Edgebreaker

After the Martial Meet, Zhou Yan exchanged all his prize silver and remaining money for Qi Gathering Pills.

A row of green porcelain bottles sat on the table in the small room behind the tea stall.

Every day at dawn, before the sky had fully brightened, he arrived at Class A.

Han Zongyuan was already standing in the stake stance area, the blue bricks beneath his feet trembling faintly under the pressure of his inner qi.

Shen Qingshan was striking a wooden dummy in the fist technique area, his fists landing with dull, rhythmic thuds.

Gu Changsong, meanwhile, was soaking in medicinal water in the treatment room. Even through the door, the pungent scent of herbs could be smelled.

Feng Jiping arrived at around the same time as him. The two met at the entrance, nodded to each other, and went to their respective places in the fist practice area.

After all three stages of the Mountain-Suppressing Fist had been mastered, it no longer stalled at the waist and hips, flowing from beginning to end in one smooth motion.

He delivered a full hundred punches against the wooden dummy. When he finished, the dummy was covered in fist marks.

Han Zongyuan passed by, took a glance, and said, "I didn't expect you to have trained the Mountain-Suppressing Fist to Perfection as well."

A month passed like this, and the numbers in his field of vision continued to rise.

The Mountain-Suppressing Fist was already nearing Limit-Breaking, separated from that threshold by only a thin sheet of paper.

One evening after practice, Xue Zhenshan called him to the rear courtyard.

The courtyard was small. There was an old jujube tree, with a stone table and stone stools beneath it.

Xue Zhenshan sat on one of the stone stools, with a saber resting at his side.

Zhou Yan noticed the saber first and paused. Its blade was two inches shorter than an ordinary saber, and its edge had been ground to a dull sheen.

"I promised you before the Martial Meet. Take first place, and I'd teach you a saber technique. I told you, Mountain-Suppressing Martial Hall has more than just fists."

Zhou Yan took it and weighed it in his hand. The hilt was ebony, cool to the touch.

"This saber technique is called Edgebreaker. It has eight forms in total, and it follows a ruthless path. There are no feints; every strike goes straight for a vital point." Xue Zhenshan rose to his feet, somehow holding an identical short saber in his hand. "This technique is especially vicious, and its power is formidable."

He stepped forward, and the saber flipped out from his waist.

The first form traveled in a straight line. The tip traced an arc of light, then suddenly turned at its highest point and chopped downward.

The second form followed directly on the momentum of the first, with no pause between the two strikes.

After all eight forms, several dead leaves were swept from the jujube tree by the blade wind. Before they had drifted halfway down, they were sliced cleanly in two.

"The essence of the Edgebreaker Saber lies in the word 'break.' Once it cleaves in, it cuts straight through tendons and bones." Xue Zhenshan sheathed his saber and took several breaths. "This technique demands both stake stance skill and physical strength. The stronger your body, the greater the saber's force, speed, and power."

Zhou Yan gripped the saber, settled into his stance, and gave a passable slash.

His first strike went wide, shaving only a layer of bark from the wooden dummy. He adjusted his grip and slashed again, driving the blade three inches into the wood.

"Don't rush into chopping. Start with the first form, the Upward Slash. Draw the saber from low to high along an arc, then at the highest point, turn your wrist and transform it into a chop. Once you master this movement, the remaining seven forms are all variations built upon it." Xue Zhenshan sat down nearby. "Han Zongyuan practiced this technique before, but he preferred using his fists and gave it up after two months. Shen Qingshan trained it for half a year and never even entered the first form. Your stake stance is better than either of theirs, so you should be faster."

"This isn't a saber technique for Body Tempering or Qi Gathering. It is a technique for Martial Adepts of the Meridian-Opening Realm."

"This technique was created by my senior brother back in the day. He is now a peak master of the Sunset Glow Sect." Xue Zhenshan shook his head. "Unfortunately, after entering the sect, he found his own path. He created the Edgebreaker Saber when he was young at the martial hall, saying it was for future disciples with strong stake stance foundations."

He paused. "Over the years, you are the sixth person to receive this technique. The previous five all failed to master it."

Zhou Yan stood beneath the jujube tree with the saber in hand, holding his stance for the time it took an incense stick to burn.

He poured the foundation of the Mountain-Settling Stance into the saber hilt. The blade tip trembled slightly, then steadied.

Xue Zhenshan watched from the side without speaking.

Beyond the courtyard wall, the teahouse was closing for the day. The attendants carried tables and chairs indoors, wooden boards clattering against the stone pavement.

The last streak of orange-red at the horizon faded, and the jujube tree's shadow merged with the night.

Zhou Yan sheathed his saber and sat on a stone stool. Xue Zhenshan poured him a cup of cold tea.

He took a sip, then suddenly asked, "Hall Master, this disciple has a question. Do you know what kind of place the Demon-Slaying Hall is?"

Xue Zhenshan's hand stopped midway as he held his cup, his brow tightening. "Why are you suddenly asking about that?"

"This disciple has heard people mention it a few times before." Xue Zhenshan fell silent for several breaths.

"The Demon-Slaying Hall is not a sect." After some thought, he began, "It is not bound by the Martial Examination, nor is it under the control of any sect. It answers to only one person—the reigning emperor. It is the court's blade, created specifically to subdue demons and eliminate monsters. Wherever there are demons, there is the Demon-Slaying Hall. Within the Hall are the Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow Guards. Yellow Guards are the lowest, while Heaven Guards are the highest. Entering is simple enough: regardless of cultivation or background, all you need is to have personally hunted a true demon."

At those words, Zhou Yan was startled inwardly.

No wonder everyone said that the Demon-Slaying Hall began at the Meridian-Opening Realm. Without becoming a Martial Adept and reaching Meridian Opening, who could kill demons alone?

Xue Zhenshan held his teacup. "Qingyun County is well situated, close to the heart of Great Xia. Most people never see a demon in their entire lives. But leave Qingyun County and head north or east, and once you reach the borderlands, when demon tides come, they blot out the sky and cover the earth. Most of the Demon-Slaying Hall's people are nailed down there."

"The cultivation techniques used in the Hall are ordinary techniques as well. Over its several hundred years of existence, the Demon-Slaying Hall has collected nearly every technique in Great Xia: fist techniques, saber techniques, sword techniques, internal cultivation methods, and all kinds of ancient fragmented scrolls. If a sect has it, so does the Hall. If a sect does not have it, the Hall may have it too." Xue Zhenshan glanced at Zhou Yan. "But those techniques are not meant for inheritance. They are meant for killing demons. Every person in the Hall has survived a demon tide. Given the same saber technique, a sect might spend three years breaking it down and refining its forms, while the Hall's people would have tested it on demon beast necks within three months."

Zhou Yan lightly ran his fingers over the saber hilt.

Xue Zhenshan looked at his newly accepted disciple, his voice growing heavier. "The price is laid out in plain sight as well. Every year, countless Yellow Guards die in demon tides. Yellow Guards are the lowest rank in the Hall, and they do the hardest work. When a demon tide crashes in, the first wave holding the front line is the Yellow Guards. Without great merit or achievements, one must survive for three years before advancing to Profound Guard."

"What about Profound Guards?"

"Profound Guards can barely be said to have gained a foothold. Earth Guards can hold their own at the borderlands. As for Heaven Guards, their strength is overwhelming. You could count all of Great Xia's Heaven Guards on one hand. One person can guard an entire city; when a demon tide comes, they merely stand atop the city wall, and even the demon beasts dare not charge." Xue Zhenshan paused. "But such people are rare. The Demon-Slaying Hall does not take trash, nor does it keep idlers. Cultivation techniques and pills are supplied in abundance, and the pills are provided internally by the court—things money cannot buy outside. But those things are exchanged for lives. Take a technique, and you must kill demons. Consume pills, and you must stand on the front line. There are no exceptions."

"Anyone who surrenders before defeat or fears battle is executed on the spot."

"When I was young, I had a junior brother named Meng Cang." Xue Zhenshan set down his teacup, his voice lowering with regret. "His natural talent was even better than Han Zongyuan's. He reached Qi Gathering Perfection at seventeen and entered the Meridian-Opening Realm at eighteen. How glorious that was."

"What happened later?" Zhou Yan asked.

"He went to the Demon-Slaying Hall. No matter how I tried to persuade him, he would not listen. He died in a borderland demon tide in his third year, without even advancing to Profound Guard. When his body was sent back, half the bones in his body were broken. The Hall gave one hundred taels of compensation silver, along with the saber he had used in life."

The courtyard fell silent for a long while.

"Once you enter the Demon-Slaying Hall, the path to the sects is cut off." Xue Zhenshan raised his head and looked at him. "The two paths diverge. Once you choose one, there is no turning back. Sects demand a clean background and orderly progress. The Demon-Slaying Hall does not care about such things, but once you enter, you bear the marks of the court and the Demon-Slaying Hall. Sects do not accept people from the Hall, and the Hall does not take sect disciples. That is the rule."

As Xue Zhenshan spoke, he drained his tea in one gulp.

"After you reach Meridian Opening, take the Martial Examination and earn a ranking, then enter a sect. My senior brother is an elder in the Sunset Glow Sect. I'll write a letter for you to take with you then, and he can look after you there." He pushed a cup of tea toward Zhou Yan. "Don't think about the Demon-Slaying Hall anymore."

Zhou Yan picked up the cup and took a sip.

Yet he was thinking about something else: the Demon-Slaying Hall had collected nearly every cultivation technique in Great Xia.

His system's Limit-Breaking relied on continuously practicing different techniques.

Sects followed a fixed progression. One technique took years to practice, enough for tea to go cold.

But the Demon-Slaying Hall had techniques in abundance. Finish one, then switch to another.

Not to mention that its pills were supplied internally by the court.

They did not look at background, talent, or connections.

To others, the Demon-Slaying Hall was a gamble with their lives. To him, it was practically tailor-made.

He set his teacup on the stone table and said loudly, "This disciple understands. For now, I will first master the saber in my hands. Breaking through to Meridian Opening is the key."

Xue Zhenshan gave him a satisfied look and nodded.