Chapter 89: Sikong Xu’s Progress

“Master Ge, teach me a few more tricks, will you? I’ve been feeling uneasy these past few days. You should pass on a few more moves to calm my nerves!”

Ge Nie’s injuries were already nearly healed. Normal movement was no longer a problem. But just as the trouble from his wounds had been settled, another nuisance had emerged in the form of Si Kongxu.

Since Si Kongxu had inferred from the second main quest that he might become a target of the Sand organization, he had been restless ever since. Whenever Ge Nie had a spare moment, he would rush over and ask him to teach him a few moves.

“Hey, Master Nie, why don’t you teach me the Hundred-Step Flying Sword too? I’m not much good at anything, but I do have some talent, heh heh.” Right after finishing his meal, Si Kongxu immediately went to find Ge Nie, who was preparing to stroll around the courtyard for a while.

Although completing the side quest Nightmare of the Sand would also grant him the sword arts reward of the Hundred-Step Flying Sword, and even the Crossing Eight Directions technique, that quest was simply far too difficult. So learning from Ge Nie in advance was not a bad thing at all.

“...” Ge Nie remained silent for a moment. “I can, but the Hundred-Step Flying Sword is no simple matter. It is not something one can learn overnight.”

With Si Kongxu, Ge Nie could be said to be utterly helpless. Over the past few days, the boy seemed driven by some strange force, always pestering him to learn swordsmanship, and he learned remarkably quickly at that. On the first day he mastered the basics of the Guigu School’s sword techniques; on the second, he became proficient in the foundational moves of its straight-sword style; and on the third, even more astonishingly, he directly copied Ge Nie’s Radiant Rainbow Piercing the Sun.

If the Hundred-Step Flying Sword truly were not so profound, Ge Nie would have genuinely feared that this boy would learn it in just a few days... Back then, he himself had spent more than a decade on it!

“Heh heh, come on, let’s spar a bit first. I feel like I’ve improved again today!” Si Kongxu grinned at Ge Nie. With such a swordsmanship expert at his side, how could he possibly fail to make full use of the opportunity?

Si Kongxu already possessed the absurd ability called Boundless Martial Refinement. With that power, he could not instantly achieve perfect command of Ge Nie’s sword arts, but with enough practice he could still master them in a short time.

It was precisely because of Boundless Martial Refinement that Si Kongxu had been able to grasp one of Ge Nie’s sword moves, Radiant Rainbow Piercing the Sun, in such a brief span of time.

Ge Nie fell silent again. He glanced sidelong at Tianming, who was pestering Old Ban for toys. If only Tianming could work as hard as this boy.

“Very well. Use your full strength and try a few moves against me. Let’s see just how much you’ve improved these past few days.” Ge Nie walked to the center of the courtyard. He did not use the Yuanhong Sword, but instead raised its scabbard. After all, with his strength, if he used Yuanhong, he might truly injure Si Kongxu by accident.

Si Kongxu drew the Interpreter and looked at Ge Nie. His progress these past few days had indeed been considerable. Although his level was still at the upper Dark Black rank, if he were to face the Unrivaled Ghost or the Wolf King of the Green Plains now, winning would still be impossible, but losing would not happen either.

“Master Nie, I’m starting now!”

Ge Nie nodded.

“I really am coming now!”

Ge Nie nodded again.

“I really, really—” Before he could finish, Si Kongxu lunged forward in one step. His speed was astonishing; to ordinary eyes, he was nothing but a shadow.

These past few days, his progress had not been limited to swordsmanship. His cultivation of the One True Method had advanced as well. Si Kongxu had accidentally discovered that when his body was empowered by the true energy refined through the One True Method, it could unleash an even greater degree of strength. So now he had begun to infuse true energy into his body. Such a form of true energy had another special name: inner power, as it was commonly called in martial novels.

Whoosh—

Inner power surged through his body, causing Si Kongxu’s speed to soar to a terrifying level. Coupled with the boost from his Light-Stepping Boots, his speed now was in no way inferior to that of a master using lightness skills.

“Here I come!” Si Kongxu roared. The Interpreter in his hand came straight down toward Ge Nie. It was only a plain strike, but compared to Si Kongxu’s ordinary blows from a few days ago, this one was clearly far more refined.

Because through these past few days of Ge Nie’s instruction, a faint outline of “momentum” had already begun to take shape in Si Kongxu’s swordsmanship. That “momentum” was sword force.

For a swordsman of true caliber, sword force was indispensable. Only when one’s swordsmanship possessed “momentum” could it be said to have taken even a rudimentary form. Swordsmanship without momentum was nothing but an empty frame.

It was like a tiger in a painting: at first glance it seemed harmless enough, not especially frightening. But when you truly encountered a living tiger, you would understand the difference between the real beast and the painted one. That difference lay in the former’s imposing ferocity, which the latter lacked.

“This strike is good.” Ge Nie nodded. Although the sword force contained in this blow had not yet fully formed, it already carried a vast and savage aura.

Clang—

Faced with Si Kongxu’s direct attack, Ge Nie casually raised the scabbard and blocked it with ease. Si Kongxu was not disappointed. If the Sword Saint Ge Nie could not even stop this blow, then that would have been embarrassing indeed.

“Heh heh, watch out!” Suddenly, Si Kongxu flipped his wrist, and a reverse-handed slash was unleashed at once.

Clang—

Unfortunately, this move was blocked once more.

Then, a flash of light suddenly swept past Ge Nie’s eyes, and instinctively he narrowed them.

It turned out that Si Kongxu had used the sunlight reflected from the Interpreter’s blade to strike Ge Nie’s eyes directly, causing the latter’s movements to pause ever so slightly.

“Perfect!”

In an instant, the dark and cold Interpreter blossomed like flowers in Si Kongxu’s hands. Thrust, chop, point, rake, lift, flick, rebound, cut, slash, wipe, pare, sweep, hang, frame, press—all the basic movements of swordsmanship were brought out by him at once, and a storm of sword-flourishes burst forth from his hands.

Heh heh, now you’re going to fall for it, right? Just as Si Kongxu was feeling smug, he suddenly realized that Ge Nie had actually blocked every one of his actions with his eyes closed—and had not moved a single step!

Damn it all! If I can’t make you move even one step today, then I’ll change my surname! I’ll be surnamed Si, given name Kongxu!

The next moment, a mighty surge of sword force slammed onto the cold blade of the Interpreter. Through these days of cultivation, Si Kongxu’s true energy had evidently grown stronger once again.

Whoosh—

Transparent sword qi coated the blade, and wherever the Interpreter passed through space, it left behind faint traces in the air. This strike was exceedingly restrained, exceedingly subtle—but its power was the exact opposite.

Facing Si Kongxu’s thunderous sword strike infused with sword qi, Ge Nie’s expression did not change. He still raised the Yuanhong scabbard, though upon it there now shimmered faint blue waves, the trace of sword qi.

It seemed that Si Kongxu’s attack was now strong enough to force even Ge Nie to use sword qi to defend against it.

Bang—

Suddenly, a muffled boom descended as the sword qi of both sides collided and erupted violently. A tremendous shockwave spread outward with the two men at its center. Even the soil on the ground was ripped up in places. The strike exchanged between them was truly terrifying.