Chapter 113: Cicada and Sparrow Sword

When I was learning swordplay at the martial arts hall back then, the masters said it like this: "Practice the 'Opening Door Sword' for two years; once you've mastered it, you can learn the 'Supporting Willow Sword'. Practice the 'Supporting Willow Sword' for five years; once you've mastered that, you can learn the hall's signature sword art."

Seeing Pei Ye had been looking forward to this so-called signature sword art ever since.

"That was just to motivate you all back then; there's no such thing as a signature treasure." Master Huang rolled his eyes slightly.

This lie might still be in effect, because he said this in a low voice, head turned away, after glancing at the children in the courtyard.

"There isn't such a sword art?" Seeing Pei Ye was somewhat disappointed.

"There is one, but while it is indeed quite a bit stronger than the 'Supporting Willow Sword', it's actually just an ordinary sword technique."

"No matter, no matter. I'm just practicing ordinary ones now; bring it out for me to practice."

Master Huang sighed and beckoned him into the house.

Following Master Huang, he passed through the house that had stood for over twenty years, reached the backyard, went through the corridor where trees rustled and leaves whispered, and walked into the quiet back room.

Master Huang pushed open the door to the innermost room, and Seeing Pei Ye followed him in; it felt as if no one had been in this room for a long time.

"Only Master Zhao knew how to use this sword art," Master Huang said, walking to the table. "After he practiced it until he was proficient, he never flipped through this manual again. In these past few years, no one has truly mastered the 'Supporting Willow Sword'—actually, if you had practiced for another three or four months back then, you probably could have, but it's a pity you didn't have the time."

Master Zhao was the sword instructor at the martial arts hall; later, his cultivation broke through to the Fourth Life Realm, and he moved to the prefecture city to make a living.

Master Huang lifted the table to move it aside, opened the cabinet door that had been blocked by the table, and pulled a book wrapped in red cloth from the bottom layer.

Unwrapping the package, a yellowed book was revealed.

Seeing Pei Ye leaned in, lowering his head to decipher the characters on the cover: "Cicada... Cicada Sparrow Sword?"

"Correct."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded with satisfaction.

Master Huang handed the book to him: "I don't understand it very well, but old Zhao said back then that the foundation of this sword art is very solid. Take a look for yourself."

Seeing Pei Ye took it; the book felt soft and loose in his hand, the pages thin and yellowed—this was not something caused by just a few years of storage.

Seeing Pei Ye looked at Master Huang with some surprise, suspecting that before they took this book to be their "hall signature," it had already existed for a considerable amount of time.

Seeing Pei Ye gently flipped open the book, using half a quarter-hour to roughly go through the sword moves, and then used one and a half quarter-hours to skim the essential text on the last two pages.

The sword theory knowledge he had crammed in these past few days indeed played a role at this moment; after reading it through once, Seeing Pei Ye roughly judged the level of this sword technique—it should be the Clumsy Realm.

If Ming and Zhu were to speak, the Clumsy Realm would naturally be the lowest level of sword technique. But if placed in the real grassroots Jianghu, a sword art of the Clumsy Realm is often enough to support a small sect.

Because there are too many "unranked" sword techniques in this world; after all, no rule states that one must enter the "Clumsy" Realm to create a sword technique.

Although there are not a few people in the Clumsy Realm, there are definitely not too many, let alone the fact that entering the Clumsy Realm does not necessarily mean one has the ability to create a qualified sword technique, and even those with the ability to create one might not necessarily do so.

Therefore, if one follows the strict standards of major sects for the two words "sword technique," there would be quite a lot of people learning swords in the world with no sword techniques to practice.

Thus, snakes have their paths, and rats have their paths.

An old master with inferior talent, having practiced swords for decades, still cannot step into the "Clumsy" Realm. But his decades of hard work have indeed nurtured something, and thus a sword technique is born.

He himself has not stepped into the Clumsy Realm, so the moves of this sword are naturally biased and wrong from the moment they are born, and those who practice it are on the wrong path from the very beginning.

But it is definitely not useless.

Even if you just listen to the experience of someone who has chopped firewood for decades, your axe swings will be cleaner later on; how could a sword manual be useless?

Therefore, those who have practiced are still more formidable than those who have not.

And what must be recognized is that the "Five Realms" division is for the Sword Path realm; it's just that after removing the "Spirit" Realm, it can be borrowed to divide the levels of most sword techniques.

But level does not equal power.

The "Opening Door Sword" is a sword of the Clumsy Realm, while the "Supporting Willow Sword" is unranked, but the "Supporting Willow Sword" has quite a few sword moves full of killing intent, whereas the "Opening Door Sword" has almost no lethality.

Returning to the present, Seeing Pei Ye felt that what he held in his hand was a sword manual of the Clumsy Realm, and he was just beginning to grasp the precision and appropriateness of the force behind those sword moves.

As for how much power this sword art can exert, that can only be known after careful study and personal experience.

Seeing Pei Ye tucked the book into his bosom and returned to the courtyard with Master Huang.

Before they even walked out of the corridor, they heard the chattering cries of the children.

"Don't touch!" a childish voice called out.

"I'm not touching, I'm just looking!"

"Looking isn't allowed either; have you asked Brother Pei?"

"I'll look first, then ask."

"Aiya, this is a sword case! It's just for holding a sword inside, what's there to look at?" a third voice said.

Seeing Pei Ye crossed the threshold and saw a group of children surrounding the sword case containing the Heart-Slicing Glaze, with a few eager to open it.

Seeing Pei Ye had closed the lid before leaving, but clearly, the act of reaching inside earlier had piqued the children's curiosity, and everyone wanted to see what exactly was inside.

But for the time being, no one had moved it without permission.

"Who told you class was over!" Master Huang shouted.

"We finished the horse stance."

"It's time for Brother Pei to teach us swords!"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Seeing Pei Ye walked over, leaned down to pick up the sword case, and laughed: "Alright, I'll teach you all. Line up!"

Then he saw in this group of children the exact same traits he had back then—they could turn into a swarm in an instant, and they could also return to quiet order in an instant.

And that the words of the older brothers were always more effective than those of the adults.

Besides worship and affection, there was actually some distance between the unfamiliar and the close among them.

Seeing Pei Ye walked to their front and said: "I need to prepare for the Golden Autumn Martial Competition during this period, so I will only teach everyone today. I will still be here in the days to come, but I will practice my own, and you will practice yours; everyone must train seriously."

"Okay!"

"Today, I will first give you a... sword theory lesson." Looking at the confused expressions of the children, Seeing Pei Ye continued, "Then everyone will come and spar with me for two moves; I will guide you one by one, and finally—"

Seeing Pei Ye raised the sword case: "If you perform well, I'll let you see this treasure."

"Okay!!"

"Everyone, bring your cushions and sit down." Seeing Pei Ye laughed, "Today, I will tell you about the Five Realms of the Sword Path."

In the time that followed, Seeing Pei Ye sorted out the knowledge that had entered his brain over the past few days and recounted it word for word, focusing on how to exert effort before the Clumsy Realm.

Of course, at the stage these children were at, it was nothing more than standardizing their movements and then practicing diligently.

The children were naturally confused, but Seeing Pei Ye would ask Master Huang to write it down later, so that those learning swords at the martial arts hall from now on could recite and contemplate it.

Sword theory enlightenment should indeed be grasped from a young age; Seeing Pei Ye planned to buy some simple sword theory books to send back to Fenghuai after he went to the Divine Capital.

Next was the enthusiastic sword sparring; Seeing Pei Ye sat on a small stool holding a small wooden stick, poking those who came up to "spar" and knocking them to the ground one by one, then telling them where their flaws were—actually, most of it was just the three words "basic skills."

Finally, Seeing Pei Ye ranked their sword skills according to his own feelings; this clumsy imitation of the Crane-Duck Manual truly stirred up the children's great enthusiasm.

Some laughed loudly at those ranked lower than themselves, some made harsh threats to those ranked higher; the first-place student was already leaning lightly against a tree, his expression neither sad nor happy; the ones behind were clamoring to have a real fight with those ranked higher to see.

Next was the climax of the entire martial arts hall's atmosphere.

The children gathered around impatiently, and under the gaze of more than twenty pairs of eyes, Seeing Pei Ye opened the case.

In an instant, the entire courtyard fell silent.

Seeing Pei Ye felt that the breathing sounds around him stopped for a moment.

Seeing Pei Ye turned his head; the child closest to him was the one who had run to the door earlier, and at this moment, his expression was like a toad.

"It's a sword." Seeing Pei Ye laughed lightly, "You can touch it gently; it doesn't seem to dislike children very much."

Seeing Pei Ye reached forward, but the children in front subconsciously retreated and dodged.

Seeing Pei Ye reached toward the child who had been the most curious and wanted to open it without permission; that child gathered his courage and reached out a hand, but as soon as his dirty hand from practicing martial arts entered the same frame as the Heart-Slicing Glaze, he retracted it like an electric shock.

He put his hands behind his back, his gaze staring blankly at the case: "No... no need, I... just looking is fine..."

Then, the Heart-Slicing Glaze actually floated up slowly on its own.

It immediately caused a chorus of shrill screams.

Seeing Pei Ye watched this scene, a smile on his lips. Teaching swords, sparring and guiding, showing the glaze—he was very satisfied and happy with the whole process.

This was all the insight he had gained after experiencing life and death, and now he had shared it all with his former self.

The parrot bites its tongue, preparing to revive! Starting tomorrow, double updates will resume!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 114 =====