On this day, Li Xiuyuan lay on the carriage and slept for another day. When he woke up, he was covered in sweat.
This made Xu Fu laugh and say, "What's the matter? Didn't you sleep well last night? Although it's windy, it can't stand the heat. I can't even sleep."
Li Xiuyuan jumped out of the carriage and took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his face.
He smiled and said, "Do we have to spend the night in the wild again today? That's fine. I'll tell you two about sword practice later."
Xu Fu jumped off the carriage, looked at Li Xiuyuan and said nervously: "I haven't had a good sleep in the past few days. You finally thought of a method. I'll call Zhao Meng over."
Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "No rush, let him get everyone settled first. It's still early. I'll just give you a brief demonstration later."
Xu Fu nodded, greeted the coachman, and then drove off the official road and walked to the river not far away.
Today is an open land, and the only barrier is a large river behind the barren slope, which can be used to wash and feed the horses, and can also be used as a protection at night.
Li Xiuyuan came to the river to wash up, looked at the rushing river, and thought about the Tongtian River in his dream, that big river that even birds were afraid of.
Looking around, the river is hundreds of feet wide, and there are no people on the other side, let alone a small boat.
It is also a safe place to stay overnight.
Just here, Xu Fu came over with Meng, looked at Li Xiuyuan and asked: "What do you think about our sword practice? Do you want to move to a more open place?"
After speaking, he pointed to an open space not far away, meaning it would be convenient there.
"No, just stay here." Li Xiuyuan grabbed him.
"How are you practicing like this in the house? You accidentally fell into the river." Zhao Meng looked at Li Xiuyuan in confusion.
"It's not a fight. Let me teach you how to draw a sword first. A knife can also be used." Li Xiuyuan glanced at the two of them and quietly took out a copper sword and handed it to Xu Fu.
"Yes, some brothers are already used to using knives. I'm afraid it's hard to change this time." Zhao Meng rubbed his hands aside with an excited look on his face.
"You two have seen clearly!" Li Xiuyuan inserted the copper sword into his belt, but looked at the two people in front of him.
Zhao Meng looked at him and nodded, Xu Fu frowned and did not dare to say anything.
"Look carefully!"
There was a clang sound, and the bronze sword in Li Xiuyuan's hand was placed on Zhao Meng's neck before the two of them could react.
"Have you seen clearly?" Li Xiuyuan asked in a deep voice, without any emotion in his voice.
Zhao Meng shook his head desperately, speechless.
Xu Fu was so frightened that his face turned blue. How could he clearly see Li Xiuyuan's action of drawing the sword?
"Let's do it again, watch carefully!" Li Xiuyuan sighed and said, "I'll slow down a little this time."
There was another clang, and Li Xiuyuan's copper sword was placed on Zhao Meng's neck again. This time he slowed down, finally allowing the two of them to see more clearly.
"I feel like the sword was on my neck in just a split second. What's going on?" Zhao Meng murmured, "If I had tried my best, I would have died."
Xu Fu also sighed and said leisurely: "This is the truth."
Withdrawing the bronze sword, Li Xiuyuan said quietly: "The only martial arts in the world is speed. When you face an opponent who is similar to you, do this..."
"It is true that the opponent is already dead before he takes action." Zhao Meng looked at Xu Fu and sighed.
Li Xiuyuan shook his head: "In fact, there is still a power that can defeat all laws, but with your current strength, you will not reach that level for many years."
"In the face of absolute power and speed, all movements are redundant. The sword has only one purpose, and that is to kill the enemy."
"I can only think of using the speed of drawing swords to make up for your lack of strength when your cultivation was still very weak." Li Xiuyuan said helplessly: "I call it the art of drawing swords, or the art of drawing swords."
Xu Fu thought for a while and asked, "How long do we need to practice a day?"
Zhao Meng thought for a while and said seriously: "Aren't you afraid of practicing hundreds or thousands of times?"
Li Xiuyuan shook his head, looked at the two of them and replied seriously: "That's not enough. You have to practice drawing swords at least five thousand times a day, preferably ten thousand times, and insist on it every day."
"You can practice sword practice half an hour in the morning. You can practice sword practice during lunch break. You can continue practicing before resting at night. You can also practice while the guards are on duty at night."
Li Xiuyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Compared to losing your life, what do you think the suffering you are facing is nothing?"
Zhao Meng was deeply convinced and said with emotion: "Shopkeeper, your sword is too fast. In just a few seconds, the sword has already reached my neck."
"not enough."
Li Xiuyuan sighed and said quietly: "This is just the experience I have just gained. I can still get faster with hard practice."
"How fast? Could it be that it was as fast as lightning?" Xu Fu murmured to himself.
Zhao Meng laughed when he heard this, looked at the two of them and asked, "Say, how fast is an instant?"
"How fast is an instant? One instant is one thought, twenty thoughts are one instant, and twenty instants are one snap of a finger. It's so fast in a snap of a finger, but it's still a few points behind compared to an instant."
Li Xiuyuan looked at the surging river and said quietly: "Only by being faster and more ruthless can you have a chance to defeat the enemies you encounter."
"What's the secret? How do we practice?" Zhao Meng thought for a while and asked seriously.
"When you first practiced swordsmanship, what secrets did you have?" Li Xiuyuan replied: "Have you ever been on the battlefield? What are your secrets on the battlefield?"
Zhao Meng smiled bitterly and replied: "Where is the secret? Practice every day, practice hard, and you will naturally become proficient in it over time."
When Xu Fu heard this, he nodded thoughtfully.
Li Xiuyuan looked at Xu Fu and said, "Just use this bronze sword. In the first month, practice drawing the sword five thousand times every day, and you will do it ten thousand times."
"Whether you can master the amazing sword-drawing skills depends on you. This is the most basic requirement." Li Xiuyuan said seriously.
Zhao Meng nodded, laughed and said, "If my enemy falls down before he sees the knife in my hand, is there any need to fight hard?"
Xu Fu said with deep approval: "I want to try it."
Li Xiuyuan waved his hand and left the two of them dazed by the river. He walked towards the camp with his hands behind his back. He had already seen the smoke curling up from the kitchen and wanted to make a pot of tea.
Zhao Meng looked at Xu Fu and took out his knife.
Draw the knife once, draw the knife ten times, draw the knife a hundred times... He wanted to try drawing the knife a thousand times before eating.
Xu Fu was stunned, and naturally refused to admit defeat. He also followed Zhao Meng's example and used a half-baked technique to pull out the bronze sword for the first time in his life.
When Zhao Meng saw something was wrong, he quickly corrected him: "Master Xu, your posture when drawing the sword is wrong, it should be like this."
So Xu Fu followed Zhao Meng and used the slowest speed to finally pull out the sword correctly. Next, he would try to draw the sword five thousand times a day.
The two of them practiced until it got dark and Zhao Meng's men came to the river to call them to eat.
After just practicing for a while, Xu Fu's hands were in terrible pain. He looked at Li Xiuyuan and smiled bitterly: "This is indeed not an easy task."
"This is just the beginning, can't you guys stand it?"
Li Xiuyuan smiled faintly and said: "Hurry up, hurry up, if even Xu Fu can see your sword, can't the killers see it?"
Xu Fu sighed and said with a wry smile: "You have to think of a way for me, otherwise I won't be able to continue practicing tomorrow."
Li Xiuyuan was stunned, pointed at Zhao Meng and said, "Didn't he buy the Jinchuang Medicine? I'll apply it on you after dinner." That night, Xu Fu and Zhao Meng were once again attacked by Li Xiuyuan since they gathered their energy. They were deeply shocked, because neither of them expected that this could happen.
Use the fastest and simplest way to make up for your own shortcomings in practice.
The two even looked forward to how fast they would be after practicing hard for a month, half a year, or even a year.
Li Xiuyuan looked at the two of them and analyzed quietly: "As long as you practice hard, your cultivation will naturally get higher and higher. What will happen if you draw your sword faster and faster?"
Zhao Meng took a deep breath and replied: "That's really scary."
Xu Fu shook his head and asked: "Are we going to keep vigil tonight? Will there be any bandits coming to try to kill us?"
Li Xiuyuan was startled, then pointed at Zhao Meng and said, "Old rule, I'll stay for the first half of the night, and you can come in the second half of the night."
…
Following intuition, and quietly several days passed without being harassed by bandits.
Li Xiuyuan took Zhao Meng and a group of guards and set up camp on the slope next to the river.
The difference from before was that this time, he not only laid dozens of traps, but also used kerosene bought from the town to lay two lines of defense under the camp.
To nip things in the bud, he couldn't take any chances.
Taking advantage of the darkness and relying on decades of experience in dealing with bandits and killers, Li Xiuyuan asked Zhao Meng to bring a group of guards to pick up a lot of hay and dead branches from the surrounding area.
After half an hour, Zhao Meng was asked to take a group of guards to rest, leaving only four people standing guard in the dark.
Watching a fire and making a pot of tea, Li Xiuyuan pulled Xu Fu to chat with him.
When Xu Fu thought that bandits might visit again at night, his expression became a little stiff. He gradually frowned as he listened to the rushing water of the river.
Looking at Li Xiuyuan who was boiling water and making tea, he said: "Why don't we ask for more soldiers from the local area? In this way, we are not afraid of bandits coming when we have more people."
Li Xiuyuan was stunned for a moment, then smiled lightly and said: "The problem is, if there are monks among the bandits, even if we have more people, it will not help. It will cause chaos and trouble."
Xu Fu shook his head and said he couldn't understand. Could it be that taking more is still wrong?
Li Xiuyuan poured hot tea into the cups of the two of them and said, "When there are more people, how do you want the former guards to get along with the subsequent soldiers during daily practice?"
"You can't do this kind of thing where one peach kills two soldiers. This is why I would rather let all the guards drink the spirit wine to give everyone a fair chance."
"As for whether they can successfully gather energy, it is only a matter of time. At least, let everyone know that you, as the special envoy, and the leader, Zhao Meng, are on the same level."
At this point, Li Xiuyuan sighed softly: "I don't want him to be grateful to me, but they must be grateful to you, so that you will be cohesive in their hearts..."
After hearing these words, Xu Fu's mind naturally flashed back to a scene many years later. When he and a group of guards set foot on a fairy island on the sea, everyone was extremely excited.
He even temporarily forgot about the pain in his hand. If it really happened one day, no matter how much suffering and fatigue he endured, it would be worth it.
"Shopkeeper Li, do you think we will really have such a day?" Xu Fu thought of this, raised his head and asked seriously.
Li Xiuyuan thought for a moment and slowly replied: "You have to believe in yourself. If there is not such a day, wouldn't all the hard work I have spent be in vain..."
Xu Fu was thoughtful.
Li Xiuyuan took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile: "How many times have I told you that there are some things I can't say. The only thing I can tell you is to persist, persist, and persist."
Xu Fu chuckled: "You also said something. Now that I think about it, it makes sense."
Li Xiuyuan was startled when he heard this, pointed at the trap in the dark and smiled: "That means asking for others rather than asking for yourself!"
