N-A-A Chapter 3 Spring and Autumn Sword Technique - Unparalleled
Chapter 3 Spring and Autumn Sword Technique - Unparalleled
Grandma Cai is not a bad person.
She's not a bad person at all; in fact, she's an incredibly kind-hearted old lady. The only problem is that she especially loves introducing people to potential partners, and every time...
There's a saying in the capital: If you want to know how many oddballs and freaks there are in the city, just ask Granny Cai to help you find a husband, and you can easily count them.
Grandma Cai always manages to accurately find a large group of oddballs in the bustling crowds, and then launches a shocking "blind date event".
Even Zhui Ming, a bachelor who had been single for forty years due to a "curse from his sect," was so frightened by Granny Cai that he ran away as soon as he saw her.
Granny Cai has been arranging marriages for thirteen years, and to this day, she still has an unprecedented and unparalleled zero success rate. An amateur matchmaker with a zero success rate obviously has other sources of income.
Grandma Cai's main business is house rental. She has seven or eight farmhouses, one for herself and the rest for rent. She lives a comfortable life.
When Xu Qingya went to rent a house, there was only one small courtyard near the woods left. Out of respect for Zhui Ming, Granny Cai gave him a big discount, making the rent quite affordable.
Xu Qingya grew up in the deep mountains and didn't have any requirements for his living environment. He tidied up simply, prepared fodder for the old wine, and also prepared twenty catties of strong liquor.
As a fine steed of the Qilin breed, which is on par with Red Hare, Lao Jiu not only needs to eat a shi of fodder every day, but also drink twenty jin of strong liquor. He will get upset if he is even one liang less.
Bathing, brushing, and removing insects are all tasks that Xu Qingya must do personally. If he doesn't take good care of them, Lao Jiu will get angry and kick a wolf's skull.
In comparison, Doubao is much more docile.
Kind people are often bullied, and so are kind dogs.
Xu Qingya didn't have time to buy furniture, so she simply laid Doubao across her body and used it as a pillow for the time being.
Doubaoer: (￣(エ)￣)
After a busy day of going to Beijing, arresting people, collecting rewards, renting a house, and getting to know Zhui Ming and Yang Yan, Xu Qingya held his knife and pondered what to do next.
Xu Qingya is a time traveler.
Without any reason, he opened his eyes and found himself in a brand new world. He was picked up by Ximen Changhai and taken home. What followed was a life of practicing martial arts, learning to cook, and practicing martial arts again!
Ximen Changhai loved to travel and was away from home for at least seven months of the year. Every time he returned, he would tell Xu Qingya about his experiences and the local customs of various places.
This is a vast martial arts world that is completely different from "official history" and where martial arts development is unprecedentedly prosperous;
This world has the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, the Tibetan Empire, and the Western Xia Dynasty, but the Central Plains are ruled by the "Han Dynasty";
This world has Zhang Sanfeng, Li Xunhuan, Lu Xiaofeng, Chu Liuxiang, Xiao Feng, and Li Chenzhou;
This world has martial arts rankings that have been passed down for hundreds of years and are like golden rules, as well as martial arts histories that are more exciting, more real and detailed than the historical records of dynasties.
According to Xu Qingya's analysis, the time-space shift occurred during the Later Han and Three Kingdoms period, when Liu Bei unified the country, and from then on, time and space all shifted.
For Xu Qingya, the most influential thing was that Guan Yu's "Spring and Autumn Saber Technique" became an introductory skill and basic saber technique, just like Luohan Fist and Weituo Palm.
It is said that by mastering the Spring and Autumn Saber Technique to its extreme, one can comprehend the unparalleled and supreme move created by Guan Yu, a move that can destroy a city with a single strike.
This resulted in Xu Qingya starting to practice swordsmanship at the age of six and training diligently for fifteen years, but he only mastered one set of Spring and Autumn Sword Technique and one set of Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Sword Technique; he never learned anything else.
In Ximen Changhai's words, Xu Qingya's talent was unparalleled, comparable to a reincarnation of a martial saint, and he needed to be polished bit by bit like a rough gem.
Learning too many different things is more harmful than helpful.
The rise of heroes and villains across the land indicates a serious lack of control by the imperial court. The court's predicament stemmed from the late emperor's favoritism towards alchemists and his fondness for concocting elixirs.
The late emperor was incompetent, greedy, and tyrannical. In his pursuit of immortality, he acted recklessly and wantonly, ultimately exhausting his body with the poison of the elixir and passing away four years ago.
The crown prince was a carpenter at heart, obsessed with making wooden birds. He neglected state affairs and spent his days in the carpentry workshop, hoping to create a wooden bird that could fly into the sky and soar through the heavens.
When the emperor held court, the civil and military officials would shout "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!" This carpenter prince, after ascending the throne, changed it to "Wooden bird flies~ Wooden bird flies high!"
Three years ago, with the help of Princess Liu Qingci, the eldest princess Liu Dinghuan launched a coup in the imperial city, stormed the city, deposed the crown prince, and ascended the throne as emperor.
First he became the crown prince, then the emperor, and then the prince. This "carpenter" not only had no resentment, but was happy and focused on making wooden birds.
Build him a carpentry workshop, and he can quietly study for fifty or a hundred years, until his temples are gray, without the slightest complaint.
After Liu Dinghuan ascended the throne, he was determined to reform and promote loyal ministers and generals, but unfortunately the pit dug by the previous emperor was too big.
Tian Boguang is just a nobody. The Six Doors have offered a bounty for him for eight years but haven't been able to catch him. Are all the Six Doors useless?
of course not!
When the late emperor was in power, those who were capable either got so angry that they went into seclusion in the mountains or just drifted through life. There were at least 50,000 or 80,000 backlogged files. Who could possibly manage them all?
The late emperor's incompetence, cruelty, and indulgence led to a chaotic "golden age" of martial arts.
Before Xu Qingya set off, Ximen Changhai recited a mantra about the power of the martial arts world, which can be summarized as follows:
One day, one ascends to the highest heavens;
The two teachings, with unwavering loyalty, stabilize the three realms;
The three demons' power shook the world;
The four schools and five factions each strive to be the first;
Six families and seven swords guard the four directions;
Eight talents and nine classes each claim to be powerful;
The Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends of Jianghu (a martial arts world);
May your military prowess endure forever;
The idea of one dynasty and two religions is too far removed from Xu Qingya's concerns to warrant much consideration. What is most relevant to Xu Qingya are the Eight Heroes, the Heavenly Gang, and the Earthly Fiends!
The "Eight Masters" refers to the most outstanding individuals who excel in eight areas: knife skills, sword skills, spear skills, fist and foot techniques, medical skills, poison skills, light body skills, and hidden weapons.
The Heavenly Generals and Earthly Fiends were the thirty-six Heavenly Generals and seventy-two Earthly Fiends appointed by the imperial court.
This ranking method has a history of hundreds of years, and it is said to have originated in the Three Kingdoms period. It has been passed down to this day and has formed a complete set of ranking rules, with the ranking determined by battle achievements.
Rankings inevitably fluctuate during major battles.
Once someone is certified as a Grandmaster or Great Grandmaster, they are qualified to establish their own sect. For example, Ximen Changhai was only qualified to establish the Magpie Blade Sect after he entered the Earthly Fiends Ranking.
If someone retires from the underworld, meaning they no longer participate in its affairs, they can voluntarily relinquish their ranking.
For example, Zhuge Zhengwo, who was overwhelmed by a backlog of official duties, voluntarily relinquished his position as "Gun Master".
In the struggle for rankings, the martial arts world became ruthless and insane. Chu Liuxiang became the number one in lightness skill at the age of twenty, and Li Ruohai became the new spear master at the age of twenty-four.
Where is Dao Kui?
Who is Dao Kui?
Whenever Xu Qingya thought of the Jianghu Sword Master, he felt an urge to bang his head against a wall. It wasn't that he couldn't beat him, but that he simply couldn't fight him, and even if he did, it wouldn't be a satisfying fight.
The most renowned swordsman in the martial world is—Li Xunhuan!
How the hell do I fight this?
If it's a swordsman like Ding Peng, Long Chengbi, Bai Tianyu, or Bai Xiaolou, you can go and challenge them. Li Xunhuan is a "state-based" swordsman; he doesn't understand "fighting."
Xu Qingya came to the capital for two reasons: firstly, to hone his martial arts skills and temper his blade in the turbulent world; and secondly, because it involved the background of his master, Ximen Changhai.
Ximen Changhai has four children.
The eldest brother, Ximen Changzai, had no interest in wielding weapons and was an excellent chef of Northeastern cuisine.
Ximen Changhai ranked second, a well-liked chivalrous figure in the martial arts world, a wandering knight-errant who traveled everywhere to uphold justice.
The third nun's name is "Ximen Ruoshui". She is a guardian elder of the Four Directions Sect. She disappeared unexpectedly twenty years ago. Ximen Changhai has been searching for her for many years, but has not found any clues to this day.
Fourth Uncle was named Ximen Changqing, a famous wealthy man in the south. He had no achievements in martial arts, but his son was exceptionally talented in swordsmanship.
Ximen Changqing's son was named
—Ximen Chuixue!
The Ximen family's heirloom treasure, named "Qilin Jade," was passed down through generations. Before Ximen Ruoshui disappeared, she suffered from severe paranoia and distrusted everyone.
Ximen Ruoshui hid his Qilin Jade in the Six Doors' Heavenly Prison. At the bottom of the Heavenly Prison, Ximen Ruoshui's senior brother, Dongfang Qingmu, the leader of the Four Directions Sect, was also imprisoned.
Ximen Changhai had no connection with Dongfang Qingmu and didn't want to get involved in the affairs of the Sifang Sect, but Ximen Ruoshui was his own sister, so he would definitely try to find her.
Xu Qingya's mission is to find clues about Ximen Ruoshui, and at least retrieve the Qilin Jade.
After capturing Tian Boguang to claim the reward, he strolled around outside the Six Doors, partly to test the waters.
Otherwise, given Xu Qingya's temper, he would have castrated and killed Tian Boguang long ago, then thrown him into a ravine to feed the wolves. That would be good, letting this guy die with a tarnished reputation!
Suddenly, Doubao'er's eyes widened, and his head twitched slightly. Xu Qingya grabbed the five-foot-long sword, slung it behind his back, and jumped out of the window.
Two people were standing in the woods outside.
The two looked almost identical, except one was deathly pale and the other was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Their ears were small, and their noses were large, taking up almost a third of their faces, squeezing their eyes to the sides of their ears, like two bloodthirsty venomous snakes.
"The Crimson Serpents?"
"Xu Qingya, I want your knife!"
"What if I say no?"
"Then prepare to die!"
The two men drew their swords and thrust them towards Xu Qingya's chest and abdomen.
The Twin Serpents of Azure Blood practice fast swordsmanship. Their sword strikes and retractions are as swift as a venomous snake flicking its tail, as fast as the wind. If one is not careful and gets bitten by the opponent's sword, even ten lives would not be enough to kill them.
Xu Qingya used a five-foot-long sword, which could not be drawn in a normal way. He could only "carry the sword on his back", which would inevitably slow him down.
Speed is life!
Slow is slow, or you die!
The Azure Blood Twin Serpents looked at Xu Qingya with disdain.
He's just a lucky pretty boy!
Who knows how he caught Tian Boguang!
Earning three thousand taels with a single sword strike—I haven't encountered such an easy mission in years!
Xu Qingya calmly looked at the two Azure Blood Serpents, took a half step back with his right foot, lowered his body into a bow stance, his back trembled slightly twice, and his spine bulged slightly.
He gripped the magpie knife in his right hand and suddenly drew it from its sheath.
The five-foot-long sword was not easy to draw, but Xu Qingya retreated, bowed, sprang, and bumped into him, thus striking first despite being behind. Before the sword reached his chest, the blade had already sliced across his neck.
The Spring and Autumn Period Sword Technique is unparalleled!
His first strike was unparalleled!
No matter what kind of green snake or venomous snake it is, it is nothing but a clay chicken or a clay dog in front of Xu Qingya's huge, powerful, and lightning-fast blade, unable to withstand even an inch of its sharpness.
"Clang!"
The magpie blade returned to its sheath.
"Slap! Slap!"
Two heads fell to the ground, their eyes wide open in death!
Xu Qingya complained, "Damn it! Your two heads should be enough for a bounty, right?"