Chapter 397. Huashan’s Number One Sword.
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor appeared with a sword in hand.
As I rose from the table, holding Sambok’s blade, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor stopped and spoke.
“Sect Leader.”
“Go ahead.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor looked me up and down, then said,
“Did you borrow that straight saber from the gentleman beside you?”
“I did.”
“Pardon me, but is the straight saber your primary weapon?”
“In truth, I have trained longer with the sword. Mine was taken from me not long ago.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor looked at me.
“Sect Leader, I do not mind if you look down on me. But is it proper to face me with a weapon you have not ordinarily trained in?”
He was asking me if this was the etiquette of a sparring match. I looked at the serious expression on the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s face, then said,
“I apologize. Might I borrow a sword to use in the match?”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor nodded, then answered.
“I will bring one.”
Did the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor not even employ servants? He went himself to fetch a longsword to lend me.
I looked at Eldest Brother with a bewildered expression.
“It was a valid point, so I have nothing to say. He is a meticulous man.”
Eldest Brother nodded as well.
I had barged in out of nowhere, asking to borrow a place for a sparring match, then challenged him, only to look down on my opponent and choose my weapon carelessly. I had been arrogant.
Still, I did not get the impression that the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor was an expert. However, just as the Lust Demon had said, his bearing truly was that of a master of the age.
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor soon reappeared, came closer, and held out the longsword he had brought.
“It is the Demon-Subduing Sword (降魔劍).”
“A fearsome name.”
I drew the sword that had subdued demons and checked its edge. There was nothing particularly lacking about it. Its length, weight, and grip were all suitable. However, it did not seem to be a recently forged sword; it was an ancient sword of considerable age.
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor gestured toward the open space with his hand.
“Let us go.”
I was inwardly quite impressed.
‘What a curious man.’
After putting some distance between us, I stood facing the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor. Holding his sword, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor offered a salute and said,
“I shall learn a move from you.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor drew his sword and assumed his stance.
Since I had no preparatory stance to begin with, I simply strolled this way and that with the sword in my left hand.
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor asked,
“Are you ready?”
“I was ready from the moment I walked over.”
“If you are not accustomed to attacking first, I will go first.”
“Let’s do that.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s stance changed twice. He held the sword upright, then lowered it toward the bottom as he approached.
“……”
He seemed to have no real skill, yet he was so serious that even I could not predict how the match would go.
Perhaps he read the confusion on my face, for the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor said,
“……Do your best.”
I knocked aside the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s sudden thrust with a sword draw.
Restoring his sword’s trajectory, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor launched one attack after another at me. Keeping my left hand sealed, I swung the Demon-Subduing Sword and only struck away the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s blade.
I swung while infusing it with the qi of the Wood Realm, and the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s face quickly turned bright red.
Every time he parried my sword, he clenched his teeth so hard that the underside of his jaw jutted out.
Even so, his swordsmanship was calm and consistent.
A posture he had trained in for quite a long time and quite deeply had soaked into his entire body.
His swordsmanship was also impressive.
It had its share of feints, variations, and shifts that sped up and slowed down. Whenever some miscellaneous trick became visible to my eyes, I pressed it down with force or struck it away. If I did that, techniques became useless as well.
His footwork was stable in line with his swordsmanship, and whenever he found an opening, he was also good at maintaining his breathing.
Only, each time I battered his sword, he seemed to suffer greatly, as though the flesh of his palms were about to tear.
As I struck away the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s sword, I said,
“My inner power is deeper than yours. I would like to continue the match, so please do not take offense if I reduce my inner power.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor nodded.
“Understood.”
Even his voice came out as though squeezed from his throat.
In the end, I lessened my strength and then took a careful look at the swordsmanship the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor displayed. Since the techniques repeated, quite a few became familiar to my eyes.
When I swung my sword after withdrawing my inner power altogether, the fight finally became somewhat fierce. I could tell that he had trained his external arts diligently as well. Only then able to breathe, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s complexion gradually regained its color, and he poured upon me to his heart’s content the techniques he had worked hard to train in normally.
He was a man older than I.
It was not polite to say this, but I found the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor rather commendable. It was not as though he had no inner power at all. The gap was simply too great. Even so, traces of training as though he had carved away his own bones were revealed here and there.
Because the swordsmanship itself was not bad, I fully received the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor’s sword art as it repeated four times.
At one point, after executing a thrust, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor withdrew his sword and raised it upright, then recovered it with a calm motion and said,
“I have learned much from you. I have lost.”
It was as expected, so I was not surprised.
I also sheathed the Demon-Subduing Sword, then showed courtesy to the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor first.
“Manor Lord, it was impressive swordsmanship.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor touched his chin, then answered,
“Do you mean that?”
“I do.”
“Pardon me, but which part was impressive…… Ah, let us go to the table and talk.”
Even in defeat, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor extended his hand as though he had not forgotten his role as host.
I nodded.
“Let us go.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand as he moved, then sat down at the table. He himself must have been thirsty, yet he personally picked up the pitcher on the table, poured water with a trembling hand, and held it out to me. His palm was swollen red.
‘Wow…….’
Without taking it, I said,
“You drink first.”
The Lord of Plum Blossom Manor looked extremely awkward with the hand he had extended, but in the end, he drank it himself. After wiping his mouth with his hand, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor said this.
“My apologies. It is proper etiquette to first check whether there is poison.”
At those words, I too answered with some surprise.
“That was not what I meant.”
In truth, I was not thirsty.
Because I had not even sweated.
Under all of our gazes, the Lord of Plum Blossom Manor caught his ragged breath. Even for me, such an impressive sparring match was rare.
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord bowed his head slightly to my companions, beginning with Eldest Brother.
“You must have had high expectations, so I am ashamed. But I did my best.”
Eldest Brother replied.
“It was not a bad sword art.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord looked at me.
“Ah, forgive me, but earlier you said it was impressive.”
“I shall explain.”
“Yes.”
“The forms you displayed numbered eleven. If I add two more, thirteen moves in total. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“You were unable to complete the last two forms at all. Each time you performed them, the intent differed, and the target areas were unclear. That is not a major problem. The problem lies with the forms in the middle section. Do you not find them frustrating yourself?”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord nodded.
“They have indeed been forms that frustrated me for a long time.”
“You are forcibly connecting the problematic forms with the forms before and after them, but in actual combat, there is no need to use them in that order, or force them together. If you learned it through a manual, that is only natural. The real issue, however, is that your internal energy is insufficient, making the linkage itself difficult.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord asked me.
“Might you show me a demonstration?”
I shook my head.
“I shall not. This is your sword art, Manor Lord. It may feel somewhat hollow to learn that the problem you have carried for so long is merely a lack of internal energy, but if you supplement your internal energy a little more and train, you can fully complete all thirteen moves. Do you know why?”
“Please tell me.”
“Because you have trained arduously.”
“Mm.”
“Do you remember what was written at the beginning of the manual?”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord searched his memory, then said.
“It said the sword art would shine only upon reaching the third stage of the Xuanxuan Heart Method.”
“What stage are you at?”
“That part was also missing from the latter half, so I could only learn the first stage.”
“What about other internal cultivation methods?”
“Because it told me to learn the Xuanxuan Heart Method, I did not learn anything else.”
I asked back, rather surprised.
“With only the first stage and external arts? Impressive.”
“Yes.”
How could there be such a rigidly honest person in the world? The reason I had felt no aura from him was because his internal energy truly was shallow.
“Then how did you become the First Sword of Mount Hua?”
At my question, the Plum Blossom Manor Lord answered.
“In truth, I have had twenty sparring matches so far and have never lost once. You may not believe it, but I have crossed hands with all sorts of martial artists. Some came from far away. There is scarcely a weapon I have not faced……”
I folded my arms and fell into thought.
‘A man can really be this lucky.’
He was no match not only for Sambok, but also for the White-Faced Young Master or Lady Iron Toad. In other words, he was a man who could not even defeat Cha Seongtae.
I sought help from Eldest Brother.
“Eldest Brother.”
“What?”
“I would like you to give him some advice.”
Eldest Brother looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord.
“Manor Lord.”
“Yes.”
“You are a frog in a well.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord answered Eldest Brother respectfully.
“I know.”
“Why did you not choose to obtain another internal cultivation method, or travel outside and exchange martial learning with others?”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord said.
“I simply liked training, so I did not go outside. I am not particularly sociable, either. I was also wary, since I heard that if one entered the jianghu, one would become entangled in grudges and debts.”
Eldest Brother asked me.
“Assuming his internal energy doubles from the first stage to the second, and becomes about three times deeper from the second to the third. If the Manor Lord refines his sword art more perfectly than now, what level would he be compared to the martial artists around him?”
“Even then, I would not exactly call him strong.”
Eldest Brother continued.
“What if, while possessing that internal energy, he trained deeply for about ten years in the sword art he just displayed? He would have to train his internal energy alongside it, of course.”
That was a little different. Even then, he would only be in his early to mid-forties. Moreover, he was a man with the will to refine a sword art whose links were difficult to perform with external arts alone.
I looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord.
“……At that time, there will be no one in Mount Hua who can rival you.”
He was a man who possessed the conditions to grow stronger and stronger. Eldest Brother nodded, then looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord and said.
“I think the same. I do not know whether this sparring match was of help.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord cupped his fist, then looked around at us.
“I did not learn merely one move. I felt many things.”
I returned the Demon-Subduing Sword to the Plum Blossom Manor Lord. After placing the Demon-Subduing Sword on the table, the Plum Blossom Manor Lord asked.
“By the way, all four of you are rare experts. Who is it that you are to face?”
“We have come to face the cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord looked at me with a deeply startled expression. Even if he had not heard the rumors about the Hao Clan Master, he seemed to know of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I have heard the rumors. I can hardly believe it. They say he is one of the three strongest people under heaven.”
“That is right.”
“Then just how strong is he? It is a foolish question, but since I have met people I could scarcely hope to meet, I will ask.”
“May I speak in comparison to you, Manor Lord?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord, then spoke realistically.
“Let us say there is the strongest mantis in Mount Hua. An undefeated mantis.”
“Yes.”
“Let us say its lifetime record is around a hundred victories. Even such a mantis would die if struck once by the forepaw of a neighborhood cat. That is the difference in class. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Now let us say that cat was, in truth, an undefeated cat. There was no cat nearby it had failed to beat. But even such a cat would die if it met a tiger prowling on the mountain behind the village and was struck once by its forepaw.”
“I suppose it would.”
“The three of us are about that tiger’s level. This is not boasting. That is how the comparison goes.”
“Mm, then the cult leader is……”
I described the cult leader like this.
“He is a man like a dragon, all by himself. He certainly seems stronger than a tiger, but in the end, if he wants to kill a tiger, he too must descend, open his mouth, and bite it apart. If he is unlucky, he may be bitten by the tiger as well. The difference in class I speak of here is ultimately rather similar to what people of the jianghu call the level of internal energy. So you, Manor Lord, need to train your cultivation method even more diligently than you do now. Because a mantis cannot kill a cat. Do you understand?”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord nodded.
“I understand. I will keep it in mind.”
“You have yet to make your flowers bloom, but you are a man who will become a tiger, Manor Lord. I confirmed that through our sparring match, so I shall not accept the epithet First Sword of Mount Hua.”
The Plum Blossom Manor Lord looked at me with a surprised expression.
Strangely enough, I felt that this man was quite suited to the epithet “the Foremost Sword of Mount Hua.”
So, to put what I felt into words…….
He was the man who trained the hardest on Mount Hua.
If so, then he was qualified to bear such an epithet.
I asked Eldest Brother for his opinion as well.
“What do you think, Eldest Brother?”
Eldest Brother looked at the Plum Blossom Manor Lord and said,
“It is a fitting epithet.”
The Pervert blinked as if he could not understand, but he did not bother to speak. Sambok simply nodded as if he had given up on understanding altogether.
The Manor Lord wore an expression of relief, looked around the estate, and spoke to us.
“I shall provide you with dueling grounds. Until then, make yourselves comfortable.”
I showed the Plum Blossom Manor Lord due courtesy.
“My thanks, Manor Lord.”
“When will the duel be?”
“It is not certain. It may be half a year, or perhaps around one hundred days.”
The Manor Lord looked at us, then lowered his gaze and lightly bit his thumbnail.
“Hmm……”
It seemed to be a habit, but if he kept chewing at it like that, no nails would remain. Since it was a bad habit, I immediately scolded him.
“For a swordsman, biting one’s nails so is a poor habit. Break it.”
“Ah.”
I looked at the Pervert.
“We stopped eating earlier, so I am starting to feel rather hungry.”
“Indeed.”
The Manor Lord spoke.
“Ah, I shall prepare a meal for you.”
I nodded calmly.
“My thanks, Manor Lord.”
“Yes.”
“If there is anything you are curious about or wish to ask, feel free anytime. Do not stand on ceremony.”
“Yes.”
“I shall also spar with you on occasion.”
For some reason, the Manor Lord answered in curt replies.
“Thank you. Well, then.”
I looked at the Manor Lord and raised my thumb.
“……The Foremost Sword of Mount Hua.”
The Manor Lord did not answer. The Pervert and Sambok also raised their thumbs toward the Manor Lord.
I looked at Eldest Brother, but he immediately turned his head and muttered while looking around the estate.
“The scenery is fine.”
Having met the Foremost Sword of Mount Hua and secured the dueling grounds, the scenery looked truly splendid in my eyes as well.
Then that was good enough.