Can You Conquer The World With Martial Arts?

After a momentary pause, he glanced back at the Sword Sage. "But that makes you Wu Rong's personal attack dog, Mao Zixin. Care to explain yourself?"

"Our mountain has always been on good terms with the imperial family."

"...What did you call them?" Tao Geming scoffed. "Are you stupid? What year are you living in?"

"I think senior martial brother's allegiances are much more peculiar than mine. Care to elucidate me?"

Tao Geming scowled at him in silence. It appeared that while he was curious, he was not curious enough to divulge anything about his own aims. So once again their conversation stalled.

The Golden Witch, having grown tired of the two brothers' bickering, stepped forward. Her single step prompted the Sword Sage to draw out his black blade. The woman halted, her yellow eyes taking it all in. She could see her own tall figure in its polished reflection.

"What is that made of?" She asked.

"I'm glad you asked. It is a wonderful story." Mao Zixin turned the blade in his hand, marveling at it completely unabashed. "To reward me for my unerring commitment to the sword, the heavens sent down a comet to my mountain. And from that heavenly metal we forged this sword. It is the crystallization of my ideals. It is almost a shame that I never get a chance to use it in true battle. But I cannot waste a single moment on extraneous affairs. Every waking minute must be spent on practice with the sword."

"Then perhaps I should not keep you waiting any longer." The Golden Witch looked back at her young disciple. "Bai Guo, lend me your sword."

In that moment, all eyes turned upon the young man. Bai Guo was caught in a stupor; his hands twitched, but would not move. He glanced at everyone present, and found them all staring.

Tao Geming glared at him with suspicion. His master looked upon him with warmth. The Sword Sage seemed unconcerned.

Finally, Bai Guo slowly reached for his father's sword and tossed it over to his master.

The next moment, the steel was bare in her hands.

The Sword Sage asked her, "Are you ready?"

She smiled. "Why don't you start?"

When Mao Zixin began his approach, the Golden Witch found herself reminiscing about her first encounter with Cui Shen; the Sword Sage could not have been much faster than that. In two steps he shortened the distance between them.

Then, his black sword flashed through the air.

The smile froze on her face. The Golden Witch scrambled to parry, and the heavenly steel came down upon her sword hard and heavy. But the pressure remained for only a fleeting moment. The Golden Witch drew back, making space.

Tao Geming suddenly began to regard the battle with rapt and undivided attention. Even the inexperienced Bai Guo seemed to notice something strange.

The Golden Witch retained only a vague idea of the sword's path after their brief clash. Much to her amazement, it was almost too fast for her eyes to see. But, even more importantly...

Before she could complete the thought, the Sword Sage pursued. Determined to steal the initiative, she stepped forward and swung to preempt his advance.

With a slight adjustment to his posture, Mao Zixin's black sword intercepted the attack. Bai Guo's sword slid harmlessly along his, the great power behind it dispersed in a gust of cutting wind.

And it was as though the strength behind her blow had caught the Golden Witch herself off-guard. Her eyes widened as she swayed unsteadily, dragged helplessly along by the velocity of her own attack. Even had she swung thrice as hard and missed completely, she did not expect to send herself tumbling over so clumsily.

She dug her feet in and resisted the force reeling her in, and only through her immense internal might was the retreat made possible. The Golden Witch managed to fling herself back, but her stance was gone, and Mao Zixin's relentless approach hadn't faltered in the slightest.

The black sword jabbed out. The Witch's sword had still been pointed towards the ground, and her momentum kept her locked into a single direction. She turned her heel and kicked up a loose stone right into his face. The Sword Sage smoothly transitioned into defensive posture without delay, striking the pebble out of the air with a resounding clang. That split moment gave the Golden Witch just enough time to raise her guard and parry the next attack.

They continued to trade stances. And each time, the Golden Witch would only barely make it out of the exchange with her life intact. No matter how cautiously she approached, as soon as her sword touched his, her body was forced to move in ways she would never be able to predict.

She was not unfamiliar with the concept of turning an opponent's momentum against them. But it was as though with each parry, Mao Zixin had been ascribing momentum to her attacks that didn't even exist.

A lightning quick stab, no matter how noncommittal, something that should have been nothing more than a drop of rain harmlessly dispersing on the surface of a lake, would be turned into a roaring sea as soon as it came upon that black steel. And she was sent crashing helplessly on those waves.

Once again she made distance, and this time, the Azure-Scaled Dragon did not pursue.

Her smirk was long gone. Brows furrowed, she stared in confusion. There was nothing special about the motions he performed. Simple swings and even simpler thrusts, basic parries and honest blocks, and yet each one contained a deceptive power.

"Is it... the sword...?" The Golden Witch muttered.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Her question had been met with silence from all sides.

Mao Zixin sighed. "You think there's a trick to my sword?"

His incredulous tone made her burn with embarrassment. But even that flash of anger couldn't spur her into approaching again.

At the sudden lull in action, Tao Geming's temper flared. "What's the matter with you, Fox? Did you forget how you fight? If his swordsmanship is giving you trouble, just use it against him."

She exhaled sharply. With some reluctance she shifted her stance, and it turned into a spitting image of the Sword Sage's own.

The Golden Witch replicated his footwork on the approach, and struck out with the same quick and precise strikes.

Their swords danced on the wind as they traded blow after blow.

But then a parry sent the Golden Witch tumbling forwards, her footing instantly crumbling, her neck leaning into the path of the keen black edge.

She flung herself backwards with such force that the ground beneath her cracked.

Mao Zixin shook his head as he watched her escape. "As if simply repeating the motions could get you there..."

Tao Geming scowled fiercely as he watched it all unfold, but he had nothing left to say. His features began to carry a hint of confusion as well.

"I just..." The Golden Witch hissed. "I can't feel it at all...! It starts and it ends, and I can't feel anything inbetween."

"I see..." Much to her surprise, Mao Zixin nodded in understanding. "Could it be that your sense for internal energy is not quite as sharp as the rest of your senses?"

"How do you know about-..."

The Sword Sage spoke past her. "You can replicate my stance on a superficial level because you can perceive it with your eyes, but the true essence of my swordsmanship, that which cannot be merely seen, remains beyond you. From what you've said, it is simply too fast for that special sense of yours, would that be the right way to describe it? And I can tell by your panic that this is a new experience for you. So in other words, the imbeciles you've been fighting up to this point had not mastered their techniques quite to the same extent as I."

Mao Zixin stared into his reflection upon the black sword, his eyes gleaming with pride. "That's a fascinating discovery. You see, I have never ventured out into the jianghu, so I've always wondered what passed for world-class talent out there. And knowing that this is all there is... Well, I must say, it's quite vindicating."

The Dragon's impassive glare separated from his beautiful blade. When the Golden Witch met his gaze, she flinched, raising her sword.

"But I've seen enough."

The Golden Witch snorted as she watched his slow approach. "It's a touch too early for you to be taking that tone. You do realize that I've been going out of my way to accommodate your fighting style? When it comes to an earnest battle, do you really think you could be a match for me with your half-hearted cultivation?"

Suddenly, she disappeared. When next her golden hair flashed back into view, she was behind him. Mao Zixin turned on his heel, batting her sword out of the air.

The Golden Witch didn't linger; again she was gone, and again she appeared at the Dragon's back, but again he parried her blow.

She twirled around him like a whirlwind, barely a flicker before the naked eye. The Sword Sage responded to her onslaught with movements that were neither quick nor slow, that even Bai Guo could quite easily perceive.

Every moment had been filled with the sound of steel. Their battle resembled a clash between armies, not a duel.

As he watched it all unfold, Bai Guo couldn't bear to keep quiet. "How... How is he doing that? How can he even see her?"

Of course, there was no one around to hear his question except Tao Geming. His face twitched with thorough displeasure, and he let the question remain drowned out in the cacophony of combat. But something within him compelled him to speak after all.

"He can't see shit. He's predicting her movements."

"But he can't possibly be guessing right every single time! That's ridiculous!"

"What did I just say? He's not guessing. No matter how skilled you may be, there is only so much your eyes and ears can do for you. This is something way beyond you. Just think of it as instinct."

The Golden Witch finally emerged for longer than a fleeting instant. She brought her sword down with all her might, and kept pushing down into Mao Zixin's block. The swordsman pressed back, both hands on his weapon for the first time in their match.

The contest of strength persisted until the black blade tilted, and the Witch's eyes widened with surprise and wonder as she slid down its edge, her balance instantly lost. The invisible energy behind her sword spilled out onto the ground. Even before she had made contact with the earth, the soil and stone right beside Mao Zixin cracked and burst into pieces.

The Azure-Scaled Dragon twirled closely behind her crumbling form, his black sword swinging down onto her exposed neck.

The Golden Witch turned her head. Her yellow locks flew for Mao Zixin's eyes. He suddenly grimaced. He pulled back as quickly as he could, abandoning his strike without any grace or hesitation.

As it whipped through the air, her long hair sliced apart the loose stones sent flying by her misplaced power. For an expert of internal energy such as her, even hair could be turned into a lethal weapon on a whim.

The distraction preserved her life, but the Sword Sage was back into the fray without any delay.