Chapter 14: Instruction

Yin Shengong took a deep breath as a serious look appeared in his eyes, and he declared, "The Blood Spirit Sword Techniques use the mind as a medium and are guided by intent. Even before the sword has been drawn, the intent has already been unleashed. The intent is already upon the enemy before the sword, and by the time the enemy is slain, I have already returned, allowing no chance for retaliation..."

He chanted the sword mantra while channeling his spirit qi through a specific route in his body, and he performed the seven sword techniques one after another in a very slow manner, much slower than even when Sun Yuan was instructing Fang Che.

However, at the same time, the Seven Blood Spirit Swords were also far more complex than any technique that Sun Yuan had bestowed upon Fang Che, and there were far more ways in which mistakes could be made.

The four elders were also watching intently, but they were already overwhelmed by the time the second technique had been performed, and they could only relinquish their efforts in trying to memorize the sword techniques in a defeated manner.

How was it possible for anyone to be able to memorize such an incredibly complex set of sword techniques after just one viewing?

They were all convinced that Fang Che's so-called prodigious talent was going to be put to shame here.

Even Yin Shengong himself was beginning to have second thoughts. He had decided to do this on a whim, yet only as he was performing the sword techniques now did it occur to him just how absurd this was.

Back in his youth, it had taken him three months just to barely grasp the basics of these sword techniques, and there was no way that anyone could memorize everything with just a single demonstration.

Before long, the demonstration had concluded, and Yin Shengong's sword intent returned to his dantian as he asked, "How much have you memorized?"

There was no response.

He turned to discover Fang Che standing in a statuesque manner, looking straight ahead with a set of completely hollow eyes, as if his consciousness had retreated into the deepest recesses of his memories.

Several minutes later, a hint of lucidity returned to his eyes, and he said, "Please enlighten me, Pope Yin."

With that, he drew his sword and began his performance.

Yin Shengong and the three elders' eyes widened in unison.

Fang Che's movements, footwork, and the sense of effortless elegance that he exuded were all completely identical to Yin Shengong, and if one were to look at him from the back, they could easily fall under the assumption that it was Yin Shengong making a second demonstration.

A hint of anticipation was ignited in Yin Shengong's eyes as he stared intently at Fang Che.

Fang Che slashed his sword through the air while taking a stride forward, placing one foot ahead of the other.

Immediately thereafter, he rose up onto the tips of his toes, namely only his big toe and his second toe, much like a graceful ballerina.

He made a sword seal with one hand while a burst of spirit qi rose up from his dantian before surging into his right arm. This was the initial route of spirit qi channeling for the first of the Seven Blood Spirit Swords.

He thrust his sword forward, leaning forward slightly to the exact same degree as Yin Shengong had, and he even possessed some of the aura of composure that Yin Shengong had displayed.

At the same time, he began to chant the sword mantra: "The Blood Spirit Sword Techniques use the mind as a medium and are guided by intent. Even before the sword has been drawn, the intent has already been unleashed. The intent is already upon the enemy before the sword, and by the time the enemy is slain, I have already returned, allowing no chance for retaliation..."

It was a perfect match, down to every last word, and all of the other elements were also completely identical to what had been presented in Yin Shengong's demonstration.

With the first technique completed, Fang Che moved on to the second technique, then the third one, then the fourth...

All the while, the shock on Yin Shengong's face was becoming more and more pronounced, and the mouths of the three elders had gaped open so wide that they could swallow entire eggs whole.

Sun Yuan wasn't faring much better, even though he already had some idea of what to expect.

Only now had he come to realize that Fang Che hadn't even been all that serious when learning his techniques.

If he could memorize the Seven Blood Spirit Swords after just one viewing, there was no way he would've required two hours to learn all of Sun Yuan's techniques if he had been learning in earnest.

Yin Shengong was so shocked that he was unable to form any coherent thoughts.

For a brief moment, he suspected that he had perhaps been duped, and that Fang Che had learned the Seven Blood Spirit Swords from someone else in the past, but that possibly was quickly put out of his mind.

There was still an undeniable lack of proficiency in Fang Che's movements befitting of a novice, and he was only able to imitate the movements, but his techniques held no destructive power.

Furthermore, he was the sole master of the Seven Blood Spirit Swords, and he hadn't taught the techniques to anyone else prior to this.

But this was way too fast! How had he memorized everything after just a single viewing?

His heart was pounding so vigorously and quickly in his chest that there was an audible drumming in his ears.

This was a true prodigy!

Only as he began performing the seventh and final sword technique did Fang Che finally begin to falter, but ultimately, he was still able to memorize all seven techniques in their entirety.

His performance was met with complete silence.

As he sheathed his sword, he remained standing still on the spot as he reflected on his own mistakes and murmured to himself, "During the swivel in the fifth technique, my footwork was incorrect, resulting in an imbalance in my posture, and my sword seal was also a split second too late.

“By the time I reached the seventh technique, everything had gone completely wrong. There were six... seven... eight... a total of nine errors made, and there's also a word in the mantra that I must've misheard as a homonym to something else..."

Yin Shengong took a deep breath, and his normally pale face was a little flushed.

"During the swivel in the fifth technique, the sword seal made with your left hand is meant to target other potential enemies that could be present. You were under the impression that you were only supposed to be imagining a single enemy, and that's why your posture was off, so it's not actually an error in execution. As for the errors that you made in the seventh technique..."

Yin Shengong gave Fang Che a detailed rundown of all of his mistakes, and it was clear that he was much more invested than he had been earlier.

After hearing what Yin Shengong had to say, Fang Che performed the seven techniques once again, following which an enlightened look appeared on his face as he turned to Yin Shengong to express his gratitude.

Yin Shengong gave him a smile and a nod, then turned to Sun Yuan with a look of mixed emotions in his eyes as he declared, "You truly have stumbled upon a generational talent!"

Meanwhile, Fang Che performed the sword techniques a third time, and it was already a flawless display.

He was clearly still lacking in proficiency, but that was just a matter of practice and accumulation of experience.

Mu Linyuan, Hou Fang, and Qian Sanjiang were stunned beyond belief, and they were still yet to return to their senses, unable to wrap their heads around the notion that such a prodigy could possibly exist in this world.

Compared with their Fang Che, their so-called prodigious disciples were utter trash! There was no comparison to be made here at all!

The three of them turned to Sun Yuan with burning envy and malice in their eyes.

A chill instantly ran down Sun Yuan's spine in the face of their undisguised killing intent, and he hurriedly put on a fawning smile, stopping just short of begging for mercy.

Please save me some dignity and don't beat me to a pulp in front of my disciple!

"Alright, who's next? I'm going to take a rest," Yin Shengong said, then sat down onto a chair and fell into deep thought.

In his eyes, all of this had been a complete coincidence. Under normal circumstances, even a third-tier elder like Sun Yuan would've been considered overqualified to oversee a baptism.

It was because he had been intrigued by Sun Yuan's stories of his absurdly talented disciple that he had decided to come and have a look, only to have bore witness to a disciple that had earned the approval of even the Heavenly Centipede Deity.

It was exactly because of the Heavenly Centipede Deity's reaction that Yin Shengong had decided to demonstrate the Seven Blood Spirit Swords to Fang Che on a whim, when he would've otherwise halfheartedly shown him something far simpler.

He would've acknowledged Fang Che as a top-tier prodigy even if he had only managed to learn one of the seven techniques, but his expectations had been completely subverted and surpassed!

At this moment, countless thoughts and emotions were racing through his heart, and he was struggling to compose himself.

As for Fang Che, he was ecstatic. The Seven Blood Spirit Swords were far more advanced and powerful than the sword techniques that he had used in his past life, and once fully mastered, they would serve as a huge trump card of his.

The only problem was that these were Yin Shengong's signature sword techniques, so he would have to keep them concealed unless he was certain that there would be no witnesses left to tell the tale.

***

Mu Linyuan stepped forward with a benevolent smile, barely able to contain his own excitement.

Sun Yuan cleared his throat, then said, "Please teach my disciple well, Elder Mu. He..."

"There's no need to remind me that he's your disciple? I'm not going to take him from you!" Mu Linyuan snapped.

Sun Yuan could only give a sheepish smile in response.

The malice in Mu Linyuan's heart was only further exacerbated by the sight of Sun Yuan's sheepish face, and he had to fight back the urge to beat him to a pulp.

He took a deep breath to compose himself, and by the time he turned his gaze back to Fang Che, his benevolent facade had already returned.

"Fang Che, you possess the most outstanding aptitude out of anyone I've ever seen, and while I'm sure you could easily master any battle techniques that I show you, I think there is something more important for you to learn, and that's the ability to master your own mind.

“I can teach you everything else I know further down the line, but for now, I am going to teach you a calming cultivation art that can allow you to remain perfectly calm and composed regardless of how much peril you're in. I invented this cultivation art myself, and I call it Cool as Ice."

With that, he began instructing Fang Che through voice transmission.

Yin Shengong had been content to display his sword techniques to everyone as they were too complex for the other elders to memorize, but his Cool as Ice was something that could be easily memorized with just once recitation, so he made sure to impart it through voice transmission in order to prevent it from being overheard.

Meanwhile, Hou Fang, Qian Sanjiang, and Sun Yuan exchanged a peculiar glance with one another.

What did Mu Linyuan mean when he said "I can teach you everything else I know further down the line?"

In particular, a strong sense of foreboding had arisen in Sun Yuan's heart.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Mu Linyuan was going to take his disciple from him!

That shameless old bastard! I knew he was looking at me like he wanted to kill me just now!