"Changes?"
"A horse can become a chariot, and a pawn that has crossed the river can move backward."
"Is that allowed?"
"As long as you can do it."
"..."
"So once you reach the 'Spirit' realm, you possess the basic qualifications to play a game of 'moves' against any swordsman. But it remains a vast realm. As I just said, the deeper your understanding and the subtler your application, the higher you stand within the 'Spirit' realm."
"Then it actually has something to do with how many pieces you have, too."
"Yes."
Pei Ye looked thoughtful. "So... the foundation of every variation a Spirit Realm swordsman makes is the sword moves he has learned."
"Naturally."
"Mm... Miss Ming, do you know how to play Chinese chess?"
"I haven't played against anyone yet."
"I'll play with you next time!"
"All right."
How could you defeat someone in sword moves when he had long since passed beyond the summit of the Spirit Realm?
The sword moves he had learned were as vast as a sea of mist, and the thinking behind his variations was uncanny and profound-the accumulation of forty years immersed in the Sword Dao. For countless swordsmen, even if such swordplay were clearly dismantled before their eyes, few could fathom it.
If the Spirit Realm was a contest of understanding the sword, then this black-robed figure had plainly climbed too high.
Of course this sword duel was a tale from the Arabian Nights. You were a newcomer who had just entered the Spirit Realm, with so few sword moves that you could count them on your fingers, and your understanding of the sword had barely crossed the threshold; your opponent was an unfathomable Academy Superintendent of sword cultivation, under whose guidance countless sword talents had grown. He could casually test