Green Lotus Sword Art

"Fine words indeed: Heaven gave me talents meant for use; a thousand gold spent will come again!"

In a corner of the second floor, Grandmaster suddenly slapped his thigh, his face brimming with excitement. He felt that Yang Ming's poem had spoken straight to his heart!

Grandmaster's life had been full of hardships. His Martial Soul had awakened as trash, and his Soul Power would never cross the threshold of level thirty in his lifetime. He could only study theoretical knowledge about Martial Souls, forever regarded as a useless fraud. Now, upon hearing this poem, he felt the bitterness in his chest rolling away like the Yellow River flowing endlessly eastward.

Only...

When he thought of how Yang Ming, who suited his tastes so well, could not be accepted as his disciple, Grandmaster suddenly found it hard to breathe.

It was utterly heartbreaking!

"No! I can't just give up on such an uncut gem!"

A trace of determination flashed through Grandmaster's eyes as he secretly calculated:

"Isn't Tang San Yang Ming's good friend? I need to have him talk some sense into Yang Ming."

When Yang Ming finished reciting, everyone else wore different expressions.

The teachers were filled with emotion, while the wealthy students looked grim.

As for the Dorm Seven companions sitting at Yang Ming's table, they felt that Yang Ming was standing up for them and encouraging them. After all, they had suffered far too many injustices along the way!

That was right. So what if they came from poor families? So what if they were commoners?

Did that make them inferior to those rich young masters?

Are kings and nobles born that way?

Wang Sheng sprang to his feet and excitedly raised his wine cup with both hands. It was filled to the brim with clear rice wine. He bowed to Yang Ming and said passionately:

"Big Shot, with those words from you today, from now on, if you tell me to go east, I'll never go west. I'll follow your every command!"

The other boys from Dorm Seven also stood up one after another and voiced similar sentiments.

As soon as they finished speaking, everyone drained their rice wine in one gulp.

The rice wine was not particularly strong, but for these fledglings tasting alcohol for the first time, it was still harsh enough. Their young faces flushed bright red, yet each of them stubbornly refused to cough, afraid of losing face. They looked like oversized tomatoes.

Yang Ming smiled faintly. This atmosphere with his companions was quite nice.

Watching Yang Ming chat happily with the other boys, Xiao Wu's beautiful eyes shimmered with admiration.

By the end of the meal, Yang Ming had grown much closer to everyone.

Many of them were drinking for the first time. Even though the rice wine had little alcohol, they still ended up tipsy, supporting one another as they returned to the dormitory.

After settling them in, Yang Ming left the dormitory alone. He did not notice that a little tail was following behind him.

Xiao Wu tiptoed after him silently, making not the slightest sound. As she watched Yang Ming's departing figure, her delicate nose twitched slightly, and a cunning glint flashed in her eyes.

"Heng heng, going out this late at night? Don't tell me he's off to do something bad?"

The thought made Xiao Wu feel thrilled. She was even more determined not to lose Yang Ming's trail.

Until...

When Xiao Wu saw Yang Ming arrive at the training field, she felt utterly deflated.

"What kind of bad thing would he come here to do?"

Xiao Wu was utterly bewildered and annoyed. Why did this Yang Ming never play by the rules? Couldn't he let this young lady have a little fun for once?

Naturally, Yang Ming had no idea what Xiao Wu was thinking. In truth, he had been a lifelong bachelor in his previous life and knew nothing about romance. How could he possibly know what girls were thinking?

Yang Ming first closed his eyes and checked the system messages left over from earlier.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations, Host. You spoke a classic line from the film The Big Shot and received one lottery chance. Would you like to activate the lottery wheel?"

Yang Ming had not expected that adapting the line, "Young Master Zhao is picking up the bill tonight," would count as well.

The Big Shot was a crime action film. There was nothing particularly special about it, nor was there any equipment worth obtaining.

Yang Ming chose not to draw for now, saving the lottery chance for next time.

He then abruptly opened his eyes. Golden light gathered in his outstretched right palm, forming the Mysterious Sword. He began training with meticulous movements.

Ten thousand years was too long; seize every moment!

After the Cao Mengyun incident, Yang Ming had deeply understood the essence of this world. It was the law of the jungle, where the strong preyed on the weak. The weak would only be bullied. If he did not want to be helpless when others pushed their luck, the only path was to grow stronger without end—strong enough that others could only look to him for breath!

The sword was the King among weapons, known as the lord of a hundred arms.

A sword had a straight body, a pointed tip, and double edges. It could wound with horizontal or vertical swings, pierce armor with thrusts, and was exceedingly dangerous. It was born for slaughter.

In ancient times, there had been treasured swords such as Gan Jiang, Mo Ye, Dragon Spring, Tai'e, Chunjun, Zhanlu, Fish Gut, and Jueque. Many assassins had also made their names with swords. Jing Ke's attempt to assassinate the King of Qin and the swordsman Wang Yue of the late Eastern Han Dynasty were both outstanding figures of the sword path.

Yet the sword Yang Ming practiced was vastly different from the sword paths of assassins and swordsmen, because this was the sword path of the Sword Immortal Li Bai.

Green Lotus Sword Art!

When Yang Ming had obtained Li Bai's skill, Green Lotus Sword Song, he had also received this sword art. It contained nine true verses that encompassed its overall principles.

"I am the madman of Chu."

"I soar to the edge of the azure clouds."

"Two waters part around Egret Isle."

"A drifting cloud reflects the wanderer's heart."

"When the brush falls, wind and rain are startled."

"A lone sail fades into the blue sky."

"A waterfall plunges three thousand feet."

"There is another world beyond the human realm."

"Returning to Jiangling from a thousand miles away in a single day."

Each true verse represented one of the nine stages of the sword art:

Green Lotus Emergence, Green Lotus Turns to Qi, Sword Qi Like Lotus, Green Lotus Seizes Splendor, Green Lotus Opens Mountains, Green Lotus Fills the Sky, Green Lotus Gathering, Green Lotus Sprouting, Green Lotus Reaching Heaven.

Based on the information the system had instilled in his mind, Yang Ming now understood that, in order to adapt to Douluo Continent, he had merely learned the basics of Li Bai's original ultimate skill, Green Lotus Sword Song.

Once he mastered all nine stages of the Green Lotus Sword Art and brought the ultimate skill to its fullest potential, perhaps it truly would be as the highest realm described—Green Lotus Reaching Heaven!

Of course, one had to walk step by step and eat bite by bite.

For now, he needed to first master the first stage of the Green Lotus Sword Art, Green Lotus Emergence.

Under the night moon, Yang Ming wore a solemn expression as he danced with his sword.

The most important thing in practicing the Green Lotus Sword Art was that aura. The first principle, "I am the madman of Chu," meant that every strike had to be fierce and carry the arrogance of someone determined to cut down his opponent.

The hazy moonlight cast a veil-like silver glow over the ground, falling upon Yang Ming's resolute face and the Mysterious Sword in his hand. Blinding sword light flowed across its blade.

Chopping, slashing, snapping, lifting, parrying, sweeping aside, intercepting, thrusting, stirring, pressing, hanging, and sweeping—each move was deftly executed in Yang Ming's hands. At times, they were fierce and unstoppable; at others, gentle as water. He moved with effortless control, each motion smooth and complete.

Combined with Yang Ming's white robes and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track footwork, he appeared free and nimble, handsome and elegant, faintly displaying the bearing of a Sword Immortal.

Before he knew it, a group of girls had gathered beside the training field. Some were from his year, but even more were older students. Watching Yang Ming dance with his sword beneath the moonlight, they held their cheeks in their hands, their beautiful eyes filled with admiration.

For a moment, they were utterly entranced.