Sword Techniques Are Footwork

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhao Cheng seized the direction by the dim moonlight and began to sprint.

With Lv8 Swordsmanship and his current extraordinary talent for the sword, his breathing technique had become instinctual; with every inhalation and exhalation, it felt as though he were diffusing abundant oxygen into every cell of his body.

Vaguely, he even felt the illusion that the legendary "True Qi" was circulating within him.

However, an illusion is just an illusion; in the real world, no such power as True Qi exists. This sensation of airflow was merely a neurological phantom caused by the massive oxygenation of his cells.

Even an ordinary person can sometimes generate a faint sense of "Qi" through rhythmic deep breathing, but it is merely a sensation and could never be as intense as what Zhao Cheng felt now.

He had mastered the breathing technique, granting him higher respiratory efficiency, but the key remained that his swordsmanship had reached such a level that his physical body had undergone preliminary "refinement," making his nervous system far more developed than that of an average person, which was why his sensations were so acute.

This sensation was not a bad thing; rather, it was a manifestation of an active and powerful nervous system.

It is said that if one reaches the peak of a Swordsman, refining both spirit and flesh to perfection, one can generate a feeling of Qi circulating throughout the body, endless and inexhaustible, with every breath.

At that stage, whether in reaction speed or explosive power, the body remains in a peak state at all times; with every gesture, if force is applied, it is the ultimate eruption of ten-tenths of one's strength.

One would not need to do as Zhao Cheng was doing now—using breathing to stimulate the body's potential to unleash explosive power and sharper neural reflexes than usual.

The former is a permanent, passive state, while the latter is active, requiring a cooldown, consuming energy to activate, and draining mental focus; it is limited in duration and leaves one with neural exhaustion afterward.

In this state of eruption, Zhao Cheng could hardly estimate his neural reflexes, but in terms of explosive power, he reckoned his output had increased by at least thirty percent.

As he strode forward, every part of his body responded to his movements, like a precision machine. Force originated from his feet, surging like waves and driving the rhythm of his body, making his movements smoother and his steps increasingly rapid.

He had never specifically trained in footwork, but at this moment, the swordsmanship he practiced had transformed into footwork; the various force-application techniques within his Lv8 Swordsmanship were being utilized naturally, mastered without a teacher.

Sword technique is footwork!

Had it been his original self, even with the same Lv8 Swordsmanship, such a conversion could not have been so seamless, but under the powerful talent of this body, the transformation was completed in an incredibly short time.

No wonder it is rarely heard in reality that there is specialized footwork; it turns out that sword technique is footwork. It makes sense, too—people in reality all possess extraordinary sword talent, and only by using sword technique as footwork can one fully unleash this innate gift.

The same applies to elevating one's life level. Originally, it stood to reason that sword technique was merely a skill, yet the real world treats swordsmanship directly as a cultivation method, simulating cultivation techniques through sword forms to transcend the mundane and enter the sacred!

Zhao Cheng felt a sudden clarity; previously incomprehensible questions were suddenly illuminated.

There was no need for footwork, no need for movement techniques, and no need for cultivation manuals; sword technique could replace everything, and at the same time, everything was contained within swordsmanship!

This point was manifested to the fullest in the 17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition!

One sword is everything!

One sword, transcending the mundane and entering the sacred!

Under the frantic sprint, Zhao Cheng covered nearly four kilometers in less than ten minutes; this speed was already nearing the world record for a five-kilometer run from his past life.

Yet, after such a wild dash, by the time Zhao Cheng arrived at the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion, his body had turned crimson, and the blood within him seemed ready to burst through his skin.

Hoo!

Zhao Cheng stood still and exhaled a long breath. This breath was filled with heat, like a white ribbon of silk, condensing into a mass that took a full two or three seconds to slowly dissipate.

Immediately following, the pores on Zhao Cheng's body snapped open, and a massive amount of heat steamed out, leaving him shrouded in mist like a freshly opened steamer.

At that very moment, Zhao Cheng felt as if all his strength had been drained away, and every cell in his limbs and bones radiated an extreme sense of exhaustion.

Although Zhao Cheng's physical fitness exceeded the human average, his Constitution was only 5.5—barely twenty percent stronger than an ordinary person—and he could by no means reach the level of top athletes from his past life.

Those top athletes, through specialized training, could reach two to three times the fitness of a normal person in their fields of expertise; if quantified, that would be 7 to 8 points of Constitution.

That Zhao Cheng could match those people in a long-distance sprint relied on the refinement of his flesh and spirit through the sword, his special breathing technique, and his extraordinary sword talent—all three were indispensable.

Among them, the refinement of flesh and spirit and the breathing technique were the hardware, while sword talent was the software. Without the former, there would be no foundation for execution; without the latter, there would be no ability to apply it.

Without extraordinary talent, even with Lv8 Swordsmanship, one could naturally maintain a steady breathing technique while practicing sword forms, but it would be difficult to sustain during a long-distance sprint. Once the breathing technique faltered, the explosive state would vanish; this required talent.

Furthermore, maintaining the breathing technique and the explosive state for a long time during the Quietude stage caused immense damage to the body.

For the less than ten minutes Zhao Cheng had just run, it would take a month or two to recover his vitality, and he might even fall seriously ill afterward.

He had already crossed the line into over-taxing his body.

With his current vitality and physical fitness, once the extreme explosive state exceeded three minutes, it would damage his body. If he forced himself to continue, the damage would only grow until he dropped dead.

As for his daily practice, the reason he could maintain it for a long time is the difference between walking and sprinting; one can walk for an hour or two without feeling tired, but sprinting for three minutes over a thousand meters leaves one exhausted like a dog.

Yet, despite the massive damage to his body, Zhao Cheng did not panic in the slightest. Without hesitation, he opened his Panel and used his last Full Recovery Potion.

Instantly, not only was the exhaustion and damage from the sprint wiped away, but even the fatigue from his practice before the moon appeared was completely restored.

The Full Recovery Potion restores 80% of one's state, and generally speaking, if one's state falls below 30%, a person would fall unconscious.

In the real world, it is impossible to have the situation seen in games where one remains active and jumping around with a sliver of health or mana left.

Thus, with one potion, Zhao Cheng's state was restored to full!