Chapter 357: Storm in Jianghu (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Dark clouds covered the sky, and boats were bobbing up and down on the shore. Behind them was a small town with waning lights, and in front of them was 500 kilometers of blue waves.
Raindrops sprinkled on the roof, making dense pitter-patter sounds. The light at the bow of the boat was like a bean. The bird was standing under the lantern, looking at the rolling waves and chirping. From the looks of it, it was humming: The great river goes east, the waves are gone, and the romantic bird of ancient times…
On the shore, Ye Jingtang moved the Roaring Dragon Spear, Jun Mountain Saber, and other weapons wrapped in black cloth into the cabin. Then he returned to the shore and opened his umbrella. “Are you sure you’re okay?” “Hmm-?” Daoist Xuanji’s back was leaning on the small shed by the lake. Her face was red, and she looked like she couldn’t even stand steadily. “What can happen to me? I’m the sixth peerless expert in the world…”
When Ye Jingtang saw Daoist Xuanji’s drunk appearance, he regretted bringing her along. Now, not only would she not protect him, but he would have to thank the heavens if she could take care of herself without his help.
Seeing Daoist Xuanji staggering over, Ye Jingtang was afraid that she would accidentally fall into the water, so he raised his hand to help her. “Be careful…”
But what he didn’t expect was that before he could touch her arm, Daoist Xuanji flipped her wrist and grabbed his hand as fast as lightning. She raised it in front of her and turned to look at him. Her eyes were drunk and blurry, but they revealed a hint of danger. “What’s wrong? You want to take advantage of my drunkenness to plot something evil?”
Ye Jingtang had nothing to say. He felt that Daoist Xuanji was really drunk, so he didn’t argue with her. He held an umbrella and gestured. “Alright, 1 won’t hold your arm. Be careful not to fall into the water.”
“FImph!” Only then did Daoist Xuanji let go of Ye Jingtang’s hand. She lightly jumped onto the small boat, sat on the mat in the cabin, and took off the wine gourd at her waist. “This wine tastes really good. The key is that it’s strong. Are you really not going to take a sip?”
Ye Jingtang untied the anchor rope, used a bamboo pole to push the boat away from the shore, and then pulled up the sail. “Forget it. This isn’t a peaceful place. You’re already drunk like this. If I’m drunk too and our luck is bad, we might fall into the lake to feed the fish…”
Daoist Xuanji lay on her side on the mat with her right hand supporting the side of his face. The wine gourd swayed slightly as she made a very seductive posture. Her watery eyes were incredibly charming. “Life is short. You should learn to enjoy yourself while you’re young. I’m already drunk like this, but you still don’t know how to be flirtatious at all. How did you woo Ning’er?”
Ye Jingtang originally wanted to enter the cabin, but when he heard this, he stopped in his tracks and shook his head. He sat under the boat canopy in front of the cabin door and sized up the five-foot-long saber. “Ning’er and I fell in love at first sight. Our feelings for each other formed naturally. She wouldn’t deliberately flirt with me. If I really took the bait, she would beat me up…”
“If you don’t try, how do you know I’ll beat you up?”
“Sigh…” Ye Jingtang shook his head and didn’t respond. He held the long saber in his hand and slashed out three inches. A cold light immediately appeared on the deck.
Swish!
Daoist Xuanji poured herself a cup and drank for a moment. Perhaps feeling a little bored, she said, “Don’t tell me you’re not interested in proactive girls and prefer more reserved ones?”
Ye Jingtang ignored her. After weighing the long saber, he hung it at his waist, assumed the starting stance of the Eight-Steps Frenzied Blade, and tried to unsheathe it.
The 5-foot-long saber was really a little too long, and he couldn’t draw the saber as smoothly as the Hornless Dragon Saber. But after he unsheathed it, there was no problem with using the moves of the Eight-Steps Frenzied Blade.
Although the speed couldn’t reach the peak, the attack range had doubled. He could even use the moves of the Dragon Slaying Decree. He had abandoned a portion of his strength in exchange for infinite possibilities.
Swish, swish!
Ye Jingtang stood in the rain, holding the long saber in his hand and slowly swinging it while adjusting his posture of exerting strength. He was so focused that it was as if there were only one person and one boat in the world. He completely treated the peerless beauty behind him as air.
Daoist Xuanji teased the bird rolling on the mat with her hands. Seeing that Ye Jingtang was ignoring her, she gradually lost the mood to play with it. She held the railing, stood up straight, and put on the posture of an expert. “That’s not how you use a saber.”
Ye Jingtang stopped practicing his saber techniques and turned around. “Fairy Lu, you know saber techniques too?”
Daoist Xuanji walked over drunkenly into the drizzle and took the long saber from Ye Jingtang with a proud expression. “The highest realm of martial arts is, ‘There’s no saber in the hand, but there’s a saber in the heart’. Only ordinary martial artists will pay attention to weapons, moves, internal techniques, and external techniques. I’ve already passed this stage. Now, every move I make is a move, and I can pick flowers and leaves as sharp weapons. There’s no difference to me whether I hold a saber or a sword, so I can be considered to know them.”
Ye Jingtang knew that Daoist Xuanji was talking about the realm of Returning to Simplicity.
When martial artists practiced martial arts, the process was nothing more than:
A punch from an ordinary person was a punch.
Experts would supplement it with moves and techniques. A punch was no longer as simple as a punch.
Above this, it was to combine the strengths of various schools of thought and master them. When one trained their meridians, bones, and muscles to perfection, their every move would reach great heights. Naturally, they would no longer be restricted to moves, and a punch was a punch.
If it were the three old monsters on the mountain who said this, he would definitely believe it. But hearing it from the beautiful alcoholic, he couldn’t help doubting her. “Fairy Lu, you’re already so powerful. Why were you poisoned by that woman in black several times?”
“That woman is not ordinary. Moreover, 1 was the one who wanted to snatch something from her. I was in the wrong, so I held back.”
Daoist Xuanji raised the saber and twirled it. Because the blade was too long, it looked a little scary.
Afraid of being accidentally injured, Ye Jingtang retreated to the cabin and carried away the bird, who was watching curiously. “Be careful not to cut yourself..”
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