Blade Momentum

2024-07-31

Blade Momentum

"It's a reinforcement signal from the Patrol Guard Headquarters!" Li Fu'an's expression shifted slightly. He recognized at once that the Signal Smoke had come from the Patrol Guard Headquarters and immediately said,

"Go. Quickly."

Anyone capable of releasing that Signal Smoke had to be a patrol guard or a Patrol Captain, and they must have run into serious trouble. Otherwise, they would not have called for reinforcements.

Naturally, those reinforcements would only be other members of the Patrol Guard Team, not Night Watchmen like them who had little fighting ability.

Li Fu'an had no desire to get involved. He grabbed Song Changming and wanted to get away first.

Yet Song Changming seemed rooted to the ground, standing motionless.

Whenever he had encountered such a situation in the past, he had always chosen to keep himself out of danger and followed Li Fu'an away at once.

But this time, he hesitated.

His Soul Severing Saber had just broken through in mastery. He was looking for a chance to distinguish himself before others.

And this was such an opportunity, though it carried some risk. After all, he still did not know what was happening.

If he acted too rashly, he might fail to earn merit and lose his life instead.

Even if he had one life to fall back on, he had saved it up over more than ten years.

Should he take a gamble?

"Changming?" Li Fu'an could not pull Song Changming along and found it strange.

The boy had always been sharp. He should have vanished without a trace long ago. Why was he being so slow today?

Song Changming cast one last look at the pitch-black alley. His thoughts turned several times before he finally turned and left with Li Fu'an.

He would wait a little longer. His saber skill still had room to improve, and there were clearly other opportunities with better odds. Why risk it this time?

He needed to keep his cool. He could be decisive, but there was no need to charge ahead blindly.

His advantage lay in time. He had a long span of time to accumulate strength and wait; there was no need to prove his courage in a moment of recklessness.

A few days later, Song Changming heard about what had happened that night.

More than a dozen patrol guards had died while trying to capture a wanted thief. In the end, the Director of Houli Street had been forced to act personally before they successfully caught him.

Song Changming was glad he had not acted impulsively that night. Otherwise, there would likely have been one more Night Watchman on the death list.

A criminal who could leave several Patrol Captains helpless, inflict heavy casualties on the patrol guards, and even draw out the Director was far beyond what even ten of him could handle.

"My strength is still lacking," Song Changming sighed inwardly.

Becoming a patrol guard offered a brighter future and better treatment, but one still needed enough strength to protect oneself.

After that, Song Changming continued practicing his saber every day and working diligently every night, improving by the day.

In the blink of an eye, winter gave way to spring, spring passed into summer, and more than half a year went by.

Inside the fenced courtyard, Song Changming stood bare-chested, his lean and powerful muscles exposed.

Nearly nineteen now, he had gradually shed his youthful immaturity, and there was more heroic spirit on his face.

Holding a long saber, he slashed again and again, the howling saber wind fierce as a tiger.

Suddenly, Song Changming shifted his blade. The savage force in his strikes vanished in an instant.

His eyes grew clearer and brighter. Visible to the naked eye, his strikes became faster and more unpredictable.

Bzzz!

At a certain moment, the saber wind rose again, but this time it gave off a faint shriek like an eerie ghost, sending an inexplicable chill through anyone who saw it.

When the saber arts of the Ghost Blade Faction reached Minor Accomplishment stage, one could gain a trace of Ghostly Saber Momentum!

And now, through Song Changming's Heaven Rewards Diligence, this saber art had finally achieved minor success!

He stopped and sheathed his saber.

The blade swept across the ground, sending dirt flying and leaving behind a Sword Mark several inches deep, brimming with force.

Though Song Changming had not yet formally tempered his body, his physique had naturally become much stronger than before through saber practice.

"Minor Accomplishment stage!"

Song Changming wiped the sweat from his face. Feeling the trace of saber momentum that had just erupted, joy overflowed from his expression.

After more than half a year of saber practice, this trace of saber momentum was his greatest gain!

It was also an important standard for judging whether one had achieved something in saber arts. Even when masters of the saber competed to determine superiority, what they compared was whose saber art was more exquisite and whose saber momentum was stronger.

Only those who had mastered the power of "momentum" could be called masters.

[Soul Severing Saber: Minor Accomplishment (0/2000)]

"With this, it should be enough."

Song Changming stroked the saber as he sheathed it and stood still. After this period of steady accumulation, he finally had some confidence in his own strength.

Once one had enough strength, many things became easier.

That day.

Houli Street, Fugui Restaurant.

Liang Chuanshan led a group of patrol guards under his command and strode inside, startling quite a few diners on the first floor.

"Sir, wh-what is this about?" Seeing that Liang Chuanshan and the others were not there to eat or drink, the restaurant manager hurried forward and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Arresting someone. This doesn't concern you." With a grim face, Liang Chuanshan spoke as he led the patrol guards upstairs in a rush.

"He's in here!" A scout pointed at a private room on the third floor and said quietly.

"You're sure?" Liang Chuanshan narrowed his eyes at the room and asked.

"No mistake. Chen Beihu, the leader of the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army—the man worth one hundred silver coins on the wanted poster. He appeared once on Changling Street before, and now he's fled into our Houli Street!" The scout spoke with absolute certainty.

When the patrol guards behind him heard of the hundred-silver-coin reward, every one of their eyes lit up.

That was no small sum. It was nearly equal to two years of their wages and rations.

Liang Chuanshan hesitated no longer. With a wave of his hand, the patrol guards behind him immediately raised their crossbows and aimed them at the private room.

One patrol guard kicked open the wooden door, only to find the room completely empty. Only a wide-open window remained, with the hot summer wind pouring in without end.

The patrol guard immediately looked out the window. Outside the restaurant, a burly man wearing a bamboo hat to conceal his face was clashing weapons with several patrol guards stationed below.

"Chase!" Liang Chuanshan snorted coldly and barked.

"Captain, should we release Signal Smoke?" one patrol guard asked.

"Release my ass! Do you want me to split this merit that's already in my hands? He's just a bandit worth a hundred silver coins. Take him down today!" Liang Chuanshan glared at the patrol guard, then flipped over the railing and leaped down from the third floor himself, personally giving chase.

"Damn it!" Chen Beihu chopped down the patrol guard entangling him and fled at speed.

He had merely come to the Prefecture City to buy grain. He had thought that blending into the crowd and keeping a low profile would make this errand perfectly safe.

Yet he had never imagined that he too would end up on a wanted poster, with a reward on his head. He was no longer an unknown foot soldier in the bandit army.

Though making a name for himself pleased him—he was now someone with a name and reputation—the prerequisite was escaping safely from the Prefecture City. Otherwise, he would be celebrating too soon.

At another restaurant on Houli Street.

"You're saying Liang Chuanshan and his men are pursuing a wanted criminal with a reward on his head?" Sun Wenyen set down his wine cup as he listened to his scout's urgent report.

"It seems to be someone from the Tengya Mountain Bandit Army who appeared on Changling Street before," the scout said.

"Bandit army." At those words, Sun Wenyen's brow furrowed even deeper.

He considered that this criminal had the identity of a rebel bandit and also carried a reward; the merit from capturing him would be no small thing. He immediately asked, "Have they caught him?"

"Probably not. That bandit was very cunning. He had already escaped despite being wounded," the scout said. He had personally witnessed Liang Chuanshan arresting people in the street and knew the outcome.

Sun Wenyen smiled faintly. It was good that they had not caught him.

Liang Chuanshan still had not released Signal Smoke, likely because he did not want to share the credit.

If Sun Wenyen had not known, that would have been one thing. But now that he did, how could he let such a fat piece of meat fall into another Patrol Captain's mouth?

"Move. We're arresting him!" Sun Wenyen abruptly rose and ordered the patrol guards under him.