Chapter 701

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Hu Xiaotian spent the whole morning in bitter practice; sharpening the spear before battle may not be fast, but it's still better than nothing. He must master the Spirit Snake Nine Swords before tomorrow's duel with Qiu Mubai. However, the longswords Yang Xuan gave him were all ordinary weapons; sparring with Xiong Tianba with real blades inevitably caused nicks and dents, and in just a short morning he had already broken three.

At noon, even Hou Shengnan was drawn over; she watched from the side for a while and then pointed out several shortcomings in Hu Xiaotian's sword technique.

Hu Xiaotian threw the broken sword to the ground, laughing: 'No more practice, no more practice! My stomach is growling with hunger.'

Hou Shengnan said: 'I heard you're going to duel with Qiu Mubai tomorrow?'

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said: 'You heard about it too?'

Hou Shengnan said: 'Now it's a storm throughout the city; hardly anyone in Yongdu is unaware of it.'

Hu Xiaotian furrowed his brows; he hadn't said anything outwardly, nor had Zhou Mo and the others spread it abroad, so it must be Qiu Mubai's doing—this scoundrel's intentions are truly not upright, having already broadcast the duel before it even begins; if he were to shrink back in battle, he'd surely become a laughingstock to the world—does Qiu Mubai really think victory is certain?

Hou Shengnan said: 'Seeing how hard you're practicing sword, it seems you've already decided to go to Happy Forest for the appointment?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'General Hou, in your opinion, how does my swordsmanship compare to Qiu Mubai's?'

Hou Shengnan said: 'The sword technique is exquisite, but you've studied sword for too short a time; if I'm not mistaken, this set emphasizes combination and variation, which cannot be mastered in a short time. Purely in terms of swordsmanship, you lag far behind Qiu Mubai.' Hou Shengnan had seen Qiu Mubai's sword technique before, so she could speak with such certainty.

Zhou Mo fully agreed with Hou Shengnan's words; if Hu Xiaotian were given a month to train, perhaps he could become proficient in this set, but with only one day until the duel, even a genius could not fully master it. Hou Shengnan was right—the focus of this set is not the individual moves but the combination and variation of sword techniques; with Hu Xiaotian's extraordinary perceptiveness, he could at most practice the nine moves to familiarity in a day, but the combination and variation are beyond his reach.

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Then doesn't that mean I am surely doomed to lose?'

Hou Shengnan nodded; reality is reality—Qiu Mubai has been training sword since childhood, putting in over twenty years of hard work; how could Hu Xiaotian, this last-minute crammer, be compared to him? She said softly: 'I have some acquaintance with the Sword Palace Sect Master Qiu Xian'guang; why don't I go speak to him and see if we can cancel this duel?' In her view, Hu Xiaotian had no chance of winning, so she proposed this solution.

Hu Xiaotian laughed: 'Thank you, General Hou, for your kindness. But since I have already agreed to him, I must go to the appointment; fleeing in battle would surely make me a laughingstock to the world.'

Hou Shengnan said: 'Knowing something cannot be done is certainly not a wise course of action.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'A true man knows what to do and what not to do; my resolve is firm.'

Hou Shengnan sighed inwardly; she never expected Hu Xiaotian to be so stubborn deep down. She didn't know Hu Xiaotian relied on the Dog-Dodging Eighteen Steps for self-defense. That's why she decided to fight Qiu Mubai—although she had no absolute certainty of victory, Hu Xiaotian also firmly believed he had the means to preserve his life in this age that venerates heroes. Losing is not shameful; fleeing in battle is what draws contempt.

In the afternoon, Hu Xiaotian went alone to the ironworks; his purpose was to find Zong Tang and ask him for a sword that felt right in hand. Although the Spirit Snake Sword Technique is profound, it cannot be mastered in a short time, and Hu Xiaotian had basically given up on defeating Qiu Mubai by relying on it.

Since the demonic artisan Zong Yuan's smithy was attacked last time and the dragon and tiger kilns were blown up, he has been deeply shaken, lost all interest in work, and after moving to the ironworks he could hardly be bothered to oversee the workshop.

When Hu Xiaotian arrived at the ironworks, the demonic artisan Zong Yuan was feeding fish by the pond; his formerly grayish hair had turned completely white, showing how severely the previous attack had struck him. Seeing Hu Xiaotian approach, Zong Yuan smiled and greeted: 'Sir Hu has arrived!'

Hu Xiaotian smiled: 'Good day, Master Zong; is Elder Brother Zong around?'

The demonic artisan Zong Yuan glanced toward the workshop and said: 'He's busy inside; go find him.'

Hu Xiaotian felt it would be inconvenient to go over and disturb them, so he decided to wait outside for a while, then came to Zongyuan's side to keep him company while watching the fish.

Zongyuan said, "Sir Hu, do you have any business this time?"

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "It's nothing major; I just wanted to ask Brother Zongtang for a sword."

Zongyuan laughed, "It's a small matter; I'll have him take you to the storehouse to pick one out later." Compared to what Hu Xiaotian has done for them, a sword is indeed nothing.

Hu Xiaotian then remembered something, took out the profound iron tablet he carried with him, and handed it to Magic Artisan Zongyuan, saying, "Old Sir, please have a look—what material is this tablet made of?"

Magic Artisan Zongyuan reached out and took it; as soon as the tablet entered his hand, his two white brows furrowed, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Eh! It's actually black mother profound iron—this material is not commonly seen."

Only then did Hu Xiaotian learn the specific name of this profound iron; he laughed and said, "It's been passed down from my ancestors, and I've always carried it as an amulet. I've long felt it differs from ordinary iron, but my knowledge is limited—I've asked a few experts before, and they all just said it's profound iron, unable to specify which kind."

Magic Artisan Zongyuan had no doubt about Hu Xiaotian's words; he turned the profound iron tablet over in his hand, flicked it with his finger, brought it to his ear to listen closely, and said softly, "This tablet has a mechanism; there's something inside."

Hu Xiaotian was greatly surprised upon hearing this; he had originally thought the tablet was just fitted into the handle of a profound iron sword, but even after studying it for half a day he couldn't figure out where the mechanism was. Remembering that Magic Artisan Zongyuan was an expert in this, he asked, "Old Sir, could you take a look and see if it can be opened?"

Zongyuan said, "This profound iron tablet is actually a set lock; to open it you need to find the key—it seems your ancestors were also experts." He examined it carefully several times, then used his finger to push firmly on a pattern on the tablet.

Hu Xiaotian thought to himself that he had tried before and the tablet seemed inseparable; suddenly he heard a click, and he hurried over to see that Zongyuan had shifted open a pattern on the tablet.

Hu Xiaotian had never imagined the pattern on the tablet could be moved; Zongyuan spent a good half hour working on it before rearranging the engraved design above the tablet, and upon hearing a click, the tablet actually split into two halves.

A faint smile appeared on Zongyuan's face: "I said it would be empty inside." He separated the tablet top and bottom, only to find a piece of red silk cloth within. He handed these items to Hu Xiaotian: "Your family's heirloom might hide some secret." The old man was principled, with no habit of prying into others' privacy; for him, what truly interested him was dismantling the mechanism, and he had no interest in what lay inside.

Hu Xiaotian repeatedly thanked him, took out the silk cloth and put it away, saw that the tablet indeed contained nothing else, then handed it back to Zongyuan and asked him to help reassemble it.

Zongyuan became interested, taking the two profound iron tablets to study them anew. Hu Xiaotian took the opportunity to quietly pull out the silk cloth, unfold it, and saw that gold-thread embroidered sword-practice illustrations covered the top. His heart leapt with joy—this profound iron tablet and that profound iron sword were things from the East without self; perhaps the tablet concealed the manual of the Seven Heaven‑Slaying Swords, and if so he would have made his fortune. He suppressed his excitement and put the cloth away.

At that moment Zongtang also came out from the workshop to rest; seeing Hu Xiaotian approach, he laughed and went to meet him: "Brother Hu has arrived!"

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "Elder Brother Zongtang, I've come today with a request."

Magic Artisan Zongyuan was still absorbed in playing with the profound iron tablet, not lifting his head, and said, "Zongtang, take Sir Hu to pick out a longsword that feels right in the hand."

Zongtang nodded, led Hu Xiaotian toward the armory, and having also heard that Hu Xiaotian would duel the Sword Palace's junior sect leader Qiu Mubai tomorrow, he knew Hu Xiaotian's request for a sword surely related to tomorrow's match. On the way to the armory, Zongtang said, "I've heard that Brother Hu is to face Qiu Mubai at Happy Forest tomorrow at the wei hour; I wonder if that's true?"

Hu Xiaotian laughed and said, "Good news stays at home, bad news travels far—looks like this matter is already known to everyone."

Zongtang said, "Qiu Mubai is an outstanding figure among the younger generation of the Sword Palace; why bother competing with him for a moment's pride?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I originally didn't want to contend, but Qiu Mubai is pressing and aggressive."

Zongtang said, "Qiu Mubai became famous young, is full of youthful vigor, arrogant and proud, with lofty standards—but he indeed has the backing for his arrogance."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Last night he challenged me to a duel; today it's already spread throughout the streets and alleys—he must have deliberately leaked the news to leave me no retreat. If I refuse the fight, I'll never be able to hold my head up again."

Zongtang understood that Hu Xiaotian's mind was made up, so he stopped trying to persuade him, brought him into the armory, and pointed at the assorted swords within: "Feel free to pick any sword you like here."

Hu Xiaotian walked in slowly, examining each item in turn. Most of them were forged personally by Zongtang; although there were no peerless divine weapons, they were incomparable to the swords he had used before. He actually had two decent weapons in hand, but unfortunately that profound iron sword was a relic of Li Baotao and could not be easily exposed; if the Sword Palace's disciples saw it, who knows what kind of uproar it might cause. As for that black gold knife, Hu Xiaotian's idea of discarding it was precisely to defeat Qiu Mubai with a sword—you claim to be the outstanding youth of the Sword Palace; I won't lift a hand unless I do, and once I do I'll make you look good; defeating you with a sword will make the victory truly satisfying. (A great activity like a pie falling from the sky, cool phones await you! Follow~click/public account (add friends via WeChat-add public account-enter qdread), join now! Everyone gets a prize, immediately follow the qdread WeChat public account!)(To be continued~^~)