"Watch closely. This is how you use the Mount Hua Sword Technique."
By the pool beneath Siguo Cliff, Wang Jingyuan wielded a fine sword clearly crafted by a master and practiced his swordplay.
By the pool beneath Siguo Cliff, Wang Jingyuan wielded a fine sword clearly crafted by a master and practiced his swordplay.
Golden Geese Crossing the Sky, Green Pine Welcoming Guests, White Rainbow Piercing the Sun—he performed each move of the Mount Hua Sword Technique with impressive precision. Yue Lingshan, his opponent and sparring partner, swept her sword around and easily parried every strike.
Yue Lingshan furrowed her delicate brows, her little face scrunching up as though she'd bitten into an especially sour apricot.
What bothered her wasn't that Wang Jingyuan's swordsmanship was mediocre. He'd only recently started learning, after all, and for a beginner, performing the moves so precisely was already quite impressive.
Besides, the core of the Mount Hua Sword Technique was Control Sword with Qi. Without Internal Energy to bolster it, the technique's power was greatly diminished.
What really bothered her was that he wasn't using the moves in order at all. The transitions between different techniques were stiff, with considerable pauses.
And during those pauses, he used his free hand to wave and flick about, making all sorts of meaningless gestures. The flaws he already left himself became even more fatal.
And after all that, he still dared tell her, "This is how you use the Mount Hua Sword Technique."
Yue Lingshan watched him make two more showy waves with his free hand right in front of her. At last, she couldn't take it anymore. She swung her sword to force Wang Jingyuan back, ending their sparring session.
Watching Wang Jingyuan leap back and regain his footing, Yue Lingshan complained, "Junior Disciple Brother, why don't you perform the sword techniques in order? And what's with that hand of yours? Why do you keep moving it around?"
Wang Jingyuan returned his sword to its scabbard and asked, unconcernedly picking his nose, "Then tell me, how should I use the techniques?"
"Of course you start with White Clouds Emerging from the Cave, then A Phoenix Arriving in Ceremony..."
Still picking his nose, Wang Jingyuan continued, "Then Golden Geese Crossing the Sky and Green Pine Welcoming Guests, right?"
"See? You know the order too."
"Everyone on Mount Hua knows that order, so of course I know it. The other four of the Five Great Sword Sects know it, too, as do Shaolin and Wudang.
"That's because it's the smoothest order for linking the Mount Hua Sword Technique's moves. You practice using that sequence, and you generally fight using it, too.
"Only disciples who are extremely familiar with the techniques will mix up the moves and adapt them to the situation. Even then, they usually won't link two techniques that flow poorly together.
"Junior Disciple Sister, if I used the fixed sequence, you could probably parry me with your eyes closed, couldn't you?
"Unlike now, when you have to keep your eyes open and watch me."
Yue Lingshan looked puzzled. "But your way leaves even more openings. Wouldn't you lose even faster in a real fight? Also... I'm your senior sister. Don't call me Junior Disciple Sister!"
"How are you not little?" Wang Jingyuan muttered, looking the sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl up and down. His right hand rested on his sword hilt again as he glanced behind Yue Lingshan.
"Oh? Master's here."
Yue Lingshan didn't even turn around. Instead, she pointed her sword at Wang Jingyuan and said angrily, "You're trying that trick again!"
Wang Jingyuan had only been fishing for a reaction, so he didn't care that Yue Lingshan hadn't taken the bait. He drew his sword, leaped into the air, and launched another Golden Geese Crossing the Sky.
Yue Lingshan easily blocked it, but Wang Jingyuan stubbornly continued making little gestures with his free hand. This time, however, Yue Lingshan's eyes widened in horror.
Wang Jingyuan had curled the fingers of his left hand as if about to flick something. The finger he'd hooked was the same one he'd just used to pick his nose.
He flicked it. Yue Lingshan didn't even stop to check whether he'd launched anything. With a shriek, she dodged to the side, completely thrown off balance.
Wang Jingyuan followed up with Green Pine Welcoming Guests, and the strike neatly knocked the sword from Yue Lingshan's hand.
[Mount Hua Sword Technique Proficiency +10]
Seeing the words appear before him, Wang Jingyuan was delighted.
That saved him another ten rounds of practice. With a satisfied nod, Wang Jingyuan returned his sword to its scabbard. Then he turned to Yue Lingshan, who was still shaken and glaring at him indignantly, and spread his hands.
"See? Just like I said. If you stick to the rules, your moves become predictable, and your opponent can easily chain a counterattack. But if you mix up the sequence, you leave obvious startup and recovery frames, making it easy for someone to interrupt you.
"As a competent player, you need to learn how to work some viable tricks into those frames to cancel them—or, better yet, slip in an attack command in between and increase your DPS."
"Junior Disciple Brother, there you go talking nonsense again!" Yue Lingshan stamped her foot in anger. "You're picking on me because... because I'm a clean person! What good would that trick do against anyone else?!"
Wang Jingyuan gave Yue Lingshan a disdainful sidelong glance. "Tsk. We were only practicing. Do you know how expensive quicklime is these days? I wouldn't waste something that good on a boss. At the very least, you save it for an elite monster.
"You're just an NPC training dummy. You don't deserve such premium gear. Know your place."
Yue Lingshan didn't understand all those strange words he used, but she understood what he meant. Had he been planning to throw lime powder at her?
That explained all the waving and flicking he'd been doing. Yue Lingshan turned pale with shock. "You were planning to use lime powder against your enemies?!"
Wang Jingyuan shook his head.
Yue Lingshan let out a small sigh of relief.
But Wang Jingyuan continued, "You need to broaden your horizons. Don't limit yourself to such a narrow set of tricks.
"Besides quicklime, you can use all kinds of aphrodisiac powders, poisoned hidden weapons, rusty cleavers, or hammers smeared with shit."
Yue Lingshan's mouth fell open in shock. "We're an upright and reputable sect!"
Wang Jingyuan waved a hand, unconcerned. "That's fine. I'll just say I'm from the Sun Moon Holy Cult before I attack."
Hearing such outrageous talk, Yue Lingshan was even more shocked. "You! You'd even pretend to be from the Demonic Cult?!"
"Why not? When you're wandering the jianghu, you ought to have a few alternate identities. As the saying goes: 'Li Feiyu kills and burns; he saves the suffering and..."
Before Wang Jingyuan could finish, Yue Lingshan cut him off. "How can you say such a thing? I... I'm telling my father!"
With that, Yue Lingshan picked up her sword and fled.
Wang Jingyuan shook his head as he watched her go. "Back in the day, I killed a chicken in Ximu Town and got chased the whole way by a bunch of unruly villagers. I even came back later wearing a full suit of heavy armor, and they still recognized me at a glance.
"This game is hardcore. Just cover your face and keep your mouth shut, and nobody around you will recognize you. You'd have to be an idiot not to take advantage of that mechanic."
With that, Wang Jingyuan picked up his sword and resumed practicing the Mount Hua Sword Technique, while also recalling how it had all begun...
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