Flying Snow Saber Technique

At Escort Huang's call, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered together.

Only then did they notice that two baskets of wooden blades had somehow been placed beside the two escorts who had never left, along with a giant stone.

"Looks like the head escort is preparing to teach us a Blade Art!" someone guessed, anticipation in his eyes.

Once everyone had lined up, Head Escort Liang swept his gaze around and said in a clear voice, "You have trained for nearly ten days. It is time to study Martial Skills!"

Everyone glanced at the wooden blades before them and listened quietly.

The head escort continued:

"Practicing the Nourishing Life Technique strengthens your body and builds your power. Martial Skills, on the other hand, allow you to bring your own strength to its utmost limit."

"What I will teach you is a Blade Art of our escort agency, known as Snowfall."

"Bring the blade."

At Head Escort Liang's command, Escort Huang immediately went to the weapon rack at one side of the Training Ground and drew out a standard-issue black longsaber.

To Jiang Ping, this black saber resembled the Tang Dao of his previous life.

After receiving the saber, Head Escort Liang did not demonstrate it immediately. Instead, he addressed the crowd.

"Among you, those who have lived in Yang City have surely seen some Martial Artists. What weapon do they carry most often?"

"A sword?" a local from Yang City ventured.

"That is right. The sword has always carried the reputation of being the lord of all weapons. Once many Martial Artists make a name for themselves, they also like to roam the martial world with a sword at their side."

Liang Sheng nodded slightly, then suddenly lowered his head and said in a low voice,

"Actually, I prefer carrying a sword on my back too."

"..." Everyone fell silent.

They stared dumbfounded, caught completely off guard by the head escort's remark.

Hey! This was a saber lesson, all right?

"However!"

The head escort abruptly changed tack and chuckled.

"However, the saber is also honored as the marshal of all weapons. Compared with the sword's lightness, ingenuity, and emphasis on technique, saber users value ferocity, directness, and broad, sweeping movements. Their power is greater, their lethality stronger, and they naturally carry a kingly and domineering aura."

"Saber techniques are also relatively simple, such as chopping, hacking, hooking, shaving, lifting, slashing, and so on."

"And the Snowfall Saber Technique I will teach you today is a Fast Saber among the Overbearing Sabers!"

"Of all martial arts under heaven, nothing is unbreakable; only speed cannot be broken."

"The Flying Snow Saber embodies this very principle, placing emphasis on the word 'fast.' When the saber forms flow together and become swift enough, man and blade merge as one, producing inconceivable effects. The saber emerges, and its sharp edge is revealed."

"What sort of effect counts as man and blade merging as one?" Qian Dele blurted out instinctively. He quickly realized that he had just been reprimanded, so why had he...

Head Escort Liang shot him a sharp glance, making him lower his head in embarrassment. After a while, he finally said, "Radiance!"

"Radiance?" Everyone was confused.

"You may understand it as a kind of Artistic Conception. When a Sword Art is cultivated to completion, it can manifest Sword Radiance. A Blade Art, meanwhile, produces Blade Light with astonishing destructive power."

"Like this!"

With that, Head Escort Liang's saber suddenly swept out in an arc like a full moon. Escort Huang had already moved away at some point, clearing space for Liang Sheng.

The Eighth-Rank Martial Artist wielded his black saber upon the Training Ground. His every move sought neither lightness nor agility. Every stroke appeared simple, yet carried immense momentum, opening and closing with grand, sweeping force.

Moreover, as time passed, the saber in the head escort's hand grew faster and faster, until everyone could no longer see the black blade's path at all. They could only hear the longsaber's low cries as it tore through the air.

"Too fast! I can't see it, I can't see it at all!" someone cried out. Forget memorizing the forms—his eyes were already about to blur.

"Look!"

At that moment, someone pointed to a spot beside the head escort, his face filled with shock.

"This must be the radiance—the Blade Light!" Sun Qi said solemnly, staring at a streak of white light within the range of Liang Sheng's saber technique.

Buzzz!

The black saber rang out. The crowd watched the head escort wield his blade with rapt attention, seeing more and more white Blade Light gather around him, like a sheet of white snow suspended in midair.

"So this is where the Flying Snow Saber got its name. Blade Light like snow, cold gleams scattering through the air," Liu Wensheng murmured thoughtfully.

At a certain moment.

Liang Sheng suddenly slashed at the giant stone not far away, and the Blade Light around him followed the motion.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Explosions rang out without end as shattered stones sprayed everywhere and dust filled the air.

When the dust finally dispersed, everyone saw that the giant stone was covered in densely packed holes an inch deep.

Many people broke out in cold sweat. What would happen if those Blade Lights struck a human body?

At that moment, seeing Head Escort Liang stop, Fang Yong could not help asking, "Head Escort, how long would one need to train to reach your level, with Blade Light like falling snow?"

Liang Sheng glanced at him, paused, then answered, "It varies from person to person. I practiced the Flying Snow Saber for ten years before reaching the Great Accomplishment realm."

"Ten years?!"

The crowd could not help sucking in breaths, their faces filled with astonishment.

"And that is only Great Accomplishment, not yet perfection, right? Does that not mean this Fast Saber is even harder to practice than the Nourishing Life Technique?" Sun Qi's pupils contracted slightly as he spoke gravely.

Liang Sheng shook his head. "This Fast Saber truly demands considerable talent, and it has no so-called perfection. If one truly wishes to speak of perfection, that would be another level of the Blade Realm."

"Oh? What level of Blade Realm?" Fang Yong's face was full of excitement and curiosity.

Unlike with Qian Dele, Head Escort Liang did not seem impatient at Fang Yong's question. He answered calmly.

"Let us first discuss the Flying Snow Saber. This Fast Saber has three levels in total."

"The first level is Entry Level. Once you can smoothly grasp the saber forms and initially comprehend the mystery of man and blade joining together, you can reveal ten Blade Lights."

"The Second Level is Minor Accomplishment. Blade Light then increases by another thirty streaks. At Great Accomplishment, one can release a hundred streaks of radiance at once. However, as the level rises, the expenditure of strength also becomes immense. Generally speaking, only after reaching the Martial Artist stage can one easily use it many times."

"Of course, whether you can attain Great Accomplishment is not something you should consider right now. Within these six months, you need only reach Entry Level in the Flying Snow Saber Technique to be considered qualified. This is also the second requirement for becoming an escort of our escort agency."

"As for the Blade Realm at another level..." Head Escort Liang raised his brows and pondered for a moment before saying,

"I practiced the Flying Snow Saber for ten years and could be considered to have fully mastered it. Yet over the following twenty years, I never comprehended that level of Blade Realm."

"That Blade Realm is the Blade Qi Domain, formed from the transformation of Blade Light. Blade Light can barely leave the body by a range of two or three feet, but Saber Qi can stretch for ten yards or even dozens of yards. Not only is its range vast, its power cannot be mentioned in the same breath. It can even pierce the Copper Skin and Iron Bone of an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, killing a man from a hundred meters away."

"So powerful?" The crowd listened with their hearts pounding, utterly astonished.

"If it were not powerful, how could the head escort have failed to comprehend it for twenty years? In the entire Four Seas Escort Agency, only the Chief and another head escort have stepped into such a realm. Looking across all of Yang City, they are extraordinary figures," Escort Huang interjected at the right moment, longing in his eyes.

"Enough idle talk. These things are far too distant from you. Now I will teach you the forms of this Fast Saber. Once you can execute the Blade Art smoothly, it will already be formidable enough."

As Head Escort Liang spoke, he ordered Fang Yong and Jiang Ping to distribute the two baskets of wooden blades beside him.

Jiang Ping was somewhat surprised. He had always kept a low profile and disliked asking questions, yet the head escort had actually called on him by name.

Have I still been too conspicuous? he muttered inwardly.

What surprised him even more was Sun Qi. His expression darkened somewhat. Being called upon was a trivial matter, but the two people the head escort had named happened to be the outstanding ones who had mastered two levels of cultivation.

A strange feeling rose within him. Clearly, he was the first person in Fist Force!

Fortunately, the head escort's next words dispersed his mood.

"One wooden blade weighs three pounds. Two people will still find it somewhat strenuous, so Liu Wensheng and Sun Qi, come out and help as well."

Fang Yong struggled forward while carrying a large basket by himself, his face flushed red. Jiang Ping, who had reached the fifth level of the Nourishing Life Technique, could only put on an act of finding it difficult too.

With the help of the other two, the wooden blades were quickly handed out.