Chapter 136

"Oh." Pei Ye wasn't very interested in these things; if there were a "Peerless under the sword," that would be fine.

"However, martial competition candidates are only spectators; only by going up with the identity of the academy side can one participate." Zhang Dingyun said, "This Yinfeng Pavilion poetry gathering has this layer of meaning; whoever writes well will be recommended by everyone to go up."

"Hmm, then you must be very good at writing poetry; you don't just enjoy the scenery all day."

"No, I can't."

"."

"When someone gets these spots, I'll just go buy one from them." Zhang Dingyun smiled. "How about it, Brother Pei, do you want to go see the excitement together? With your sword skills, you'll definitely be popular."

"No." Pei Ye waved his hand. 【Spreading Wings】 was still hanging in his mind, and he wanted to get this sword move out this afternoon.

For Pei Ye, studying a sword art that was strong enough, overcoming difficulties bit by bit, and finally mastering it completely in his hands—although this experience couldn't be said to be the enjoyment he was most obsessed with, it wasn't far off.

And after getting this sword move out, he would have to learn the next sword move, 【Clear Sound】, without stopping, and then he could see what kind of dazzling brilliance the sword art connecting these two moves could erupt with.

"Sigh." Zhang Dingyun sighed. "Why be so tired? To be honest, Brother Pei, every time I see you all wasting this beautiful autumn light like this, I feel heartbroken."

"Actually, I used to love skipping class too." Pei Ye chewed his food, recalling. "Four hours at the martial arts school every day, I finished practicing in one hour, and then I would climb over the wall and run wild all over the mountains and fields."

"That's right!" Zhang Dingyun's eyes lit up, and he patted his palm. "Then why... did you pick up this bad habit now?"

Pei Ye was silent for a while: "Is your father still alive?"

"?"

"No, I mean," Pei Ye realized his slip of the tongue, "one day, you will need to hold up a sky of your own."

"No." Zhang Dingyun shook his head decisively. "My father is strong and healthy, he will definitely live to be a hundred, and I have an older brother. Then I'll just be a bit more greedy for pleasure and indulgence, and I can die after living to fifty or sixty."

". Fine." Pei Ye gave him a thumbs up.

While the two were chatting, Fang Jidao had already walked onto the martial arts field, overwhelmed by the sights.

Zhang Junxue finished her meal in a few bites, rested for less than a quarter of an hour, and then picked up her saber to start exercising again. Fang Jidao stood blankly to the side watching, the wind of the saber constantly blowing his hair up.

Finally waiting for Zhang Junxue to stop for a short break, he immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands properly, and spoke for a while.

Zhang Junxue listened silently and then shook her head.

Fang Jidao's disappointment was visible to the naked eye, and he tried to persuade her a few more times.

Zhang Junxue said in a muffled voice, "Signing my name is not good for you," and went back to swinging her saber.

Fang Jidao sighed and still cupped his hands properly to bid farewell.

During this half-hour of afternoon rest, Fang Jidao visited everyone without missing a single one.

Just as Zhang Dingyun said, these talents in the Dragon Gate Class were indeed different from the wild cultivators staying in inns. Their families were all big households in Bowang Prefecture, some even living in the prefecture city itself. They were willing to make friends, felt safe making friends, and wouldn't easily reject someone's face.

Finally, Fang Jidao walked over with a slip of paper with many names written on it. His cheeks were rosy, his spirit was high, and his eyes were shining.

"Seventeen!" He waved to the two of them and then grabbed Zhang Dingyun's arm. "Classmate Zhang, I can't thank you enough!"

Zhang Dingyun waved his hand with a smile, and Fang Jidao bowed to Pei Ye quite embarrassedly: "Young Hero Pei, I took these names for others to choose, but I definitely support you."

"Thank you."

Pei Ye and Zhang Dingyun sent Fang Jidao out. When they returned and passed by the west courtyard, Pei Ye couldn't help but tilt his head, because this time what came from inside was not the sound of swords, but a crisp "ding-lang."

Naturally, nothing could be seen through the wall. He withdrew his gaze and returned to the martial arts field. For the entire afternoon, Pei Ye wrestled with this move, 【Spreading Wings】.

Although he realized when reading the book that this move would be a step from simple to difficult, and verified this when he started, only when he tried hard to bring it to perfection did he truly experience its tormenting nature in person.

Normal sword moves have a clear "point," and this "point" is very clear to people in the Clumsy Realm. Pei Ye could find these most suitable points of force almost solely by the instinct of his body.

Therefore, he handled the first three moves almost with ease.

This move is different; it is all about gathering and storing, with no standard movements. Pei Ye could only grasp that subtle feeling in a state of extreme calmness; a slight negligence and he had already deviated.

After dozens or hundreds of practices, Pei Ye couldn't even feel his own progress.

No wonder the book wrote on this page, "To glimpse the truth, first cultivate the heart." To learn this move, it would probably take at least five days.

After practicing hundreds of times and still not finding the way in, Pei Ye frowned and thought for a while, not intending to use the slow-grinding method to complete this move.

He planned to skip this move first and learn 【Clear Sound】.

Because 【Spreading Wings】 is the prerequisite for 【Clear Sound】, and 【Clear Sound】 is the guide for 【Spreading Wings】. The normal sword learning process is to spend five days learning 【Spreading Wings】, then spend two or three days learning 【Clear Sound】, and finally spend an unknown amount of time combining the two moves.

But after such a set, there wouldn't be much time left before the martial competition, and there were still two sword moves each for Cicada and Sparrow that hadn't been learned.

Therefore, after deep thought, Pei Ye decided to use a "shortcut" method. He planned to learn both moves to a state of "almost knowing"—that is, first learn the relatively simple "first eighty percent," leaving only the "last twenty percent" that was hardest to grasp.

Then directly connect these two moves for practice... or rather, "use." In this kind of realization and experience, and in the mutual attraction and correction of the two sword moves, he would master this set of gathering and releasing swords in one go.

At first glance, it sounds like a quite clever shortcut, but a little thought reveals it's wrong.

Without laying a solid enough foundation, you want to rush to achieve success; you haven't even learned one move, and you want to use it directly?

This is an overly arrogant way of learning—ignoring the practice steps written by the sword author himself, learning a bit here and a bit there, and then saying, "I had a flash of inspiration" and learned it.

Since it's called a "flash of inspiration," how could it flash whenever you want? Are you, Pei Ye, a star spirit?

But in any case, the young man himself didn't feel there was any problem, so he loosened his wrists and really did it that way.

【Clear Sound】 is a rare vibrating sword move.

The sword is like its name; this sword carries a clear, clanging sound. Because it uses the vibration of the sword body to repel interference and ensure the straightness of the sword path.

Just like the first cry of a cicada after hibernating underground for ten or twenty years and transforming, this sword is direct and self-centered, allowing no interruption or interference.

And it is precisely because of such a domineering sword move that it requires a full move of stored power as a prerequisite.

And as far as practice goes, this move is slightly simpler than 【Spreading Wings】, but equally difficult to grasp. Pei Ye spent nearly an hour on this one sword.

Afterward, he took his two half-baked sword moves and went to find Zhang Junxue for sparring.

"You hold back a little strength." Pei Ye said to the young lady, "And don't disturb my move of storing power too much, because I haven't fully learned it yet."

This time it was truly sparring.

But Zhang Junxue had no complaints and earnestly provided him with a sufficiently suitable combat environment according to Pei Ye's instructions.

Once, twice, three times... This time, Pei Ye's sword even looked a bit ridiculous in her eyes, as if held in the hands of someone with uncoordinated limbs. When dodging, his body was always tense; once he pulled his sword back, his upper body tilted, but his lower body remained in place, as if he still wanted to stand back up.

But you have already given up this entire area, how could you still want to use this place to exert force?

Zhang Junxue looked at this foot and thought blankly, then slapped the young man into a big somersault with her saber.

The attacks were also always either hasty or sluggish—Zhang Junxue could see that this was actually constrained by the previous move.

This attacking sword move is worth seeing on its own, always carrying a strange vibration, and every collision with the saber body made her wrist numb. But the young man insisted on connecting it after the previous move, and it became a mess.

After nearly thirty failures, Zhang Junxue still stood in her stance silently, but the eyes under her bangs looked at the young man with some questioning.

How about, go practice some more?

"No need, come again." Pei Ye gripped his sword again.

Time after time, his sword slanted and his person tilted, but his expression became more and more solemn. He had gradually felt the two sword moves jumping clearly in his hands—they were colliding with each other until they found that fitting cut-in point.

Perhaps it would be the next time.

Zhang Junxue swung her saber over.

Pei Ye's internal Qi flowed, his muscle strength mobilized and stored, and outside his body, he moved his steps to avoid this saber.

Zhang Junxue flipped her saber and slashed again.

Pei Ye originally wanted to step back and avoid it again; this was his excellent instinct for combat—several times before, it was precisely after such continuous retreating that he would either collapse at a touch, or the stored momentum would be broken, or neither happened, but he lost the point of force for "releasing."

He knew this wasn't right, but he couldn't grasp where he should stop.

But this time, the next sword move hidden in his body held him back.

Right here, he couldn't retreat anymore.

Try to avoid it, even if he suffered a little, he must not give up this area completely again.

But Pei Ye suddenly had a flash of inspiration; he didn't avoid it, but made a move he hadn't made before—he raised his sword to block the saber.

And after this collision, the "stored momentum" was not leaked.

But in Zhang Junxue's eyes, this seemed to represent another failure for the young man in front of her, because in these dozens of sparring sessions, she had roughly figured out that that sword move could only be dodged blindly.

But suddenly, a clear cicada cry rang out.

Zhang Junxue was suddenly startled, her cold hair standing on end. Under the stress, she forgot the agreement to hold back her strength, and with a roar, she slashed at this incoming sword.

The sound of metal was like vibration, the cicada cry suddenly sharp, and the huge guillotine swung a crescent-like arc in the air, while the sword that collided with it stood firm, both fast and steady, pointing straight at her throat.

Before she could make any further reaction, the tip of the sword stopped politely.

Pei Ye slowly withdrew his sword, rubbing his wrist and baring his teeth, but his expression was very happy.

This was 【Clear Sound】 after Spreading Wings. The Fourth Life with innate divine strength had her arm shaken away by this sword.

Pei Ye lowered his sword and cupped his hands, earnestly thanking the young lady who was sparring with him, performed a sword flourish, and left separately.

Actually, it's not just stars that can flash; fireflies are also always flashing.

Pei Ye came to the tree where he put his sword box. He hadn't rested for more than two hours. At this time, he leaned against the tree trunk and closed his eyes gently, thinking about the next practice of these two sword moves.

Still because of the special nature of the 【Spreading Wings】 sword move, there was still a significant threshold between "learning" and "using."

Pei Ye could now accurately use the two sword moves and erupt with the power they should have, but how to "store power" in real combat was another problem.

For example, if Zhang Junxue had really attacked with all her might just now, he would never have been able to complete Spreading Wings in front of her.

Of course, he could use it against weaker people, but against weaker people, he didn't need to use this set of swords.

If the power erupted in the end was enough to defeat Zhang Junxue, you must be able to complete Spreading Wings in front of Zhang Junxue; if it could defeat the instructor, then you must be able to withstand the instructor's offensive.

This is the true "passing standard" for exerting this move.

To reach this level, there must be deeper progress.

After thinking about this, Pei Ye opened his eyes again, looking at the cool, gloomy sky and frowning slightly.

Regarding these two swords, there were two more points to consider.

One is his flash of inspiration, which never stops while it's good; once triggered, it always has to break through something.

Today was the same; facing 【Spreading Wings】, he didn't just learn it "naturally," but felt that he had actually touched a higher realm—derived from that sudden parry.

This realm needs to be pondered slowly in the future.

The second is the power of this sword move; to be honest, it was a bit bigger than he expected.

This was his sincere confusion.

Even though he knew 【Clear Sound】 was an eruptive sword move, how could it be so strong?

The "Cicada Section" is certainly a set of sword art that can be used, but in the final analysis, it is only "bait." Before achieving mastery, the true core of this set of sword art should be the "Sparrow Section."

Of course, a clever logic is: the key to the Cicada-Sparrow Sword is not how strong the Sparrow Sword is, but how strong the Cicada Sword is. Only if the Cicada is strong enough will others not realize this is bait.

But a more irrefutable logic is: no matter how strong the Cicada is, the Sparrow should be stronger.

Pei Ye hadn't practiced the last two moves of the Sparrow Section yet, but he knew 【Flying Copper Shadow】 couldn't compare to this sword, and the last two moves were also hard to say.

Pei Ye knew this question wouldn't have an answer for the time being; it was suitable to think about it after learning the entire sword art.

This day passed again. This time, because Pei Ye got up late from thinking, by the time he had his sword box on his back, most of the people on the martial arts field had already left.

The rain hadn't stopped all day, and at this time it was even heavier. Pei Ye walked toward the door in the drizzle. Just as he stepped out of the martial arts field door, a "dang-lang" sound entered his ears.

But this time it didn't come from the west courtyard, but from behind him.

Pei Ye turned his head and looked. In the farthest corner of the martial arts field, Zhang Junxue was bent over, her hands leaning on a stone lock. In the dim, rainy night, this posture looked like a tiger lying prone, and the outline of this tiger shadow was rising and falling—that was her massive, violent breathing.

Thanks to boss Fei Si for the Silver Alliance! Thanks to boss ouuuul for the Grandmaster! Thanks to boss mmmmmirai for the tip! Thanks to boss Moming Ark for the tip!

Thank you all for your support!

(End of chapter)