Chapter Two: Myriad Star Variations
The sun was already bright in the sky, but Jiang Chen did not go to sleep. Instead, he carried his sword to the courtyard.
The yard had a tree, and in the current season of winter, the tree leaves were falling down piece by piece. Sometimes the leaves would fall in succession, but sometimes a puff of wind would blow, causing dozens of leaves to fall together.
Drawing his sword, Jiang Chen casually thrust it out.
With a slight piercing sound, Jiang Chen’s sword become a skewer piercing a dozen leaves. The entire process was like moving clouds and flowing water, without any trace of abruptness or rigidity.
“It seems that my speed and skill has increased a lot.”
Closing his eyes, Jiang Chen reflected on that sword blow a moment before.
One sword piercing a dozen leavings was something that he could accomplish before, but the process felt different. Piercing the leaves gave Jiang Chen a kind of illusion, as if it was not his sword contact with the leaves, but rather his body. His skin.
“Is this the realm of ‘one with the sword’?”
Of course, the ‘one with the sword’ realm has high and low stages, but Jiang Chen had currently only entered this realm. Perhaps breaking through to the first stage of the Void Sword Body would allow him to completely grasp this stage. Regardless, at present it’s an unknown quant.i.ty.
Opening his eyes, Jiang Chen unhurriedly spat out a mouthful of impure qi. The more he cultivated the Void Sword Body, the more he could feel the threshold of the profound mysteries of that secret technique. One of the effects of the Void Sword Body is that it can produce miracles. Even if it’s a physically weak old woman, when her mind is firm enough, she can do things even brawny adults have failed to do. This the power of the mind.
“Bad news Brother Chen, Brother w.a.n.g Dong was beaten up.” The courtyard door creaked as a thin teenager pushed it aside.
Jiang Chen reminisced about the past. This teenager was Guo Zihao. He was a year younger than Jiang Chen, and from the moment he entered the sect he had been following him in worship. Even now this hadn’t changed.
“Mouse”, he said slowly, “What happened with w.a.n.g Dong?”
Mouse was Guo Zihao’s nickname. He was w.a.n.g Dong’s childhood friend, and they grew up playing together.
“Sun Jiangsheng slandered you in front of him, w.a.n.g Dong heard this and they had a quarrel…” Guo Zihao said in a hurry.
“Let’s go.”
Carrying his sword, Jiang Chen followed immediately behind Guo Zihao.
Halfway up the hill on a large flat plain, a large number of outer sect disciples were a.s.sembled. In the centre of the ground, a tall teenager was stepping on an ordinary looking youngster. The youngster’s mouth was bleeding yet his face looked stubborn.
“Sun Jiansheng, you have nothing to be proud of. If Jiang Chen’s 7th Qi Sea was not broken, if Jiang Chen were a peak 7th Qi Sea Warrior, would you dare badmouth him?”
w.a.n.g Dong spat out a mouthful of blood as he ridiculed.
Sun Jiansheng grinned, “This event does not exist in this world, besides if his Qi Sea were not broken he still might not be able to cultivate to the peak of the 9th Qi Sea. Do you believe everyone is as talented as senior Gu Qingyuan?”
“Well, what kind of person is Gu Qingyuan? He is merely a contemptible character who has inverted right and wrong. A year ago, Jiang chen would have beaten him in ten moves.”
w.a.n.g Dong looked angry while speaking about Gu Qingyuan. It is possible know a person for a long time without understanding his true nature. He and Jiang Chen truly hadn’t thought Gu Qingyuan to be this kind of contemptible person.
“Haha, Jiang Chen beat Gu Qingyuan in 10 moves? Sun Jiansheng, it seems that this w.a.n.g Dong has been beaten silly. Senior Gu Qingshan said that Jiang Chen at his peak was not his opponent.”
“Originally I held a little sympathy for w.a.n.g Dong, but now it appears that w.a.n.g Dong is a miserable b.a.s.t.a.r.d just like Jiang Chen. They both are just as bad as the other.”
“It is understandable. After all, w.a.n.g Dong and Jiang Chen are childhood friends who have been helping each other. It’s normal.”
“Hmph, of course we cannot allow him to frame senior Gu Qingyuan.”
Everyone’s tongues were wagging with barbs aimed at Jiang Chen and w.a.n.g Dong.
“You are hearing this, right? Who do you think will believe you?” Sun Jiansheng gave a disdainful laugh, then he said, “Today you are determined to suffer. Even if Jiang Chen comes here, no, perhaps he will accompany you in suffering. Ha ha ha!”
Sun Jiansheng arrogantly laughed.
On the fringe of the crowd, high on top of a flight of steps, two girls were standing there wearing blueish green clothes. With refined facial features and dignified, they were beautiful like flowers.
“Liu Ling, let’s go. There is nothing to see.” Glancing at the crowd surrounding w.a.n.g Dong, Bi Qing’s expression and tone were indifferent.
Liu Ling was about to leave when suddenly, she spoke in an excited tone saying, “Bi Qing, Jiang Chen arrived! Looks like there’s going to be a good show.”
“Jiang Chen?”
Bi Qing turned to look. At the back of the crowd, Jiang Chen and Guo Zihao had arrived together.
“For what reason has he come? Does he think he can beat Sun Jiansheng? This is different from the past, now he is too weak. A great deal of outer sect disciples are stronger than him.”
“Bi Qing, it seems that you are not too optimistic about about Jiang Chen. He was once quite powerful, and even though he is currently crippled, his sword skill still exists, right?”
“You are right, but Sun Jiansheng has now broken through to the peak of 8th Qi Sea realm. His cultivation is two realms higher than Jiang Chen, and Sun Jiansheng’s sword technique is not weak. It is in the top row among the 8th Qi Sea disciples.”
Bi Qing did not express an opinion.
“That’s true, but first let’s watch.” Liu Ling nodded.
Jiang Chen’s arrival caused everyone to boil in excitement.
“Jiang Chen came.”
“Who would have thought that he would dare to come?”
“Looking at him, he seems quite calm.”
“He is pretending, right? I bet his heart is shaking.”
Facing the crowd’s sneers and mocking, Jiang Chen was expressionless. He pushed through the crowd to arrive at the center.
“Sun Jiansheng, release w.a.n.g Dong.”
Jiang Chen calmly spoke.
“You ask me to release him at once?”
Sun Jiansheng faced Jiang Chen to reply.
“Release him.”
Jiang Chen’s tone was as calm as before, but the atmosphere seemed to turn slightly oppressive.
Sun Jiansheng’s expression turned rigid. He detected a hint of murderous intent from Jiang Chen that made his body feel chill. He was unable to confront Jiang Chen again. Why did he feel so powerless?
He hated this feeling.
Bang! Sun Jiansheng’s face turned sinister. Kicking w.a.n.g Dong away, he said, “Jiang Chen, you surprisingly have the guts to dare come here.”
“Let’s go.”
Guo Zihao propped up w.a.n.g Dong as Jiang Chen turned to leave.
“““Boo!”””
Boos sounded as everyone became aware of Jiang Chen’s cowardliness. His friend was cruelly beaten by Sun Jiansheng yet he didn’t even dare to release a fart.
“Did you see that!?”
Bi Qing replied to Liu Ling.
“How cowardly.”
Liu Ling was disappointed.
Hearing the boos, Sun Jiancheng gained sufficient confidence. Perhaps he could truly leave behind the shadow in his heart. To eliminate the shadow, he only needed to defeat Jiang Chen, and now was an exceptionally good opportunity.
“Jiang Chen, do you dare to fight me here? Rest a.s.sured, I will not take advantage of you. If I cannot make you concede within 10 blows, it shall be my loss.”
Jiang Chen did not care for him, and continued to walk.
Sun Jiansheng, anger rising to the utmost from the humiliation, said, “Jiang Chen, you are a spineless coward! Your parents gave birth to such a spineless coward, which explains why your parents are also spineless cowards.”
“What did you say?”
Letting w.a.n.g Dong lean on Guo Zihao, Jiang Chen unhurriedly turned around with an ice-cold expression.
“I said that you and your family are cowards.”
Sun Jiansheng gave a provocative look.
Walking step by step to the plain, Jiang Chen said, “I accept your challenge, but I have a request. The loser will slap himself 10 times in the face.”
Sun Jiansheng was not an ordinary outer sect disciple. His father was the sect’s outer court Elder, and his grandfather was a inner sect elder. Jiang Chen’s family was nothing compared to Sun Jiansheng’s family. Currently Jiang Chen was looking for trouble for himself, after all, the current him did not have the halo of a genius. Even if he was a genius like before, teaching Sun Jiansheng might cause the sect’s high cla.s.ses to take action. The sect still attached high importance to geniuses. Not only that, he did not want w.a.n.g Dong and Guo Zihao to be implicated together with him.
“Good, we have a deal. I hope when the moment arrives you do not go back on your words.”
“I will not go back on my words, actually I am worried about you reneging.”
Jiang Chen truly did not think Sun Jiansheng would fulfill his promise.
“Talking rubbish, then receive my sword.”
Sun Jiansheng’s angry sword blow attacked Jiang Chen. As a peak 8th Qi Sea realm warrior, Sun Jiansheng’s sword technique was certainly not particularly high, but with the support of his powerful Zhen Qi, his speed and power was already extremely high. With one flash of white light, Sun Jiansheng’s body was already attacking Jiang Chen.
With a faint step, Jiang Chen easily avoided Sun Jiansheng’s sword.
“Where will you hide?”
Sun Jiansheng’s wrist turned as his sword closed the distance and immediately swept out. His sword technique was incredibly smooth and unhindered.
It’s a pity that Jiang Chen’s footwork was too smooth. His movement was like smoke blown by the wind, and his agility gave the illusion that he was weightless.
Several successive sword blows attacked Jiang Chen, but Sun Jiansheng’s sword couldn’t even touch Jiang Chen’s clothes. He could help but angrily say, “Jiang Chen, you have been continuously avoiding my blows, what kind of swordsman are you?”
“Pfft…”
Liu Ling jeered loudly.
“In a battle of swordsmanship, footwork is as important as sword technique. With skilled footwork, the enemy cannot even touch you. It’s without a doubt extremely useful. Even if the opponent’s sword technique is inferior to you, as long as he is skilled in footwork, he has the ability to instantly strike you, or perhaps perplex you with his agility.
It isn’t restricted to swordsmanship. All martial arts need compatible footwork techniques, otherwise martial arts will remain inflexible and rigid.
“Receive my sword.”
Jiang Chen originally intended to hold back and not draw his sword, but now he changed his mind.
Shing!
“Drawing his sword, Jiang Chen held it, stabbing toward Sun Jiansheng. This sword blow seemed incredibly simple yet incredibly complex simultaneously. The sword constantly trembled, nine chains of trembling, twinkling starlight flashed. Together this trembling starlight created an attack with varying trajectories. The trembling starlight crisscrossed in 9 directions together, no, rather than 9 variations, there were 81 variations. These 9-by-9, 81 variations gave the feeling that they could integrate together at any time!
Starchaser Sword: Myriad Star Variations.
“This appears to be the Myriad Star Variations from the Starchaser Sword art.”
Everyone was shocked by this.
Starchaser Sword is a part of Yellow grade sword techniques. This sword technique was nothing profound, but when Jiang Chen displayed the Starchasing Sword, it showed profound mysteries. Within simplicity appeared complexity within which once again appeared simplicity.
No one knew that Jiang Chen not only practiced ten Yellow-level low-grade sword techniques and 4 Yellow-level mid-grade sword techniques, he had mastered the foundation of the sword to its pinnacle. The foundation of swordplay consists of the most basic of techniques. For example the stab, the point, the grazing block, the stopping block, the swing and simple techniques such as collapsing.
These foundational sword techniques were known by everyone, however very few were willing to train a single movement until the pinnacle.To Jiang Chen, self-practice of the sword everyday was important. Training the foundation of sword techniques to the pinnacle, he believed that the countless sword techniques have evolved from the foundation of basic sword techniques.