Chapter 175: The Sweet Thrills of Fighting (I)
Li Hao placed more importance on the expedition now that he knew multiple powerhouses would be attending it.
The Yuan residence.
There was nothing else the young man could do after bringing word to his teacher. He could only throw himself into studying and training so he could advance to Dominator of Thousands as soon as possible. Only then would he have the right to join some of the battles involving heavyweights.
Li Hao continued down his path of cultivation in the yard. His internal force was slowly coalescing into a sword. It was a painfully slow process, at least for him. A few months were required regardless in normal times. It was but a transitory period to most Sunderers, so they went about their business without another thought. They would be peak Sunderer in just a few months, what were they in a rush for?
Li Hao was in a rush.
Yuan Shuo sat on a nearby wicker chair, creaking back and forth as he contemplated something. He shouted when some thoughts connected in his mind, “Sun Yifei, Qimei Staff King, adept at staff techniques and dominated Silver Moon with the Qimei staff back in his day. There was almost no one who could stand against him!
“There were the Seven Swordsmen of Silver Moon, the Three Spears, the North and South Fists, and only the Qimei Staff King for those who practiced the staff!
“It takes one month to learn the staff, one year to learn the blade, and one lifetime to learn the spear. The staff is easy to pick up, but hard to master! Qimei Staff King Sun Yifei attained the acme of perfection with his skill. While he wasn’t a Dominator, he was indeed fearsome as a Sunderer!”
Li Hao continued running through his boxing routine as he listened quietly to his teacher. His teacher rarely talked about the past, so he wanted to listen to the sudden inspiration that’d blossomed.
“Sun Yifei and I did not share any grudges back in the day—we didn’t feud with each other. I was younger than him and he had a disciple roughly my age.
“Who among martial masters wasn’t a brash, impetuous youngster? His disciple and I argued over trivial matters one day and I was in a period of fast growth. My blows landed too hard when we fought and I killed him with three blows,” Yuan Shuo sighed with emotion.
“It’s common for martial masters to end up killing their opponent when they fight. It’s why the government banned violence—they were right to do so. And so, Sun Yifei and I established a blood feud. We agreed to battle at Rift Canyon—there was still a Rift Bridge then. We settled on dueling on the bridge and that whoever left the bridge was the vanquished.
“Sun Yifei was roughly ten years older than me then. However, the heaviest fist cowers in front of youth. I happened to be in my prime and took the upper hand as soon as battle began. I used the tiger style to break his arms and snap his Qimei staff. Sun Yifei was unable to bear the humiliation and jumped off the bridge.
“Rift Bridge was several hundred meters above the canyon, so I thought he died.” Here, Yuan Shuo sighed. “But to think that he’d join Red Moon! It looks like after Ying Hongyue lost to me and founded Red Moon, he reached out to martial masters that I’d defeated.”
“Teacher, Ying Hongyue was weaker than you then.” Li Hao couldn’t help his curiosity. “How could he establish such a massive organization like Red Moon?”
The man had been far inferior to his teacher twenty years ago!
“I’m not sure, we crossed paths roughly twenty-five years ago. I was almost fifty then and the fellow a little younger than me. He probably thought I was in decline and wanted to build his reputation off of my back. But I’d already comprehended the auras of the Five Styles, I just hadn’t consolidated them yet. Despite that, I still beat him into complete submission…”
“Teacher, you always fully exterminate the enemy, why didn’t you kill him?” This was what Li Hao found the strangest of all. Why were so many of his teacher’s enemies still running around in good health?
“I don’t kill just anyone!” Yuan Shuo rolled his eyes. “You make me sound like a demon. I only kill people in the heat of battle, when I lose control. It’s either they’re too weak, they’re too strong, or we’re evenly matched…”
And that was when he killed people.
Li Hao’s jaw dropped when he turned over his teacher’s words. So his teacher killed weaklings, people stronger than him, and peers who were evenly matched. He killed them all, so er… didn’t that make him a demon?
“People like Ying Hongyue survive for various reasons. Either they recognize the inevitable outcome of battle and surrender when they’re about to lose, or we’re both heavily injured and continued fighting would lead to a pyrrhic victory. Another possibility is that they have such a strong backer that I can’t afford to kill them.”
Yuan Shuo chuckled. “Ying Hongyue numbered among the latter. He had someone behind him—I didn’t know who—but I could feel someone locking onto me as we fought. Now that I think about it again… they must’ve been a peak Sunderer or Dominator!
“I was no fool and realized that the mysterious person might intend to temper and train Ying Hongyue. I would be in trouble if I really beat him to death.”
Alright then, Li Hao understood. His teacher had thought Sun Yifei was dead after the man jumped off the bridge. Ying Hongyue had someone backing him up, so his teacher didn’t dare beat the man to death.
The young man returned his attention to the sword, shaking his internal force and layering it four times to break through the air!
“Don’t make a sound.” Yuan Shuo frowned. “Do you think that’s cool? When you’re up against powerhouses, it’s easy for them to lock on to where you are if you audibly rip through the air. You’ll have to dominate them with sheer strength, or you'll lose as soon as you make a sound!”
It was easy to attack with sound and very difficult to attack silently. Strong internal force broke through drag in the air when it erupted. The split second of acceleration from a sword stab would break through the sound barrier and naturally create some noise.
This could be avoided only if one maintained this speed and continuously broke the sound barrier, ensuring that the stroke was over when sound finally arrived. Therefore, one either needed to be extremely fast or extremely slow in order to be soundless.
Li Hao struck again—there was still sound. He tried a straightforward stab without internal force. The attack was silent, but so incredibly weak.
The young man furrowed his brow. It was… so hard to be quiet when attacking!
“I’m not versed in the sword,” Yuan Shuo said. “But whether it is the fist or the sword, the logic is the same. Either the punch is so fast that I am already done by the time you hear it, or it is so slow that I hit you before you can sense it.”
Li Hao nodded, these were part of his considerations.
“Teacher, I am a little ways from breaking the sound barrier…”
“Then be slower!”
Li Hao moved slowly—it felt so awkward.
“Not that kind of slow,” Yuan Shuo said with resignation. “You know how I normally deploy the Five Styles?”
“Yes, they’re more like exercise to stay in good health. But teacher is very, very fast when battling, not slow.” Li Hao still didn’t understand.
“You don’t get it. Whether fast or slow, one does not need to stand in place,” the professor explained. “I move slowly, but I erupt with great speed! Take our current positions, I am five meters away from you. I will attack very slowly for the first four meters, so slow that you don’t care. But when I’m only one meter away…”
He rose and leisurely brought a soundless first toward Li Hao. When he was less than one meter away, a fist suddenly blurred beyond the capabilities of the eye. The young man’s hair flew up as Yuan Shuo’s first broke numerous strands of hair.
“Do you see that?”
Bam!
A sonic boom ripped through the air.
“Sparring and battle is a process of creating killing opportunities!” Yuan Shuo said solemnly. “We do not pursue beautiful styles through battle. We only have one goal—kill our opponent!
“Or rather, we can say that all battle leads to that final stroke or fist! Everything before that is a process that paves the way for that opportunity. You achieve your goal in the last moment and deliver that fatal blow! That is battle!”
This was a real martial master, the real way to kill someone! Based on Yuan Shuo’s words, everything that took place in a fight was just preparatory work leading up to the final strike. One needed to deliver the fist or sword to its intended position during this process, erupting at the last possible second and completing the deed.
Whether it was secret arts or supernatural techniques, their ultimate goal was to kill.
“Remember this, Li Hao. The final aim of all battle is to kill! There is no such thing as sparring, do you understand? No such thing as stopping at first contact! From the moment martial techniques were invented and the second that the supernatural domain appeared, the strength of a superhuman is used to kill!”
Li Hao nodded.
“Training to strengthen the body or to be healthy is all bullshit. All that rot about the supernatural benefiting society is also bullshit. Is there no way to benefit society without supernatural strength? No way to grow stronger? Therefore, there is only one goal for superhuman strength—to kill!”
Li Hao nodded solemnly once again.
“You will most certainly see blood on this expedition!” Yuan Shuo growled. “This will be a different trip from before. You could hide behind me in the past and maybe even employ a few tricks on others. But this time, you must fight and face danger alone. I have many enemies and too many who wish to kill me. Your life might even be in danger before you enter the ruins proper.”
“They’ll attack before we go inside?” Li Hao questioned.
“It’s hard to say,” Yuan Shuo postulated. “It depends. Everyone knows you’re my final disciple. If we face a martial master who insists on doing things by the book, then you might have to fight for me. You may not face them, but rather, their student, disciple, or heir.
“Although martial dao has declined after the rise of the supernatural, some customs still have to be adhered to if martial masters insist. We can ignore them if no one else is around, but we must follow the rules if there’s an audience.
“I don’t actually want you to go, but I’ll worry about your safety in Silver City if you don’t. Why don’t I send you to White Moon City?”
Not only would this be a dangerous trip for Yuan Shuo, but it would also be a dangerous undertaking for Li Hao. The professor could break the rules when no one was around, but if there were others—and possibly stronger than him—one had to observe custom. When that was the case, the rules would actually be protecting him.
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