First Battle, Victory!

First Battle, Victory!

"Your sword strikes aren't forceful enough!"

With one slash, Su Changqing knocked Senior Brother Zhang's sword aside and spoke to him sternly.

Gritting his teeth, Senior Brother Zhang swung his sword with all his strength.

"Your footwork isn't swift enough!"

With a light step, Su Changqing easily evaded several more killing moves from Senior Brother Zhang.

Senior Brother Zhang quickened his steps.

As the two traded attacks, Su Changqing remained calm and unhurried throughout, while Senior Brother Zhang had exhausted every trick in his arsenal and still could no longer touch Su Changqing in the slightest.

The spectators stared, dumbfounded. Everyone understood the situation perfectly well.

"They're both at the first level of Foundation Establishment, so how can Su Changqing suppress Senior Brother Zhang so completely? Even I feel despair for Senior Brother Zhang watching this. This is simply a contest with no chance of victory."

"Could Su Changqing be toying with Zhang Ping?"

"I don't think so. It's more like when Master personally teaches us swordsmanship, instructing us one stroke at a time."

"I agree with that. Look—under Su Changqing's guidance, Senior Brother Zhang's Sword Dao is steadily improving. Both his swordsmanship and Movement Technique seem to have become much more practiced."

The bystanders saw clearly, though those involved might not be blind.

At this moment, Senior Brother Zhang, who was exchanging move after move with Su Changqing, also realized that Su Changqing had no intention of fighting him at all. Instead, he was guiding him to unleash stronger sword strikes and take swifter steps.

He, too, set aside all thoughts of victory and defeat, focusing entirely on following Su Changqing's guidance as he made his moves.

Gradually, he seemed to sense a trace of enlightenment he had never attained before.

Just as Su Changqing had said, he had always practiced the sword only by learning the forms of each move, never feeling the true essence of the Sword Dao. His master, Zeng Shuchang, had guided him countless times, yet he had never managed to comprehend it. In the end, even his master had been left helpless and never mentioned the matter again. Thus, he had continued in confusion, pursuing only the perfection of sword moves.

Only today did he feel as though, after walking through the dark night for a long, long time, he had finally looked up and seen a single bright star.

"When the Heavenly Gate lets out a long cry, a clear wind comes from ten thousand miles away!"

"Senior Brother Zhang, again!"

Su Changqing focused his mind and shouted loudly at Zhang Ping.

"Ah!"

At that shout, Zhang Ping's heart suddenly steadied. With his whole being, he unleashed the Clear Wind Sword Dao he had practiced for a year. The force behind his sword was incomparably powerful, his steps steady and strong. He leaped like a wisp of clear wind, yet concealed within it a hundred attacks, slashing toward Su Changqing.

At that very moment, he broke through!

In but an instant, to everyone's astonishment, his aura surged sharply. He had actually leapt directly from the first level of Foundation Establishment into the second!

Naturally, Su Changqing sensed it as well, yet he remained unruffled. His little wooden sword likewise unleashed the Clear Wind Sword Dao.

The two Clear Wind Sword Dao techniques, identical in move and momentum, soon clashed. The two figures flickered back and forth across the training ground like afterimages, streams of Clear Wind Sword Qi colliding and turning into gust after gust of wind that blew over the spectators below, allowing them to feel the force within that wind.

After the two had exchanged ten rounds, Senior Brother Zhang was the first to retreat a step.

No one understood why, but Zhang Ping slowly sheathed his sword. With a solemn expression, he held his sword and cupped his hands in a bow, speaking words that baffled everyone present. "Junior Brother Changqing, this senior brother has lost—lost with complete conviction!"

How had he lost?

Weren't both of them still on the training ground? Neither was injured, neither had fallen from the stage. Hadn't victory and defeat yet to be decided?

Zhang Ping swept his gaze over the spectators around him, then said earnestly to those below, "Though I am neither injured nor fallen from the stage, only I know that Junior Brother Changqing held back. Otherwise, I would not have been able to withstand even three moves beneath his attacks. Moreover, Junior Brother Changqing only used a wooden sword against me. If we continued, I would not have even the slightest chance of winning."

"Everyone, I truly have already been defeated."

Only after Zhang Ping explained it this way did everyone come to their senses. It did seem to be so. Though the two had fought several rounds, Su Changqing had remained utterly composed from beginning to end.

"Senior Brother Zhang, the Seven Meridians Martial Arts Tournament is held within the sect so that us Junior Brothers may spar with one another and improve together. There is no need to speak of defeat."

Su Changqing smiled faintly, put away his little wooden sword as well, and cupped his hands in a bow to Zhang Ping.

"Junior Brother Changqing, this senior brother underestimated you. Your mastery of the Sword Dao is beyond anything I can compare to."

"Today, I was fortunate enough to fight you and receive your guidance. Not only did I gain an understanding of the Sword Dao that I had never possessed before, I was also able to break through to the second level of Foundation Establishment. My ascent onto this training ground was not in vain. I look forward to seeing your performance in the coming matches—and seeing your true strength."

With that, Zhang Ping naturally leaped down from the training ground, yielding the victor's name to Su Changqing.

This battle ended in Su Changqing's victory.

"Junior Brother, you're incredible!"

"Exactly! Junior Brother, we never saw you show your skills before. Who knew your Sword Dao was so profound? So you deliberately kept it hidden from us Senior Sisters, did you?"

"Junior Brother, once the Seven Meridians Martial Arts Tournament is over, how about personally teaching your Senior Sisters sword practice? This Senior Sister has several confusions about the Sword Dao that she has been unable to comprehend for a long time."

When Su Changqing jumped down from the training ground, the Senior Sisters of Little Bamboo Peak gathered around him one after another. Like a hundred flowers blooming, each wore a radiant smile as they encouraged him.

"Senior Sisters, this was merely your Junior Brother's good fortune. Please stop teasing me."

Su Changqing repeatedly spoke modestly to his Senior Sisters.

This only drew even more smiles from them. It was not until Senior Sister Wen Min came to his rescue that Su Changqing finally had a chance to catch his breath.

It was sweet, yet troubling at the same time!

After this battle, word spread among the crowd of how Su Changqing had taught Zhang Ping swordsmanship on the training ground and helped him gain enlightenment and break through. Many people came to know the name Su Changqing anew.

But before long, it was drowned out by tales of the other outstanding prodigies—Lin Jingyu defeating his foe in a single move, Qi Hao making his opponent willingly concede without making a single move himself, Lu Xueqi's profound comprehension of the sword path, and so on.

Su Changqing was more than happy with that. The less attention he drew, the better.

His guidance of Zhang Ping's comprehension of the sword path had stemmed partly from guilt and partly from Senior Brother Zhang's fairly courteous attitude toward him. That was why he had entertained the thought; he had not intended to draw anyone's attention because of it.

The day's matches soon came to an end. Su Changqing and the group of prodigies advanced into the second round without any surprises.

This time, there was no drawing of lots. Instead, opponents were randomly selected from among the victors of each arena. Su Changqing was matched against a Dragon Head Peak disciple at the peak of the second stage of Foundation Establishment.

He had seen the man a few times before, merely because this Dragon Head Peak disciple was one of Lin Jingyu's "friends," and Su Changqing had run into him several times at Lin Jingyu's side.

Su Changqing did not care in the slightest. Just as he had planned, he would first make it into the top sixteen without disgracing Little Bamboo Peak, then think of a way to stop there.

Before long, news of Su Changqing's victory in his match reached Dao Xuan and Shuiyue.

"Junior Sister Shuiyue, Changqing is quite an interesting child. During the match, he had already cast aside his desire for victory or defeat. Instead, he used his own strength to guide another in advancing along the sword path, helping him break through his realm. Such a temperament is truly fit to shoulder great responsibility!"

Dao Xuan watched Su Changqing's departing back with a benevolent smile as he spoke to Shuiyue.

Who could have imagined that Su Changqing, once the least favored by everyone—said to possess insufficient spiritual roots for cultivation—would prove them so thoroughly wrong? In barely a year, he had attained such mastery of the sword path.

"This child's temperament is indeed admirable. It is just that he is always thinking of concealing his abilities. I fear that when the time comes, he will hide his strength again and refuse to reveal it."

Shuiyue likewise acknowledged Su Changqing's performance today. Even as his master, she had not known that her youngest disciple's comprehension of the sword path was so profound.

She did not know whether to say that she usually paid him too little attention, or that Su Changqing had simply hidden himself too deeply.

"Let nature take its course. I believe Changqing already has his own answer."

Dao Xuan murmured leisurely.