Sword Art 1

Tears streaming down.

At this moment, Harry's only feeling is tears streaming down his face.

He used to be careless, but now that he's serious, he realizes his magical power and swordsmanship are average at best, with nothing remarkable about them.

Among the top ten true disciples, his ranking should be quite low.

Accustomed to laziness and indifference, only now that he's serious does he realize his own level, which brings tears to his eyes.

It's time to make an effort.

If he doesn't, he'll be bullied and his master's reputation will be tarnished.

People always have some temper.

Now that he's been forced to this point, his temper naturally rises.

No more nonsense, it's time to strive.

"Ninth Junior Brother, make your move." To practice swordsmanship, a sparring partner is necessary.

But finding a suitable sparring partner isn't easy. The elders are too strong, easily defeating him in one or two moves. And ordinary disciples are too weak, not worthy opponents.

Fortunately, he has a good relationship with Ninth Junior Brother Squary and Tenth Junior Brother Round, forming a small circle.

It's not easy to find these two to practice swordsmanship.

"I can spar with you too." Squary doesn't look like the gentle young man he appears to be outside: "Within a month, you'll have to handle the task of fetching wine down the mountain, Sixth Senior Brother." There are no inns on the North Peak, so the only way to get wine is to go down the mountain to fetch it. But for the tenth generation disciples, who don't have flying spells, going down the mountain by foot is not easy.

"Okay." Harry agreed. 

Squary immediately made a move, swiftly displaying a cold light, with sword shadows swirling, his movements extremely fast.

Both Squary and Harry practiced the One Hundred and Eight Moves in Wind-cloud swordsmanship.

However, Squary took the initiative.

"Clouds lingering in the sky," "Strong winds blowing," "Clouds entwining, sword disturbing," "Strong winds rising..."

"Heavy clouds, urgent winds," "Winds pass, leaving no trace on mountains and rivers"...

One Hundred and Eight Moves in Wind-cloud.

Squary's moves were continuous and exquisite.

Similarly, Harry counterattacked with One Hundred and Eight Moves in Wind-cloud. Both of them were among the top ten true disciples, practicing the most famous swordsmanship on the North Peak. However, as the sparring continued, Harry noticed something strange: both his and Squary's sword moves occasionally revealed flaws.

Of course, due to the shallow level of swordsmanship, even if there were flaws, they could only be used to expand one's advantage and couldn't defeat the opponent in one blow. And when one's own flaws were exposed, one's advantage would be weakened.

Why were there flaws in the sword moves?

Harry pondered.

There would always be flaws in sword moves, that was obvious. A little thought would make that clear. But for some sword moves, the flaws appeared in the latter part. What if the sword moves were divided into segments, avoiding the flawed parts? 

Sword moves are dead, but why are people dead?

Harry's mind flashed with this thought, but he found it wasn't easy to achieve. Occasionally succeeding a few times, causing Squary to be flustered, showed that this thought was indeed useful. However, it was not easy to smoothly connect one half move to the next. 

Everything is easy to think about but difficult to do.

That's what they call easier said than done.

Each move of the sword had been practiced for six years. It wasn't easy to suddenly change from using a complete move to using half a move. 

Harry now felt it was time to seek advice from his master about the principles of swordsmanship.

"Sixth Senior Brother, remember the wine." Without determining a winner, Harry hurried away, and Squary could only shrug, reminding Harry not to forget the wine.

"No problem." Harry replied, now vaguely understanding some things and intending to seek advice from his master.

---

A gray scabbard, a black hilt, hanging on the wall.

This sword was in the main hall of Long-Spring Yard. Although there were birds chirping and flowers blooming outside the window, the presence of this sword made the room exceptionally silent.

Harry knew that this was his master's famous Sunfall Sword in Shian Learners' Landing.

His master in The Six Great Sword of the Northern Peak was known as Sunfall Sword Abbas.

Turning back, he looked at his master, whose face seemed to have aged a bit more.

After listening to Harry's narration, Master Abbas slowly said, "The realm of swordsmanship can be divided into four levels."

"The first level is the realm you are currently in, where sword moves are dead and people are also dead."

"The second level is where sword moves are dead, but people are alive and not confined to the sword moves." Hearing this, Harry had a sudden realization. What he comprehended when sparring with Squary was exactly this. Sword moves are dead, but people are alive. There's no need to complete the entire set of sword techniques; using the necessary moves is enough. However, to actually achieve this is different from just realizing it.

Still, easier said than done.

"The third level is Sword's Heart. However, this realm is extremely difficult to comprehend, and those who do are quite formidable. When I was one hundred and sixteen years old, I comprehended Sword's Heart and my swordsmanship greatly improved after some time. Eventually, I ranked among The Six Great Sword of the Northern Peak. But comprehending this realm is extremely rare. Even many ninth-generation elders haven't comprehended it. In the entire North Peak, there are fewer than ten elders from the ninth generation who have comprehended Sword's Heart. And among your generation of disciples, no one has comprehended this realm yet, including your senior brothers."

"The fourth level is the legendary realm, the ultimate Sword's Heart. Once comprehended, everything in the world can be integrated into the sword, reaching the highest realm of swordsmanship." Abbas shook his head. "But that realm only exists in legends. So far, there's no news of anyone actually comprehending it. It's just a legend."

Listening to Master Abbas's words, Harry felt deeply shaken.

There are so many levels of swordsmanship.

And he's only at the first level.

He still has a long way to go. Harry's eyes were shining.

At the same time, Abbas, while explaining, also felt relieved.

His disciples had finally started to make an effort. Although he understood his disciple's temperament, he knew that Harry was definitely determined to strike back at Aeron and Houk, hence his current effort. But it's good that he could make an effort for a while.

He didn't have much time left. If he could pass on more of his skills, then he would do so.