Chapter 227: Basic Swordsmanship Training (1/2)
Chapter 227: Basic Swordsmanship Training
“How did the Yao Clan learn of it?”
A mysterious light flashed across Wang Chong’s eyes. He always regarded any knowledge of the Hyderabad ore to be of utmost importance and rarely revealed it to anyone.
For several months, no one knew the origins of the Wootz steel sword, neither its materials nor its methods. Yet, the Yao Clan was actually able to trace the matter back to the ‘Hyderabad ore’.
Deng Mingxin’s two words had pointed to a whole host of problems.
“Where did you hear of the Hyderabad ore from?”
Wang Chong finally focused his full gaze on Deng Mingxin.
“I happened to overhear the matter from Zheng Xuan when he was talking to another person.”
Deng Mingxin gnashed his teeth. He would have never dared to reveal this under normal circumstances, but since Zheng Xuan had already abandoned him, he had no qualms about doing the same in turn.
“Zheng Xuan?”
Wang Chong frowned.
“I don’t know much about this matter. All I could discover was that King Qi and the Yao Clan intend to deal with you, and it should be related to some Hyderabad ore or something.”
Deng Mingxin confessed to everything that he knew of.
“I understand.”
Wang Chong waved his hand.
“I’ll give you my promise. However, you are not to meddle with Sun Zhiming or the Sun Clan anymore. Otherwise, I believe you know what outcome awaits you and your father.”
Soon, Deng Mingxin left. He was just an insignificant figure in Wang Chong’s eyes, and it was unlikely the other party could cause anything as long as he was around. However, the information provided sent Wang Chong into deep thought.
Deng Mingxin didn’t know the importance of the Hyderabad ore, but Wang Chong did. At the current moment, the Hyderabad ore was his and the Wang Clan’s ‘lifeline’.
It was only due to this ore that the Wang Clan managed to overcome its greatest flaw and bring itself up to become a clan of equal standing to the Yao Clan, or perhaps even exceed them.
But that wasn’t all.
At its root, war was a battle of resources. Without sufficient funds, no matter how powerful an individual was, they wouldn’t be able to change anything at all.
“I already have 300 jun of Hyderabad ore on hand, and I’ve also established a partnership with the Zhang Clan. Even if the Yao Clan has learned of the existence of the Hyderabad ore, there’s little that they can do about it in the short term. But still, since they were able to uncover the name, they must be up to something.”
Wang Chong thought.
He had already built connections throughout the royal court. His big uncle’s opinion of him had changed, and he could mobilize experts under the latter’s control whenever required. Furthermore, with his relationship with Imperial Army Marshal Zhao Fengchen, he could even have the night patrol route of the Imperial Army changed to strengthen the defenses of the Wang Clan.
Even if King Qi and the Yao Clan were up to no good, there was very little that they could do.
“Still, I should keep my guard up.”
Wang Chong concluded.
After sending away the grateful Sun Zhiming, Wang Chong settled his thoughts and immersed himself back into cultivation.
He had been making many preparations since his reincarnation, and the urgent matter at hand was to raise his capability.
Klang!
With a slight jerk, the blunt steel sword hanging at Wang Chong’s waist flew into his hand. Swift as lightning, he slashed out at one of three wooden dummies placed five paces away.
Chi!
With the sword serving as a medium, a surge of Origin Energy blasted through the air and struck the wooden figure. But with just that, Wang Chong’s Origin Energy suddenly turned sluggish, unable to keep up with the sudden burst of strength. Under such a state, it was impossible for him to immediately launch a second strike.
“It’s still far too lacking. Once more!”
With this thought, Wang Chong swung his sword once more.
Swordsmanship centered on one’s form rather than one’s internal energy. There was far greater emphasis on the precision of a sword practitioner’s movements than in any other form of martial arts.
The burst of Origin Energy and the gathering of sword qi—these were essential skills that sword practitioners had to master.
What Wang Chong was practicing now was his recently acquired sword art, the Art of Life Massacre. According to the hundred-word sutra, the first thing he had to do was to be able to shoot out a surge of Origin Energy via the steel sword and strike three wooden dummies in the span of a single second.
Following which, the number of wooden dummies he would have to strike would gradually increase along with the distance. Only when he could strike at least twelve wooden dummies at a distance of ten zhang in an instant would he finally be able to start on the cultivation of his sword qi.
And this only accounted for the first ten words of the Art of Life Massacre sutra!
While Art of Life Massacre didn’t demand one to cultivate one’s internal energy to a high level, it was far more difficult to train in than any other martial arts.
Chi!
Once, twice, thrice…
The sound of a sword rang out repeatedly.
Hundredth time, thousandth time, ten thousandth time!
In the dull and monotonous training chamber, Wang Chong swung his sword continuously. Despite the huge commotion over the establishment of the training camp and the arrival of many Imperial Army guards, the mountain was surprisingly tranquil.
Chi!
Three days later, a sweat-drenched Wang Chong swung his sword, and three consecutive surges of Origin Energy struck the three wooden dummies five steps away nearly simultaneously.
The number of dummies increased swiftly in the following days. There were already six of them by the seventh day, but still, the number kept rising…
There were no shortcuts to learning swordsmanship, a fact that Wang Chong had experienced firsthand in his previous life.
Ten dummies, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen!
Over the course of half a month, the dummies in front of Wang Chong had increased from three all the way to fourteen! He had already exceeded the basic requirements to move on to the next stage.
“Time to proceed to the next level now.”
Wang Chong thought. Thus, instead of increasing the number of targets, he began increasing the distance.