Chapter 372: The Sword of Wisdom (Part 1)
Even without a staircase, he still had to descend the mountain. Pinned against the wall by a single remark, he still had to answer. Su Li looked at Chen Changsheng’s curious eyes, his expression unpleasant as he said, “White Emperor City… I’ll go there sooner or later. How could the Lishan Sword Style remain with the demon race forever? Who would have thought that Bai Xingye would be so shameless as to actually marry a wife.”
Chen Changsheng thought, what does marrying a wife have to do with shamelessness? Then he understood Su Li’s meaning.
Su Li sneered and said, “I’m not afraid of Bai Xingye. If it comes to a fight, we’ll fight. But the problem is, after he got married, a fight becomes two against one. Not to mention anything else, it’s just too unfair.”
Chen Changsheng thought, to be an enemy of two sages, even you, Senior, find it troublesome and difficult to handle.
Su Li glanced at him and struck back, “What about those swords? Is there anything you want to say?”
At dawn, Chen Changsheng had used several famous swords like the Mountain and Sea Sword. Naturally, he couldn’t hide this from Su Li’s eyes. He was silent for a moment, then picked out the important parts of what happened in the Zhou Garden to tell, though he omitted some details, such as the ten Heavenly Book Monuments, the Golden-Winged Roc, and… that white-clad girl of the Xiu Ling tribe.
“You’ve been hiding so many things from me.” Su Li looked at him and said gravely.
Chen Changsheng smiled a little sheepishly and said, “Senior, everyone has to have some secrets of their own.”
Su Li mocked, “A secret that you can keep until your last breath is a real secret. But are you someone who knows how to lie?”
Chen Changsheng thought that while he wasn’t good at lying, he still had many secrets that no one knew, not even you, Senior. For some reason, he felt a little smug.
Su Li suddenly said without warning, “From now on, I’ll have to rely on you, little fellow, on this journey. So I’ve changed my mind and decided to teach you a few moves. Don’t misunderstand this as a continuation of our talk on the snowy ridge. Of course, I support Qiu Shan. I’m just thinking about my own safety.”
Chen Changsheng now confirmed that after blocking Xue He’s blade that morning, Senior truly had no strength left to fight. Hearing the explanations in his words, he didn’t find it amusing, only felt a pang of bitterness, and felt the weight on his shoulders grow much heavier. He didn’t want to see the once carefree and bold Senior, who dared to curse heaven and earth, become so cautious and careful. So he tried to make the conversation lighter.
“Senior is willing to teach me swordsmanship because you value talent.”
He looked at Su Li seriously and said, “Because of that battle at dawn, I proved I have the qualifications to learn the sword.”
Su Li was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily, “This narcissistic look of yours really has a bit of my style.”
Chen Changsheng thought, this is all Tang Thirty-Six’s influence. At the thought of this, he could no longer suppress his longing for the capital and the people there. It was strange—after leaving Xining Town, he would miss his master and Senior Brother Yuren, but rarely felt homesick. Yet now, having left the capital for just over a month, he missed it intensely, more than once a day.
The big banyan tree in the National Academy, Luoluo standing beside him on its branches, Tang Tang cursing endlessly under the tree at the setting sun over the lake, Xuan Yuan Po cooking in the kitchen across the lake, Director Jin in the gatehouse far away, Bishop Mei who could never wake up—are you all well? And that girl… girl, girl, when I first met you, are you safe?
Chen Changsheng’s heart raced to return. He thought he must go back, go back alive, go back as soon as possible… He stood up, bowed solemnly to Su Li, and said earnestly, “Please teach me swordsmanship, Senior.”
Su Li looked at him and asked, “What sword styles do you know?”
Chen Changsheng stood up, gazed at the distant lake and mountains darkening and the newly risen stars, cleared his throat, and said, “The ones I know include: Bell Mountain Wind and Rain Turns the Land Yellow, Eight Hundred Iron Swords Cross the Great River, National Academy Mountain-Toppling Staff, National Academy True Sword Unmatched, Thirteen Willow Branches, Snow Mountain Sect Condensing Frost, I also know the Heavenly Dao Academy’s Approaching Light Sword, the Ancestral Temple’s Righteous Intent Sword, the Star-Gathering Academy’s Army-Breaking Sword, the Wenshui Tang Clan’s Wenshui Three Styles plus the Tang Clan Ancestral Sword, the Lishan Sword Sect’s Blossoms Like Brocade, Mountain Ghost Splits the Rock, Dharma Sword, Guest-Welcoming Sword, Mountain-Circling Sword, Sky-Scorching Sword, and the Nanxi Studio’s Plum Blossom Three Variations, White Crane Comes West, Ink Scroll Grand Hanging…”
The lakeside was very quiet, only the clear voice of the youth rang out continuously. Countless names of sword styles danced over the water with the night breeze, seemingly never to stop.
Until the stars filled the night sky, someone finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Stop!” Su Li looked at him and said, “Are you reciting a tongue twister?”
Chen Changsheng was baffled and asked, “Senior, what’s a tongue twister?”
“The storytellers in Lin’an City love to perform cross-talk. Tongue twisters are their basic skill. One of them goes like this: The dishes I make include braised oxtail, braised bear paw… Ah, why am I telling you this?” Su Li said helplessly, waving his hand. “Anyway, that’s enough. Enough.”
Enough of what? He had heard enough, and Chen Changsheng’s repertoire of sword styles was also enough.
Chen Changsheng obediently stopped, though he felt a bit unsatisfied.
“Kid… you know quite a few swords.” Su Li looked at him, his expression not just admiring but very complex.
Chen Changsheng honestly said, “They’re all memorized by rote. I haven’t been able to integrate them, so I dare not claim to truly master them.”
“Nonsense. To truly grasp the essence of so many sword styles, you’d have to start practicing six hundred years before you were born.” Su Li looked at him expressionlessly and said, “And it’s unnecessary. Only fools try to learn so many sword styles.”
Chen Changsheng felt that this remark was aimed at him.
Su Li continued, “But at least it shows you have broad enough knowledge in the way of the sword. So what I say today, you should be able to understand, and you won’t think I’m insulting you.”
Chen Changsheng felt this remark was still aimed at him.
Without any pause or warning, Su Li began his teaching: “All the strong in the world know that Xue He is inferior to Wang Po. This morning he asked me, and you were listening to my answer. He uses seven blades, so he can never defeat Wang Po’s one blade. This has nothing to do with biting off more than you can chew or being distracted. It’s only about the essence of the sword.”
Chen Changsheng asked, “What is the essence of the sword?”
Su Li drew the Sky-Covering Sword from the yellow paper umbrella, laid it across his knee, pointed at it, and said, “What character does this look like?”
This was the first time Chen Changsheng had closely observed this peerless famous sword that had actually been with him for a long time. He was carefully examining it when he heard the question and answered without thinking, “It looks like the character ‘one.’”
Su Li said solemnly, “Correct. The soul of the sword’s way lies in ‘one.’”
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, “But… Senior, didn’t you say the other day that the soul of the sword’s way lies in the sword?”
Su Li said angrily, “Can we still have a proper conversation?”
……
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(The next chapter might be a bit late.)