Swordplay Mastered, Internal Energy Born

That entire morning, Lu Chen learned only three sword moves.

But he was able to coordinate the sword forms, footwork, and breathing perfectly, without a single mistake.

Though he was not yet fully proficient, and his sword movements lacked the smooth, fluid grace of drifting clouds and flowing water, being merely proper and standard in form, this was already exceptionally impressive for a beginner—enough to be called astonishing talent.

Huang Rong was delighted. At noon, she put special effort into preparing several dishes she had developed herself to reward Lu Chen, and kept piling food into his bowl during the meal.

"Eat more. Fill yourself up, then practice hard! Three moves in the morning, three in the afternoon, and another three in the evening. In four days, you'll have learned all thirty-six moves of the Maiden of Yue Sword. With your focus and diligence, once you've learned them all, you'll develop Internal Energy in as little as ten days or as much as a month..."

Huang Rong's tone was light and cheerful, her voice crisp and sweet. The more she spoke, the happier she became, until her bright, lively eyes curved into two adorable crescents.

In truth, if one focused exclusively on internal cultivation methods and possessed sufficient talent for internal arts, one could develop a faint trace of Internal Energy in a single night.

Developing Internal Energy through external martial arts had less demanding requirements than internal cultivation methods, but the progress was inevitably much slower.

And the Maiden of Yue Sword widely circulated throughout the Wu-Yue Land was simply of too poor a quality. Developing Internal Energy within a month already took Lu Chen's talent and diligence into account.

Yet Lu Chen did not think it was slow at all.

Before coming to the Condor Heroes World, he had trained bitterly for three months without gaining anything. He had even developed a whole host of bad habits from blindly figuring things out on his own.

If he could now develop Internal Energy through swordsmanship within a month, that would already be an enormous blessing to him.

And he owed this opportunity entirely to having met Huang Rong.

Otherwise, even after arriving in the Condor Heroes World, a transmigrator like him with no family, no backing, and not a penny to his name would have struggled just to survive, much less learn swordsmanship.

He had thanked her many times already, and there was no need to say more now. Nor did Lu Chen want to offer empty words without real action.

The only way he could repay Huang Rong was to cultivate diligently and strive to help Rong'er fulfill her wish of taking a trip to the "Immortal Realm" as soon as possible.

After lunch, Huang Rong went to the kitchen to clean up the dishes, still humming Laugh of the Jianghu.

Lu Chen sat in the courtyard, resting and digesting his meal while tending to the longsword Huang Rong had bought for him.

Fine swords were hard to come by. A truly excellent sword was often regarded as a treasure by those of the Martial Arts World; no matter how wealthy one was, it could still be difficult to acquire one.

Therefore, what Huang Rong had bought him was merely a steel sword of fairly good quality.

Even so, this was the first real sword Lu Chen had ever possessed across both his lives. Since it had also been a gift from Huang Rong, he treasured it greatly. He dipped a cotton cloth in oil and carefully wiped down the blade, inch by inch.

As he tended to the longsword,

he heard Rong'er's relaxed, cheerful humming from the kitchen in the West Wing. The corners of Lu Chen's lips rose slightly, and he began to sing as well:

"...Laugh of the Jianghu, love freedom, whether zither or flute, pour the wine. Laughing up at the heavens, forgetting it all, carefree as the wind, light as drifting feathers..."

His song, brimming with the spirit of the Martial Arts World, echoed through the small courtyard. A clear, sweet girl's voice, still carrying a hint of youthful innocence, joined in harmony, like zither and flute, sword and wine, singing in perfect accord.

Over the following days,

Huang Rong taught Lu Chen with great care, and Lu Chen did not disappoint her. Since he had already painstakingly corrected his foundational sword forms, it took him only four days to learn all thirty-six moves of the Maiden of Yue Swordplay, coordinating its forms, footwork, and breathing method in perfect harmony.

Once he had learned it, he simply needed to practice diligently and improve his proficiency without pause, until Internal Energy was generated from the outside inward.

Beginning on the fifth day, Huang Rong also brewed medicinal soup for Lu Chen every day to replenish his blood and vital energy—she understood medicinal theory herself, and remembered several effective restorative formulas. All of them could strengthen the body and replenish blood and vital energy, so naturally she would not be such a fool as to buy the so-called inherited medicinal soup from the Mo Family Martial Arts School for two hundred coins a bowl.

Besides, medicinal soup was naturally more reassuring when she personally selected the herbs, inspected their quality, and brewed it herself than when drinking something prepared by others.

With Huang Rong, a perceptive master far beyond the ordinary, teaching him, along with the medicinal soup she personally brewed to nourish him, Lu Chen's cultivation progressed rapidly. Every day, he could feel his muscles and bones growing stronger, while his blood and vital energy became richer and more vigorous.

Internal Energy originated from a person's blood and vital energy.

At this rate, Lu Chen felt that perhaps he truly would only need ten days to half a month to develop Internal Energy.

Of course, he was not blindly training all the time these days.

When resting, he would chat and joke with Huang Rong, tell her about things from the "Immortal Realm," or share interesting stories from his previous life. As a transmigrator living his second life, his experiences and knowledge were broad enough that even Huang Rong admired him. He was also quite eloquent, always able to make Huang Rong laugh uncontrollably.

Sometimes, he would sing for her as well.

He had been born with a good voice, and now that martial training was nourishing his vital energy, his breath control was gradually improving too, broadening his vocal range. With so many excellent songs stored in his memory from his previous life, Rong'er liked it immensely.

Sometimes, he would play chess with her.

Of course, whether it was Go or Chinese chess, Lu Chen had only losses and no victories. Only when teaching her Gomoku had he managed to win a few times by relying on memorized patterns. But Huang Rong quickly grasped the trick, and he never won again.

Aside from their daily relaxation and play, he had even gone out to fight alongside her before.

That day, Huang Rong had gone out to buy herbs and groceries, only to get into a conflict with several hooligan youths in the marketplace. She came storming back and asked Lu Chen to stand up for her.

Without another word, Lu Chen picked up his real sword and was about to head out, but Huang Rong stopped him and only allowed him to take the Wooden Sword.

In her words, those hooligan youths were not even as old as she was. Though it was frivolous and hateful of them to grin at her and whistle, they had not actually tried to harass her. They were not like those underworld gang members, malicious at heart. Teaching them a lesson would be enough.

So Lu Chen carried the Wooden Sword and went with Huang Rong to the marketplace. After finding those hooligan youths, he charged forward with his Wooden Sword to beat them up while Huang Rong shouted encouragement from the side.

At the start, he still remembered his moves. But once the real fight began and he took a few punches and kicks, he could only slash and swing wildly, completely forgetting all his forms.

There was nothing to be done about it. That was the common failing of beginners.

How many days had Lu Chen even trained?

When his blood was up, how could he possibly care about sword forms?

Naturally, he fought however felt most convenient.

After that vicious fight, the hooligan youths were beaten until they wailed for their fathers and mothers, shouting to Huang Rong, "Big sister, we were wrong! We'll never dare again!"

Although Lu Chen also took several solid punches and kicks, he was strong, tough, and quick to recover. It hurt for only a moment, and after the fight, he was completely fine.

On the way back, Huang Rong walked with her hands behind her back, her steps light and lively, her brows and eyes filled with smiles.

She was very happy.

She could easily have handled those hooligan youths herself, but seeing Lu Chen stand up for her made her inexplicably happy.

Just like what had happened at the dock before.

However...

Though Huang Rong was happy that Lu Chen had defended her, she was extremely dissatisfied with his actual combat ability.

So after returning, she began sparring with Lu Chen and once again brought out the stick-based education.

After that, she spent an hour every day teaching Lu Chen how to use swordsmanship in real combat.

There was no need to say more about the effectiveness of pain-based education.

Under Huang Rong's strict instruction, Lu Chen's talent was rapidly brought out. In only a few short days, he was already able to choose the appropriate move almost instinctively in real time during sparring, according to Huang Rong's offensive and defensive posture.

The practical sparring also gave Lu Chen a deeper understanding of the Maiden of Yue Swordplay.

Thus, on the thirteenth day after he had formally learned the complete Maiden of Yue Swordplay,

when Lu Chen once again performed all thirty-six moves of the Maiden of Yue Swordplay from beginning to end, coordinating them with footwork and breathing, his increasingly vigorous blood and vital energy suddenly underwent a subtle change.

A faint warm current abruptly emerged and began circulating through his chest and abdomen.

Sensing the change, Lu Chen immediately looked at Huang Rong with a delighted expression. She was seated at the stone table beneath the tree, resting her pink cheek in one hand as she watched him practice swordsmanship without blinking.

"Rong'er, I think I've developed Internal Energy!"

Huang Rong's eyes lit up. She sprang to her feet and, with her skirts fluttering, darted before him like a skylark. Without the slightest hesitation, she pressed her little hand against his lower abdomen and sent in a thread of Internal Energy to examine him. Joy immediately appeared on her face.

"In less than half a month, you actually developed Internal Energy through the Maiden of Yue Swordplay! Hurry, keep practicing! Internal Energy developed through external martial arts doesn't need to be deliberately guided with a cultivation method. As long as you continue practicing the external art, it will naturally circulate and grow stronger."

Lu Chen nodded, assumed his stance again, and continued practicing the Maiden of Yue Sword.

As he wielded the swordplay, that faint current began spreading outward from his chest and abdomen, circulating through his legs, feet, and limbs, enhancing the agility of his footwork as well as the strength and speed of his sword forms.

However, the enhancement provided by this tiny thread of Internal Energy was negligible, almost imperceptible. Lu Chen did not even feel his movements or footwork becoming any lighter, nor did he feel any significant increase in the power or speed of his sword forms.

But as the swordplay continued, more currents began emerging within his chest and abdomen.

Though every thread of energy was weak, and even several currents empowering him at once did not produce much obvious improvement, he had truly developed Internal Energy after all.

After Lu Chen performed the swordplay another two times and strengthened his Internal Energy slightly, a clear sword chime suddenly rang out within his Sea of Consciousness, shaking his mind.

The moment the sword chime sounded, his vision went black. Without consciously visualizing it, his awareness entered the Sea of Consciousness and arrived before that resplendent sword light.