754 A Broken Sword (1/2)
What could happen in an instant? In dangerous circumstances, it could determine whether a bystander was a hero or a coward; in a duel between masters, it could change the destiny of a sure winner to that of a sure loser and determine one's life and death.
Lü Mian was a typical avenger. He had been secretly practicing very hard, and he didn't enter the martial arts world until he had built up enough confidence and was sure that his kung fu skill was better than his foe's.
He believed in his swordsmanship.
Stabbing the giant roc with a throwing knife and fighting 500 cavalrymen alone both further solidified his confidence.
But he still lacked actual combat experience. In fact, other than countless spars with a partner, he had only participated in three face-to-face kung fu competitions. His first opponent was Deng Yuanlei, who had afterwards become a not-so-loyal follower of him. The second one was Liu Qingpu, and he gained the qualification to fight for the position of Sect Leader by defeating him.
His third opponent was the Dragon King.
After his brief interaction with the Dragon King, he knew for sure that the Dragon King's sabersmanship was not as good as his. Even after realizing that he had consumed a poison, he still believed that he could kill the Dragon King before the poison fully took effect and then force Han Fen to hand over the true antidote.
When the saber and the sword clashed, Lü Mian, for the first time in his life, faced two choices in a life-or-death moment: run the risk of dying with the opponent by continuing with his attack, or dodge first and then strike back?Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click visiting.
This kind of experience could be encountered yet could not be sought. Just like a man who had trained to be a hero all his life could still panic like an ordinary people, he could even be scared to the point of breaking down. It was still an unpredictable instant that would determine his behavior: his army comrades' attitude, the enemies' attack, the topography, the weather…
Training was not useless. The more prepared he was, the higher the chance of making the right choice – but in the end, it was just a chance. No matter how he behaved outwardly, inwardly he had to fight against his powerful instincts.
LüMian overpowered his instincts, rejected the option of dodging, and decided to keep attacking. His sabermanship was faster and more flexible, which meant that he would undoubtedly hit his enemy and retreat unharmed.
With this experience, the strength of Lü Mian's swordsmanship would reach yet another great level, and he would never hesitate again in a similar situation. Just like how those new recruits who panicked during their first battle would probably become valiant veterans in their second battle.
Yet, he did hesitate, and his opponent was the Dragon King, who had much of the experience that was hard to acquire.
The ultimate goal of the whole Death Scripture was to rid oneself of this hesitation during a fight, and this goal had almost sublimated to a doctrine.
Gu Shenwei used to accept ”doctrines” without any doubts, but as his experience grew richer, he encountered more kung fu experts and also learned more kung fu skills. And this made him start to question those ”doctrines” – every advanced kung fu manual claimed their uniqueness and incomparability, so why did the Death Scripture have to be the only correct one?
Gu Shenwei had comprehended something from the story of ”sacrificing one's body to verify the Dao,” and even Old Man Mu's contradiction and contempt inspired him greatly.
He made a move and stabbed forward, despite how violative the few excessive movements were of the rules. He didn't choose to retreat like what he had done on the first occasion of his sneak attack, and neither did he choose to dodge like what he did on the second occasion of his being raided.
This saber attack, despite being a little slower than the opponent's, and despite Lü Mian's sword already entering his chest, was thrust out without the slightest hint of hesitation.
Lü Mian felt a coldness devour his heart. A thick, chilly flow spread out from the bottom of his stomach and gradually filled his the whole chest, which was the same exactly feeling as when he had learned that Liu Qingpu had taken the position of Sect Leader from him five years ago.
There was anxiety in Old Man Mu's eyes.
Han Fen appeared confused.
Neither of them could tell who had won or lost.
”This is the Death Scripture's swordsmanship?” Lü Mian asked, his voice sounding fairly bitter.
”Yes.”
”It's different from her's.”
”This is the uniqueness of Death Scripture – everyone can practice it in their own way.”
”I was not defeated under your saber.”
”Mm, your sword was faster than my saber. In terms of kung fu, you are better.”
Lü Mian backed up a step. The tips of the sword and the saber left their targets' chests, followed by a stream of blood.
”You shouldn't have had the chance to hit me originally,” Lü Mian complained, still unconvinced.
”If we fight again, I don't think I would.”
LüMian backed up another step, buckled at the knees, and leaned against the wall. ”We won't have the chance to fight again.”
”No,” Gu Shenwei said more positively.
”You killed my brother Lu Xinghui,” Lü Mian had never mentioned this to Dragon King before, but he recalled it at this moment.
Technically speaking, it was Chu Nanping who had killed Lu Xinghui, but Gu Shenwei ignored the details and nodded.
”He hadn't mastered the swordsmanship yet. I shouldn't have let him come to the Royal Court.” Lü Mian's arms drooped and the sword fell from his hand. ”The Luo family will avenge our death.”
”I know that.”
”Very well then.”
Slowly, Lü Mian fell down.
Han Fen studied him curiously. Old Man Mu walked over, kicked him unceremoniously, then turned and calmly declared, ”He's dead.”
Gu Shenwei took out some Jinchuang medicine with one hand. Old Man Mu immediately signaled for him to sit down and started dressing his wound, ”Doesn't the Death Scripture always kill the enemy in one move? Why did you still let him talk so much?”
”It's the user's heart that it kills with one move, not the enemy's.”
Old Man Mu nodded gravely, ”Makes sense. So this is what it's about – we should forget about things like life, death, victory and defeat, and just hold onto our determination to kill the enemy in one blow. Oh, isn't this what 'sacrificing one's body to verify the Dao' means? It seems that you comprehended it after all, Dragon King.”
Even Gu Shenwei himself didn't know if he had really comprehended it, since he still had many question that he hoped would be answered by that old book. He had accepted that it was indeed the Daoless Scroll, and it was a scroll of general principles.