Can You Conquer The World With Martial Arts?

Now the black sword began to fly like wind: quick, invisible as it whistled through the air. The Golden Witch took a deep breath, her heart pounding like a drum, awe and fear mingling in equal measure. She had enough time to restore her footing, but not enough to retreat. That sword was the only part of him that could match her prodigious speed, and she could not afford to make a single extraneous movement.

She gritted her teeth and warded off blow after blow. She fell back on her crude imitation of the Sword Sage's defensive parries and stances. It seemed like that alone was what was keeping her alive.

And while the Golden Witch had been fighting with her all, Mao Zixin appeared to be merely going through the motions.

So relaxed was he that he began to chatter idly.

"What's wrong? Are you usually this quiet in combat?" He asked. "Perhaps you can't come up with a topic for conversation? Well, then, shall I?"

Trying to make use of his arrogance, the Golden Witch thrust for his neck, but he swatted her blade aside.

"You've spent how long out there in the world, wandering in search of moves you aren't even using now? Is it because you lack the weapons to perform them? Or could it be that you realize now just how meaningless your journey has been? You know that those circus tricks wouldn't help you now!"

"Your little technique-stealing party trick may have worked to cower a few complacent imbeciles, but you're just making a fool of yourself before someone with true conviction to the path! It would have been amusing if it weren't so nauseating. Is this really all you think of martial arts?"

That particular remark doused the flames of her excitement. Earnest frustration began to build up within her. But no matter what she tried with her sword, she couldn't silence him.

"It's been described to me that you can master a technique by seeing it just once. Well, what a farce that turned out to be! A technique isn't complete even when used for hundreds of thousands of times! Had you picked a single skill to make your own and dedicated yourself to it in full, you would not be in this position right now! But of course, it's decades too late for you to be regretting this now."

"Just look at yourself. Your sword doesn't lack for internal energy, but you're using it aimlessly, without purpose. You're just throwing your weight around like a common brute. You have more strength than you know what to do with. And through your dependence on that strength you've grown complacent, neglected to wrap your head around the simplest of things. Here's one such simple principle: even metal will bend under constant pressure!"

Mao Zixin's next swing was unlike any of his others, fast and strong beyond measure. The black blade cut through Bai Guo's sword as if it was paper. The incredible energy within it, having been disrupted in such an abrupt and violent fashion, turned that piece of steel into a lethal projectile. The severed half flew off into the distance, severing leaves and branches along the way.

"Did you see that? In your hands, even good steel can be made to look like clay."

Even as he gloated, the black sword was set upon a lethal path towards her chest. The Golden Witch raised her knee and brought down her elbow in an improvised block, slamming them down onto the blade. But even that could not stave off the Sword Sage's strike in full. The blade veered off-target, but still dug deep into her solar plexus.

Mao Zixin drew back his sword, blood trickling down the black edge. The Golden Witch covered her wound with her sleeve, her face contorting in agony. Her white robe bloomed with crimson flowers.

"That did not go as deep as I intended." Mao Zixin observed. "Did you reinforce your flesh with your internal energy? That's an interesting idea. But I still struck a vital pressure point. You can no longer channel that precious internal energy of yours. Your meridians are just for show now. You bought yourself a few moments, but the injury is fatal. You'll die even if I just leave you be."

Her chest heaving, her golden eyes blazing with defiance, she raised up the remains of Bai Guo's sword.

Mao Zixin stared her down. "...Not that I intended to do so."

He flicked the blood off his sword and stepped forward.

The black blade flew off to claim her head.

The Golden Witch was flung aside by a great force. A sound reminiscent of a thunderclap boomed across Mount Hua. A palm smacked the blade off its lethal path.

The Sword Sage suddenly drew back. When the Golden Witch lifted up her head, she found Tao Geming's back looming over her.

She forced herself up to her feet, struggling past the terrible pain wracking every inch of her body. She slowly shuffled past Tao Geming, that ruined sword still clutched in her hand.

The Golden Witch could feel his disdainful glare.

"What are you still standing around for?" Tao Geming barked. "Get lost! The way you are now, you're just gonna get in the way."

"I can do it." Her voice trembled no less than her body. "I almost understand his sword. I just need to see it one more time, just a little more, and I'll..."

"Get out!" He bellowed, and the Golden Witch flinched. She was in such dire straits that even just by raising his voice he had made her falter. Even if she was unwilling to admit it, there was no fight left in her.

The Golden Witch hesitated. She threw a glance at her disciple. But she found him averting his eyes, incapable of meeting her gaze. And even in the throes of her agony, a realization dawned upon her.

She fled.

...

The Sword Sage watched her white robed figure disappear. Only his eyes followed her.

His stare didn't linger long. His impassive eyes turned to the one whom he once had to call his martial brother.

They stared at each other for a long time.

Suddenly, a drop of blood dripped past Tao Geming's fingers. A thin cut ran across his palm where he had stopped the final slash. He glanced at the young man still standing off to the side.

"Dim as his master may be, even she must have realized by now. Though if you hadn't blabbered about her qi sense, maybe she'd still have an excuse to cling to her delusions. Just as I suspected, the kid set her up. I suppose it was inevitable. Those two were completely incompatible; makes you wonder how they ended up together in the first place. Though it is also surprising to see a stickler like him to stoop so low as to betray his own master. And I would have never guessed that he'd manage to get this close to actually succeeding... Look at him, standing around like a lost puppy. He must be expecting you to keep him safe."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Well, I have no intentions of saving anyone." Mao Zixin replied. "It just so happens that by the end of this, there will be no one left on this mountain who might wish to do that young man any harm."

"Who else is involved?" Tao Geming asked, but his junior martial brother remained silent. "You expect me to believe that a sword maniac like you took the time out of his day to learn how to set up a formation like this?"

When still Mao Zixin remained quiet, Tao Geming brought forward his guess, "If you really are Wu Rong's attack dog, then this entire ordeal must have been orchestrated by her. And you two are just her pawns."

"What is this now?" Mao Zixin finally spoke. "Are you making a list of grudges? You won't live past noon, so why worry about it? And although it was obvious that after her, you would be next, you had no reason to take a risk saving that woman. Care to explain yourself?"

Tao Geming did not reply.

"Though she would certainly not be of much help to you in the battle to come, if it came down to it, I'm sure you could have forced her to at least take a blow meant for you, capitalize on the confusion for a cheap shot. The senior martial brother I know would have definitely attempted such a ploy. So what's all this? Could it be that it in your twilight years your heart has grown tender? That woman is the only one you'd refuse to sacrifice for your own gain?"

Tao Geming snorted. "I am doing this for my own gain. For me to slay a foe that sent her running in fear... Can you even imagine the favor that would let me curry with her?"

"Though you phrase it in such an arrogant manner, I struggle to think of anything that would drive you to such uncharacteristic deeds. Other than, of course, something as powerful as love."

To the Dragon's surprise, Tao Geming hung his head low. His shoulders quivered as he struggled to stifle his laughter.

"To arrive at such a boorish conclusion, you must have been studying the wrong kind of sword."

Mao Zixin frowned.

Tao Geming asked, "Why is everyone so hung up on the fact that she's a woman? Male or female, it makes no difference to me. The moment you take your first step on the path of martial arts, you're all the same thing in my eyes - trash."

Mao Zixin sighed. "...That's certainly how I'd always known you to treat others. But to hear you admit it so brazenly... Well, I think I imagined it would give me at least some sense of closure to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. But it didn't. I suppose there's really only one way to settle our grudges."

Sunlight flickered on his black blade. "Well then. So you intend to take your reasons to the grave, Tao Geming?"

"Well, there's nothing but dead men here. So I suppose I've got no reason not to speak my mind." Tao Geming said. "But instead, let me first ask you a question. I suppose this is more of a thought exercise, something philosophical, but I remember that you used to enjoy pondering pointless crap."

"Certainly, I've always enjoyed a quandary with no real answer. Go ahead. But I would be very surprised if you managed to ask something profound."

"If the heavens gave you a chance to live your life all over again, knowing all that you know now, how long would it take for you to master the sword once more?"

"Today is just full of surprises. It turned out to be an interesting question after all." The Dragon thought about it for a while. "If I set aside the unpredictable circumstances of life, because so much of my ability comes from knowledge instead of strength of body or internal energy, I would wager that I could reach my current level of mastery in about half the time - no, perhaps even less. No more than twenty years."

"Twenty years?" Tao Geming mouthed the words in faux amazement, his smirk utterly insufferable.

The Dragon couldn't bear it any longer. "As I thought, you don't have the wit for this kind of conversation. Spare me the last throes of your ego and just get to your point."

Tao Geming shook his head. "I spent nearly half my life wandering the world, seeing things I could have never even imagined, and yet I still couldn't bring myself to believe it at first. So to a guy like you, who spent his whole life cooped up in this drab old mountain, who never learned a single thing past the end of his blade... It would be pointless to even try to explain."

"Well, I'm glad you've managed to fit all that posturing into your stalling. Because that's all that you're doing here, isn't it? Trying to buy her some time. I'm only going along with this farce because I know it's all pointless. No matter where she runs, she can't escape."

Tao Geming snorted. "Let me just tell you this - struggle as you might, it's already set in stone. Even old timers like you and I have to face the future eventually. Even when I embarked on my first pilgrimage around the jianghu, though I had never been defeated, there were those younger than me who still managed to make me break a sweat. It's inevitable. As for me, I decided that this would be the one. I realized that gambling my life on the flip of a coin wasn't worth it. Instead, I will step into the new world with a golden ticket in hand."

"A degenerate gambler such as yourself turning down a bet? Quite the development."

"That's not the point. Even if it hadn't been her, there would have been someone else in the future. It's inevitable."

"Insist as you might to the contrary, I still sense an attachment beyond the merely practical."

Tao Geming gritted his teeth, but still couldn't hold back his stiff grin. "You're out of your fucking mind. I can't stand that girl. Had she been any weaker, I would have strangled her to death already."