Basic Sword Techniques, Spiritual Herbs

Fei Chen sat cross-legged inside his tent, he was recalling all he had read about the Basic Sword Techniques.

It was stated that the sword was reputed to be the first amongst the myriad of weapons, emitting an intent of benevolence, suffused with a heroic aura! It could also be considered the god of weapons, and also possessed an air of elegance. So what makes up a sword? A sword comprises of the following: Sword Body, Sword Tip, Sword Sharpness, Sword Core, Sword Spine, Sword Edge, sword frame, sword hilt, and sword sheath.

He then recalled the various sword postures and methods. The main methods of attacking positions consist of: Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing, and Hacking! During practice, the way of the sword requires the sword to follow one's body, and the sword user to use their body and guide the sword. When using the sword as a weapon, one must attain a state of oneness with the sword, one with the Qi, and one with the Spirit!

All these things mentioned in the technique might seem elementary to most cultivators, so much so that even a Martial warrior could recite, but if one were to ask: 'How many of the millions of sword users can actually attain this state of oneness mentioned?'. After all, the more simple a thing was, the more profound the knowledge hidden within it would be. All the basics were derived from the learnings of millions of sword users, condensed down into their most basic form!

The way of Sword emphasizes "Speed, Accuracy, Decisiveness" Using these three words as the mantra to complement each of the basic sword attacking positions when practiced to the pinnacle, could kill with 1 hit, destroying your enemies with only a single strike!

The way of Sword also further emphasizes hand-eye coordination, posture, footwork, and form.

When the user of the sword art has cultivated it to its peak, any part of the sword can be used as a weapon! After attaining the stage of man and sword as one, amalgamating with the sword, and the next stage of heaven and man as one. The user himself, without his sword, can be considered as an unsheathed sharp sword!

After all this time cultivating martial arts Fei Chen understood that 'The journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step', and even though the sword technique was named basic, it was anything but that.

Other than the main basic methods of attack positions, which consisted of Hooking, Hanging, Pointing, Carrying, Piercing, Slicing, and Hacking, the book also, in great detail, explained the amount of strength that had to be exerted for each strike, the position of the sword, the posture of the body as well as breathing methods that could be utilized. Other than the descriptions, there were also pictures depicting a human wielding a sword in various forms of sword attacks.

Fei Chen stood up from his meditation, all the basic attack methods extremely clear in his mind, he started practicing with his ironwood sword. Concentrating fully on training, Fei Chen entered a hyper-focused state of mind, allowing him to achieve twice the results with half the effort.

The essence of the sword could be summarized into four insights, in a single sentence of four realms in swordplay. [Application of Knowledge], [Profoundness within Simplicity], [Swiftness equates Invincibility], [Back to Nature]!

Fei Chen with his comprehension had understood all of them, except for the last part, [Back to Nature]. He had a feeling that he will naturally achieve this realm once his proficiency reached 100%, so he was not concerned about that at all.

For the first realm, [Application of Knowledge], the essence of this insight referred to know when was the right circumstance, when was the right place, and when was the right time to execute which of the basic attacking sword forms. Simply put, to execute the correct moves at the correct time.

For the second realm, [Profoundness within Simplicity], the essence of this insight referred to not pursuing perfection of form. The form is secondary and intent is primary. Swordplay that looks beautiful and dazzling looks good but is nothing in comparison to true power. The more profound the sword art is, the more ordinary it would look when executing the techniques within. Upon stepping into this realm, the techniques executed by those who understand the Dao of the sword might even look clumsy and sloppy.

For the third realm, [Swiftness equates Invincibility], the essence of this insight referred to, under the vast domain of heavens, the same philosophy holds for all martial arts. As long as one achieves sufficient speed, he would be able to defeat anything in the world. With sufficient speed, one might indeed achieve the realm of invincibility. What a pity that this was just a theory. After all, who would dare to say that they are the swiftest in the world?

For the last realm, [Back to Nature], he only had a rough understanding of the insights behind it. Fei Chen had some vague understanding of this realm, he recalled from all the novels he read in his past life that had talked about this realm in one form or another.

The sword user in this realm was able to manifest a will through his sheer understanding of the way of the sword. This will is often termed the sword will or sword intent. After one had mastered the sword, one could infuse sword intent into everything in nature. In that realm, everything in nature could be used as a sword!

Fei Chen kept training throughout the night, he was so immersed that he forgot how much time has passed. When he felt rays of sunshine through his tent he was awoken from his hyper-focused state.

[Ding Basic Sword Techniques (Proficiency (7.5 %) ) ]

Looking at the system notification he was satisfied with the progress he had made through the night. The hyper-focused state that he had comprehended during his Calligraphy practice, had increased his already insane comprehension talent.

Taking a few long and deep breaths, he calmed his body and mind. Exiting his tent he quickly dismantled it after which he went through his morning rituals and got himself freshened up. Returning to the campsite he found Bai Gui who had also kept his tent inside his spatial pouch and was meditating, sitting beside the Golden Eagle.

Hearing footsteps approaching he opened his eyes, smiling slightly at Fei Chen.

" Let me start a fire, then we can have some breakfast."

Fei Chen nodded his head, thankful to the elder since he didn't know how to cook. He knew he could consume his dried rations, which would last him for a year at least. But he would prefer cooked food any day of the month instead of dried rations.

Fei Chen sat quietly throughout the process, studying Bai Gui's every move intently, in hopes of learning something. After all, he would eventually be traveling alone and having a cooking skill was necessary for him.

Having their breakfast both 0f them climbed the eagle. The Golden Eagle is a peak Xiantian demonic beast that could easily take care of its sustenance, and usually, these beasts could survive for a long time without food with only spiritual qi.

"Elder Bai, are we heading to Greencloud city next?"

Fei Chen after all wanted to buy a wide variety of seeds, ranging from common to precious grade maybe even jade grade if he was extremely lucky.

In the world of nine continents, Medicinal pellets and herbal ingredients including seeds can be classified into Common Grade, Precious Grade, Jade grade, King grade, Royal grade, Emperor grade, Saint grade, and Divine Grade.

With age as the criteria, herbs could roughly be classified in this manner.

→ 0-999 years = Common Grade

→ 1000-2999 years = Precious Grade

→ 3000-4999 years = Jade Grade

→ 5000-6999 years = King Grade

→ 7000-7999 years = Royal Grade

→ 8000-8999 years = Emperor Grade

→ 9000-9999 years = Saint Grade

→ 10,000 years and more = Divine Grade

Bai Gui looked at Fei Chen and nodded his head.

"Indeed, does little master needs anything from there?"

Fei Chen felt a bit embarrassed at Bai Gui referring to him as a little master, after all, he was an adult in everything but his body. Hiding his embarrassment quite expertly he replied.

"Yes, I want to buy seeds of spiritual herbs of all grades, and also some precious herbs if possible."

Bai Gui was not surprised, he had heard from his master Fei Mingzi about Fei Chen's interest in alchemy, and he nodded in acknowledgment.

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