บท 17: A Spar Between Two Knight Planes
บรรณาธิการ: Nyoi-Bo Studio
If Chi Qiaosong had not possessed the cheat-like power, his lack of talent in martial arts would've staggered his progression.
After training for a week, the young man returned home and was now staring at the Bay Tree, which showed no signs of a third flower blooming.
It meant that he had yet to grasp the basics of the Yu Sword Skill. That was why the tree was now able to grow a fruit that represented the external skill. That made the situation awkward for him, as even the cheat would not be able to help him if he could not understand the fundamentals of the skill.
Fortunately, he wasn't in a hurry. He had always believed that hard work would always bear fruit, and all that he had to do was learn the basics.
"Hah!"
On a platform built with bricks near the farmhouse, Chi Qiaowu and Wen Moshan were practicing basic punches and kicks.
Mr. Chi, with his brother and brother-in-law, was watering the plants inside the makeshift greenhouse. The plastic exterior of the greenhouse was now flipped up as the weather was warm enough for the plants to grow.
Chi Qiaosong was also practicing his swordsmanship at the top of a nearby hill. He moved according to the Ursa Major constellation and swung his three-foot-long treasure sword.
The leaves traveled across the mountain with the wind while the clouds blocked part of the sunlight.
With a straight thrust, Chi Qiaosong left a shallow mark on the tree with his sword. He then used a lot of strength to twist his wrist to match the description of the Yu Sword Skill.
One would need to understand both the form and the meaning of a skill to understand its fundamentals.
Chi Qiaosong was now still practicing the form, ensuring that he could perform every move with the correct form. That was the most challenging stage for him.
Fortunately, with the 12 Paths Spring Kick supporting him, he was able to swing his sword comfortably as he moved his body. If he could continue working hard, he was sure that he would be able to memorize that feeling with his body and limit as many awkward movements as possible.
"Armed with the Breeze Sword..."
With two clangs, he sent two thrusts onto the trunk.
"Focus on the movements instead of the swords..."
He made a 540° rotation on the tip of the sword and spread his legs. He then twisted his body and turned around, bringing his sword back before thrusting it forward once again.
"One can see the skill of a martial artist from his first attack."
He hummed as he continued to practice. It didn't take long for him to finally get a brief understanding of how the Yu Sword Skill should be performed.
He had experienced the same feeling twice.
Once was when the previous Chi Qiaosong was practicing the Crazed Bull Heavy Fist. He was suddenly able to memorize all the movements and do them in succession. The next was when he was practicing the 12 Paths Spring Kick. He suddenly could not stop his kicks and started to perform more complicated movements.
Understanding the fundamentals of a martial arts skill could be confusing.
One might take a long time to achieve that, and the other might suddenly succeed.
"That's it!"
The young man quickly retracted his sword and ran down the hill.
He went to the farmhouse and looked at the 2/15 hectare wide farm. He saw what he was expecting. He walked past the fence to check the bay tree outside the greenhouse and saw another small yellow flower blooming on one of its branches.
"Yu Sword Skill Growth Rate: 1 percent..."
Just as he had thought, every yellow flower that blossomed on the spirit root that was formed through the foundation of his external skill represented a skill on its own. After more than ten days, the flower of the Yu Sword Skill started to grow on the tree.
"Just what I was expecting!" Chi Qiaosong grinned.
He immediately decided to use the bag of fertilizer.
The fertilizer turned into a ray of light and shone brightly on the tree. The flower quickly bloomed, and the petals started to fall to reveal a fruit inside of it.
"Hmm?" Chi Qiaosong was surprised to see that the fruit was not fully matured yet.
"Yu Sword Skill Growth Rate: 34 percent..."
He was surprised that a bag of fertilizer could only help the fruit grow by 1/3.
That was something he was not expecting.
Chi Qiaosong did expect more fertilizers would be needed for higher-graded martial arts, but he was not expecting that the Beginner-grade Yu Sword Skill would need three bags to fully mature.
He looked at the remaining bag of fertilizer he had and let out a sigh. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to use it on the tree as well.
"Yu Sword Skill Growth Rate: 67% percent..."
"Well, if my calculation is correct, I'll have to wait until early August for it to grow fully."
That was because the farm would've absorbed enough essence of heaven and earth on the first of every month to produce another bag of fertilizer.
That was his main method of obtaining fertilizer for now.
"Mom, Dad, can you ensure this fruit does not get eaten? It's very important to me." Since Chi Qiaosong was not able to watch over the tree 24/7, he was happy that he could trust his parents for that.
"Don't worry. This tree is like a treasure to us now."
The heat in mid-July was already excruciating.
Classes were still going on at the academy. Typically, most schools would've had both July and August off, but if Commander Zhu was still working, it wouldn't be right for the students of the Military Academy to relax.
Since Chi Qiaosong had already grasped the basics of the Yu Sword Skill, all he had to do was wait for the next batch of fertilizer to arrive. There was no need for him to learn from Xu Jingyang anymore.
"Sir, I think I've grasped the basics of the skill. Can I be excused for a few days?" requested Chi Qiaosong.
Xu Jingyang raised his eyebrows, thinking that the student was lying.
However, he was glad that he didn't have to waste more time teaching the young man anymore. "Will you still be learning from me after you come back?'
"I'll ask for your opinion if I have some questions."
"Alright. I'll help you as long as I have free time."
"Thank you."
Xu Jingyang waited for Chi Qiaosong to leave before lighting up a cigarette. "He only learned from me for ten days after giving me so many presents. Is he stupid, or is he just too rich?"
Naturally, Chi Qiaosong would not be able to get the presents back despite finishing the private lecture earlier than expected.
He returned to his room after that and started to pack his things. He was going to stay at home for a while since there was not even a single fan in the dormitory. He'd rather not die from the heat there.
However, before he could finish packing, he heard a commotion outside.
Wang Minzhong then charged through the door and exclaimed, "Qiaosong! The instructors are fighting! Let's go get a good spot to watch!"
"What? What's happening?" Chi Qiaosong was confused.
"Mr. Zhou and Chief Liu are going to spar at the plaza! Everyone is gathering there now!"
"Really? Let's go!"
Zhou Xiangxian and Liu Wentao were powerful martial artists in the Knight Plane. Spars between people at that stage were hard to come by, and Chi Qiaosong quickly followed Wang Minzhong to the plaza.
The students called the place a plaza, but it was just a vast mud land.
Just as Wang Minzhong had said, almost all of the students and instructors had gathered there.
Chi Qiaosong squeezed his way through the crowd with his overwhelming strength and got to the front row. The two instructors were now glaring at each other in the middle of the plaza. Chief instructor, Liu Wentao, had a furious expression and was mocking Zhou Xiangxian.
"Zhou Xiangxian! The commander has clearly forbidden random fights! Are you intending on breaking the rule?" Liu Wentao scolded.
"Come one, Chief Liu." Zhou Xiangxian scoffed. "It's just a spar. What are you getting all worked up for?"
"I'll tell the commander about this!"
Liu Wentao still had something to say, but his opponent cut him short.
"Enough!" Zhou Xiangxian was annoyed when he noticed almost everyone had gathered. "I gave you the luxury of attacking first, but you refused, so don't blame me for making the first strike!"
He then threw his punches, sending a barrage of afterimages forward.
Liu Wentao grunted and hastily countered the attack with the same skill.
The two of them then jumped forward at such a speed that the students had difficulty tracking them. Sounds of punches and kicks echoed around them.
Suddenly, Zhou Xiangxian leaped into the air and expanded his arms, mimicking an eagle.
The illusion of a celestial crane then suddenly appeared on his back.
With a loud call from the crane, Zhou Xiangxian dove toward his opponent as if the former were a war god.
Not daring to get distracted, Liu Wentao crossed his arms in front of his chest before twisting his body to meet the attack with his shoulder. In just an instant, the illusion of a brown bear appeared.
"Get back!"
The instructors who were watching the fight quickly urged the students to get back while backing up themselves too.
With a loud clash, the divine crane crashed into the brown bear.
The ground shook, and dust kicked up around them. Then, before the crowd could even see what happened, they heard Liu Wentao crying out in pain, and he started to get back up while spitting blood from his mouth.
Zhou Xiangxian didn't just stop there. He didn't abide by the rules anymore and continued to attack his opponent with kicks and punches.
"I admit defeat!" Liu Wentao grunted.
However, Zhou Xiangxian continued to attack as if he wanted to kill his opponent.
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