Chapter 465 — The Pinnacle of the Sword Dao
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
How many surpass me in the sword dao, I dare not say—yet the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping is surely above me. And there is Li Zheng of my own household; he taught me three sword moves, and his attainment in the sword dao is most uncommon. As for other masters of the sword dao, I know too few to speak. " "Sword technique and sword dao? " Disappointment showed on Luo Yinyu's face.
She murmured, "Has someone truly entered the realm of the sword dao?
For so many years I have pursued the utmost limits of sword technique without wearying, longing to enter the sword dao and never attaining it—and yet there are those who can enter that wondrous realm? " Shen Mu understood her disappointment. Luo Yinyu was now at the stage of investigating things to attain knowledge, seeking the ultimate comprehension through the study of sword technique.
She had most likely already reached the limit in sword technique, yet she had not found the gate to the sword dao and could not enter its hall. That Shen Mu should say there were many masters of the sword dao in the Central Plains struck her a heavy blow. Sword technique and sword dao—a single character apart, yet the difference was as between cloud and mud.
However well one practiced sword technique, before a master of the sword dao it was still no match at all.
Shen Mu's curiosity stirred.
"I have not yet seen the sword techniques of your Western Lands, and I wonder whether they differ from those of our Central Plains.
The sword techniques of the Central Plains originally had fourteen forms; later the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping added three, making seventeen. Not long ago I added one more, making eighteen basic sword forms. How many forms do the sword techniques of the Western Lands have? " Luo Yinyu was all the more astonished.
"The sword techniques of the Central Plains already have eighteen forms? The sword techniques of our Western Lands have only fourteen. But our sword techniques are founded upon the sword spirit and prize power; they may differ from yours.
" Shen Mu's interest was at once kindled. He had been studying the sword spirit these days as well, though with little progress; he always felt there was great learning in it. To meet Luo Yinyu, a grandmaster of the Western sword, was a rare chance, and he meant to seek her instruction properly.
The two talked at length and in detail, and each gained greatly.
The sword techniques of the Western Lands command the sword by spirit; the sword spirit can greatly increase a sword's power, almost doubling it. In Shen Mu's eyes, the sword techniques of the Western Lands were still somewhat dry, far less exquisite than those of the Kingdom of Jingping. Even Luo Yinyu, a grandmaster of the sword, fell a notch short in attainment of sword technique compared with many sects of the Central Plains. Yet the sword spirit raised the power of her sword moves to a height that Central Plains masters could only dream of.
When she performed the basic sword forms, every move and every stance was stern in its rule and order, its might surging, with a dashing heroic bearing that made men dare not face its edge. And Luo Yinyu, too, saw the uncommon quality brought by the Central Plains' innovations. The sword techniques of the Central Plains were strange and changeable; especially after the four basic sword forms opened up by the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and Shen Mu, the sword techniques produced ever more variations and variables, with countless possibilities!