Chapter 154, Preaching
Before he finished drinking, Qingshi once again asked Jian Ruochen for advice: "I heard from Brother Jian that my uncle has a lot of experience with the four-character sword carving of 'the origin of the sword' in the Huading sword carving. My foolish nephew can obviously feel the swordsmanship in it. The artistic conception, but I can't get any inspiration or understanding from it, so I still ask my uncle for guidance."
Jian Ruochen asked: "You mean you don't have any understanding at all? How long have you been watching?"
"Exactly," Qingshi said, "I've seen it three times. It lasted more than three hours and less than an hour, but I didn't gain anything at all."
"Well!" Jian Ruochen said, "What about the other 'Famous Mountain Immortal Sect' and 'Fishback Sword Mark'? You have also seen them, have you gained anything from them?"
"Yes!" Qingshi said, "I have only a short time to visit these two scenic spots, but I can learn some useful things from them."
"Then can you tell me what you learned from those two scenic spots?"
"From the 'Mingshan Immortal Sect' calligraphy, I understood the thrusting techniques of the carving predecessors and learned some methods of sword handling."
"Well, that's the method of carrying a sword. Where's the 'Fish Back Sword Mark'?"
"The 'Fishback Sword Marks' are sword marks inadvertently left by two seniors with extremely high swordsmanship during the battle. From those sword marks, I can understand the strength, speed and skill of the two seniors in controlling the sword, etc."
"Well, that's the method of wielding a sword with Qi. Then your understanding of the 'Origin of the Way of the Sword' must have started from the direction of carrying and wielding the sword?"
"Not entirely. Most of the sword and stone inscriptions that my nephew has studied are like this. But there are a very few extremely brilliant inscriptions that contain the meaning of the sword that people can understand. I think the 'Origin of the Sword' inscriptions are like this. Yes, but I can feel the artistic conception of swordsmanship, but it is difficult to comprehend anything useful."
"The sword and stone carvings that can be regarded as monuments by future generations are not ordinary ones. 'Famous Mountain Immortal Sect' and 'Fish Back Sword Marks' both contain the artistic conception of swordsmanship. You can also feel it, but you cannot understand the intention of the person who carved it. Sword Intent, do you think this is the case?"
Qingshi pondered for a long time and said slowly: "Yes, I think I understand a little bit. These three scenic spots all contain the artistic conception of swordsmanship. I can feel it, but I can't understand the sword intention of the person who carved it. But I can From the first two scenic spots, I learned some techniques to carry the sword with my arms and control the sword with my breath, but I learned nothing from the last one."
"By the way," Jian Ruochen said, "Actually, you have learned too little from these three scenic spots. To put it bluntly, in the first two places, you picked up sesame seeds and lost the watermelon, but in the latter one But they didn't even pick up the sesame seeds, because the last place was basically a big gold ingot. There were no sesame seeds to pick up. Some people have tried to meditate for countless years, but they only scraped some gold powder from the ingot. Maybe It can be regarded as a slight gain, but I have not understood the original intention of the engraver."
"My nephew is stupid!" Qingshi said a little shyly.
"What this inscription leaves to future generations is the pure sword intention, the method of controlling the sword with the heart!" Jian Ruochen said, "You can only feel the artistic conception of the sword in the first two scenic spots but cannot understand it. Then It’s not surprising that you can’t understand the true meaning of the carving predecessors here. But in my opinion, it’s a good thing that you can’t learn anything from it. Otherwise, like the previous two places, you only learn a little bit and think you have gained something. , then your flaws won’t be exposed.”
"My flaw?" Qingshi asked doubtfully.
"Not bad!" Jian Ruochen said unceremoniously, "Your swordsmanship is very good and your martial arts training is higher, but in terms of swordsmanship alone, your foundation is not solid."
Qingshi thought to himself: He learned swordsmanship under the guidance of famous teachers. Teachers such as Qi Changzheng and Gu Feier were all masters. They taught swordsmanship step by step and paid attention to the basics. Master Ou Changzhi taught him the mysterious swordsmanship, which is the top swordsmanship. Not inferior to any swordsmanship in the world. But Jian Ruochen said that his kendo foundation was not solid, and Qingshi was really a little unconvinced.
Jian Ruochen saw Qingshi's thoughts and said with a smile: "My nephew's martial arts cultivation is probably unmatched by anyone below the Golden Core realm, right?"
Qingshi thought to himself that even if he was below the elixir level, no one would dare to say that he would definitely be better than him, so he didn't say anything at the moment, which was regarded as acquiescence.
Jian Ruochen said: "Your martial arts cultivation is so high and you are a swordsman, so what about your sword cultivation? From my point of view, if it is a martial arts competition, the disciples of our Fairy Sword Sect, such as Jian Yi, Jian Two and even Jian Liu, No one is your opponent, but in terms of swordsmanship, you can at most be equal to Sword Three, Sword One, but not as good as Sword Two, Sword Six. Why do you think this is?"
Qingshi was stunned, and after thinking for a long time, he lowered his head and said: "What my uncle said is that my swordsmanship is far behind my martial arts skills. I have never thought about this problem before, but now I know that it is my swordsmanship foundation." Thank you for pointing out the reason why it is not solid. But I don’t know how to make up for it? Please give me some advice.”
"Nephew, there is no need to be discouraged," Jian Ruochen said with a smile, "Actually, your swordsmanship is already at the top level of your generation. It's just that our Immortal Sword Sect has some unique skills in swordsmanship training, so you are better than Swordsman II." Sword Six is slightly inferior. I think it’s because your master couldn’t teach you the basic training techniques and sword skills of the Immortal Sword Sect after he left the Immortal Sword Sect, so you have some shortcomings in your sword practice.”
Qingshi thought to himself: On the one hand, the master did not violate the rules of the Immortal Sword Sect. On the other hand, the master planned the world and rarely had time to guide himself in detail. Before leaving Chao Ge, his master had told him to make a pilgrimage to the Immortal Sword Sect if he had the opportunity. Perhaps he hoped that he would have the opportunity to gain enlightenment on the sword from the Immortal Sword Sect and make up for his shortcomings. It's just that he is not a disciple of the Immortal Sword Sect. Jian Ruochen only said to answer his questions and did not say that he wanted to teach him swordsmanship. I am afraid that he has made it difficult for Jian Ruochen to teach him.
Sure enough, Jian Ruochen stroked his beard and said: "Based on the relationship between you and me, I should leave you to practice swordsmanship in the mountains for a few years, but the rules of the sect cannot be abolished. Well, I originally promised to answer three questions for you Now that you have raised two questions, I will not answer the third one, but instead give you a suggestion to make up for your shortcomings in the basics of swordsmanship. What do you think?"
"Thank you, uncle!" Qingshi was naturally willing.
"Okay!" Jian Ruochen said, "I think you have your own thoughts and opinions on swordsmanship, sword intention and even the way of the sword, but I would like to ask you to rethink a simpler question: What is a sword?"
"What is a sword?" Qingshi murmured.
"Don't rush to answer," Jian Ruochen said, "Can I see your sword?"
Qingshi quickly took out his Qinghua Sword and presented it to Jian Ruochen, but Jian Ruochen only glanced at it and put it on the table and asked, "Is this the sword you usually use?"
"My nephew usually uses several swords," Qingshi said, "This one is used the most."
"Well!" Jian Ruochen said, "What are the characteristics of your sword? Can you tell me about it?"
"This sword is called 'Qinghua'. It is extremely sharp, has good hardness and toughness, has two attributes: wood and wind, and is a top-grade Xuan-level sword." Qingshi said.
"No more?" Jian Ruochen asked coldly.
"This..." Qingshi said, "Also, the wood attribute of this sword is very rare. I have only seen one like this."
"You have already said it," Jian Ruochen said, "There are indeed very few swords with wood attributes, but for a sword, what does it matter if it has attributes or not? A sword is a sword, does adding attributes to the sword make it necessarily stronger? Is attribute swordsmanship necessarily stronger than pure swordsmanship? In fact, it is not the case. Swordsmanship itself is an indestructible martial skill. After adding attributes, it seems to be more powerful, but in fact it interferes with the sword's intention and confuses the sword's heart. The ultimate. Therefore, although attribute swordsmanship is powerful, the swordsmanship that truly reaches the extreme and is invincible in the world must be pure swordsmanship. Therefore, when practicing swordsmanship, you should start with pure swordsmanship."
Regarding Jian Ruochen's remarks, Qingshi actually understood most of them. Master Ou Changzhi had similar opinions, and Xuanjian Shu was also pure swordsmanship. The swordsmanship practiced by Qingshi is very complex. Because he has all the attributes of Qi, he can learn all swordsmanship and martial arts. Qingshi not only practices fire attribute swordsmanship, but also practices water attribute swordsmanship, as well as wind attribute swordsmanship and thunder attribute swordsmanship. The attribute swordsmanship and even the light attribute swordsmanship will shock others if you mention them. Practicing these high-level attribute swordsmanship is naturally beneficial to improving your swordsmanship. However, this was the first time Qingshi heard that practicing kendo should start with pure swordsmanship. Qingshi asked with some confusion: "Uncle Master, do I need to find some low-end swordsmanship with no attribute requirements to practice from scratch in order to make up for my weak foundation?"
"No!" Jian Ruochen said flatly, "Just because you haven't started with pure swordsmanship in practicing swordsmanship, it doesn't mean you have to make up for this step. Just now we were talking about swords, not swordsmanship. Now let's go back to the sword. What else do you want to add to this sword of yours?”
"No more!" Qingshi replied.
"Okay," Jian Ruochen said, "Let me ask you, do you know how long this sword is? Do you know how wide it is? How heavy is it? How thick is it? What is the proportion of the sword body, hilt, and jaw? Have you tested it? How does this sword fit you? Do you feel it is too light or too heavy, too long or too short?"
"This..." Qingshi felt that his head was a little big.
"Also," Jian Ruochen continued, "What materials are each part of this sword made of? What is the proportion of each material? Why does the weapon refiner make such a ratio? What are the functions of various materials? These What new effects do mixing materials produce? And why do these new effects occur? Have you thought about these questions? "
Qingshi felt like he was sweating all over.
Jian Ruochen picked up the teacup and sipped it slowly. Qingshi sat there for a long time and finally said, "My nephew probably understands what my uncle meant!"
"Well," Jian Ruochen said, "It's good if you understand. Your understanding is actually very good, but the way you practice swordsmanship is a bit lacking. But it doesn't matter. I told you to give you a suggestion. You do as I say. Maybe it can help you."
"Uncle, please give me some advice!" Qingshi said sincerely.
"Go down the mountain. Since you are a weapon refiner, then go and forge a sword for yourself, a sword of your own. When you truly understand this sword and what a sword is, you Only then will it be possible to understand what swordsmanship is. Once the sword is forged, you can go up the mountain to find me. Even if you pass the test at the Sword Immortal Relics, it will be difficult for you to understand anything from it. Let’s talk about it next time.”
"My own sword!" Qingshi murmured, "What is a sword?...".
