"Now it's time to talk about your swordsmanship. Aren't you going to explain it to me?"
After settling those other matters, Leader Zhao finally turned an amused gaze on Wang Hao and waited for his explanation.
The improvement in his cultivation could be attributed to the Great Rejuvenation Pill, but swordsmanship wasn't something one could master overnight.
"I was just about to tell you, Leader! Ever since I took the Great Rejuvenation Pill, I've felt differently about swordsmanship. I can easily see through other people's sword techniques, and I even secretly learned these Ten Stances of Bloody Battle at the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall."
Wang Hao held nothing back and told him the truth. There was nothing to hide about it anyway; it would come to light sooner or later.
"You have a talent like that?"
Leader Zhao raised an eyebrow, his smile growing more amused. Drawing his old sword, he said with a smile, "Exchange a few moves with me. Let me see how you killed Wang Heihu and the other two, and what sort of divine sword could make you risk so much."
He was genuinely curious. After all, Wang Hao's build really wasn't suited to wielding a sword.
"Wouldn't that be inappropriate?"
Wang Hao rubbed his hands together, looking embarrassed.
"Fight when I tell you to fight. What's with all the nonsense? Remember to give it everything you've got. If you die otherwise, don't blame me for not holding back!"
Leader Zhao grew impatient and urged him on. At the same time, he genuinely wanted to test the fellow's strength and use it to judge a few things.
After all, the speed at which the fellow's strength had grown over the past few days was too strange. He had originally been a mere Third-Rate nobody, yet now he could kill a Second-rate expert like Wang Heihu in a head-on fight.
He had to get to the bottom of the mystery.
"In that case, I'll respectfully obey, Leader!"
Wang Hao's expression turned solemn. He turned around, took the wild boar down from the fire, and pulled out the greatsword he had been using as a support.
That was right. He had been using the greatsword as a roasting rack.
"Is that the sword the blacksmith made for you?"
Leader Zhao stared dumbfounded at the greatsword in Wang Hao's hand, which was over five feet long. He had imagined what Wang Hao's treasured sword might look like, but he had never expected this.
Could that thing really be called a sword?
"That thing weighs over a hundred jin, doesn't it?"
Leader Zhao tapped the greatsword in Wang Hao's hand twice, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
A greatsword of this design really was quite suited to the fellow's build.
"Sharp eyes, Leader. This greatsword weighs a total of one hundred and eight jin!"
Wang Hao swung the greatsword in his hand and replied with a smile.
The thousand-refined steel he had forged back then had actually weighed only ninety-nine jin. Even with the Ziwei Soft Sword encased inside it, the total had only come to a hundred jin. But afterward, he had forged a guard from a piece of bronze and fastened it to the blade to make it look more impressive, bringing the total to one hundred and eight jin.
"It really does weigh a hundred jin!"
Leader Zhao's face twitched. Once again, he was left speechless by his subordinate's taste.
Swords were the very embodiment of lightness and agility. Even the heaviest swords in the jianghu weighed no more than ten jin.
Even generals on the battlefield rarely used two-handed weapons weighing more than a hundred jin, much less one-handed weapons like sabers and swords, which never weighed more than twenty jin.
Yet now such an aberration had appeared!
"Leader, watch out!"
"Two Armies Facing Off!"
Wang Hao wasted no more words. With the greatsword in hand, he launched the opening move of the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle: Two Armies Facing Off, the stance with the strongest explosive power from a standstill.
The five-foot greatsword swept upward in a reverse slash with tremendous force.
Clang-
Intent on testing Wang Hao's strength, Leader Zhao chose to meet the attack head-on. But when the two swords collided, his heart skipped a beat.
He felt an immense force travel through his blade, numbing his entire right arm and nearly knocking the longsword from his hand.
If not for his formidable internal force, that single blow might have been enough to defeat him.
Leader Zhao was shaken, unaware that Wang Hao was just as astonished.
That sword strike had been an all-out burst of strength, with nothing held back. Wang Hao had thought that even if he couldn't defeat his opponent, he could at least force him back half a step or so. Who would have thought the man wouldn't budge an inch?
Super-First-Rate experts really are something else!
His heart tightened, and he grew even more cautious.
He also realized that he had underestimated the might of a Super-First-Rate expert. Even though Leader Zhao had only just entered the Super-First-Rate realm, Wang Hao still couldn't shake him.
Realizing how powerful Leader Zhao was, Wang Hao didn't dare hesitate. He swung his greatsword in a furious onslaught, displaying the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle to their fullest while using his True Spirit Sword Intent to memorize and discern Leader Zhao's sword techniques.
After suffering a setback in their first exchange, Leader Zhao no longer met Wang Hao head-on. Instead, he brought the lightness and agility of his swordsmanship to their utmost as he exchanged moves with him.
Before long, however, he was both shocked and frustrated. He found that the boy seemed to have seen through his swordsmanship. After a while, every attack the boy made targeted a flaw in his techniques.
If it had happened only once or twice, it could have been a coincidence, but it was another matter entirely when it happened every time.
The situation improved only after he switched to another set of sword techniques, but before long he fell into the same rhythm again.
After switching through several more sets of sword techniques, Leader Zhao finally confirmed a frightening fact.
Wang Hao truly did possess an astonishing talent for swordsmanship, and the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle he wielded were indeed exceptionally powerful, not the least bit inferior even to Leader Zhao's family sword techniques.
"Stop. That's enough."
Taking the opportunity to dart backward, Leader Zhao looked at Wang Hao, who was drenched in sweat and panting heavily, and asked with a frown, "Those aren't the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall's Ten Stances of Bloody Battle, are they?"
He had naturally seen the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle before, and not just at the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall. He had even seen members of the Mount Song Sect use them. After all, they were an introductory set of sword techniques from the Mount Song Sword Sect and were widely circulated throughout the jianghu.
But Wang Hao's Ten Stances of Bloody Battle were clearly very different from those of the Mount Song Sword Sect and the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall, and several times more powerful.
Moreover, the original Ten Stances of Bloody Battle had no accompanying footwork.
"Sharp eyes, Leader. These Ten Stances of Bloody Battle really aren't from the Qingfeng Martial Arts Hall. The day before yesterday, a senior expert came to the hall and demonstrated them once. I took the chance to learn them in secret."
Panting heavily, Wang Hao explained with a grin, though he was even more shocked inwardly.
His furious string of attacks had nearly exhausted his stamina, yet Leader Zhao still looked composed and was breathing evenly, as though he hadn't exerted himself at all.
Super-First-Rate experts really are frighteningly strong!
Wang Hao now had a deeper understanding of how powerful Super-First-Rate experts were. Even someone like Leader Zhao, who had only just entered the realm, was this strong.
Then how powerful was Dongfang Bai, who was at Peak Super-First-Rate?
And just how strong was that formidable figure Dugu Qiubai, who had entered the Mortal Realm Third Layer?
Once again, an even stronger desire for strength grew in Wang Hao's heart, and his whole being filled with fighting spirit.
Just wait. It won't be long before I reach and surpass that level too!
"You're saying you learned that set of sword techniques after watching someone perform it once?"
Leader Zhao's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
He didn't doubt the origin of the sword techniques. He was simply shocked that Wang Hao's talent for the sword Dao was so heaven-defying.
Although the Ten Stances of Bloody Battle were only a basic set of sword techniques used for Foundation Establishment, this modified version was no simple matter. In terms of intricacy, it was not much inferior to his family sword techniques.
Not to mention the accompanying footwork. Even he would need at least a month to learn it.
But this boy...
"It looked pretty simple. I learned it as soon as I tried!"
Wang Hao scratched his head modestly as he spoke. It was the honest truth.
He hadn't thought much of it when he learned the set of sword techniques back then. At least, that was how it had felt to him.
"..."
Leader Zhao was rendered speechless once again. At the same time, he felt an urge to give the fellow a thrashing for showing off without even realizing it.
"You should have memorized all five sets of sword techniques I just used. Show me."
Forcing down the urge to thrash him, Leader Zhao motioned for Wang Hao to demonstrate them. This concerned the boy's value and the arrangements to be made for him after they returned to the Blood Robe Tower.
If the boy's talent really was so heaven-defying, he wouldn't mind recommending him directly to his father so that he could have a better future.
Although Wang Hao didn't know what Leader Zhao was thinking, he understood that this was another chance to demonstrate his value. He agreed without a second thought.
"Leader, watch closely!"
Taking a deep breath and steadying his ragged breathing somewhat, Wang Hao took up his sword and began performing the techniques Leader Zhao had just used, in the same order.
After awakening and condensing his True Spirit Sword Intent, his memory had improved enormously, especially when it came to sword techniques. It was no exaggeration to say he could remember them after a single look.
Of course, that applied only to the sword moves. He couldn't see the internal pathways of internal force or the distribution of force.
Unless he could unlock the system's Dao Comprehension Function, all he could do was copy his opponent's sword moves.
Even so, it was shocking enough. At least, Leader Zhao, who stood nearby, was shaken to the core.
He could naturally see that Wang Hao's display was all form and no substance. He had no corresponding method of applying internal force, only the moves themselves. But even that was terrifying.
There were five whole sets of sword techniques, comprising three hundred and forty-two moves and two thousand one hundred and eighty-nine forms in total. It had taken Leader Zhao a full ten years to memorize them back then.
Yet this fellow had learned them after seeing them once and performed them without the slightest error. At least as far as the moves went, he couldn't see any difference.
He really was a monster!
It looks like it was a stroke of luck that this fellow swallowed the Great Rejuvenation Pill!
Leader Zhao immediately recognized Wang Hao's value. Though the Great Rejuvenation Pill could cleanse the tendons and marrow, its effects were limited, and the extent of its efficacy still depended on the person taking it.
Simply put, if the person taking it had mediocre aptitude, even swallowing the Great Rejuvenation Pill wouldn't bring much improvement.
Conversely, if someone whose aptitude was strong to begin with, but who couldn't display it for some reason, took it, their aptitude would be fully brought out.
The fellow before him was such a person, a precious pearl covered in dust. Having encountered someone like him, Leader Zhao had truly struck it rich!