The Brilliant Fighting Master

This New Year had been quite exciting for the Jiangs, especially for the east courtyard.

Jiang Chen’s performance eased everyone’s worries, even those from the west courtyard.

All things considered, the smarter people knew the internal strife between the east and west courtyard would harm the Jiangs as a whole and wasn’t worth it.

However, although Jiang Wentian didn’t want Jiang Chen to join the Swordquest School, the Black Dragon City heard the news about Jiang Chen all the same.

The Black Dragon City wasn’t interested in the news of the Hundred Thousand Mountains. What they were paying attention to was news about the Southwind Ridge.

They knew they had done something disreputable. However, with their power, they must have some measures to nip things in the bud.

In the Black Dragon City, in the courtyard of the Nings, a beautiful woman who looked around 35 years old was sitting by a furnace. She was wearing a red skirt of thin silk, with jewelry on her head.

She was lying in a soft chair, languid but still full of grace.

“He is in the beginning of the preliminary stage of the Gathering Yuan State, has mastered the sword point, and is qualified for the Swordquest School?” the beauty murmured.

She asked casually, “Did he join the Swordquest School in the end?”

“No.” An old yet powerful voice came from the dark side of the room.

The beauty sneered and said, “So, the requirements of the Swordquest School for new disciples is still as strict as always. The two disciples don’t have the final say in the recruitment.”

An old woman came out of the shade. “Lady, shall we—”

“If we start war with them directly, there will be a great risk when the Taoist Priest Skywind returns, so it’s not a good idea,” the lady interrupted. “We could take advantage of other forces who are watching the Southwind Ridge.”

The old woman said, “Exactly. Thanks to the Windblade, the Southwind was developing rapidly during the past decades. Now that he isn’t there, many forces are planning something. But due to the remaining prestige of the Windblade, they are still quiet for the moment.”

“Good. Go spread a rumor. Say that the Taoist Priest Skywind died in the war, and the Windblade was killed in the Black Dragon Pool.”

“How smart! Even if the Taoist Priest Skywind comes back someday, he will have no way to blame us if he sees the Windblade is still alive.”

The beauty nodded and said, “Thanks to the holy pulse, my son’s power has enhanced rapidly. We don’t have to pay attention to those small fries. Still, we should be prepared.”

…

In the Whitewater City, Su Qian was glad to see the New Year come.

On New Year’s Eve, her father told her that he would send her to learn skills from masters beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Su Qian had been looking forward to travelling outside since she was very small, so she was quite excited to hear the news, as it was a rare opportunity for her.

The people of the mountains usually spent their whole lives there. Even the renowned Cangnan Institute meant nothing outside of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

She felt lucky that her potential had been noticed in the Pulse Invigorating Ceremony so that she could get the chance to enter the outside world.

At this moment, she was expecting Meng Fei’s good news that she could break up with Jiang Chen once and for all, so in the future, no one would say that she had a fiancée in the mountains or had been divorced when she was away on her adventure.

Meng Fei kept his promise. He arrived at the Su Mansion on the day they had agreed upon.

Su Qian came up to Meng Fei joyfully. She grinned at him, “Brother Meng, have you got the disengagement agreement?”

She went on before Meng Fei could answer her, “You must have given Jiang Chen a good lesson, right?”

Meng Fei didn’t answer. His expression was hard to read. He handed her the envelope in his hand with hesitation.

“This is it?”

Su Qian took it excitedly, but she was frozen when she opened it.

She looked up to Meng Fei and said uncertainly, “Meng Fei, what happened?”

Her outlook had never been so awful.

“Please don’t ask.” Meng Feng gritted his teeth. If it were not his master’s order, he wouldn’t have come here by himself.

“Whatever. Anyway, I’m going to the Province of Widepool soon to join those schools and sects that the Southwind Ridge could never catch up to.” Su Qian crumpled up the certificate of divorce, but this time she didn’t tear it.

“You’re going to the Province of Widepool?” Meng Fei was surprised.

“Yes. The Purple Heaven Villa, the Heaven and Earth Gang and the Void School are all there. Maybe I can join the Swordquest School!” Su Qian raised her head as she listed the highly respected names.

Meng Fei’s expression was even more complicated when he heard the last name. He said, “Are you going to join the Swordquest School, too?”

“Too? Who else in the Hundred Thousand Mountains is able to join it?” Su Qian didn’t understand what he meant. She wasn’t actually very confident when she was talking about the Swordquest School.

Meng Fei glanced at her and said with a bitter smile, “Jiang Chen has been recruited by the Swordquest School.”

Su Qian stood there, dumbfounded, upon hearing Meng Fei. Her happiness that had been present in the previous days disappeared instantly.

Many people reacted in the same way as Su Qian. When they heard the story of what happened at the annual dinner of the Jiang Mansion, they realized that Jiang Chen had achieved great things and was already a brilliant new star.

…

Jiang Chen didn’t rest on his laurels. Instead, he practiced sword methods everyday in order to better his mastery of the sword point, but Gao Yue was worried about him, since if he spent the whole day practicing sword methods, he wouldn’t have time to upgrade his state.

However, this was proof of how precious a martial arts genius he was.

Most people would choose to upgrade their state instead of their martial arts techniques.

Even if one had great martial arts techniques, without the support of a high state they would still be weak. The movements would only look good.

On the contrary, if one had a high state, they would possess great strengths even though they didn’t have any skill in martial arts techniques.

But a martial arts genius can attain both.

Jiang Chen didn’t want to boast about himself, but he was devoting all of his efforts to enhancing his swordsmanship realm, because the realm of swordsmanship relies on inspiration, while a state can be broken through by other methods.

The most important reason he was focused on swordsmanship was the fact that there were limits in a state system. When one reached the limit, the importance of martial arts techniques would be reflected.

You only can construct a skyscraper with a good foundation.

Jiang Chen, who had mastered the sword point, was thinking of the sword methods stored in his memory, but he couldn’t think of anything that he could practice directly at that moment.

However, he would have to choose a sword method to practice hard. The spirit of his sword would be enhanced incidentally through this process.

His mastery of the sword point allowed him to enter the threshold of the swordsmanship realm. After that, he would need to enhance the spirit of his sword and the doctrine of his martial arts techniques.

In the end, Jiang Chen chose the Rainbow Sword Method. Its sword movements could only be learned thoroughly after the wielder mastered the spirit of the sword.

Jiang Chen went through its first three movements in his mind every day in order to enhance his swordsmanship realm.

The first three movements were:

The first, three movements in one.

The second, fire clouds all over the sky.

The third, the arc of rainbow.

Jiang Chen’s forehead was soaked with sweat after a day’s practice. It’s really difficult to master an advanced sword method.

I need to exploit my advantages to the fullest!

Jiang Chen decided to have some practical fights so he could advance as rapidly as possible.

He wasn’t going to fight in the mountains behind his house, but in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, where the danger was real.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to train seriously, as it was impossible for the Wind Move Guards of the Jiang Mansion to fight him at ease.

Gao Yue, worried for his safety, didn’t allow him to travel at first.

Neither did Jiang Wentian, until Jiang Chen agreed to take some guards with him.

At that moment, Jiang Wentian was paying great attention to Jiang Chen. The two guards who were going to protect him were Wind and Cloud of the Jiang Mansion. Both of them were in the late stage of the Gathering Yuan State.

If I have guards protecting me, I know that there will be no danger, even when I am facing death. That will affect my performance in the fight, but it’s still better than fighting at home.

So Jiang Chen left the Southwind Ridge with Wind and Cloud and entered the Hundred Thousand Mountains.