This forest on the outskirts of the city is a good place for Cao Xi and Xia Houxuan to practice martial arts and play together since they were young. Therefore, except for them, no one else will notice this forest.
The trees, which are neither dense nor sparse, are natural obstacles for practicing body and footwork. In actual combat, you and your opponent often compete in this environment, instead of the regular pattern of wooden figures in the martial arts field.
At this moment, looking from a distance, there is a faint red light flickering in the forest. It turned out that it was Cao Xi who was practicing with the dragon scale sword. He usually didn't use this dragon scale when practicing sword practice. However, this time he wanted to marry someone, which was a big deal for him. With this magic weapon, he could reach the Time is naturally of great benefit in getting twice the result with half the effort.
I saw Cao Xi using a sword as a sword, swinging the sword like the wind. While using the "Cloud Walking Rain Step" passed down by Xiahou Cao's family, he shuttled back and forth between the trees. At the same time, he used the family's sword skills to block and slash. Looking at the branches and leaves blocking the road in front of me. I saw Cao Xi coming and going very quickly. Wherever he passed, branches and leaves were flying, and tree trunks were left with traces, which made people dazzled. After about a moment, Cao Xi lost strength and stopped. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a worried look on his face. Ah Xuan can usually walk this 'Cloud Walk and Rain Step' continuously for half an hour. With his condition, how will he pass tomorrow's martial arts test under his cousin...
Thinking of this, Cao Xi didn't dare to slack off and started practicing hard again.
In the distance outside the forest, Xia Houxuan looked at the faint red light in the forest and smiled warmly. Xi is a boy who never knows how to hide his emotions. He has already discovered that he likes Hui'er. If he entrusts his sister to Xi in the future, he should be able to rest assured.
―――
The next day, before Chen arrived, the young masters had already arrived at the Xuanwu Field in the north of the city early.
Most of the people were warming up and preparing in the Xuanwu Field, but Cao Xi stood with his eyes closed, as if he was meditating.
I saw him breathing evenly, speaking slightly, and slowly and silently reciting in his heart:
Riding six dragons and riding the wind, he traveled all over the world. In the eight kingdoms below, I climbed high mountains, visited valleys, and walked along the clouds...
This is exactly what Emperor Wu Cao Cao did, "Qi Chu Sing", and it is also the family martial arts and mental method of the Xiahou and Cao clans. Cao Xi is spitting it out at the moment.
After practicing hard last night, he finally realized his own shortcomings, that is, he was not proficient enough in the family-inherited mental skills, so that he always lacked strength.
Internal strength needs to be accumulated slowly. It is naturally impossible to make a breakthrough at this time. Cao Xi just wants to relieve his tension now.
Cao Lin, the king of Hedong not far away, couldn't help but smile secretly when he saw that Cao Xi was still practicing the family inheritance method at this time.
Seeing that the hour was approaching, Xia Houxuan stepped onto the competition platform in the center of the Xuanwu Field, smiled and saluted. He was wearing a white narrow-sleeved Hu suit with a sword and a ring, looking very heroic.
Everyone in the field stopped making noise immediately when they saw Xia Houxuan on the competition stage.
"Young masters, you are well and well!" Due to the concentrated sound in the field, Xia Houxuan's voice was louder and everyone could hear him clearly.
Xia Houxuan continued: "Since everyone is here, I won't go into details. The rules of today's martial arts test are also not difficult. We only need the five young masters who passed the literary test to compete with me one by one. If we can If you pass ninety-nine moves, you have passed the martial arts test.
Those who pass the martial arts test will be ranked among themselves, and the person who wins in the end will be the husband of his sister-in-law. Do you have any doubts? "
Xia Houxuan made it clear, and no one asked any more questions. The servants in the field shouted: "The five candidates are asked to decide the order of admission. The competition will begin immediately!"
Hedong King Cao Lin sneered and stepped onto the ring on his own without waiting for discussion with everyone.
When Xia Houxuan saw this scene, there was a hint of coldness in his eyes. This kind of person who doesn't take others seriously is really abominable. Today, he must give him a blow! Xia Houshang, who was watching from a distance at the table, couldn't help but shake his head secretly when he saw Cao Lin doing this.
"Master Xiahou," Cao Lin first made a push-hand gesture, then lowered his voice, trying not to be heard by the audience, and continued: "I know that your family's swordsmanship is among the young men of our two clans. , it can be said that there are few rivals, if you can betray yourself today to save face, you will definitely be repaid by snakes and birds in the future."
Hearing this, Xia Houxuan smiled slightly and said, "Today is the important matter for me to choose a good match for my sister-in-law. If your highness has real ability, you can win. No need to say more, please give me some advice!"
"Hmph!" When Cao Lin heard this, his face showed a fierce look, and he slowly pulled out the sword from the sheath. He thought to himself, since he failed to win over the Xiahou family, he would teach Xiahou Xuan to shed a little blood today, so that he could understand his relationship with him. The consequences of being against one another!
"Pheasants and pheasants crow. Tigers roar and the wind rises in the valley." I saw Cao Lin softly reciting a poem from "Folding Willows".
Originally, a person who had not yet mastered Xiahou Cao's sword skills needed to recite relevant verses to regulate his inner breath before using Xiahou Cao's sword skills. However, in order to hide his sword moves and prevent his opponent from being prepared, Cao Lin At the risk of going crazy, he silently recited poems and attacked with mental techniques!
Shocked! Xia Houxuan did not expect that after Cao Lin drew his sword, he did not perform a martial arts ceremony according to the rules. Instead, he shouted loudly and stabbed himself directly with the sword. Everyone watching the battle in the audience screamed in surprise.
I saw that Cao Lin had no intention of finishing, this sword was actually a complete killing move!
"Cousin, be careful!" Cao Xi was familiar with Emperor Cao Pi's various swordsmanship. When he saw Cao Lin using the killing move "Pheasant Crying and Tiger Roaring", he couldn't help but yell to remind Xia Houxuan.
Although Xia Houxuan's sword was not unsheathed, he did not change his face in panic. He knew that with Cao Lin's internal strength, he would not be able to get good results if he forcibly used the killing move in "Breaking Willows".
"As the waves become thinner, it's like a tourist." Xiahou Xuan read out a line of "Shan Zai Xing" in a loud voice. The sole of his left foot still stayed in the same place, and his body leaned back, avoiding Cao Cao. Lin's sword edge did not fall to the ground, and everyone couldn't help but cheer.
Cao Lin thought that he would hit with one hit, but he didn't know that the opponent's ability was stronger than he imagined!
When Cao Lin forcefully performed "Breaking Willows", his energy and blood went backwards. In addition, he was distracted for a moment and forgot to return the sword to protect himself. Xia Houxuan hit him in the chest with the "Quality" scabbard.
Cao Lin felt a numbness in his chest, groaned, and fell to the ground. Cao Lin was ashamed and angry, and punched the ground hard. He didn't believe that he was defeated in less than two rounds. When the servants of Hedong Palace saw this, they were shocked and immediately came to the stage to help His Highness.
"Your Highness accepts the offer!" Xia Houxuan said coldly.
"Xia...Xia Houxuan, you wait, wait...I will ascend to a great position in the future, and I want your Xiahou family to look good, huh!" Cao Lin stood up slowly with the support of his entourage, walked down to the competition stage and squeezed away. The crowd headed in the direction of Daxiamen.
Everyone in the audience and the ministers watching the battle couldn't help but talk about it. Young Master Xiahou had really offended His Highness the King of Hedong this time.
The next two people to compete were Fu Gu and Zhong Yu. They usually only focused on writing and were careless in martial arts, so they were quickly defeated.
However, Fu Gu didn't pay much attention to it. After all, it was his father who asked him to participate in order to marry the Xiahou family. It didn't matter whether he was selected or not.
On the contrary, Zhong Yu's face was not very pretty.
Cao Xixuan was a little nervous. Ah Xuan made a rule that only after ninety-nine rounds in his hands could he be selected. However, he could only fight with Ah Xuan for more than seventy moves on weekdays. What should he do? I couldn't help but rub my palms.
"Xi, remember, don't be merciful." After the two of them performed the martial arts ceremony, Xia Houxuan said slowly to Cao Xi: "The clouds are moving, the rain is walking. The big wall is covered with wormwood."
Cao Xi's eyes lit up after hearing these words. He and his cousin had been fighting each other's moves since childhood, or playing around. As for the most familiar moves, they were all based on the swordsmanship of the grass on the wall, and the clouds. The footwork of Xingyu Step is the first.
Judging from what Ah Xuan said, could it be that he wanted to deliberately let himself...
"Everything grows in spring, and the grass and trees grow together with the strong wind. How graceful they are when they are scattered, but how lonely they are when they are independent in the center."
"I have been running around for four seasons, but what do I vaguely want to do now?"
"Human life dwells between heaven and earth, but suddenly it is like a bird perching on a dead branch. What do I vaguely want to do now?"
"..."
Everyone in the audience is from the capital, and has naturally heard of the swordsmanship of the Xiahou Cao family. However, the onlookers are either ordinary people or young princes, so they have never seen it with their own eyes. Therefore, except Cao and Xia Except for the people from the two families, most of the onlookers were mesmerized when they saw such a graceful and elegant sword technique that was like a sword dance without losing its power.
Master Sima seemed to be integrating that swordsmanship into his eyes, and he couldn't take his eyes off it.
Xia Houshang, who was watching from the table, couldn't help but secretly praise Cao Xi, thinking that he had never paid attention to Xi'er's martial arts training in the past few years, but he didn't expect that this boy's swordsmanship had improved so much.
After a short time, the two of them had fought more than a hundred moves, and Cao Xi had passed the martial arts test.
"As expected of the son of Marquis Dongxiang, he is really good at swordsmanship..."
"These two young masters indeed have extraordinary swordsmanship. I think the son-in-law of the Xiahou family who rides a dragon must be Mr. Cao Xi..."
"Let's see how Mr. Sima does..."
The officials and people who were watching were talking about it. In the midst of this uproar, Master Sima, who was the last to appear, slowly came onto the stage, smiled warmly at Xia Houxuan, and pushed his hands to salute. Xia Houxuan also returned the favor. Although he had always been confident, he had never fought with this Sima Master. Naturally, he did not know the details. Moreover, he heard that Sima Master had learned fencing from the late Shangshu Cui Yan when he was young. The skill cannot be underestimated. [Note 1: "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wei 12·Cui Yan Biography": "Cui Yan, courtesy name Ji Gui, was a native of Wucheng in the east of Qinghe River. He was simple and naive, good at fencing and good at martial arts."]
"Brother Xiahou, please enlighten me."
"Brother Sima, please."
With a 'crack' sound, both of them struck very quickly. Since neither of them dared to underestimate the other, from the moment they drew their swords, both of them were working hard.
Master Sima had just witnessed the famous swordsmanship of Cao Xia in the Central Plains. He thought that if the opponent were to use the swordsmanship just now, he would be no match for him. Fortunately, the swordsmanship required reading a poem from the heart in order to be able to use it smoothly. Instead, it became like this A big flaw in swordsmanship.
This big flaw is that it takes time. Therefore, Master Sima was competing for time from the beginning, competing for the time for Xia Houxuan to recite the mind method!
Because he was taught a fast pace by Master Sima, Xia Houxuan was not as handy with the sword as usual, and he did not have time to use the sword skills taught by monks. Therefore, he felt that everything was not satisfactory. Fortunately, he still had the quality of this sharp weapon in his hand. ', Xia Houxuan smiled faintly, secretly increasing his wrist strength, trying to cut off the opponent's weapon in one fell swoop.
"Zheng!" There was only a crisp sound of fine iron clashing. When the swords touched each other, sparks flew out. However, the sword in Master Sima's hand was still intact and had not been cut off as Xia Houxuan thought. The two swords were fighting each other, and while they were wrestling, Xia Houxuan noticed the sword in Master Sima's hand. He saw the light of the sword was like a shooting star, with a faint purple light flowing. It turned out to be the "Famous Shadow" given to Sima Yi by His Majesty when he was in the East Palace. 'Sword [Note 2], no wonder the 'quality' keeps cutting it. When Xia Houxuan suddenly realized this, he also felt quite frustrated. The opponent's sword was in his hand, and it was so powerful that he was unable to use the swordsmanship passed down from his family. It seemed that he would definitely lose today.
[Note 2: Cao Pi's "Dian Lun": "Choose the best gold, order the workers of other countries to refine it, and refine it. As for the hundred swords, it is called three swords: one is called Fijing (Tongying), the second is called Liucai, and the third is called Liucai. Huahua collar. It is four feet and two inches long, weighs ten and fifty taels per catty. It is tempered with clear zhang, decorated with jade and decorated with rhinoceros."]
"Sima Master, this boy is really not simple..." Xia Houshang couldn't help but murmured, and it seemed that he also admired that Sima Master very much.
Sure enough, after more than a hundred moves, Sima Shi defeated Xia Houxuan. The martial arts test finally ended as scheduled, leaving only the competition between Sima Shi and Cao Xi tomorrow. Xia Houxuan couldn't help closing his eyes and sighing. He thought silently in his heart: God, God, can show favor to Xi Di and teach him to win the championship in one fell swoop tomorrow...
It was late at night, and Xia Houhui was tossing and turning in his mansion. I heard that he passed his brother's martial arts test. I wonder if he will win tomorrow...
The next day, it was windless weather. The sky seemed to be blinded by something, making the whole sky a gray color.
Since today was the day of decisive victory, more people gathered in the Xuanwu Field than usual. Everyone really wanted to know who the Xiahou family's son-in-law Chenglong Kuai would be.
"Who do you think will come out on top today and win the beauty?" I saw a rich man outside the venue, with two attendants beside him. One of the attendants was holding a five-spice plate of condiments [Note 3], and the other was One was holding a pottery pot of braised meat. The young man was eating happily and chatting with others.
[Note 3: Five spicy dishes, a kind of platter snack during the Three Kingdoms period. There is also a saying that it is a seasoning platter composed of five spicy things such as garlic and onions. 】
"I think it's Young Master Cao Xi. Didn't you see the competition between him and Young Master Xiahou yesterday? Tsk, tsk, tsk, that swordsmanship was really amazing."
"Hey, don't forget. Yesterday, Young Master Cao Xi and Young Master Xiahou only had a draw. However, Young Master Sima defeated Young Master Xiahou in more than a hundred moves."
"Boom... Chen time has arrived, the competition begins!"
"It's begun, it's begun..." Everyone opened their eyes and looked towards the competition stage.
"Xi, come on!" Xia Houxuan smiled warmly at Cao Xi, and Cao Xi nodded heavily.
"Boom...the competition begins!"
"Brother Sima, please."
"Master Cao, please." Master Sima still smiled tepidly and pushed his hands in return.
Both of them drew their swords slowly. Master Sima didn't know Cao Xi's real background, so he struck steadily and did not blindly pursue quickness. Cao Xi continued to choose the "Cloud Walking Rain Step" movement technique that he was most familiar with, and went around with Master Sima. Due to the extremely fast speed of the two, everyone in the audience could not clearly see the battle situation. They could only see the flashing red and purple light of the famous weapons in their hands, reflecting each other.
