Chapter 305: A Battle Under the Sea (1)

The technique he had acquired from Fang Jun, the Water Man Art, wasn't a peerless technique, but it was still an ascendant technique.

It had the basic function of allowing one to breathe underwater for a long time through one's qi instead of air. It also allowed free movement in the water.

It's not that difficult to learn.

Zhou Xuchuan adapted the Water Man Art in a flash.

After undergoing Bodily Reformation, he now had a physique suitable for learning any martial arts.[1]

Moreover, he had reached the highest realm and had more than enough comprehension. In addition, there was a concept in martial arts called the "Ten Thousand Streams Converge."

Water immersion arts were based in yin qi and shared a root with the Eclipse Divine Archery Art through the Path of Taiji, the balance of Yin and Yang, making it easier for him to understand.

Above all, this was where his Manifestation of One's Path, Imitation, really shined.

I'm not even trying to reach the completion stage. I'm only trying to reach the middle stages, so this really isn't that difficult.

Zhou Xuchuan inhaled and exhaled. He cultivated as he contemplated the Water Man Art.

He was able to reach the First Stage within a day. In two days, he reached the Second Stage, and on the fourth day, he reached the Third Stage.

Since the Water Man Art had ten stages in total, he only had two stages left until he reached the middle completion stage, the Fifth Stage.

Moreover, it was more efficient to cultivate the Water Man Art within water.

Thus, Zhou Xuchuan had entered a cave where water cascaded in before going into secluded cultivation. As for his Dharma Protector, he had Little Ghost to guard him.

Perhaps because he was so engrossed in it, but he didn't eat at all. Once one became an Absolute Master, one could last for a week without drinking even a single sip of water, so it wasn't a problem.

While I'm at it, I should cultivate the South Sea Single Blade Flow.

He had found an incredible amount of stuff when he raided Fang Jun's pirate force. There were many martial arts from the Central Plains and the Frontier, as well as many martial arts from the Eastern Islands, as well as many resources.

If he had to pick a useful martial art among them, it would definitely be the South Sea Single Blade Flow. It was pretty good as a quicksaber technique.

However, his weapon was a sword rather than a saber, and he wasn't using an Eastern Island blade, either, so there were some inconsistencies. Still, it wasn't a big issue.

The South Sea Single Blade Flow was actually an Iaijutsu art.

It would be a different story if the technique were a connected set of forms, but the technique focused only on a single, defining blow, so the inconsistencies with his weapon didn't really matter.

It was best to use a saber, but as long as he corrected the inconsistencies with his cultivation base, he could just as easily use a sword.

The South Sea Single Blade Flow was a martial art born under the influence of the Hainan Sword Sect's sword technique and the Eastern Island's saber technique. Thus, there wouldn't be that big of a problem even if he wielded a sword.

I don't have a quicksword technique anyway, so this is a good thing.

Through the South Sea Single Blade Flow, he finally had a quicksword technique.

The Mount Hua Sect's array of ascendant sword techniques included a chaotic sword technique, a transforming sword technique, and an unfettered sword technique, among many others.

It wasn't that the Mount Hua Sect had no quicksword techniques; they just weren't as strong as the sect's foundational techniques.

As for a heavy sword technique, as its name suggested, he had one in the form of the Ten Thousand Jin Sword.

The South Sea Single Blade Flow… or is it the South Sea Single Sword Flow?

Zhou Xuchuan successfully improved upon the South Sea Single Blade Flow.

***

Meanwhile, Hainan Island was bustling with activity.

"Was Fang Jun taken down by the imperial government?"

"I heard that a master from the Central Plains'

murim

subjugated him."

"A master from the Central Plains'

murim

?"

"Yes, the Sword God Zhou Xuchuan."

"Even if that's the case, how could a young man barely an adult become one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords? There must be something wrong with the information."

"Still, isn't it incredible? They subjugated those damned Eastern Pirates."

"To be honest, I haven't been happy with the recent actions of the Hainan Sword Sect, but perhaps we misunderstood them."

Hainan Island, which had been out of contact with the Central Plains for quite some time now, was finally getting exposed to the various happenings of the Central Plains. However, they found it hard to believe much of it.

People were creatures that tended not to believe the truth even when it unfolded right before their own eyes. It went without saying that the islanders didn't believe the news from across the sea.

While they could believe the fact that Zhou Xuchuan had defeated Fang Jun, one of the strongest of the South Sea and a notorious pirate, they treated his title of "Sword God" as something absurd.

However, when Wei Yihai, the Sect Master of the Hainan Sword Sect, came forward and spoke up, their distrust changed to half-belief.

"Zhou Xuchuan… I mean, what does it matter if Great Hero Zhou Xuchuan is called the Sword God or not? He's still the Greatest Hero among all the Great Heroes."

"Well, you're right!"

Zhou Xuchuan's popularity on Hainan Island skyrocketed.

The truth about his cultivation was secondary. The important thing was that he had wiped out the pirate force and returned what they had looted.

"Now, now, line up!"

Fang Jun, the captain of the pirate group, was both greedy and distrustful. He had even made a ledger to manage his loot in case one of his men stole from him. Thus, they easily found the source of the loot and returned it.

Zhou Xuchuan also gave the people many things as compensation for the damages they had suffered. He also gave money to the poor.

The Hainan Sword Sect was also able to get a reprieve from their shortage of supplies and money with this loot and were finally able to take a breather.

"Treat the party from the Central Plains with the utmost respect."

Wei Yihai expressed his gratitude and treated them accordingly.

While part of it was because he owed them for their many favors, part of it was because most of the party from across the sea weren't people whom he could offend.

As if the members of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, the leading figures of the younger generation of the Righteous Faction, weren't enough, when he heard the title, "the Divine Physician," he doubted his ears.

Moreover, he also talked about business with Li Yicai.

"Are you talking about a trade route?"

"The tropical fruits and seafood from the South Sea that you treated us to a while ago were incredible. If the Hainan Sword Sect is okay with it, we would like you to trust us to do business between the Central Plains and the South Sea."

Hainan Island used to be quite active with trade.

While it was difficult to access the island due to the surrounding nature formation and the unpredictable sea, it actually increased the rarity of the tropical fruits. In addition to their great taste, the fruits' value increased drastically.

After the conflict with the Returning Deer Gate and the emergence of the South Sea Dragon Gate, trade with the Central Plains was virtually cut off.

We tend to try to translate as much as we can so you're not sitting there reading romanized names that don't really mean anything to you, especially when the names are integral to the identities of the aforementioned things (for example, a force that uses swords being translated as Sword Sect and not Jian Sect).

However, there is a rule that we try to stick to that takes precedence over trying to translate and localize as much as we can.

"Does this exist in accepted prior works and is the existing translation accurate?"

If something has precedence, we try to stick to it unless it's an improper translation.

For example, that's why we translate Qinghai Sect and Hainan Sword Sect with their romanized names and not West Lake Sect and South of the Sea Sword Sect.

Just in case you were curious why I translated South Sea (Nanhai) Dragon Gate vs keeping Hainan Sword Sect the way it was.

(the final third rule is if we literally cannot figure out what something means, we'll romanize it until we can figure it out, but I've literally never seen that happen bc everyone is really good at helping each other).