilliness of his sword, he also gave off an extremely fine demeanor. At this scene, the spectators who still felt rather dejected from the firstbattle's preposterous end instantly became energetic once more. The swordsman expressionlessly declared, "Please." As Fu Xinzhi looked at his opponent's face in the morning light, he seemedcalm. In reality, only he knew just how nervous he was. He was a student from Suiyang County. Unlike the students of the capital, hedid not have access to knowledge of cultivation at a young age. Although histalent was decent, his strength had always been lacking. As for battle prowess…in Suiyang County, he had never truly fought withanother person. Today was his first real battle in his entire life, and his opponent was atthe middle level of Ethereal Opening, someone who he would have foundimpossible to imagine as an opponent back in Suiyang County, and who he wouldhave regarded as a senior! How could he not be nervous? "You can't be nervous." This was what Principal Chen had repeated to him themost last night. "Emphasize vigor. Vigor is not only in ferocity, but also in neatness." Frommorning class to now, this was the principle that the academy superintendenthad constantly repeated. In his mind, he recalled once more the form, speed, and true essencecirculation of the techniques that Principal Chen had imparted to him lastnight, and then he took a deep breath. He calmed down, and then attacked. With a whoosh, it seemed like a storm had suddenly sprung up in front of theOrthodox Academy. First Stance of the Wind and Rain Sword of Mount Zhong: Rising Flurry! With exceptional swiftness, his sword pierced through that storm and arrivedin front of that swordsman. That swordsman was still expressionless. His sword rose up from its sheath,confronting his opponent's sword with a majestic true essence that knocked FuXinzhi's sword far away from its original trajectory. Fu Xinzhi was not alarmed. For some reason, it was just like what Chen Changsheng and Tang Thirty-Six hadsaid to all the new students last night… The moment he made the first strike, his usual reverence that he had forEthereal Opening cultivators back in Suiyang County vanished without a trace. In addition, the current situation was just like he had practiced severaltimes last night. His sword was in precisely that position, the position thatPrincipal Chen had calculated. That position was exceptionally good, exceptionally good for using the fifthstance of the Wind and Rain Sword of Mount Zhong. With a steady mind, he calmed his Qi. His sword energy suddenly rose up, thewind and rain abruptly kicked up. From his leaning position, he once morestabbed at his opponent. Simultaneously, he counted in his mind, "This is my second strike." Last night, Principal Chen had said that if he was able to use four movesagainst this powerful opponent, then it could be considered a success. Clangclangclangclang! Sword glows incessantly flashed and then vanished. The wind and the rain in front of the Orthodox Academy similarly vanished,leaving behind only the clear and bright weather which would soon turn hot. That swordsman still stood expressionlessly at his original position. Therewere no wounds on his body and only an extremely small cut on the front of hisblue gown. Fu Xinzhi grasped his sword, his chest rising up and down. An extremely deepwound had appeared on his left arm and blood was flowing out of it. But it seemed like he couldn't feel the pain. His eyes were extremely bright,and it was obvious that he was extremely emotional and excited. It was naturally impossible for him to obtain victory. Although he was thestrongest amongst this batch of new students, the gap between him and theEthereal Opening Realm was still impossible to cross. But he used four moves. This was the most important matter and also that which Chen Changsheng hopedthat he could do. So not only did he not feel defeated in the slightest, he was even filled witha boundless sense of heroism. He hadn't even been in the Orthodox Academy for five days, but he couldactually exchange four successive blows with an Ethereal Opening expert! Then if he continued to study at the Orthodox Academy a little longer, justhow far could he walk? He looked into the eyes of that swordsman, thinking to himself, next year, Ionly need until next year, and then I will definitely be able to defeat you! "Why are you still standing there?" Tang Thirty-Six's voice came from the Orthodox Academy's gate. Fu Xinzhi awoke from his reverie, sheathed his sword, bowed to the swordsman,then returned. The swordsman was not angry like the challenger from the Li Palace Academy,nor did he attempt to block him. In addition, it was very obvious that it hadnothing to do with the Orthodoxy cavalry or the crossbow bolts atop the wall. Tang Thirty-Six watched as Fu Xinzhi returned, saying, "According to lastnight's calculations, if you managed to use four moves, you really could havebeen injured, but it shouldn't have been so serious." Only after Fu Xinzhi returned did his schoolmates realize how deep his woundwas. They could even barely make out the bone. "For the final move, I went a little deeper. Because…I really wanted to tryand see if I could stab my opponent," he said rather nervously. His final move was unable to stab into his opponent's body. It had only beenable to leave an extremely small cut on his opponent's clothes. If one didn'tcarefully look for it, it was almost impossible to see. Tang Thirty-Six asked him, "Do you think it was worth it?" To exchange a wound so deep that it almost reached the bone for a tiny hole onone's opponent’s clothes, anyone would feel that it wasn't worth it. But Fu Xinzhi seriously considered the question, then said, "I think it wasworth it." "If you think it was worth it, then it's worth it." Tang Thirty-Six revealed asmile and said contentedly, "For instance, if I think you're pretty good, thenyou really are pretty good." At this moment, the swordsman's voice suddenly rang out. For some reason, the swordsman's voice was slightly trembling, whether out offear or excitement. "Good swordplay." As he said this, he didn't look at Fu Xinzhi, but rather at Tang Thirty-Six. It was not fear, but excitement, like the shock after seeing the wondrousscene of the sea of clouds atop a famous mountain. With Fu Xinzhi's cultivation, for him to be able to learn the Wind and RainSword of Mount Zhong, even if it was only two moves, was already enough toshock others. However, this swordsman's shock and praise were not because of this.