When coming down from Mount Hua, Xia Qingqing looked at Song Qingshu suspiciously and asked, “How did you compete with Master Feng just now, why couldn’t I see anything?”
“That’s why we’re called masters,” Song Qingshu said gloatingly, but seeing the other party’s expression as if she was ready to fight, he quickly explained, “I won’t tell this to just anyone, but since you asked, I will use simple and easy-to-understand words with you. It’s quite hard to explain this in words.”
After sorting out the ideas, Song Qingshu said, “There used to be a super master named Dugu Qiubai, who defeated all the world’s masters in his life, and he couldn’t be defeated even if he wanted to be defeated. His swordsmanship has a characteristic, that is, every move is offensive. Everything offensive but not a single defensive move, how do you think he did it?”
“To defeat all the world’s masters, although it is difficult, but not everyone in the wulin can do it,” Xia Qingqing pondered for a moment, then said softly, “However, no matter how high a person’s martial arts is, there is a limit, how can it be possible for him to not have a single defensive move?”
“Yes, I also used to think that his legends were exaggerated, but now I can slowly figure out a way.” Recalling the few lines of words left by Dugu Qiubai on the wall of the Sword Tomb in the Cognition Cliff, Song Qingshu smiled bitterly, ‘At the time I complained that Dugu Qiubai didn’t leave any martial arts secrets, how could I have known that he had poured the crystallization of his life’s martial arts into those few lines, but my realm was too low at that time, and I couldn’t see it.’
“What way?” Seeing him stop talking, Xia Qingqing quickly asked.
Song Qingshu came back to his senses, grabbed a leaf from a tree by the roadside, and turned around and said, “Put out two fingers.”
Xia Qingqing didn’t know his goal, so she obediently stretched out two slender fingers.
Seeing the two jade-like fingers in front of him, Song Qingshu secretly praised their beauty, and put the leaves between his two fingers, then said, “I may let go at any time, see if you can catch it.”
Xia Qingqing hurriedly stared at his fingers, and after a while, when she saw Song Qingshu’s hands loosen, she quickly pointed her fingers, but the leaves had already slipped and fell.
“Do it again!” Xia Qingqing said unconvinced.
Song Qingshu smiled, “Okay!”
As a result, after trying three times in a row, Xia Qingqing managed to make small progress every time, and couldn’t help but say angrily, “Why is this happening…”
“Real masters are very aware of their attack range. As soon as someone enters your range, you should immediately attack, like this.” Song Qingshu held Xia Qingqing’s small hand, when he just put the leaf between his two fingers at that time, Song Qingshu pinched Xia Qingqing’s two fingers together, and caught the leaf at once.
Feeling the temperature of his palm, Xia Qingqing felt a shudder on her body. She quickly pulled her hand back and asked in confusion, “But you had not even let go yet?”
“Silly girl, when you first wait for my attacks and then fight back, you are doomed to be defeated from the beginning.” Song Qingshu continued, “For a real expert, within a certain distance, any large-scale action is predictable, no matter how fast the attacker is, there is no hope of success. Because the line and angle of the opponent’s moves are predictable.”
“When you observe where the opponent’s hands are, the movement of his eyes, the slight sinking of his shoulders, and the direction of his toes, you can figure out where the opponent’s strength is centralized.”
“And what will that do?” Xia Qingqing wanted to know more.
“A person, no matter how high his martial arts is, must use or approach with his own centralized power to make moves, otherwise his moves will just look strong on the surface, and it wouldn’t be effective at all. When you are able to determine the opponent’s power point, then you will be able to figure out the effective zone of his attack and actually change your response accordingly.”
“The opponent’s output point is not static. When his body changes slightly, the output point often changes greatly, and you have to change as well. Of course, these require experience and eyesight.”
Song Qingshu talked eloquently, but in his heart he was very grateful to Dongfang Bubai. If it wasn’t for the first time he was beaten by him, and the time he was able to see how he killed Yuan Chengzhi on the top of the Jade Emperor Peak, he would not have been able to fight back. He forced Song Qingshu to always think about the essence of martial arts and produce these epiphanies. Although the second fight was a little embarrassing, he was at the very least able to escape from Dongfang Bubai’s pursuit.
Xia Qingqing suddenly realized, “No wonder you and Master Feng were moving like that on the cliff, as if you were fighting each other.”
“Yes, the slight changes in the body is enough for us to estimate the opponent’s upcoming attack, and then make corresponding counterattacks. Although we fought thirty-six moves, in fact, there was only one successful move.” Now that he thought about it, after being defeated by Feng Qingyang, Song Qingshu couldn’t help but find it absurd that he would have to pay him back sooner or later.
“Didn’t you just say thirty-six moves, why did it become one move again?” Xia Qingqing only felt that her thinking could no longer keep up with the other party’s language.
Song Qingshu explained, “Because for the previous thirty-five moves, whether it was Old Man Feng or me, we were not finished. Those moves were often seen through by the other party as soon as we showed signs of it, so we had to immediately change into another move, and so on until the opponent’s last move. I didn’t counter it in time, which led to my defeat.”
Xia Qingqing looked at Song Qingshu with admiration, “Brother Song, I didn’t expect your martial arts to have reached this level.”
“Unfortunately, it’s still not as good as Dongfang Bubai or Feng Qingyang.” Song Qingshu said with a wry smile.
Xia Qingqing sternly consoled, “They are all top experts who have been famous in the wulin for decades. You are still young, and in a few years, it is not difficult to reach or even surpass their realm.”
Song Qingshu was stunned for a moment, then looked at Xia Qingqing happily, “Fortunately, Youyou reminded me, otherwise I would have been eager for quick success, and sooner or later get into trouble.”
There was a smile on Xia Qingqing’s lips, and she quickly turned her face sideways. “Call me Madame Yuan.”
“Okay, my Madame Yuan, where are you going next?” Song Qingshu shrugged helplessly.
“Madame Yuan is Madame Yuan, what’s with this additional ‘my’?” Xia Qingqing said angrily, “Big Brother Yuan’s brother and sister-in-law went to the capital to avenge him. Now that the Forbidden City has become a dragon’s pool and a tiger’s den, I will naturally go to the capital to see if I can make it ahead of time to stop them.”
“Aren’t you really looking for a reason to be with me?” Song Qingshu couldn’t help but put a smile on his face.
“You’re dreaming!” Xia Qingqing rolled her eyes helplessly.
“But I still have to go to various sects to take hostages, I’m afraid it’ll be too late.” Suddenly remembering the task that Emperor Kangxi had assigned to him, Song Qingshu couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
“Hmph, I didn’t say I wanted to be with you.” Xia Qingqing had already borrowed a horse from the sect and got on the horse, “I’ll go ahead on the road first, then we will see each other in the capital.” Then only a cloud of dust was left in front of Song Qingshu.
“Crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, ancient people are truly ruthless!” Song Qingshu stood still in place and was speechless. Now he had to embark on a journey towards various sects.
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I enjoyed that chapter, I got a little irritated by how little techniques or anything like that was explaned. Felt like it was mostly just a bunch of names that had no explanation at all 🙂