Chapter 144: Leisurely Half a Year

Melted?

On the stone platform, the Divine Eagle widened its eyes, looking at Niu Dingtian with an expression of utter disbelief.

Perhaps because the mountain wind between the cliffs was too strong, it didn't hear clearly; after raising its wings and flapping its ears, its small eyes seemed to say: 'Say it again!!'

Niu Dingtian waved the heavy sword in his hand, a buzzing sound quickly rising, and he said solemnly: 'Brother Eagle, everyone has a sword that suits them; the way of the heavy sword is not for me.'

'Over the past month, I have been contemplating the sword intent left in Senior Dugu's stone carvings; I have recently gained a faint insight, but I still lack a suitable good sword.'

He brandished the black iron heavy sword in his hand and added: 'Rather than let it gather dust as a pearl in these mountains, it would be better to let it take on a new identity, follow me to dominate the present age, and spread Senior Dugu's heroic name throughout the world!'

As he finished speaking, Niu Dingtian's tone rang out, his eyes extremely firm, his aura spreading accordingly, naturally exuding a heroic spirit that soared to the heavens.

The supreme of the martial world, the treasure blade that slays dragons; commanding the world, none dare not obey. If the Heaven-Reliant Sword does not appear, who can contend with its edge?

Initially, Niu Dingtian decided to melt the black iron heavy sword merely to forge a few more good swords, but now he has changed his mind; he wants the Heaven-Reliant Sword and Dragon-Slaying Blade to appear ahead of time, bursting forth with brilliance!

When the Dragon-Slaying Blade is truly used to slay evil dragons, and when the Heaven-Reliant Sword horizontally suppresses the martial world in his hands, then this blade and sword truly deserve the weight of those twenty-plus characters.

The Divine Eagle, hearing this, couldn't help but start; looking at Niu Dingtian now, it seemed to see that person from before again, involuntarily falling into a daze, and its eyes seemed to sink into some memory.

Niu Dingtian, however, said nothing more, merely waiting quietly.

After a long while,

The Divine Eagle came to its senses, but made no sound; it suddenly became silent, as if still struggling inside.

After a while, the Divine Eagle raised its wing and pointed at the two other swords in the sword mound, making two 'goo-goo' calls.

'Take them away?' Niu Dingtian asked.

The Divine Eagle nodded, then spread its wings and flew down from the stone platform.

Seeing this, Niu Dingtian knew the Divine Eagle was still hesitating, but since it allowed him to take the treasure swords, it likely had already softened its stance.

Thinking of this, Niu Dingtian picked up the Azure Edge Sword and the Purple Astraea Sword with his left hand, grasped the Black Iron Heavy Sword with his right, and leapt directly off the cliff wall.

At the same time, Niu Dingtian tightly gripped the heavy sword and swung it hard at the cliff wall; the descending gravity thus suddenly lessened, and soon a straight line of sparks appeared on the cliff wall, rapidly scraping down to the base accompanied by Niu Dingtian's squeaking friction sound.

Upon reaching the ground, seeing the Divine Eagle staring blankly at the sunset, Niu Dingtian felt inexplicably moved; he hadn't expected this request to plunge that silly big bird into melancholy.

Thus he plunged the heavy sword in his hand into the ground, stepped forward, and patted its wing: 'Brother Eagle? Shall we... go back first?'

'Goo-goo-goo-goo!'

After the Divine Eagle came to its senses, it seemed to suddenly understand, opened its beak in a smile, and then nodded at Niu Dingtian.

'Brother Eagle... have you agreed?' Seeing this, Niu Dingtian's heart stirred, his face unable to hide his surprise and joy.

The Divine Eagle lightly nodded, made a few 'goo-goo' calls to indicate, then spread its two large wings and whooshed off toward the distance, exactly the direction from which it had come.

Niu Dingtian grinned, drew his heavy sword, and directly turned into a fleeting shadow as he chased after it.

When he returned to the stone cave, he saw the Divine Eagle already standing before Dugu Qiubai's stone tomb, waiting.

'Goo-goo-goo~' the Divine Eagle lifted its wing and pointed at the tomb; seeing Niu Dingtian somewhat puzzled, it folded both wings and knelt down directly.

'Brother Eagle, are you asking me to become your disciple?' Niu Dingtian asked in astonishment.

He had thought it would be a simple matter, but didn't expect the Divine Eagle to be so solemn; after thinking it over, however, he felt somewhat relieved.

After all, he himself was merely an outsider; even if his relationship with the Divine Eagle were very good, directly destroying the master's treasure swords would still be hard to justify.

But if he were to enter the school and become an heir of Dugu Qiubai's mantle, then whether it was the Purple Astraea Soft Sword or the Black Iron Heavy Sword, how to handle them would become proper and justified.

Seeing Niu Dingtian understand, the Divine Eagle nodded solemnly in its eyes.

Niu Dingtian, seeing this, did not hesitate; he glanced at the tomb, pondered, and said: 'Although I have never met Senior Dugu in person, I have indeed benefited greatly from the stone carvings he left behind; this also counts as enjoying the grace he left behind, so there is no problem in taking him as my master.'

Having said that, Niu Dingtian placed the three treasure swords in his hand before the tomb, knelt directly on the ground, and solemnly declared: 'Today, Brother Eagle bears witness; I, Niu Dingtian, here take Senior Dugu Qiubai as my master, and from now on I shall defeat all enemies in the world, never disgracing my master's prestige!'

Finally, he knocked his head three times with resounding thuds.

'Goo-goo-goo-goo-goo!'

Seeing this, the Divine Eagle beside him was overjoyed, directly grinning and flapping its wings as it called out; its goo-goo cries were so pure, like those of a happy child.

And Niu Dingtian also couldn't help but smile knowingly, feeling happy from the heart; he felt that his relationship with this great bird had now truly become extremely close, with no barriers whatsoever.

He also wondered whether he could now ride it a couple of times; Niu Dingtian secretly thought to himself.

After rising, Niu Dingtian smiled, wrapped his arms around the Divine Eagle's wing, patted it twice, and cheerfully said: 'Tonight, as an exception, I'll supply plenty of wine and meat! Brother Eagle and I won't return until we're drunk!'

'Whoo-whoo-whoo~'

Hearing that, the Divine Eagle directly became excited, letting out strange 'whoo-whoo' calls from its beak; just then the setting sun sank westward, the fiery evening glow poured into the cave, and also cast upon the stone tomb the silhouettes of a person and an eagle with arms around each other's shoulders.

At night,

Niu Dingtian once again brought back piles of wine and meat from Xiangyang City; the result was beyond doubt—both man and eagle drank to utter intoxication, one oblivious to human affairs, the other oblivious to bird affairs.

In the following half month, Niu Dingtian remained immersed in contemplating the sword intent.

During this period, Niu Dingtian had asked the Divine Eagle, also searched the valley, but had not found the martial arts manual left by his master Dugu Qiubai—the Dugu Nine Swords.

After thinking it over, Niu Dingtian gradually realized that the Dugu Nine Swords, after all, were merely ordinary sword techniques, not yet reaching the level of sword intent; perhaps it was a sword technique created by Master Dugu Qiubai during the stage of his sharp sword, soft sword, heavy sword, or wooden sword.

The Dugu Nine Swords of later generations, as transmitted by Feng Qingyang, should have been derived from the legacy left by Master Dugu Qiubai before his retreat into seclusion.

Having understood this, Niu Dingtian also gave up the search, thinking that since sword intent is the essence of Master Dugu Qiubai's lifelong martial arts, and the sword intent on these stone carvings seems inexhaustible, perhaps he could still comprehend nine sword moves from within them.

Thinking it, he did it.

Thus, after only half a month of sedentary life, in the Divine Eagle's eyes Niu Dingtian each day began to wield the soft sword, sometimes acting foolishly, sometimes gesturing nervously at the characters on the stone wall.

Gradually, Niu Dingtian also couldn't be bothered to go back and forth between city and outskirts each day to fetch food and drink; so he early on instructed the proprietor of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to place the food and drink at the mountain's base, for the Divine Eagle to fetch each day.

Although Niu Dingtian has personally seen few weapons, the Nine Yin Classic encompasses everything; whether weapons or techniques, it contains all, it includes all.

Therefore, Niu Dingtian, based on the characteristics of weapons under heaven, martial attributes, and the direction of attacking only, not defending, anticipating the enemy, striking first, and responding after the enemy's move, combined with his insight into the sword intent on the stone carvings, after enduring half a year of painstaking thought and exploration, finally worked out a rough set of nine sword moves: the General Principle Style, the Breaking Sword Style, the Breaking Blade Style, the Breaking Spear Style, the Breaking Whip Style, the Breaking Rope Style, the Breaking Palm Style, the Breaking Arrow Style, the Breaking Qi Style.

In the General Principle Style, there is a general outline of the heart method, and various variations used to embody the principle; there are a total of three hundred and sixty variations.

The Breaking Sword Style is used to break all sword techniques under heaven; although it is only a single move, it nonetheless encompasses the essentials of all sword schools under heaven, and although it is said to be 'without a move,' it actually takes the number of moves of all sword techniques under heaven as its foundation.

The Breaking Blade Style is used to break single blades, double blades, willow-leaf blades, saber-toothed blades, great chopping blades, horse-cutting blades, and various other blade techniques; it emphasizes using lightness to control heaviness, and speed to counter slowness.

The Breaking Spear Style includes methods to break long spears, great halberds, snake spears, eyebrow-high staves, wolf-tooth clubs, waxed poles, monk's spades, and convenient shovels, among various other long weapons.

The Breaking Whip style contains techniques for countering steel whips, pressure-point spikes, crutches, Emei spears, daggers, axes, iron shields, octagonal hammers, iron mallets, and other short weapons.

The Breaking Rope style is used to counter long ropes, short whips, three-section staffs, chain spears, iron chains, fishing nets, flying hammer meteors, and other flexible weapons.

The Breaking Palm style counters hand and foot techniques, such as long fist, short strike, grappling and pressure-point strikes, eagle claw, tiger claw, and iron sand divine palm, among other martial arts.

The Breaking Arrow style combines the technique of listening to the wind to discern weapons, used to counter various concealed weapons.

The final Breaking Qi style is used against opponents possessing superior internal energy; it is mysterious yet clear, residing in a single heart.

Thus,

Time flowed by like drifting sand.

When Bull Top-Heaven finished his seclusion, half a year had already passed in the world outside the mountain.

In February of the following year, one day, a heavy snow fell.

When Bull Top-Heaven, disheveled and with a stubbled beard, stepped out of the stone cave, one could see his eyes inwardly glowing with divine brilliance, and his whole body concealed a towering sword intent ready to burst forth.

But after Bull Top-Heaven restrained his breath, that aura quickly vanished, making him appear as an ordinary person unfamiliar with martial arts.

"Goo-goo-goo!" the divine eagle ran over, its eyes bright with joy.

Over the past six months, Bull Top-Heaven had been busy with his retreat and paid less attention to it, so when bored, the eagle could only play outside the cave as usual.

As for catching snakes, as long as it received a daily morsel of meat and wine, the eagle grew increasingly lazy about doing it itself.

Looking at the companion he had lived with for over half a year, Bull Top-Heaven felt deep emotion, yet knowing that no feast lasts forever, he knew he would eventually depart.

Seeing Bull Top-Heaven silent, the eagle suddenly felt a bad premonition. Sure enough, shortly after, Bull Top-Heaven softly said, "Eagle brother… I must go."

The atmosphere suddenly turned silent.

After living together day and night for over half a year, even a stone would have warmed from their contact, let alone a living creature.

For six months, man and eagle shared food and sleep, occasionally squabbling, having grown accustomed to each other's presence; now facing parting, their feelings are easy to imagine.

Although he knew it was impossible, Bull Top-Heaven still wanted to try, half-jokingly saying, "Come with me, otherwise if you die one day there'll be no one to bury you, and you wouldn't want your corpse to be swallowed by snakes in the woods, would you?"

During these six months, Bull Top-Heaven had occasionally tried to persuade it to leave together; although the eagle showed some inclination, each time it silently shook its head and refused.

Indeed, this time was no different,

"Goo-goo~" the eagle gave Bull Top-Heaven an annoyed glance, looked at the stone tomb in the cave, and gently shook its head.

Seeing this, Bull Top-Heaven sighed inwardly, did not press further, and said, "I still have many matters to attend to outside, but we are not far apart; Eagle brother, if you find drinking alone lonely, you can fly to Xiangyang City anytime to find me."

"In this mountain, eat less of the poisonous things, lest you lose all your fur one day; also, from now on someone will bring meat and wine to the mountain base each day for you to collect. If the supply should suddenly stop for several days, I fear… I may meet more misfortune than fortune."

Upon hearing this, the eagle's eyes dimmed, and it drooped its head listlessly.

Bull Top-Heaven felt reluctant; the eagle had just been eagerly greeting him, but in an instant it became like this. He patted its wings and laughed, "Tonight I'll make an exception—plenty of meat and wine! Eagle brother, let's drink until we're drunk and not return home!"

But this time, the eagle's eyes held no excitement at all; it merely nodded weakly.

In the afternoon, at the shift between the Shen and You hours,

Bull Top-Heaven specially made a trip to the Drunken Immortal Tower; whether meat or vegetarian, whatever the chef's specialties were, he had several portions prepared, and finally added ten jugs of old wine, filling a whole cart that was hauled to the side of Snake Valley.

Because the snowy roads were slippery and travel difficult, the wagon boy driving the ox cart reached the mountain base only as darkness fell.

At night,

The snowflakes outside the cave fell thicker and thicker, the pure white snow casting a faint light inside.

Bull Top-Heaven sat before the tomb, filled a bowl of wine for his master Dugu Qiubai, then lifted the wine jar and clinked it against the eagle's side, saying, "Eagle brother, cheers!"

The eagle seized the wine jar, gave it a hard clink, then without a word opened its beak wide and gulped down the wine continuously, appearing to drink away its sorrow.

Bull Top-Heaven smiled, did not stop him, and after a few sips of wine, he gazed at the endless snowfall outside the cave and began to stare blankly.

At dawn the next day, at the Mao hour,

After eight jugs of wine had gone down his throat, the eagle clutched the empty jar and collapsed beside the tomb, drifting into a drunken sleep, while Bull Top-Heaven remained clear-eyed.

After a while,

Bull Top-Heaven slowly rose and walked toward the cave entrance; upon reaching the mouth, he suddenly halted his steps.

After glancing back at the "dead bird" on the ground, Niu Dingtian smiled, turned around, and continued forward, eventually disappearing into the vast wind and snow. (End of chapter)