Volcanic Age

Chapter 11: The Sword Technique of Mount Hua (2)

A week flew by as Zhou Xuchuan practiced the Plum Blossom Sword Art under Liu Zhengmu’s guidance. At the same time, he wondered how he would give his master enlightenment.

He had free time to think about other things because he already had a perfect understanding of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

However, because he was immersed in his thoughts, Zhou Xuchuan failed to notice one thing: his master was watching him.

Unbelievable!

Liu Zhengmu couldn’t hide his shock after seeing Zhou Xuchuan swing the sword.

I knew something was extraordinary about him since one year ago, but I didn’t know it was to this extent!

As one of the foundational skills, the Plum Blossom Sword Art was easy. It was even easier for those who had completely mastered the Plum Blossom Fist.

Despite that, it was impossible to effortlessly execute the Plum Blossom Sword Art with such perfection in just a week, even with prior theoretical knowledge.

Which left only one explanation.

My disciple is a prodigy!

Zhou Xuchuan was nothing like a prodigy. His physical capabilities including his muscular and skeletal physique and reflexes weren't exceptional, he wasn’t born with good qi or blood vessels either. As his master, Liu Zhengmu was well aware of this.

However, talent isn’t just limited to physical and learning capabilities. It could be a talent related to using the sword. Liu Zhengmu thought that this must be the case with Zhou Xuchuan. No, to be precise, he misunderstood.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Xuchuan was just rewalking the path he had walked on before. There was also the fact that the Plum Blossom Sword Art was one of the basic techniques. However, as he would never have imagined such a thing happening, it wasn’t surprising that Liu Zhengmu believed that Zhou Xuchuan possessed heaven-sent talent with the sword.

If Zhou Xuchuan had not experienced Liu Zhengmu’s hellish training under the guise of improvement training, he wouldn’t be performing as well as he was doing right now. After all, he was hiding his true skills in order to avoid arousing his master’s suspicion, even as he thought about what kind of advice he could give him.

However, thanks to the huge improvement in physical capabilities due to the hellish training, he ended up subconsciously displaying everything he knew about the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

If he’s this good, he might be able to join the Lotus Pavilion.

The Lotus Pavilion was one of the buildings within Mount Hua, as well as an organization that only a select few among the fourth-generation disciples could be affiliated with.

It was basically a smaller, younger version of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, and a place where promising talents of the fourth generation were trained separately before they reached adulthood. The disciples of the sect master and the Five High Elders also joined the Lotus Pavilion and trained there.

Aside from that, almost nine out of ten members of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen were from the Lotus Pavilion.

Liu Zhengmu had never managed to join the Lotus Pavilion due to his feeble constitution.

However, someone with exceptional skills like Zhou Xuchuan could join the Lotus Pavilion and receive a higher level of training. If he was lucky, he might get bestowed with good spiritual medicine, and even get a specialized instructor as well.

As long as he could prove his power and talent, he would be able to receive the best treatment. At first glance, it may seem unfair, but this was rather common in large sects of the martial world like Mount Hua.

***

A few days later, Zhou Xuchuan eventually just asked Liu Zhengmu directly, “Master, I apologize for asking, but can you show me sword techniques other than the Plum Blossom Sword Art?”

“Other sword techniques?”

“Yes.” Zhou Xuchuan nodded.

Liu Zhengmu fell into deep thought after hearing his disciple’s request. It hadn’t even been two weeks since this disciple started holding the sword, not to mention practicing the Plum Blossom Sword Art. No matter how talented he was, he had not reached the final stage of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, which meant that learning advanced sword arts would just be a hindrance to him. This was what he was worried about.

Ah, this isn’t the time to be emotional.

Zhou Xuchuan inwardly scolded himself and focused on Liu Zhengmu. Although Liu Zhengmu was currently above him in cultivation level, as a former expert of the Harmony Realm, Zhou Xuchuan had a better understanding of martial arts. It didn’t take that long for him to fully grasp Liu Zhengmu’s sword technique and martial arts.

He seems to be perfect until the ninth move, and he gets stuck starting with the tenth move, the Plum Full Blossom. Thankfully, it doesn’t look like it’s because of insufficient understanding but a lack of proficiency...

Zhou Xuchuan, having reached the final stage of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword, felt confident he could perform it with even greater precision than Liu Zhengmu, given sufficient internal qi and some time.

Huh? Zhou Xuchuan’s eyes glinted.

“...Haa!”

Liu Zhengmu displayed the fourteenth move, the Resplendent Plum Blossom. He was sweating because of the significant consumption of internal qi and stamina.

“Here. That was the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. This master of yours was lacking in skill and was unable to display it perfectly. I’m sorry.”

He really was like the usual Liu Zhengmu. Anyone else would’ve tried to look cool in front of their disciple. No, it wouldn’t just be their disciples either. Martial artists, especially those of the Orthodox Faction, were very proud. They would usually try to hide their deficiencies in shame, but Liu Zhengmu openly revealed it and apologized for not being able to display the martial art in its entirety.

“Not at all, Master!” Zhou Xuchuan started applauding with eyes filled with infinite trust. “That was splendid. Not to mention the sect master, even the Head of the Martial Alliance would have gasped in shock at your prowess!”

“Boy, did you not ever hear that too much is worse than too little? Flattering too much may seem like fawning.” Liu Zhengmu laughed. Still, he didn’t look displeased.

“I will bear that in mind, Master.”

It was definitely not fawning. Liu Zhengmu was akin to God in Zhou Xuchuan’s mind.

“Well, then. Is there any other sword technique that you’d like to watch? Since I’m at it, I’ll show you other things as well.”

Hearing that, Zhou Xuchuan inwardly cheered. He didn’t show it on the outside and acted like an innocent and curious ten-year-old boy.

“I wish to see the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art too, Master.”

“You give me an opportunity to make up for that lacking performance. I reached the final stage in the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art a long time ago, so I shall show you the entire sword art.”

Once reaching full mastery in the Plum Blossom Sword Art, a disciple of the main sect would get to learn a few advanced sword techniques, and one of them was the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art.

Liu Zhengmu didn’t find it strange that Zhou Xuchuan had requested that he display the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art.

“Master, this incompetent disciple is too lacking in experience and wasn't able to fully grasp your execution of the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword. Could you please execute the technique slowly this time?”

“Of course.”

Liu Zhengmu was very satisfied to see his disciple showing so much eagerness in learning martial arts despite being only ten. Not only did he have the talent, but he also had such a good attitude. He was proud to be the master of such a disciple.

Liu Zhengmu started executing the Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Art from the first form just as Zhou Xuchuan had requested.

A martial art, whether it be a sword technique or a saber technique, was more difficult to perform slowly. Even swinging a sword once would require a considerable amount of muscular strength, stamina and endurance if it was to be performed slowly. The same applied to focus. The slower it was, the more conscious they would be of what they were doing.

Even if it was a martial art that Liu Zhengmu had mastered a long time ago, he would still need a considerable amount of focus unless he was performing a sword technique on the level of the Plum Blossom Sword Art.

Hehe.

And that was what Zhou Xuchuan was aiming for.