"Hyah!" As Hong Yi rose and fell with the horse, he exerted his strength and felt as if he could draw on the power of the horse beneath him. Hearing those words, his heart leaped into his throat. His blood began to boil. Wind raced past, and the furious steed surged like a dragon! At last, Hong Yi understood. As he gradually grew familiar with the strength of the horse beneath him, he couldn't help letting out a long cry. The Shark Slayer flashed from its scabbard, gleaming brilliantly as its chrysanthemum cloud patterns rippled in the light. But back then, he had been in the mountains, among the slopes and forests. The thrill of speed had been nothing compared to the wild exhilaration of galloping along the imperial road now. Thinking of the Pure Fox Clan in the valley, an idea suddenly sprang into Hong Yi's mind. Clang! Hong Yi remembered the time he had struck a horse in front of the clan school. At the same time, he used the most basic Horse Riding Fist to control his mount. Using his spirit's ability to leave his body and confuse others, Hong Yi reached out to the magnificent Fire Horse named Lightning Chaser. He swung himself into the saddle and took hold of the reins. Sure enough, the fiery steed stopped bucking and calmly let him mount. Horse Riding Fist was a foundational exercise. It was the very first chapter of the Martial Classic, and the only martial technique in it that had not been altered. This basic routine trained agility and built a solid foundation. With sword force like this, he could naturally slice through a tree as easily as tofu. Hong Yi looked at the man-thick tree by the road that he had just swept down, then glanced at the Shark Slayer in his hand. He gathered his strength and swept the sword across once more.
"Once you've mastered riding, drawing on a horse's power is truly terrifying. Even though I'm only a Martial Disciple right now, if I faced a Martial Master who had perfected bone training, I might still cut him down from his horse in a fight to the death. But back on the street, Rong Pan was on horseback and I dodged him, then knocked him off with a punch. Riding a horse certainly increases your power, but it makes you a little less agile." "Foxes can cultivate spirits that leave their bodies. This Lightning Chaser seems remarkably intelligent. If I use my spirit to communicate with him and teach him how to leave his body, perhaps he'll cultivate just like a fox. I might even be able to teach him to train his body. If a human can cultivate into a Martial Saint, then a horse has the same kind of body—why shouldn't he be able to grow even stronger?" Hong Yi had suddenly grasped the key to horsemanship: "drawing on a horse's power." When a general charged across the battlefield, he could draw on the horse's momentum as they galloped, uniting the strength of rider and steed and greatly increasing their killing power. As long as they didn't run into archers, ordinary warriors who mastered horsemanship could take on a hundred men. By comparison, the other horses Hong Yi had ridden felt like snails crawling along.
The Shark Slayer was a divine weapon, but the tree was too thick. Once the blade bit into it, the resistance was tremendous, and Hong Yi wasn't strong enough to cut all the way through in one stroke. "What?" Hong Yi fixed his eyes on a tree by the roadside, as thick around as a man's leg. He squeezed his legs against the horse's belly and gripped the sword with both hands, focusing all his strength there to steady the blade. The force of his swing came entirely from the charging horse beneath him. "Rong Pan's horsemanship was pretty good, but he was nowhere near the point of communicating with his horse. A true battlefield steed can rear up and fight on its own."
"When riding, the most important thing is to master the strength of your waist. That comes from keeping your thighs wrapped around the saddle. With your thighs hugging the saddle and your back straight and strong, the rest is simply a matter of avoiding slackness. Keep both knees tight against the saddle's pommel, both shins close against the horse's flanks, and your feet in the stirrups, but not too deep. Hold the reins with supple hands, not stiff ones. Don't press your buttocks against the horse's spine, and don't hook your heels against its belly."
Now and then, Hong Yi saw riders galloping along the imperial road. But Lightning Chaser barely needed a few strides to overtake them. After a few breaths, they were far behind; a dozen breaths later, they had dwindled to a tiny dot. Still, Hong Yi had seen him in a dream, charging forward clad in iron armor from head to hoof, so he knew the horse was exceptionally powerful, with iron bones and copper skin. "Lightning Chaser" felt Hong Yi twitch the reins and heard his voice. He turned his head, gazed deeply at Hong Yi on his back, then sprang forward on all four legs and began thundering down the imperial road. "With this horse, once I pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations and join the army, winning merit and earning a noble title will be a piece of cake." Gradually... The Great Gan Dynasty was an empire based on farming, not a nomadic empire, so horses were relatively scarce. To train soldiers in mounted archery, they had created Horse Riding Fist as a foundational exercise. Practicing on foot and riding an imaginary horse built a firm foundation, so that once someone mounted a real horse, it felt as if they had been riding for years. As Hong Yi performed Horse Riding Fist, he felt as though the strength of Lightning Chaser beneath him was beginning to merge with his own.
Lightning Chaser's strength was on par with that of a Xiantian Martial Master. When he charged, his momentum was also equivalent to the power of a Xiantian expert. Hong Yi's sword, swung from horseback with the force of that charge behind it, still couldn't match a Xiantian expert's sword, but it was already on the level of a top Martial Master. Hong Yi gave the reins a light twitch to the left, and Lightning Chaser ran left; he twitched them right, and the horse ran right. The steed obeyed him completely, responding to his every command. Hong Yi knew, however, that horsemanship had many levels. The highest was when horse and rider understood each other perfectly, with the rider directing the horse as easily as moving his own arm. Throughout history, many famous generals' warhorses had been able to dodge blades and spears on the battlefield and kick their enemies, as if they were martial arts masters with superb leg techniques. The cut was smooth and clean, like a polished slab of blue stone. The tree seemed to split like tofu, breaking in the middle and crashing to the ground. The fierce wind flattened Hong Yi's hair behind him; he could barely breathe through his mouth or nose and could hardly keep his eyes open. In his mind, he silently recited the "Driving" section of the Six Arts Classics—the chapter on horsemanship. Every key point was deeply etched in his mind. For a moment, Hong Yi's confidence surged. He even found himself thinking of putting down his brush and joining the army.
"When did I get this strong?"
"When you're on horseback, your mind must never leave your horse." Once they stopped, Lightning Chaser looked relaxed and didn't even seem out of breath. It was as if galloping furiously for all that time had been child's play. His seemingly endless stamina was plain to see. At last, Hong Yi understood why the horse was called Lightning Chaser, and why Fire Horses were among the finest in the world. Hong Yi had only ever felt this kind of speed once before: three or four months earlier, when Consort Yuan had carried him through the ruins of Qiuyue Temple. "This horse is incredible!" Whenever Hong Yi opened his eyes, the trees and fields beside the imperial road seemed to rush violently backward in the corner of his vision. His whole body felt light, as if he were a kite about to be blown away. Once on horseback, Hong Yi carefully followed every instruction for posture. He gave the reins a twitch, drew in a full breath, and let out a thunderous shout.
Pfft!
"So that's how it works!" Hong Yi had read the Martial Classic and the historical texts thoroughly, so he knew how important horses were. While practicing Ox Demon Great Strength Fist, he had also studied Horse Riding Fist in preparation for mounted archery. At first, Hong Yi couldn't handle Lightning Chaser's speed and could only cling tightly to the horse's back. But as he gradually steadied his breathing and grew familiar with the horse, he began performing Horse Riding Fist. Soon, he could sit upright, control the reins, and make Lightning Chaser turn left and right. Pfft! From a distance, the destination looked far away, as if it would take a long time to reach. Yet in the space of a few bounds, they shot there like a whirlwind. The sensation was intensely exhilarating for Hong Yi.
"So that's what it means to draw on the horse's power." This time, the sword bit deeply into the tree, but it still didn't cut through. "Whoa..." Hong Yi gave the reins a tug to signal Lightning Chaser to stop. In an instant, the horse tucked in all four legs and stood firm as a mountain, like an iron spike driven into the earth. The tremendous force of the sudden stop nearly sent Hong Yi flying. Fortunately, he dropped his weight sharply and squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, keeping his balance. This test made Hong Yi understand even more clearly what it meant to draw on a horse's power. He rode around for another lap. As evening fell and the gates of Yujing were about to close, Hong Yi finally galloped back to the city and returned to the Marquis Mansion. When he reached the Osmanthus Chamber where he lived, he had just finished tying up the horse and was wondering where he could find a groom to look after it.
Whoosh, whoosh! Suddenly, Zi Yu hurried in. "Young Master Yi, Steward Wu came by earlier. He said the Marquis has returned and wants to see you."
The sword flashed.
Horse galloped. Sword drawn!
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