Sword Control Art

Three cold flashes shot through gaps in the branches.

The distance was close.

Tang San neither used soul power nor summoned his martial soul.

Sleeve Arrows relied on explosive wrist strength, the spring force of their mechanisms, and precise angles.

The three arrows split into upper, middle, and lower paths.

One flew toward the heart from behind, one aimed at the waist, and the last was slightly angled to block Su Chen's attempt to turn and evade.

This was the first time Tang San had truly intended to kill on the Douluo Continent.

Since someone from Spirit Hall had blocked his path and seen something they should not have seen, they could not be allowed to live.

Yu Xiaogang was still lowering his head to examine the snake marks, unaware that Tang San had raised his hand.

But Su Chen saw it.

He had not seen it by turning around.

His sword intent had sensed it.

Three sharp killing intents appeared in the air, fast and steady in their trajectories, even calculating the positions most easily exposed when an ordinary person turned around.

Su Chen did not dodge.

Tang San's pupils contracted slightly.

"Why aren't you moving?"

The three Sleeve Arrows were less than half a foot from his back.

Su Chen slowly turned his head, his gaze following the foremost arrow.

The arrow was short, its tip gleaming with a dark sheen.

It was poisoned.

At such a young age, on their first meeting, he had launched a deadly attack from behind over a few soul beasts and a brief argument.

Su Chen's eyes turned cold.

"Your technique is somewhat interesting."

Tang San's heart sank.

This man had noticed?

Impossible.

The Sleeve Arrows made almost no sound when fired, and the distance was so close that even an ordinary soul master who noticed them would have no time to react.

Yet Su Chen was not only unflustered; he looked as though he were examining some novel toy.

The three arrows drew closer and closer.

Su Chen did not hurriedly draw his sword.

Tang San's method of exerting force, the turn of his wrist, and the sequence in which his fingers triggered the mechanisms all fell into his eyes.

He first stabilized the direction with wrist strength, then activated the mechanism with concealed force, and finally borrowed strength from his shoulders and back to eliminate deviation.

So-called hidden weapons were not merely pieces of iron concealed in one's sleeve.

Their core lay in control.

Control of strength, control of angles, and control of the opponent's reactions.

If such fine control were applied to a sword...

The sword did not need to remain in one's hand.

Wherever the mind reached, the blade would arrive.

[ Ding! ]

[ By observing the force exertion methods and flight trajectories of hidden weapons, you have grasped the principles of controlling objects and force. ]

[ Combined with the spiritual energy circulation of the Supreme Guidance Art and the sword intent origin of the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword, enlightenment successful. ]

[ Self-created Sword Control Art: Light-Splitting Shadow Sweep. ]

The method unfolded within his mind.

He locked the sword with spiritual sense and used spiritual energy as a thread.

When the sword rose, it relied not on brute strength and was not bound by the palm.

With a single thought, light split.

With one sword, shadows swept past.

"So that's how it is."

Su Chen raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together.

He pointed forward and made a light slash.

"Go."

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword flew out from his side.

Tang San's expression finally changed.

That sword was not in Su Chen's hand, yet it seemed alive, its body trailing a streak of purple light.

Just as the first Sleeve Arrow reached Su Chen's back, the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword slashed across it.

The shaft broke into two pieces.

Just as the second Sleeve Arrow tried to veer away, the sword light had already turned back.

Clang.

The arrowhead fell into the grass.

The third arrow was the most sinister, skimming along the ground toward his ankle.

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword did not pursue the arrow.

Its tip dipped slightly, carrying a wisp of fine thunder intent.

The Sleeve Arrow was jolted off course in midair and nailed into a nearby tree root.

All three arrows were destroyed.

Tang San stood where he was, his arm still held in the firing position.

For the first time, a crack appeared in the calmness on his face.

"Impossible..."

The Sleeve Arrows were not soul skills.

These things came from the Tang Sect. Their firing methods, mechanism designs, and trajectory changes were techniques that soul masters of the Douluo Continent could not comprehend.

Yet Su Chen had taken only one look.

After one look, he had used a sword detached from his hand to sever every Sleeve Arrow.

And that sword's flight path was even more agile than the Sleeve Arrows'.

Yu Xiaogang finally sensed that something was wrong and raised his head.

Broken arrows lay scattered across the ground.

Su Chen had already turned around.

"Teacher, be careful!"

Before Tang San had finished speaking, the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword had stopped in midair.

Its tip was not aimed at Tang San's throat.

It pointed instead at Tang San's right hand.

The hand that had just fired the Sleeve Arrows.

Yu Xiaogang's face went pale.

"Child, stop! We can talk this out!"

"Now you want to talk things out?"

Su Chen looked at Tang San.

"Why didn't you talk first when you fired those arrows?"

Tang San gritted his teeth, his left hand quietly reaching toward his waist.

Su Chen saw it but did not stop him.

"Want to try again?"

"You're from Spirit Hall."

Tang San looked up, fury suppressed in his eyes.

"You know exactly what Spirit Hall has done over the years."

"So?"

"You blocked my path and took the soul beast we were tracking. Since we were already enemies, I should have struck first."

After hearing that, Su Chen nodded.

"Quite honest."

"But there's a problem with your logic."

Tang San said nothing.

"First, the soul beast didn't have your name written on it. Second, while I killed the soul beast, you hid behind me and watched. Third, your sneak attack failed."

Su Chen raised a finger, and the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword advanced another half inch.

"We're enemies, right?"

"Then now, it's my turn."

Yu Xiaogang hurriedly stepped in front of Tang San.

"Su Chen, you are Spirit Hall's Holy Son. Why argue with a child?"

"Teacher, that's an interesting thing to say."

"When Tang San tried to kill me first, you didn't see it. Now that I haven't even struck back, you're already panicking."

"That isn't protecting your own. That's favoritism."

Yu Xiaogang's face flushed red.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Tang San merely... merely feared that you would interfere with our hunt for a Soul Ring, so he acted on impulse."

Su Chen smiled.

"Acting on impulse means he can kill someone?"

"Then I'll act on impulse too."

Tang San suddenly shoved Yu Xiaogang aside.

"Teacher, move."

Yu Xiaogang turned back.

"Tang San!"

"Since I've already acted, there's no turning back."

Tang San's gaze sank once more.

The failure of his Sleeve Arrows had indeed caught him by surprise.

But the Tang Sect's methods involved more than Sleeve Arrows.

His hands rose slightly, his palms taking on a jade-like hue.

Mysterious Jade Hand.

At the same time, his steps moved diagonally. His body swayed, leaving several afterimages behind.

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step.

Su Chen watched Tang San move but did not pursue.

"You run quite fast."

Tang San circled to the side and drew several iron caltrops from his waist with his right hand.

"Go!"

The hidden weapons scattered toward him.

Some flew straight at his face, some toward his arms, while two curved through the air, all aimed at his joints.

Su Chen stood still and moved his fingers again.

"Light-Splitting."

The Purple Thunder Spirit Sword suddenly split into three.

It had not truly divided.

It was merely so fast that it left behind three sword shadows.

The first sword shadow swept aside the iron caltrops.

The second sword shadow cut off Tang San's retreat.

The third swept past Tang San's side, slicing a tear into his sleeve.

Tang San's steps faltered.

His sleeve split open, and the small mechanism hidden inside fell out.

Su Chen looked at the object on the ground.

"More?"

Tang San's expression was ugly.

These hidden weapons had taken him many days to make.

The iron was not difficult to find, but the mechanism dimensions, spring strength, and arrow weight all required repeated adjustments.

Every piece was part of the Tang Sect's foundation.

Now, before they had even shown their worth, a single sword had destroyed them all.

More terrifyingly, Su Chen did not seem to have gotten serious at all.

Tang San stared at the hovering Purple Thunder Spirit Sword, and for the first time, an indescribable frustration rose in his heart.

His own martial arts, his own hidden weapons, everything he had taken pride in seemed clumsy before this man.

No.

There had to be another chance.

As long as he got close.

Hidden weapons could be blocked by a sword, but close combat might not be.

Tang San moved again, using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step to close in.

The distance shrank to three steps.

Su Chen did not retreat.

Tang San's right hand formed a claw, Mysterious Jade Hand striking straight for Su Chen's sword-wielding wrist.

Su Chen raised his eyes.

"You learned a little and think you can get close?"

Tang San's heart jolted.

The next moment, the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword vanished from midair.

It had not returned to Su Chen's hand.

Instead, it circled behind Tang San, its hilt carrying thunderous force as it smashed viciously into his right wrist.

Tang San sensed the danger and tried to pull back, but it was already too late.

Crack.

A sharp pain shot through his wrist.

Tang San's face instantly drained of color as he staggered back.

His right hand hung limply at his side.

The bone was broken.

The jade hue of Mysterious Jade Hand faded with it.

Yu Xiaogang stood frozen in place, then rushed over two breaths later to support Tang San.

"How's your hand? Quick, let me see!"

Cold sweat beaded on Tang San's forehead. He clenched his teeth hard and did not cry out.

"It's broken."

"How could it be broken..."

Yu Xiaogang's fingers trembled.

Tang San's right hand was not merely a hand.

It was the foundation of Tang Sect hidden weapons, and the foundation of cultivating Mysterious Jade Hand.

Su Chen recalled the Purple Thunder Spirit Sword.

"Your hidden weapons are well concealed, struck from sinister angles, and are calculated with care."

"Unfortunately, you've gone down the wrong path."

Tang San raised his head, the hatred in his eyes nearly impossible to suppress.

"What right do you have to say my path is wrong?"

"Because you don't dare stand before others."

Su Chen looked at the hand hanging at his side.

"A true sword is meant to be seen when it leaves its sheath, by others and by yourself."

"Hiding in your sleeve and only striking from behind—what kind of skill is that?"