565: Chapter 101: A Muddy World, Clear-minded People_2 565: Chapter 101: A Muddy World, Clear-minded People_2 “So your sword deliberately deviated, hitting the Zhongfu acupoint.”
Xie Xuanyi said, “If you didn’t want to kill him, why did you draw your sword?”
“Piercing the Zhongfu can knock him down and he can still be saved.”
Chu Guo hesitated a bit: “Piercing the Lianquan, I’m afraid, he won’t be coming back.”
Xie Xuanyi remained silent for a moment.
He said, “It’s just a wooden dummy.”
Chu Guo gritted his teeth: “But I’m learning swordsmanship, not just to chop at wooden dummies.”
“You’re not quite suited to learn the sword.”
Xie Xuanyi shook his head and said, “If you encounter the bandits of Pingzhi City again, this kind of swordplay will get you killed.”
“I…”
Chu Guo wanted to say that if he encountered bandits, with his swordsmanship learned, he would surely fight with all his might.
But such a retort sounded too pale.
If you don’t pierce vital points on normal days, can you really hit them at critical moments?
Doesn’t he know this principle?
Of course he does, it’s just a wooden dummy in front of him, but every time he’s about to strike, looking at the “meridian acupoints” on the wooden man dummy, it’s always hard for him to make a move, to pierce that all-important Great Acupoint.
“…”
The silence of Chu Guo made the entire back mountain and its woods fall into stillness.
“If you don’t want to kill, why bother learning the sword?”
Xie Xuanyi, pushing his wheelchair, looked at the fallen wooden dummies scattered everywhere, his voice very flat, without a trace of anger.
For him.
Whether Chu Guo can learn swordsmanship is actually not important.
But at this moment, in this scene.
This question sounded somewhat sharp.
“Does learning the sword…
necessarily mean having to kill?”
Chu Guo also looked at the wooden dummies he had knocked down, opening his mouth in confusion.
“Of course.”
Xie Xuanyi said indifferently.
He casually picked up a withered branch and waved it carelessly, the branch sword Qi burst forth, splitting open the Lianquan acupoint of the wooden man dummy, this thread of sword Qi extremely slight, like the breeze, yet effortlessly tore open a wooden dummy’s head, slicing it off before it rolled to the ground, ending up rolling to Chu Guo’s feet.
“These few days’ worth of wooden dummies, I’ve just looked over…
Yang Seven Acupoints, Yin Two Acupoints, these Nine Acupoints—not a single one have you pierced.”
“You don’t pierce the major vessels or critical acupoints either.”
Xie Xuanyi wheeled through the wooden man dummies.
It has been a long time since he practiced the most basic swordsmanship.
These years he has been cultivating the Tao Rules, perceiving the great Dao!
The Sword Energy Realm, higher than ever before—
A withered branch, effortlessly, in a few breaths’ time, cut down all the mountain’s wooden dummies.
Chu Guo’s complexion turned pale.
He looked at the pile of dummies in front of him, not a single one intact.
The sword of Xie Zhen, entirely different from his own.
Every stroke, piercing the vital points.
To be more precise, only piercing the vital points!
“The Cultivation World is very cruel.”
Xie Xuanyi’s eyes drooped and handed the withered branch to the young man, saying, “For the vast majority of cultivators, life comes only once, and once missed, it cannot be regained.
Life-and-death battles are no joking matter.
If you want to learn the sword, you must accept these ‘cold and cruel’ rules.
If you don’t want to learn the sword, perhaps being a kind-hearted doctor is also a good choice.”
Xie Xuanyi’s cut down dummies were just wooden.
This withered branch had not been tainted with blood.
But the hands of Chu Guo holding the branch were shaking slightly.
A few days ago.
On a sunny morning, brimming with high spirits, he began to learn the sword, saying “I want to cultivate” with such ease, but only upon truly taking up the sword did he realize that even a wooden sword could be so heavy.
Chu Guo’s voice trembled slightly: “But…
I’ve never killed a person.”
These years.
He had saved not a few lives, yet never taken one.
“You’ve never killed anyone, but have you never encountered someone who wanted to kill you?”
Xie Xuanyi looked into the eyes of the young man.
He has seen many in his time.
The eyes of Chu Guo, so clear, are not the eyes a Prince of Da Chu should have.
The previous Emperor Chu, his eyes laughing, hiding a knife in his smile.
The sister of Chu Guo, Chu Yin, looked seemingly oblivious but hid a sharp glint in her gaze.
Clear-minded people cannot survive in times of chaos.
Chu Guo’s peaceful life owes partly to his sheer luck and partly to the care of Chen Jingxuan from the Book Tower, as well as the “Fire Master.”
Chen Jingxuan did not wish to directly reveal Chu Guo’s identity.
Presumably.
Over these years, through “Fire Master,” he has also been informed of Chu Guo’s life.
Being able to grow up happily in Pingzhi City is the best outcome, yet in this murky world, such clarity only invites disaster.
The moment Xie Xuanyi proposed to teach the sword, he made up his mind to puncture through this layer of “paper window.”
“I…”
All of a sudden, Chu Guo remembered the moment when Pingzhi City was shattered.
Zheng Fengsheng took a sword strike for him.
The female Sword Immortal sent him away.
If not for these people’s sacrifice, would he have been killed?
Suddenly feeling guilty, his gaze turned evasive.
“If someone wants to kill you.”
Xie Xuanyi said: “Then you should strike first and kill them before they get the chance.
Learning the sword is just like treating a disease; if you can diagnose someone’s ‘ailment,’ when it’s time to insert the needle, you should aim straight for the acupoint to lessen their pain…
Killing or saving both require swiftness, accuracy, and ruthlessness.”
“If you wish to follow me and learn the sword, then you must accept this.”
“If this was Qian State, forever peaceful, you could learn some fancy yet useless swordsmanship, and perhaps you could perform street acts, dance a sword dance…”
“Unfortunately, this is Yuan Province.”
Xie Xuanyi calmly stated: “Let me tell you, the places you will go in the future will be crueler than Yuan Province.”
A crack.
A dead branch fell onto the ground.
The back mountain was so quiet that the drop of a needle could be heard.
After a long time, Chu Guo’s voice, hoarse, inquired: “Can I…
never return to Pingzhi City?”
The young lad is still a young lad after all.
With the outbreak of chaos in Pingzhi City, Chu Guo escaped here with Old Zheng, always harboring a trace of vain hope in his heart.
Perhaps, when the chaos subsides and peace returns to Yuan Province, he could re-enter his little haven in Pingzhi City.
Xie Xuanyi did not directly answer the boy’s question.
Instead, he posed a question in return: “Even if you go back, will it be the same as before?”
Chu Guo understood immediately.
Some things, once they occur, they have occurred.
The moment he left Pingzhi City,
He couldn’t return.
At this moment, his vain hopes shattered significantly, yet the young lad couldn’t help but continue to ask: “What if I take Old Zheng with me to Qian State?”
“Wherever you go, it’s all the same.”
Xie Xuanyi’s expressionless voice replied: “Zheng Fengsheng’s severed leg will not regrow.
Whether you go back to Pingzhi City or Qian State, you cannot return to the days of yore.
After meeting me this time, countless people will want to kill you.
Even if you are a swordsmanship prodigy, advancing rapidly, it will be very difficult to preserve your life.”
“Truth be told, I am ‘Xie Zhen,’ the one Yuanzhou Iron Cavalry is actively hunting.
Mi Yun is the future Buddhist leader whom Fan Yin Temple’s delegation is fully committed to protecting.”
“Actually, whether you learn to wield the sword or not, it won’t affect much…”
“In the future, those who would kill you will be at least of Yin God Realm.”
“Perhaps, there will also be Yang Shen cultivators standing at the pinnacle of a mountain.”
Chu Guo stared blankly at the young man sitting in the wheelchair.
Xie Zhen?
Even though he was but an ordinary person, he had heard this name.
The internal turmoil in Li Kingdom, discussions of the recent events in Chu Country abound in every street and alley; it was said that with the shattering of Beihai Tomb, a golden era was dawning, and both Chu Guo and Li Kingdom would produce many formidable cultivators.
And Xie Zhen, he was the Direct Disciple of the former Da Sui Sword Immortal.
Emerging less than a year ago.
He surpassed all peers of his generation and rank to take first place on the Heavenly Pride List!
A veritable pride of heaven!
Chu Guo guessed that this black-clad young man sitting in the wheelchair must have a high level of cultivation.
But he never imagined it would be this high!
“I’ve said what needed to be said…”
Xie Xuanyi slowly began, his voice growing slower and slower: “Think carefully, do you still wish to learn the sword?”
Having said that.
He fell silent, sitting in his wheelchair, looking up at the youth, waiting for the other’s response.
A gust of wind blew across the back mountain.
Dead leaves whirled.
Dead branches quivered.
After a long while, the young man crouched down, picking up the fallen branch, his voice trembling, said: “I…
still want to learn the sword.”