Chapter 143: The Capital! A Hundred Years ago, Yang the Invincible! A Hundred Years Later, Wang the Undefeated! (Third) (1/2)
Chapter 143: The Capital! A Hundred Years ago, Yang the Invincible! A Hundred Years Later, Wang the Undefeated! (Third)
“What weapon will you be using? I’ve heard you are an expert of Xinyiquan, so you must be good with the long staff. But with me using a sword and you using a long staff, how would that fare? While a sword and sabre is without eyes, and the arms and legs without mercy, nothing can be done in that aspect. Even in a brawl on the streets, everyone knows that a life may be taken in it. But we are men of martial arts. If we were afraid of this or that, then we may as well pretend to be ostriches and hide our heads in the sand.”
Hearing Wang Chao’s question, Jiang Hai revealed a graceful smile.
“Haha, that’s good. Straight to the point!” Looking at the sword-wielding Jiang Hai, Wang Chao began to observe that with the way he gently walked about, his body moved similar to how a dragon would turn over in the clouds–he was an expert in the ways of the sword.
“I knew that after killing Duan Guochao, challengers would come swimming across the river to face me in numerous numbers. But I didn’t think that they would come so quickly.” Wang Chao thought to himself.
Duan Guochao’s name was famous in Beijing; far more illustrious than Chen Aiyang’s name in the Southeast Asia world of martial arts. He was the number one in the younger generation, and was also from the Shaolin Temple. With Wang Chao killing him, Wang Chao had to prepare himself for the many amount of people that would without fail come by to challenge him.
In such a large city as Beijing–the capital of China, there would most definitely be many experts. To defeat everyone in Beijing was nearly the same as to defeat everyone in the nation.
Wang Chao had never heard of the name “Jiang Hai’ before. With just a glance however, he could tell that this expert was truly the inheritor of Nine Palace sword style of Wudang.
The sword styles in Wudang had many breathing based movements. Swallowing air to practice day in night out, their internal organs were strengthened to the maximum. Their bodies moved like a swimming dragon, and their sword tips twinkled in between a swish and a stab. Killing someone was about as easy as drinking water or eating rice to them.
But to have a sword in hand meant that honing the muscles and bones weren’t too highly emphasized.
The average practitioner would need to first practice getting used to the weight of a fist and the hardness of the muscles before they could clash fist to fist with another and break the bones of the enemy. But if there was a sword, then this practice was omitted. After all, a steel sword tempered to the point of sharpness was far more deadly than any fist.
In the hands of an expert, a weapon like a sword would leave behind a wound and blood without fail in a single stab or slash. It didn’t matter if the enemy mastered the Iron Body, wore armor, or had the sounds of thunder permeate the muscles and bones.
A man with the Iron Body could only protect themselves from a club, brick, or any other blunt weapon. A sharp blade like a sword would not be blockable and would dice apart the body.
Using the muscles to defend against a bullet was only a myth.
Basically, for a practitioner of the fist to clash against a practitioner of the sword, only one word would suffice. Defeat.
Jiang Hai hadn’t yet unsheathe his sword from whatever animal skinned material the sheath was made from. It was an ashen green color with scales everywhere. Abundant with an ancient feel to it, it only required one glance to know that the sword was a sharp one, and not some sort of galvanized strip of iron the elders used in the parks for recreational purposes.
But Wang Chao had no plans on using any weapon to spar with Jiang Hai. As soon as the final word was said, Wang Chao’s leg struck the ground and instantly propelled him forward like a spear. In an instant he had arrived at Jiang Hai’s front. His hand struck out in a dark green Eagle Claw formation towards Jiang Hai’s wrist. The other hand was positioned beneath Jiang Hai’s genitals, and with a hooking motion, he struck upwards.
In the moment Wang Chao bursted with Jin, all of his muscles began to bulge upwards with the veins being visible underneath his skin. Visibly, it looked similar to Duan Guochao’s Iron Body, frightful in appearance, but its power was immense.
But this wasn’t the Jin of the Iron Body. After Wang Chao had fought Duan Guochao, his entire body had been honed to the point where it could use a technique of the Transforming Jin.
Wang Chao’s muscles and bones were already incomparably robust. It was underneath the sea that he had trained to a very sensitive level to the point where even the veins underneath the pores could be controlled.
Controlling the flesh and muscles was only a superficial level of martial arts.
Being able to control the pores and internal organs was considered to be attaining the next level for those who practiced the internal style of martial arts.
Tobe able to control even the veins underneath the skin and pores along with the tendons was considered to be a level of true mastery. The most meticulous of details was studied, and the mystery that was the Transforming Jin was understood. This was just another step closer to the boundary of the grandmasters.
When the ordinary person exerted energy, they would be able to bring some of their veins to protrude on the skin. After an expert could make each and every pore on their body sensitive enough, then with a burst of Jin, then the veins of the tendons and muscles could similarly bulge upwards. With this burst of Jin, there would naturally be a dark green color to it.
Learning to breathe to learn about the internal organs.
Practice the muscles and pores to know about the veins and tendons.
The more one learned about their own body, the higher their martial arts would grow.
In an instant, Wang Chao’s left hand formed the Eagle Claw and the right hand formed the “Under Elbow Punch”. Quick beyond belief, Jiang Hai could only hear a whistling sound in his ears as his opponent appeared as a blur in front of him.
“Like water splattering out from a vase, or the sounds of horsemen riding through a forest of spears!”
TL Note: See the Pipa Song by Bai Juyi
In that instant, Jiang Hai’s mind had instantaneously thought of these two verses to convey the meaning of Wang Chao’s Eagle Claw and Under Elbow Punch.
“Is he really going to fight barehanded against my sword?” Jiang Hai practiced the sword, which emphasized swift and precise movements. Although he had been startled by Wang Chao’s sudden assault, he was not discouraged. Instead, a strong urge to fight had been instilled in him. Turning around, his entire body seemed to spin around like a top for several rotations before moving to Wang Chao’s side. At the same time, his hand grabbed onto his sword and slashed upwards.
Jiang Hai’s revolution and movements had been proper and quite similar to the movements in Baguazhang. But there were some slight differences. But it went without question to say that his movements were swift–almost comparable to Cheng Shanming when Wang Chao fought him.
The movements of the Nine Palace Swords had originally given birth to Baguazhang’s movements. Dong Haichuan’s master had been a Daoist monk who had been living in seclusion.
But Wang Chao was even faster. After swiping at nothing but air, he suddenly withdrew and took two steps to the left. With another claw, he grabbed at Jiang Hai’s wrist holding his sword.
The other hand had came crashing in from the side with the wind blowing in from all four directions with the sound of a whip being cracked. The ground beneath his feet had been shaken by a tremor as well. Even the little rocks five meter away had begun to jump up from the shock.
The movement from the monkey stance, the footwork from Baguazhang, the Eagle Claw methodology, and the Pound from the side. The transitioning between each step had been seamless like flowing water without any interference.
The agile monkey stance, the grass blowing gale of Baguazhang, the terrifying Eagle Claw, and the explosive Pounding Jin. Four different concepts all blended into one sequence. Like the cloud, the wind, the dragon, and the thunder.
The time between movement and conceptual thinking could be said to be perfect and without flaws.
“No!” Just as Jiang Hai was about to pull out his sword, Wang Chao’s hand had already arrived one centimeter from his sword hand with an amazing gale of wind that stabbed into his pores. At the same time, an explosive sound could be heard in his eardrums from the other fist.
Against such a fierce barrage, Jiang Hai had to give up his attempt to pull out his sword and retreat.
Advancing forward with sickening speed, Wang Chao cupped a hand in front of his forehead before chopping down onto the forefront of Jiang Hai’s figure. The other hand formed a claw once more and didn’t stray from Jiang Hai’s wrist.