Swordsmanship Is Footwork

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhao Cheng used the hazy moonlight to get his bearings and broke into a sprint.

With his swordsmanship at Lv8 and his extraordinary talent for the sword, the breathing method had become instinctive. With every breath in and out, it seemed to spread ample oxygen to every cell in his body.

In a vague sort of way, he even felt as though the legendary "true qi" was flowing through him.

But an illusion was only an illusion. In the real world, no such force as true qi existed. This sensation of qi was merely a neural illusion produced when his cells were flooded with oxygen.

Even ordinary people could sometimes feel a faint sense of qi if they took rhythmic, deep breaths. It was just a sensation, though, and could never be as strong as what Zhao Cheng felt now.

He had mastered the breathing method, so his breathing was more efficient. But the key was that his swordsmanship had reached its present level, and his body had undergone an initial "refinement." His nervous system was far more developed than an ordinary person's, which was why he felt the sensation so intensely.

This sensation was not a bad thing. It was a sign of an active, powerful nervous system.

They said that if someone reached the pinnacle of Swordsmanship and fully "refined" both mind and body, each breath could bring a feeling of qi circulating throughout the body, endlessly flowing.

At that stage, the body's reaction speed and explosive power would remain at their peak at all times. With the slightest exertion, every movement could unleash the full force of one's strength.

There would be no need to stimulate the body's potential through breathing, as Zhao Cheng was doing now, to produce greater explosive power than usual and sharper neural reflexes.

One state had become permanent, turning into a passive ability. The other was active: it had a cooldown, consumed mental energy to activate, and could only last for a limited time. Afterward, it also left the nerves exhausted.

Zhao Cheng couldn't estimate how much his neural reflexes had improved in this explosive state. As for his power, he guessed it had increased by at least thirty percent.

As he strode forward, every part of his body seemed to "respond" to his movements. It was like a precision machine: force rose from his feet, surging like waves to carry his body along. His movements grew smoother, and his steps faster.

He had never specifically trained in any footwork, but now the swordsmanship he had practiced had turned into footwork. He naturally put to use all sorts of force-generating techniques from his Lv8 swordsmanship, as if he had learned them without a teacher.

Swordsmanship was footwork!

If this had been his original body, even with the same Lv8 swordsmanship, he could never have made the transformation so smoothly. But with this body's remarkable talent, he had managed it in an incredibly short time.

"No wonder you hardly ever hear of specialized footwork in the real world. Swordsmanship turns out to be footwork. But it makes sense: people in the real world all have extraordinary talent for the sword. Only by using swordsmanship as footwork can they fully bring out that talent."

"It's the same when it comes to raising your level of life. By all rights, swordsmanship is only a skill, yet the real world directly uses it as a cultivation method—mimicking one with swordsmanship to transcend the ordinary and reach sainthood!"

Zhao Cheng understood. Some things that had puzzled him before suddenly became clear.

There was no need for footwork, no need for body movement techniques, and no need for cultivation methods. Swordsmanship could replace everything, and everything was contained within swordsmanship!

This was brought to life perfectly in the 17th Basic Swordsmanship 6th Revised Edition!

One sword contained everything!

One sword could transcend the ordinary and reach sainthood!

At a full sprint, Zhao Cheng covered nearly four kilometers in less than ten minutes. He was already close to matching the world record for the five-kilometer run in his previous life.

By the time he reached the Heavenly Phoenix Pavilion, his body had turned bright red. It felt as if the blood inside him were about to burst through his skin.

Whoosh!

Zhao Cheng stopped and let out a long breath. It was so hot that it formed a white ribbon of condensed vapor. The cloud hung together for a full two or three seconds before slowly dispersing.

Then the pores all over Zhao Cheng's body suddenly opened, releasing great clouds of heat, like steam pouring from a freshly opened steamer.

At that instant, Zhao Cheng felt as though all his strength had been drained away. Every cell in his body, from head to toe, radiated utter exhaustion.

Though Zhao Cheng's physical fitness exceeded the human average, his Constitution was only 5.5—just twenty percent better than an ordinary person's. He was nowhere near the level of a top athlete from his previous life.

After specialized training, top athletes could reach two or three times the ordinary level in their chosen fields. In numerical terms, that meant a Constitution of 7 to 8.

Zhao Cheng could match them in long-distance running because swordsmanship refined his body and mind, and because of his special breathing method. On top of that, he had extraordinary talent for the sword. All three were indispensable.

The refinement of body and mind and the breathing method were the hardware. Talent for the sword was the software. Without the first two, there was no foundation to work from; without the last, there was no ability to put them to use.

Without extraordinary talent, even someone with Lv8 swordsmanship could keep their breathing steady and maintain an explosive state while using swordsmanship properly. But they couldn't sustain it over a long-distance sprint. Once their breathing fell out of rhythm, they could no longer explode with power. That took talent.

On top of that, during the Quietude stage, maintaining the breathing method in an explosive state for a long time caused severe damage to the body.

Zhao Cheng had run for less than ten minutes, yet recovering afterward would take one or two months. He might even come down with a serious illness.

He had already pushed his body far beyond its limits!

With his current Vitality and physical fitness, staying in an explosive state for more than three minutes would damage his body. If he forced himself to continue, the longer he lasted, the worse the damage would become—until he dropped dead.

As for why he could train normally for a long time, it came down to the difference between running fast and walking. You could walk for an hour or two without feeling tired, but run a kilometer in three minutes and you'd be exhausted.

But Zhao Cheng wasn't worried in the slightest about the severe damage to his body. Without hesitation, he opened the Panel and used his last Full Recovery Potion.

At once, not only were the exhaustion and damage from his sprint undone, but the strain from his training before the moon appeared also vanished.

A Full Recovery Potion restored eighty percent of one's condition. Generally speaking, once your condition fell below thirty percent, you would pass out.

The real world wasn't like a game, where you could still bounce around as long as you had even a sliver of health or mana left.

So after taking the potion, Zhao Cheng's condition was instantly restored to full!